So I’m sitting in my friend Carla’s kitchen, when in walks a giant pig.

At the time, I’m just a year out of college, and I’ve just moved from the Midwest where I grew up to this beautiful Nicaraguan village. The room has dirt floors, and a wall open on one side to let out smoke from the cooking fire. And in walks this giant pig.

Carla reaches over from her bucket seat and slaps that pig on the rump. And she says, “This hog is for Jesus!”

So I ask, Carla, “What do you mean, that hog is for Jesus?”

She leans her elbows on her knees and says some of her favorite words in the Spanish language, “Déjame contarte un cuento.” Let me to tell you a story.

I’d love to pass that story on to you. In fact, it’s a story about stories and why we need to listen to each other’s stories.

I’m excited to share that story with you in the talk I gave at Wheaton College’s chapel earlier this week. It’s titled, “Hearing your neighbor’s story,” and focuses on a parable Jesus told about a woman who loses a coin, searches diligently, finds it, and invites her neighbors to celebrate with her. In it you’ll find stories about pigs, false teeth, Handel’s Messiah, and reasons diversity is worth the effort.

I hope you’ll enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed getting to pass along some of my favorite stories. Here’s the talk.