Zan Long
Episode 10

Narrator:

Welcome, friends, to another episode of The Story & Experience Podcast. Join your host, Japhet De Oliveira, with his guest today and discover the moments that shape us, our families, and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Welcome to another episode of The Story & Experience Podcast. I'm really as always excited to be able to meet another guest. Before I introduce their name, which I'm going to do by asking the very first question, I'm going to explain to those who are new how it works.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I have a hundred questions. The question number 100 is the hardest of all the questions. And obviously, the guest gets to choose between questions 11 and a hundred, which ones they want, progressively through that. And I'm going to do the very first 10 questions, ask them the first 10 questions. And for those of you who are regular to this, you know exactly how it goes. You probably even know when I say number 17, exactly what the question is, but just enjoy the experience. Imagine a cup of tea, both of us sitting down, we're looking at each other, we're having a conversation, and we're sharing stories and experiences that actually shaped us and made us into the leaders that we are today.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So without further ado, let me dive in and begin with this by asking our guest what's their name and is there anything about the pronunciation of their name that has been slaughtered in the past that we should be aware of?

Zan Long:

Hi, Japhet. Yeah, my name's Suzanne Long and I don't get called Suzanne very often. I've been called Zan, Zanny, everything else, but it's settled on Zan.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Settled on Zan. How do we spell that?

Zan Long:

Zed, A, N.

Japhet De Oliveira:

OK. Alright, lovely. Good. What do you do for work Zan, at the moment?

Zan Long:

At the moment I am a children's pastor at our local church.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, Oh. I don't know if we wish that on anybody.

Zan Long:

I don't know if I would either.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's a hard job. How long have you been in that current role?

Zan Long:

Over two years now.

Japhet De Oliveira:

But you've been in children's ministry like a lot longer than that?

Zan Long:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Zan Long:

Yes, a very long time.

Japhet De Oliveira:

A very long time, dare we say decades, but a very long time since your childhood.

Zan Long:

Pretty much.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Oh, that's quite brilliant. Hey Zan, tell me in the morning, what's your drink of choice? Do you have water? Green liquid smoothie? Coffee? Tea? What's the very first drink in the morning?

Zan Long:

It's water.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And is it tap water? Is it Brita water...

Zan Long:

Tap water.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Tap water. OK.

Zan Long:

Tap water followed by, at the moment, a green sludge, kind of smoothie thing. And then a coffee. A strong coffee.

Japhet De Oliveira:

A green sludge smoothie. That sounds really pretty appealing. The green sludge thing. Great. Great description, thank you.

Zan Long:

It is.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Zan, Where were you born?

Zan Long:

Mildura in Victoria, in Australia. I actually didn't grow up there. That was just the closest hospital to go to from where we lived.

Japhet De Oliveira:

OK. And have you actually, I was going to ask you if you've ever been back there? Have you been back to the hospital? To visit it? Yeah.

Zan Long:

Not as a patient, but as a visitor. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Mildura Hospital's good. Good hospital. Lovely place. Mildura's beautiful. Beautiful part of the world.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's fantastic. Beautiful. Tell me, when you were a kid, did you imagine you were going to become a children's pastor?

Zan Long:

I remember wanting to be a pastor or a missionary. I thought the stories were amazing and the adventures and it really, really appealed to me and yeah. I wanted to be but I didn't ever see that happening from where I was, from my gender and my geography.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's fantastic. That's really great. Well, you not only imagined it but you actually made it happen, so well done. That's pretty good. If people were to describe you, Zan, would they describe you as an extrovert or an introvert and would you agree?

Zan Long:

I don't think I know who I am most of the time. I think people would describe me as an extrovert, but yeah, they would. I don't see myself as that, but yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Yeah.

Zan Long:

So, no, I don't agree, but yes, I think it's a matter of, yes. You just have to.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You just have to, OK. That's super.

Japhet De Oliveira:

This morning, what was the very, I know it's really early for me here and it's really late for you there, but what was the very first thing you thought of this morning?

Zan Long:

Japhet called me last night and asked me to do this. That's what I thought of this morning. What is he going to ask me? What is question 100? Do I ask because I just want to know? And do I have to answer? This morning was a long time ago, Japhet.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I know. I know. It was like the long time.

