Wherever there are shadows, there are people ready to kick out the darkness until it bleeds daylight. This is Bleeding Daylight with your host Rodney Olsen.
Welcome. As you enjoy this episode of Bleeding Daylight, please remember that there are many more episodes at bleedingdaylight.net. Please connect with Bleeding Daylight through social media. Are there people you encounter every day that you just don't see? Today's guest will encourage us all to see the unseen people around us. My guest today believes that God calls us all to live a life of purpose. Her book Unseen People: Sharing Light and Life with Your
Neighbors and the Nations, tells many stories of people who are normally unseen, overlooked, outcast or live on the margins of life. I'm so pleased that she's joining me today on Bleeding Daylight, and I look forward to hearing some of the stories from her book. DeAnna Lynn Sanders, thank you so much for your time today.
Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
Your book didn't quite start out as a book did it but rather a group of individual stories that you've collected along the path of life? When did you begin recording some of these life stories?
Well, it was about 2011. Actually, it's been a while ago, I started a blog and just started writing out some of my memories from growing up, as well as some opportunities that I've had to connect with people throughout life. And wherever God had taken me. Over time, I began to see a theme, a common thread that showed about how interacting with people. And the unseen people that you just
described are the ones that got it put in my path. So I thought I want to save these. And I want to put them in some type of form that I can share with others. And so that's how this book came about some of those stories or blogs, and some of them were not, but it all kind of fit together under this theme of unseen people.
You've lived what many would consider to be not so much a normal life, but a very interesting life to this point. Anyway, tell me a bit about how you've seen life over the years.
Well, yeah, I grew up a preacher's kid, and south Arkansas, of all places. But it was there in my home where my pastor father, he was very passionate about reaching people locally and globally. And he would preach, Go into all the world and share the
good news. And so I got that from my father, from my mom, she was the person in charge of mainly women's missions organizations in our churches, and she would have people into our homes and, and I would hear the stories about people near and far who were sharing life with people that were normally not seen. And so I started absorbing all of that. And that's kind of how it was birthed in my heart. And in my mind,
a long, long time ago, when I was a little girl and just kind of grew up that way. Over time as opportunities got put in my path to travel a little bit in our in the States as well as other countries. That passion within me grew, it was into a calling to share life and light with people. My first experience was to go from south Arkansas to Washington, DC, when I was 19 years old. And that was a while ago, it
was quite the contrast in culture from where I was to where he sent me. And I began to see people in a new light. And it was through that summer that I thought this is this is more than just a summer experience. It was a lifetime calling. I said yes to whatever doors and paths open to me went on and got education in communications primarily. But I wanted to combine my love for writing and my with my
love for sharing God's truth with people. And so I kind of put those two callings together. And that's that's how that happened. I'm still doing that today. It's not exactly how I thought it would look. I didn't go and stay in one country for all my life. But I have gone to lots of places to see lots of people, man and I'm glad that that's how that worked out for me.
And I'm sure it's that same mission or heart shall we call it that desire to reach out with that good news to many people is probably the thing that opened your eyes to keep an eye out for who the people are around you and who those unseen people are is. Is that really what has driven you over the years?
Yes, honestly, I was ready just to go and stay in wherever God sent me away from the States, I had that heart for the nation's. That's not necessarily how it worked out. It was some of that. But it's also right here at home. People would ask me, Don't people
need to know about God here? And I go, absolutely. Why don't you tell them and I'll just go. So that's what I wanted to do. But as life began to go with marriage with children with different callings that my husband had, and it ended up being that I had to stay here,
With the ease of transport these days, and the fact that many people move countries, I suppose that the nations are coming started looking at that what what can I do here locally, that can reach the nation's, I began looking for those people around me and living in a small town where the southwestern part of the United States, lots of people kind of types of people weren't in my
neighborhood. But people with needs were. And sometimes they looked like me. But it didn't matter. They still had a name, they had a problem, they had somebody who needed to be heard and seen. And sometimes they were my neighbors, they were just right next door. And so I embrace that calling
as well. And I desire for people that are listening to this, who may read my book that they're calling doesn't have to be to lots of different people, it can be right next door, it can be in the grocery store, it can be in the soccer game with the you go in tune with your children. The point is to have eyes to see people wherever they are, we all want to be seen and heard and loved. And that's our calling as believers is to see those people and share the love of Jesus with them.
