In this episode, La Manda Broyles, TRM Executive Director, visits with her Deputy Directors, Kourtney Barr, Miriam Krehbiel, and Christian Stringfellow about unity and vision for those we serve! This impactful conversation hits on a recent retreat the leadership team were able to go on and the insights and renewal they were able to glean from it. La Manda and the Deputies also share vision for each of the ways they are excited to see their areas of ministry grow within TRM and in reaching the community.
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In this episode, La Manda Broyles, TRM Executive Director, visits with her Deputy Directors, Kourtney Barr, Miriam Krehbiel, and Christian Stringfellow about unity and vision for those we serve! This impactful conversation hits on a recent retreat the leadership team were able to go on and the insights and renewal they were able to glean from it. La Manda and the Deputies also share vision for each of the ways they are excited to see their areas of ministry grow within TRM and in reaching the community.
To learn more about TRM Ministries: Click Here!
To support TRM, Click Here!
Our gently father. We thank you, lord, for this day and your blessings and your provisions. God, thank you for this time to record this podcast. Lord, thank you for the work that you are doing and that we get to be a part of it. Lord, you are wonderful and you're good. And, lord, I just pray that this time would be a blessing to all who here at Lord. We just ask these things in Jesus name, amen.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone. This is Amanda broils, the executive director here at the Topeka rescue mission. We want to welcome you into our community. Our mission on this Wednesday, march 13th, episode 2 13. Do we get a prize or something, josh, with it having 13s in it?
Speaker 1:I don't know. I thought that was a bad, bad thing.
Speaker 2:We'll just make it opposite of that right.
Speaker 1:So we're not super since because it's double, so they that's right.
Speaker 2:That's right. It cancels its way out. No, we are so excited if you are listening with us today. This podcast is such a neat podcast. We've done it for how long now, josh?
Speaker 2:since the end of 2019 and you know, it's just a time where we have all different Types of guests on some from the community, some from government, other nonprofits. We've had police officers and mayors and Guests and unsheltered neighbors, and so it's just a time where we all just talk about things that are happening in our community, and anything that we can do to Bring unity versus division is definitely something that we're about here at the Topeka rescue mission, and so Today is a little bit different, because you are hearing from everyone inside of TRM Leadership, and so we're gonna dive into some vision casting. But before we do that, we've got some cool things that are today, and, maryam, one of these kind of happened to us this morning in your little jam. Yes it, and so to me, you should get a prize too, Do you want to tell people what it is?
Speaker 3:Well, I would like to know that I'm getting a prize before I do that.
Speaker 2:Um sure a pat on the back.
Speaker 3:Okay, or maybe what I needed this morning, uh-huh. So apparently today is Phil, our stapler's day. Yes, ironically, this morning I was trying to staple with an empty stapler, uh-huh. So this is a very appropriate day for me. Very appropriate like, seriously, king Louis the 15th of France, yeah, did the first known stapler. Did you know that I stood?
Speaker 4:I Did not know that. That's surprising.
Speaker 3:I figured that's a very long time ago. How would they have had a stapler?
Speaker 1:Apparently. An unknown artisan made it for the king so interesting, but they didn't really.
Speaker 3:I don't get that.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna have to research that, hey, it could be wrong, it's good, josh is like.
Speaker 3:But I'm also pretty proud of myself that I knew with the X and the V how many years that was me too which which Louie it was.
Speaker 2:I'm impressed, are you? Yes, you're smart, I'm, oh yeah, and I am a little readably. I am shocked that Christian didn't know that Christians kind of the person that knows all the random jeopardy stuff, so I figured he was gonna get that one. Not that one, not that one. It is also a national good Samaritan day. That's gotta be a good one, it's gotta be legit, it is legit.
Speaker 1:What do you mean?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, as good as legit as Google can be, but I kind of struggle with this one. Do you know why, josh?
Speaker 1:Do, do tell.
Speaker 2:Why should this just be a day? Oh, yeah, every day so when I saw yeah, to me there. There are opportunities all around us and not to be cliche, but seriously where you just do something good on behalf of someone else With nothing needed in return. So I'm glad that we have this dedicated, but then I'm also thinking well, for just good humans. Maybe we should look at that as what are our opportunities to be a good Samaritan every day?
Speaker 1:right. Well, and also just knowing that it's. It's considered, like you know, nationally today, but it's also biblical right.
Speaker 2:That's literally pulled from the Bible. Yeah, I'm thinking that's you know it's an example for us Christians.
Speaker 1:We should exemplify.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, the next one. I'm not sure I should even say on air. So I'm gonna say what it is so that we're not lying, and then I'm just going to Put a different name with it. But it's actually smart and sexy day. I'm not sure if we really spend time at work talking about sexy, right?
Speaker 3:I'm not sure, so Google, yeah, you notice there's no like real information about that one.
