377 | Crazy Blessed | Dr. Paul and Jennifer Osteen

So what do you do when you have a surgeon and a nurse and they get together and they have this heart of compassion to be the hands and feet of Jesus? I'll tell you. And also, you're going to find out how you can get involved in this, too. Stay tuned. Okay, guys, I am so excited because I have Paul Osteen, his wife Jennifer Osteen, and this is a beautiful surgeon nurse duo. But guess what? Their work is all over the world. And I am so excited to have them on and talk with what they're doing and, and also what we can do to really, you know, to be Jesus in this world. And so go ahead and introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about what you're doing and what's going on in your life. It's so good to talk with you.

Yeah. You want to start, Jen?

Well, let's see. So I'm a nurse. I don't practice right now, but I use my skills in other ways. I volunteer a lot. And then when Paul and I travel, I help him on the mission field.

Yeah. And I'm. I'm a surgeon. About 25 years ago, I was practicing, thought I was settled in my practice forever. And driving home from my dad's memorial service, I heard these three words, Hannah, give up your practice, move to Houston and help at your church. And you know what? They made no sense to my head, but it made perfect sense to my heart. We made that move 25 years ago. Not long after that, we were able to start doing medical missions. And for the last 17 years now, we've done medical missions three to four to six months a year.

Wow, that is so beautiful. You know, I need to camp out on this a little bit, Paul, because I remember hearing Joel share that story about how you just up and left practice and everything and decided to help out in the church. And, and I think the first step of any, any work that we do for the kingdom of God always begins with obedience.

Absolutely.

You know, and that, that hearing that, like, there's, you know, I like to be the. I compare myself. That person is like, okay, God, if you could, like, prove it with five signs and wonders, and I'm going to put out a fleece. And if you get like. And they're going to put out fleece, the. And then, and then if you could just like in three parts of the Bible, if you could confirm that. You know, sometimes we get into that mode where actually it's just operating in doubt. But when we hear the command of God or see it in his Word, which is his command, that obedience is so critical. Like, I'm sure you can look back and see how that was the one domino that had to be knocked down. So, so all of the other work that you're doing for God could be completed.

Yeah. You know, my dad used to say the Christian life is really all about listening for the voice of Jesus and doing whatever he tells you to do. I like the way I heard one pastor say it. He said, how can we follow a God we cannot hear? And so, and Jesus said, all my sheep know my voice. So I, I think, Hannah, what you say is critical is just to keep your listening ear open. And, you know, God hadn't spoken to me like that but one or two times in my life, but when he speaks, it's unmistakable, you know, without a doubt that he's speaking to your heart and he's speaking for you to take the next step. And I love what somebody else said. You'll never know what's beyond the one step of obedience. You'll never know what God has beyond that one step of obedience. And so you know what? It was hard at that time, but it, it, it, in certain ways it was hard. In certain ways it was fun, it was exciting. It was thrilling knowing that you, you, you were, you were in faith, stepping out, thinking that you heard God and, and, and just trusting him to work things out.

That is so beautiful. I like the word thrilling. Was it, was it just as thrilling for you, Jen, or is it more like kind of an upset stomach? A little bit. But what was it like for you with. When you had to make that move?

Yeah, I think it was, it was both. You know, we're fortunate that when God spoke to Paul, I felt that same impression.

Wow.

Separately. And so when Paul came to me and said, this is what I feel, I already knew because, and you know, I don't, I, I don't know if God always works like that, but for us, that was confirmation because that was a huge, huge, huge step we were taking because it. Shutting down, what we were doing there. We had lived there a long time and, and Piggy had been moving. So I think with obedience there's a supernatural peace that comes. So while it was a little. I had to leave friends, I had to leave, you know, we had just, it was a complete up. Upheaval, if you will. Oh, sure. So there were hard parts to it, but we had that supernatural peace inside. And, and that, I think that is when things get a little crazy on the outside. I used to say, I know That I know what he told me, so I'm just gonna stick with that until he tells me something different. And when we first moved to Houston, it wasn't all butterflies. And it wasn't. It wasn't easy for. For a while, actually, because we were a little in limbo. It's like, okay, God told us to come, but what are. What are we coming for? What are we coming to do? We didn't have all those answers. So sometimes, stepping out in faith, I only know a. I don't know BC I don't know where it's going. I only know the first step. And I love what you said. You said it was a domino effect to where we are now. Well, that's taken 25 years, but you're exactly right. I look back and think, oh, we. If we had never taken that first step, we wouldn't be where we are now. So.

