[00:00:00] Jim Jansen: Hey everybody, welcome to the EquipCast. So, I just sat down with Jake Olson, and Jake and I talked about relational evangelization and building a clear path in a rural context. Jake is serving in Northeast Nebraska. in, uh, rural communities. Let me just talk about some of the fundamental methods and principles of evangelization, what it's like to build a clear path up there, um, how they are seeing lives transformed by the gospel up in Cedar and Knox County, Nebraska.
You're going to love the conversation. Take a listen. Hey everybody, welcome to the EquipCast, a weekly podcast for the Archdiocese of Omaha. I'm your host Jim Jansen. Now let's dive into some encouragement and inspiration to equip you to live your faith and to be fruitful in your mission. Let's go.
Jake Olson, welcome to the EquipCast. How you doing? 

[00:00:58] Jake: Hello, Jim. Glad to be here. Sunshine and today and it's a beautiful day. So... 

[00:01:03] Jim Jansen: It is beautiful day up there in Cedar County. So, for those who have not been to the promised land, tell everybody just a little bit about Cedar County and the family of parishes that you are, uh, serving in.

[00:01:19] Jake: Sure. So, our family of parishes covers two different counties, um, Cedar and Knox, but both Cedar and Knox counties are part of the Northern border of Nebraska. So, we're the Northern edges of edges of both of them cover up right along the Missouri river kind of bordering South Dakota there. So, in our family of parishes, there are 12 different churches total, and it's, you know, from the East end to West end, we're covering.
More or less 70 to 75 miles per drive time to get from one end to the other about an hour and 15 is the time it takes and I did recently just measure it up and our territory, so to speak, covers roughly 1200 square miles, which is about four times the size of the Omaha metro area. 

[00:02:07] Jim Jansen: That's awesome. And for those who aren't familiar with Omaha, that's got to be at least as large as several small Eastern seaboard states.
No, not quite, but that's probably at least Rhode Island. So, you got a big, you got a big territory there. When you say 12 churches, is that 12 parishes or 12 church buildings? 

[00:02:24] Jake: It is 12 different church buildings or sites or campuses, whichever, whichever term you'd like to use, but it is eight parishes total.
That's awesome. But those eight parishes have 12 churches. 

[00:02:37] Jim Jansen: Right, because some of them have, in years past, have already canonically merged and become one. Okay. So, what are the, what are the people like Jake? My dad was from Cedar County, and I used to spend a lot of time up on my uncle's farm, uh, growing up.
Give people a sketch. What are the people of Cedar County like? And Knox. And Knox. We love you, Knox County. 

[00:02:58] Jake: Sure. So, in, in both of the counties here and in, in our family of parishes, we are predominantly agriculturally centered beings that we're rural. Um, it's just, seems to be what a lot of families do combination of, of row crops and livestock kind of run the whole gamut as far as that goes, but there's also a lot of, a lot of teachers, a lot of medical professionals, a lot of.
You know, people that choose their careers to be in certain trades, like plumbers, electricians, carpenters, contractors of all different sorts. And so, we really have a lot of the hard working, you know, typical Midwestern types of people in this area. 

[00:03:43] Jim Jansen: Some of the, some of the folks know, you know, we both did college ministry.
Part of like kind of the evangelization formation. moments that would happen on college ministry. You have, there'd be like these upper rooms where you'd gather people who are leading a Bible study or a small group and people were mentoring other people and you get them all together for prayer and you know, a little kind of like, Inspiration from the pastor or maybe one of the missionaries.
And I remember a time where I was gathered. Your pastor, Father Keiter had some of the leaders that he was working with gathered together. And I remember being with him. I was like, holy cow. This just, this feels exactly like an upper room, only there's far less, you know, sweatpants and warm up clothes and nobody's carrying backpacks like they did in college.
Everybody has boots and, and seed hats on, you know, cause they're, cause they're connected to the, to the land. But it was beautiful to see, even in a different context, there's a real missionary, a real missionary spirit that's developing in this, uh, this family of parishes. Jake, before we go too far, I want to give you a chance, tell everybody a little bit of your face story and your background, because this is You know, in some ways you're, you're right at home, uh, serving where you are.

[00:04:59] Jake: Yeah, absolutely. So, I grew up in Albion, Nebraska, which is also part of the archdiocese of Omaha. Um, and growing up, I went to a lot of just kind of different retreats, some things like JC camp and, and tech and quest and a lot of different opportunities for those, you know, those groups of people, those ages of people, I should say, in this area.
And so, I took advantage of those while I was in high school and then I moved on to go to college at Northwest Missouri State University. And it was really during my time in college that I got very actively involved with the Newman Center there, started making connections. And my freshman year was the first year of a brand new campus ministry director for the Newman Center there.
And so, he was kind of like a freshman right along with us. And... 

[00:05:44] Jim Jansen: That's awesome. 

