Episode 48: Called to Create: Esther Reznicek on Ministry, Identity, and Impact

Jacob Paul: Welcome to the truth and love podcast with your host, Kimberly Faith. The truth and love podcast seeks to present God’s timeless truth through the lens of his remarkable love.

Kimberly Faith: Well, I’m here with Esther Malone Resnichek. Esther, thanks for agreeing to to come on the show. Yeah. Thanks for having me. Absolutely.

And, you know, I had your parents on the show, I don’t know, several weeks ago.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes. And

Kimberly Faith: you’re just a chip off the block. I mean, and that’s a good thing. You know, I think your your folks would agree that you’re you’re all the best qualities of both of combined. And I’m not trying to embarrass you, but that’s just an outside observers, you know, I’m like, oh wow, that’s, you know, and I, and your life is, I’ve, you know, kind of been following your, your work and your ministry. But I’d like to start this, your story or, you know, the story of who you are and, your life and glorifying God with just you tell sharing with us your, testimony of salvation.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. I have a very distinct memory of when I was like four and we My dad was stationed in Georgia. We were living in Georgia. And coming home from church on like a Wednesday night or Sunday night or something and being in my room by myself and having that moment of like accepting Christ. And I do feel like that was a very genuine like salvation conversion experience because it’s such a clear memory in my mind when I was so young.

Wow. And it was maybe a few months after that that I first was just very, again, very clear in my mind like, I’m gonna go to Africa and be a missionary. And I, that’s a common story I’ve heard among other missionaries that they had a distinct salvation experience at a young age.

Kimberly Faith: You know, that, that, and of course your parents at that point were really, passionately serving the Lord. Their story they told about how they fought, fell away but they had come back to a passionate relationship with Christ at that point. And it kinda reminds me of my sister’s salvation. You know, she went from, she went from the innocence of a relationship with God to, almost recognizing that she needed salvation and she went from innocence to innocence almost And especially, so, wow, that’s And so were

Esther Malone Reznicek: you baptized pretty young too? I did not get baptized actually until we moved to Missouri and my dad was serving as the associate pastor at Grace Covenant. And, yeah, me and my sisters got baptized at that point. So I think I was about 12. So Interesting.

Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: So did you share your testimony of salvation with your parents when it happened

Esther Malone Reznicek: or I do remember telling my mom about it. Yeah. And I mean, she was just excited.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. Your mom gets so excited. I love praying with your mom. She’s like, so Yeah. She’s an amazing person.

Yeah. So after that, did, you’re married to Wesley. Yes. And, you all are expecting your first child.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes.

Kimberly Faith: And how did you and Wesley meet?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So I first met Wesley. They came to Grace Covenant around the same time as we did and we both were going into youth and both joined the youth band and he was on keys and I was on bass. I love that.

Kimberly Faith: I only know one other woman bass player and I think I’ve seen you play bass and you’re really good. Oh, thank you. Who taught you to play bass?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Oh my gosh. Who did I learn bass from? I took lessons at the old Route sixty six music store that, they’ve taken over now as warehouse sixty six.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah, I took lessons there. Cool. Marcus was owning that at the time. So he’s retired now, but yeah. Right.

Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: And so you and Wesley were playing the band together. Yes.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So we played in youth band together. We’re just friends and after we both graduated college and I moved back home to start fun. At that time, I had been accepted as a missionary associate with the symbols of God, world missions. And I was fundraising, so I’d moved back home to focus on that.

And he was just home visiting on a Sunday and he was wearing a Hamilton t shirt. And I loved Hamilton at the time. So, I went and told him I thought his t shirt was cool and then we started hanging out and he helped me do some, some music and you were actually involved in that too. So that was the event that started it all with me and Wesley and you sang at that event.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah, that was, I remember that. I remember enjoying your music a lot more than mine.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Your stuff is great. Your stuff is great. Was, it was really cool to

Kimberly Faith: have you. And so, and what is your degree in?

Esther Malone Reznicek: My degree is in recording technology. So studio recording, it’s a music degree. Interesting. I, I just, I was a musician, but I loved the more technical side of things. And I studied that and was leading worship as well.

I went to Evangel University. It’s a school. Yeah. And that opened the door to me getting connected with the church plant that I joined in South Africa. Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: So music, the recording is that, as part of that, like mixing, mastering, that sort of thing. I, I have a song I want you to listen to. Tell me what you think as far as, you know, it’s, it’s so interesting. I had no idea that was your background. And, you know, to me that when you record, especially with your own music and you’re actually performing, it’s really hard to have an objective opinion.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. And so I after we’re done today, I’m wondering Yes. I have a new song I wanna release tonight. Yes. I I need some different ears on it.

Esther Malone Reznicek: That’s an aside.

Kimberly Faith: I’m not having this conversation. So you and Wesley, we’ll we’ll get we’ll come back to that because I know you went to Africa before that. Yes. Yeah. So tell us about that.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So I, yeah, that was a crazy story because towards the end of my time in college, I had gotten been out of church. A lot of things had happened and I was just like angry at God and just kind of like, well, if this is what life is like, then why, you know?

Kimberly Faith: I didn’t

Esther Malone Reznicek: know that. Yeah. And just looking for emotional solace in a lot of different things. And then I had just to be completely frank, I had a very clear moment. I walked on the campus like the first day of classes, my senior year at Evangel.

And I was texting my friends about going to get high. And, I heard the Holy Spirit so clear and this doesn’t happen often for me at all. And just very clearly was like, if you want to follow the path I have for you, you need to stop this right now. Wow. And so I texted my friends and said, I’m out and I didn’t ever smoke again. I was done with that.

Kimberly Faith: I don’t know if you, do you know the McDonald’s, Tom and Sue McDonald’s? Yes. Oh, bill. I’m sorry. Bill and Sue McDonald’s name, name probably.

