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The Art of Catholic with Matthew Leonard

140 Nine Kids, Foreign Missions, & Peace in the Midst of Pain

The Art of Catholic with Matthew Leonard

Matthew Leonard

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.9831 Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2024

⏱️ 112 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Give it 3 minutes and you won't turn it off. 

This is a truly powerful and moving story of a man, a woman, and bevy of children who live a life totally abandoned to God...even in the midst of gut-wrenching sorrow and suffering.

If you can listen without being inspired in some way, you may need to check your pulse. 

That's all I can say.

Matthew

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00:00 Encountering this Missionary Family 

04:01 Michael Henderson's Journey to Faith

06:54 From Baptist Roots to Catholic Discovery

12:31 The Struggle with Sin and Seeking Truth

20:29 The Eucharist: A Transformative Experience

34:54 Living Out the Faith After Conversion

41:07 The Call to Missionary Life

55:34 A Leap of Faith: Leaving Everything Behind

01:01:16 The Power of Community and Vocation

01:07:38 Miracles in the Mission Field

01:13:20 Facing a Crisis with Faith

01:21:23 Transitioning Back to the States

01:40:28 Living a Life of Mission and Service

About this Episode:

Surrendering to God's will is hard.

For most of us, it's a lifelong struggle to learn to let go of our own plans and embrace God's instead.

But that struggle is crucial - because the more completely you're able to abandon yourself to God's will, the more peace you'll find, no matter what your situation or circumstances.

No one knows this better than my most recent podcast guest, Michael Henderson...(you're gonna love this guy).

About ten years ago, Michael, his wife Veronica, and their (at the time) six, now nine (!!) beautiful children, discerned that God was calling them to a more radical surrender than most of us could ever imagine.

They sold their comfortable house and belongings in the U.S. and moved to Mexico, and later to Taiwan, to spread the Faith, all the while relying solely on God's providence for their livelihood.

And boy, did God ever provide.

Their story is one of miracle after miracle, conversion after conversion, and an ever-deepening, radical trust in God to "take care of everything," as the Surrender Novena puts it.

In this podcast, Michael shares stories like:

  • How God used a Taekwondo gym in the middle of Mexico to transform local families
  • The day his family arrived in Taiwan with no housing lined up, no money in their pocket, and his wife 2 months postpartum with their 7th child - and how God instantly provided for their every need
  • The very serious recent family crisis that has brought them to an even deeper peace and reliance on God.

I have to say, personally, that this episode was an emotional one for me.

In fact, I'll give you just 3 minutes of listening before your jaw hits the ground.

The beauty of this family's joy in every circumstance is undeniable, and I am honored to have had the opportunity to meet and become friends with Michael.

I hope this podcast moves you as deeply as it did me.

 

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is the art of Catholic.

0:05.7

Welcome to the art of Catholic, I'm Matthew Leonard and I'm not even sure how to start

0:17.0

this show to be perfectly honest in some ways because the story that I think that you're

0:21.4

about to hear I think is going to inspire you in ways that I can't even imagine.

0:28.2

Because it's already inspired me.

0:30.2

So let me start with a story.

0:32.6

A few months ago, I was at a conference

0:35.4

with my buddy's brand, Petri and Michael Barber,

0:37.4

in Louisiana.

0:38.3

I was a fullness of truth, conference,

0:40.0

great organization, check out their conferences.

0:43.1

And I met a family. you meet all kinds of people

0:46.3

at these conferences, right?

0:47.5

Lovely Catholics.

0:48.6

It's one of the greatest things

0:49.5

about being a Catholic speaker is you get to meet people.

0:52.2

Well, I met this family at breakfast,

0:54.5

and when I say family, I mean nine children,

0:57.8

and a wife and a husband,

1:00.4

and you look at these kids like,

1:01.6

lovely family, the oldest one is just getting ready

1:03.9

to go into college.

...

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