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And change I was bound.

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I was a madman on the run.

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Through the hills

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Welcome to Tell the Truth, a weekly podcast

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about faith, current events, and life in general,

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brought to you from Mountain View Baptist Church

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live every Monday night at 6PM

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central

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time. And welcome back this week. It is

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really great to have everyone, and,

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apologies that we have the camera on everyone

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else, but the the sound guy doesn't get

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to be on camera tonight because my camera's

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not working. So,

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instead, we'll just have everybody wave since I

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can't point to you tonight.

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We have a couple of special guests with

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us tonight. We have Logan LeGrand.

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You got it right. We didn't even practice

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all here. Awesome. Glad I got it right.

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You are with Mark for Life Ministries out

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of Fort Payne, and, we'll be talking to

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you about what all you've got going on.

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So definitely excited about that.

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We've got, Tanner Pridmore, of course, with us

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tonight,

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joining in on the conversation.

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And, as always, we have brother Brian and,

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brother Dennis with us. And I think,

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brother Logan has brought, Cole, his, photographer over

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in the corner there.

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Pop it up to you. So how's everybody

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doing tonight? Everybody, just throw it out there.

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Good, man. Good. Good. I'm I'm sliding into

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this retirement thing, you know, real slow. And

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then, like I was mentioning earlier, I got

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a whole month. My replacement's already replaced me,

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so I'm just kinda taking my thumbs for

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about a month. Oh, that's good. Yeah. That's

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nice, man. Yeah. You're you're doing a whole

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lot better job at retiring than I did,

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you know. Yeah. Yeah. You just jumped straight

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into the fire. Yeah. I retired on a

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Saturday or Friday, and we still work on

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a Saturday. So well, I'm gonna keep you

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alive, I hear

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you. Yeah. So far.

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So far.

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Yeah. So far. But sometimes it feels like

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it's gonna kill us. But yeah. No. We

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had a had a great weekend this weekend

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and, you know, good good church services Sunday.

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We've seen another,

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we got to,

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ord ordain another preacher,

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in the church. Yeah. And that's, that's two

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recently that we've sent out Wow. In in

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our area who's pastoring other churches in the

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area now. And so,

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man, I I I I'm thankful that we're

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raising them up and sending them out and

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Yeah. Let God do some work. Good guys.

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Good guys. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Brother Steven Taylor,

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he's actually been on here before. So Yeah.

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Well, he was he was one of our,

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first two or three guests, I think. Wasn't

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he? Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm.

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Well, I guess we'll just dive straight in

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tonight. I I got nothing for us. So

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So so yeah. Logan

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I had, I contacted Logan

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a couple of weeks ago and and gave

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him a couple of dates. And he said,

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yeah, man. He said, I'd love to come

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and gave me the date he could be

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here.

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And, of course, Logan,

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is with Mark for Life Ministries, and we're

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just gonna get into, you know, kinda his

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background in that, how how it came to

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be, you know, maybe your testimony, whatever. But,

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but if you if you've

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haven't heard of Mark for Life Mark for

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Life Ministries, it's a ministry here in Fort

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Payne, Alabama.

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They do, they do so many good things

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in the community, but I'm gonna let him

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explain those,

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and, and just a lot of lot of

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volunteers that Yeah. Are in there helping. And

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so yeah. So just

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good to have you, Logan. So glad to

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be here. I'm excited. Yes, sir. So well,

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the story, I could be here for days

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and days to share about all the great

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things God has done, but it's been miraculous

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just to watch him do his work and

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Yeah. Take us to where we are today.

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I know you guys mentioned a cool several

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really cool things that God has done like

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the motel that we've been able to purchase.

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Yeah. I always kinda like to take the

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story back to when I got here. Absolutely.

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And that was in 2020.

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Yeah. And so I was kinda just seeking

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God and wondering what was next for me

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and my ministry for years. I had traveled

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and done youth ministry and spoke in churches,

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and COVID really shut all of that down.

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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so there was no

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traveling and no speaking, and God had transitioned

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me to a semi full time role there.

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Right. I was doing a lot of freelance

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stuff, marketing and stuff like that, and then

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I was helping out speaking at churches when

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I could. Right. So, when I got shut

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down, I just kinda started seeking God of

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where to move, what to do, those things,

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and he took me to Fort Payne. Yeah.

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At this time, I had no money. It

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was the first place I moved out of

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my parents' house.

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And so

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it was really a test for what to

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do. I had no credit to rent anywhere,

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and so God just had to really open

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up a door. And I really felt called

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to Gadsden.

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At least in my mind, but every single

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door for Gadsden continued to shut. Mhmm. And

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a landlord gave me an opportunity through Airbnb

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Yeah. To stay in Fort Payne. I paid

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a crazy amount of money,

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to stay there that first month, but God

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gave me the opportunity to build a relationship

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with them. Mhmm. And just off that relationship,

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they rented to me. Right. And so that's

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kinda how I got here.

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Wasn't married at the time, and so many

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things have changed. Yeah. So,

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at any point you have a question, you

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just stop me and I'll ask. Yeah. Where

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are you from originally?

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From Birmingham area. Okay. Yeah. Okay. And then

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kinda moved up here. Didn't still didn't really

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know why. You know, my plan, there was

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a church in Gadsden I was helping out

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and trying to get off the ground. It's

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called The Well and Yeah. Served there for

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a little while. Mhmm.

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And then eventually, Mark for Life grew to

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a point where I couldn't serve in both

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capacities. Yeah.

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But still I knew man, God sent me

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to Fort Payne for some reason. It can't

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just be just to live here and drive

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to Gadsden. And so,

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it started out with us already having the

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name of the ministry.

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We actually already had a phone number and

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all of that,

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and I just started seeing the need. And

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someone called me one day and they said,

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hey.

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This person's homeless. Is there anything that you

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can do? And I only knew one person

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in town, but we went and bought them,

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clothes and stuff like that. It was super,

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super cold, and that just kinda started developing

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into the call of God. And that showed

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me that, man, we have so many,

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like, people in need in our community, and

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there's no one really stepping up to help

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them. Right. Yeah. Yeah. We, we were involved

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in Bread of Life with Bread of Life

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for for a lot of years as well,

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really till till COVID. Yeah. And, and Dennis

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and Diane really headed that up. Mhmm. And,

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it was not until we started helping with

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that that I realized how many homeless people

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we've gotten to do. You know? Yeah. They

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I mean, most people are oblivious to the

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fact that there's people that that they don't

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have a home to get to. Yeah. And

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I almost feel like if you're not doing

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the work, you can easily just drive by.

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Yeah. You know, it's kinda like when you

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when you drive a certain car and then

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you get a new car, and you feel

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like everyone else is driving your car. Yeah.

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But really, all those cars were already on

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the road, and now that you drive it,

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you realize it. Does that make sense? Yeah.

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Yeah. It's kinda the same thing. Yeah. When

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you start getting a passion and a stirring,

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then you start to notice the need more.

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So,

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basically, God started giving me this vision,

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for the ministry. It started when I went

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to do disaster relief. That's something I still

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did in in the ministry before we really

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started in Fort Payne. And so it was

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September 2020. It was right after my stepdad

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passed away.

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I felt led to go down to South

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Alabama after the hurricanes. And so we had

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the van loaded up, and I went and

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parked in front of a building in Fort

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Payne to someone that was giving us supplies.

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Yeah. And I felt the holy spirit tell

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me, you will open up a hope center.

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And we had no money. I didn't even

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know what that meant. I'm like, this is

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not even on my radar. And so I

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just kinda took that with me on my

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drive down there and just continued to seek

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the lord and he kind of explained what

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that meant over time Yeah. Which now today,

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you you can see it, you know, in

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the works. But I went to a group

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of pastors because I only knew one person.

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He was from Texas Yeah. But he had

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found a group of pastors, you know, to

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meet with and stuff like that. And so

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I went to them and I presented this

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idea

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and they said,

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I just don't think it's gonna work. They

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said, yeah, there's been several people tried this

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before. Yeah. We've tried to do it. We

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just couldn't get the support around it. I

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just don't think it will work. And so,

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I left that meeting a little bit discouraged,

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but I was also encouraged

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that it was possible. Yeah. That someone had

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tried it before. Right. But what I also

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learned was that building I had parked in

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front of

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was the building

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that they had tried it in before. And

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so I knew, well, this had gotta be

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God. Yeah. Because they said we tried it,

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we bought this building, and there was all

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kinds of things that happened. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

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I actually remember that. And we had a

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a church member that was highly involved in

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that Yeah. And a big a big part

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of it and now lives in in, or

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close to Tuscaloosa now. But yeah. So So

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and I just think God wasn't ready for

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that yet, and and he used me as

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a stranger to come in. And the biggest

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thing is,

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you know, we have tons of support from

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churches. Mark for Life isn't supported by just

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one church. We have tons of different churches,

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different expressions of the faith. We've got Baptist,

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Methodist, Charismatics. We've got the Catholics. Right. Anybody

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that wants to help, we'll let them help.

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Sure. Sure. You know, we have consistent beliefs

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we follow too, but anybody that wants to

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help is welcome to join in and Absolutely.

263
00:09:47,074 --> 00:09:48,294
And help others. So,

264
00:09:48,754 --> 00:09:50,355
after that meeting, I got together with a

265
00:09:50,355 --> 00:09:52,214
small group of people, and I said, hey.

266
00:09:52,274 --> 00:09:54,514
Why don't we sponsor four DHR kids for

267
00:09:54,514 --> 00:09:54,960
Christmas?

268
00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:57,200
Yeah. And they're like, yeah. Let's do it.

269
00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:59,220
And so we said yes to that.

270
00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,000
And really quickly, our phone number got out.

271
00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:03,200
The phone number I said that we had,

272
00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:04,960
I don't even know how this happened, and

273
00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:07,600
people started calling in for Christmas help. And

274
00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:09,855
in about two weeks, the four kids we

275
00:10:09,855 --> 00:10:12,415
plan to sponsor turned into 30. Oh, man.

276
00:10:12,415 --> 00:10:15,134
And that established the first deliver hope project

277
00:10:15,134 --> 00:10:16,894
of for life, which is in our outreach

278
00:10:16,894 --> 00:10:20,095
arm. Right. And so, we interviewed every single

279
00:10:20,095 --> 00:10:21,855
parent that called in and we tried to

280
00:10:21,855 --> 00:10:23,695
learn more about them. And more than anything,

281
00:10:23,695 --> 00:10:25,590
we wanted to know, do you wanna be

282
00:10:25,590 --> 00:10:27,590
discipled? Mhmm. We don't wanna see you getting

283
00:10:27,590 --> 00:10:29,830
help next year too. We wanna see something

284
00:10:29,830 --> 00:10:31,830
different. Amen. Right. Amen. And many of them

285
00:10:31,830 --> 00:10:35,210
said yes. So we were able to, sponsor

286
00:10:35,269 --> 00:10:37,269
every single person that called in, all 30

287
00:10:37,269 --> 00:10:39,764
kids. We had tons of churches sponsor that.

288
00:10:40,165 --> 00:10:42,085
And what was really cool is the churches

289
00:10:42,085 --> 00:10:43,845
came out and they helped wrap the gifts.

290
00:10:43,845 --> 00:10:45,924
Mhmm. And then we delivered them Right. To

291
00:10:45,924 --> 00:10:47,445
all the houses. That was the first time

292
00:10:47,445 --> 00:10:49,524
we really saw, man, this is the kingdom

293
00:10:49,524 --> 00:10:52,019
of God working together Together. Something bigger. Yeah.

294
00:10:52,179 --> 00:10:53,540
And at that time, we purchased them all

295
00:10:53,540 --> 00:10:54,980
from Walmart. Man, if we did that today,

296
00:10:54,980 --> 00:10:56,420
it would be so much more expensive. Last

297
00:10:56,420 --> 00:10:59,059
year, we did a 151 kids. Yeah. So

298
00:10:59,059 --> 00:11:01,059
that would be thousands and thousands and thousands

299
00:11:01,059 --> 00:11:03,639
of dollars. Yeah. So from there,

300
00:11:04,355 --> 00:11:06,035
after the Christmas event, we were able to

301
00:11:06,035 --> 00:11:07,795
help with the toys. We wrapped every single

302
00:11:07,795 --> 00:11:09,715
gift, and at that time, they gave us

303
00:11:09,715 --> 00:11:12,035
list. So we literally bought off the list.

304
00:11:12,035 --> 00:11:13,555
Yeah. We had no idea what we were

305
00:11:13,555 --> 00:11:15,075
doing, and we had no money. We were

306
00:11:15,075 --> 00:11:17,335
just trusting God. He was providing. So,

307
00:11:17,795 --> 00:11:19,315
we also were able to provide a meal.

308
00:11:19,315 --> 00:11:21,210
So we had a church come together, provide

309
00:11:21,210 --> 00:11:23,289
meals, and then Lowe's Mhmm. Gave us a

310
00:11:23,289 --> 00:11:25,610
donation of meals for every single family. Oh,

311
00:11:25,610 --> 00:11:27,210
nice. That was just so wild to see

312
00:11:27,210 --> 00:11:29,450
him work in that way. Yeah. And then

313
00:11:29,450 --> 00:11:31,850
from there, we started working on calling these

314
00:11:31,850 --> 00:11:33,834
people back that wanted to be discipled, that

315
00:11:33,834 --> 00:11:35,355
wanted to be out of this situation, and

316
00:11:35,355 --> 00:11:37,514
not many people answered the phone, but a

317
00:11:37,514 --> 00:11:39,514
few did. Yeah. And so we started going

318
00:11:39,514 --> 00:11:41,595
to their houses and working out of our

319
00:11:41,595 --> 00:11:44,074
cars. The crisis line continued to grow. People

320
00:11:44,074 --> 00:11:45,754
were calling us on the phone, asking for

321
00:11:45,754 --> 00:11:47,294
help, so we would just show up,

322
00:11:47,709 --> 00:11:49,950
take them clothes, take them food. We were

323
00:11:49,950 --> 00:11:51,789
just kinda running all over the county, and

324
00:11:51,789 --> 00:11:54,509
and volunteers started jumping into this. And and

325
00:11:54,509 --> 00:11:56,509
we just saw God do so many things,

326
00:11:56,509 --> 00:11:58,269
and we were just saying yes to whatever

327
00:11:58,269 --> 00:11:59,470
he called us to do at that time,

328
00:11:59,470 --> 00:12:01,409
and he was providing left and right.

329
00:12:01,835 --> 00:12:03,754
And we found out really fast that this

330
00:12:03,754 --> 00:12:05,595
is not gonna work in our cars. Mhmm.

331
00:12:05,835 --> 00:12:07,914
We wanna disciple people, but it's hard to

332
00:12:07,914 --> 00:12:09,754
take them out of their environment if you're

333
00:12:09,754 --> 00:12:11,835
meeting them in their house. Yeah. So Yeah.

334
00:12:12,154 --> 00:12:13,754
You know, you can only take someone so

335
00:12:13,754 --> 00:12:15,871
far if they're in the filth that they've

336
00:12:15,871 --> 00:12:18,033
grown up in. You can take them out

337
00:12:18,033 --> 00:12:20,196
of that and leave them somewhere. And so

338
00:12:20,196 --> 00:12:22,628
at that point, we're let's see. January, we

339
00:12:22,628 --> 00:12:24,791
did our second outreach. We just popped up

340
00:12:24,791 --> 00:12:27,224
behind Walgreens, there at the radio station parking

341
00:12:27,224 --> 00:12:29,074
lot and we planned to cook a a

342
00:12:29,074 --> 00:12:31,334
100 hamburgers. We ended up doing 300,

343
00:12:31,794 --> 00:12:32,454
and then

344
00:12:32,834 --> 00:12:34,514
people just kept pulling up. We were praying

345
00:12:34,514 --> 00:12:36,115
for them. Churches were helping. People were just

346
00:12:36,115 --> 00:12:37,315
so eager to get out of the house

347
00:12:37,315 --> 00:12:38,834
and do something. Yeah. I remember we were

348
00:12:38,834 --> 00:12:41,169
all wearing masks still. So Yeah. Yeah. And

349
00:12:41,169 --> 00:12:43,490
then February was love night. So we actually

350
00:12:43,490 --> 00:12:45,009
did this in the Bread Of Life building

351
00:12:45,009 --> 00:12:45,669
and we,

352
00:12:46,129 --> 00:12:49,250
fed single parents for one week. Mhmm. And

353
00:12:49,250 --> 00:12:51,809
so we had volunteers come together. We cooked

354
00:12:51,809 --> 00:12:54,210
all the meals. We delivered them. The final

355
00:12:54,210 --> 00:12:55,809
night, we did filet mignon for all the

356
00:12:55,809 --> 00:12:59,144
parents. Oh, wow. And so in that, we

357
00:12:59,144 --> 00:13:00,524
found out about a building

358
00:13:01,464 --> 00:13:03,464
that was available. And someone called to help

359
00:13:03,464 --> 00:13:06,024
get someone into recovery. Yeah. And they said,

360
00:13:06,024 --> 00:13:07,705
hey. I know you're looking for a building,

361
00:13:07,705 --> 00:13:09,304
which we weren't because we had no money.

362
00:13:09,304 --> 00:13:10,904
But they said, if you ever want a

363
00:13:10,904 --> 00:13:12,879
good deal, I've got a building, and I

364
00:13:12,879 --> 00:13:14,399
would love to work with you on it.

