Experience the powerful stories of Matthew and Jill Bachali as they discuss the formation and growth of Imani Ministries. Amidst challenges like raising support and transitioning to mission life, their testimony of trusting God serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration. With Dr. Chrysandra Brunson, they share insights on embracing divine opportunities, the significance of community support, and encouraging listeners to follow God’s calling without fear. Don’t miss this captivating conversation on living a life worthy of God’s calling.
Welcome everyone to The Calling’s radio show to all the dreamers. I’m your radio host, Dr. Cassandra Brunson, and it is such an honor to be with all of you today. You know, at The Calling, we have realized that so many people are afraid to go after the dreams that Jesus has put inside each of our hearts because they are afraid to fail. And that is just plain wrong because if God has given us a dream and we’re not living it out, we are wasting it. And we do not want you or anyone else to die with regret. That’s why at The Calling, we love to inspire, empower, and equip people to, after God’s calling on their lives, to read the best kind of eternal legacy possible to have immediate impact on ourselves and our families. And we love to do this through so many different avenues, through custom tools, programs, workshops, seminars, but especially through this radio show where we bring on world-renowned guests to share how they’re going after their God-given dreams and how you can do the same. You guys, today you’re in for such a treat. In studio, live with us, we have the one and only Matthew and Jill Pacelli.
CHRYSANDRA :
Well, I would say that’s one in a billion that I might get right the first time. So thank you, Matthew, for the preparation. This is a privilege. Welcome both of you to the to the show. Can you just share with our listeners a little bit about the leadership positions that you’ve held thus far and where you’re at today?
MATTHEW BACHALI :
OK, well, I’ll represent because my wife, Jill, and I, we’ve been married almost 34 years. And our first position.
CHRYSANDRA :
We just have to pause there. It’s such a celebration.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
And we have four children. Two are missionaries out in the field. So we can mention that if you want to hear about them as well. We have one in the Air Force and one that is doing really good work downtown Denver.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
That is incredible. We started out in ministry six days after we got married. Actually, we met doing ministry with a Campus Crusade summer project in the summer of 91 and married the next summer. And on day six of our marriage, we were off to a Christian camp up on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound outside of Seattle. So we’ve been in ministry for 34 years. And if you want to know positions, it’s really fun. I’ve been in church work, camp work, military missions work. And now I run a nonprofit ministry in Kenya. And my wife, Jill, has been involved in all of it along the way. But she also had a calling to be a hospice nurse and has been serving and loving and caring for those people and their families for the last 10 years.
CHRYSANDRA :
That is incredible. And tell us, Matthew, the name of the ministry.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
The ministry that I run now is Imani Ministries. It’s named after my co-founder and my daughter. So his daughter and my daughter. My daughter is Emma. His daughter is Ann. We crammed them together and it’s Imani Ministries. E-M-M-A-N-N-E. And it’s a play on words because in Swahili, where we work in Kenya, Swahili, the word for faith is Imani as well, spelled differently. So we had a clever idea to name our ministry Imani with the wrong spelling, and it’s confused everyone ever since.
CHRYSANDRA :
There’s sovereignty over that.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Yeah, it’s a unique name, so no one else has it.
CHRYSANDRA :
And how long has the ministry been around?
MATTHEW BACHALI :
So Imani was birthed out of Mwangi Ndegwa’s vision for his home village. He was a coworker of mine. 12 years ago, we started the ministry, but we were already working in Cadence International at that time, which is the U.S. military ministry worldwide. We happened to be in the same headquarters here in Denver, and he and I just started dreaming and planning. And next thing you know, in 2014, we started the ministry.
CHRYSANDRA :
We love those dreaming and planning sessions, right? And the Holy Spirit gets involved and no looking back.
CHRYSANDRA :
For both of you, looking back on your guys’ lives, what can you see that the Lord was fashioning in your heart to all the different threads when you were kids as a little girl, as a little boy, to now be doing this in ministry and hospice and Kenya and around the world? What did that look like?