to us. So even with a heart for the nations, there are people from right around the world in our neighborhood. If we look for them out there,
Yes, there isn't. I like to walk in. That's my form of exercise, as well as clear in my mind. And I live in a fairly comfortable nice neighborhood in Montana, I'm not expecting to see different people. But one day was I was out walking, I saw a man who was out walking to and he I can definitely tell was not from my part of the country. He most likely was from a Southeast Asian country. And
then right next door to him were people from another Asian country. So it's like, yeah, they are here, even in my small town, they come for a variety of reasons are there for work or for family, or just to you know, have a new life away from wherever they were coming from? So yes, very clearly. So they are there, you just have to have the eyes to see, you know what I think that starts with, however you start
your day, if you ask God to open your eyes to see people, he will, he will show you they're already there. It's just the vision to see them. That's the discipline part of having eyes to see, I think,
I suppose it is one thing to start seeing those unseen people, those people that are normally on the margins that are normally rejected by the wider society as well. It's one thing to see them. But then it's another thing to let them know that they've been seen, because as you say, we all strive and we all desire to be seen to be recognized. How do we start actually letting people know? You're seen? You're heard? I'm here?
Yeah, I believe it starts with a name. You know, the name that we're given. It's our identifier. It's who we are. And we like for people, we'd like to hear the sound of our name we just all do. I started intentionally trying to learn people's names that I run into in the grocery store, or in the restaurants that I frequent. If they don't have a name tag on our servers, or whoever is helping us I
ask them their name. Almost always, they're willing to tell me and just kind of light up when you say their name. I try to find those same people in places that I go. So over time, you know, it's not just a name, it's a relationship. And it does take time, but it takes intentionality, to let them know your name as well. And almost always, people will respond. If you ask them. How can I pray for you? It
doesn't mean you have to pray for them right there. But you can, but most people will share their name and they will share how you can pray for them. And those two things combined, lets people know that you care about them as a person, not just as somebody who is helping you or somebody that Jesus happened to see. But there are people that God is putting your path on purpose.
Tell me a story or two of someone that you notice that no one else seemed to and what sort of change did it seem to make for them?
Well, there's a couple that come to mind. One of them is just a neighbor next door. It's not that people didn't know him, but he was just kind of a guy who blended in, we get to know each other through our dogs and in the backyard that we shared at the fence line that we shared and our dogs got to know each other. And over time, we got acquainted whether it was out, you know, taking our trash
carts out to the street at the same time or, or pulling out of our driveways. At the same time, I knew that he was single, I knew that he's divorced, and his family didn't live close by. But just through the conversations, we get to know each other. And one day we were out. And I noticed that he had a big patch on his eye. And I asked him if he was okay. And he said that he had had surgery on it i and he was about to
go and have surgery on the other one. And that was the last we saw of him. It wasn't too much longer. A week or so later that my husband I saw his obituary in the local paper. Like I had no idea that he was going through such trauma like that, but was glad that I had opportunity to
connect with him. But lesson learned that it could have been a deeper relationship. And I think that challenged me as I was thinking through those moments that were shared, that I could have done more, I could have invited him to her home for a meal with my husband and I we
could have made a deeper connection other than just out on the driveway, but grateful that we get those opportunities. I think another one that I'm thinking of is there was just one particular day that I had gone to the grocery store, and this particular place, they still bag your groceries. I know that's not always things people do anymore. But a young man named one was bagging my grocery. And he was a talker. He
just talked and talked. And it just didn't matter at that little time from the grocery store to my car, found out a lot about him and about his family and about his children. And once again, I'd learned his name, I learned how to how to pray for him, then very next thing is I went through a drive thru and get a fountain drink. And the guy who's serving me, his name was John, he served me my drink. And I just
disconnected with him for just a second. But just to say thank you, and use his name, he just lit up over time, I get to go through again and get to see him again. And he would recognize me. So it was just that few moments of connection that he would knew that he was seeing and not just serving somebody and drink. And then the same thing happened at a restaurant that are frequent with some friends. And her name was Julie
and she was my server and like I had mentioned before I got to know her. And one day whenever my friends left, and I was I was had not left yet she came back to my table. She recognized us as as women of faith because we had prayed over our food. And we had taken out her bibles to do a Bible study together. And she came to me and shared a very personal prayer request. And she knew that I would pray for her. And
I did and I still see her. And I'm really actually I'm going to the same place again today. And I hope to see her again today so we can catch up. So it's just a matter of taking time to see those people that are not just serving you and helping you but are actually people who God loves as much as he loves me and has a plan for them as well. There's a lot of other stories, those are just a few local ones. It's just an
everyday experience as I leave in prepare my heart to see those people. And that's what I challenge others to do as well. It's
an interesting perspective that most of the time we go through life and there are our neighbors, and we might connect with them or people at work that we might connect with. But most of the time if if we're just going to the local supermarket, or we're going to sit down for a meal, it's almost like those people are there to perform a function. And that's it. How important is it for us to say, yes, they're performing a function. But there are real people that need to be seen.