[00:05:46] Jake: There was a lot of things that weren't happening at that ministry that by the time, thanks be to God, I graduated my senior year had really gained a lot of traction and a lot of growth. so much. And the Lord was really doing a lot of work there.
And part of that was my sophomore year at Northwest. The campus ministry brought in the first team of focus missionaries, and that's sort of how I got introduced to focus and to the missionaries and what they do and what they're all about. And so, I started getting more and more and more involved as time went on with those things.
And finally, by the end of my senior year, I was approached by one of those missionaries asking if I'd ever considered being a focus missionary myself. And at that time, my answer was no, I hadn't considered it, but through prayer, through asking a lot of questions, through just continuing to spend more time around the missionaries and with other students really just felt like that was maybe a direction the Lord was desiring me to go.
And so, I filled out the application and then just a few weeks later, got asked to interview. And from the interview, it was pretty much history from there. So, I ended up serving with focus for three years. Um, my first two years on staff was down in Eastern Texas at Stephen F Austin state university. And then my final year, my third year with focus, I was at Georgia college.
So, kind of stayed in the Southern U S with my time with focus. But then in 2020, I made the decision that it was time to come back home and to be closer with my family and. With my fiancé at the time, we were doing long distance for a large portion of that. And so came back to Nebraska and got married just a few months after I moved back to this area.
And yeah, so really my faith has been something that I've carried with me my entire life as a cradle Catholic, but certainly has grown and deepened and developed even still to this day. So, glory to God for that. 

[00:07:40] Jim Jansen: Yeah, for those of us who have served. You know, in some missionary context, whatever it is, the context often, it makes a big impact on the methods you use and how you approach evangelization.
College campuses are a fantastic opportunity. Here you've got all these young leaders gathered together with time and availability and a willingness to learn. It's a great place to do evangelization and impact the next generation. There's just something unique about those circumstances that aren't repeatable.
What are maybe some of the, now having, you know, grown up in Albion, done missionary work in a college context, and now back in a rural context, what are some of the kind of timeless principles, methods? Take this wherever you want, but what are some of the kind of timeless principles and methods that seem to be really proving themselves in your work now?

[00:08:42] Jake: I would absolutely say that on a very basic level, it all comes down to relationship. And by that, I mean, it really, truly is developing friendships and authentic friendships at that, you know, ones that are, don't have any particular agenda to them. I don't benefit you in some way. So therefore, I'm your friend, quote unquote, or you benefit me, but it really is truly, I enjoy being with you.
I enjoy getting to know you and allowing you to get to know me. And in the midst of that, the Lord is there with us, and therefore, encountering the Lord together, growing in the Lord together, and hopefully one day being with the Lord forever is the, the goal or the agenda of that friendship. And so, I would say that that is first and foremost, the most transferable concepts about evangelization, regardless of the setting or the demographic or whatever, is that it really is about those true authentic relationships.

[00:09:46] Jim Jansen: Yeah, I, I couldn't, I couldn't agree more. And I, I've heard people say it, say it, you know, like this is like, well, evangelization is just one friend, right? So, me to my other friend saying, Hey, by the way, there's this other friend I have. I want to introduce you to his name's Jesus. When you think of it that way, I think it's helpful for a lot of people because it just kind of, it demystifies evangelization, you know?
And I think there's a, there's a movement here in Nebraska, the CEC that's, you know, I hope I get this right, but it's, they have this little mantra that goes something like, you know, like, You know, make a friend, be a friend, bring a friend to Jesus. And it's just as very simple. It's like, if you can make friends and I, you know, sometimes that's maybe not, not as easy as it sounds, but if you can make a friend and then if you remember that Jesus is your friend, you can make that introduction and man, that, that works everywhere in every time and place.

[00:10:36] Jake: Absolutely. And I've heard another, another timeless quote that gives me a lot of hope and a lot of joy in the work that I do is. Evangelization, put very simply, is one blind person showing another blind person where to find bread. 

[00:10:51] Jim Jansen: Yeah. I love it. Okay, so how do you do that in the rural context? This may sound, sound dumb, but like, how do you make friends?
How do you build that friendship? And then how do you introduce people to Jesus? 

[00:11:07] Jake: I can wholeheartedly say that in my experience growing up in a rural community, but also now having had moved back to a rural community as well, that typically in the smaller towns and villages and areas like this, that people are really genuinely.
open to helping one another out, regardless of what the situation is. Typically, it's maybe if one farmer's tractor breaks down or has problems that the neighbor will come over and help him out or, you know, so there's all kinds of connections. And in a lot of the stuff that I've been trying to do in this role is try to help people understand that.
You guys already have connections and have relationships anyways, how about we find ways to invite Jesus into these connections anyway, you know, and so there's a lot of, a lot of things that, right. So an example would be everybody needs to eat and so inviting your neighbors or your friends or whoever it might be over to your house to have a meal or to meet at a restaurant, you know, there's not, Not really a ton of restaurant availability in this area, but there are, there are a handful.
And so just breaking bread together and really trying to capitalize on those relationships and those connections that already exist within the people anyways. 

[00:12:31] Jim Jansen: It's super simple, but it's really, I mean, it's really profound. It makes a huge difference. What do you do when people are like, okay, I got friends and Jesus is with me, but how do I go from like, I'm kind of like, you know, I'm buddies with this dude to talking about Jesus.
I mean, I think that's a mental obstacle for a lot of people. It's like, Oh, we're friends. The last thing I want to do is get weird on him and start talking about Jesus. How do you help people? move past that in a way that isn't weird. 