JILL BACHALI :
I have a young testimony. I became a Christian when I was seven, and I just remember having a big heart for God. And then, you know, typical story at 13, you know, really surrendering my life to the Lord and asking Him to use me however He chose. And when Matthew and I met in the summer of 91, I knew that if God were to put us together, we would be in ministry for our life. And that was very exciting for me because I just knew that it was not going to be a small little life. It was going to be big and dreaming and open to whatever he called us to do. At that time, we didn’t know all the things that he was going to call us into. And there were times when I especially kind of drug my feet and kind of… I wanted that nice little life, that little predictable life, but God kind of broke me through that and helped me gain some vision that Matthew was leading us into and really helped me let go of what I thought was safe and secure and predictable into something much bigger and better and blessed.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
I want to say something about that idea of the nice little life. Years ago, a mentor of mine, said, God will gladly give you a nice little life if that’s what you want. It will be nice and it will be little. And I was so convicted by that. And my wife has said it in a really nice way. I kind of gave her a run for her money. When we were young, I was dreaming about everything. And I mean everything. In fact, at one point I told her I wanted to be a shoe repairman. So they called me Cobb. My nephews and nieces decided to call me Uncle Cobb because I was going to be a cobbler. It was that kind of like dreaming and thinking that the Lord is the one who just honed in my heart and my desires. And then all these ministry positions over these last 34 years have given me and my wife these opportunities to really build like the right skill set. And nothing has gone to waste. I love that. mentoring younger men because they’re like one more time Matthew yeah I love mentoring younger men and the reason why is because you just see like the the earnest desire but we also know like when I was young I didn’t I didn’t have a clue and I and I wanted to learn but older men grabbed on to me and they said let me help let me teach let me And everything like the parable of the talents, everything that was put before me, I said, well, I guess I’m supposed to do that.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Whether it be, you know, cleaning that kitchen at the camp or, you know, running a small event. I always felt like God was saying, well done. I’m going to give you more opportunities, more talents, more opportunities. More things. Multiplying. Yeah. And now we’re doing this crazy thing in Kenya. And I feel like every time I get a new opportunity to learn and grow. And I know my wife feels this way with what she’s done with hospice. You just embrace it. And it’s awkward. And it’s hard. And then you learn. And you grab on and do the next thing. And it just keeps blossoming. And I don’t think I’ve ever really looked for it in my time in Kenya. I didn’t really even know where Kenya was on the map. I knew it was somewhere in Africa. And then all of a sudden I was flying over, but the Lord knew and he was preparing me and my wife and our family for this.
CHRYSANDRA :
Well, I love what both of you said in this aspect that nothing is ever wasted from the Lord. How did the Lord highlight Kenya out of all the countries in the world, all the places, especially with almost 34 years in ministry? Right.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Yeah, Jill, did you want to kind of talk about Mwangi?
JILL BACHALI :
Yeah, so when Matthew and Mwangi were working together at Canes International, they just formed this very deep and bonding friendship. And in their times together, I think they had a weekly standing lunch date. And Matthew started asking him about his childhood, where he grew up, and as he described this small little village in Kenya that was so under-resourced. The two of them started dreaming together, what can we do there? Mwangi, of course, had a desire to help this village that he’d grown up in, but didn’t know how to get started. And Matthew, who is a big dreamer, was like, we’ll figure it out. Oh!
JILL BACHALI :
I remember when he came home that night and said, Jill, Mwangi and I want to start a ministry in Kenya. And I shouldn’t have been surprised. I was like, okay, here we go. And honestly, that first trip they took was Mwangi and Matthew and our oldest son, Eli. It was a looking sea trip. What can we do? How should we start? And it started with a heart for the neediest children who were orphaned in that village. And it started with a children’s home. And from there, God has just blessed it and grown it. His favor is on it. It’s been an amazing 12 years.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Yeah, the James 1.27 passage that is so deliberate in saying this is what pure religion can look like. It’s looking after the orphans and widows in our midst. Not everybody gets that opportunity, but Mwangi and I did. And when we saw it was that clear, like we’re going to address the least of these. We’re going to love these kids and bring them into a Christ-centered loving home. then it took off. And at first it was our hobby, because remember, we were already working at an international ministry and we were plenty busy. And we said, well, we’ll just do this as a hobby. Well, guess what? And what, how do you say it, Jill? My hobby became. I say pastime became passion. That’s it.
