Holdrege women inspire intentional discipleship with podcasts
Story by Tess Wahlmeier
HOLDREGE (SNR) - What’s one way of living out the New Evangelization? Using the resources you have, like new technology, to share the Good News. Two women from Holdrege are doing just that.
Heather McQuillan and Becky Deaver, both of Holdrege, recently started their own podcast site, “Go Forth with Heather and Becky.” Their mission is to inspire listeners to be more intentional disciples of Christ, so they interview people who are living out discipleship in their everyday lives.
Many of their guests speak about things that they are passionate about, how God has worked in their lives, or the beauty in suffering and how God has brought them peace.
“God can really work through those stories,” Heather said. “We consider this a ministry that God has placed on our hearts, and it’s just amazing to see how God can use this.”
Heather and Becky often listen to podcasts, and one day, the two were talking about a podcast they had listened to which was not fully intact with the teachings of the Church. They joked about how they should just start their own podcast, but after a few days, what started off as a passing thought became a huge reality.
“I couldn’t put the thought out of my head,” Becky said, “and so I mentioned to Heather, ‘you know, I can’t stop thinking about this podcast idea’ – and she said, ‘me neither!’ and so we just kind of said, ‘what if we just did? What if we just did a podcast?’
So we started researching and that ended up being a really big process. We went through a lot of roadblocks, and finally, after about three months or more of work, we got to a point where we were ready to record.”
A podcast is a pre-recorded interview or radio show that can be accessed at any time on a computer, tablet or smart phone. Listeners can go to iTunes or Soundcloud.com and search “Go Forth with Heather and Becky” to download the podcasts. IPhone users can use the podcast app already on their phone, and Android users can download Podcast Republic or another podcast app and find the podcasts on there. Listeners can also subscribe to the podcast so that they receive a notification each time a new one is released. Heather and Becky release new podcasts every Tuesday.
They have 16 episodes so far, all spanning a wide range of guests and topics: priests, friends, couples, talking about charisms, beauty in suffering, conversions, and much more.
This week, Heather and Becky released their podcast, “Get to Know Your Bishop,” an interview with Bishop James Conley in which he speaks about things the average person probably wouldn’t hear during a homily, such as his own hobbies and interests.
The two have received a lot of positive responses to their podcasts, including one woman who commented that each week, the message that the guest delivers is the exact thing she needs to hear that week. They have also received comments about people coming back to the Church after hearing their children as guests on the podcast, and other remarkable stories.
After hearing the episode on charisms (spiritual gifts), one of their listeners shared it with her dad, who then was inspired to return to his art. He drew a beautiful image of Christ, which Heather and Becky shared on their Facebook page.
“That’s not from us,” Heather said. “It’s so evident to us that this is God’s work.”
Through their ministry, the two said that God is also making them more intentional disciples themselves.
Heather, a mother of two and a convert to Catholicism, works as a marriage and family therapist at Catholic Social Services. Becky is a Wahoo Bishop Neumann alum and a mother of six, and she works as a music teacher at All Saints School in Holdrege.
St. Maximillian Kolbe is the patron saint of amateur radio, and Heather and Becky have a special devotion to him as the patron saint of their podcasts, as well.
“We just loved how he used any means of media that he could to share the Gospel, and so we chose him as our patron,” Heather said. “We pray for our listeners and our past and future guests every single day.”
The podcasts aren’t only for women, but are great sources of information and meditation for all people.
One of the great things about podcasts is that they can give so much information while taking up virtually none of a person’s time. It’s incredibly easy to listen to a podcast while doing something else, such as working out, driving, cleaning, or working on a project.
Heather and Becky are eager to continue sharing stories of how God has touched the lives of others.
“We just really want to try to encourage people, if God places on their heart that He has really worked in their lives in a certain way, that’s a story that could be helpful for people,” Heather said. “If you have a story you want to tell, please let us know.”
To contact Heather and Becky, e-mail goforthpodcast@gmail.com. Listeners can also find them on Facebook at facebook.com/goforthpodcast, and on Instagram by searching “Go Forth Podcast.”