Speaker 2:So we're just gonna turn that to our version and say smart and beautiful Beautiful inside and out, because when you're beautiful on the inside, it comes out on the outside. So that's what we're gonna say about that one and I'll tell you all yes, all of you are smart and beautiful people. I would not call you smart and sexy, but I will call you smart and beautiful. You're great Moving right along. So I am pretty excited about this podcast. To be honest, it's taken us a couple of times we've rescheduled and then we were trying to fit in some meetings before and I think it was just the Lord saying you know, we needed more time together as leadership and Time to really seek what he's doing, and so vision casting is definitely Something that I take seriously as the executive director. I know my leaders do. I know that any given time they can tell you and we talked about this a little bit when we reflected on 2023 but at any time they can talk about goals they have for their staff and they can talk about System improvements that we're trying to make and really the direction that we're going, and so that that's definitely needed for any business, any nonprofit. That is the responsibility of us to be good stewards, and not just good stewards of funds, but good stewards of people and time, resources and of hope. And sometimes it's not just our people that we're serving that need the encouragement or the hope, sometimes it's ourselves, and so vision casting is something that is important. I think it's definitely in our language, but we are different and unique in the fact of Quite. Frankly, we can put all the plans out, you know, on a table, or put it on paper, and Is that important? Yes, but if it is all driven by what we see and know, that's not faith, and so there has to be a balance in us here, being led by the Lord rooted in Christ, of finding the balance of seeking him first, before anything, before we say we're going to do this or we're not going to do that. We are entrusted and expected to fervently seek what he is wanting us to do, and sometimes that means we do stuff that's popular, and sometimes that means we do stuff that makes sense to no one else, and so we can do things and we can make things happen. However, if we do that on our own and only with things that make sense, then we are not honoring God first. So You're going to hear from us as leaders.
Speaker 2:I have each of my deputy here. They are incredible. They've got amazing structures for their teams. They've got good stuff going and happening and I want to support them as the executive director.
Speaker 2:But I want to make it very clear too that anytime the Lord tells us to act, to pause or to pivot, even if it doesn't make sense, that's when our faith really comes into action In what is unseen, and believing that the Lord needs us to do something, in obedience, and that is what takes precedence. So we're going to tell you some things that are on our hearts and what we're excited about and what we hope for. But we also know that we trust it all with the Lord, because he works all things out for the good of those who love him, and that's what we want to do. Well is to love him. So, as we open up, I have Miriam with me, I have Christian with me and I have a friend who is a Christian with me and I have Courtney with me. All three have been on podcast and I will try not to talk a whole lot about them because the tissues are not within reach, but when I look at the leaders that I get to surround myself with every day.
Speaker 2:Um, I could not be more proud, more humbled and more appreciative than what I am for these three. Not only do they have impeccable work, ethic and drive and loyalty, but their hearts to reflect not religion, not traditions, not practices, but truly what it's like to walk in with Christ through the messy, through sin, through death, through financial challenges, through past experience, through recognizing that they don't have that past experience. The biggest word that I can say about these three are that they are authentic. They are the true deal. They are not perfect. They are not without faults nor am I but they are beautiful, beautiful people who are incredibly talented, incredibly gifted, smart and love the Lord, and that shows in how they love people. So to be able to have them, not only to walk alongside them as we serve in this messy world, but to also be able to call them friends, is truly an honor for me and it's definitely something that I do not take for granted.
Speaker 2:So recently we were able to participate in a retreat alongside of Barry Fieker, the previous executive director and current executive director of Compassion Strategies, and Mike Schottel, who is our director of spiritual wellness and development, or that title. You've heard him say something different each time. He's the watch commander, he's something about biblical something, something. He's a hoot. But he walked alongside leadership too and spent the day at the retreat with us. But we're gonna unpack that a little bit because I think that that's an important thing to set the stage for what we think might be next, or how we're trusting God with what's next that we don't know was really this retreat to reset, in my opinion. So, courtney, you wanna start us off with just a little reflection of what you thought about the retreat, what you felt, anything that you feel is important for listeners to hear about our time together.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I think that it was just needed. I can't remember the last time that I took a time to pause with like you three, specifically in pull away and not something that Amanda had us do at the beginning of the day was don't be on your phones like don't check email, don't check text messages, and to have a extended period of time not connected to the worries or things that were going on at the office, but truly just be invested in time together and everything is still standing and impactful.
Speaker 2:Everything's standing. Everything's standing, see, fell apart.
Speaker 5:But I think that the two things that stood out the most to me the whole day was great. But first was the worship, and worship is one of. I consider myself not super emotional person, but worship is something that can bring me to tears, and Christian and Mary, on both, lettuce through worship and it was just so raw and so authentic. And there was no stage, there was no looking to the people that are leading it, it was just us in a circle and singing and we were all focused on the same person. And that's just powerful. To be in a room, a fellow believers who love the Lord just like I love the Lord and we're all exalting him at the same time and just putting our trust in him. It was great, it was powerful. Then my second favorite part of the day at the very end of the day, amanda knew that she was gonna do this, but she threw everyone else.
Speaker 5:I did the best A wild card was. We had to go around and say one word to describe each person that was in that group, and without a lot of time to think about it, right Cause it was just right there in the moment. But that was powerful to me because it's something that I wanna take back to my team, because other people may be able to see things in you that either you don't see in yourself or even when they say it, you're like, well, that's not true, like I don't believe that I'm those words, but it's just knowing that it's coming from someone who is looking to the Lord to ask, like what do you see? And so they're looking through the lens of what the Lord sees, and it's just reassurance of God sees you and you are these things, and that was good.