365
00:13:14,399 --> 00:13:16,319
And I said, what's the address? Because, you

366
00:13:16,319 --> 00:13:17,679
know, I'm thinking, well, if he's telling me,

367
00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:19,199
God's gotta be doing something. So I went

368
00:13:19,199 --> 00:13:19,860
over there

369
00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:21,759
and I love these people still to this

370
00:13:21,759 --> 00:13:23,120
day, but it was a wreck. They moved

371
00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,664
their whole house in there and there was

372
00:13:25,745 --> 00:13:28,384
stuff everywhere. There was lawnmowers out front. There

373
00:13:28,384 --> 00:13:30,544
was tractors. I couldn't even find it. Yeah.

374
00:13:30,544 --> 00:13:31,904
And I called and they said, well, there's

375
00:13:31,904 --> 00:13:34,065
lawnmowers and there's tractors and there's all kinds

376
00:13:34,065 --> 00:13:34,884
of stuff outside.

377
00:13:35,345 --> 00:13:37,024
And I said, okay. Well, bring the keys.

378
00:13:37,024 --> 00:13:38,384
I wanna see it. And so we went

379
00:13:38,384 --> 00:13:40,144
in. You could barely walk. There were shelves

380
00:13:40,144 --> 00:13:41,639
on every wall and God said, this is

381
00:13:41,639 --> 00:13:42,620
is it. So,

382
00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:45,000
I went to our volunteers and I said,

383
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,100
guys, we've gotta raise the money for this.

384
00:13:47,399 --> 00:13:49,160
Can y'all help us? And so we raised

385
00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:50,840
the money in two weeks. Oh, wow. We're

386
00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:52,360
able to get the first hope center. Yeah.

387
00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:53,259
Praise the Lord.

388
00:13:53,799 --> 00:13:54,299
And

389
00:13:54,754 --> 00:13:56,754
any questions yet? No. You're both good. I'll

390
00:13:56,754 --> 00:13:58,595
I'll throw out a question. And so I'll

391
00:13:58,595 --> 00:13:59,714
start to say I'll throw out a question

392
00:13:59,714 --> 00:14:01,714
real quick. What when you're talking about the

393
00:14:01,714 --> 00:14:03,075
Hope Center, what do we do at the

394
00:14:03,075 --> 00:14:04,434
Hope Center? Yeah. What does what does that

395
00:14:04,434 --> 00:14:06,115
do? So I'm about to get there. So

396
00:14:06,115 --> 00:14:08,195
so we opened it up and and, you

397
00:14:08,195 --> 00:14:09,690
know, what most people do is they start

398
00:14:09,769 --> 00:14:11,210
food and they start with clothes. That's easy.

399
00:14:11,210 --> 00:14:12,029
So we did

400
00:14:12,490 --> 00:14:14,409
that. But even from the beginning, we wanted

401
00:14:14,409 --> 00:14:16,429
to be different. You know, we know that

402
00:14:16,490 --> 00:14:18,169
there's so many people that hand out food

403
00:14:18,169 --> 00:14:19,929
in DeKalb County, and there's many people that

404
00:14:19,929 --> 00:14:20,830
hand out clothes.

405
00:14:21,289 --> 00:14:23,929
And obviously, there's something not clicking. Because if

406
00:14:23,929 --> 00:14:25,524
we just continue to hand out stuff and

407
00:14:25,524 --> 00:14:27,764
no lives are changed Right. Then I just

408
00:14:27,764 --> 00:14:29,284
feel like we're gonna go in circles and

409
00:14:29,445 --> 00:14:31,605
Sure. We're gonna continue to enable people. That's

410
00:14:31,605 --> 00:14:33,125
right. Yeah. But I think there's a time

411
00:14:33,125 --> 00:14:35,205
for just a hot meal. Oh, yeah. Also,

412
00:14:35,205 --> 00:14:36,804
I think there's a time for development and

413
00:14:36,804 --> 00:14:39,379
helping people. Absolutely. That connection's gotta be made

414
00:14:39,379 --> 00:14:41,700
first, you know. Absolutely. And then and then

415
00:14:41,700 --> 00:14:44,040
to to be able to disciple them. That's

416
00:14:44,179 --> 00:14:45,779
a big thing. It's something that we do

417
00:14:45,779 --> 00:14:48,259
here at our church, and and we've talked

418
00:14:48,259 --> 00:14:50,980
about on this podcast before. We we we

419
00:14:50,980 --> 00:14:52,725
help a lot of people as far as,

420
00:14:52,804 --> 00:14:53,464
you know,

421
00:14:54,004 --> 00:14:56,264
bills and different things, you know, Christmas.

422
00:14:56,644 --> 00:14:58,084
We help a lot of people at Christmas.

423
00:14:58,084 --> 00:14:59,784
But one of the things that we do,

424
00:15:00,324 --> 00:15:02,264
that we have structured here is

425
00:15:02,884 --> 00:15:04,804
the first time we help someone, we help

426
00:15:04,804 --> 00:15:06,980
them no questions asked. Yeah. The second time

427
00:15:06,980 --> 00:15:09,299
we help someone, we help them no questions

428
00:15:09,299 --> 00:15:11,799
asked. The third time they come to us,

429
00:15:11,940 --> 00:15:14,019
what we ask them to do, especially if

430
00:15:14,019 --> 00:15:16,179
it's in within a year's time, what we

431
00:15:16,179 --> 00:15:18,740
ask that person to do is, hey. Why

432
00:15:18,740 --> 00:15:19,960
don't you let us

433
00:15:20,339 --> 00:15:22,514
look at your budget? Let let us look

434
00:15:22,514 --> 00:15:24,434
at what you've got, your bills, your monthly

435
00:15:24,434 --> 00:15:26,535
bills, that kind of thing. What's going on?

436
00:15:26,995 --> 00:15:29,235
And and come in, sit down with us,

437
00:15:29,235 --> 00:15:30,595
and let us see if that we can

438
00:15:30,595 --> 00:15:32,514
help you Yeah. Be a good steward of

439
00:15:32,514 --> 00:15:33,475
your money. Have you had a lot of

440
00:15:33,475 --> 00:15:36,215
people come do that? It will. Probably two.

441
00:15:36,809 --> 00:15:37,309
I've

442
00:15:37,769 --> 00:15:39,769
been here in nineteen years. Yeah. But, you

443
00:15:39,769 --> 00:15:40,889
know, if we Well, you know, and one

444
00:15:40,889 --> 00:15:42,730
of the things that people don't realize is

445
00:15:42,730 --> 00:15:45,129
it's not just looking at what you're spending.

446
00:15:45,129 --> 00:15:46,970
We're looking at how much money are you

447
00:15:46,970 --> 00:15:48,730
making? Do we need to be working with

448
00:15:48,730 --> 00:15:50,330
you to maybe find a better job? Are

449
00:15:50,330 --> 00:15:53,264
you so severely underemployed that you need something

450
00:15:53,264 --> 00:15:54,784
to help take care of your family? Yeah.

451
00:15:54,784 --> 00:15:56,544
It's a lot. And I think people just

452
00:15:56,544 --> 00:15:58,225
immediately assume, well, you're trying to tell me

453
00:15:58,225 --> 00:16:00,544
I'm overspending Yeah. And I I think I've

454
00:16:00,544 --> 00:16:02,065
got everything under control. And it's like, well,

455
00:16:02,065 --> 00:16:03,184
yeah, but you come to us three times

456
00:16:03,184 --> 00:16:04,625
for help. How many other churches have you

457
00:16:04,625 --> 00:16:06,720
been to? Right. And that's the thing, you

458
00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:08,160
know, but we wanna help them, but we

459
00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:10,240
wanna help them help themselves too. Yeah. And

460
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:11,759
we wanna be able to disciple them. We

461
00:16:11,759 --> 00:16:14,000
don't say, hey. And and look, I I

462
00:16:14,399 --> 00:16:16,639
99.9%

463
00:16:16,639 --> 00:16:18,320
of the people that we help do not

464
00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:19,764
go to church here. You know, I mean,

465
00:16:19,764 --> 00:16:20,205
they

466
00:16:20,644 --> 00:16:22,004
that's that's that's just the way it's always

467
00:16:22,004 --> 00:16:22,504
been.

468
00:16:22,884 --> 00:16:24,884
And and so we don't say, hey, we're

469
00:16:24,884 --> 00:16:26,245
gonna help you, but you gotta come to

470
00:16:26,245 --> 00:16:27,684
our church. Yeah. You know, we say we're

471
00:16:27,684 --> 00:16:29,125
gonna help you, but we want you to

472
00:16:29,125 --> 00:16:30,804
be in church somewhere. Yeah. Whether it's here,

473
00:16:30,804 --> 00:16:32,485
whether it's down the road, but somewhere where

474
00:16:32,485 --> 00:16:34,559
you can can, you know, get in there

475
00:16:34,559 --> 00:16:35,139
and grow

476
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:37,039
and be disciples. So, and we'd love to

477
00:16:37,039 --> 00:16:39,039
do it here. Yeah. You know, but And

478
00:16:39,039 --> 00:16:40,579
it has to be tied to the gospel.

479
00:16:40,799 --> 00:16:42,100
Absolutely. Absolutely.

480
00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,159
Because it's like you said, you're spinning your

481
00:16:44,159 --> 00:16:46,079
wheels. Yeah. And you're not, you're not really

482
00:16:46,079 --> 00:16:48,240
making a difference. You may be making a

483
00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:49,139
now difference,

484
00:16:49,475 --> 00:16:52,274
but your impact on eternity is what matters.

485
00:16:52,274 --> 00:16:54,274
Yeah. It goes back to the analogy of,

486
00:16:54,274 --> 00:16:56,675
like, you can teach you can, you know,

487
00:16:56,675 --> 00:16:58,514
give somebody a fish for a day, but

488
00:16:58,514 --> 00:17:00,115
it's different to teach them how to fish.

489
00:17:00,115 --> 00:17:01,315
I see it. Yeah. That's right. It could

490
00:17:01,315 --> 00:17:03,779
be a little difference than changing the lure

491
00:17:03,940 --> 00:17:06,259
Yeah. Of the whenever you fish. Yeah. Absolutely.

492
00:17:06,259 --> 00:17:07,940
It could make a big difference, you know,

493
00:17:07,940 --> 00:17:09,940
to which fish you're about to catch. Yeah.

494
00:17:09,940 --> 00:17:11,940
Same thing with, like, what about the budgeting

495
00:17:11,940 --> 00:17:13,220
deal. Well, you see a lot of people

496
00:17:13,220 --> 00:17:15,080
that get caught up in in their,

497
00:17:17,474 --> 00:17:19,634
their years and years and years of parents

498
00:17:19,634 --> 00:17:20,695
and and grandparents.

499
00:17:21,154 --> 00:17:22,674
They just get caught up in this whole

500
00:17:22,674 --> 00:17:24,214
cycle that Yeah. Sometimes

501
00:17:24,515 --> 00:17:26,355
you wanna help them break that cycle, you

502
00:17:26,355 --> 00:17:27,954
know, so they can move past it. But,

503
00:17:27,954 --> 00:17:31,009
yeah, Go ahead. Absolutely. So we always knew

504
00:17:31,009 --> 00:17:32,609
we wanted to do something different, kinda like

505
00:17:32,609 --> 00:17:34,210
what you're sharing. And so we started out

506
00:17:34,210 --> 00:17:35,670
with what we call the care coordinators.

507
00:17:36,609 --> 00:17:37,670
And that was basically,

508
00:17:38,130 --> 00:17:40,930
you know, pastoral biblical counseling, not mental health

509
00:17:40,930 --> 00:17:43,090
counseling. Hey. Let's sit down. Let's talk about

510
00:17:43,090 --> 00:17:45,804
the Lord. Let's talk about your situation. Yeah.

511
00:17:45,804 --> 00:17:47,804
And we met with every we now call

512
00:17:47,804 --> 00:17:49,804
our clients neighbors. So we met with every

513
00:17:49,804 --> 00:17:52,204
neighbor for an hour. Mhmm. There's absolutely no

514
00:17:52,204 --> 00:17:54,204
way we could do that today. Yeah. But

515
00:17:54,204 --> 00:17:56,170
that's what we used to do. Right. And

516
00:17:56,170 --> 00:17:57,470
it was pretty effective.

517
00:17:58,250 --> 00:18:00,009
But what we learned over the years, we

518
00:18:00,009 --> 00:18:01,210
did that for probably about two and a

519
00:18:01,210 --> 00:18:01,950
half years,

520
00:18:02,570 --> 00:18:03,070
is

521
00:18:03,450 --> 00:18:06,009
we were working way harder on people's lives

522
00:18:06,009 --> 00:18:07,529
than they were. And so we get in

523
00:18:07,529 --> 00:18:09,805
this room and I'm having to pry, I'm

524
00:18:09,805 --> 00:18:11,404
having to come up with questions, and you're

525
00:18:11,404 --> 00:18:13,005
just trying to rush through the meeting to

526
00:18:13,005 --> 00:18:14,845
get the food. Right. Yeah. Right. And so

527
00:18:14,845 --> 00:18:16,924
that really wasn't working. And we saw a

528
00:18:16,924 --> 00:18:18,525
lot of people saved and and a lot

529
00:18:18,525 --> 00:18:20,045
of people that prayed a prayer, you know,

530
00:18:20,045 --> 00:18:21,900
where they are today. Who knows? Yeah.

531
00:18:22,539 --> 00:18:23,680
But we adjusted

532
00:18:23,980 --> 00:18:26,380
probably about two years ago, to the true

533
00:18:26,380 --> 00:18:27,279
charity model.

534
00:18:27,900 --> 00:18:29,740
And it's a organization out of Missouri who

535
00:18:29,740 --> 00:18:31,200
helps people all over the country.

536
00:18:31,740 --> 00:18:33,740
But the basis of it is that helping

537
00:18:33,740 --> 00:18:35,055
people can hurt them.

538
00:18:35,535 --> 00:18:37,775
And so you'll see at the ministry, everything

539
00:18:37,775 --> 00:18:39,455
is effort based from the Hope House to

540
00:18:39,455 --> 00:18:41,394
the Hope Center. Every service you receive,

541
00:18:42,095 --> 00:18:44,894
goes off of effort. And so, when you

542
00:18:44,894 --> 00:18:47,134
come in to the Hope Center, we're open

543
00:18:47,134 --> 00:18:48,275
Monday through Friday,

544
00:18:48,660 --> 00:18:51,160
10AM to 4PM. People can come in.

545
00:18:51,460 --> 00:18:53,779
And, first, they check-in. We put them in

546
00:18:53,779 --> 00:18:56,420
a system called Charity Tracker, and that partners

547
00:18:56,420 --> 00:18:58,340
with other agencies so we can see if

548
00:18:58,340 --> 00:19:00,500
they're getting help from someone else. Yeah. And

549
00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:02,600
then from there, they meet with our professional

550
00:19:02,740 --> 00:19:03,240
volunteer.

551
00:19:04,154 --> 00:19:05,835
They get all of their paperwork done. And

552
00:19:05,835 --> 00:19:07,355
then after that, they meet with our social

553
00:19:07,355 --> 00:19:09,994
worker. And she's gonna set goals for them.

554
00:19:09,994 --> 00:19:11,195
So, hey, where are we trying to get

555
00:19:11,195 --> 00:19:12,955
to? I know today we need food, but

556
00:19:12,955 --> 00:19:14,315
why are we in this situation? Do you

557
00:19:14,315 --> 00:19:16,394
need housing? Right. What are your long term

558
00:19:16,394 --> 00:19:18,315
goals? And we always say the neighbor owns

559
00:19:18,315 --> 00:19:20,610
the goals. So these are things that they

560
00:19:20,610 --> 00:19:22,130
are wanting to do and we kinda help

561
00:19:22,130 --> 00:19:23,830
them go from there. That's awesome.

562
00:19:24,369 --> 00:19:26,930
Done. I'm sorry. I I was just noticing

563
00:19:26,930 --> 00:19:29,330
on your website, you tie this, the help

564
00:19:29,330 --> 00:19:31,605
needs. There's some flyer buzzing around here. I

565
00:19:31,605 --> 00:19:33,065
don't wanna eat him. Right?

566
00:19:33,765 --> 00:19:35,125
That you tie some of this stuff to

567
00:19:35,125 --> 00:19:37,365
addiction. Yes. Right? That they can't be in

568
00:19:37,365 --> 00:19:39,525
an active addiction for certain things that you

569
00:19:39,525 --> 00:19:41,684
offer. Yeah. So that's the hope house. Okay.

570
00:19:41,845 --> 00:19:43,845
And and anyone can come into the hope

571
00:19:43,845 --> 00:19:46,690
center that's facing addiction. Okay. And we can

572
00:19:46,769 --> 00:19:48,210
there's a lot of resources that we can

573
00:19:48,210 --> 00:19:50,049
help them with there, and we'll even get

574
00:19:50,049 --> 00:19:52,289
them into recovery. Mhmm. We'll drive them there.

575
00:19:52,289 --> 00:19:54,289
We'll do all those things. But the Hope

576
00:19:54,289 --> 00:19:57,029
House really isn't set up as a rehab.

577
00:19:57,410 --> 00:19:58,849
Right. And I'll talk more about that in

578
00:19:58,849 --> 00:19:59,829
in just a moment.

579
00:20:00,394 --> 00:20:02,075
But once they get done with a social

580
00:20:02,075 --> 00:20:03,835
worker, they go to the very they meet

581
00:20:03,835 --> 00:20:05,454
with our chaplain, which is Daryl,

582
00:20:05,835 --> 00:20:07,434
that we talked about before and he's a

583
00:20:07,434 --> 00:20:09,515
local minister. So we'll pray with him. We

584
00:20:09,515 --> 00:20:11,914
have, like, a a spiritual assessment they fill

585
00:20:11,914 --> 00:20:13,755
out, you know, have you ever been saved

586
00:20:13,755 --> 00:20:15,580
or been baptized? Those kind of things. And

587
00:20:15,580 --> 00:20:18,400
we've seen several people baptized through that conversation.