That’s okay. You know, he had a similar experience on the podcast that came out this week, where, where he had had two parachute accidents, you know, that’s pretty significant when your parachute doesn’t open. Yeah. You fall to the ground. He said, he’ll never forget.

It hit the voice of God for him was like a drill sergeant. Yeah. Son, you know, of course he does it much better. Yeah. So it’s so interesting that you had a very similar experience.

Like it’s time to put up or shut up. Yeah. Yeah.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So, and that year I like very shortly after that moment stepped into leading a worship team at the school and the campus pastor that I was working with on that team is the one that invited me to join that church plant in South Africa. And I had no idea what was coming. In my mind, was like, well, I’ve ruined my chance to be in missions now because I’ve spent all this time like being dumb and you know, not pursuing that. I had dropped out of the international studies degree program, all of that stuff.

So I was just like, well, I’ll just like settle for something and take what I can get. And then the week I graduated, he was like, this is going to sound crazy, but would you happen to be interested in going to Africa?

Kimberly Faith: So yeah, he

Esther Malone Reznicek: had no idea. Back to your four year old experience.

Kimberly Faith: Yes. And it’s so amazing how merciful and gracious God is. Yeah. You know, I mean, I think about the way I jacked my life up, you know, and how God said, if he’d told me when I was going through my divorce, you know, if God had said to me or somebody had said to me, not God, but somebody had said to me, I wasn’t listening to God at that point. You’re going to write and record, you know, over 35 songs and within the next twelve years, I would have said, I don’t even read music.

You’re crazy. You’re crazy. And yet God says, watch this. He lets us be part of his plan and it’s so much bigger than our plan. So anyway, that’s, that’s amazing that that happened after you had kind of thrown the towel really on that. So what happened next?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So I decided to join that church plant and in South Africa.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes. As in Durban. It’s in Durban. And, you know, went through that whole fundraising process, reconnected with Wesley along the way and then moved to South Africa and we planted the church. It was like the week before I got there, they had their very first service.

And at the time we were meeting in a place called the sharks board. That’s where they do, like education on sharks and shark dissections. It was a little smelly in there but

Kimberly Faith: Oh, like formaldehyde or Oh my gosh.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So that’s where we were meeting when we first started and I was hired basically to do worship leading and I was a production team lead. So I was over all the sound tech stuff. Wow. And then kind of what got wrapped into that was website management, graphic design, which I had just kind of done as a hobby.

But there was no one else on the team that knew how to do it. So I was like, all right, I guess I’m jumping in on this. So like you do when you’re working at church. Yes. Yes.

Kimberly Faith: Or a law office. Yeah. Yeah. Empty the trash, clean, you know, clean the toilet or help a customer. Right.

Exactly. Exactly. So So And you were there for a year?

Esther Malone Reznicek: I was there for two years. Two years. Two years.

Kimberly Faith: I didn’t think I realized it was two years. Yeah. And so when you got back, because I, when I kind of want to get to is, is where you are now and what you’re doing now and how all these things that this journey that you’ve taken as a rarely, you know, I always, I hate to say the word ordinary, but the idea is, one of the things that these stories are for us is to teach us that when you think you’re ordinary and you have ordinary talents, if you give those to God, he can make them extraordinary. Yes. And that’s what he’s done with your life.

And I love looking at the things that you’re doing and, you know, I’ll see on Facebook where you’re in, you’ve done some project or some interview and it’s just, it’s like, wow, it’s just encouraging, you know, because we are created in the image of God. Yeah. And we are We have the ability when we’re born again and we have received Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior. Our soul and spirit is alive and able to connect with God, the creator of everything. Yeah.

And that’s kind of what your Elevate Designs is the name of or design is the name of your, not for profit. Yes. So, tell us how that came to be.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So, yeah, I feel like there’s always this kind of recurring theme of me pushing against like what

Kimberly Faith: God’s leading me to do and

Esther Malone Reznicek: then eventually I finally give in and it’s, you know, obviously the better option.

Kimberly Faith: I always say he does my life better than I do. Yeah. You know, I mean, it’s just so Yeah.

Esther Malone Reznicek: So, yeah, I, and I do think he has a really awesome way of working out even those things to come together and be ultimately part of the whole thing and beneficial and in ways that we couldn’t know. So,

Kimberly Faith: he’s good at life.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes, he is. He is. So, really I had this idea for Elevate Design when I was, I was praying in the months leading up to me coming home from Durban. I knew like I’m coming home, like, what am I supposed to do next? It was really hard for me to even imagine a next thing because my whole life had been, oh, Esther’s the African missionary Esther’s going to be in Africa or whole, you know, there was this thing and kind of like an expectation, not just from other people, but like that I had on myself.

Kimberly Faith: You know, want to pause there for a minute because I really think this is important for people to understand. It’s been an important lesson for me. We cannot put our identity, our greatest identity in what we think we should be. Yeah. Or even if that’s a missionary to South Africa.

Yeah. You know, if my strongest identity is in my law and I’m a lawyer. Yeah. If that identity is stripped away, then I’m, I’m done. Yep.

You know, and you’re describing that. I think for people that have a ministry, I have a foster kids boutique, you know? Well, if the Lord says we’re not doing the foster kids boutique anymore, but that’s an important part of my identity. Man, that’s going to really disrupt God’s plan. Yeah.

So you’re describing that. I appreciate you sharing that. Yeah. Yeah. That’s very transparency.

Hard to admit, but it’s, it’s where we are. Yeah. Yeah. So you, you were, you go ahead. Sorry.

Esther Malone Reznicek: No. Oh my gosh. No. I, yeah, I think that is, that has been a big lesson that I have learned in this process of transitioning off the mission field is like one ministry can look so many different ways. Right.