Speaker 2:So backing up I wanna touch on that but backing up to worship what is worship to you, courtney.
Speaker 5:Worship to me. I think that Westernized Christianity worship is like the music and the songs that you sing. That's definitely an act of worship. For me, an act of worship could be singing and exalting the Lord together. An act of worship could be walking alongside someone and helping them through a loss of a loved one.
Speaker 5:Worship to me could be praying to the Lord. Worship to me can be going outside and seeing the Lord's fingerprints on humanity and the fingerprints on nature. So my perspective of worship is like a whole life should be an act of worship, right, like our entire life, every step of the day can be worship. I think that it's so easy to be distracted by the world that it's easy to forget that I am a walking worshiper of the Lord. And if I'm not looking to worship the Lord in the moment, then who am I worshiping? Either I'm worshiping myself or something else that I'm unwilling and don't want to worship, and so it's good to have those moments of pause, I think, with like, specifically, music, to understand that, no, like, I am a walking act of worship. And so how can I pause and take the focus away from myself or my to-do list and fully invest my heart and looking to the Lord for all things?
Speaker 2:And you know well said, and I also think that one of the things that I was slightly convicted of as Christian and Miriam saying, which was beautiful, sometimes I feel like music just takes me to a different place. But one of the things that I was convicted of is what are the other things that I worship and that I don't even mean to? And I'm thinking and it's not that those things aren't good and it's not that they're not important, but at the end of the day, if you truly have your understanding that this is just temporary, so the houses that we live in, the money that we have, all of those things that sometimes move up on that priority list, and when you think about eternally, we have two options and that's what it's going to be all about, and that scripture tells us we are going to be rejoicing and worshiping in him. I was really convicted thinking, oh my goodness, when I look at how much time I spend on reflecting on God's goodness versus checking emails, or reflecting on God's goodness and his provision and his protection versus eating All of these different things. And so I love that you talk about what worship is and what it should be, but I also want to give a caution to all of us, myself included. Really check that. Are you worshiping your kids? Are you worshiping the car that you drive? Those kinds of things, because those are good but they aren't priority. And so I loved that about the worship time. It was really a reminder to me of check the things that you could be inadvertently worshiping, that I didn't recognize.
Speaker 2:And then the one word of just the affirmation activity that we did. I'm sure you'll hear from all three of them. They are a little sour that they had no heads up on it, but they should expect the unexpected from me by now. They should. But talk to me, courtney, about you are I say this to you all the time but you are beautiful and you are smart and you are witty and you have friends that love you, family that loves you, people at the ministry adore you, beautiful children, all of these things. So why would something so small? People didn't even tell you phrases, people didn't even explain it, people didn't. They literally gave you a word that when they see you, that's what they think. Why would that matter to someone who is so put together?
Speaker 5:Because on the outside I can look put together at any point of the day pretty easily, but that is honestly just a coping mechanism to not be look like I don't have it together, right. And so, even though on the outside for someone who looks like, oh, like they don't need to be told and reminded that they're a daughter of the king like one of the words was daughter On the outside it doesn't look like I need to be reminded. But there's days that I need to be reminded that I am a daughter of the one true king and that there's nothing that can remove me from his hands. Another word that was used Mary, did you say trustworthy, or loyal, trustworthy, trustworthy. And Christian said diligent, trustworthy, yeah, for you, beautiful, yeah.
Speaker 5:And so we all need those reminders, I think. I think that the people who look like they need the reminders, they need it. The people who don't look like they need the reminders, they need it. And so it was impactful for me personally. But then it even challenged me of how am I going to incorporate this for my team specifically. But then even the Good Samaritan Day, like how many people that we just randomly walk past in the grocery store or at the coffee shop or wherever we're at, or our kids, you know, dance practice just like. Do they need a one word of encouragement that has no explanation, and how far can that truly go for them? And then think of the ripple effect that could come?
Speaker 2:Yes, and then I just think of all of the people who need that. I mean, we all do right, regardless of what we look like on the outside, regardless of education, regardless. I don't know even people who don't like compliments, right. I've never had someone say, when I say thank you for being so kind, and they say don't talk to me. Right Now, we do see this humbleness or this like oh, I'm embarrassed, I'm not used to it, but think about it. It's the one thing that we can do for people is just to validate, and we have so many people and it's not just people that are guests or people on the streets that are hurting and so I would say, you know, right now I'm speaking to other CEOs, I'm speaking to other executives, other supervisors.
Speaker 2:Man, so often we talk about outcomes and so often we talk about the destination and not the journey and the products and what we're producing. Those things are fine and they're good. We do that at the Tobika Rescue Mission, but really it's up to us, those people that are closest to us. When is the last time we're just pulling them there next to us and saying let me tell you this about yourself. Make time for it, Because then it's a ripple effect, like Courtney said. So thank you for sharing so openly, courtney, miriam, what were some of your thoughts about the retreat?