Zan Long:

Yeah, a long time. Today is my Zoe day, I look after my granddaughter today. So Mondays are very good days. So, good days.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Bless. Now obviously I've never been in your Mini Cooper at the same time as you when you're driving a Mini Cooper at the same time as you. So this is a leadership question, but are you a backseat driver?

Zan Long:

No.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No?

Zan Long:

No.

Japhet De Oliveira:

OK.

Zan Long:

No. You should know that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I do, I do.

Zan Long:

I have been in the car when you're driving like a maniac. I'm just holding my breath the entire time.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's a good exercise. Apple watches encourage you to breathe.

Zan Long:

Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, they do. Alright.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, we did all the questions. We're good to go. It's now your turn to choose between 11 and a hundred. And so the way it works is that, you start off at 11, it's pretty easy and then 100, obviously it's the hardest, the hardest in the sense of the most vulnerable and most open. And you get to choose where you want to go. And let's enjoy this moment.

Zan Long:

OK. Alright. 13.

Japhet De Oliveira:

13. Alright. Walk us through the ideal end of your day.

Zan Long:

Being able to just ... watching the sun set out my kitchen window, getting dinner ready, knowing that family's coming, Zoe's racing around the house doing crazy things, and getting into the bed at the end of the house, feeling like stuff's done and you can just put your head on the pillow and know things have gone wrong. It's not a perfect day, but to put your head down and say, "It's been a good day." I think that's my, I like that when you're not that crazy frantic that you're too exhausted to sit there and think it's a good day.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful. I think that's the kind of perspective that we sometimes need. Though it's not perfect, but it's been a good day. I respect that. That's beautiful. Love it. Where'd you want to go next then? After 13?

Zan Long:

Ah another question? OK.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Yeah.

Zan Long:

Let's hit 18.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Eighteen, alright.

Zan Long:

I'm in the shallow end of the pool.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, it's good. It's good. If you had to eat just one meal for a month, what would you choose?

Zan Long:

Anything Mexican.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really?

Zan Long:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

But it's just one meal now. So you'd have to think like one thing that you just repeat it. So it'll just be like a Mexican dish...

Zan Long:

Yeah but it's the same ingredients repeated over and over again, isn't it?

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's fantastic.

Zan Long:

Yeah. That anything that's...

Japhet De Oliveira:

A great Mexican dish that you would just do that over and over again. Alright.

Zan Long:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. It's safe, it's safe. Beautiful. Love it. Alright. After 18?

Zan Long:

Let's hit 21.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Twenty-one. Share the best compliment you've ever received.

Zan Long:

I don't tend to remember those.

Japhet De Oliveira:

This is really interesting for Zan, because then as a person who's constantly like lifting up other people, so it's fun to listen to her think about this now for herself. The best compliment you've ever received.

Zan Long:

When little kids ask you to be their extra Nana or their extra grandma. I think that's like, because I don't really think it's a compliment, but it's an inclusion. And I think ... no, I can't remember any J, mate.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Actually I love that. I think that's true and it speaks to inclusion as well. That's beautiful. Love that. That's good. Alright. Where do you want to go to after 21?

Zan Long:

Let's hit 23.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Twenty-three. Alright.

Zan Long:

You want to know why I'm hitting these numbers now, do you?

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, no. I love this one. Here, tell us about the most outdated piece of technology you still use and you can't let go.

Zan Long:

Ah, what is that? Well technology and I aren't really good friends, only we're sort of friendly now. What technology? I don't really have any old technology because, you know, my family, they just change it over all the time. So there's nothing old. The only problem is it goes to the technology graveyard in the corner of the garage and I keep saying we need to check that stuff out. So.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. OK. Fair enough. Fair enough. Alright. After 23?

Zan Long:

Let's hit 30.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Thirty. Alright. Tell us about something that you're really looking forward to.

Zan Long:

Traveling again, traveling again. I didn't realize I have missed it so much so. But not actually traveling places, but just being able to say, seeing people and seeing friends and stuff like that, saying hey. I missed that so.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That would be so important. I agree. I agree. Super. After 30 where do you want to go?

Zan Long:

Thirty-two.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Thirty-two. Alright. If you were featured on the local news, what would your story likely be?

Zan Long:

Oh my gosh. It would probably be some disaster in the kitchen that I'd set the house on fire or something like that. Middle-aged woman sets house on fire making Play-Doh, which is what I did today was making potatoes. So that would probably be what it was. Domestic stuff.