[00:13:02] Jake: I would say that there's, there's oftentimes situations that present themselves.
As a personal example, shortly after I moved up to Cedar County and I, I met this gentleman, actually two, two different gentlemen. The three of us together, we're working on some finished work project for a new remodel of an addition on one of our buildings here. And so, we were doing the trim work and, you know, cutting around the outlets and the light switches and the windows and, and doing all that finished work together.
And we were already having conversation anyways, you know, and. One of the gentlemen, I had nothing to do with it from the get-go, but one of the gentlemen had mentioned, Oh, my wife's really been telling me I need to get down to that Cloisters on the Platte retreat. And my antennas went up and I said, well, gosh, I've gone there multiple times myself and it's incredible, you know, and so that just being aware of the opportunities that present themselves while you're spending time while you're having conversations with these people.
I mean, by no means do you need to carry your Bible with you and smack people in the forehead when every time you're spending time with them, but you know, just being, being present and really being. a good listener and trying to keep track of those opportunities that oftentimes come up. Anyways, 

[00:14:17] Jim Jansen: I love, I love that you said that.
I mean, and it's funny, it's like, I mean, if anybody needs to get smacked over their head with their Bible, it's maybe us. Because when we look at the stories in the scripture where evangelization happens, you don't have to read those very long to realize God's the one who's arranged the whole thing. You know, whether it's like Acts of the Apostles, like the first time on Pentecost, where Peter preaches, like the reason there's a crowd there is the Lord does this kind of supernatural thing with the coming of the Spirit, and the wind Gets everybody's attention and gathers them together for Peter to preach, you know, and similarly, like, you know, in Acts chapter eight, the, uh, the story of Philip in the Ethiopian eunuch, like when you watch that, like that story, as it unfolds, like the Lord has done everything, you know, he's like, put this guy right in Philip's path, he's drawn Philip there, and the way the conversation unfolds is really natural, it's like, hey, what are you reading?
That's like, what do you think about that? Well, how would I know unless someone explains it? It's like, okay, you know, it's just like this beautiful step by step thing where I think the Lord is at pains to show us like, I just need you to be present and, and tuned in, and I'm going to give you the opportunities and opportunities that fit you.
You know, not, not everybody's Scott Hahn and a theologian. But almost everybody, I love the way you said that almost everybody can, you know, can tell people where the bread is. 

[00:15:48] Jake: Sure. Yeah. And I would also add a bit of clarification too, that, you know, as a person starts to develop in their journey as a disciple of Jesus and as a, as a missionary disciple at that, that first and foremost, your relationship with Jesus has to be, there has to be present, has to be vibrant, but if you're not maybe used to picking up on those sort of.
moments throughout conversations that might be an opportunity to talk about the faith or something related to the faith that maybe just start making that your prayer and praying for the Lord to open your heart and your ears to, to really recognize those opportunities, but also praying for those people that the Lord is bringing into your life that you'll be encountering anyways.

[00:16:34] Jim Jansen: Yeah. I love that. Jake, let's just drill down there a little bit. Like, what does that look like? Like super practically? Cause you're like, yeah, pray for the people in your life and that you would notice. The moments that the Lord has given you, you know, let's say like we're, we'll do a little exercise here.
Like, right. You're, you're kind of like the older Christian mentor. You're on staff. I'm like, Jake, how do I do that? 

[00:16:56] Jake: I would say that when you take your time. Whether it's in the morning or in the midday or evening before bed, whatever time it is that you're praying very, just very simply and very gently say, Lord, sometimes when I'm in conversations with others, I struggle to recognize your presence, open my eyes and my ears and my heart to recognize your presence.
And then just, you know, make an act of trust to the Lord. Lord, I trust that you will present me with these opportunities. And then I promise you that he will. I mean, that is, that is most of the time how the Holy Spirit works. And that is the action of the Holy Spirit. Of bringing these people into your life and then helping you to recognize these opportunities.
And I really think that that, in a lot of ways, is what gives the Lord joy. 

[00:17:55] Jim Jansen: Yes. Well, and it takes the pressure off when you remember he's the one doing it. He's going to arrange it. He's going to find a situation that fits me. And he's even got responsibility to remind me, Hey, Hey, this is your moment, you know, and, and it's, it's one of those things like, yeah, all the kind of hall of fame, missionaries, great evangelists, people that I look for, they're just really ordinary people who just like being around other people and they pay attention to those people and they pay attention to the Lord.
All the conversation that flows from that is really natural. It just, just kind of happens pretty naturally and they're not, yeah, they're not uptight about it at all because they remember this is the Lord's work and he's just inviting me to be a part of it. Jake, as you kind of came, you know, came into the rural area, were there any things that you had to relearn or unlearn about evangelization in order to try and bring the gospel effectively to the, to the communities that you served?