Speaker 3:So I would echo a lot of what Courtney said, but also there I would say this retreat was interesting for me because I may have left with more questions than I did answers. So whether it was around what you talked about with John 15, whether it's some of Mike's comments from Jeremiah, whether it was just comments that both Courtney and Christian made or that Barry made, I walked away as I was just looking back kind of through the notes I was taking. There is a ton of question marks and I'm not exactly sure what that means Other than that I probably need to go back and revisit some things, but I was a little bit struck by that, that I was walking away with more questions than answers. The other thing, though, I mean points that I appreciated. I love the prayer walk time, you know, just to spend time in nature and with the Lord, and even though that's where a whole lot of those questions came up he's good at that, but it was, you know, that was that was really really a beautiful, beautiful time, but I think also just reflecting with each other.
Speaker 3:You know, I remember the stop, look and listen stuff that Mike was talking about is, as we were entering into that prayer time there was. Just there was just a lot of different things, a lot of different things that were great, great one liners that people gave and, honestly, maybe the best, bestest part right, so you're asking me to limit things so was honestly just spending time together without expectation, without an agenda for what we had to get through or problems that we needed to solve or something like that just being able to, to just spend time together and really just see each other in different kinds of ways. You know, when we were doing that leadership exercise, I'm not sure that I have had that much fun with some of my peers we won't call out names who was totally out of control and as they rhymes with Hyshchen, Exactly?
Speaker 3:Who was that Exactly? Even just watching Courtney, as she is like so serious giving really good answers and then throws in a zinger.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's exactly right.
Speaker 3:Like yeah, and we're not going to talk about those because it was a safe space.
Speaker 2:It was a safe space.
Speaker 3:So we're not going to talk about some of that, but now just to be able to be so, be able to be so relaxed with each other without having to have, without trying to solve problems, because we do that a lot. We have to solve problems, we have to solve situations, we have to see around the corner on so many different things that it was great not to be doing that. I agree.
Speaker 2:So I'm going to push on you a little bit, like I did, courtney, I know you didn't? I love know you love that I did Barry. I know that's right.
Speaker 3:That's because I'm in the hot seat.
Speaker 2:Maryam. When people think Maryam, you are so, you are to your core wrong, people think of you're the one that has the answer, and then, if you don't have the answer, if you are able to spend five minutes with her, she's going to think through it, she's going to walk through it, she's going to self correct, she's going to come out with an answer for you. She is sharp too. She is sharp and the wisdom is incredible, and so there's no doubt about that, and I'm so thankful that I can entrust so much with you that I have very little knowledge about.
Speaker 2:But what I want to hone in on is not what you can do. It's the fact that even someone like a Maryam Crabill is walking away, asking questions, walking away, not sure about some things, right, and so talk to me about that, because if somebody looks at you, they would probably think that your walk with the Lord, too, is very tight and very connected, and I'm not saying that it isn't, but that it just always makes sense to you. But it doesn't always make sense, right? No? So talk to us about how that is, that Maryam doesn't live all of her life actually knowing everything, despite the fact that we think so.
Speaker 3:So you're right, and I think I would just be a little bit reflective of what Courtney said. You know, when you look like you're all put together, you're doing that because you're not all put together. And it's the same way with answers. You know, my professional career has put me into decision-making roles at a very early age, so this having to kind of present what appears to be confidence should never be interpreted as knowledge, because it's not.
Speaker 3:I am confident and I am confident that I don't know the answers, and I think that's why I'm so comfortable asking questions or being asked questions, because it's how it's, it's my learning process. So you know, I know who I believe in and I know who I belong to, and very often it makes absolutely no sense. Right, there are pieces of it that are confounding, there are pieces of it that are mysterious, there are pieces of it that I feel every single day like I fail at, and so I guess questioning if I'm still asking questions, in a lot of ways I guess it just means that I still care and want to grow in my walk, because if I, if I didn't care, if I thought I knew everything, I would probably be thinking that my walk isn't probably where it needs to be.
Speaker 2:So you don't wake up in the morning and have a set of rules that you live by, and every morning you are able to kneel down and pray and you go throughout the day without any type of sin. And because you are so efficient at your job, you're efficient as a Christian.
Speaker 3:So you know how Mr Stringfellow is a rule follower. I am the antithesis of that. I am not a rule follower, regardless what people might say or tell you, I'm not a rule follower. And so what that means is that I will challenge almost everything because I need to know the why. I need to know why I believe something I can't, just even though there are pieces. There are pieces of the Lord that I just accept the not knowing.
Speaker 3:And my pastor once said that if I understood all of the mysteries of God, I would be God. And I don't want to be God. I don't want, I don't want that responsibility, and so I can appreciate the mystery all along the way. But no, I don't know all the answers. I'm seeking, just like everyone else, and I can be talked out of things. I know that is shocking to y'all. I can be, I can be talked out of things, and sometimes I like to just fight the other side, right? I like to just be the one that is challenging, so that I'm sure that we're getting to the right answer. It isn't that I don't believe what the other person is even saying, so that could be ultimately frustrating for everybody else, but I'm good with it.
Speaker 2:But each day you start over. Yeah, and so you know. Yes, and I think that's what's so important is do we strive to follow a set standard of just how we should live? The best we can live according to Christ's example? Absolutely. Do we give every chance that we can to prayer and to learning and wise counsel? Absolutely, but are we going to fail too? Because we're human?