588
00:20:18,460 --> 00:20:19,100
Oh, wow.

589
00:20:19,580 --> 00:20:21,180
This we actually have a hot tub out

590
00:20:21,180 --> 00:20:23,100
front, a Coleman blow up hot tub. Oh,

591
00:20:23,100 --> 00:20:25,019
nice. And, Coleman's here with us was actually

592
00:20:25,019 --> 00:20:27,340
baptized in that. Oh, nice. Amen. So,

593
00:20:28,140 --> 00:20:29,820
then in the back, that's where I really

594
00:20:29,820 --> 00:20:31,744
get excited because this is where our exchange

595
00:20:31,744 --> 00:20:34,065
model happens. Mhmm. So this has given neighbors

596
00:20:34,065 --> 00:20:35,744
the opportunity to earn. So that's where our

597
00:20:35,744 --> 00:20:37,424
clothing and our food is and our laundry

598
00:20:37,424 --> 00:20:38,404
and all those things.

599
00:20:38,944 --> 00:20:40,464
And they get partnered with one of our

600
00:20:40,464 --> 00:20:40,964
volunteers,

601
00:20:41,585 --> 00:20:43,650
and they work the back end. And I

602
00:20:43,809 --> 00:20:46,289
like to kinda say they're sneaky evangelists. So

603
00:20:46,289 --> 00:20:48,710
we train these people on building relationships,

604
00:20:49,250 --> 00:20:50,609
because out of all the people we serve,

605
00:20:50,609 --> 00:20:51,890
we know that 95%

606
00:20:51,890 --> 00:20:53,730
of them don't have a friend or family

607
00:20:53,730 --> 00:20:55,430
member that they can call in an emergency.

608
00:20:55,570 --> 00:20:57,330
Right. So that means the reason they're in

609
00:20:57,330 --> 00:20:59,295
this situation is not because of drugs or

610
00:20:59,295 --> 00:21:01,394
alcohol or because they don't have a job.

611
00:21:02,095 --> 00:21:04,815
Those things are probably true, but it's because

612
00:21:04,815 --> 00:21:05,555
of broken

613
00:21:05,855 --> 00:21:09,215
relationships. Mhmm. Yeah. They have, you know, burn

614
00:21:09,215 --> 00:21:10,894
every bridge that they have. They can't call

615
00:21:10,894 --> 00:21:12,414
their mom. They can't call their dad. And

616
00:21:12,414 --> 00:21:13,615
so they're at a place to where they

617
00:21:13,615 --> 00:21:15,480
have no one. And so we try to

618
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:17,160
be that for them, you know, in a

619
00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:19,400
professional manner in the back. Right. And so

620
00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:21,480
as they earn so basically, if they come

621
00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:23,420
in and they need laundry, they need clothes,

622
00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:26,359
they earn it. And so there's various tasks

623
00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:27,799
that we have if it's sweeping the floor,

624
00:21:27,799 --> 00:21:30,174
if it's folding clothes, if it's sorting food

625
00:21:30,174 --> 00:21:31,154
that we rescued,

626
00:21:31,534 --> 00:21:33,134
to put out on the shelf for others.

627
00:21:33,134 --> 00:21:35,054
Yeah. Every hour that they earn, they get

628
00:21:35,054 --> 00:21:37,234
10 points to shop in our area.

629
00:21:37,855 --> 00:21:39,615
And that's for food and clothing, all those

630
00:21:39,615 --> 00:21:41,454
things. And so in that, it's not just

631
00:21:41,454 --> 00:21:44,039
about the work. In fact, most people will

632
00:21:44,039 --> 00:21:46,119
leave streaks on the windows, and that's okay.

633
00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:47,960
Yeah. The streaks don't matter because it's not

634
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:49,960
about the work. It's about the effort from

635
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:52,279
them, and it's about the relationship that they

636
00:21:52,279 --> 00:21:54,200
can build with that team member. Yeah. And

637
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:55,559
so we want them to know that we

638
00:21:55,559 --> 00:21:57,484
know their name and that we're here for

639
00:21:57,484 --> 00:21:59,565
more than just handouts. We wanna help you

640
00:21:59,565 --> 00:22:01,484
have your life changed and hand up. So

641
00:22:01,724 --> 00:22:04,065
I mean, it teaches them to earn something.

642
00:22:04,284 --> 00:22:06,284
And and there there's something about it, a

643
00:22:06,284 --> 00:22:08,125
good days of work. I mean, I mean,

644
00:22:08,125 --> 00:22:08,944
a lot of people

645
00:22:09,630 --> 00:22:11,789
may not realize that have been in those

646
00:22:11,789 --> 00:22:14,190
situations and grown up in in in that

647
00:22:14,190 --> 00:22:15,089
where they have,

648
00:22:15,470 --> 00:22:16,210
been enabled

649
00:22:16,509 --> 00:22:17,950
Yeah. A lot of times in their life.

650
00:22:17,950 --> 00:22:19,789
But there's something that you can look back

651
00:22:19,789 --> 00:22:21,390
on a on a good day's work and

652
00:22:21,470 --> 00:22:23,695
Yeah. And be proud of. Dignity. They do

653
00:22:23,695 --> 00:22:25,855
understand that. Most people that really want the

654
00:22:25,855 --> 00:22:26,355
help,

655
00:22:26,734 --> 00:22:28,015
when they hear that we do this, they

656
00:22:28,015 --> 00:22:30,494
get excited. Yeah. Because they're not gonna feel

657
00:22:30,494 --> 00:22:32,015
shame when they walk out. They're gonna feel

658
00:22:32,015 --> 00:22:33,535
like, man, I really got to earn this

659
00:22:33,535 --> 00:22:35,055
today. Right. And I got to be a

660
00:22:35,055 --> 00:22:37,279
part of something bigger than myself. Yeah. Yeah.

661
00:22:37,279 --> 00:22:38,559
So and there's those that don't like it

662
00:22:38,559 --> 00:22:40,159
and and that's okay. When I used to

663
00:22:40,159 --> 00:22:41,140
work out in Huntsville,

664
00:22:41,599 --> 00:22:43,039
there was a lady over there that I

665
00:22:43,039 --> 00:22:44,960
met at a it was a tech conference

666
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:46,500
I Yeah. That we had gone to.

667
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,700
And she was talking about how her actual

668
00:22:49,759 --> 00:22:52,019
job day to day was working in,

669
00:22:52,684 --> 00:22:54,684
low income housing. She was she was a

670
00:22:54,684 --> 00:22:56,704
manager for several over in Huntsville.

671
00:22:57,085 --> 00:22:59,025
And one of the things she had instituted

672
00:22:59,724 --> 00:23:01,105
there was the idea

673
00:23:02,044 --> 00:23:04,684
of everybody has to work. Everybody has to

674
00:23:04,684 --> 00:23:07,164
actively be doing you're either going and finding

675
00:23:07,164 --> 00:23:09,630
a job or you're working here for us.

676
00:23:09,630 --> 00:23:12,029
Yeah. And she had to fight to get

677
00:23:12,029 --> 00:23:13,950
the government to, of course, approve something like

678
00:23:13,950 --> 00:23:16,190
that. But they did eventually Yeah. Sign off

679
00:23:16,190 --> 00:23:17,230
on it and they said, we think that's

680
00:23:17,230 --> 00:23:18,750
a great idea. Let's go for it and

681
00:23:18,750 --> 00:23:20,029
see how it works. And she said the

682
00:23:20,029 --> 00:23:22,190
number one thing was that they just felt

683
00:23:22,190 --> 00:23:24,075
better about themselves. Yeah. And she said, and

684
00:23:24,075 --> 00:23:26,075
that was step one. And then once they're

685
00:23:26,075 --> 00:23:27,515
feeling better about themselves, now all of a

686
00:23:27,515 --> 00:23:29,515
sudden Yeah. The the drug addictions and things

687
00:23:29,515 --> 00:23:30,875
like that. She said, in in which course,

688
00:23:30,875 --> 00:23:32,714
if you're in low income housing, government tests

689
00:23:32,714 --> 00:23:34,234
you and stuff. You can't be doing, you

690
00:23:34,234 --> 00:23:36,279
know, the hard drugs and stuff. But she

691
00:23:36,279 --> 00:23:38,200
said even things such as smoking and alcohol

692
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,519
and things like that just start slowly fading

693
00:23:40,519 --> 00:23:42,119
off because it was like, oh, we're actually

694
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:44,279
contributing. We can actually do something and Yeah.

695
00:23:44,279 --> 00:23:45,720
And she said they would have people come

696
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:47,319
in over there, knew how to do nothing.

697
00:23:47,319 --> 00:23:48,839
They'd teach them how to do the maintenance

698
00:23:48,839 --> 00:23:50,505
work and how to go down and work

699
00:23:50,505 --> 00:23:52,424
on the boiler and how to, you know.

700
00:23:52,424 --> 00:23:53,965
Sometimes you gotta teach them,

701
00:23:54,345 --> 00:23:56,265
how to how to do a job interview,

702
00:23:56,265 --> 00:23:57,805
you know. And so, we had basic

703
00:23:58,105 --> 00:24:00,505
skills that we, we worked with the ministry

704
00:24:00,505 --> 00:24:01,725
for a few years and,

705
00:24:02,505 --> 00:24:04,599
and they what they basically do is they

706
00:24:04,599 --> 00:24:05,500
bring in refugees.

707
00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,440
They've got a place in Nashville. They bring

708
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:09,819
these folks folks in.

709
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:12,039
And if you wanna go on a foreign

710
00:24:12,039 --> 00:24:14,599
mission trip on American soil, this is the

711
00:24:14,599 --> 00:24:15,740
place to go. But,

712
00:24:16,505 --> 00:24:19,244
but but what our job was to do,

713
00:24:19,625 --> 00:24:21,545
each each year, we'd take a week, and

714
00:24:21,545 --> 00:24:24,424
we would go administer to these folks. And

715
00:24:24,424 --> 00:24:26,105
what we were doing is teaching them some

716
00:24:26,184 --> 00:24:28,065
a lot of them some basic English Yeah.

717
00:24:28,184 --> 00:24:30,509
But then also some interview skills to be

718
00:24:30,509 --> 00:24:31,630
able to go out and get them a

719
00:24:31,630 --> 00:24:33,710
job and be productive citizens while they were

720
00:24:33,710 --> 00:24:35,150
here, you know. Yeah. And that is a

721
00:24:35,150 --> 00:24:37,070
thing. You know, a lot of times people

722
00:24:37,070 --> 00:24:38,670
just say, well, why don't all people that

723
00:24:38,670 --> 00:24:40,509
are facing homelessness just go get a job?

724
00:24:40,509 --> 00:24:42,190
Yeah. Yeah. And it's just really not that

725
00:24:42,190 --> 00:24:44,350
simple. There's a lot more complex things to

726
00:24:44,350 --> 00:24:46,325
helping someone also. A lot of brokenness there.

727
00:24:46,325 --> 00:24:47,845
Yeah. And I think one of the fundamental

728
00:24:47,845 --> 00:24:49,605
needs of every every person in the world

729
00:24:49,605 --> 00:24:50,884
is is to be a part of something

730
00:24:50,884 --> 00:24:52,644
bigger and contribute to it. Yeah. Right? It's

731
00:24:52,644 --> 00:24:55,045
something we're wired with. Yeah. That that God's

732
00:24:55,045 --> 00:24:56,965
built into us that we if you find

733
00:24:56,965 --> 00:24:58,559
ways to to help people do that, I

734
00:24:58,559 --> 00:25:00,319
think it really, really gives them a boost.

735
00:25:00,319 --> 00:25:01,679
Well, it's hard to get a it's hard

736
00:25:01,679 --> 00:25:03,279
to get a job without an address. I

737
00:25:03,279 --> 00:25:04,579
mean, you know, with with

738
00:25:05,039 --> 00:25:06,880
with something that you can fill out there

739
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:09,359
and some references and all those things. And

740
00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:11,375
those folks are without a lot of that.

741
00:25:11,375 --> 00:25:13,615
Absolutely. Yeah. And and going back, talking a

742
00:25:13,615 --> 00:25:16,034
little bit about, you know, those who

743
00:25:16,414 --> 00:25:18,674
come and give, even if you're on disability,

744
00:25:19,134 --> 00:25:21,454
I encourage people, you can still come and

745
00:25:21,454 --> 00:25:22,894
earn. You know, if you need to sit

746
00:25:22,894 --> 00:25:24,869
down, you can sit down. It's not about

747
00:25:24,869 --> 00:25:27,609
the task. Again, it's about having that dignity.

748
00:25:27,750 --> 00:25:29,509
Yeah. So I encourage people to come in

749
00:25:29,509 --> 00:25:30,490
that are on disability

750
00:25:31,029 --> 00:25:32,950
to find somewhere to volunteer. Right. You know,

751
00:25:32,950 --> 00:25:34,390
even if you're just sitting down and greeting

752
00:25:34,390 --> 00:25:36,164
somebody Sure. Getting out of the house is

753
00:25:36,164 --> 00:25:38,919
is gonna help that Absolutely. And help your

754
00:25:38,919 --> 00:25:41,122
mental load. It does. It really does. So

755
00:25:41,122 --> 00:25:43,601
so that's the hope center. We also have

756
00:25:43,601 --> 00:25:46,080
our main offices there, and it hosts our

757
00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,110
crisis line. So it's available 247365.

758
00:25:49,110 --> 00:25:51,864
Since 2020, we've had over 30,000 phone calls

759
00:25:51,864 --> 00:25:53,900
to to that hotline Wow. With a three

760
00:25:53,900 --> 00:25:56,299
ring average answer. Wow. No matter when you

761
00:25:56,299 --> 00:25:58,559
call, Christmas, Easter, any day, we're available.

762
00:25:59,099 --> 00:26:01,180
And we also respond to those calls. So

763
00:26:01,180 --> 00:26:03,259
under certain circumstances, we'll send out a staff

764
00:26:03,259 --> 00:26:05,500
member and help in those emergencies. Wow. That's

765
00:26:05,500 --> 00:26:07,039
awesome. That's awesome. Absolutely.

766
00:26:07,414 --> 00:26:08,855
So I know that you guys do so

767
00:26:08,894 --> 00:26:10,054
I don't wanna get ahead of you, but

768
00:26:10,054 --> 00:26:11,674
I know that you guys do some,

769
00:26:12,615 --> 00:26:14,875
some some free medical work. Yeah.

770
00:26:15,255 --> 00:26:15,755
Yeah.

771
00:26:16,534 --> 00:26:17,034
So,

772
00:26:17,414 --> 00:26:20,294
the medical center is also there on-site at

773
00:26:20,294 --> 00:26:21,674
the Hope Center. So,

774
00:26:22,279 --> 00:26:24,440
it's so cool all the all the things

775
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,279
God did last year. It was our biggest

776
00:26:26,279 --> 00:26:27,099
year ever

777
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,000
financially and all the things we're able to

778
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:30,460
do, the people we were able to help.

779
00:26:30,919 --> 00:26:32,119
But we were also in the middle of

780
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:33,740
two major building projects.

781
00:26:34,679 --> 00:26:37,205
And my my son was growing up. He's

782
00:26:37,205 --> 00:26:39,365
now 18. So that was all in the

783
00:26:39,365 --> 00:26:40,884
middle of a lot of transition in my

784
00:26:40,884 --> 00:26:41,705
life. So,

785
00:26:42,484 --> 00:26:44,244
where the Hope Center is was actually going

786
00:26:44,244 --> 00:26:45,525
to be the Hope House, and it just

787
00:26:45,525 --> 00:26:46,744
didn't work out that way.

788
00:26:47,285 --> 00:26:48,805
But now it's somewhere else, and I'll tell

789
00:26:48,805 --> 00:26:50,644
you about that. But that building was given

790
00:26:50,644 --> 00:26:52,140
to us where the Hope Center is,

791
00:26:52,619 --> 00:26:54,859
by the interfaith clinic, which served our community

792
00:26:54,859 --> 00:26:57,519
for over twenty years, helped tons of people.

793
00:26:57,900 --> 00:26:59,519
But they were just kinda at a place.

794
00:26:59,980 --> 00:27:01,820
They were still going, but I would say

795
00:27:01,820 --> 00:27:03,579
they were probably barely going. They needed someone

796
00:27:03,579 --> 00:27:05,200
to kinda help with that. And so,

797
00:27:05,924 --> 00:27:07,644
I went to them and said, hey, we

798
00:27:07,644 --> 00:27:09,404
wanna do the Hope House here. And they

799
00:27:09,404 --> 00:27:11,085
came back two weeks later and said, here's

800
00:27:11,085 --> 00:27:11,744
the deed.

801
00:27:12,125 --> 00:27:14,204
And so God kinda put that together for

802
00:27:14,204 --> 00:27:16,684
us and Yeah. And we also adopted the

803
00:27:16,684 --> 00:27:18,849
clinic at that time. And so we were

804
00:27:18,849 --> 00:27:20,690
able to rebrand it. It's now the Mark

805
00:27:20,690 --> 00:27:22,529
for Life Medical Center. Just last year, we

806
00:27:22,529 --> 00:27:25,909
served over 81 patients, saving them over $15,000.

807
00:27:26,049 --> 00:27:28,529
Wow. And so it's, free primary care for

808
00:27:28,529 --> 00:27:30,690
them. The non insured can come in and

809
00:27:30,690 --> 00:27:33,269
get assistance from doctors, nurse practitioners.