Japhet De Oliveira:

While in the middle of a leadership meeting online.

Zan Long:

Forgot that it was there and burned the house down. Yeah, that would be most likely for me.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That'd be interesting. Love it. Alright. Super. Which one you want to go next?

Zan Long:

Thirty-nine?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Thirty-nine. Alright.

Zan Long:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

If you didn't need to sleep, Zan, what would you do with your extra time?

Zan Long:

Ah, I would paint and I would create more stuff. More games to play with the kids and yeah. Yeah. Just...

Japhet De Oliveira:

For our listeners, what you need to know is that Zan is one of the most creative people that I know out there. I mean, literally you come up with an idea and she will expand it out for every generation and will push you as to why you didn't think about making it more inclusive for everybody and then she'll find solutions for it. So, yes, I agree. I'm glad you actually do sleep otherwise it would mean a lot more. That's great. That's brilliant.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Alright. After 39, where'd you want to go?

Zan Long:

Forty.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Forty. Tell us about a time that you failed.

Zan Long:

Oh. I fail all the time because it relates to that last question. I'm always trying something new so I don't see failure. Well, it's annoying and it's frustrating. It's always just because if you weren't doing anything new, you'd just get really good at doing the same thing over and over again. And I just find that really boring. So I don't do the same thing over and over again. I'm always doing something new, which means there's a high chance of failure in that scenario. So yeah, I fail a lot but I don't see it as a bad thing. So.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Is there one...

Zan Long:

Biggest failure?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes, well it doesn't have to be the biggest failure but is there one that's memorable that you, that shaped you or made you think about, "Hey, I should do this differently" or "I've learned this" or...

Zan Long:

Yeah, I didn't study a lot at school. I should have studied more. I studied, I think for my end-of-year exams in the last couple of weeks beforehand and I just realized how much time I had wasted. And I was like, "Right, I need to grow up and be in charge of myself and be accountable for the time that I have." I think that was the first big ... because I was constantly making excuses for why I wasn't doing stuff and then realizing I actually wasn't doing anything. So yeah, that was my ... yeah. It wasn't much fun.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's good insight. I mean that's good insight. I mean there's sometimes we think that we're really super busy, we're procrastinating or delaying something and it's just a matter of taking it on and facing it on. That's good. Alright. After 40, where do you want to go next?

Zan Long:

Forty-five?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Forty-five. Alright. When people come to you for help, which I know they do Zan, what are they usually asking for?

Zan Long:

For something to be done. They're looking for something ... to make something feel like, to look good or to feel warm or like in church or something like that. That'll be doing an event and they'll say, "Hey, I don't know how to decorate this. Can you help?" And yeah, that's generally ... or to help fix stuff. Yeah, that's pretty much it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

To fix things all the time. That's cool, that's cool. Alright. After 45 where'd want to go?

Zan Long:

Yeah. 50.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Fifty. Alright. Share about who has influenced you professionally?

Zan Long:

Oh. I think Sam Leonor? I think the first time I heard him speak, which was a long, long time ago, it made me think about what we were saying and how we were saying it, how we were communicating with each other, and how we can just have not complicated language, and that having a clear, uncomplicated language includes everyone. And I think that was, and when people feel included, they feel like they belong. And for me, that was ... for what I do. I'm a mom and I work with families at church. You don't feel like you're part of the family unless you're included. If you're the last one to be asked or you're not understanding the language, you don't feel like you're part the family. So I think listening to him speak, I hadn't heard someone speak like Sam did. That's Sam Leonor. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Zan, you know what I've known about you in the ... over the decade that I've gotten to know you, I would say that you are an incredibly inclusive person. Where do you think that came from? And that's not even on one of the top 100 questions.

Zan Long:

Yeah. I'd just rather you ask, you can just pick the questions, Japhet, and...

Japhet De Oliveira:

This one I feel like...

Zan Long:

Yeah, you can pick.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It came out was 50, 51A. Where does this passion for inclusivity come from?

