Welcome to Surge’s Faith, Work, and Rest podcast. Our goal is to help God’s people discern their vocations and reimagine their occupations for the good of their neighbors and the glory of God.

In this episode, we listen to a conversation that Teena has with Rob Johnson about what it looks to imitate Christ as a customer service representative (CSR).

Show notes:
https://www.amazon.com/Customer-Service-Imitation-Christ-Johnson/dp/1468162055

79: Ron Johnson - Customer Service and the Imitation of Christ

Now headed into its fourth season, The Faith, Work & Rest Podcast highlights stories of ordinary people of faith doing ordinary work for the glory of God and good of their communities.

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Christianity

Buddhism

Hinduism

Judaism

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In this episode, Teena is joined by Amma Amegashie who serves as the West Africa Operations Manager for City to City Africa. She currently leads the Purpose Beyond Paycheck cohort in Accra, Ghana. Amma loves the Lord, loves the city which she lives in, and hopes to see the city, its people and all the industries being renewed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. She lives in the city of Accra with her beloved husband, Selasi, and enjoys reading, listening to music and watching God's beautiful nature. 

What is clear from this conversation is that Amma resists any form of a truncated gospel that compartmentalizes the Christian life to a single day of the week. The cohort she leads works to imagine what a Kingdom presence might look and taste like in various spheres of society and work.  

Would you be encouraged by her words to us:

“If your identity is truly in Christ Jesus, it doesn’t matter if you are the CEO or the least in rank. You don’t find your identity in any of this but you find your identity in Christ Jesus and what he has done on the cross. That he deeply loves you, and we are his children.”

TIME STAMPS:

00:00 Introduction and Amma’s Bio

1:40 Where Amma lives and works

4:33 How an episode of the Faith and Work podcast helped Amma re-imagine administration

7:56 What drew Amma into the Faith and Work space

11:25 What is the church like in Ghana?

14:41 How Amma has helped people experience a gospel for all of life

20:30 How insurance can be for the glory of God

26:40 Where do you see brokenness in the industries of your city and how God longs to restore

33:40 How visiting a cookie factory changed one person’s perspective on work

37:40 If you had to pick just one characteristic as a worker that you see on display in your city, what would it be? How can we be praying for the church in Ghana?


Resources related to this episode:

Learn more about the Ghana Fellowship of Evangelical Students 
https://ghafes.org/who-we-are/

Learn more about The Global Faith and Work Initiative
https://www.globalfaithandwork.com/

Learn more about the Surge Network
https://www.surgenetwork.com/

CEOs to Custodians: Amma Amegashie

In this podcast episode, Teena Dare gets to have a conversation with Marcelo Robles who lives in Buenos Aires and is a pastor, practitioner, and key participant in the movement of God in his city. 

What’s clear from the interview is that Marcelo captures the vision perfectly of seeing our everyday work and our understanding of our faith deeply integrated in all of life. But he didn’t always share this vision. Listen in as Marcelo unpacks how was able to deconstruct the false dichotomy of sacred and secular through his work at a university, in his ministry, through personal challenges, and a myriad of church planting experiences. The Church has much to learn from this faithful brother who encourages us to remember our one calling in the gospel with many occupational expressions.

Resources related to this episode:

More Info About Marcelo Robles and his ministry
https://globaloutreach.org/giving/missionary-details/marcelo-robles

About La Misión Church https://iplamision.org/sobre-nosotros/

About the RUE University Network https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1037300417189588

Learn more about The Global Faith and Work Initiative here.
https://www.globalfaithandwork.com/about

 Learn more about the Surge Network here
https://www.surgenetwork.com

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction and Marcello’s bio

1:49 Where Marcello lives, serves and does for work

2:53 How the city of Buenos Aires is unique and an expression of a variety of cultures and cities

4:50 Why we need to stop using the term: bi-vocational and instead use: “co-occupational”

13:12 Why we need a holistic and integrated gospel for all of life

16:30 Stories of how God is at work in the university

22:45 How one person’s proximity with the poor forever changed his life

29:30 How God is displayed as a worker in Buenos Aires and how you and I can pray for Buenos Aires

Deconstructing Dichotomies: Marcelo Robles

When it comes to the integration of faith and work, it is never generic but always specific to the context we are in. The conversations around faith and work in a white collar setting are going to be drastically different than the conversations and questions of those working at the margins. In this episode, Abraham Cho and Kimberly Deckel explore how tangible expressions of how faith and work have been integrated in their cities and churches.