And you can do ministry even if you’re not in full time ministry. Like, commanded to. That’s and and not only can you, but it’s important it’s important for people in every job sector, in every town, in every apartment complex, to be able to have someone where they can like encounter the love of Jesus through that person.

Kimberly Faith: Right. That’s right. Every, every profession. I mean, I say every profession, I mean, we’re not talking about people who do professions that are not connected or in disobedience to God, but, but you know, whether you’re a lawyer or you’re a plumber, you’re a, you know, a website designer, you’re a policeman, you’re a soldier or Marine. You’re representing Jesus Christ.

You are carrying out the great commission. Well, we hope you are. Yeah. I think that what you just said is so wise because I think we tend to think, well, that’s the missionaries job. That’s the preacher’s job.

Right? Oh no. Yeah. That’s our job. Yeah.

And it should, we should be bringing the fruit of the spirit to every space that we enter into. Yeah. And the gospel, the life changing gospel. Yeah. You know, because otherwise what’s the point of our life.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So, Yeah. I had a conversation with someone at one point. I’m just gonna stay on this because I think it’s Yes. Super important.

Yeah. Just about, you know, is spending those two years in Africa gonna be like the peak? That, you know, is that the most significant thing I’ve done? And maybe it is and that is okay. I do.

But also, it doesn’t really matter because, you know, encountering one person, having one conversation with one person at one point can be like so impactful. Well, if they come

Kimberly Faith: to know Jesus as our Lord and savior, that’s an eternal thing. That’s the greatest miracle on earth. You know?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. And I think just to learning, like that God also wants us to just be with him. He created us to be with him. Like even in just being with him, I can help show others like, hey, there’s something else. Or like, if I find a place of peace and a place of joy through just being with God, and then other people are like, I wanna feel like you. I wanna be like that.

Kimberly Faith: Right.

Esther Malone Reznicek: I don’t have to be doing, being super productive.

Kimberly Faith: Like,

Esther Malone Reznicek: you know what I mean?

Kimberly Faith: Well, and that is productive because Mhmm. I think, you know, what you’re describing for in my experience is that we can’t first of all, we can’t manufacture the fruit of the spirit. We can’t that’s same from God. The only way that comes from God is if we are 1000% surrendered to him. Yeah.

Yeah. We cannot manufacture his love Yeah. Or his joy or his peace or his compassion for others. You know, people people say to me, how why do you care about me? And I always say, I don’t.

I don’t because it’s not me. Yeah, it’s God. I’m incapable of caring about you. All I care about is myself.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Right.

Kimberly Faith: But when I opened that door and my born again, soul and spirit is being fed by God, I can’t keep it to myself. It’s impossible to keep the fruit of the spirit to yourself. So it necessarily overflows. And then you combine that with the wisdom of his truth, you know, then you’re also very honed in on the gospel because that’s what changes people. Yeah.

That’s what brings people to Christ. Yes. And then they can come a well. Yeah. Yeah.

You’re planting wells. Yes. Yeah. So I think you’re 100% right. I appreciate you camping out on this issue for a minute because it doesn’t matter whether you’re the most powerful person in a large corporation or your stay at home dad or mom.

Yeah. You are important in God’s plan. Yeah. But you can’t be in either of those positions unless you’re wide open

Esther Malone Reznicek: to God. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think the idea of like impactfulness and significance is something I’ve had to release a lot, like transitioning into what I’m doing now.

Then it’s funny because I’ve gone through this process of releasing that and then now this past year, God has really been showing me through a lot of different avenues, know what you guys are doing at Elevate has been having all this impact you don’t even know about. And that’s been really cool. Like, cause it’s just kind of like a little extra gift. I think God is showing me. Absolutely.

Kimberly Faith: You know, it’s the same thing, Esther. When I look at our go faith strong website, I, you know, I write these devotionals. We do these podcasts. We, we have other writers and I occasionally will glance at the analytics. I did that this morning.

Yeah. And I was like, oh, there’s 27 people in Russia reading our devotionals. Yeah. Yeah. I’m like, wow.

Yeah. I couldn’t do that. Only God did that. And, or you, you know, you find out people in communist countries are are on your website and you’re going, okay, Lord, what that motivates me to do is pray. Yeah.

And to say, Lord, take the arrow of your word and your send your spirit. Yeah. If they’re not saved, give them repentance, give them faith and help them to come to know you. But I don’t, you know, mostly I think it’s our connection with God that gives us that peace to know that we’re right where we need to be. Yeah.

Yeah. And and and you don’t have to have the the great missionary in South Africa label to be doing great things for God. And I’m not dedicating that. I’m just saying, think we get caught up in that. I need

Esther Malone Reznicek: to be Billy Graham

Kimberly Faith: or I need to be whatever.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Right? Yep. So, yeah. And I think, especially in the creative realm, there can be this concept of, oh, that kind of work is just like frivolous. Oh, it’s just to make things look pretty. There’s not like an actual, like, a

Kimberly Faith: Right.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Pretty gospel impact.

Kimberly Faith: Yes. But

Esther Malone Reznicek: there is. There is. And that’s something like, especially this year, we have really seen that as we’ve gone and looked back, especially with some of these clients we’ve been walking with for the past, you know, four or more years. Mhmm. Where we’re really seeing how their ministries have grown since we started doing, helping them with these communication things, helping them with these visual things, with making sure they’re doing a big thing.

Love to help people with is make sure you’re doing things in a timely manner because people are busy, whether, whether the busy schedule thing is good or not, it is what it is. Right. You know, just where we’re

Kimberly Faith: at as a culture.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So, well, I think

Kimberly Faith: you’re, I’m looking at your website, which is elevatedesign.co. Yes. And, in your in your purpose, are you the the, kind of who you are. It says, church arts bringing beauty and hope. You say as Christians and as humans, when we see beautiful things, we tend to turn our attention to the God who created or inspired them.