Oh, it's kind of like Abraham, like, I want you to go, all right. Go where? No, just go. God. If you could just fill in a blank or two, that'd be really nice. But he's not obligated to, right? Because then if we could see all the way down. I mean, he says we can call the vision, but we can't always see it, you know, in the. In the natural realm. And so that step of faith, he. He's doing that for. Not just to reveal what he wants to bring about through our obedience, but also to work with us to build our faith. So I think it's that initial step where you don't have to have all of everything lined up, and it does have to make sense, and you don't have to see where you're going. You say, okay, I'll take this next step. And then all of a sudden, you hold your breath, you jump, and he's right there.

Always, always, always, always.

So what has it been? Form, clarity, like, your mission into the medical field. Like, how did you. Because I feel like, you know, here you are as a surgeon, nurse, like, practicing medicine and serving in the church, and all of a sudden, you find this beautiful place to marry these two colleagues on your life. How did that start to take form?

Well, I'll be honest with you, Hannah. It was several years that I just helped in the transition from my dad to Joel. Joel was learning to minister, and I was able to kind of hit up all the ministries and keep things kind of secure and stable at the church, and so.

And he had to be there to be the butt of all of his jokes, too.

Absolutely.

You know, I mean, we have to understand that that's a real calling as well.

Exactly. So anyway, but I get him back, trust me, when I have the opportunity. But I lost my train of thought. But, you know, you were there, you.

Were there helping like the transition and helping everything. You know, him as pastor and all of that for the first few years.

Yeah. And we had this explosive growth. I'm telling the church went from 6,000 to 20, 30, 40,000 people when Joel took over. So it was an amazing thing to watch God work and see so many people come to Jesus and so many people get helped. But during that time, I'd always kept up my licensure and my board certification and all my CMEs and all that thinking. I tell everybody it's like I laid my Isaac on the altar because I love surgery. But you know what? God gave it back to me a few years later. And when I found out that I was still very, very able to do surgery, it was like, Hannah, it's like I'd never left a day. And so anyway, God, it's like God gave Isaac back to me. And that kind of began the journey. We started for a six week trip and then we realized that when we go that long, we could really bless people if we stayed longer. And then we stayed up to four to five to six months. So.

Wow. So tell me what that was like. Like the, the trips and Winnie. So for anyone who's watching or listening, talk about those medical missions, people may or may not have been on that, but what is that like? If you could walk us through what it's like to be in a medical mission like that, going, going and serving for, you know, six weeks or so at a time.

Yeah, actually, yeah, six. Yeah, six weeks to three or four months. You know what it is for us, I felt like my niche. Hannah, there are all over the world, there are these Christian mission hospitals that have been there for 50 to 100 years. They're usually located in very remote areas where people have no care. Well, in those hospitals, a lot of dedicated African staff, but also often missionaries that are from other countries that need a break, especially the surgeons. So I feel like our niche is to go relieve those missionary surgeons so that they can have a break. So what it means day in and day out is that you meet at chapel at seven for devotions. In the morning, you see a bunch of patients in the, in the hospital, some in the clinic. And then generally every day, six out of seven days I'm operating. And usually they're 12 to 14 hour days, they're. They're very, very busy. But God gives you strength, and it's very rewarding being his hands and feet. And. And I like to tell people we don't have the latest equipment, we don't have the, you know, the fancy stuff over there, but if you take your five loaves and two fish and you put it in Jesus hands, it is amazing what he can do to feed the multitudes. It's amazing what he can do to. To. To bless your efforts.

Yeah, that's really all we need. I was talking with, you know, Dallas Jenkins, the. You know that the Creator of the chosen, and that is exactly what he said. He said, all I felt I have was just five loaves and two fish. And it just, you know, you just. You just yield what you have. He's not asking us to get the resources because he's the source.

Yep.

He's asking us to. Just like you did, both of you did. Being obedient to the calling of God on your life and bringing what you have. And think about it, what he said to Abraham, like, what do you have?

Yeah.

Nobody. To Moses, what do you have? To the. To the. To the woman, all she had was a little bit of oil in a jug. What do you have? So in. In all of those situations, he's like, I'm just asking for you to be a vessel so that now I can pour my glory through you to yield something far greater than five. I mean, look at what happened with five lose and two fish. Right?

Exactly. Yeah. You know, he'll never ask us for more than we have, but he does want what we have in our hands. And you. You mentioned Moses. I mean, what did Moses have? His hand. A stick. What did God do? He used it to deliver 3 million people. So just a quick story. A quick story. Okay.