810
00:27:33,654 --> 00:27:35,815
Yeah. And what we've really learned in this,

811
00:27:35,815 --> 00:27:37,275
and this is how God works

812
00:27:37,734 --> 00:27:39,654
is, you know, the free medical clinic is

813
00:27:39,654 --> 00:27:41,015
great and we serve a lot of people

814
00:27:41,015 --> 00:27:42,555
on that first and third Thursday.

815
00:27:43,494 --> 00:27:45,894
But it's really for the Hope House, because

816
00:27:45,894 --> 00:27:47,335
I would say we're probably one of the

817
00:27:47,335 --> 00:27:47,835
only

818
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,720
shelters, rehabs, recovery centers, whatever you wanna call

819
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:52,240
us, one of the only programs that you

820
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:53,059
can come into

821
00:27:53,519 --> 00:27:55,839
and have your medical needs met within twenty

822
00:27:55,839 --> 00:27:57,619
four hours. Right. You get there,

823
00:27:57,920 --> 00:27:59,599
Alice is there. You know, we talked about

824
00:27:59,599 --> 00:28:01,839
her earlier, one of our amazing professional volunteers.

825
00:28:01,839 --> 00:28:04,065
She's a nurse. We're getting your blood pressure.

826
00:28:04,065 --> 00:28:05,984
We're figuring out your medication. We also have

827
00:28:05,984 --> 00:28:08,065
a pharmacy on-site. Mhmm. So we're helping these

828
00:28:08,065 --> 00:28:10,464
guys, you know, get their diabetes handled and

829
00:28:10,464 --> 00:28:12,164
stuff like that. So when you come in,

830
00:28:12,384 --> 00:28:14,784
we're not just working on discipling you Right.

831
00:28:14,944 --> 00:28:17,345
Spiritually. We're also looking at the physical. Where

832
00:28:17,345 --> 00:28:19,250
are you in your health? Yeah. Where are

833
00:28:19,250 --> 00:28:21,009
you mentally? We also get in connected to

834
00:28:21,009 --> 00:28:23,250
mental health and then physically through their actual

835
00:28:23,250 --> 00:28:25,490
physical health too. Yeah. Yeah. So the medical

836
00:28:25,490 --> 00:28:26,849
center has been such a huge help to

837
00:28:26,849 --> 00:28:27,349
that,

838
00:28:27,809 --> 00:28:29,970
and I'm so so thankful for it. Yeah.

839
00:28:29,970 --> 00:28:32,789
And lots of volunteers from different medical professionals

840
00:28:32,849 --> 00:28:35,484
too. Yes. Tons. Yeah. So that's that's awesome,

841
00:28:35,484 --> 00:28:37,884
man. Got a great community that that really

842
00:28:37,884 --> 00:28:39,884
wants to get involved and needs to help

843
00:28:39,884 --> 00:28:42,205
and and and make a difference. And and

844
00:28:42,205 --> 00:28:43,965
like you said, when you when you start,

845
00:28:44,285 --> 00:28:46,924
trying to improve the health of those folks

846
00:28:47,085 --> 00:28:47,984
Yeah. Then

847
00:28:48,529 --> 00:28:50,369
a lot of times that can improve mental

848
00:28:50,369 --> 00:28:52,769
health also, you know, and and and get

849
00:28:52,769 --> 00:28:53,269
them,

850
00:28:53,649 --> 00:28:55,990
feeling better about their life Yeah. And about

851
00:28:56,049 --> 00:28:58,049
about what's going on and what they could

852
00:28:58,049 --> 00:28:59,730
do. Yeah. I think about a guy that

853
00:28:59,730 --> 00:29:01,730
that's still in our program today. We'll call

854
00:29:01,730 --> 00:29:04,554
him a. And, when he came and interviewed,

855
00:29:04,554 --> 00:29:05,934
I was thinking, man, he's

856
00:29:06,394 --> 00:29:08,634
he's just not in our scope. Yeah. His

857
00:29:08,634 --> 00:29:11,515
his eye was extremely swollen. He was very,

858
00:29:11,515 --> 00:29:13,434
very fatigued. His blood pressure was all over

859
00:29:13,434 --> 00:29:14,954
the place. And I was thinking there's no

860
00:29:14,954 --> 00:29:16,650
way Yeah. That we can do this.

861
00:29:17,049 --> 00:29:19,289
And, I personally took him around that day

862
00:29:19,289 --> 00:29:20,910
to doctor to doctor to doctor,

863
00:29:21,529 --> 00:29:24,089
and tried to help get those immediate needs

864
00:29:24,089 --> 00:29:24,589
met.

865
00:29:24,890 --> 00:29:26,890
And I felt like God said take him,

866
00:29:26,890 --> 00:29:28,809
and so we did. And he was also

867
00:29:28,809 --> 00:29:31,210
baptized not long ago. He's actually about to

868
00:29:31,210 --> 00:29:33,384
phase up in the Hope House program. Yeah.

869
00:29:33,545 --> 00:29:36,025
His health is doing great. His diabetes is

870
00:29:36,025 --> 00:29:36,845
now stabilized.

871
00:29:37,384 --> 00:29:39,305
He just got glasses for the first time

872
00:29:39,305 --> 00:29:41,865
in years at more cost. And so that's

873
00:29:41,865 --> 00:29:43,384
kind of an example. Yeah.

874
00:29:43,785 --> 00:29:46,345
You know, discipleship deeper than ever before. So

875
00:29:46,345 --> 00:29:48,480
many really cool things, and and we're looking

876
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,399
at possibly having an internship possibility for him

877
00:29:51,599 --> 00:29:53,940
Yeah. In the long run. That's awesome. So

878
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:55,519
so, yeah, that's kind of that building. The

879
00:29:55,519 --> 00:29:56,900
Hope Center, the,

880
00:29:57,680 --> 00:29:59,759
Medical Center that also hosts all of our

881
00:29:59,759 --> 00:30:01,299
central offices for the ministry,

882
00:30:01,785 --> 00:30:03,725
all the storage for deliver hope projects,

883
00:30:04,184 --> 00:30:05,484
for our crisis response.

884
00:30:06,025 --> 00:30:08,424
We also do disaster relief. Mhmm. So if

885
00:30:08,424 --> 00:30:09,945
there's ever a tornado in the area, we

886
00:30:09,945 --> 00:30:11,785
partner with the EMA. We do all the

887
00:30:11,785 --> 00:30:14,684
donation management and all the volunteer management,

888
00:30:15,144 --> 00:30:16,930
for them. And then we also do warming

889
00:30:16,930 --> 00:30:18,690
and cooling stations. And so if it ever

890
00:30:18,690 --> 00:30:21,490
drops below 32 degrees, the ministry comes out

891
00:30:21,490 --> 00:30:23,570
and hosts that warming station until the temperatures

892
00:30:23,570 --> 00:30:25,670
come back to a safe distance. And then

893
00:30:25,809 --> 00:30:27,650
the support center is where we receive all

894
00:30:27,650 --> 00:30:28,470
of our donations.

895
00:30:29,365 --> 00:30:32,085
And so we rescue about 30,000 pounds of

896
00:30:32,085 --> 00:30:33,065
food per year,

897
00:30:33,444 --> 00:30:35,924
just from restaurants and grocery stores. We have

898
00:30:35,924 --> 00:30:37,765
team members that go out and rescue food

899
00:30:37,765 --> 00:30:39,525
that would be going to waste. Yeah. And

900
00:30:39,525 --> 00:30:41,365
then we repurpose it to feed the hungry.

901
00:30:41,365 --> 00:30:43,799
That's awesome. Right now, we're blessed in about

902
00:30:43,799 --> 00:30:45,960
seven other agencies that come out every week,

903
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:47,799
and we're able to help bless their food

904
00:30:47,799 --> 00:30:49,799
pantry Yeah. Provide for our food pantry at

905
00:30:49,799 --> 00:30:51,159
the Hope Center and feed the guys at

906
00:30:51,159 --> 00:30:53,079
the Hope House. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah.

907
00:30:53,079 --> 00:30:54,519
That is good. That's one of the ministries

908
00:30:54,519 --> 00:30:56,200
we have here. We've got a small food

909
00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:58,154
pantry, and we've been able to help with

910
00:30:58,154 --> 00:31:00,794
folks over the years. You know, sometimes sometimes

911
00:31:00,794 --> 00:31:02,794
we may give them a gift certificate to

912
00:31:02,794 --> 00:31:04,954
go get groceries or whatever, but a long

913
00:31:04,954 --> 00:31:06,654
times, we have what they need here,

914
00:31:07,674 --> 00:31:09,274
that. And and also, we do,

915
00:31:09,849 --> 00:31:12,009
we have a foster care closet too here

916
00:31:12,009 --> 00:31:14,169
that gives up through age five. And so

917
00:31:14,169 --> 00:31:16,649
we try to provide diapers and wipes and

918
00:31:16,649 --> 00:31:18,970
clothes and those kinds of things. So yeah.

919
00:31:18,970 --> 00:31:20,569
Yeah. Yeah. It's something we've always,

920
00:31:21,289 --> 00:31:22,409
I I don't know if it's been an

921
00:31:22,409 --> 00:31:25,629
intentional focus here, but foster care Yeah. Yeah.

922
00:31:25,634 --> 00:31:27,234
Oh, yeah. Thing here, haven't it? It it

923
00:31:27,234 --> 00:31:29,474
is. Yeah. Yeah. We usually have a a

924
00:31:29,474 --> 00:31:31,335
a kind of a foster care,

925
00:31:32,674 --> 00:31:34,615
day each year where

926
00:31:35,154 --> 00:31:37,634
we allow the the parents to come in

927
00:31:37,634 --> 00:31:39,394
and kinda have a break. Yeah.

928
00:31:39,875 --> 00:31:42,970
We we, out in the gym, we got

929
00:31:42,970 --> 00:31:44,890
blow ups and all kind of games and

930
00:31:44,890 --> 00:31:46,569
stuff for them to do out there. And

931
00:31:46,569 --> 00:31:47,289
then we feed,

932
00:31:47,849 --> 00:31:50,410
we feed the, the foster families a meal,

933
00:31:50,410 --> 00:31:52,730
just kinda get let them relax. Yeah. And

934
00:31:52,730 --> 00:31:53,789
and not worry about

935
00:31:54,355 --> 00:31:54,855
childcare

936
00:31:55,474 --> 00:31:57,894
for a night, you know. So yeah. Yeah.

937
00:31:58,434 --> 00:31:58,934
So,

938
00:32:00,194 --> 00:32:02,674
so the the hotel, motel Yeah. That's all

939
00:32:02,674 --> 00:32:03,414
they needed.

940
00:32:05,554 --> 00:32:07,394
So that too is such a cool story.

941
00:32:07,394 --> 00:32:08,859
And to think, you know, we've only been

942
00:32:08,859 --> 00:32:10,779
doing this five years in DeKalb County. And

943
00:32:10,779 --> 00:32:13,259
to see how many cool things have happened.

944
00:32:13,259 --> 00:32:14,619
A lot of times as a leader, people

945
00:32:14,619 --> 00:32:16,559
ask you, what is your five year goal?

946
00:32:16,779 --> 00:32:19,179
And it would have been having this motel

947
00:32:19,179 --> 00:32:21,200
and running this program. Mhmm. And

948
00:32:22,704 --> 00:32:24,224
God sent so many things to get us

949
00:32:24,224 --> 00:32:25,585
to where we are. It definitely didn't happen

950
00:32:25,585 --> 00:32:27,424
overnight. It may have looked like it, but

951
00:32:27,424 --> 00:32:28,865
he really has prepared us and got us

952
00:32:28,865 --> 00:32:30,004
to where we are. So,

953
00:32:30,384 --> 00:32:32,724
kinda looking back in '22,

954
00:32:33,024 --> 00:32:34,804
I started really seeking

955
00:32:35,105 --> 00:32:36,164
how can we provide

956
00:32:36,849 --> 00:32:39,669
something overnight for people. Yeah. Because what we

957
00:32:39,730 --> 00:32:41,250
had, you know, we just we come and

958
00:32:41,250 --> 00:32:42,529
get clothes and food and then we're sending

959
00:32:42,529 --> 00:32:43,649
you out in the cold and that just

960
00:32:43,649 --> 00:32:45,889
didn't feel very hopeful. No. And we've we've

961
00:32:45,889 --> 00:32:47,329
done a lot of hotel stays over the

962
00:32:47,329 --> 00:32:49,009
years. We've paid for a lot of rooms.

963
00:32:49,009 --> 00:32:49,365
Yeah.

964
00:32:49,845 --> 00:32:52,484
That gets very, very expensive. Rooms get destroyed.

965
00:32:52,484 --> 00:32:53,944
Lots of things happen. Yes.

966
00:32:55,444 --> 00:32:57,365
So I started just really seeking God what

967
00:32:57,365 --> 00:32:58,505
to do. And so,

968
00:32:59,365 --> 00:33:01,605
we went with a room in the end

969
00:33:01,605 --> 00:33:03,785
model, which is something out of Nashville.

970
00:33:04,244 --> 00:33:05,304
And they have churches

971
00:33:05,900 --> 00:33:07,279
that will take nights

972
00:33:07,740 --> 00:33:10,400
for the homeless. They'll put cops in there,

973
00:33:10,619 --> 00:33:12,460
and you just tell the homeless, hey. This

974
00:33:12,460 --> 00:33:14,460
is where they're gonna be tonight, and every

975
00:33:14,460 --> 00:33:16,539
night, you rotate it to a new church.

976
00:33:16,539 --> 00:33:18,140
Yeah. And so it sounded like a great

977
00:33:18,140 --> 00:33:20,634
idea. Works great in Nashville. Yeah. And so

978
00:33:20,634 --> 00:33:22,414
we sent out a whole bunch of letters.

979
00:33:22,954 --> 00:33:24,714
And there was actually another church that kinda

980
00:33:24,714 --> 00:33:26,954
led this effort. They sent out letters to

981
00:33:26,954 --> 00:33:28,714
all these churches and all these people showed

982
00:33:28,714 --> 00:33:29,214
up.

983
00:33:29,835 --> 00:33:31,195
And we were there in the meeting and

984
00:33:31,195 --> 00:33:32,714
we said, hey. This is something we really

985
00:33:32,714 --> 00:33:34,619
wanna take on. And so they kinda gave

986
00:33:34,619 --> 00:33:36,380
the whole project to us. I'd give it

987
00:33:36,380 --> 00:33:37,420
back to them at the time if I

988
00:33:37,420 --> 00:33:38,400
could have. So,

989
00:33:39,180 --> 00:33:40,619
and they were a huge part. Julie and

990
00:33:40,619 --> 00:33:42,380
Daryl, it was actually their church at the

991
00:33:42,380 --> 00:33:44,539
time. That's how we met them. Okay. Is,

992
00:33:44,859 --> 00:33:46,799
it was Saint Paul Yeah. Methodist,

993
00:33:47,325 --> 00:33:48,605
and they were a huge part of this

994
00:33:48,605 --> 00:33:51,085
program that year. So they they voted to

995
00:33:51,085 --> 00:33:52,765
kinda give the project to Mark for Life

996
00:33:52,765 --> 00:33:54,044
at that time, and they helped get a

997
00:33:54,044 --> 00:33:55,904
lot of people there for that first meeting.

998
00:33:56,125 --> 00:33:57,724
Then we had a second meeting as Mark

999
00:33:57,724 --> 00:33:59,664
for Life leading, and we explained the vision.

1000
00:33:59,804 --> 00:34:01,690
The churches were excited, and they were all

1001
00:34:01,690 --> 00:34:03,450
there, and they were on board. They were

1002
00:34:03,450 --> 00:34:04,649
ready to do this thing. And then as

1003
00:34:04,649 --> 00:34:06,589
soon as we started calling them to coordinate,

1004
00:34:06,970 --> 00:34:07,710
no one

1005
00:34:08,170 --> 00:34:10,170
hosted at all. And so what we ended

1006
00:34:10,170 --> 00:34:13,050
up doing is, Daryl worked with us, and

1007
00:34:13,050 --> 00:34:15,130
we were at Saint Paul that whole entire

1008
00:34:15,130 --> 00:34:15,630
year,

1009
00:34:17,054 --> 00:34:19,054
having the Hope House, which was our winter

1010
00:34:19,054 --> 00:34:21,534
shelter program. Oh, yeah. And we had about

1011
00:34:21,534 --> 00:34:23,054
three and a half people come through the

1012
00:34:23,054 --> 00:34:23,554
program.

1013
00:34:24,175 --> 00:34:26,014
There was a this shows we didn't know

1014
00:34:26,014 --> 00:34:27,135
what we were doing because we were just

1015
00:34:27,135 --> 00:34:28,894
letting anybody in, basically. We had a mom

1016
00:34:28,894 --> 00:34:29,579
with two kids.

1017
00:34:30,140 --> 00:34:32,700
Our first day, she showed up and dropped

1018
00:34:32,700 --> 00:34:34,880
every belonging she had on our front porch.

1019
00:34:35,820 --> 00:34:37,340
We were not ready for that. There was

1020
00:34:37,340 --> 00:34:38,719
so much stuff. And so,

1021
00:34:39,500 --> 00:34:41,180
she actually was able to get into permanent

1022
00:34:41,180 --> 00:34:43,180
housing with the kids. Still doing great today,

1023
00:34:43,180 --> 00:34:46,125
working at Zacksmiths. Yeah. And then we had,

1024
00:34:46,824 --> 00:34:49,545
another gentleman that graduated our program. His name

1025
00:34:49,545 --> 00:34:51,304
was Gordon, and he's one of our success

1026
00:34:51,304 --> 00:34:51,804
stories.