Absolutely. I mean, those that person I just mentioned, Julie at the restaurant, she had a child, a daughter, who was who was struggling with the with the move they had just made to our little town and very real concern. As a mom, she had to work a lot and I invited her to come to our church and she had to work on Sundays. And just a lot of details like that I learned about her that she very much
ahead of life. She was struggling to make ends meet as a single mom. Guts created her. he values her and her life and has given her opportunity to be in this world, just like I am. So yeah, they're very real people with very real struggles. It just takes time to look up from your phone or stop your conversation with your friends. Or just take a moment. It doesn't have to be a long conversation. But just thank you and
use their name. I hope you're having a good day. something I can do to pray for you about just a very simple, it doesn't have to be a big deal. But it does have to be intentional, as we mentioned, to see them, and it takes them a bag. Sometimes it's like, oh, you're asking me about me not about what I can, if I can bring you more coffee, it's an opportunity to see them, you will see a visual change on their
face, that they just slide up that they are actually seen. And I can use their name, it's been fun to do that. They don't always remember to do it. I mean, yeah, there's, there's times that get caught up in what I'm doing. But the times that that does happen, I'm so thankful that I did it, that I had opportunity just to connect with him for just a moment.
You've mentioned a number of times the difference that it makes when we hear our own name when someone calls us by name. And I can see that that's important when you see that name tag, or you ask someone their name, and you call them by that name. How much more does it make someone light up when the next time you walk in, you greet them by name so that they know you are remembered?
You know, it starts with that name starts with that connection, but it turns into something more. Like I said, I'm actually going to that restaurant later today. And I there's several people that we have befriended my friends and I through the last few years that we've been doing this, I can't wait to see them and catch up with what they're doing. There's, there's a variety of different
stories in their lives that are ongoing that I want to hear about. They see me they greet me, at first, they probably thought I just was doing that to get you know better service from them. But that's they know now that that's not the case. They take time. Sometimes it's not even people that should be in our area to come serve us. But they do. They take time to come over and catch up with us to they're
interested in knowing how we're doing it say it's turned in from just somebody bringing me coffee or water. It's somebody who is a real person with a real life that we're connecting with. Over time, we get to share a little slice of life just right there at our table,
You're mentioning a number of the instances in your own area, which actually gives us hope that we can do this in our own area wherever we live. But there are many of your stories that are drawn from right around the world. You've you've traveled extensively. What does it take to actually notice people in those other places around the world, when you're unfamiliar, you're not walking into a familiar place, when you're seeing the unseen there?
Well, that's a little challenging, because I'm naturally an introvert. And I decided that that God had a sense of humor to put me on a big plane with lots of people and get me to the other side of the world with even more people in crowded countries. So my natural instinct would want to be to withdraw, find my safe look, cocoon and not even interact. But that's not what I went to around the
world to do. It was a it was going to see those people in crowded airports, all the way to places in the mountains of Indonesia, where I sit on the floor of someone's home, and drink their strong coffee is opportunity to see people face to face in their own environments. And I think that takes even more, it's more of a challenge. It's not that it's more important, it's just different than from your own
neighborhood. You understand the culture here, you don't understand the culture in other locations. So that is that is a challenge all by itself. All of those challenges aside, people are just people, and whether they are trying to get from one location to the other in an international airport, or if they are just wandering the paths in their their mountain homes and, and whatever country I'm in, they're
just people and they once again need to be seen, they need to be heard. They need to know that they are of a person of value, not just to me, but to the Creator, that they may not even realize how valuable they are. So yeah, getting past those hurdles of language and food and different sights and smells and all the things that are international travel. The challenge there is to understand it, absorb it, enjoy it, and connect with people wherever God puts you.
Food is certainly one of those great things that does help connect us and you mentioned before about inviting someone for a meal and and when we invite people into our hospitality, it does signify something. But you touched on something there that I think is very important too. And that is accepting the hospitality of others even when it's not your normal way of things. It's that strong coffee or it's that
food that's just a little bit different. How much more important is it that we accept the hospitality of others when it's offered?
oh gosh, I think that's huge. And it puts you in a different position. Whenever you are the guest in someone else's home, I worked for a nonprofit in Indonesia and had lots of opportunities to go into the homes of women who had invited us in and
just sitting on mostly was sitting on their floor. And just being with them, of course, I would have to have an interpreter. But that just those moments of them understanding that I was there at the invitation of our hosts, and I wanted to be there, I wanted to be in their home. And that was very unusual in some of these rural locations that they don't see folks like me come into their homes and just that
opportunity to make a connection across cultures like that. It's very humbling. It puts you in a position of accepting their graciousness, understanding that the way that they show hospitality is by serving me, and I wanted to be there to serve them. So it puts you in a in a in a different situation than you had expected. It's not rocket science. It's just been there. It's just been in the moment, drinking that very
strong Sumatran coffee and eating their snacks that they prepared just for me. And just in those moments being to be able to connect, you know, mom to mom, or grandmother to grandmother. And just to share those moments and learn their names, I would try to write them down to medical journals, so I could remember their names and be able to carry a little bit of their life back with me. Just priceless,
priceless people, but priceless moments just to be able to share that together. Over time, we'd go back to the same places and visit the same groups of women. We kind of built a little bit of a bond and they were happy to see me when I came back. The answer to your question is I just that word being being humbled being the ability just to be there not not try to have all the the answers to their needs, but just to be there for them and let them know that they are seen and heard and loved.