[00:19:01] Jake: You know, we sort of touched on it a bit or maybe danced around it a bit earlier, but with my experience in college campus ministry, You know, Jim, you had already mentioned that there's with college students, they have the availability in a lot of ways, because, you know, some of them, obviously they, all the college students have their classes and labs and et cetera, but, and some students, you know, they do work jobs.
Other students, maybe your athletes are involved in other extracurricular activities or organizations, but in all reality, they do have a lot of time compared to, you know, say a young family that has four or five, 10 kids and You know, trying to get meals on the table and trying to get homework done and trying to do all the things that it takes to run a household to run a domestic church, maybe that they're just physical time to be available is less than what a college students would be.
And so for me, given, I had my experience with college ministry, I personally had to learn if I want to find time with these people in rural Nebraska, Cedar County and Knox County, I will have to be able to invite myself into their lives, you know, and so that could be simply, um, sometimes it's looked, looked like a situation of, “Hey, what are you having for supper tonight? Mind if I pop by?” Or “Hey, I'm, you know, I'm driving past your house. I'll be, I'm, I will be driving past your place here in about 15 minutes. Are you around?” And then I just, you can pull into their driveway and just have a simple conversation and kind of check in and. And things like that. And so really learning that if I make invitations to these, to these families, to these adults in this rural setting, and they say, I don't have time for that, or I won't be able to, or whatever the response may be, then I just, I don't let that get me down, but rather see that as an opportunity.
And then I kind of double down of, okay, I'm going to have to take simple but actionable steps to be able to, to build this relationship, you know, and then as a relationship builds, by no means am I saying that it's a one sided thing because as it develops again, it's the Lord's work. And so, if I make myself present and I make the decision to take those actionable steps to kind of, I don't want this to sound negative, but to interject myself into their lives.
Well, you're, you're going to them, right? And it takes, it takes pressure off of them, but also allows us both to have that encounter. Yeah. 

[00:21:41] Jim Jansen: Yeah. And you're going to the end. I mean, it's not like, you know, if they say, no, Jake, we're having mac and cheese. You're not like, well, great. I'll be there anyway. You know, but like, you just, it's that little extra step of like, no, I'm willing to come to you, which is I mean, that's in some ways, that's right at the heart of the Great Commission.
You know, Jesus says, go and make disciples, not make disciples when they come to you. 

[00:22:05] Jake: So, I would say as far as, as far as relearning or unlearning certain things, it's that evangelization happens in a million different contexts and what a grace that is. But learning and relearning that if I make an invitation for something, whether it's an event or, uh, you know, hanging out with someone grabbing a cup of coffee or a Bible study, whatever the invitation might be, if the response is no.
I see that as an opportunity. So, when people give me different excuses for why they can't or why they don't want to, I don't just kind of shove them to the side and say, Oh, you know, well they didn't want to. So that's that. And that's the end of it. But rather, okay, if they don't want to do this, what's another way that I can try to be strategic and try to still Put forth the effort to make this relationship grow. 

[00:22:59] Jim Jansen: Right?
Well, I love that. I mean, you're just, you're not just writing people off. You're like, okay, maybe that wasn't the right opportunity. Maybe, maybe they don't have the time. So, you keep your, you're like, all right, I'll come to you and we'll just. You know, I'm still going to be your friend until we find the right opportunity.
Absolutely. That's awesome. Let's talk a little bit, you, you mentioned kind of like the con, the context and just how important that is that, you know, evangelization happens in a lot of different contexts. A lot of people mean different things when they hear the word evangelization. You know, some people think about just this kind of initial relationship building.
Some people maybe think about, you know, the moment of their kind of conversion or coming back to the faith or a profound encounter they had with the Lord. Other people think about actually growing in the knowledge and habit. Uh, and then some people think about, you know, the, the more being equipped for mission, learning how to be kind of a missionary disciple.
All of it’s evangelization. All of it is part of this idea of building a clear path. I want to give you an opportunity to talk about, like, what does it look like to build a clear path of discipleship to make and mature disciples in the rural context? 

[00:24:12] Jake: So, with our family of parishes specifically, kind of the approach that we're taking is it's a, it's a three-phase approach.
The first phase of the first step to that three-phase approach is that everything that we do as a church, as a family of parishes has to be founded on discipleship and on relationship with the Lord, whether it's something that's like a Knights of Columbus group or our choirs or sacristans or. You know, maybe like the ladies guild that kind of in the real context, ladies guild takes care of the church cleaning and decorating and things like that, as well as bereavement for funeral luncheons and, and things like that.

[00:24:53] Jim Jansen: Yeah. I think that's universal. I don't know if that's a real context. I think the ladies guild owns that everywhere. 