1027
00:34:52,904 --> 00:34:54,424
And then we had a a couple that

1028
00:34:54,424 --> 00:34:55,704
did we had one or two that didn't

1029
00:34:55,704 --> 00:34:58,264
make it throughout that process. Right. But it

1030
00:34:58,264 --> 00:34:59,885
was really hard, and Daryl

1031
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:01,599
really did most of the work because it

1032
00:35:01,599 --> 00:35:03,679
was mainly men. And so he basically stayed

1033
00:35:03,679 --> 00:35:06,000
there every night for three months straight as

1034
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,320
a volunteer. Wow. And so we learned at

1035
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:09,840
the end of that that this is gonna

1036
00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:10,900
be really expensive.

1037
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:12,800
We don't have the staff and we don't

1038
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:14,239
have the money to do it. And so

1039
00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:15,860
we now call it a pilot program.

1040
00:35:17,894 --> 00:35:19,815
And so, like, this was our pilot program

1041
00:35:19,815 --> 00:35:21,655
that we did in '22. But that to

1042
00:35:21,655 --> 00:35:23,974
be fully transparent, that's what it was. Right.

1043
00:35:23,974 --> 00:35:25,655
It felt like a failure, but it was

1044
00:35:25,655 --> 00:35:27,594
really a setup in the end. And so

1045
00:35:27,815 --> 00:35:29,335
we got together and we had a a

1046
00:35:29,335 --> 00:35:30,954
vision a couple of times

1047
00:35:31,349 --> 00:35:33,110
of how we would do it, but money

1048
00:35:33,110 --> 00:35:34,809
was always the concern. And so,

1049
00:35:35,190 --> 00:35:36,550
keep in mind, this is only two years

1050
00:35:36,550 --> 00:35:38,070
in. So we were barely figuring out the

1051
00:35:38,070 --> 00:35:39,590
hope center, but we were just willing to

1052
00:35:39,590 --> 00:35:41,289
do whatever god wanted. And so,

1053
00:35:41,910 --> 00:35:43,635
I said, you know what? Let's focus on

1054
00:35:43,635 --> 00:35:45,474
what we're good at. And that's the crisis

1055
00:35:45,474 --> 00:35:46,994
line in the hope center. So we just

1056
00:35:46,994 --> 00:35:49,074
put all of our effort toward that. We

1057
00:35:49,074 --> 00:35:51,414
ended up relocating to a much larger location,

1058
00:35:51,954 --> 00:35:54,054
started reaching more people than ever before.

1059
00:35:54,675 --> 00:35:56,675
We also do deliver hope projects. So we

1060
00:35:56,675 --> 00:35:59,300
do four major ones per year. We do

1061
00:35:59,300 --> 00:36:01,940
Valentine's Day, now in the nursing homes. We

1062
00:36:01,940 --> 00:36:03,619
take gift baskets to them. We do our

1063
00:36:03,619 --> 00:36:05,800
back to school outreach, which we just did,

1064
00:36:06,099 --> 00:36:08,340
like last week. Reached nearly a thousand people,

1065
00:36:08,340 --> 00:36:11,239
gave out over 500 backpacks, over 200 haircuts.

1066
00:36:12,014 --> 00:36:14,094
And then we do Thanksgiving, feeding just over

1067
00:36:14,094 --> 00:36:16,335
1,500 people in Christmas. I told you last

1068
00:36:16,335 --> 00:36:18,514
year, we did over 50 kids. Right. Right.

1069
00:36:19,534 --> 00:36:21,614
You know, God just really started blessing all

1070
00:36:21,614 --> 00:36:23,315
that. And one day, I got a call,

1071
00:36:24,014 --> 00:36:27,489
and someone said asked about, you know, helping

1072
00:36:27,489 --> 00:36:29,829
people overnight. And I was just fully transparent.

1073
00:36:29,889 --> 00:36:31,569
I told him the same story I just

1074
00:36:31,569 --> 00:36:32,309
told y'all,

1075
00:36:32,609 --> 00:36:34,710
and he was just very interested in helping.

1076
00:36:34,769 --> 00:36:35,509
And so,

1077
00:36:37,489 --> 00:36:39,734
I wasn't very motivated. I was thinking, you

1078
00:36:39,734 --> 00:36:41,094
know, I've had so many people come to

1079
00:36:41,094 --> 00:36:42,454
me over the years and say, oh, we're

1080
00:36:42,454 --> 00:36:44,214
gonna build a tiny home village. We're gonna

1081
00:36:44,214 --> 00:36:45,815
open up a shelter. And none of those

1082
00:36:45,815 --> 00:36:47,255
people have done anything. And so I just

1083
00:36:47,255 --> 00:36:48,234
immediately thought,

1084
00:36:48,614 --> 00:36:50,214
oh, okay. Cool. You know, he wants to

1085
00:36:50,214 --> 00:36:51,894
do this. Great. Well, I didn't realize how

1086
00:36:51,894 --> 00:36:53,969
serious this was. Yeah. And so that's when

1087
00:36:53,969 --> 00:36:55,650
we found the Hope Center building and and

1088
00:36:55,650 --> 00:36:56,710
started on the project.

1089
00:36:58,130 --> 00:37:00,210
And we got the price to remodel the

1090
00:37:00,210 --> 00:37:00,710
building,

1091
00:37:01,170 --> 00:37:03,090
and a donor came forward and wrote a

1092
00:37:03,090 --> 00:37:05,409
check to remodel the whole our first building.

1093
00:37:05,409 --> 00:37:07,250
This was before the motel. Right. This is

1094
00:37:07,250 --> 00:37:09,255
where our offices are. Yeah. And then halfway

1095
00:37:09,255 --> 00:37:10,934
through the project, we found out that we're

1096
00:37:10,934 --> 00:37:12,855
in a flood zone. And so we couldn't

1097
00:37:12,855 --> 00:37:13,914
finish the project,

1098
00:37:14,775 --> 00:37:16,694
but it's great for offices. So we actually,

1099
00:37:16,694 --> 00:37:18,534
out of this, got a whole remodel office

1100
00:37:18,534 --> 00:37:20,789
as well. That's what God does. Right. And

1101
00:37:20,789 --> 00:37:22,329
so now we have no rent,

1102
00:37:22,630 --> 00:37:24,710
in any of our locations. Nice. And we're

1103
00:37:24,710 --> 00:37:26,309
also completely debt free. Praise the lawn street.

1104
00:37:26,309 --> 00:37:28,949
Praise the lawn. That's awesome. It is. So

1105
00:37:28,949 --> 00:37:29,449
then,

1106
00:37:30,070 --> 00:37:31,510
I kinda went back to the drawing board

1107
00:37:31,510 --> 00:37:32,949
and said, well, if it's not gonna happen

1108
00:37:32,949 --> 00:37:34,710
here, you know, god, what are you doing?

1109
00:37:34,710 --> 00:37:36,284
And I remembered years ago,

1110
00:37:37,005 --> 00:37:38,684
I had went to a city official and

1111
00:37:38,684 --> 00:37:41,005
shared, hey. I wanna help. And they told

1112
00:37:41,005 --> 00:37:43,324
me the only way that you could help

1113
00:37:43,324 --> 00:37:45,484
the homeless here, and it could get approved

1114
00:37:45,484 --> 00:37:46,304
in our city,

1115
00:37:46,684 --> 00:37:48,780
is if you bought the Mountain View Motel.

1116
00:37:49,739 --> 00:37:51,340
Because it's known for so many things. It's

1117
00:37:51,340 --> 00:37:53,500
known for drugs. It's known for prostitution. It's

1118
00:37:53,500 --> 00:37:56,059
it's a terrible motel. I mean, it's nasty.

1119
00:37:56,059 --> 00:37:58,699
Right. Yeah. And so I said, okay. And

1120
00:37:58,699 --> 00:38:00,140
in '22, I went over there and I

1121
00:38:00,140 --> 00:38:01,579
toured it and they wanted a crazy amount

1122
00:38:01,579 --> 00:38:03,885
of money. We had, like, you know, $200.

1123
00:38:04,125 --> 00:38:05,485
And so there was no way this was

1124
00:38:05,485 --> 00:38:07,485
gonna happen and so I just went $2.50,

1125
00:38:07,485 --> 00:38:07,985
right?

1126
00:38:08,605 --> 00:38:10,125
Yeah. I was just like, there's no way

1127
00:38:10,125 --> 00:38:12,284
this is gonna happen. And so this time

1128
00:38:12,284 --> 00:38:13,724
was different. I went over there and I

1129
00:38:14,125 --> 00:38:15,405
out of faith, I had no idea if

1130
00:38:15,405 --> 00:38:16,684
we had the support, and I said, hey,

1131
00:38:16,684 --> 00:38:18,224
we wanna buy this place. And

1132
00:38:18,890 --> 00:38:20,489
the guy came out, his name is Peter

1133
00:38:20,489 --> 00:38:21,869
and he showed me around

1134
00:38:22,489 --> 00:38:24,090
and and all the rooms, you can turn

1135
00:38:24,090 --> 00:38:25,610
a light on, roaches would spread on the

1136
00:38:25,610 --> 00:38:26,430
beds. Yeah.

1137
00:38:27,530 --> 00:38:29,930
And basically about a month later after a

1138
00:38:29,930 --> 00:38:32,315
little bit negotiating, we wrote a check and

1139
00:38:32,315 --> 00:38:34,074
paid cash for the Mountain View Motel. Wow.

1140
00:38:34,074 --> 00:38:35,994
That was awesome. Wow. Praise the lord. Yeah.

1141
00:38:35,994 --> 00:38:37,994
He God provided for every dollar. He did.

1142
00:38:37,994 --> 00:38:39,994
Yeah. Awesome. That was wow. And so where

1143
00:38:39,994 --> 00:38:41,594
we are today with that, our next big

1144
00:38:41,594 --> 00:38:42,335
thing was,

1145
00:38:42,635 --> 00:38:44,954
a building's great. We're so excited to have

1146
00:38:44,954 --> 00:38:45,534
a building,

1147
00:38:46,190 --> 00:38:48,030
but we still don't have staff. And I

1148
00:38:48,030 --> 00:38:49,789
surely can't do this, and we can't do

1149
00:38:49,789 --> 00:38:52,030
it with two staff either. Right. Thank God

1150
00:38:52,030 --> 00:38:53,410
today we have nine staff,

1151
00:38:53,869 --> 00:38:55,570
over 50 professional volunteers,

1152
00:38:56,190 --> 00:38:58,030
and last year, all of our volunteers in

1153
00:38:58,030 --> 00:39:00,349
total. So we have professional volunteers, they're trained

1154
00:39:00,349 --> 00:39:01,170
in our culture,

1155
00:39:01,764 --> 00:39:03,445
they have a silver name badge. So they're

1156
00:39:03,445 --> 00:39:03,945
basically

1157
00:39:04,405 --> 00:39:05,385
unpaid staff.

1158
00:39:06,164 --> 00:39:07,684
They're trained in our vision. They're trained in

1159
00:39:07,684 --> 00:39:09,525
what we do. They know our protocol. And

1160
00:39:09,525 --> 00:39:11,704
then regular volunteers serve it like our outreaches.

1161
00:39:11,764 --> 00:39:14,789
So just over 20, thousand volunteer hours last

1162
00:39:14,789 --> 00:39:15,530
year. Oh,

1163
00:39:15,989 --> 00:39:16,489
wow.

1164
00:39:16,869 --> 00:39:18,710
So anyway, we still didn't have the money

1165
00:39:18,710 --> 00:39:20,329
to run this program. And

1166
00:39:21,030 --> 00:39:22,090
a major church,

1167
00:39:22,390 --> 00:39:24,469
out of Birmingham came up and just wanted

1168
00:39:24,469 --> 00:39:25,829
to tour. They heard about what we were

1169
00:39:25,829 --> 00:39:27,989
doing, and they asked me how much it

1170
00:39:27,989 --> 00:39:29,130
would cost. And

1171
00:39:29,655 --> 00:39:31,835
I gave them an off the wall number

1172
00:39:32,054 --> 00:39:33,335
of what it would cost to run the

1173
00:39:33,335 --> 00:39:33,835
program.

1174
00:39:34,375 --> 00:39:34,875
And

1175
00:39:35,735 --> 00:39:37,335
that was it. I just told them the

1176
00:39:37,335 --> 00:39:39,094
number. And that's what I've learned about fundraising

1177
00:39:39,094 --> 00:39:39,594
is

1178
00:39:39,894 --> 00:39:41,574
I'm actually really good at asking for money.

1179
00:39:41,574 --> 00:39:43,050
It's just gotta be the right person in

1180
00:39:43,050 --> 00:39:45,210
front of me because it's God's vision. Yeah.

1181
00:39:45,210 --> 00:39:46,970
I'm not asking for me. I'm asking for

1182
00:39:46,970 --> 00:39:48,650
God. So it's not hard at all when

1183
00:39:48,650 --> 00:39:50,170
it's for him. Sure. Now I probably couldn't

1184
00:39:50,170 --> 00:39:52,170
ask him for $20 myself. When it's for

1185
00:39:52,170 --> 00:39:53,470
God, I can do it. So,

1186
00:39:54,090 --> 00:39:55,769
they left and for about four and a

1187
00:39:55,769 --> 00:39:57,574
half months, I didn't hear a word that

1188
00:39:57,574 --> 00:39:58,934
they said, hey. Do you have a vision

1189
00:39:58,934 --> 00:40:00,954
document? And I said, absolutely. So

1190
00:40:01,494 --> 00:40:02,934
I ruffled together and got all that ready

1191
00:40:02,934 --> 00:40:04,315
and sent it to them that night.

1192
00:40:04,934 --> 00:40:06,534
And six months later, they said, hey. We

1193
00:40:06,534 --> 00:40:08,795
wanna come see everything again. And so they

1194
00:40:08,855 --> 00:40:10,454
came in and they walked around. They're like,

1195
00:40:10,454 --> 00:40:11,815
man, you've gotten a lot done in a

1196
00:40:11,815 --> 00:40:12,474
few months.

1197
00:40:12,890 --> 00:40:14,250
And they pulled out a check for the

1198
00:40:14,250 --> 00:40:16,670
exact amount I asked for. Wow. So

1199
00:40:17,449 --> 00:40:18,750
that covered our staff,

1200
00:40:19,050 --> 00:40:19,789
for a year.

1201
00:40:20,090 --> 00:40:21,930
And so has helped us really get off

1202
00:40:21,930 --> 00:40:23,610
the ground and do a lot of great

1203
00:40:23,610 --> 00:40:24,824
things. That's true.

1204
00:40:25,144 --> 00:40:26,505
And so what is the Hope House? Because

1205
00:40:26,505 --> 00:40:28,305
I'm sure everybody's wondering. Yeah. Yeah. I'd like

1206
00:40:28,305 --> 00:40:30,425
to know how how's that work? How Yeah.

1207
00:40:30,425 --> 00:40:32,744
Absolutely. So we started out doing men and

1208
00:40:32,744 --> 00:40:33,964
women in the program,

1209
00:40:34,344 --> 00:40:36,364
and we started out being three months.

1210
00:40:36,905 --> 00:40:38,505
And this was in November that we really

1211
00:40:38,505 --> 00:40:39,090
were able to launch

1212
00:40:42,130 --> 00:40:44,210
but what we learned is men and women,

1213
00:40:44,210 --> 00:40:45,890
it's hard to staff for that just because

1214
00:40:45,890 --> 00:40:47,650
we always wanna cover all our p's and

1215
00:40:47,650 --> 00:40:49,650
q's. Yeah. You know, we never want a

1216
00:40:49,650 --> 00:40:51,489
man serving a woman or anything like that

1217
00:40:51,489 --> 00:40:53,964
in that environment. And so, we made the

1218
00:40:53,964 --> 00:40:56,125
decision to just adjust to men only because

1219
00:40:56,125 --> 00:40:57,484
that seems to be the biggest need in

1220
00:40:57,484 --> 00:40:58,144
our community.

1221
00:40:59,164 --> 00:41:00,525
And this is just the Hope House. Keep

1222
00:41:00,525 --> 00:41:02,284
in mind, the Hope Center serves any gender.

1223
00:41:02,284 --> 00:41:03,505
So Yeah. So

1224
00:41:03,964 --> 00:41:05,405
we have to clarify that because people will

1225
00:41:05,405 --> 00:41:06,684
be saying, you know, we we don't help

1226
00:41:06,684 --> 00:41:07,184
everybody.

1227
00:41:07,710 --> 00:41:08,210
So,

1228
00:41:08,750 --> 00:41:10,909
men only, and it's now a nine to

1229
00:41:10,909 --> 00:41:13,550
twelve month program. Yeah. Because three months just

1230
00:41:13,550 --> 00:41:15,889
not enough time to get someone completely transformed.

1231
00:41:16,030 --> 00:41:18,429
Yeah. So, it's four phases. And so the

1232
00:41:18,429 --> 00:41:20,289
first phase is focused on discipleship,

1233
00:41:21,045 --> 00:41:23,284
life skills, and workforce development. And so what

1234
00:41:23,284 --> 00:41:24,264
that means is,

1235
00:41:24,644 --> 00:41:27,065
every morning, we get up Monday through Friday,

1236
00:41:27,844 --> 00:41:29,545
but they wake up at 06:30,

1237
00:41:29,605 --> 00:41:32,164
and they have until 08:00. That's when they

1238
00:41:32,164 --> 00:41:33,764
are brought over to the Hope Center. We

1239
00:41:33,764 --> 00:41:36,505
do seventy minutes of worship and word.