Zan Long:

I think, I don't think ... I just think as a child, I always felt on the outer or left out or less than and I didn't like that feeling. And I've always ... I think if God can make anything good out of anything horrible. I grew up in a very small country town, which was very diverse and there's a school photo of me and there's only a few of us, I'm a little blonde kid in the middle of gorgeous Italian, and indigenous, and Greek children just everywhere. And so I stood out, and that's where I think I learned it from a deep feeling of being not belonging. And I hate the thought of anybody feeling like that. So, that's where that comes from.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, I actually think Zan that you are one of those rare people that, actually, you do make that happen in every aspect of your life. And so it's beautiful to hear where it came from and I'm glad that you live out instead of, you could ignore it, but you actually turned something beautiful out of it. So well done for that. Where'd you want to go next?

Zan Long:

I hate picking things. I much rather you just put your finger on the page and pick a question.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, this is good. This is good. I'll...

Zan Long:

OK, let's go to 55.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Fifty-five.

Zan Long:

Have I picked 55?

Japhet De Oliveira:

No you haven't.

Zan Long:

Let's hit that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Alright, share about something that frightens you.

Zan Long:

Ah ... yeah. What frightens me? There used to be a lot of stuff that frightens me, that frightened me. I used to be like terrified of birds, but I'm not terrified of birds anymore. I get frightened of technology and of stuffing up, of like saying, "Yes, I'm going to do something" and not delivering. That's something that I get. I used to put stuff off when I was doing, frightened of something, frightened of failing or whatever so I would procrastinate and not do it. And that was that learning how to say, "OK, just little bit by little bit work through that," so I'm not as ... no, I'm not really frightened of anything else much at the moment. Wrinkles? Old age? I don't know. It's all coming very quickly.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That was fantastic. It was good. That's good. Alright. Which one would go after 55?

Zan Long:

Fifty, oh, let's hit 60.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sixty. OK.

Zan Long:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

When in your life have you felt most alone?

Zan Long:

Probably when I was a kid. I think when I look back to my childhood. But it never seemed ... I don't think I ever let that show. I can remember just feeling lonely.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's amazing how resilient we are when we're kids. And yet we know it actually affects us.

Zan Long:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Zan Long:

I think that's what I learnt, is you can never assume what's going on on the inside of somebody, especially kids. Kids can look like they don't, and I didn't, I didn't let anybody see that I was lonely or sad or anything like that but I felt that on the inside but I never let anyone see it on the outside. But it was the 70's when I grew up so there was none of that sort of thing, those conversations going on back then.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, I hear, I hear. Good. Alright. Which one would go after 60?

Zan Long:

Ah, the beach.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No you ... the beach.

Zan Long:

Sixty-five.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sixty-five. Right. Share one word that you could use to describe your past, then I'd love you to unpack that one word. Yeah. What would be one word to describe your entire past and up to this moment and then...

Zan Long:

There's so many different words that I could think of. I'm thinking messy comes to mind, first of all. But I look back with the gift of age and see just framework around my past. I don't know if that's the kind of word that you're looking for.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I like it.

Zan Long:

Yeah. What was that...

Japhet De Oliveira:

And so you're saying the word is framework or the word is messy?

Zan Long:

Both. I think when I was living in the time of looking like in the moment, life felt very messy and hectic and crazy, but now I look at it and see it as it was just framework and building a life. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Do you see other things or the people that were part of that? That like shaped that? Is that what you're saying?

Zan Long:

Yeah? I'm just trying to do this, get this, I've got this stray gent. Oh.

Japhet De Oliveira:

This is the beauty of a podcast. It is unedited, unedited and just fluid as it is.

Zan Long:

You know when we were talking about being afraid of technology? This whole time, this other screen popped up in front of me. And I've been looking at Rod's emails, which is not very exciting. So I've just worked out how to get rid of those emails out the way. And it feels much better now. I can see you Japhet.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well, welcome back Zan.

Zan Long:

Thanks, yeah. No, I think framework because I think it's only been in the last probably 10 years, Japhet, since that very first One Project that I went to, that I feel like my creativity, all the stuff that God gifted me with, I was just making a total mess of it, was all over the place. I had no purpose for it. I didn't know what to do with it. It was just like getting wasted. It was just a mess everywhere. And then when I went, it was just this, I don't know the word that they use that just changed everything. And it made, it was like somebody put a framework in and it made sense of my crazy, and my crazy became creative in a constructive way. And that's, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I like that. Well, we have time for just two more questions. So where'd you want to go with your last two numbers?

Zan Long:

Let's hit 90.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Ninety. Alright then. Tell us about something you overcame that was seemingly insurmountable at that time.