CHRYSANDRA :
Oh, say it one more time for our listeners. Pastime became passion. Powerful. When I think for you guys to say yes to this incredible dream as a couple, even you said six days after getting married to Lifetime Ministry, can you just speak to that of what it looks like to say yes to the Lord as a couple? Yeah. in ministry and especially Matthew, I think just being, you know, the leader of the family and Jill, for you to say yes to it, tell us about that adventure. Cause Most people don’t have that. Right. Surrenderness.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Well, I think I think in the United States or I can just speak to my own experience. You have so much pressure. You know, we have to go get our college degrees in our case. We both did. And and then go figure it out. Go figure out how to get to that. What we used to say and it was just our expression, but like how to get to that white picket fence. How can we get to that house with the white picket fence so that we can have our children and have the stability? And I think before we knew what we were talking about, the Lord had grabbed our hearts in those early experiences. And we had a decision that he put before us, and it was, do you want that, kind of the white picket fence, kind of safe opportunity, or do you want to trust me and go after it? And we said yes to going after it. And so we actually quit. I quit my first and only— I have goosebumps.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
I quit my first and only business career job out of college after 51 weeks because on week 52, I was going to receive a bonus. And I told my wife, I don’t want to receive the bonus because that would feel like, what would that lure me into? And, you know, people are like, accept the bonus on 52. But we didn’t.
CHRYSANDRA :
And Matthew, I’m going to pause you right there. We need to go to a short break. But everyone, you are listening to the one and only Matthew and Jill Baccelli. Thank you. Liquid Acre is the world’s first crypto to land marketplace, allowing you to own fractional acreage through non-fungible acres. Don’t let the dream of owning a piece of the trillion dollar real estate market slip away. Visit liquidacre.com to invest in real survey land in seconds and start building your real estate legacy. Twist and shout with Lee & Co. They are the premier oldies band delivering the rock and roll vibes you’ve been missing. Great songs, great memories. Book them at LeeAndCo.com. Have you heard you have an opportunity to come with The Calling and I to Greece this fall? You don’t want to miss it. Go to The Calling Nonprofit’s Instagram to find out all the details.
ADVERTISER :
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CHRYSANDRA :
At Ignite Brilliance Coaching, you will get 34 years of science teaching, a decade of university-level instruction, and over 10 years of instructional coaching to empower educators with the tools, mindset, and confidence to thrive. Contact Ignite Brilliance Coaching on Facebook. We are back. Thank you for listening to all the dreamers radio show. We are live in studio, which is such a treat with the one and only Matthew and Jill Pacelli. And you guys are just such an inspiration of what it looks like to follow Jesus. fearlessly and wholeheartedly. Matthew, right before break, you were sharing what it really looked like to be able to take that leap of faith and to invite Jill into this, but you were invited, you had a corporate job per se, and you didn’t wanna get lured into the bonus.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Yeah, I mean, it’s not about the money. It’s not about any particular pressure. It was the whole realm of just understanding if we’re going to do this, then let’s take those steps that even cause us to say it’s okay to not receive that one-year bonus. And when we did, we moved from city to another city, and I started seminary. And Jill was our sole provider as a young nurse. And we began to really kind of put together the puzzle pieces to what this ministry could look like.
JILL BACHALI :
Yeah, and then when Matthew finished seminary, he started out as a youth pastor at our church, and we started our family. And this kind of started a 10-year period of time where we were living in our nice little house and our nice little life, a mile away from my parents and a mile away from our church, which had just beautiful community and our four little ones. And I… I kind of lost the urge to take a risk. And so shortly after Matthew was in youth ministry, he developed a big heart for camp ministry, and he wanted to go and work at a camp in the mountains. And I dug my feet in. I said, you know, I love my house. I love my life. I love my parents down the street. I love my church. I am comfy, and I don’t want to move. And Matthew, in his wisdom and with the Holy Spirit’s help, just patiently waited for me to be ready. And I think his prayer was, Lord, I’ll know that it’s time to move when you move my wife’s heart.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
And yeah, so the Lord woke her up one morning, like 3 a.m. Kind of, you know, when that happens, you know, it’s the Lord. So she wakes me up soon after and says, I’m ready to go to camp. And I was, you know, groggy and also 10 years.