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, every day, and so I just I feel in my heart, maybe there's someone listening, whether it's someone at a business or someone on the streets or whatever the walk of life is, that someone's just listening and thinks it's too hard, I can't do it.
Speaker 2:Or I've already tried to walk with the Lord and I've messed up.
Speaker 2:And I just want you to know, like it's never too late, wherever you are, if you're in a suit and tie or a dress, or haven't been able to shower, and you're on the streets like right, then all you have to do is acknowledge to Christ that you are seeking and that you know he's real.
Speaker 2:But you don't understand and just know that even people, those of us who have walked with the Lord for a long time sometimes we have questions, sometimes we have to be in a waiting period of something that we don't understand. And so if you're out there and you've just kind of said no to even the possibility of having a relationship with Christ, just please know you're hearing from us say that you have a father who loves you in a way that no one on earth can do, and it is an incredible love that covers any issue, any mess, and you've got leaders here saying do we strive to love and to be different than this world? Absolutely, but do we fail Absolutely? Do we sometimes walk it really great? Absolutely, but the end of the day, we have a father who knew we were going to make mistakes. He knew we were going to mess up and he's paved a way so that our eternity is different, and so that's beautiful.
Speaker 3:You know, the visual for me in terms of my life with the Lord is that I am a mosaic and it takes multiple strings or pieces of pottery or whatever you might want to think of to put together something beautiful. But it is pieces and he is patient enough to be weaving this tapestry and this mosaic in my life and I am just so grateful that he continues to be patient with me and continue to weave and build something beautiful that won't be recognized until I'm in his presence and that you're trusting him to do it Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Thank you for sharing Christian Two. I know you probably have about 10, but two takeaways from the retreats Well, the first thing I do want to straighten out, miriam, on something.
Speaker 3:That's a shock. I tried to limit him, miriam. I tried. I know it's okay, I can take it. Bring your best shot, but the leadership toolkit, exercise or workshop.
Speaker 4:I felt like I had some killer tips for everybody.
Speaker 3:You know you did have killer tips.
Speaker 4:Killer tips. I really channel my inner Johnny and Cha-Chi.
Speaker 2:Let me just tell the listeners right now. This was supposed to be a profound activity where I gave them objects thanks to Kim getting it all together and we were building a leadership toolkit and so they had to say why they needed these objects. I will tell you. Somehow, courtney and Christian came up with the plan of the rubber band, and the smarties could be used as a slingshot and you could just, you know, hit each other with it. This didn't quite go in the direction that I thought it was going to go.
Speaker 4:You said silly phone exercise.
Speaker 2:That's right you said silly phone exercise.
Speaker 4:I really embodied that guidance and I feel like I really accomplished that well.
Speaker 3:You were an example of silly and fun.
Speaker 2:Like you know, we had gum and you could say, oh, be there for each other when you're in sticky situations and stuff. Christian just said put it on the concrete sidewalk. So, anyways, if you step in gum today, it might be Christian's fault.
Speaker 4:No, I was channeling my inner guest.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 4:No. So if anybody didn't understand what I said, by Johnny and Cha-Chi, I really encourage you to look up Johnny and Cha-Chi killer prayer tips on YouTube. It will definitely deepen your prayer life.
Speaker 2:Or confuse it.
Speaker 4:one because you've shown me that, but no, I thought it was so really more of a serious note which, believe it or not, I think I can be capable of. I really I really enjoyed or really appreciated how you started out the day really diving into John 15. One, you know, that passage is one of my, my favorites. It's just a. There was a sense of urgency that Jesus had in talking to his disciples, but the how he stressed abide in me. And so I really feel like the rest of the day was really a lot of exercises, or a lot of reminders of diving deeper into abiding, or deeper into dwelling in and walking from.
Speaker 4:So you know, as, really, as a ministry and as believers in Christ, if our branches aren't full of fruit, you know, aren't full of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, then something's wrong. And so you know, really, where does that fruit come from? Does it come from us working really, really hard at loving each other? Well, no, that comes from staying connected to the vine, and so really, I thought that was healthy and I thought that was very beneficial to start from that because, really, and what we do in the people that we lead in this organization, this ministry, if we can teach anything, if we can do anything. It is walking in a relationship with Jesus, it is living, abiding in the vine, wow, and so I thought that was the one thing that I really kind of took.
Speaker 2:So, if you're listening to this, we kind of just had different things during the retreat where we did a time of worship, we had lunch together, we had a time of kind of just diving into prayer, we did some leadership activities and we kind of heard from myself and Mike Schottel and even Barry at the end of just things that were kind of on our hearts and one of the things that we talked about in John 15, which is what Christian is referencing. There's so many good points in there that I feel like we could spend all day talking on. But one of those that came out or two of the things that were big to me was one just the power of the Holy Spirit. And I know that there's a lot of differing opinions on what the Holy Spirit is, what the Holy Spirit is and those kinds of things. But what I want people to know about right now is we've been told in scripture one that the Holy Spirit was coming and two, that we're filled with this Holy Spirit, something that I'm not sure we walk in enough and in a way that God intended us to.