[00:24:58] Jake: Well, regardless of what the group is, if it has any connection to the church, At all, you know, the first and foundational purpose of all of those groups or all of those ministries is how are they creating new generations of disciples in the things that they're doing?
Yeah. So, the, the discipleship and specifically, you know, really getting back to what I mentioned earlier of discipleship being true, authentic friendship with another person and with Jesus simultaneously. So that one-on-one kind of deep, intimate friendship, sometimes one on two, you know, things like that, but that discipleship is primary step number one.
Secondly, we really look at what tools do we have at our disposal. And one of the tools that really makes itself prevalently known is small groups and Bible studies. And there's people that are very talented and very passionate about leading those small groups. They love having You know, two to three to maybe up to eight or ten people meet once a week or every other week, sometimes in their home, sometimes a public location to really enter into scripture or enter into some kind of faith formation material, like reading a book or listening to a podcast or.
You know, and then really praying with that and discussing that that together as a group. And so that's the second phase. And the third and final phase is just large group fellowship events. And so, bringing the community together in different ways and in different places to allow people opportunities to again encounter one another to spend time with one another.
And so Yeah, with those three phases of discipleship of small groups and of large group fellowship events, keeping that all those things in mind for any, any group or any person that has an affiliation with the church, that that is their purpose. And so, in building a clear path to me, it really is. Trying to simplify things.
And sometimes it does mean that there's certain groups or certain ministries that we really have to encourage them to reimagine what their purpose is and why they do the things that they do. Yeah. And how does that fit in? And if it doesn't fit in, then we say, okay, maybe let's find a way that this can actually fit into this.
And so, you know, I really think of, of building a clear path as sort of like a bowling alley. Whereas the end goal would be heaven and becoming saints. So, if it's a bowling alley, the end goal would be bowling a strike and we on our journey are that bowling ball and the clear path is simply just putting those bumpers into the gutters to help keep us towards that end goal.

[00:27:47] Jim Jansen: Yeah. You've been bowling with me, you know, like I was waiting for the bumpers to show up. I need them. 

[00:27:52] Jake: Yeah. So that's kind of the context that I use to help, to help explain it to people, but also just to help keep it simple and tangible. 

[00:27:59] Jim Jansen: Yeah, no, that's, that's huge. I love the way you talked about. You know, the goal is making disciples and whatever ministry activity project, if it's associated with our parish or our family of parishes, you have to be contributing to that somehow.
The other stuff are just tools, small groups, whatever. I mean, I just have to call it out here. Like that's kind of radical. I mean, it's not wrong, but that's not commonly the way we approach parish life. How is that gone? Like how have people responded to that? 

[00:28:32] Jake: You know, and earlier I mentioned about sometimes asking groups or, or individuals to kind of re imagine things.
I was recently in a conversation within the last few days here, um, with a gentleman about sometimes that re-imagining might be new to that person, to that individual or to that group of individuals. But the new imagination that we're trying to help foster is the same thing that the early church did the first apostles.
Yes When they were going to each other's houses when they were breaking bread with each other when they were praying together you know Acts chapter 2 verse 42 talking all about faith formation and prayers and Fellowship and the sacraments and that's what they did And so this reimagining of things that we're asking these groups of people to do really isn't anything new.
It's just getting back to what is this all about? You know, it turns out it's about a 2024-year-old idea. 

[00:29:31] Jim Jansen: Yeah, which is go therefore and make disciples. Yeah, I love it. Jake, give people just a little bit. I want to like maybe give you a chance here to kind of walk people through your clear path and then just give them a picture of like what it's like.
And you know, just for those who may be not familiar with the concept, I mean, a clear path is just, I love like the, like the, the bumper rails kind of analogy. It's like, you know, all of us are called to be saints and this process of becoming a disciple and maturing as a disciple, you know, there's this process that we go through, and a clear path helps create this kind of communal bumper rails so that you can.
Encounter the Lord so that you can grow as a disciple, and then you can mature and be equipped as a missionary disciple. What does that look like in your family of parishes? I want you to just like get real granular, like tell people like, what is, what's actually happening and what's going on there?
Cause I know you guys are having a lot of fun doing this. 

[00:30:29] Jake: We are absolutely. And that's, that is really the key is that with evangelization, regardless of the setting or the context that it's in, it should be fun because life with Christ is the greatest adventure that exists period. Yeah. And so, there is a lot of fun and a lot of joy.
It's not easy, but it is a lot of fun. Yeah. And so, on the practical level in our family of parishes and building. And even communicating our clear path and kind of rolling these things out is that it's never a one and done situation. It's never like we present this, this idea, this concept to groups of people or to parishioners, and then that's the time, the one and only time they hear about it.
It's always an ongoing thing, just like any relationship is. And so, in building our clear path, it was really just a lot of prayer and discernment of, okay, where are we at right now? What do we have that we can kind of leverage and capitalize on? And what are maybe things that we need to cut back on or cut ties with?
And then what is our goal? And so, with our clear path, really started to establish a goal. And then from the goal, taking a look at what tools do we have at our disposal, things like the large group fellowship events, I already mentioned, and the small groups and Bible studies and, um, Various retreats and, you know, tons of different tools at our disposal, even things with like media, you know, podcasts and books and videos and, you know, just a plethora of, of opportunities out there for those tools.

[00:32:05] Jim Jansen: Yeah. There's no shortage of stuff these days. 

[00:32:08] Jake: Yeah. And then kind of with, so with the goal in mind and with the tools at our disposal, what are we looking for when a person, Is living as a missionary disciple, kind of what are their habits, what are their, their cornerstones, you know, what do they do? And those are things like I already mentioned from Acts chapter 2, 42, the faith formation and the fellowship and the breaking of the bread and then prayers and.
And then just different habits and virtues that people willingly try to start working on and take active steps to do that. 