CHRYSANDRA :
More goosebumps.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
And I’m like, what do you, what do you, like, then it was back on me to say, well, what does that mean? So we actually spent the next two years working on finding the right camp environment, which led us to Colorado in 2003. And I helped run Horn Creek Conference Grounds, which is down south and close to Pueblo, just an hour west of Pueblo.
CHRYSANDRA :
Incredible. Yeah.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
So that brought us to Colorado. And and then it was more learning, more training, more what are we doing and raising our kids in the mountains? I mean, this isn’t this isn’t Vail. This is Westcliff in Custer County. Custer County is one of the least populated counties in Colorado.
CHRYSANDRA :
And for people that don’t know Pablo very well, also a little bit deserted.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Yeah, and the Sangre de Cristo mountain range is beautiful. If you’ve seen photos of Colorado and the Rockies, you’ve probably seen Horn Peak and Horn Creek was just beneath it, 9,000 feet in elevation.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yes.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
And of course, I was loving every minute of the ministry, but we had to adapt and adopt a new lifestyle. And when Jill really embraced the rural mountain living, it became a lot of fun and our kids thrived.
JILL BACHALI :
Well, and I think what I learned more than moving from city to rural was just how to trust the Lord with whatever was next, because it was really uncomfortable at first. But we were there six years. And in those six years, the Lord taught both of us a lot. And I think mostly taught us to live open handedly and just to be ready for whatever might be next.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Yeah, and we also learned a lot more about living on a single income because I was in seminary when Jill took care of us. And then when the babies came home, I was on the youth pastor and then the camp minister salary. And I can tell you, you can do it. You just change some of the norms that people tell you that you have to have by a certain age and age.
CHRYSANDRA :
Right.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
And, you know, we were really good at managing money and having fun. We had this thing when the kids were little where we called it a hundred dollar day. I would save my pennies until we had a hundred dollars and I’d say, OK, kids, get in the car. Mom and I are taking you on a hundred dollar day. And back then, a hundred dollar day could get you.
ADVERTISER :
Yes.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
You know, a couple of meals even or some fun activity in a place like Pueblo or Colorado Springs. And we just learned how to do it. We were frugal. And I think to this day, we really believe that that’s because then there’s more money to give away.
CHRYSANDRA :
So on this journey of pursuing what God’s called you to, can you just talk about a giant that has come along the way, a Goliath that has tried to stop both of you of pressing forward
JILL BACHALI :
I would say one of the biggest giants was pushing through the fear of support raising.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Yeah, I turned 40 years old when I became a missionary for Cadence. And I remember I turned 40 and had to write my first letter. Dear friends and family, will you support me in this military ministry? And it was daunting. It was very scary. And we can talk about that a little bit. But at first it was like wrestling with God almost. But I realized it wasn’t God. It was probably the evil one. It was these lies that somehow you’re begging for money, that this isn’t what… Americans do. This isn’t what American men do. My wife, we can now laugh about this, but she’s like, well, you can go do that and I’ll support you. But don’t ask any of my family or friends. Don’t ask anybody I really know. So it was daunting, but we watched God provide. And then I… And the irony, if there is an irony in this, I love to train younger missionaries now and how to raise support because it is a joy. It’s actually the favorite part of my ministry is working with Americans who love Jesus. And then they generously and sacrificially open up their pocketbooks. And I love that. I love being a part of that type of work.
CHRYSANDRA :
And Matthew, share why that is such a gift.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
When you get to be generous, you’re the one who’s blessed. Yeah. I mean, we know this and we’ve read it and we know the scriptures, but think about it. When you get to participate, my wife heard years ago and it became our mantra, you either go or you give to those who are going. Because then you’re a part of the team and we really believe that. So when I sit across the table, like let’s say I take someone to Starbucks and say, I want you to know about what we’re doing. I invite them into a teammate position and with that we’ve experienced so much joy and truthfully people really want to be a part of something that is bigger than themselves and it’s about christ yes it’s about the savior saving people on earth and so we get to do that with our work in kenya but next door there’s something else going on where people are saying would you pray about joining our team yes and that’s when and joe and i get to be generous donors for other missionaries and ministers because we want to be on that too
CHRYSANDRA :
Oh, it’s so good. You guys were coming up towards the end of our show. I know.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Fastest half an hour in history.
