 Hello everybody welcome back to another episode of Anabaptist Perspectives. I'm here with Merle Weaver we're in Five Pointville, Pennsylvania at your local fire company here and you've been involved in various emergency response services for a number of years. Tell us a little bit about that like what's your involvement been and then also some people have raised concerns that maybe this is could be a negative influence on our Anabaptist people if they get involved in these kinds of things because you know because of the secular influence. Just talk talk through some of that and tell some of your story. I got involved in emergency services as a young man. I believe I was 17 years old when I first got involved. Been involved off and on for most of my life. EMS, fire, search and rescue, various things like that. The reason I got involved was in fact to serve my community to the way I like to say it is show Jesus naturally over the years I've related very much to that concern about the world influencing us and changing us versus vice versa us changing the world. I think if you study the New Testament you'll see time and again you're the light of the world you're the salt of the earth the city said on it can't be head you don't put it under a candle stick or I might say back along the lane sometimes I'm not against living back along the lanes but you got to get out there where the world sees you. So another place it says be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good that's a mandate it's not an option it's not elective it's not if we do this it's how we do it and so certainly there's not the only way to do it there's lots of ways to do it but this is the way that I've chosen it has worked really good for me. One of the things I would recommend in communities that have a lot less of Christian presence and Anabaptist presence is to actually have a buddy a buddy system in the fire service when we go into a burning building something like that we train much on a physical buddy system but I would recommend a cultural a spiritual buddy system because two are better than one and you can hold each other accountable you can encourage each other things like that especially for somebody that's weak in the faith that's struggling to know that's sort out life there is a depending on the community depending on the fire department emergency service there are a lot of influences and as a father I would not just indiscriminately throw my youngsters to that without some sort of support mechanism in place having a privilege of serving in a community with a lot of conservative cultural values a good number of the volunteers here on our local fire department are actually horse and buggy men and I in fact sometimes I'll roll the truck and I'll be the driver and between my sons and the rest of the crew it's either them and the horse and buggy men and that's all getting the equipment out so it's a unique scenario not every community has that privilege but it is a blessing and it's a place to also you meet people on their worst days and so that's the best time to showcase faith because nice Sunday sunny days in June on a Sunday school picnic are great but they don't really demonstrate what faith is and sometimes the greatest light being less shine is actually what you do with your company when the chips are down out like they say when things are all against you and then they get to see what's really inside and so I really recommend it and enjoy it actually enjoy both the the service part and also the part of getting a chance to share from my heart what's important to me and so you're already touching on this but practically how is this a service to your community I mean it seems pretty obvious that houses on fire say and you go fix the problem but dive into that a little like actually is this a real legitimate way of serving our community because maybe there's other ways too so the other ways I'm not going to comment on a lot maybe we could touch base but there's plenty of other ways one of the message I would want to say is this not the only way we all know that but this is a way and I think a good way because back to what I said a moment ago the pressure's on your meeting people on their west days and so I'm going to give two points there the first one is I was approached here by the fire department to help because daytime calls they were really having a problem getting their equipment out again everybody's busy today people go here and there and everywhere and so daytime's people aren't around you know it's not like yesterday when everybody worked on the farm and again we had horse and buggy people that could were very good firefighters but couldn't drive the equipment so they had to have somebody in that classification it really does feel like you're needed when if you don't show up potentially the truck doesn't get out the engine the tanker whatever the equipment is that really makes you feel like you're counted and needed it's not like well somebody else would have done it the other Sunday morning is a case in point I was in the local area that we got dispatched for a house fire and no other driver showed up and so and that was for two pieces so at least got one out I know so just say that again so you had two two engines going right engine in a tanker engine in a tanker and you showed up and you were the only driver that's right so you only rolled one that's right but at least we got one piece out wow and that could make a difference another episode comes to mind another story was a cardiac arrest actually call and middle night of course you wake up out of a dead sleep run run run get there as fast as you can sometimes you're running kind of like a machine because it's like really tough to go from dead still to doing CPR you know but that particular night the the the lady passed away I believe she was in her late 60s early 70s and this was this man's wife you know it was his life companion and to be there and I just felt this little nudge in my heart why don't you go offer to pray with him and yeah it was a little test to do that in my gear professionally and all that but I did do that and it really developed a connection with that fella you know he felt like he wasn't worthy he hadn't been going to church all these things but on his worst day somebody was there to say God is good he loves you he has a plan for you maybe this would be a good time to turn back to him and so you don't get an opportunity like that every day of the week you have to be there on their worst days to do that and you must have really internalized why this is important because you have been so deeply involved with this for quite a number of years when did you first join the service so like I said I was 17 I first joined the local ambulance corps and have been involved off and on over the years for about 10 years I was out even though my heart was still there raising a family I wanted to be there for them and as soon as my boys my oldest son turned 14 and we could do it together then we joined back in that's that's really yeah because I want to do it with them and lead by example and so when you invest that kind of investment because it really is a significant investment when you sacrifice that kind of sacrifice it's impossible not to think about it yeah there's times when you you know want to throw the pager through the wall and it's not you wouldn't have to go but you know you have to go you can't just say