What if God is already speaking – long before we arrive with answers?

In this episode of God Conversations, Tania Harris sits down with hospital chaplain Matt Sanders to explore what it really means to listen for God in the lives of everyday people. Not in church pews. Not in polished testimonies. But in hospital rooms, juvenile detention centres, moments of grief, fear, and profound vulnerability.

Matt has spent decades at the coalface of human suffering – first as a chaplain in juvenile hall, and more recently in hospital and hospice settings. What he’s learned overturns one of our most common assumptions: that spiritual conversations require religious language, right beliefs, or even a belief in God at all. Instead, Matt describes chaplaincy as a ministry of presence – the disciplined art of showing up, slowing down, and truly listening.

Join the journey to hearing God’s voice. Start your free 7-day God Conversations devotional today! https://www.godconversations.com/god-conversations-devotional/

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Equip your church to hear God’s voice. Join our community of ministry leaders for monthly insights and a free preview of 50 Days of God Conversations resource. https://www.godconversations.com/50days/

What if God doesn’t need us to bring answers – but to pay attention?

In this episode of God Conversations, Tania Harris speaks with Rev Dr Ash Barker, whose life and ministry have been shaped by listening for God among the urban poor. From Springvale in Melbourne, to Bangkok’s largest slum, and now inner‑city Birmingham, Ash has spent decades learning one core truth:

God is already at work.

Our role is to notice and join in.

Join the journey to hearing God’s voice. Start your free 7-day God Conversations devotional today! https://www.godconversations.com/god-conversations-devotional/

Pray, promote and give. God Conversations is donor-funded and made possible through the generosity of people like you! Become a partner today. https://www.godconversations.com/give/

Equip your church to hear God’s voice. Join our community of ministry leaders for monthly insights and a free preview of 50 Days of God Conversations resource. https://www.godconversations.com/50days/

https://www.godconversations.com/podcast/gods-voice-among-the-urban-poor-ash-barker/

About Ash Barker

Rev Dr Ash Barker has spent over 30 years living and serving on the front line of urban poverty, with a passion to release the unique potential of urban people and places. Based in inner‑city Birmingham, he leads Seedbeds (Newbigin School for Urban Leadership) and, with his wife Anji, has helped found Newbigin House and several community‑shaping initiatives while serving as United Reformed Church ministers. Ash is an inspiring speaker, holds a PhD on urban poverty, and is the author of nine books, including No Wastelands (2023).

The history books tell us that Christianity arrived in New Zealand with the first Western missionaries in 1814. But that’s only half the story. Forty years earlier, God spoke to a man named Toiroa, giving him a vision of the Europeans’ arrival. The vision included the strange clothes they wore, their unusual mode of travel and the message they carried about a good god and a name that meant “Son who was killed.” Toiroa shared his vision with many other Maori, so when the foreigners came, they eagerly received the news! A massive indigenous revival followed. By the mid‑1840s, around 64,000 Māori were attending church. It was one of the most significant revivals in history.Our guest on this episode, Māori leader and author Jay Ruka tells the incredible story. He also shares how a life‑changing encounter with God led him to reclaim his Māori identity and uncover a hidden chapter of New Zealand’s spiritual history - one filled with prophecy, revival, identity and the surprising ways God moves beyond the boundaries of the church.

https://www.godconversations.com/podcast/god-conversations-before-missionaries-jay-ruka/

Next Steps

Join the journey to hearing God’s voice. Start your free 7-day God Conversations devotional today!

Pray, promote and give. God Conversations is donor-funded and made possible through the generosity of people like you! Become a partner today.

Equip your church to hear God’s voice. Join our community of ministry leaders for monthly insights and a free preview of 50 Days of God Conversations resource.

About Jay Ruka

J. Ruka is a story teller, musician and public communicator. After working as a church minister for many years, he now writes and speaks about indigenous worldview, New Zealand History and the importance of cultural partnership. He is married to Erin and they live with their three children in Whāingaroa (Raglan), New Zealand.