The Saturate Podcast

Tokyo has almost 40 million people and less than a quarter of a percent know Jesus. Sadly, 95% will likely never know a follower of Jesus their entire life. The need for the gospel to be planted is huge! Yoshito Noguchi moved his family from a comfortable existence and a very steady job as a youth pastor into the heart of Tokyo to start a new church. In this episode, Yoshi shares his journey with Jeff Vanderstelt, and all the struggles and joys that he encountered and the many ways God has been faithful. His is a journey of faithful trust and ongoing dependence on God. You will be encouraged and spurred on in your own faith journey and perhaps develop a passion for God’s work in Japan.

Leaving a steady career and moving a family to another country to start a church is no easy task. Atanasio Segovia did just that. In this episode, Atanasio shares his story and the story of Familia Soma with Jeff Vanderstelt. Atanasio shares the real struggles and how he has navigated through them, as well as the joy-filled breakthroughs. If you’re looking to be inspired and encouraged about how God is working in Mexico and through regular everyday people on mission, this episode is for you.

Craig Tuck and Clay Jernigan join Jeff Vanderstelt in this episode of the Saturate podcast. Craig and Clay are part of Mission Charleston, which exists to see churches and leaders collaborating together to love and serve Greater Charleston with the good news of Jesus.

Jesus loved Jerusalem and wept over her as He described the people there as a sheep without a shepherd. Jesus still loves cities and sends His people to care for the people in every city like He cared for us. Chris Gough has been working for many years in the greater Puget Sound region in Washington state and has many stories that will inspire you as you consider how you can pray for, serve, and share Jesus in your own context.

One of the ways Jesus taught us to create pathways for the gospel is through serving others like He served us. God loved us so much that He was willing to give His own Son for sinners. He became the Father to the spiritually fatherless. In this episode, Alison Martin, shares with Jeff Vanderstelt how she and others at Doxa Church have intentionally loved and served foster children, foster families, and foster care services to demonstrate the love of God in tangible ways. Alison shares many great principles that can be applied in any context and in many different forms of serving.

Like the previous two years, 2022 has been a mixed bag for many. Often we define our world by what’s broken or what’s been lost. We need to remember that the cup of sorrow can also be the cup of joy. In this episode, Jeff Vanderstelt takes some time to reflect on what God has done through Saturate this past year and looks forward with anticipation to another year of God’s faithfulness.

In the early days of Advent, we drive out to the Beck family farm to cut down a Christmas tree. Our only rule is it must be shorter than “Mom” so it will fit in our house. This rule is always disappointing, especially as you walk around towering and beautiful trees.

Many of us have come to believe that being needy and weak is a bad thing—even a sign of spiritual immaturity. As a result, we may have also come to believe that feelings are not good. In this episode, Jeff Vanderstelt makes a biblical case for the purpose of emotions and weakness to lead us to find our needs met in relationship with God and others.

Chuck Gschwend, spiritual director for the Saturate board and director of culture and spiritual formation at the Eden Project, joins Jeff Vanderstelt to talk about the importance of making spiritual direction a priority for healthy leaders.

Each of us has an image in our head of who God is. That image, however, has been distorted and leads us to interact with a false view of God. The true image of God is seen and declared through Jesus. That truth is: God is love. When we know this both intellectually and relationally, it changes everything. In this podcast episode, Nathan Wagnon, CEO of the new start-up The Eden Project, shares with Jeff Vanderstelt how everything hinges on our image of God being reformed through the ultimate reality that God is love.