I love stories. Yes.

About three months ago, I was in Zambia, working at a mission hospital in western Zambia, and this little lady very urgently brought in a young mom, brought in her child who had just been born with the intestines outside of the abdomen. It's not an uncommon. Not an uncommon thing we see, but it's very difficult to treat that in remote Africa because we don't have the special nutrition that those children need. You know, Hannah, what I did is I just did what I was trained to do. I operated on the child and put some tension on the abdominal wall, and a couple days later, I was able to close the abdomen. But we were not hopeful in the natural that this child would make it because we didn't have the special IV nutrition. But you know what? God was faithful, God was gracious. And, you know, about three or four days later, that child started taking some sugar water. Eventually we were able to give him some. The intestines started working. And about three and a half weeks later, that child was discharged. I saw the child a couple of times in the clinic afterwards. Healthy, gaining weight, thriving. And just a typical story. Not a typical, but a typical God story. When you do what you can and trust him to do what you can't do.

Wow, that is amazing. I have chills all over right now thinking about how God just shows up. He's never stopped being a healer. He's never stopped being a redeemer, a restorer. But he is. He won't do things apart from us. That's the beauty of it, you know. And so I love that, you know, you said yes to this call of God on your life. But I know that there are people today who are like, I want to do something for the kingdom. And I do want to recognize all the people who are right now doing something for the kingdom just in what they're doing in their own home, their workplace, showing up with. With a word from God, showing up with a kind heart, Showing up when you haven't slept and you're exhausted. Jen, you know what I'm talking about. Both of you guys know what I'm talking about. When, you know, as. Even as a parent, like, having that, whoa, when is it going to stop? It doesn't. But we keep showing up, and so we're all doing something for the kingdom right where we are. God wants to see us being obedient right where we are. But what about taking that next step? So what would it look like if someone wanted to be a part of this medical mission or, you know, to. To join in that, to help in any way possible. What would that look like?

You want to answer?

Well, I'll let you answer, but I did have this thought, you know, when we first went on the mission field, back and forth, we would take all of our children with us, and so we would travel, we would take our kids. I had that meant I had to homeschool so that I could do it here and then I could do it there. So we did that for years. And then we hit a season where I needed to lay back with our kids and let Paul travel alone. They were older, they were getting in, you know, high school, about to go to college. And I. I remember there was a part of me that I felt like, oh, I'M not doing anything anymore.

Wow.

You know, I was like, oh, yeah, well, of course, you know, and I very clearly, I. I felt like God spoke to me and said, no, you're doing exactly what I want you to do. And it allows Paul to be able to do what I've called him to do. And I'll give you back. You know, I knew God would give that back to me eventually, but then I just stayed faithful with what I was doing. And then opportunities started coming. I. I said, God, I still want to. I still want to do something. And. And he brought local opportunities for me. And, and so I always tell people, you might not can go, but what you're doing is a ministry, but there are opportunities all around you. You don't have to go across the world to serve. You can serve right where you are. And if that means just in your house, that's. That's good. That's what God's called you to do. But there are. If you have time, if you have, you know, you don't have to be in the medical field to serve.

Right.

Right.

To be willing and able. And like you said, bring God with you. You know, God is in us. We bring him with us everywhere we go. And a smile helping. So, you know, locally, there are so many ways with human trafficking, you know, refugee care, so just food, food pantries. There are just so many ways that you can give, and some don't take a lot of time, but you're giving, you're being a part of something bigger. I always think, you know, God's working all over the world and we're just a little part of what he's doing. But he needs all of us to do our part. Yes, people. So being the hands and feet of Jesus isn't just when Paul's over there operating.

Right.

That's huge. And that is big. And. And I feel like there are medical professionals who have time to do that. Maybe not the way we did it, but do you have a week? Do you have two weeks? Can you take a, you know, a couple of weeks in the summer, or are you retired? Can you take more time and go do it? You know, can you take a month? And so different seasons of life look different. It's just about, what do I have? Like you said, what do I have right now in my hands that I can give and where can I find the time to do that? And there's so many ways to get involved. And, you know, Paul and I knew that years ago. We said, okay, God, there's all this need that we see. And I'm gonna let Paul tell this story. And then we would come back after three months, four months. And there's so much, so many resources here.

Yeah.

And it. It almost would, you know, we just, like, how can that be, God? Like, how can you have. There's so little, and we have so much, and how can we bring that together? And, you know, God spoke directly to Paul, I think, on one of the trips back when we were flying people to tell that story.