[00:32:42] Jim Jansen: So, you're kind of starting with from the end in mind, you have this vision of this fully mature missionary disciple that is praying, that is in the sacraments, that's growing in virtue, that knows their faith, that shares their faith.
You're kind of starting with that. How do you do that? Like, how do you help people become that person? 

[00:33:02] Jake: Yeah. So absolutely. Starting with kind of that end goal in mind, very much so pulling back the curtain for people to realize, okay, if this is the goal that we have. In mind of. All those things you just mentioned, Jim, then what does it take to get there?
What tools do we have at our disposal? What, what can we be doing? And, you know, a lot of that really ties into this re-imagining of the different groups and individuals that we have within our parishes of, okay, so if you are the Knights of Columbus group, why are you a Knight of Columbus? What gives you life in being a Knight of Columbus?
What are the things that you do as a Knight of Columbus? And then what does it take to help this be a fruitful ministry that helps bring people into relationship with Jesus and then mature them in that relationship. And so, a lot of times it's very just helping people to realize that they're already doing a lot of the things, but just providing them clarification on Why they're doing those things or how they're doing those things.
So, for example, right, like we're just into the first Friday of Lent. And so, there's a lot of fish fries that are certain going to be happening. And with those fish fries, very simply asking some of the volunteers or the people that are, that are putting them on, why are you doing this? You know, if, if it's just because it's a good fundraiser to make money or they enjoy large crowds of people, or they just absolutely.
I cannot imagine a better smell than fish batter and hot oil that no, actually we want people to come and to encounter something here. 

[00:34:48] Jim Jansen: Yeah. That's great. So, what are some of the other elements in your clear path to help people? Maybe let's look at the other end, you know, if you're, if you're like helping people see me.
Yeah. how to start conversations, see the opportunities in front of them when they're in kind of missionary mode. What about the other end? When people are, they're far from the Lord, they're not interested in churchy stuff. How do you connect with them? 

[00:35:14] Jake: Yeah. So that is the explicit purpose of the large group fellowship events that we're having.
And most of the time, actually all of the time in our family of parishes, we have very specifically chosen to not host these events at any church or church property. And we want to do that because the purpose, or at least the intended purpose of these events is to reach out to those people and provide them opportunities that maybe someone who hasn't been to mass in over 10 years, or maybe someone who, if they did get approached and invited to a weekly Bible study, they would say, absolutely not.
I'm not interested, you know, but if it's like, Hey, we're going out to. You know, this farmer's machine shed and we're going to eat barbecue and drink beer. We'd love to have you come. And then they're like, wow, actually, that sounds like a good time. And they show up and it's from there, you know, by no means is it like a hook, line and sinker.
But again, going back to that range ahead of time for those people that the Lord is going to allow you to encounter and praying that you can be attentive To, to kind of where they're at and what they need. Oftentimes people, even in just regular conversation will bring up things that frustrate them or that they're struggling with, or that they had a difficult time with.
And so again, just asking the Lord to help you recognize those opportunities. And so with these large group fellowship events, it's again, reaching out to those people that are not active, are not involved, are not even interested, or at least they don't know yet that they're interested in providing them that opportunity so that they can begin to make connections, foster relationships, and then eventually doesn't always happen in this way, but eventually Oftentimes, a person that who comes to two or three or 10 large group fellowship events, once they start to recognize faces and names of other people, and it's like, Hey, actually, we also have this weekly Bible study and we meet at the local brewery here.
Um, we just get together and we pray with the upcoming Sunday gospel, and we drink beer and that's what we do. And they're like, Oh, and then it's not so weird or it's not so overwhelming. Yeah. Brightening to them. And so, it kind of just helping provide opportunities for people to take those baby steps at a time.

[00:37:39] Jim Jansen: That's awesome. Yeah, because I was going to ask, like, what's, okay, what's next? You're like, making friends, hanging out with a guy, meeting people right where they're at. You're like, all right, let's have some barbecue. Let's, you know, have some food, have a drink, just hang out real casual. But, but it's like, it's in the context of that, that you can develop friendships.
And then from the friendship, you're like, hey, and we also have this other friend named Jesus, and uh, you're inviting them to that. How do people, when they, like, encounter the Lord, how do they grow as, uh, a Christian? You know, like, cause there's, there's stuff, like, there's, you know, Jesus changes the way we think, the way we live.
You know, we've got our little like kind of power sources in the sacraments. How do you help people move from being a, maybe like a, just a participant in a small group kind of passively? Like how do you help them begin to really grow as a very intentional Christian? 