CHRYSANDRA :
It goes so fast. We would love to have you back sooner than later. But you guys, before we go, Matthew and Jill, we know that people are tuning in. There’s a listener in particular and they’re afraid to go after what God’s called them to. And they need encouragement to know that it is from the Lord and how to do so. What would be your piece of encouragement and wisdom that it’s,
JILL BACHALI :
If there’s a barrier like what we experienced with fundraising, you know, do it scared. Even if you’re scared, just do it scared. Because what’s on the other side of it is joy and excitement. Because when the Holy Spirit’s involved, there’s nothing better than feeling the power, the empowering of the Holy Spirit in your life. And to see the miracles, you kind of have to get to a needy place before the Lord will step in and show you a miracle. And it’s so faith-building. So if there’s a barrier that’s scary, it’s okay, but just do it scared.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
So good. That’s good. That’s my wife right there.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah, it is.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
You know, I would say in all things, we have a lot of opportunities. We have a lot of choices, right? And I think if you go to the scriptures and your intent in learning what Jesus cares about most, he’s going to say, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. If you’re doing those two things, then you’re following God’s will. And if you’re following God’s will, it’s a lot less scary. I think the scariness is when you’re not loving others enough. It may honestly be that you’re sort of protecting yourself. Yes. And I think the best thing is to release, let go, and go love. Just go and love, and you’re going to experience some dynamic adventures.
JILL BACHALI :
And what does Mwangi say? What is Mwangi’s famous line?
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Well, you’ve got to say it.
JILL BACHALI :
Yeah, we’ve got to hear this. What is it? You’re going to have to help me.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
God’s work.
JILL BACHALI :
Done God’s way.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Never lacks God’s supply.
CHRYSANDRA :
Whoa, mic drop right there.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
And he didn’t quote that. That’s from a long time ago missionary. But my co-founder really is amazed or an amazing guy that really helps inspire people to go and to be all that God has called them to be.
CHRYSANDRA :
That is incredible. We know that people are listening and they’re like, I want to come. I want to be part of this, supporting financially, volunteering. Come with us.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
I’ve taken 250 people. 250 people have gone with me to Kenya in the last 12 years.
CHRYSANDRA :
I want to be one of them. Okay, good. Let’s do that.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Yes. Okay, so it’s really easy.
CHRYSANDRA :
What’s coming up, too, that people can participate in?
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Well, actually, we are always going on a trip. We are always going in March and July and November. So that’s if they get on Imani.org, Imani’s E-M-M-A-N-N-E.org.
CHRYSANDRA :
Say it one more time.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Okay, E-M-M-A-N-N-E.org. So it’s Emma and Ann crammed together. Perfect. They share an A in the middle. Yeah.
CHRYSANDRA :
And they go there.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
They get there. They sign up. They get our newsletter. They get in touch with we’re tiny over here. There’s only five staff in the States. There’s 20 plus staff in Kenya. So we get everything. We know everybody over here in the States. So if they just reach out on Imani.org, we’ll be able to to meet them. And also we have Imani Ministries on Facebook and Instagram.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yes, and we will have it all tagged. What could people look forward to in visiting the ministry?
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Oh, man, we’re doing. OK, that’s that’s a big question. But let me just let me be succinct. Yeah, we are about pointing people to Jesus through loving action and the life giving word. So all of our initiatives, we have five key initiatives. We’re like spiritual is the umbrella over everything. We’re pointing people to Jesus directly. through health care initiatives, education, women’s ministry, kids ministry, and economic development. So even those business guys that are in our midst, they’re coming over with this and helping us think through how do we help the marginalized in rural Kenya figure out how to make some money and take care of their families. So all those things are a part of what we do.
CHRYSANDRA :
Oh, we love it so much. Well, you guys, you will find, go to our social media, pull over right now, go follow Matthew and Jill Pacelli. And you guys are on social media.
MATTHEW BACHALI :
Imani Ministries.
CHRYSANDRA :
Imani Ministries. And you guys, your lives will be changed. I already, I love the whole site is beautiful. Thank you. So inspiring. And thank you for being a fearless couple that is truly historic and living out what God’s called you to do. You guys, ask yourselves what God’s calling you to. As Paul has said in Ephesians 4, 1, as a prisoner of the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Till next time, dreamers, keep dreaming big.