Speaker 2:But if you are hurting right now and you are just feeling like you are so far gone and going to church or joining a small group or something like that seems so such a big step for you. I get it. That's hard, it's a lot. Maybe just enter into prayer, acknowledge that the Christ who came like it's in a different form now and that form is the Holy Spirit inside of us and you can talk to that Holy Spirit at any time. That Holy Spirit can guide you, can direct, you can give you answers, can give you cautions. If we just acknowledge it. And it's such a precious, precious gift that we have through salvation that if we just and it's something you can do even privately even privately, sometimes I am sitting there and going into prayer and I can be in a meeting about something totally different, but my heart is so touched or hurting or conflicted by something and I'm able to do that.
Speaker 2:And so just know that if you have questions, if you are trying to figure out quote, unquote religion or you're trying to figure out, do you matter in something bigger than what this world has to offer, the answer is yes. And if some of those steps are too hard for you to take, start just talking to our Lord. He's there to listen, he wants to, he is a patient, patient, god, who has been waiting for a long time for more followers to come follow him because of what's to come. So I enjoyed John 15, too, christian. Thanks for sharing that.
Speaker 4:Thank you for sharing.
Speaker 2:Anything else that you wanna share. You were just so pumped about the leadership right.
Speaker 4:The leadership toolkits. I was really, really pumped about that, yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness, yeah, that was pretty entertaining, pretty entertaining. I don't often pat myself on the back, but this time and just so you all know, we would go from profound things like paper clips linking to the Lord and adding others to it to like the bubblegum thing that I just said about that. It belongs on concrete right I thought this was a safe place.
Speaker 2:I know, I know that's the only one I'm gonna rat out, but it was pretty comical. Good times, good times. So now let's just kinda talk about some vision or something that we have for our areas, and I'll kinda start looking holistically when I think about the organization. First and foremost, I have a responsibility to do what the Lord is asking me to do, and that is something that I don't take lightly and, quite frankly, if I can speak transparently, it's something that I wrestle with, because I look at myself, and I look at myself in all of my flaws and my limitations, and my flesh and my humanness, and I'm thinking the Lord is entrusting such precious, precious work. And so can I tell you that I get every decision right? Absolutely not. Have I made the right decision by having these leaders around me, you betcha? But when I look at what we want to do, first and foremost I just want to be so honoring to what God says, even if it is so against the world. I also want us as an organization to repent anytime we might be off, or that we might get distracted, or that we might try to do things within our own power. We don't want to do that. We want to know that God does every single thing in this ministry. And when we get any other feeling or any other thought because of my leadership, I want to repent of that. That's not my heart, it's not my intention, but it is very easily done to become doers and we just we don't want to do that. There's some things on my radar. One just how do we continue to support staff education wise? We've got everybody, from people that want to be more literate to people who are going back to college and it's just incredible and I just feel like at TRM we are walking through life with people. It's not a job, it's not just a career, it's a village, and so looking at different opportunities to be able to support staff and really equip them for what God might be asking them to do and their next steps. The former North Topeka Baptist Church is high on my radar. To make a long story short just for the sake of time, and maybe we can dive into it later when we were trying to decide do we take this church, do we not?
Speaker 2:I remember being by myself and walking through the hallways and I kind of know a thing or two about education, but construction and buildings and things not so much. And so I remember, just walking and going into the fellowship hall there, I couldn't find the light switches, and so it was dark and I was by myself and I just was like God, I don't know, this seems like a gift from you, but I don't know what it's gonna take to restore it. I don't know what the purpose is. And I was giving him excuse after excuse after excuse, and I was standing in front of a stage which I didn't realize that, and someone came down there from the church, didn't realize I was in there, flipped on the lights and the first thing I saw was this beautiful cross, and on that cross it said follow me. And so it was almost like the Lord in that moment reminded me Amanda, you're not gonna be able to comprehend everything I need you to do right now, but right now I need you to follow me and you need to move forward with this church.
Speaker 2:And so we've done a few things in the church. We've had meetings, unfortunately, but it was beautiful. We've also had funerals there. We've hosted other rescue missions from our region in there, and so it's definitely been used for the purpose of connection and networking and hospitality, but I'm very, very certain that it's not that we haven't seen its full purpose yet, and I don't know what that looks like, but it takes money. It takes money to pour into an older building and to make the changes. But, unless I'm course corrected, I really think that the Children's Palace needs to become an equipping center and an education center, possibly a one-stop shop of some sort with resources, because what is TRMs is the community. I don't see that as it's just ours. It belongs to the Lord and needs to provide for people, and so the church would be great office space for that. But we've got a lot of renovations that would have to be done to make that happen. So, taking care of staff, mentoring the churches on my radar, first and foremost, doing whatever the Lord asks us to.
Speaker 2:And then budgets. Do we have a healthy budget for how we're operating? Absolutely, and that is through the provision of the Lord, working through the generous people all over this world who donate to us. But if we are seeing it's not rocket science If we're seeing an increase in costs of things and we're seeing an increase in need and we're seeing a decrease in housing, a decrease in, sometimes, jobs and things like that, and we're seeing an increase in these other things in order to continue to serve at the capacity of which TRM serves our community.