Yeah. I love that. Kinda reminds me of CS Lewis. I think it was CS Lewis who wrote, and I’m gonna paraphrase this badly. Yeah.

That when we are basking in the sun, that’s great. Yeah. But when we look up the sunbeam, we find the source of the sun. And that was an analogy to help us understand that when we enjoy the beauty of nature, we need to appreciate the God who created it all. Is that kind of the theme that you’re

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. I mean, I think there is something with the visual that is so powerful. And it’s not just an extra thing like, we do resonate with visuals and

Kimberly Faith: God created us that way.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. And a visual can really like turn you off to something or turn you onto something or

Kimberly Faith: turn you onto something bad.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Right. Exactly. Yeah. So we, yeah, we know Yes. From the

Kimberly Faith: Exactly. Like exploding. Yes. And it’s an addiction. And I think giving people an addiction to the good goodness of God.

Yeah. It’s a pushback.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. And I think it has been interesting for me as I’ve worked with elevate to explore the biblical roots of like excellence in creativity. Because you do see it, especially in the old Testament. And I know those are the parts that a lot of people don’t like to read because it’s talking about all the details of you know,

Kimberly Faith: most beautiful. Yeah. Tell us about that. Tell us what you discovered kind of in a nutshell about, you know, what, what inspired you from God’s word to create this platform of beauty or creating, helping people take the gospel message on the wings of beauty. Is that a good way to put it maybe?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. I think when I first was feeling like this is what God wants me to do, this is the work we want to do with churches. I had to, you know, ask myself, especially coming from the missions world, what is the reason and do we have a good reason to ask people to invest time, to invest funds, to invest energy in this aspect of ministry? Because I feel like a lot of times you’ll get pushed back of like, oh, well, we could use this like to give to the poor and like, give to the poor. If you have to choose, give to the poor. Right. Right.

Kimberly Faith: But that’s a that’s a very perceptive thought though, that you want to give people the biblical reason to invest in your company.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. Yeah. And we want to make sure that everything we’re doing is founded in that and it’s not a vanity project.

Kimberly Faith: Right. So it’s glorifying God, not glorifying humans. Yes. That’s where you’re going

Esther Malone Reznicek: with God.

Kimberly Faith: Glorifying the giver of the sunbeam.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes. So I think there’s a really good balance that can be found because obviously there’s a far end of the spectrum where there’s, you know, not in a judgmental way, but there’s sectors of the church that are pouring literally hundreds of thousands or even more into creative production. And personally, I’m like, I don’t know how I feel about that, but

Kimberly Faith: well, you can, you can, you can create, a venue of hype. Yeah. That has no substance. Yeah. And I think the, I think the balance is loving creation, but not loving it more than the creator.

Yes. Yes. And you’ve got to disciple. Yes. You can’t just attract people.

You’ve, they, they have to be motivated to be discipled and become disciplers. Yeah. Cause that was a great commission. Go you therefore and make disciples. It wasn’t go you therefore and attract attention

Esther Malone Reznicek: or create,

Kimberly Faith: you know, fun programs. Right. Yeah. Yeah. It’s like, it’s like military training.

Yes. They can, in the ad, they can say, be all you can be and find your travel and do all this stuff. Yeah. But you’re not, you’re going kick out of the military if you don’t learn to do the hard stuff. Yeah.

So, so that’s my response to your conundrum.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes. So that’s, and I think that’s a big reason why we’ve gone the direction we’ve gone with the clientele we serve.

Kimberly Faith: Who do you

Esther Malone Reznicek: serve? We serve missionaries. So we’ll work with any missionary, helping them with fundraising materials, communication pieces, doing fundraising campaigns, anything like that. We also work with any nonprofits, missions, sending organizations, any anyone like that. With nonprofits, we do focus on Christian nonprofits.

So, like examples, some of the nonprofits, we actually work with the local Pulaski County Salvation Army. They’re great. We love them.

Kimberly Faith: They do great

Esther Malone Reznicek: things. So we’ve been working with them the past year or so, and that’s been really cool to do, especially because it’s in our, in Wesley’s hometowns. Right. Right. Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: So it’s mostly, it’s, it’s not the mega churches. No. Yeah. I love that. I love, I love that you give, level the playing field a little bit and not that churches are competing against each other.

They shouldn’t be if we’re on the same mission. But I I love that you’ve created this niche Mhmm. Where it’s very needed. Yes. I mean, I remember when my son and daughter-in-law moved to Fort Campbell recently.

I was going on their websites to see what the churches were like. Yes, exactly. And the ones that had decrepit websites, it was like, well, if they don’t, aren’t technologically up to speed, what’s going

Esther Malone Reznicek: on here? Know? Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: Not that I, but I wasn’t also looking for the one with exploding lights. Right. You know, that to me was like, oh my gosh, where’s the discipleship here?

Esther Malone Reznicek: For sure.

Kimberly Faith: So that’s, think that’s so important. What a great, what a great mission.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. It’s, it’s really fun, you know, like thinking about we’re in a digital age and the reality is people don’t search out things the same way they used to. People are looking on social media, Google search, those types of I’ve seen

Kimberly Faith: a phone book in like ten years.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So if people are wanting to find a church and searching out, it should be easy for them to find a church. That’s right. So the thing we like to say is we’re always trying to create as easy of on ramps as possible, not only for people that are unchurched to come to your church, but for your church members to be discipled and participate in what your church is doing.

Kimberly Faith: So, oh, I love that. Yeah. That is, that is so needed. So needed in this culture where, I mean, I think there are, there are, there’s a generation now. They don’t even know how to look anything up on paper, you know?