1240
00:41:36,969 --> 00:41:38,890
Then we have a fifteen minute break, and

1241
00:41:38,890 --> 00:41:40,489
then they come back and jump right into

1242
00:41:40,489 --> 00:41:42,890
life skills classes, and those range anywhere from

1243
00:41:42,890 --> 00:41:44,430
budgeting to anger management,

1244
00:41:45,210 --> 00:41:48,349
to leadership, just random life skills necessary.

1245
00:41:48,650 --> 00:41:50,750
Yeah. I say random, but they're very strategic.

1246
00:41:50,890 --> 00:41:51,315
So,

1247
00:41:51,875 --> 00:41:53,474
and then about that time, it's time for

1248
00:41:53,474 --> 00:41:56,835
another break and lunch. And then each afternoon

1249
00:41:56,835 --> 00:41:58,454
is different. Mondays and Wednesdays,

1250
00:41:58,994 --> 00:42:01,155
the men go up to Northeast Alabama College,

1251
00:42:01,155 --> 00:42:02,855
and we have a partnership with them.

1252
00:42:03,234 --> 00:42:05,394
Mondays, they're doing the ACE program, which used

1253
00:42:05,394 --> 00:42:07,074
to be called ready to work. And so,

1254
00:42:07,369 --> 00:42:08,570
they're getting a lot of,

1255
00:42:08,969 --> 00:42:10,890
important skills they need to get a job.

1256
00:42:10,890 --> 00:42:13,130
And if they didn't graduate high school, all

1257
00:42:13,130 --> 00:42:15,449
of those classes can actually go to a

1258
00:42:15,449 --> 00:42:17,070
untraditional high school diploma.

1259
00:42:17,690 --> 00:42:19,210
And also they can get their GED in

1260
00:42:19,210 --> 00:42:20,730
this. And all this is completely free to

1261
00:42:20,730 --> 00:42:22,090
the men. We don't charge a dime for

1262
00:42:22,090 --> 00:42:22,989
any of our programs.

1263
00:42:23,824 --> 00:42:25,344
And then they do that same thing on

1264
00:42:25,424 --> 00:42:26,784
or no. On Wednesdays, they go to the

1265
00:42:26,784 --> 00:42:29,184
college, but they do workforce development. So they're

1266
00:42:29,184 --> 00:42:31,424
learning electrical, they're learning plumbing, all the different

1267
00:42:31,424 --> 00:42:33,904
trades that are solid. That is good. Yep.

1268
00:42:33,904 --> 00:42:36,464
So Tuesday afternoons is phone day and store

1269
00:42:36,464 --> 00:42:38,400
day. So we don't allow phones in the

1270
00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:40,239
program. We really want them to focus on

1271
00:42:40,239 --> 00:42:42,739
God and on bible study. And so Tuesdays,

1272
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:44,960
we have a couple of classes in the

1273
00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:46,880
afternoons, but it's really focused on letting them

1274
00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:48,239
go to the store, letting them do their

1275
00:42:48,239 --> 00:42:50,594
phones, all of the rights and responsibilities they

1276
00:42:50,594 --> 00:42:53,015
have as a resident. Right. And then Thursdays,

1277
00:42:53,315 --> 00:42:53,815
Fridays,

1278
00:42:54,434 --> 00:42:56,034
in the afternoons, they go to our Mark

1279
00:42:56,034 --> 00:42:57,554
for Life thrift store, which is also a

1280
00:42:57,554 --> 00:42:58,534
whole another miracle,

1281
00:42:58,914 --> 00:43:01,094
that God did this year. And then Saturday,

1282
00:43:01,155 --> 00:43:03,255
they're there all day, eight to five.

1283
00:43:04,380 --> 00:43:05,760
So that's phase one.

1284
00:43:06,380 --> 00:43:07,199
Phase two,

1285
00:43:07,579 --> 00:43:09,420
is employment, and so they,

1286
00:43:09,739 --> 00:43:11,179
obtain a job for one of our,

1287
00:43:11,739 --> 00:43:14,139
career partners that we have. Those are g

1288
00:43:14,139 --> 00:43:15,280
two and Jack's.

1289
00:43:15,900 --> 00:43:17,900
And so we partner with them, whichever one

1290
00:43:17,900 --> 00:43:19,954
is a better fit for them. They interview

1291
00:43:19,954 --> 00:43:21,875
with them, and then we transport them there.

1292
00:43:21,875 --> 00:43:23,795
That is awesome. Yeah. They're saving all their

1293
00:43:23,795 --> 00:43:25,635
money. We don't charge a dime, but we

1294
00:43:25,635 --> 00:43:27,155
do require them to save their money and

1295
00:43:27,155 --> 00:43:29,474
prove to us that that's happening. Yeah. So,

1296
00:43:29,474 --> 00:43:30,994
you know, weekly, we just have to see

1297
00:43:30,994 --> 00:43:32,940
that report that that money's in there. And

1298
00:43:32,940 --> 00:43:34,460
so first goal is to save a thousand

1299
00:43:34,460 --> 00:43:36,139
dollars if you know the Dave Ramsey baby

1300
00:43:36,139 --> 00:43:36,639
sips.

1301
00:43:37,019 --> 00:43:38,699
And then after that, then we work on

1302
00:43:38,699 --> 00:43:40,960
getting them a car and then into housing.

1303
00:43:41,019 --> 00:43:41,519
So,

1304
00:43:41,980 --> 00:43:43,579
you know, a challenge we have with a

1305
00:43:43,579 --> 00:43:44,859
lot of guys is they come in and

1306
00:43:44,859 --> 00:43:47,085
they start counting days, and the days don't

1307
00:43:47,085 --> 00:43:48,684
really matter. It just depends on the person

1308
00:43:48,684 --> 00:43:49,744
and what they're facing.

1309
00:43:50,364 --> 00:43:52,284
We're learning the first phase is a minimum

1310
00:43:52,284 --> 00:43:54,764
of about three months, sometimes four. Yeah. The

1311
00:43:54,764 --> 00:43:56,925
second phase depends on your situation. How many

1312
00:43:56,925 --> 00:43:58,364
fines do you have? Do you have child

1313
00:43:58,364 --> 00:43:58,864
support?

1314
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:01,559
You know, we're becoming responsible citizens. So if

1315
00:44:01,559 --> 00:44:03,400
you have court fees, your money's gonna go

1316
00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:04,760
to court fees and before you get a

1317
00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:06,119
car. We're gonna make sure those things are

1318
00:44:06,119 --> 00:44:07,179
taken care of. Yeah.

1319
00:44:08,119 --> 00:44:10,519
And then after that, once they've saved up

1320
00:44:10,519 --> 00:44:12,859
their money, we start the housing process.

1321
00:44:13,315 --> 00:44:15,735
We help them apply for a house,

1322
00:44:16,994 --> 00:44:19,735
get into that house, and that is graduating

1323
00:44:19,954 --> 00:44:22,034
phase three. They transition out of the Hope

1324
00:44:22,034 --> 00:44:24,034
House into their own home. We help them

1325
00:44:24,034 --> 00:44:25,474
furnish it, get all the things that they

1326
00:44:25,474 --> 00:44:28,039
need. And then phase four is optional. They

1327
00:44:28,039 --> 00:44:29,800
have the opportunity to come back and volunteer

1328
00:44:29,800 --> 00:44:31,079
and pour into the other men in the

1329
00:44:31,079 --> 00:44:33,000
program. Yeah. So that's the hope house. So

1330
00:44:33,000 --> 00:44:34,760
what what do you think your turnaround is

1331
00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:36,440
on that as far as the those that

1332
00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:37,579
come back and help?

1333
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:39,800
Well, we haven't ran the program long enough

1334
00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:42,284
to really have those statistics. Yeah. Yeah. What

1335
00:44:42,284 --> 00:44:44,684
we've learned is that phase one is rather

1336
00:44:44,684 --> 00:44:46,545
successful. Mhmm. Most

1337
00:44:46,844 --> 00:44:48,764
well, here's what I'll say. Most men don't

1338
00:44:48,764 --> 00:44:50,204
make it through the first week. Yeah. So

1339
00:44:50,204 --> 00:44:52,065
if you make it past the first week,

1340
00:44:52,125 --> 00:44:53,940
then you're probably gonna make it. It. Yeah.

1341
00:44:53,940 --> 00:44:55,900
Yeah. I would always have Motivation, keeping them

1342
00:44:55,900 --> 00:44:57,940
motivated to move forward. Yeah. Absolutely. That's that's

1343
00:44:58,140 --> 00:44:59,660
that'll be tough to do. And it is

1344
00:44:59,660 --> 00:45:01,420
hard. I mean, it's very restrictive. We don't

1345
00:45:01,420 --> 00:45:03,340
have TVs in the rooms. We have a

1346
00:45:03,340 --> 00:45:05,099
common room with the TV. Right. But as

1347
00:45:05,099 --> 00:45:06,079
far as in the rooms,

1348
00:45:06,414 --> 00:45:08,255
you're really only in there to sleep. And

1349
00:45:08,255 --> 00:45:10,734
so open up your bible. That's what I'm

1350
00:45:10,734 --> 00:45:11,855
concerned. Yeah. Yeah.

1351
00:45:12,335 --> 00:45:14,574
And so, you know, it it's it's a

1352
00:45:14,574 --> 00:45:15,074
commitment,

1353
00:45:15,454 --> 00:45:16,894
but in the long run, I think it's

1354
00:45:16,894 --> 00:45:19,295
worth it. Yeah. So How many men can

1355
00:45:19,295 --> 00:45:21,154
you house there at one time?

1356
00:45:21,769 --> 00:45:22,269
So

1357
00:45:22,809 --> 00:45:24,730
we since we transitioned to men and not

1358
00:45:24,730 --> 00:45:26,570
men and women, it opened up several more

1359
00:45:26,570 --> 00:45:28,570
rooms. So we can house a total of

1360
00:45:28,570 --> 00:45:29,849
11 men. Yeah.

1361
00:45:30,650 --> 00:45:33,130
Our comfort level is about eight. Mhmm.

1362
00:45:33,690 --> 00:45:36,275
And every time we get to eight, every

1363
00:45:36,275 --> 00:45:37,655
time we get, like, one extra,

1364
00:45:37,954 --> 00:45:39,394
God bumps us back down. So I don't

1365
00:45:39,394 --> 00:45:40,994
know what that's about, but it kinda always

1366
00:45:40,994 --> 00:45:42,775
happens. Right now, we have six men,

1367
00:45:43,235 --> 00:45:45,315
and that's running very steady. And and two,

1368
00:45:45,315 --> 00:45:46,994
I think it all matters about what phase

1369
00:45:46,994 --> 00:45:48,780
they're in. We haven't really seen that yet.

1370
00:45:48,940 --> 00:45:50,460
Yeah. But it may be, you know, if

1371
00:45:50,460 --> 00:45:52,300
we have four in phase two, it'll be

1372
00:45:52,300 --> 00:45:54,940
easier to have 11. Right. But right now,

1373
00:45:54,940 --> 00:45:56,780
one's in phase two and five are still

1374
00:45:56,780 --> 00:45:58,860
in phase one. Mhmm. And so that kind

1375
00:45:58,860 --> 00:46:00,699
of, you know, there's a lot to do

1376
00:46:00,699 --> 00:46:02,775
in the day. You know, every day, they're

1377
00:46:02,775 --> 00:46:04,614
working on things. They're at the hope center,

1378
00:46:04,614 --> 00:46:06,614
so that pulls on the staff there. Yeah.

1379
00:46:06,775 --> 00:46:08,454
And so adding more people then, we just

1380
00:46:08,454 --> 00:46:11,094
have limited space. Yeah. Anybody that needs help,

1381
00:46:11,094 --> 00:46:13,514
we'll take them. Our requirements for the program,

1382
00:46:14,300 --> 00:46:14,880
you cannot

1383
00:46:15,179 --> 00:46:17,420
be an active addiction. So we'll take anyone

1384
00:46:17,420 --> 00:46:18,079
with THC,

1385
00:46:18,860 --> 00:46:20,860
but anything else, you know, we wanna make

1386
00:46:20,860 --> 00:46:22,460
sure you get a professional detox and get

1387
00:46:22,460 --> 00:46:23,820
the help that you need. Right. Now if

1388
00:46:23,820 --> 00:46:25,420
you're coming out of rehab, a lot of

1389
00:46:25,420 --> 00:46:25,920
rehabs

1390
00:46:26,315 --> 00:46:28,315
just graduate you and you're on the street

1391
00:46:28,315 --> 00:46:29,994
with no house. So it's a great program

1392
00:46:29,994 --> 00:46:32,075
for coming out of rehab and getting next

1393
00:46:32,075 --> 00:46:32,575
step.

1394
00:46:33,275 --> 00:46:34,715
Because we wanna make sure you have all

1395
00:46:34,715 --> 00:46:36,015
the things you need to be successful.

1396
00:46:36,555 --> 00:46:38,555
So, we can help you get detoxed in

1397
00:46:38,555 --> 00:46:40,155
the next step. But as far as, you

1398
00:46:40,155 --> 00:46:42,449
know, coming off of the heavy drugs, we

1399
00:46:42,449 --> 00:46:43,969
have some staff that are trained in that,

1400
00:46:43,969 --> 00:46:45,409
but all of them aren't. And so just

1401
00:46:45,409 --> 00:46:46,849
for the safety of the team and and

1402
00:46:46,849 --> 00:46:47,590
for the individual.

1403
00:46:47,969 --> 00:46:49,510
Right. You can't be an active addiction.

1404
00:46:50,130 --> 00:46:51,329
You also have to be able to pass

1405
00:46:51,329 --> 00:46:53,809
a background check for any violent crimes or

1406
00:46:53,809 --> 00:46:55,570
sexual crimes. So we don't allow any sex

1407
00:46:55,570 --> 00:46:58,214
offenders, in the programme. So Do y'all have

1408
00:46:58,214 --> 00:46:59,894
somebody on staff that does a drug test

1409
00:46:59,894 --> 00:47:01,414
and that kind of thing? Yep. Yes. So

1410
00:47:01,414 --> 00:47:02,074
we do,

1411
00:47:02,534 --> 00:47:04,454
a drug screening whenever they're there for that

1412
00:47:04,454 --> 00:47:06,614
first day. Yeah. And then we also do

1413
00:47:06,614 --> 00:47:09,250
random drug screenings throughout the programme. Yeah. Yeah.

1414
00:47:09,250 --> 00:47:10,530
So and then you just have to be

1415
00:47:10,530 --> 00:47:12,150
committed to give up your phone and

1416
00:47:12,450 --> 00:47:14,369
to surrender, basically. Yeah. And we have a

1417
00:47:14,369 --> 00:47:15,730
lot of patience with you in in the

1418
00:47:15,730 --> 00:47:17,650
beginning. We go through those steps because we

1419
00:47:17,650 --> 00:47:19,489
know it's hard. And then after about a

1420
00:47:19,489 --> 00:47:21,410
week, then it's time to man up and

1421
00:47:21,570 --> 00:47:23,170
Mhmm. Start doing what you said you're gonna

1422
00:47:23,170 --> 00:47:25,155
do, work on your life. Right. So Now

1423
00:47:25,155 --> 00:47:26,675
I noticed you said that a lot of

1424
00:47:26,675 --> 00:47:28,195
times you one of the things you work

1425
00:47:28,195 --> 00:47:29,875
on is if they have court fees, things

1426
00:47:29,875 --> 00:47:31,394
like that. Once they get to earn some

1427
00:47:31,394 --> 00:47:33,394
money, we're getting those paid off. Yeah. Do

1428
00:47:33,394 --> 00:47:34,994
you work with the courts or the do

1429
00:47:34,994 --> 00:47:36,434
they work with you guys so they know,

1430
00:47:36,434 --> 00:47:38,050
hey. It's gonna be a bit before we

1431
00:47:38,050 --> 00:47:39,730
start getting from these people, we're gonna put

1432
00:47:39,730 --> 00:47:41,969
it off and Yeah. So probation, parole, the

1433
00:47:41,969 --> 00:47:43,809
court system will work with all those things

1434
00:47:43,809 --> 00:47:45,969
as soon as they come in. Awesome. And

1435
00:47:45,969 --> 00:47:47,489
we just kinda email them and say, hey,

1436
00:47:47,489 --> 00:47:48,230
they're here.

1437
00:47:48,849 --> 00:47:50,710
And what I have now done, because

1438
00:47:51,255 --> 00:47:52,934
court, you know, judges are are most of

1439
00:47:52,934 --> 00:47:54,454
the time very graceful when someone's in a

1440
00:47:54,454 --> 00:47:57,014
program. They'll just drop their charges. Yeah. But

1441
00:47:57,014 --> 00:47:58,614
now when I go to court, I say,

1442
00:47:58,614 --> 00:48:00,934
judge, please don't drop their charges Yeah. Until

1443
00:48:00,934 --> 00:48:02,154
they graduate. Yeah.

1444
00:48:02,534 --> 00:48:04,375
People just get their charges dropped and walked

1445
00:48:04,375 --> 00:48:06,900
out. Yeah. Right. So that's typically it's contingent

1446
00:48:06,900 --> 00:48:09,300
upon the graduation. And we give monthly updates

1447
00:48:09,300 --> 00:48:11,619
to probation or the court system of where

1448
00:48:11,619 --> 00:48:13,139
they are, how they're doing, if they pass

1449
00:48:13,139 --> 00:48:15,139
their drug screening, all of those things. Yeah.

1450
00:48:15,139 --> 00:48:16,920
We've had a judge on our show before.