[00:38:37] Jake: I would say that. When you notice a person say if it if it is in the example of a small group that maybe isn't participating as much or isn't speaking up or isn't sharing as much in the discussion, then maybe just finding an opportunity to ask them.
What were your thoughts on that or what, you know, what kind of stirs your heart with, with this concept or with this conversation, and it might be in the midst of that small group, it might be, you know, before or after what I have found personally to be very successful is for the people that are, are very much more introverted and more reserved and, and like to just kind of sit and listen, I've asked them, or kind of, I suppose, challenge them, To say, Hey, okay, you know, that we'll be meeting at this time, you know, Thursday evenings at 7pm at the brewery for this, for this small group, you know, what we're going to be doing content wise for the upcoming Sunday gospel.
So, saying, do you think that you could find five to 10 minutes and earlier in the week before Thursday gets here to just sit and read through it yourself. That way, when we get to the group, you already kind of have it in your mind. You've already kind of had a bit of an exposure to it. Oh, nice. And so, from there, really what that is, Hey, I'm challenging you to spend time in prayer.
And then once they kind of, obviously not saying it like that, maybe in some situations, but once that kind of starts growing and develop. Maybe it's okay. So, you take your five minutes on Tuesdays to spend time with a Sunday gospel, and you brought that with you to Thursday evening, small group. Awesome.
And then it's okay. Do you think that next week you could try 10 minutes or that you could do five minutes on Monday and five minutes on Tuesday, you know, and just kind of helping to walk with that person. Hey, I want you to spend time with the Lord. I want you to get to know the Lord, but I also want you to get to know these other guys or these other people.
And so, walking with them and helping to give them opportunities to grow, helping to encourage them, oftentimes a lot of people. I have found have at least some level of inner competitiveness. And so if you can bring Jesus into that and say, Hey, I challenge you to do this thing, whether it's praying a rosary or the scripture, whatever it might be one that provides you opportunity for accountability, but it also provides them opportunity to spend time with the Lord and.
And then from there, you also can follow up and say, how's that been going? What have you been learned? What have you been taking away from those times? 

[00:41:22] Jim Jansen: Yeah, Jake, I love it. Like none of this is rocket science, but it really is fruitful. I mean, you're just meeting people where they're at, making friendships, bringing Jesus along and challenging people to just.
just the next little step for their journey. Uh, I want to give you a chance, like, share some stories about some lives that have been changed and feel free to change the names if you need, right, to protect the, the innocent. But like, I want to give you a chance to share some stories of people's lives who've been changed by these, you know, simple gatherings, small groups.

[00:41:58] Jake: Sure. The first story that comes to mind, So I've been in this role, um, here in Cedar County since June of 2023. So, I've only been here for about eight months, but with our very first large group fellowship event, it was specifically a men's event. It was the event. I already kind of described earlier. It was Hey, we're meeting at this gentleman's machine shed.
We had roasted a whole hog. And so, we're having barbecued pork. And then we were having beers. And in that event, we had set it up to where we had two or three guys that are actively participating or even leading a weekly small group. To stand up, share just a little two-to-three-minute witness of why they do this small group and how it's impacted their life and their faith.

[00:42:43] Jim Jansen: Nice. 

[00:42:44] Jake: We had a gentleman that got invited to this event. He came and he also invited a coworker. This coworker was like, am I supposed to bring anything? Like, do I need to bring any food? How much does it cost? And this gentleman said, no, don't worry about it. Just come the foods there. The drinks are there, you know, just.
Just come. And so, he's like, all right. And he walked in and, and I think initially we could kind of tell he was a little bit timid because he didn't really know a ton of the people there, but we went on with the meal and with the drinks and with the witnesses. And at the end of that, once the, once those three young men had set up and shared their, their little two-to-three-minute witness.
This gentleman stood up and said, You know, I got invited to this by my coworker, to be honest, he didn't even know if I was Catholic or not, but he told me to come and I came and I just got to say that eight years ago this week, I lost my 16 year old daughter to a car crash. And for the last eight years, I've been angry.
I've been ticked off. I've been upset with God. I've. yelled and screamed and all the above. And he said, just in the last few weeks, I found myself asking myself, why am I so angry? Why haven't I been going to church? Why, why am I doing the things that I'm doing? And so, he already like the Lord, the Holy Spirit was already working in him before this event, but he just stood up and he shared that with us.
And he said, all I can say, gentlemen, is holy cow. And that was on a Thursday evening that following Sunday, he was back in mass. And he has faithfully been coming to every subsequent large group event that we've had. And I know from some of his other coworkers that I've gotten to know a bit in my time here that they're having conversations about things regarding the faith while they're at work together now.
And so, yeah, you never know that the way that the Lord wants to use you. Or the way that he wants to work in another person's life, but that's, that is, um, yeah, I would say the first example that comes to mind that I've firsthand experienced. 

[00:44:59] Jim Jansen: Jake, I love that story. I mean, it reminds me, you know, like I'm a nerd, so I was just like looking at some kind of evangelization stats yesterday.
But it's something like, there's a recent study that suggests, so this is amongst people who are not going to church, that almost 50 percent of them are interested in faith. They're interested in God. They're interested in spiritual matters. 

[00:45:24] Jake: Wow. 

[00:45:25] Jim Jansen: Almost 50 percent are, but they're not going to go to church to have that conversation.
Like they want to learn. They don't want to learn at a church event. They don't want to learn at a preaching event, but they are. Surprisingly receptive. Oh, yeah, I'd have a conversation with a friend about God. I'd have a conversation with a friend about spiritual matters. In fact, I want to. And you stop and think about it, like, 50%, that means like, one out of every two people you know that's not going to church, that's not interested, would love to have the conversation with you.
And some of them, some of them, God's already been working on their hearts. And, and they've got something like, I mean, yeah, maybe not the loss of a child, but they've got something in their life that they actually need to talk to somebody, and they need the Lord to enter in. Man, I love, I love that because the guy, the coworker who invited him had no clue, did he?