And, and so when we have somebody come by with flyers, I’m like, well, have you put this on social media? Yes. And if you hit the blank stare, you know, there’s a problem.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: And I’m not denigrating them. I’m just, or

Esther Malone Reznicek: whatever words called. Yes.

Kimberly Faith: I’m not trying to be ugly. I just really think that it’s, you know, Jesus. I mean, when I hear the uttermost ends of the earth, you know, to, to go to the uttermost ends of the earth, we’re here. We’re here. We have the tools.

And that’s why, when I know, I look at my analytics and say, Oh, there’s people in Russia, China, in Venezuela, you know, in Cuba thinking, here we are. Yes. Let’s capitalize.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes.

Kimberly Faith: And that’s what you’re doing. Yeah. That’s what you’re doing. Yeah. Mean, you’re not just going to South Africa. Right.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. Well, and what’s so cool that I would, you know, I didn’t predict that this would go this way, but, we still work with my sending organization that the program I was under when I was in Durban, which is urban tribes. So we still work with them. They’re one of our clients. We actually got to go to their conference, their yearly conference in May in Durban.

That was really cool.

Kimberly Faith: You got to be reunited with your people, your tribe.

Esther Malone Reznicek: And it was obviously I’m working in a very different context, but it was so cool to get to participate in that way. And then we work with people in all over, in all different continents and countries and helping them figure out what’s going to work in their context. So it’s super cool to get to do that, but yeah.

Kimberly Faith: I have a question about the Durban client. Yeah. So I have a lot of, I have several friends from South Africa. Yeah. And, of both of, of both of the primary races of people, And, you there’s just a lot of, hostility.

Yeah. How does that affect the way that you do social or does it affect the way you do social media or how does that even come into play?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes. The racial tensions in South Africa are very real. You know, apartheid only ended in ’94. Right. So, it’s so recent.

I mean,

Kimberly Faith: yeah. And there’s a serious backlash right now that I’m hearing Yeah.

Esther Malone Reznicek: There’s just, there’s a lot of pain, obviously. You know, there were a lot of horrible things done during that time. And then when you’re outside of, of that, even if you are a Christian, it’s still hard. But yeah, I think that’s something that I really appreciated about North Place when I was there.

Kimberly Faith: That’s the church.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes. North Place is church I was at. North Place is very diverse. So it’s your, you know, most A lot of the churches similar to in The States are, you know, black South African or white South African or Indian. Durban has the highest concentration of Indian population outside of India.

Kimberly Faith: Oh, didn’t know that.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes. There’s a large Indian population in South Africa. And then in Cape Town, there’s like the colored population, what they call colored in South Africa, is mixed, what we would say mixed in The States. And those are all really their own separate groups and that came out on apartheid. But the church is

Kimberly Faith: very integrated.

Esther Malone Reznicek: The church is very diverse.

Kimberly Faith: I love that.

Esther Malone Reznicek: And that reminds me a lot of the river. That’s where we grew up. So I love that about that church because you don’t see it very often. And I think it’s because we went into that very intentional about it. Diversity will not happen on accident because it’s hard and it’s uncomfy and people don’t want to say it’s hard because that sounds bad, but

Kimberly Faith: it is. Well, it’s because we have, we are all tribal. We all tend. I mean, I understand that my, of course I kind of grew up, you know, like you grew up in the military. I grew up in the hippie culture.

And there’s not a lot of difference when it comes to there a lot of integration. There are a lot of different people from different races. I didn’t know there was a problem with racism until I went to an all black school as a kinder, I have kindergartner, first grader in, in New Jersey. And I was the only white kid. And I got called a name that was not a nice name and I didn’t know what it meant.

Yeah. So, you know, when you take that approach in a, in a church plant or in a, even just a church that you’re attending, my church is that way very integrated. Yes. Multicultural. Yes.

Then you don’t, you know, well, first of all, Jesus teaches us that he, you know, that we’re all equal. Yeah. They’ve the, they say the, the, the, the ground at the foot of the cross is level. Right. And, of course the book of acts is all, you know, we, the churches were being taught the hard lesson.

Hey, you don’t get to be the Jewish church. Right. You know, there’s a, we need to integrate. Yeah. And, so to, to see that happening and be part of that.

Yeah. Even as in, in your company and elevate design, you know, what a blessing to, to, and especially amidst the political turmoil.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes.

Kimberly Faith: You get to show people hope and cause there’s probably, I mean, this is cultures have enough problems as it is, but you throw, you know, that in as well. Yeah. It just more opportunities, right? More opportunities to reach people for another reason that they’re suffering anxiety.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes. Yeah. I think for me, was so amazing watching the people at that church learn to be in community together and care for each other and love each other equally, which I think they did so well and still do well when I went back there in May. And the reality was anyone that was born I was born in ’93. Anyone born my year or older lived in apartheid and then are now trying to find a way to live together.

And not only in just the normal uncomfortiness of diversity, but also with all of the trauma and all the things that were experienced. Right. And finding a way to just say like, we are brothers and sisters in Christ and we’re practicing forgiveness even when it’s really hard and really painful and

Kimberly Faith: we’re moving forward. Well, that was, that’s a, that’s a good lesson for The United States. Yeah. I mean, really you, you, you can’t, I mean, I remember having a person, a minority, you know, person come up to me, minority race and saying, well, you don’t understand that your people, you know, enslave my people. And I said, you’re right.

I don’t. And I don’t even think about it because I don’t, I don’t look at you any differently than I look at myself. God created you, God created me. And let’s just start there instead of carrying the baggage of the last two hundred years with us. Why don’t, why, what good does that do?

How does that help you? How does it help you achieve your goals? And, it’s always a platform for ministry when, because you have, you do have, like, I’m sure even in the, church in Durban, you have old people who lived, who have a great prejudices because they were the, they were the people that were suffering, you know?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes.