1451
00:48:17,484 --> 00:48:18,525
We have? We have. We have. Well, who

1452
00:48:18,525 --> 00:48:19,964
was it? Good show. You wanna find? Oh,

1453
00:48:19,964 --> 00:48:22,284
I'm laughing. Yeah. He's alright. Great. Yeah. I

1454
00:48:22,284 --> 00:48:24,045
spoke there and, you know, they I love

1455
00:48:24,045 --> 00:48:25,804
their church. They're a pretty small church. Yeah.

1456
00:48:25,804 --> 00:48:27,264
This is really cool though. Yeah.

1457
00:48:28,364 --> 00:48:31,244
And they said, hey, we collected money at

1458
00:48:31,244 --> 00:48:32,670
our VBS for the ministry.

1459
00:48:33,630 --> 00:48:35,710
So, you know, I've got a lot of

1460
00:48:35,710 --> 00:48:37,069
offering over the years in ministry and I'm

1461
00:48:37,069 --> 00:48:38,989
thinking this is a VBS offering. It's gonna

1462
00:48:38,989 --> 00:48:41,469
be $50, a $100. And I'm grateful for

1463
00:48:41,469 --> 00:48:43,389
any dollar. Yeah. But with a small church,

1464
00:48:43,389 --> 00:48:45,250
I'm thinking this is gonna be really low.

1465
00:48:45,309 --> 00:48:46,755
I remember when I went to VBS, we

1466
00:48:46,755 --> 00:48:49,394
collected nickels and dimes. Yeah. Here. Yeah. Those

1467
00:48:49,394 --> 00:48:52,194
kids collected a thousand dollars Wow. For our

1468
00:48:52,194 --> 00:48:54,034
and our sauce. And I was in awe

1469
00:48:54,034 --> 00:48:56,194
of something that That is a Anytime I

1470
00:48:56,194 --> 00:48:57,635
think of Liberty Hill, I'm gonna think of.

1471
00:48:57,635 --> 00:48:59,554
Yeah. Amen. Yeah. Yeah. Sean is doing a

1472
00:48:59,554 --> 00:49:01,409
great job. I've got doing a great work

1473
00:49:01,409 --> 00:49:03,650
out there. Yeah. So good friend of mine.

1474
00:49:03,650 --> 00:49:05,329
Love him and love what he's doing. Yeah.

1475
00:49:05,329 --> 00:49:07,650
He's a great guy. Yeah. Yeah. We we

1476
00:49:07,650 --> 00:49:09,569
collect some pretty good money at VBS too.

1477
00:49:09,569 --> 00:49:11,730
Yeah. We have we do sponsor a pie

1478
00:49:11,730 --> 00:49:13,750
in somebody's face. Yeah. Yeah.

1479
00:49:15,425 --> 00:49:16,085
On Sundays.

1480
00:49:17,105 --> 00:49:18,945
This year was the first year, and I

1481
00:49:18,945 --> 00:49:20,784
can't remember when, that I didn't get a

1482
00:49:20,784 --> 00:49:21,684
pie in the face.

1483
00:49:22,144 --> 00:49:23,984
Our youth pastor got it this year. They're

1484
00:49:23,984 --> 00:49:25,664
always gonna get me. And I was like,

1485
00:49:25,664 --> 00:49:27,125
I don't know. Just pass this thing

1486
00:49:27,425 --> 00:49:28,690
pass this thing. I'll tie in to face

1487
00:49:28,690 --> 00:49:30,130
any day for a thousand dollars. Oh, you

1488
00:49:30,130 --> 00:49:31,989
have to crack it down. That's like

1489
00:49:32,690 --> 00:49:33,510
100%.

1490
00:49:34,130 --> 00:49:35,030
100%.

1491
00:49:35,410 --> 00:49:37,010
Yeah. Even a even a heavy one like

1492
00:49:37,010 --> 00:49:38,550
an apple pie. Yeah. You know

1493
00:49:39,410 --> 00:49:41,489
what I mean? Eventually, an apple pie. I

1494
00:49:41,489 --> 00:49:42,930
mean, you know, I mean, I'd like an

1495
00:49:42,930 --> 00:49:44,085
apple pie instead of apple pie instead of

1496
00:49:44,085 --> 00:49:46,405
whipped cream and all that. I mean, give

1497
00:49:46,405 --> 00:49:49,045
me some substance and I'll eat it. So

1498
00:49:49,045 --> 00:49:50,244
I'd say the apple pie, you just kind

1499
00:49:50,244 --> 00:49:51,525
of open your mouth as they go in.

1500
00:49:51,525 --> 00:49:53,284
You get a nice feel out of it.

1501
00:49:53,284 --> 00:49:54,485
Hit you in a place with a rib

1502
00:49:54,485 --> 00:49:55,945
eye where you can really talk.

1503
00:49:58,690 --> 00:49:59,190
Absolutely.

1504
00:49:59,569 --> 00:50:01,250
Yeah. So that's the Hope House.

1505
00:50:02,049 --> 00:50:03,650
I think I pretty much covered everything. The

1506
00:50:03,650 --> 00:50:04,789
guys are doing great.

1507
00:50:05,569 --> 00:50:07,009
Cole is here with us. He's actually a

1508
00:50:07,009 --> 00:50:08,609
resident in the Hope House. So he's getting

1509
00:50:08,609 --> 00:50:10,715
ready to head up into phase two. Myself.

1510
00:50:10,715 --> 00:50:12,474
And the thrift store. I didn't have to

1511
00:50:12,474 --> 00:50:14,875
tell you about that. And so Yeah. That

1512
00:50:14,875 --> 00:50:16,554
gift was great last year, but we've gotta

1513
00:50:16,554 --> 00:50:18,954
figure out how to sustain long term. Mhmm.

1514
00:50:19,114 --> 00:50:20,554
Because it costs a lot of money to

1515
00:50:20,554 --> 00:50:23,034
provide for this ministry around. We have about

1516
00:50:23,034 --> 00:50:25,135
non paid staff, and the rest are volunteers.

1517
00:50:25,969 --> 00:50:28,449
But that's still expensive, especially having twenty four

1518
00:50:28,449 --> 00:50:30,449
seven staff Right. With our Hope House and

1519
00:50:30,449 --> 00:50:31,670
the Crisis Line. So,

1520
00:50:31,969 --> 00:50:33,889
the thrift store was able to kinda help

1521
00:50:33,889 --> 00:50:36,369
maintain that. That's very good. Yeah. Servant Mission

1522
00:50:36,369 --> 00:50:38,594
that's had that store for several years. Mhmm.

1523
00:50:39,074 --> 00:50:41,795
We communicated with them and, one of our

1524
00:50:41,795 --> 00:50:42,295
donors,

1525
00:50:42,755 --> 00:50:44,355
and they said, hey. We just want you

1526
00:50:44,355 --> 00:50:45,635
guys to take it over. So we were

1527
00:50:45,635 --> 00:50:47,474
kinda able to come in and take over

1528
00:50:47,474 --> 00:50:49,155
the fruits of their labor over year over

1529
00:50:49,155 --> 00:50:49,815
the years,

1530
00:50:50,275 --> 00:50:52,114
and that's been a good addition to the

1531
00:50:52,114 --> 00:50:54,119
ministry to help with some extra money. Yeah.

1532
00:50:54,119 --> 00:50:55,719
So I always said I would never have

1533
00:50:55,719 --> 00:50:56,619
a thrift store.

1534
00:50:57,000 --> 00:50:59,079
Yeah. Yeah. But it's great because it gives

1535
00:50:59,079 --> 00:51:00,679
our residents something to do too to learn

1536
00:51:00,679 --> 00:51:02,519
about work and And I I think, you

1537
00:51:02,519 --> 00:51:05,000
know, especially, which that's one of those ministries

1538
00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:06,679
that's called on in the last probably ten

1539
00:51:06,679 --> 00:51:09,184
or fifteen years at least, probably more. But

1540
00:51:09,184 --> 00:51:11,025
it does provide a lot of revenue for

1541
00:51:11,025 --> 00:51:13,105
whatever ministry it may be and then and

1542
00:51:13,105 --> 00:51:15,105
then give some work to those that that

1543
00:51:15,105 --> 00:51:17,045
can volunteer or whatever. But,

1544
00:51:17,505 --> 00:51:19,105
and is that the one is that in,

1545
00:51:19,344 --> 00:51:20,324
the old Bruce's

1546
00:51:20,704 --> 00:51:22,945
parking lot thing that I hear in the

1547
00:51:22,945 --> 00:51:24,440
pain. Used to be mama's pawn shop.

1548
00:51:25,539 --> 00:51:26,019
Okay.

1549
00:51:26,420 --> 00:51:27,800
A lot of people know where that is.

1550
00:51:27,859 --> 00:51:29,619
Yeah. And that's also a building that God

1551
00:51:29,619 --> 00:51:32,260
has completely transformed. But, the barbecue place, if

1552
00:51:32,260 --> 00:51:33,859
you know where that is, it's actually called

1553
00:51:33,859 --> 00:51:36,099
the barbecue place where the JoJo's are. Oh,

1554
00:51:36,099 --> 00:51:38,755
yeah. Directly across the street. So we're down

1555
00:51:38,755 --> 00:51:40,434
in hold. There's two houses. Yeah. I know

1556
00:51:40,434 --> 00:51:41,474
where you're at. We're down in the hold.

1557
00:51:41,474 --> 00:51:43,474
You can miss it very easily. Yeah. Yeah.

1558
00:51:43,474 --> 00:51:44,835
But I would say it's one of the

1559
00:51:44,914 --> 00:51:47,074
probably the largest thrift stores in Pennsylvania. We

1560
00:51:47,074 --> 00:51:48,114
have 25,000

1561
00:51:48,114 --> 00:51:49,795
square feet. Yeah. It was an old sock

1562
00:51:49,795 --> 00:51:51,554
mill. It was? Yeah. Yeah. It was a

1563
00:51:51,554 --> 00:51:53,074
huge place. Yeah. I know where you're coming

1564
00:51:53,074 --> 00:51:53,610
at. K.

1565
00:51:54,170 --> 00:51:56,590
So that is awesome, man. I so,

1566
00:51:58,090 --> 00:51:59,930
what what's for the future? You know, you

1567
00:51:59,930 --> 00:52:01,930
got you got some big plans. You got

1568
00:52:01,930 --> 00:52:03,789
some things that you haven't,

1569
00:52:04,170 --> 00:52:06,010
haven't done yet that you're saying, hey. Here's

1570
00:52:06,010 --> 00:52:07,710
some goals. What's what's your goals?

1571
00:52:08,054 --> 00:52:10,295
So this year's sustaining is really the most

1572
00:52:10,295 --> 00:52:12,295
important piece for us. It's just sustaining what

1573
00:52:12,295 --> 00:52:13,734
God has done because I'm a very growth

1574
00:52:13,734 --> 00:52:15,335
minded person. And so a lot of people

1575
00:52:15,335 --> 00:52:16,074
have to really

1576
00:52:16,375 --> 00:52:18,214
slow me down and keep me stable. Believe

1577
00:52:18,214 --> 00:52:20,855
me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I still in

1578
00:52:20,855 --> 00:52:21,360
that way,

1579
00:52:22,000 --> 00:52:23,760
and, you know, I'm the main fundraiser for

1580
00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:26,239
the organization now outside of Jesus. Yeah. I

1581
00:52:26,239 --> 00:52:28,239
tell the story and I just believe god

1582
00:52:28,239 --> 00:52:29,680
will provide, but that's a lot of pressure

1583
00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:31,519
on somebody. So Yeah. I'm trying to just

1584
00:52:31,519 --> 00:52:33,360
kinda stabilize what we have. But for the

1585
00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:33,860
future,

1586
00:52:34,715 --> 00:52:36,795
I pretty much feel like everything's covered for

1587
00:52:36,795 --> 00:52:38,315
Fort Payne as far as the services that

1588
00:52:38,315 --> 00:52:40,474
we have. Right. And so I kinda wanna

1589
00:52:40,474 --> 00:52:41,295
branch out,

1590
00:52:41,594 --> 00:52:44,155
into serving more of Northeast Alabama, maybe have

1591
00:52:44,155 --> 00:52:45,375
some other help centers

1592
00:52:45,675 --> 00:52:47,594
and everything point back to Fort Payne and

1593
00:52:47,594 --> 00:52:48,815
that'd be the main location.

1594
00:52:49,389 --> 00:52:51,150
Just have some other hubs maybe closer to

1595
00:52:51,150 --> 00:52:53,869
Ottawa County and some underserved area, you know,

1596
00:52:53,869 --> 00:52:55,789
Jackson County, areas like that that don't get

1597
00:52:55,789 --> 00:52:57,010
as much help. Absolutely.

1598
00:52:57,309 --> 00:52:59,230
That's kinda where I'm looking at long term,

1599
00:52:59,230 --> 00:53:01,230
but we're not quite there yet. Yeah. So

1600
00:53:01,565 --> 00:53:03,325
and, you know, I talked about being debt

1601
00:53:03,325 --> 00:53:05,724
free. We're a 100% partner funded too. So

1602
00:53:05,724 --> 00:53:07,565
we don't get government grants or anything like

1603
00:53:07,565 --> 00:53:09,644
that. It all comes from individuals to make

1604
00:53:09,644 --> 00:53:12,445
it possible. Yeah. So That that's awesome. That's

1605
00:53:12,445 --> 00:53:14,429
awesome. And and that way, you don't have

1606
00:53:14,429 --> 00:53:16,929
to get any outside control. Yeah. You can't

1607
00:53:16,989 --> 00:53:19,710
you can't do that. Yeah. Yeah. That helps.

1608
00:53:19,710 --> 00:53:22,190
That helps. Well, you know, I'm thankful for

1609
00:53:22,190 --> 00:53:24,030
what you do. I'm thankful for what you've

1610
00:53:24,030 --> 00:53:26,190
done in our community, the impact that it's

1611
00:53:26,190 --> 00:53:26,690
had,

1612
00:53:27,375 --> 00:53:28,515
not only financially

1613
00:53:29,054 --> 00:53:29,554
for

1614
00:53:29,855 --> 00:53:30,755
those that are,

1615
00:53:31,295 --> 00:53:32,974
those that are less fortunate, but,

1616
00:53:33,614 --> 00:53:36,015
but but because really the impact of the

1617
00:53:36,015 --> 00:53:38,574
gospel with Jesus. Right. I mean, because that's

1618
00:53:38,574 --> 00:53:40,659
that's what it's all about. I mean, when

1619
00:53:40,659 --> 00:53:41,960
we feed them, when we,

1620
00:53:42,420 --> 00:53:44,420
when we pay that power bill, when we

1621
00:53:44,579 --> 00:53:46,420
whatever that one of that whatever that ministry

1622
00:53:46,420 --> 00:53:47,719
is, when we clothe them,

1623
00:53:48,579 --> 00:53:50,420
if we do that without the gospel, if

1624
00:53:50,420 --> 00:53:52,579
we do that without sharing Jesus Christ with

1625
00:53:52,579 --> 00:53:54,599
them and giving them a hope for eternity,

1626
00:53:54,739 --> 00:53:56,204
then what what do we do? Yeah, and

1627
00:53:56,204 --> 00:53:57,885
that's the very heart of the gospel, right?

1628
00:53:57,885 --> 00:53:59,724
It's It really is. One another and and

1629
00:53:59,724 --> 00:54:01,244
Jesus lays that out in the end of

1630
00:54:01,244 --> 00:54:03,565
Matthew 25, you know, he said, sheep and

1631
00:54:03,565 --> 00:54:05,244
goats, you know, on two different sides and

1632
00:54:05,244 --> 00:54:06,364
as much as you did for the least

1633
00:54:06,364 --> 00:54:08,180
of these, you did for me. Yeah. Yeah.

1634
00:54:08,180 --> 00:54:10,260
Who takes it personally? When when he fed

1635
00:54:10,260 --> 00:54:11,160
the 5,000,

1636
00:54:11,780 --> 00:54:14,260
he he he sustained them physically. But then

1637
00:54:14,260 --> 00:54:15,780
what'd he do? He preached to them, right?

1638
00:54:15,780 --> 00:54:17,460
Yeah. Yeah. He he had The gospel's always

1639
00:54:17,460 --> 00:54:19,480
attached. He had a message for them. Absolutely.

1640
00:54:19,940 --> 00:54:22,385
Yeah. Because because because to love somebody, you've

1641
00:54:22,385 --> 00:54:23,905
got to have truth with it. You do.

1642
00:54:23,905 --> 00:54:26,065
You do. And and and there's that balance

1643
00:54:26,065 --> 00:54:28,144
of truth and love too. I mean, and

1644
00:54:28,144 --> 00:54:29,985
I know as you go through the program,

1645
00:54:29,985 --> 00:54:31,844
one of the things you talked about is,

1646
00:54:32,224 --> 00:54:33,869
you're pretty you know, to start with, but

1647
00:54:33,869 --> 00:54:35,309
but but there's gotta be a point in

1648
00:54:35,309 --> 00:54:36,989
time where you gotta have some structure too.

1649
00:54:36,989 --> 00:54:37,650
Oh, yeah.

1650
00:54:38,190 --> 00:54:40,429
But when you love somebody, when you love

1651
00:54:40,429 --> 00:54:41,089
on somebody,

1652
00:54:41,710 --> 00:54:43,469
and and they know that you care about

1653
00:54:43,469 --> 00:54:44,710
them, and they know that you have your

1654
00:54:44,829 --> 00:54:47,204
their best interest at hand, then it's easier

1655
00:54:47,204 --> 00:54:48,744
to give the truth.