There are many stories in your book. And I know that this is one of those difficult questions like you know, pick your favorite child. But is there a favorite story that really stands out for you that you've been able to share through the book?
Oh, wow. Yeah, well, that's a hard question. But a good one. I think that there's there's one that back to the one of those homes in Indonesia. And the way this situation worked, I would go and stay for a few weeks in the country, and then come back and then go again. So I wasn't there all the time. And not long enough to really learn the language, but enough to be able to greetings and all those
types of things that I learned a few words. But I was sitting in in a woman's home. And I was struggling to to be able to understand what she was saying. And I had an interpreter. And finally she just asked how many times have you been to my country. And I told her and she said, you should know my language. But now and the oh my goodness, I don't know, I don't know your language, but understand how
important language is to a culture. And I was once again humbled because she put me in my place a little bit. But I wanted her to understand I was there because I wanted to be able to to hear her in her situation and help in ways that our organization could, but not enough to know her language. So it challenged me to do better at that to be able to connect with people to learn the language and to go beyond just the basic
readings. I never did get very good at it honestly did not. It challenged me to understand how important language is food is like we just mentioned, understanding how their families work, all those things that are important to us. It's important to them as well. So yeah, there's a lot of stories in there. I have stories about a friend in Bangladesh. We met on a bus just traveling to where to her location
in the country. And of all places getting to know a woman on a bus that grew into relationship we stayed in contact we still do after all these years and that was probably 15 years ago. Just that encounter with her was worth getting over to the other side of the country and being on that bus and getting to know her we we actually went to visit in her home several times and she ventually moved to
England but I visited in her home there as well. You just don't know where God will take you when he does taking up ready to go and learn. meet somebody on a bus or talk with someone in their home and drink their coffee. feet, it has been an amazing adventure for sure. There's a lots of stories I'd love to tell. But not all of them are in this book, I'm still I'm still gathering stories as I go, but fun to be able to share those with people.
I do love that story that you shared of the woman who challenged you about learning the language, because it starts to tell us that we're not to see these unseen people as as a project as a just people for us to reach out to as if we've got the magic formula, so to speak, but rather, to allow God to teach us through these people that can be overlooked or outcast, or who live on the margins of life.
And that's, that's a beautiful thing for us to be humbled by that and to to learn from those that are normally unseen, as well as Yes. Is that been your experience throughout many of these stories?
Oh, for sure. I definitely don't go in thinking that I can save the day, I was equipped with help through the organizations that I served with or with my church, in some cases, it's humbling, it's overwhelming. It's all of those emotions and senses that you feel come to the top and overflow in situations like that. Sometimes you feel frustrated you feel why can I do this better. But
every single time I know that God uses my vulnerability to be in those places for that particular person at that that particular time. The challenge to me personally was just to keep going and keep doing what God has called me to do with those times. I hazard to say that I didn't get it right. Any of the times I did answer the questions, maybe I needed to answer I didn't be a lot of those things that they thought that I was
going to be for them. But I was I was there in the moment, very dependent on God to show me how to maneuver those difficult new culture situations. But if as I learned to relax and just to concentrate them on, on them as a person, I get less fearful of being in those places. But it took some time. It's not something I learned right in the beginning is very awkward. And like I say, I'm very humbling in some of
those early on. But as I continue to go and not just gain confidence but gain the assurance that is I walked into those places God had gone before me and prepared the hearts of people. I just got to be in the moment and enjoy it
is a challenge in there for all of us and I know that many people are going to enjoy reading that book and take something from it and seeing people sharing light and life with your neighbors and the nation's Deana if people are wanting to read your blog posts or to get hold of the book, where's the easiest place for them to find you?
I've got all of that information on my website. It's deannalynnsanders.com. I have a weekly newsletter that I put out every Wednesday is called A Good Word Wednesday, and there's opportunities on that website where you can subscribe and get that but yeah, all that information is there at deannalynnsanders.com actually have a little ebook that I can send to people when they sign up about
how to show people that they are significant seven steps to do that and and I'd love to share that with people.
I will put links in the show notes at bleedingdaylight.net so that people can connect with you more easily. But Deanna, it has been a delight to speak to you. So thank you so much for your time.
Thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure.
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