Kimberly Faith: But I just think for all of us, we’ve all suffered. We all have points of suffering in our life. And to me, our suffering is our gold. It is our, it is what Paul talked about, how he was grateful for his thorn in the flesh because it was a, it was an opportunity to glorify God in a greater way. Had that not happened.

You you think about Corrie ten Boom forgiving her Nazi God. Right. It was hard for her. Yeah. It was, it was probably even a continuing journey

Esther Malone Reznicek: for Yes.

Kimberly Faith: But what a story. Yeah. What a story. Yeah. You know?

And, so I appreciate you sharing that with me. Yeah. That’s, that’s really refreshing to hear.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. It’s just, it is so encouraging to see that it’s, those things are possible, like watching all, you know, all of those people that were on the side of apartheid that were being mistreated, choosing to walk forward in forgiveness when they had the right to not, like from a human perspective. Right. They have the right to not do it.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah.

Esther Malone Reznicek: But because of the work of Jesus in their lives, they’re able to do that.

Kimberly Faith: And that

Esther Malone Reznicek: was so amazing to watch.

Kimberly Faith: And that’s probably given that church a bigger platform because they do have that. Yeah. Brothers and sisters in Christ. Yes. You know, together.

Yes. And, and on both sides of the aisle, so to speak and others. Yep. You know, sides of the issue.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Right.

Kimberly Faith: So, that’s really exciting. So you you’re getting to be a part of that.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s one of the most fun things about what we do is getting to see the work that all of the people we’re partnering with are doing. So like there was a, there’s a missionary that we’ve been working with for several years, one of our first clients and they work in Indonesia and they have been partnering with this pastor to try and build this orphanage for years. And they were coming up on their deadline of like, if this is going to happen, we have to have $50,000 five weeks from now.

So we were like, all right, we’re going to do it. And so we did a campaign with them and they exceeded their goal and they opened the orphanage in January. The only Christian orphanage in that area, all the other orphanages are are Muslim run and they house 50 kids in that orphanage. Oh my goodness. So that was really cool to get to see and like just it.

Yeah. Privileged that they would invite us to to partner with them in that.

Kimberly Faith: So, well, that, so I guess, you know, if anybody’s listening to this podcast that has, that is in that position, you know, I mean, obviously that’s what, that’s what your organization’s about. It’s a not for profit. Is that right? Yes. Yep.

So people can support your organization through giving. Right. Or they can also become a client. Right. If they’re a missionary or, any kind of, gospel oriented, not for profit.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes. So we, our goal is to be able to work with ministries that are on a tighter budget. So our fees are significantly lower than what you would see from a commercial agency or even a agency serving churches that are maybe serving bigger churches. Gotcha. Yeah.

So I think that, you know, we carry all of those overhead expenses ourselves. We carry as much of that extra cost as we can, because we want to be able to support ministries that otherwise would never be able to have these kinds of services. So that’s our goal.

Kimberly Faith: That’s that and that’s that is to me that kind of, is a really great summary or just a beautiful way of putting that yourself in a position that is you’re a missionary in in this niche of society. Yeah. Yeah. Because you’ve you’ve said, you know what, this is where the Lord’s led me. This is the organ.

We’re going to make it an offer profit. This is the way we’re going do this. And you know, it’s funny because that doesn’t mean you have to start an offer profit. You know, go face strong is not a, not for profit. Yep.

It’s a business. Yep. Why? Because I wanna be able to, not have to ask people for money. Yes.

You know? Yes. And and I wanna have a self supporting financially. Yeah. Yeah.

And of course, you know, the law firm does a lot of that, but I, that was a, that was a very deliberate choice. And I think the Lord uses them both because we’re both in different positions, you know? And so God is so creative. Yeah. He is so creative and I just love it.

I get to be part of his creativity. Yeah. And I love hearing your ideas too, because there may be somebody listening that’s going, Oh, I could help them. Yeah. You know, maybe somebody listening could help you on the work end of it.

Maybe they can help you in the giving end of it. Maybe they know somebody who’s a missionary who needs this help or church. So yeah, this is very exciting. Very exciting. So what do you do at Elevate Design?

Esther Malone Reznicek: I am our lead graphic designer. So I kinda do, I head up all of our major graphic design projects. We do have some other contractors, just other friends like through church and things that we’ve come, you know, into contact with over the years that we’ll work with. My sisters are administrators. So that’s been really fun.

With which sister? My older sister, Erin. Okay.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. Because you’ve got two sisters. Yes. So

Esther Malone Reznicek: she’s been with us about a year and that’s been amazing. And then I It’s cool do with your sister? No, it’s so fun. And she’s like so much more organized than me. So I love it.

Oh, you’re the RC person. Yes. Yeah. And then, yes, we have a web intern, a web design intern. So I do all the web design.

And he has been interning with us this year. He’s in high school. He’s just super interested in computer stuff and, he’s been working with us and he’s great. So it’s it’s cool to be able to kinda pass this kind of work on to someone younger and that would look like. So, yeah. Yeah. I mean,

Kimberly Faith: that’s to me, discipleship is such a brilliant, it’s a brilliant concept that Jesus, you know, taught us because even in my law practice, you know, I have a new girl started yesterday. I’m not teaching or anything. Yeah. You know, the girls who I’ve taught are teaching. Right.

And, and when we apply that where it’s God’s plan is so multifaceted. Yeah. Because here’s this young man who’s in high school. Yeah. He’s in, he’s in a Christian work environment.

Yeah. He’s being exposed to the actual mission, which is the higher calling of Christ. Right? Yes. And he’s learning the skills.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes.

Kimberly Faith: And and as a as a country, how how well we would be serving ourselves to go back to that idea of the apprenticeship idea. Yes. Especially by people who are believers. Yes. You know, I know in in when I talked to Bill and Sue McDonald, you know, they kinda have that going on in, you know, Vietnam.