1656
00:54:49,045 --> 00:54:50,885
I mean, that's that's part of I mean,

1657
00:54:50,885 --> 00:54:52,724
that's part of pastoring. You know, you can

1658
00:54:52,724 --> 00:54:54,485
preach those hard messages if they know you

1659
00:54:54,485 --> 00:54:55,925
love them and you got their best interest

1660
00:54:55,925 --> 00:54:57,625
at hand. Otherwise, they're like,

1661
00:54:58,085 --> 00:54:59,539
shut up. Get out of the pulpit.

1662
00:55:00,800 --> 00:55:02,719
Don't tell me what to do. Yeah. Yeah.

1663
00:55:02,719 --> 00:55:05,460
Yeah. So sometimes they're like that anyway. But,

1664
00:55:06,320 --> 00:55:08,239
but but, yeah. So I mean, it's it's

1665
00:55:08,239 --> 00:55:10,880
that balance that it that's there of truth

1666
00:55:10,880 --> 00:55:13,054
and love and and what God's called us

1667
00:55:13,054 --> 00:55:15,775
to do and and, and just just reaching

1668
00:55:15,775 --> 00:55:17,855
out to people, man, and and loving them

1669
00:55:17,855 --> 00:55:19,214
right where they are. Hey. I got a

1670
00:55:19,214 --> 00:55:20,654
really basic question for you. I don't know

1671
00:55:20,654 --> 00:55:22,174
if you answer you you may have said

1672
00:55:22,174 --> 00:55:24,030
before, but where did the name come from?

1673
00:55:24,429 --> 00:55:27,170
Yes. Mark for Life Ministries comes from Ephesians

1674
00:55:27,309 --> 00:55:29,230
one thirteen. It says that we're marked in

1675
00:55:29,230 --> 00:55:31,070
him with the seal of our salvation. Oh,

1676
00:55:31,070 --> 00:55:33,630
nice. Awesome. I love it. Love it. Love

1677
00:55:33,630 --> 00:55:34,088
it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love

1678
00:55:34,088 --> 00:55:34,220
it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love

1679
00:55:34,220 --> 00:55:34,342
it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love

1680
00:55:34,342 --> 00:55:34,510
it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love

1681
00:55:34,510 --> 00:55:35,010
it.

1682
00:55:35,390 --> 00:55:37,885
Well, brother, it's been good. Thank you so

1683
00:55:37,885 --> 00:55:39,724
much. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome to have you on

1684
00:55:39,724 --> 00:55:41,085
with us. So you guys got any more

1685
00:55:41,085 --> 00:55:41,585
questions?

1686
00:55:43,005 --> 00:55:45,005
I might have one. Alright. Let's hear it.

1687
00:55:45,005 --> 00:55:46,924
Yeah. So Yeah. What do you think is

1688
00:55:46,924 --> 00:55:49,324
the biggest challenge when it comes to coming

1689
00:55:49,324 --> 00:55:51,824
out of addiction? Because, like, with my family,

1690
00:55:53,190 --> 00:55:55,309
with my family, I've, you know, seen addiction

1691
00:55:55,590 --> 00:55:57,769
Yeah. Firsthand. Mhmm. I've seen

1692
00:55:58,070 --> 00:56:00,309
them being restored. Yeah. What do you think

1693
00:56:00,309 --> 00:56:02,389
is the biggest challenge for someone to come

1694
00:56:02,389 --> 00:56:05,210
out of Yeah. Their, I guess, their shell

1695
00:56:05,269 --> 00:56:07,369
and do, you know, to help themselves? Yeah.

1696
00:56:07,474 --> 00:56:09,474
I would say the support for recovery, you

1697
00:56:09,474 --> 00:56:11,635
know, something that we see with the guys

1698
00:56:11,635 --> 00:56:12,375
in our program,

1699
00:56:12,835 --> 00:56:15,235
the ones that have good family support always

1700
00:56:15,235 --> 00:56:17,235
lasts a little bit longer and even better.

1701
00:56:17,235 --> 00:56:17,635
Yeah.

1702
00:56:18,275 --> 00:56:20,034
And just because you have a family doesn't

1703
00:56:20,034 --> 00:56:21,635
mean you have family support. And I mean

1704
00:56:21,635 --> 00:56:22,135
someone

1705
00:56:22,519 --> 00:56:25,260
that supports your recovery. Yeah. And that sometimes

1706
00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:27,079
means leaving your butt at the hope house.

1707
00:56:27,079 --> 00:56:28,440
That's it. It means not coming to pick

1708
00:56:28,440 --> 00:56:30,440
you up. That's right. And so, you know,

1709
00:56:30,440 --> 00:56:31,739
it's having those conversations,

1710
00:56:32,039 --> 00:56:34,464
setting the boundaries, and not enabling. Mhmm. I

1711
00:56:34,464 --> 00:56:36,065
think that's what helps long term. Yeah. I

1712
00:56:36,065 --> 00:56:38,304
understand. And then just, you know, showing grace

1713
00:56:38,304 --> 00:56:40,704
too and being there, but being stern and

1714
00:56:40,704 --> 00:56:42,304
that tough love is what makes a difference.

1715
00:56:42,304 --> 00:56:43,984
And it is sad that when they don't

1716
00:56:43,984 --> 00:56:45,744
have that support system, you know. I mean,

1717
00:56:45,744 --> 00:56:48,304
we've I'm I'm like Tanner. We've we've we've

1718
00:56:48,304 --> 00:56:49,284
dealt with addiction,

1719
00:56:50,130 --> 00:56:51,750
with with some folks in our family,

1720
00:56:52,369 --> 00:56:55,010
over the years. And, and it's tough. It's

1721
00:56:55,010 --> 00:56:57,010
tough to watch them there. It's tough to

1722
00:56:57,010 --> 00:56:59,010
be around them. It's tough to minister to

1723
00:56:59,010 --> 00:57:01,089
them at times. And sometimes, they're in a

1724
00:57:01,089 --> 00:57:02,925
place where it's almost impossible to minister

1725
00:57:04,125 --> 00:57:06,125
we had to I remember when our kids

1726
00:57:06,125 --> 00:57:08,045
were younger, I mean, there was a time

1727
00:57:08,045 --> 00:57:10,045
where we because of that, we had to

1728
00:57:10,045 --> 00:57:11,804
kinda separate, you know. We still tried to

1729
00:57:11,804 --> 00:57:14,204
help them, but, but but you kinda gotta

1730
00:57:14,204 --> 00:57:16,125
you gotta protect your family and that kind

1731
00:57:16,125 --> 00:57:17,184
of thing too. And,

1732
00:57:17,519 --> 00:57:18,960
and so that I think a lot of

1733
00:57:18,960 --> 00:57:19,460
times,

1734
00:57:20,159 --> 00:57:22,000
they may have the family support, but they've

1735
00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:24,800
already burnt every bridge Yeah. That that could

1736
00:57:24,800 --> 00:57:26,800
possibly be burned in the family. So And

1737
00:57:26,800 --> 00:57:28,239
we work on that too. You know, we

1738
00:57:28,239 --> 00:57:30,400
can help restore those relationships Yeah. Most of

1739
00:57:30,400 --> 00:57:32,239
the time Yeah. People are open to it.

1740
00:57:32,239 --> 00:57:34,534
I think yeah. Absolutely. Because it's family, and

1741
00:57:34,534 --> 00:57:36,214
they and they ultimately wanna see them do

1742
00:57:36,214 --> 00:57:38,214
good Yes, sir. And love them. Yeah. Yep.

1743
00:57:38,214 --> 00:57:40,534
Mhmm. Amen. Well, thank you again, guys, for

1744
00:57:40,534 --> 00:57:42,855
the opportunity. Absolutely. That's absolutely If you do

1745
00:57:42,855 --> 00:57:44,375
wanna find out more about us, we're on

1746
00:57:44,375 --> 00:57:46,375
Facebook, Mark for Life Ministries is on our

1747
00:57:46,375 --> 00:57:46,875
website,

1748
00:57:47,300 --> 00:57:49,139
mflm.org.

1749
00:57:49,139 --> 00:57:51,139
Amen. Amen. Oh, I love it. Yeah. Yeah.

1750
00:57:51,139 --> 00:57:53,639
It's nothing short. Yeah. It's a great website

1751
00:57:53,699 --> 00:57:55,800
too. Yes. Thank you. Very informative.

1752
00:57:56,340 --> 00:57:58,579
Yes. Well, we really appreciate you coming out

1753
00:57:58,579 --> 00:58:00,260
and talking with us tonight. And,

1754
00:58:01,335 --> 00:58:03,094
for any of our listeners, if you know

1755
00:58:03,094 --> 00:58:04,934
of anybody that needs any help, send them

1756
00:58:04,934 --> 00:58:07,114
send them to Mark for Life. They they

1757
00:58:07,175 --> 00:58:09,255
they are there and doing a lot of

1758
00:58:09,255 --> 00:58:10,775
work and if you know of anybody that

1759
00:58:10,775 --> 00:58:12,534
wants to volunteer to do that kind of

1760
00:58:12,534 --> 00:58:14,234
help, I'm sure you have opportunities

1761
00:58:14,920 --> 00:58:16,599
and would be more than happy to work

1762
00:58:16,599 --> 00:58:17,179
with people.

1763
00:58:18,920 --> 00:58:19,579
Absolutely. So,

1764
00:58:20,360 --> 00:58:22,920
definitely definitely help out with that. We wanna

1765
00:58:22,920 --> 00:58:24,599
keep these kind of ministries open and going

1766
00:58:24,599 --> 00:58:26,440
because they are so important to the community

1767
00:58:26,440 --> 00:58:27,974
and it's so important to keep,

1768
00:58:28,855 --> 00:58:30,375
to keep things out there for people because

1769
00:58:30,375 --> 00:58:31,595
like you say, we it's

1770
00:58:32,055 --> 00:58:34,614
the the homelessness, the the drug addiction, all

1771
00:58:34,614 --> 00:58:36,474
these things that people are coming out of,

1772
00:58:36,775 --> 00:58:38,215
they gotta they gotta be able to land

1773
00:58:38,215 --> 00:58:39,655
on their feet or they're just gonna drop

1774
00:58:39,655 --> 00:58:41,195
right back into it. So

1775
00:58:41,849 --> 00:58:43,530
very much appreciative of what you're doing and

1776
00:58:43,530 --> 00:58:45,690
we were definitely praying for you. And I

1777
00:58:45,690 --> 00:58:47,289
hope all of our listeners are praying for

1778
00:58:47,289 --> 00:58:49,309
you because this is a worthwhile

1779
00:58:49,690 --> 00:58:52,269
ministry and God is clearly working. So

1780
00:58:52,730 --> 00:58:54,170
One of the things that I see and

1781
00:58:54,170 --> 00:58:55,405
I I don't wanna make this longer than

1782
00:58:55,405 --> 00:58:56,405
it needs to be, but one of the

1783
00:58:56,405 --> 00:58:58,505
things that I see with churches,

1784
00:58:59,204 --> 00:59:00,985
you know, a lot of times churches can

1785
00:59:01,364 --> 00:59:03,684
do one thing really good. Every church got

1786
00:59:03,684 --> 00:59:06,025
its every church has its focus, you know,

1787
00:59:06,405 --> 00:59:08,244
whether it's, you know, the food pantry or

1788
00:59:08,244 --> 00:59:10,170
whatever it may be that that that church,

1789
00:59:11,130 --> 00:59:13,690
kinda dives into and and and takes,

1790
00:59:14,010 --> 00:59:15,609
takes a hold of that the lord gives

1791
00:59:15,609 --> 00:59:16,109
them.

1792
00:59:16,489 --> 00:59:18,329
But a lot of times, there's churches that

1793
00:59:18,329 --> 00:59:20,829
wanna help doing the things that you're doing.

1794
00:59:20,969 --> 00:59:23,385
And I wanna encourage churches. Look. If that's

1795
00:59:23,385 --> 00:59:25,784
not what God's called you to, that's why

1796
00:59:25,784 --> 00:59:27,704
you have these ministries around you that you

1797
00:59:27,704 --> 00:59:29,945
can support them whether it's financially or whether

1798
00:59:29,945 --> 00:59:30,684
it's through,

1799
00:59:31,144 --> 00:59:32,184
volunteer help.

1800
00:59:32,505 --> 00:59:34,605
And so and so go to the website

1801
00:59:34,664 --> 00:59:36,969
and check it out. And and, if your

1802
00:59:36,969 --> 00:59:38,650
church maybe your church is not big enough

1803
00:59:38,650 --> 00:59:39,150
to

1804
00:59:39,769 --> 00:59:40,430
to fund,

1805
00:59:40,969 --> 00:59:42,570
something or even give right now, but I'm

1806
00:59:42,570 --> 00:59:44,250
sure that the volunteer time and those kinds

1807
00:59:44,250 --> 00:59:45,690
of things would be great for you. And

1808
00:59:45,690 --> 00:59:47,949
then thanksgiving's around the corner, so Yeah. Opportunities

1809
00:59:48,010 --> 00:59:50,329
there. Yeah. Typically over 50 churches, we have

1810
00:59:50,329 --> 00:59:52,510
over a 100 volunteers for those events. So

1811
00:59:52,625 --> 00:59:54,464
there's tons people could do to help. Amen.

1812
00:59:54,464 --> 00:59:56,144
And I will point out that on on

1813
00:59:56,144 --> 00:59:58,464
their website, there's a donation link right there

1814
00:59:58,464 --> 00:59:59,125
on the homepage.

1815
00:59:59,744 --> 01:00:01,664
So so we if you're if you've got

1816
01:00:01,984 --> 01:00:04,385
wanna help them out financially, it's really really

1817
01:00:04,385 --> 01:00:05,364
simple. Yes.

1818
01:00:06,065 --> 01:00:06,565
Absolutely.

1819
01:00:07,380 --> 01:00:08,980
They don't have to come down and necessarily

1820
01:00:08,980 --> 01:00:10,579
be able to find the building. Now if

1821
01:00:10,579 --> 01:00:11,940
you're volunteering, you might wanna be able to

1822
01:00:11,940 --> 01:00:13,400
find the building. But Yeah.

1823
01:00:13,940 --> 01:00:14,440
Amen.

1824
01:00:14,819 --> 01:00:15,940
And I think I saw a map on

1825
01:00:15,940 --> 01:00:17,940
there as well that shows where everything's located.

1826
01:00:17,940 --> 01:00:20,519
So so mflm.org

1827
01:00:20,974 --> 01:00:21,295
And,

1828
01:00:21,775 --> 01:00:23,855
we really appreciate you, and we're praying for

1829
01:00:23,855 --> 01:00:26,335
you. And I love hearing when God's moving

1830
01:00:26,335 --> 01:00:28,195
like this because this is an awesome thing.

1831
01:00:28,894 --> 01:00:30,494
Brother Tanner, would you like to pray us

1832
01:00:30,494 --> 01:00:31,235
out tonight?

1833
01:00:32,015 --> 01:00:33,614
Lord, we love you, and we thank you

1834
01:00:33,614 --> 01:00:35,460
for this day, Lord. We thank you for,

1835
01:00:35,699 --> 01:00:37,699
lifting you up, Lord. I pray that you

1836
01:00:37,699 --> 01:00:40,019
would just use this ministry, Lord. Use Marfa

1837
01:00:40,019 --> 01:00:41,719
Life, Lord. Bless them, Lord.

1838
01:00:42,179 --> 01:00:43,859
Let them reach out to more people that

1839
01:00:43,859 --> 01:00:45,460
need you. Lord, I pray that you would

1840
01:00:45,460 --> 01:00:45,960
just,

1841
01:00:46,820 --> 01:00:49,059
bless them, Lord, and, help us as we

1842
01:00:49,059 --> 01:00:50,659
head out here, Lord. In Jesus' name, I

1843
01:00:50,659 --> 01:00:51,994
pray. Amen. Amen.

1844
01:00:54,934 --> 01:00:56,795
Special thank you to Carter Pridmore,

1845
01:00:57,174 --> 01:00:59,194
Brian Harris, Waverly Henderson,

1846
01:00:59,574 --> 01:01:02,694
Tatum Harris Spears, and Josie Partain for our

1847
01:01:02,694 --> 01:01:04,639
theme song, Truth Set Me Free.

1848
01:01:05,019 --> 01:01:07,440
I've been Tyler Goza on production and audio.

1849
01:01:07,819 --> 01:01:09,819
We hope you can join us live next

1850
01:01:09,819 --> 01:01:11,440
Monday at 6PM central.

1851
01:01:11,739 --> 01:01:14,460
Thank you for listening. But truth found me

1852
01:01:14,460 --> 01:01:14,960
there.

1853
01:01:15,739 --> 01:01:17,994
It was in my darkest hour.

1854
01:01:18,454 --> 01:01:21,335
I traded my black heart for joy, for

1855
01:01:21,335 --> 01:01:23,914
something real, something with power.

1856
01:01:25,974 --> 01:01:26,954
Truth set

1857
01:01:27,335 --> 01:01:28,235
me free.

1858
01:01:28,934 --> 01:01:31,110
Truth came to me.

1859
01:01:31,670 --> 01:01:34,489
I once was blind and now I see

1860
01:01:34,950 --> 01:01:35,450
truth

1861
01:01:35,910 --> 01:01:37,210
set me free.

1862
01:01:37,989 --> 01:01:38,489
Oh,

1863
01:01:39,430 --> 01:01:39,930
oh.

1864
01:01:41,030 --> 01:01:41,530
Truth

1865
01:01:41,829 --> 01:01:43,289
set me free.