Zan Long:

I'm deciding whether I'd go to the one thing that I always go to because I will cry. And yet it's the one thing that defined, one of those defining moments in my life. My close family friends, their baby boy who, eight months old, gorgeous baby boy, died at our house. We'd just built our dream home. Our kids were all little. We were friends, we did everything together. And we tucked this gorgeous baby boy into bed and he died of SIDS. And that kind of thing, just, I can remember just watching the clock and wishing that the time would go backwards and we could change something. And there was nothing that you can change with SIDS. It's just...

Japhet De Oliveira:

I know, I know.

Zan Long:

It's just what it is. And I went a little nuts, went a little crazy. I couldn't look at sleeping babies. I couldn't, but the girlfriend who, her son who died, she was like, "We're not going to end our families like this." And within a year we both had I... Well, I have Sam, who's just turned 25, and she has Kelly a month later. And we, in that horrible situation, was just the worst thing you... We looked back even a few weeks afterwards, we were able to look back at that time and see this beautiful framework, this beautiful protective framework around a horrible, horrible situation.

Zan Long:

And it just made me, it was just like, enjoy today. Enjoy your children. Just love the moment you're in, because you don't know what's going to happen in the next 10 minutes so just enjoy this moment. And you know, don't get so ... think about living what you love. That's what I like, forget about. That's why I struggled with, what am I afraid of? Well, if we live in what we're afraid of, we're not living in what we love. So for me, it's been this lifetime of going, you know what? Life is beautiful, love every minute of it, love the people you're with. So it was a very, very painful time. But yeah, that was very defining, horrible. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That would be very, very painful and very and very ... there's no words, right? At that time other than time ... that people need to be able to go through what they have to go through at that point. But that being said, Zan, thank you for sharing that because I know that there are people who've actually gone through that and to know that others have actually pulled through it and not only pull through it, but actually have found strength on the other side is good. It's good. That's good.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well, Zan, you have time for one last question. Where would you like to have your last question?

Zan Long:

I want to know what a hundred is.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You do. You do.

Zan Long:

What was the number I just asked?

Japhet De Oliveira:

You asked for 90.

Zan Long:

And how much time have we got left?

Japhet De Oliveira:

You just got five of the last questions.

Zan Long:

OK.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hundred?

Zan Long:

Ninety-eight.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Ninety-eight. Alright, 98 it is. Alright. Here it is. What is one great thing that you are capable of achieving?

Zan Long:

Oh, oh.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh. What is one great thing that you are capable of achieving?

Zan Long:

I don't think I am actually capable of achieving one great thing.

Zan Long:

I actually know, listen, I know what a goof, like a goofball I am and I would have to say that without the Holy Spirit making sense of what I do and making good stuff out of all the stuff-ups that I make, all the fails that I look and I see it as a fail. He makes something good out of it or she, I don't know, whatever gender fluid the Holy Spirit is, I don't know. He just makes good stuff out of being faithful. I feel like every ... at the moment I am really blessed to be a part of building community in the area where our church has been built and seeing that community in the last year or so, just pull together and get to know each other and look after each other. And to create the space for that to happen? That's really lovely.

Zan Long:

It's living the dream of watching the dream come alive in ways that you have no idea that it will, with people that you've never met before. And you see them just being the dream of community, taking care of each other, caring enough about each other, to be interested and take time. And yeah. Did that make sense at all? I don't know.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes it did. Yes it did. And here's the thing, even though our time is up, I want to just reaffirm all you said and say absolute thanks for taking the time, late at night it is for you in Australia, bright and early it is for us here in the United States. I want to say thank you, Zan, for sharing because you are, I mean, you're the living embodiment of what it means to be an inclusive person but also a person who's absolutely creative through difficult things and beautiful things and turning people's lives into this, into something amazing all the time. I know that you are the center of so many great things. I look forward to all the beauty that you will continue to create, so thank you for all of that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

For everybody who's listening to the Story and Experience Podcast, I want to encourage you to share your story, share your experiences with each other, grab a cup of tea, sit down with your friends, listen to each other. The more you do you'll realize that you actually have something amazing to share and you will learn from each other. It's been an absolute pleasure. God bless everybody and you take care.

Narrator:

Thank you for joining us for The Story & Experience Podcast. We invite you to read, watch, and submit your story and experience at adventisthealth.org/story. The Story & Experience Podcast was brought to you by Adventist Health for the Office of Culture.