Yeah. North Vietnam. Yeah. What used to be North Vietnam. Right.

You know? And there it it’s so interesting how he, in the podcast, he had a higher ranking member of the government, ask him what does it mean that righteousness exalcination? And, you know, because it’s so crazy. These people know what the book is. They call it the book.

Yeah. And and they acknowledge that people who live by the book, even if they don’t aren’t Christians. Yeah. They have a better culture. You know, because people aren’t stealing, aren’t murdering, they’re, you know, lying.

They work hard. And, I feel like this company or this, not for profit that you’ve created is it’s a double edged sword

Esther Malone Reznicek: Mhmm.

Kimberly Faith: For good. Mhmm. You know? Yeah. Because you’re you’re building a business. I mean, it’s not for profit, but you’re giving people jobs,

Kimberly Faith: I guess. Yes. And you’re training the future generations. Yes. And you’re getting the gospel out.

Yep. Clarifying God, which is our purpose. Yeah.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Wow. Yeah. It’s a fun. It’s a fun time.

Kimberly Faith: Yeah. So It’s a it’s brilliant. So what is it? So we didn’t kind of finish the conversation about Wesley. Yeah.

I’ve known Wesley since he was a little boy and I always called him, you know, Mr. Scott Joplin Jr. Because he plays the piano like Joplin better. Think actually just to say, honestly. And so when did you all kind of, you kind of started the story, but when did you get married and everything? How’d that?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So we started dating six weeks before I moved to Africa. Good plan. Yeah. And then he did come visit at one point and got to spend some time doing some work with us at the church.

And that was really fun and cool for him to come to. And then, I moved back home right before COVID and then we got married. We had a little COVID wedding in 2020 and then we had a big wedding later.

Kimberly Faith: So you had a medieval wedding or something. We did. We had a Lord of the rings. That’s what it was. I, yeah, I knew there was something better than medieval.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. It was a Lord of the Rings themed wedding.

Kimberly Faith: So fun. So yeah. Oh my gosh. I love that. Yes.

I mean, knew that Wesley had some geek in them, but I’m so impressed with your, you know, you’re you’re going right along with that. I saw pictures and I was like, wow, that’s so creative. Where did you do that?

Esther Malone Reznicek: So we got married, in Rogersville outside of Springfield. Okay. There was, there’s this old barn out there and this guy who writes like Christian fantasy, he was like, I’m just going to restore this barn and make it look like medieval. And they built like this tutor house out there and there’s like a carriage. It’s so cool.

It’s so cool. Wow. Yeah. And we, I just kind of stumbled upon it online and we got married there and it was really cool. But yeah.

Kimberly Faith: Well, and what does Wesley do?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Wesley is a chemical engineer. So, he works in He travels around and does support for fuel ethanol plants and, does a lot of nerdy stuff with spreadsheets

Kimberly Faith: and nerdy. That is the best word. Yes. You know, and it’s what’s cool to me is the way the Lord, you know, puts you all together and you both have a creative side. And, you probably have more of a creative side than a nerdy side.

But if you’re working, you know, doing things you’ve talked about, you do have a nerdy side. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. The sound, technical part of sound is recording.

Yeah. Not easy. Yeah. So I can barely run my, you know, my piece of equipment here with both of our microphones, you know? So, but that, and you’re expecting your first child.

Yes. That’s very exciting.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. So we’re really excited about that.

Kimberly Faith: Where do you see, Elevate Design going?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. You know, we have been growing like crazy this year and so we’re kind of and we got our official nonprofit licensing at the beginning of this year. And so there’s been a lot of changes and like our team has expanded. We have our board and they are all super amazing and have so much incredible experience across the board. So yeah, I think I just want to I know there’s so many more ministries in need of what we’re providing that don’t have the same, the financial bandwidth.

And so I think just wanting to expand that to not only be able to partner with as many ministries as possible, but also for us to have a bigger team. You know, when I first started it, it was just me doing it on my own. And I think getting to this place where we have this bigger team and we’re able to support so many more ministries with what we’re doing, because it is such a big need because most churches are smaller churches. Right. And there’s already, you know, there’s so many amazing church design companies serving these larger churches and they’re incredible and what they do is awesome.

Kimberly Faith: Do you all have, this kind of sound like a little off the wall question, but, you know, there’s a lot of false gospels out there. There’s a lot of, religious ideas that are not based on the truth of the Bible. And so how do you do you have the criteria that the the the person that or the organization that you’re that you’re designing for is putting out the gospel according to God’s word? That Jesus died, rose and died for our sins that he is the only way, as opposed to you can work for your salvation.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. I think we keep it pretty simple right there. Right. I understand. Yes.

With the core of the gospel, like we really want to be serving Christian churches that believe in the core of the gospel. Yes.

Kimberly Faith: There’s a lot of variation. Yes. For really, there’s a lot of, I know that and I, and I understand that, but I just was curious. I mean, the gospel is the gospel and, and yeah. And there are only one way to Jesus.

He said that. Yes. And I’m just, was curious. So you ever find that to be a struggle, like maybe somebody approaches you that maybe believes that you have to work for salvation.

Esther Malone Reznicek: You know, we haven’t had an, I don’t know, maybe this is God’s just protecting us from that situation. We haven’t had any potential clients come to us yet that don’t fall under that umbrella.

Kimberly Faith: That’s a blessing.

Esther Malone Reznicek: And, you know, I think part of it too, I think people would know and see from what we’re doing with the ministries we’re working with that we’re not really a fit for them. And I think that’s what we would say is, you know, our our expertise is in serving churches that preach the gospel, preach the gospel and like, we’re probably not a good fit for you guys. Yeah. I was just curious about that.