Yeah. I mean, I was the only surgeon, qualified surgeon in an area the size of Louisiana.

Wow.

I fly back in 36 hours. There are 2500 doctors in one zip code in Houston. And, you know, God just said, what happens if you put the need with the. With the abundance? You know, because there's good people that want to serve. That was kind of the. The genesis or the beginning of our conference. But let. Can I just say one thing, Hannah, that you mentioned? I think people sometimes, and I was guilty of this, to divide our lives into the secular and the spiritual.

I don't think 100%. I know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, I was just as much a minister when I practiced surgery here in the US That I was doing what God called me to do. Jen was just as much before we went schooling our kids. And being a mom, that's a calling. I just think you have to be faithful with whatever God's put in front of you and do it, whether it's your job. Like you said, showing up with a good attitude, not gossiping, doing your best, doing it with excellence. I think, you know, the parable of the talents is what are your. What do you have? What has got entrusted to you, and what are you doing with those things? And the last thing I'll say is my dad raised us to believe that every believer is a minister. What? You know that out of Ephesians 4, 11, 12, it says that he's given us apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers, to prepare the saints for the work of the ministry.

Yes.

So I just feel like that's us. We all have something to do for the kingdom. And you don't have to go to Calcutta, you don't have to go to Africa. You know what you can in your neighborhood, in your own neighbors. That may be your mission field.

So anyway, that is so true. I remember one time I was going to speak at an event. I was so excited, you know, being able to share the word and. And got me a first class ticket, treated me right. And I'm sitting there in first class, so excited and looking at my notes. And I remember everyone boarded, and there was this one woman. She was the last one to board, and she had a disability. It was hard for her to walk. And she walked past me, and God alerted my attention to her, and I said, what do I need to do? He said, nothing. I said, okay, I. You know, I just lifted up a prayer for. As I. God, thank you, like, bless her and open up doors of favor for her. She walks back and. And it was a while. We weren't taken off yet. It was taking a while. And I overheard, okay, maybe I eavesdropped on two of the flight attendants, and they were talking, and they said, she can't. She says she can't sit in that seat. I don't know what to do. And God, I knew who they were talking about because God had called my attention to her. And I say, excuse me, is it that woman who was having a hard time walking? They said, yeah. I said, she can have my seat because there's more room at first class. And they're like, are you sure? I'm like, yeah, of course. You know. And so I traded with her. Of course, she had the last seat next to the toilet. And I won't tell you any more about that trip, but evidently people had to use the toilet in creative ways. So, anyway, so I'm. I'm there, and, you know, we find. We get to the. We land, get to our destination, and I was the last one to get off because I was the last seat on the plane, and that woman was still sitting there. And as I walked up, I saw that she was crying. And. And I. As I got closer, the flight attendant said, that's the woman right there. And she. She looked at me, and she said, when I got on this plane, I had no hope that God loved me or there was any love in this world. And she said, all of that was restored today. And I thought, what if that's the whole reason that I had the speaking engagement that I was on the plane. And I remember my prayers like, God, don't let me miss it.

Yeah.

To be whatever we need to be in whatever setting we're in. And that means if. If it's being a mom and having enough patience to get on the ground and play with toys for a little bit. You know, when you just want to crash on the sofa and scroll on the phone or that showing up to work and being diligent, even if you're disgruntled and. And if that means like giving up your seat or whatever that looks like. And it could mean flying off to another country and doing surgery or it could look like doing surgery and someone's heart right there where you are.

Absolutely.

And I just want to encourage everyone who's watching or listening, there is always an opportunity to serve and to show up for the least of these. Reach those people. And I want to thank you for being on and I also. Don't you have a conference coming up?

We do. It's called the Mobilizing medical missions conference, February 16th and 17th at Lakewood in Houston, Texas. And it's just geared to people who have an interest in global, global health in any way. It can be, you can be a doctor, a nurse, you can be in the healthcare professions. You can be a plumber, a mechanic, an I T, a business person. Everybody's gifts are needed to, to do world evangelism. So I, I would encourage anybody. You can find out more@m3missions.com if anybody's interested. But we'd love to say one more time.

I mean we'll put it in the show notes but definitely say it one more time. So anyone, if they're listening right now, they can go there right now. M3missions.com M3missions.com Paul Jen, thank you so so much for hanging out and and everyone like check it out right now because all gifts matter and bless you and everything that you're doing. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Hannah, thanks so much for having us.

Oh, you have blessed this time. And I know when people get involved in anywhere that God is calling them, their life is blessed to be blessed like crazy.