well you know what I'm gonna eat supper tonight I'm gonna have my holiday meal because they can their barn can just burn you can't do that yeah because you would have to live with the results and it's your own community you live in in a way you're just actively continuously having to lay down your own life it is it really is that wow and more so for a family man I noticed the difference between me and my sons they how they tend to enjoy it more they don't have the pressures of family so it's not as much a sacrifice for them but after you've done it 1015 plus years the novelty wears off the weight of doing your job well not messing up the responsibility of making sure everybody comes back it weighs on you and the the thrill comes way down and the service and sacrifice and responsibility goes up talking about family and then the next generation your son's coming on how do you take the values you've developed with this and then pass it on to the next generation and show them okay we're sitting in a fire hall with all this neat equipment the cool trucks and we're putting out fires right in the adrenaline and you can get a little bit that quote cowboy feel almost and approach it with I would say the wrong motives how do you teach to approach it with the right mindset of service so two things come to mind the first is the age old saying more is caught and taught and so being there together they see and they learn the other one is from the Old Testament says where you sit down when you rise up by the way and you really get opportunities that are amazing we usually as a family debrief our calls debrief meetings debrief debrief activities if I'm not there I always I try to be there as much as I can but let's say I missed an event always sit down with my boys how did it go what happened let's work through this case in point there was a member of our company here that was struggling with some things and I took my boys aside and I said boys I don't want you to mock this guy I don't want you to make light or make a joke because I said how would you feel if down the road that guy was depressed and took his life and you could have been part of the solution instead of the problem and they really took that to serious today their friends they took it to heart and he you know in this case seems to be doing well those are important and there's so many teachable moments like that to be the solution we see things fire companies are made up of real people with real issues politics agendas you know how Jesus talks about the Prince of the Gentiles struggling for one opsmanship and this thing happens with real people there are wonderful teachable moments to say this is not how we do it you learn about you come you do take that mind that was in Jesus you take the low way you serve and then if there's advancement you give God the glory it sounds like what you're laying out the motive being very important approaching this as not gung ho and the adrenaline rush and the I'm sure those elements are just naturally a response of some of these things but that's not what it's about and honestly if that's all it's about you will wear out and a couple years will go by and it'll be all over because you'll get offended somewhere something will burn you out so you have to have something more sustaining to keep you engaged what would you say to someone watching them or listening to this that's interested in getting involved in their community in this way what should be the next steps and and what's some ways they can walk it that's glorifying to God respectful to their church and their culture and their values and and their families as well as you said you have a family actually all those things fit together really nice before I answer that question I want to say one thing and that I didn't mention previously another reason I really like being involved in emergency services is you have your finger as it were on the pulse of the community you actually know what's going on you know in and out because you're there and it does allow relationships and even connecting privately personally off off the clock I mean it's not a clock but in what personal ways people recognize your face they know oh they've seen you here they've seen you there even though you got your gear on your helmet and stuff you're still real person and sometimes while you're waiting for the electric company to come you have conversations so having said that you used the word earlier cowboy actually freelancing cowboying is actually believe or not very detrimental in the fire service if someone just goes out and does their own thing the whole team can have to make up for it that's on the fire department side well same thing is true of our churches and communities do it together find a buddy if you can you know if you're a younger person talk to your leadership don't just forge out there have your back covered because you might need it right now you might think I don't need it one day you're going to need that whether it's a spiritual accountability whether it's to be there for you on a very bad day which could happen if you're married absolutely absolutely make sure you and your wife on the same page because she is going to have to sacrifice done deal period full sentence it's going to be you got to be together it's going to strain your home yeah buddy system together I really like it when churches can have at least a handful of men I know on a Sunday morning if you're in the local community that is a real bother to a Sunday morning church service if you get a call but usually Sunday mornings are quiet you don't get that many maybe not everybody but hey even everybody you know there's here and there I've heard of churches where most of the church takes off and that's okay it shows the community we we're here to serve but at least a handful is really nice I don't like as much to see just one guy out there especially if you have a culture of some not here we don't have it so much but some body departments kind of this hanging out culture I feel like it's very dangerous one guy out by himself that's kind of the enemy's way separate a sheep and get them off so I like to see a together I definitely connect make sure you have a blessing to go forward pull together if you don't have it keep working until you get it on the other hand do it well do it very well commit take the training set a standard for excellence it is a bad testimony to Christ and you almost can't really realize this till you get inside the fire service when Christians are the low level they don't do stuff good and allow everybody else to do the job well they should set the standard for excellence they should do it well with all their might they should adorn the doctrine of Jesus and by the way it's a decorate it's a gospel Christ we do it well I really like how you're practicing that is not individualistic it's it's community family churches working together yeah that's really powerful and a little confession or admission I do have some leadership responsibility in our local assembly and yes I do exert that influence I love to get people involved on the other hand I don't put it into pressure it's a free will choice and there's many other ways to serve God serve the community and in our assembly we don't all go on a Sunday morning quite a number of us that's wonderful thank you so much for taking the time to share and also for your service here in this local community welcome yeah thank you