Kimberly Faith: You know, it’s, my criteria, like I take, I do criminal work And every criminal case that is more than just a, you know, traffic kind of thing is, I don’t take every case that walks in.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Right. Right.

Kimberly Faith: And I call it the path of peace. Yeah. You know, wanna know this person is going to pivot and not going to be a repeat offender, but they’re going to, you know, that they’re going to have a Jesus plan really. And it’s, it’s always interesting. And, and of course your business is all different than mine, obviously, but it’s the same principle.

Yeah. You know, it’s the gospels at the heart of my law practice. The gospels at the heart of your, your design company. Yeah. Our design, not for profit.

And, but yet there’s that human, human part. Yeah. We have to make a decision. And, you know, I know that for people that might be listening to this podcast, you hired a different business. You know, I can just tell you that path of peace.

When we decide to drop the hammer, I got a case I’m I’m praying about right now. It’s, I mean, there’s a lot of pressure on, I feel like, for me to take a case. Yeah. Sometimes people come in and say, I’ve got $20. You’re gonna take this case.

And I’m like, wait a minute, that’s not the criteria.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Right.

Kimberly Faith: That’s a ministry in and of itself. Yes. You know, to know that you’re not just gonna take the money. Yeah. But I think, you know, for people who are hearing this and because this is, this is all about God taking regular folks.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yes.

Kimberly Faith: And doing extraordinary things with them. And, and it’s helpful to hear those

Esther Malone Reznicek: nuts and bolts.

Kimberly Faith: You know, how does that work? Yeah. Let’s say, you know, you’ve got a, you know, you’re, you’re a plumber. Yeah. Well, you’re going go plum a strip joint.

You know what I’m saying? Yeah. If you’re glorifying God, that’s a pretty easy one.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s, there’s obviously, ones that are easier to determine than others. And I think in the same way that if we had a church come to us that’s a big church and has a big financial bandwidth, it’s like, we would just say, hey, we’re not a good fit for you guys.

Kimberly Faith: And

Esther Malone Reznicek: it’s again, it’s like, don’t ever wanna be judging like where those churches are at, how they operate saying like, oh, because you’re a mega church, you’re operating outside of. Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. Yeah. So I try to always say it, say things in a way that’s going to be like as grace filled as possible in those situations. Yeah. So, yeah.Yeah. I think

Kimberly Faith: that’s a really great way to handle that too. And plus, if, if your mission, my office’s mission is to glorify God. And if it’s something that I don’t think is going to glorify God, then that’s an easy out. I mean, I say it’s an easy out. I’m not saying I blame God for things, but bottom line is I don’t want to be out of his will.

Cause even if I do take the wrong case, then I’m out of his will, I’m not going to help them.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Right.

Kimberly Faith: You know? And, and so, cause if he’s not helping me, I’m not helping anybody.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: So, well, it’s, it’s a, it’s just a joy to hear about this, this amazing niche God has created for you. And I do know enough about you to know, and your mother and father y’all are creative family, such a creative family. And, you know, I think I mentioned this early, but your mother and father are some of my favorite people to pray with. Yeah. They’re just, we get all ramped up and we’ll pray together.

And I love that. Yeah. And, loved it. I know that what you’re doing brings great joy. You know, I think the Bible says I have no greater joy than to see my children following the Lord.

I’m paraphrasing because I’m not good at remembering this, you know, that is such a blessing and it’s a blessing for even of those of us who aren’t your parents. But if seen you grow up and do this and it’s a inspiration. I just wanna, you know, we’re kinda wrapping up and I kinda like to just, I always ask this question, you know, Esther, if there was one thing that you would want people to know about you, what would that be?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Man, that’s a good question.

Kimberly Faith: I’m catching you off guard. I didn’t prepare you for that. I

Esther Malone Reznicek: think something where God has been leading me the past year or two has been to move away from being defined by my skills, accomplishments, know, whatever, my job. And just knowing that I think just to me, I’m in a place of, I just want people to know that I enjoy being in the presence of God or just like that I am like a child of God. Yeah. And that is, that is my identity is like, I’m a child of God at the core. It’s like, I just want to be seen like at the feet of Jesus. Yeah. You glorify him.

Kimberly Faith: So yeah. Yeah. I love that. I love that. It’s like, you want to be a window to Jesus.

Yeah. Yeah. And, and you don’t want people to see first that you’re a design expert or a mother now, right?

Esther Malone Reznicek: Or a wife. Yeah.

Kimberly Faith: Or Howie’s daughter. Yeah. You won’t be able to see, Oh, that’s a child of God. And that’s what God looks like in a person. I love that. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. People.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Yeah. Go ahead.

Kimberly Faith: No, that’s okay. I was gonna say, you know, when when when I I know, look as much baggage and garbage as I’ve, you know, trashed my life within the past. So I’ve lived a lot longer than you have, but hopefully you won’t ever go down the path I’m going down. I know it’s humans, we judge each other. It’s hard for someone who’s known me for a long, long time to say, well, you know, to not say, well, that’s the woman who divorced her husband, you know, because that’s what they remember the most about But what I asked the Lord to do in, in transfer in my life is help them to see you when they see me and not see the past. Yeah. But that’s supernatural. Yep. That comes from like being at the throne, at the feet of Jesus. Yeah. Right. That has to come from him. Yes. So I love that. Thank you for sharing that.

Yeah. Well, thank you for being a guest today.

Esther Malone Reznicek: Oh my gosh. Thanks for having me.

Kimberly Faith: Absolutely. Absolutely. And and your website again is elevatedesign.co. Yes. Okay.

Esther Malone Reznicek: No m, which is Yeah. Tricky, but

Kimberly Faith: Well, I know my autocorrect put a m in there. Was trying to find it. So thank you again, Esther, and God bless you.

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