Speaker 2:It's going to take additional support, or it gets to a place where TRM says this is all we can do and there's possibly gonna be people unserved if others don't step up and be a part of the bigger puzzle. So it's just something we have to tread lightly. We have faith. We know the Lord provides. We're always ready to do whatever is needed. We have a healthy budget, but in order to keep up with the demand and be good partners with other people in our community and such, we're going to need an increase in contributions or we're gonna have to do status quo and not keep up with the needs of our community, who are going to greatly need food and services. Those are just some higher level things that I have kind of in the works. I don't know what God's gonna do, but I'm trusting him with it. We'll just go around the table, mary, I'm a couple of thoughts for you.
Speaker 3:In terms of what the future looks like. Yes, yeah, I would agree with you, I mean, but I feel like we have a responsibility to do as much for the people that come to us as possible, and I'm not exactly sure what that looks like, but I think it's more than just meeting immediate needs. Obviously, the spiritual needs where do they go from here? Needs, that kind of thing, educational needs. So I know that there's something there, you know and how. But I agree with you, it all takes resources and not just the and, yes, financial resources are critical, because I think that also leads then to the human resources that we need to be able to carry it out Right, that we can't do everything we wanna do if we don't have the people to do it. So that, to me, is very important.
Speaker 3:I think the other goal I have that's more short term or more immediate, not as long term focused is just having the right staff in the right positions that are equally as committed to serving the Lord and having an understanding of what that means to work for an organization like ours. So just making sure that, with all of the hires that they make, whether it's in my departments, whether it's in the other departments across the ministry. That that we are very, very intentional, not that it has to take us forever, but that we are very intentional with looking for the right fit in the right positions. So, yes, to serve well, to serve well, to serve well, absolutely. So that's a couple of things, great, courtney.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I have a couple of things. One is I'm excited just to see our programming continue. It has expanded a lot since last year of 2023. And so we have career readiness programming, we have life skills programming, we have trauma education programming and we have program even for our kids. We have a kids camp in the summer and then we also have weekly champions for change classes for our kiddos, which is for ages five years of age and older, looking at healthy coping strategies and how we develop as humans and how to just interact in groups and social settings social settings. So I'm excited just for the continuation of that not necessarily expansion, maybe from that in 2024, but just a good continuation to have really solid educational opportunities in various areas for our guests, from young to old.
Speaker 5:A new thing that I'm looking at in this year specifically is we don't have a lot of programming yet necessarily for zero to five year olds.
Speaker 5:We are addressing kids that are school age and older, and so we actually received a grant through the Elshire grant and so we are looking to start.
Speaker 5:My goal is in April or May we'll see if my timeline pans out but it's going to be called exploring nutrition, and so we are going to be exploring with littles and their caregivers of healthy eating, and we're going to make it fun, and so I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 5:And so it'll be something as exploring nutrition of something as simple as bananas that's a pretty healthy source, and we can talk about what potassium is and how that helps our bodies grow and what it's used for with our muscles, but then also making it fun.
Speaker 5:And so how can I eat a banana other than just eating a banana? Like what are some ways that I can use the banana in different ways so you can freeze it and make some banana ice cream or put some peanut butter and chocolate on it, and so exploring that we can make eating fun, and so I'm really looking forward to seeing that come to fruition. And then the last thing that I would say is I have a deep passion for having our community, our city, our state and our nation know what happens here and what is truly the people that we are serving and the statistics that go with that. And so I'm really looking forward to and this may be into 2024 and into, hopefully, years to come but just the advocacy work that is possible to communicate what's happening with inside our walls and going outside of our walls and honestly, hopefully, looking for policy change and reform based off of what we are seeing and what the need is and the evidence that we have to back it up.
Speaker 2:So good and needed Christian.
Speaker 4:Well, there's always some practical things to improve and some areas to grow. So I guess, concretely, there's some processes that we're working on in the shelters and in other departments to really kind of streamline what we do, but for the most part, when it comes to the shelters, I just hope they don't burn down.
Speaker 2:The leadership toolkits like bleeding over into our podcast.
Speaker 4:But no, for the most part, they've been there for years and they've operated well, but the thing is, they're led by people, and I think one of the biggest things that we can do is to really support the people that run them and that operate them, that are there handling the more not real fires, but you know, the metaphorical fires that would be burning in those places, the arguments or the disputes or situations that they have to address.
Speaker 4:Every one of those situations can be an opportunity, and so, but really, we have to have people that are equipped and ready for those opportunities to be able to jump into them and to share the hope that they've found. So, really, just in order for those things to grow, we have to model that, and so, you know, a big focus and key is modeling that for my leaders, encouraging them to model that for their staff, and then encourage your staff to dive deeper into the source. And as we grow, you know, biting from the vine, good fruit will bear, will be born on our branches, and so that's probably my biggest hope and my biggest dream when it comes to all the departments that I work with, is that we bear fruit, both as an organization and both as departments and how we do what we do, but also really as people, because really like, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what program we have at three o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 4:I've got a person who is desperate and I've got a person who has a solution, and so it's just connecting people with the hope that we have.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I think we could go on and on, quite frankly, with thoughts and visions and goals, because we are lifelong learners and diving into the word, trying to learn how to be more like Christ as we are serving people and serving difficult situations. As we wrap up our time, just a few brief thoughts. You know, the Pika Rescue Mission is just here to serve the community. We're not here to just do our own thing. We want and are so thankful for the partnerships that we have in our community where we can walk alongside people and do work of an even bigger picture.