But what’s clear from the perspective of these two practitioners (Abraham and Kimberly) is that a missing link in the faith and work conversation is the necessity of having mutuality with those at the margins. Without genuine friendship with the overlooked and the poor, we will lack the necessary relational knowledge needed to steward our power effectively in industries and workplaces. Listen in as we imagine together in this podcast what flourishing for all might look like when the margins are centered.

RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

Learn more about City to City's Global Faith and Work Initiative:
https://www.globalfaithandwork.com

Learn more about Kimberly’s Church: Church of the Cross Austin
https://www.cotcaustin.org

Learn more about the Surge Network
https://www.surgenetwork.com

TIME STAMPS

Introduction to the series and Bios 00:00

In the faith and work space, what has your work been about in recent years? 2:05

How the conversation of faith and work is different depending on your context and invites you to take the posture of a learner 5:30

How the simple and ordinary practices in our workplaces are the catalyst for a rich expression for faith and work integration 9:40

How different traditions (that we are often unaware of) can provide beautiful windows of tangible ways faith and work can come together 13:50

How the only way to faithfully steward our power is through developing a mutuality of relationship with those at the margins 23:57

How a vision of genuine friendship and Kingdom collaboration is being imagined in New York City and Austin, Texas 34:08

How do we understand God as a good worker in the way he operates in our cities and prayers we have for flourishing in the years to come 44:06

Mutuality With The Margins: Kimberly Deckel & Abraham Cho

There’s no question that we’re called to love our neighbor but many of us feel like we’ve lost the art. We’re burnt-out, lacking motivation, or feeling overwhelmed with life. In this episode Brielle shares her own story and helps unpack why so many of us are feeling this strain. She invites us to join her on the journey of healing through being with God in ways that restore us to love just as we were made to. 

Resources related to this episode:

Learn about the Daily Breadth App: https://dailybreadth.app/default

Listen to Brielle’s Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-little-bit-unstoppable/id1620112094

Learn more about The Global Faith and Work Initiative here: www.globalfaithandwork.com/

Learn more about the Surge Network here: www.surgenetwork.com/

This episode was produced by Abby Drachenberg and hosted by Teena Dare.


Timestamps:

Introduction to Knowing God in Work and Rest and Brielle Goheen: 0:00

How did physical and mental health struggles begin to reframe spirituality and vocation? 3:02

How did you discover a new calling? 7:47

How do you now understand the embodied nature of things like prayer and gratitude and how have you incorporated them into a "digital sacred space?" 11:55 

How can we love our neighbor without burning out? 18:21 

What is the "tend or befriend" survival instinct and how does it impact us? 23:54

How do we embrace the uniqueness of how we best love others? 27:56

How can we cultivate love through our work when the part we play is removed from the people it's meant to serve? 31:51

Tell us about someone whose work is often overlooked and how your journey has helped you see them with new eyes? 35:10

Knowing God in Work and Rest 06: To Tend and Befriend

What does it mean to see? Our understanding of this seemingly simple concept has evolved through the years and so has our sense of what it means to “see” God. In this episode, Dr. John DelHousaye talks about optical theory, the pure in heart seeing God, how truth relates to reality, and how all of this intersects with our daily rhythms of work and rest.

Resources related to this episode:

Follow Dr. DelHousaye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jdelhousaye?lang=en

Learn more about The Global Faith and Work Initiative here: www.globalfaithandwork.com/

Learn more about the Surge Network here: www.surgenetwork.com/

This episode was produced by Abby Drachenberg and hosted by Teena Dare.


Timestamps:

Introduction to Knowing God in Work and Rest and Dr. John DelHousaye 0:00

How can we know God through the Visio Dei? 1:19

What is a fuller understanding of the word truth? 11:08

How can work be a lens for us in our everyday lives? 17:37

Explaining the value of spending time in the Gospels 22:33

How we can connect communion and baptism to everyday life 26:53

How can we participate in making God more seeable in the world? 30:27

How does God help you see someone the world may overlook? 35:31

79: Ron Johnson - Customer Service and the Imitation of Christ

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