[00:46:19] Jake: Yeah, he didn't. They'd never talked about faith or about Jesus or about the church. And he really, like I said, he didn't even know if the, if the guy was Catholic or not. Yeah. And you know, in this situation, it turned out that he was, but. Regardless, you're right. He had his cross that he'd been carrying and really trying to carry himself for the last eight years.
Yeah. Just, just to see the, the growth and the peace that has come into that man's life has been such a gift. 

[00:46:46] Jim Jansen: That's awesome. Jake, I just want to give you one last thing, a chance. You guys have also used, you've used some like road trips. for lack of a better way to describe it. Some big Catholic conferences, um, some mission trips.
I just want to give you a minute to talk. You know, those are a little bit out of the ordinary. They're not quite as, as every day, but you guys have used those really effectively. Can you just talk a little bit about what you've done and how you guys use those trips to draw people closer to the Lord and to kind of kickstart their faith life?

[00:47:15] Jake: Sure. With, uh, with the trips, it is absolutely necessary as The family of parishes that if we want parishioners to go or to be interested in, in going on these road trips that we won need to be very intentional on inviting them, not something that's a flock note or a bulletin insert, not something that's even a text message or an email, but.
A real face to face conversation that says, hey, I'm going to this thing. This is what it's about. And I would love it if you would be able to come. 

[00:47:49] Jim Jansen: Yeah. It's got to be personal. 

[00:47:51] Jake: Right. And from there, you kind of let that invitation simmer, so to speak. And in the meantime, it's again, praying for them, praying for the Lord to work in their hearts, however he wants to.
And then, Really the only other practical step is trying to do whatever it takes to remove any obstacles or excuses that those people that you invite would have, you know, so sometimes if it's finances, figuring out ways to find donors and, and fundraising or, or different ways to help alleviate that financial burden for some people, or if it's, If it's a time commitment, trying to figure out ways and being creative in finding ways to help them to have the time freed up in their calendar and, you know, whatever reservations they might have about accepting these invitations, doing whatever we can to alleviate them so that they're no longer they're An obstacle.
And so, yeah, it's really about just providing the opportunity, being personal and intentional with making the invitation and then removing obstacles. All three above while praying. 

[00:49:00] Jim Jansen: Yeah. I mean, I know these trips have been, I mean just totally transformative for people. Why do you think they're so powerful?

[00:49:09] Jake: I think that it's, it's very powerful when you get people out of the norm or out of the, the rhythm that they're used to. I think a lot of people, you know, life gets busy. You kind of get into a groove. And when you're there, you know, you're doing the things you need to be doing on a, on a human level and taking care of those things, but really just being able to leverage these opportunities to break that groove, to get them out of that groove or, or to break the cycle.
And then. From there, it's, you know, whether it's a big conference or if it's a mission trip, or if it's a pilgrimage, once the people are there really trying to help them in whatever capacity you can to encounter the person of Jesus, and sometimes you, as the person who's inviting them, aren't going to be the one, because if it's a mission trip and they encounter Jesus in serving the poor, then man, sometimes that can be a radical life changing stuff for people.
And for some other people, it's pilgrimage. Our pastor led a pilgrimage this last fall in October to Italy and to Greece. And I know that one of the people on that trip there, their most powerful encounter was walking in and seeing the same cave that St. John the evangelist was exiled to on this island where he wrote the book of Revelation.
And so being able to, to encounter those places where the gospel really comes to life. Yeah. And so, I think it's, I think it's, there's different factors that play into why these opportunities can be so powerful for people. But I think fundamentally in all of them, it's that people are in a different context.
They're not used to being in. And because of that, because they're not comfortable, the Lord really loves to work in those spaces. 

[00:51:04] Jim Jansen: Yeah. Jake, our time is like totally flown here. I just wonder any, any closing thoughts just as, as people are saying like, okay, like how do we. And world context or not, just like, gosh, how do we evangelize?
How do we build a clear path? How do we help people just become disciples, actually have an encounter with Jesus, and then mature? Any final thoughts, encouragement for people? 

[00:51:28] Jake: My final encouragement would be to create opportunities and to create opportunities for people to encounter the Lord, create opportunities for yourself to encounter the Lord.
Keep it simple by that. I mean, it doesn't have to be any, anything crazy. It doesn't have to be a huge, massive event. It doesn't have to be Anything, keep it simple to, I desire to build friendships and, in those friendships, keep Jesus involved outside of that, no love and serve the Lord. Amen. 

[00:52:06] Jim Jansen: Thank you, Jake.
Thanks for your time. Thanks for what you do. I appreciate your sharing the stories. Uh, we will link to the, our Catholic family website. That's the website of the family of parishes there up in Knox and Cedar County, Nebraska. You guys have lots of good, good stuff on the website too. It gives people, people a little, a little feel for what's going on there.
Thanks for being with us, Jake. Thanks for listening to the EquipCast. We hope this episode has inspired you to live your faith and equip you to be fruitful in your mission. Stay connected with us by going to equip.archomaha.org. God bless and see you next time.