Speaker 2:And so, just briefly, if all of you would just kind of go around, courtney, you kind of touched on it, but if you have anything else, feel free. What's just a thought. We'll start with you, maryam, on what do you hope that TRM can do for our community or what do you hope to see in our community in regards to the work that we do? Just the bigger picture of us doing the Lord's work, but us doing the Lord's work in Shawnee County and in Topeka. What are your thoughts?
Speaker 3:Well, if I'm understanding you right, you're asking me or asking us what do we want the community to see from us?
Speaker 2:related to this, yeah, or what do you want us to do for the community? What do you want to see in our community? Anything that's tied to the community part.
Speaker 3:Well, my idealistic wish would be that I wish that the community could see those we serve the way we do and the way Christ does, because I think it then changes the perspective of how we approach solving things or addressing things that are difficult for everyone. And if people could just know people, so that would be the idealistic thing. But I think even more than that. I just hope that they see us, see him through us, that this is our reason for caring deeply and this is our reason for addressing the issues in the way we do, not that we have to always use words, but that the sun shines through us very clearly and, if nothing else, the people would ask why.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 5:Courtney, yeah, I'm in agreement with Maryam for sure, and I think of the word exposure is what I think for our community. It's one thing to hear the word homelessness or think that you know or have an understanding. It's completely different when you're sitting next to that person who has a name and has a story and your heart is breaking for them. And so having exposure to people and then just for our community connections, it's been cool to see some connections that have been made, even with a local university and my grad student and an undergrad student who haven't been exposed to this and they're asking questions and they want to know more and they want to advocate for change, and so education and exposure, and but it being connected to the person with the name Very good.
Speaker 2:Christian.
Speaker 4:Well, this is just a softball question. I mean, you can set this on a tee for us to swing at.
Speaker 2:You should be used to that.
Speaker 4:This is one that's got like lots of layers. The skin is on the ball is actually like peeling off.
Speaker 4:No, the there's a lot of things that you know. I think what Miriam and Courtney have kind of touched on is a lot of it is exposure. First off, I want to say, like the rescue mission, we serve our community and the way that we serve our community communities by serving the father that loves the people in our community more than our community ever could, and so we hold ourselves to a pretty, I guess, high standard because he's the one that we answer to and he's the one that we're responsible to, and so he's also the one that we want to represent and we want to be a good representation of who he is. There's so many things that you know. I, over the years, have just marveled at the rescue mission and how it's done different, different things and how it is served our community effectively and well, and really what it comes down to is that we serve people and we serve the person that's right in front of us.
Speaker 4:I have served family members, I've served classmates from school, I've served childhood friends. You know, I've served all different kinds of people and I want to treat every single one with the same level of honor and dignity, because they're made in the image of a perfect God and they have, you know, an intrinsic value because of that image. So you know, that, I think, is one thing that we want to continue in and to grow in and serve, not necessarily something that we haven't done. So that's, I guess, the. My hope is that we can actually let the community in to see some of those things. Yeah, and we have there's some complicated things with that.
Speaker 4:There's confidentiality and there's you know, respecting people's privacy. We're not a zoo, and we don't want, you know, people who are coming to us seeking services to feel like they live in a glass house or that you know we're, that they're being used to, you know, for people to see the issue. No, it's. There is an aspect of exposure and there's also an aspect of protecting the people that we have.
Speaker 2:So finding that balance can be tough.
Speaker 4:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:It is. You know I think I'll just kind of wrap us up I think each and every one of you, for just man, how you serve and how you lead your teams, and everything that you do with me, for me, on my behalf, but most importantly, just the raw example you are of Christ, and I, just I love each of you very, very dearly. You know, when I'm thinking about just TRM and community involvement, you know, I've been really convicted for a long time, and encouraged and then discouraged, that there is just a revival that is on its way and is already happening in a lot of our area. And there are so many outside of TRM. There are so many incredible organizations and businesses and, whether people agree at a faith level or not, just people that are trying to do the right thing and forming trustworthy relationships and doing hard stuff. Whether it's the business owner, you know, extending kindness to the person who just tried to take something from them, whether it's our outreach team who's trying to work with people that are in very broken places, whatever the case may be, there are incredible people, incredible organizations and incredible agencies all over our area and I'm not sure that we are really doing a good enough job to communicate the good work that is happening, not in a bragging way, not in a prideful way, but in a way where we are locked together, saying the cause is people. The cause is looking at the struggles that people have and what is going to be my role as a worship leader, my role as a grocery sacker, my role as a CEO, whatever the case may be, what is my role?
Speaker 2:And being a part of the bigger picture of this revival of compassion, this revival of doing things that may not make sense to this world, doing things in a way that we are taking care of people while taking care of each other. And it is my heart that those of us who are entrenched every day somehow, even if it's not our profession, in doing things that a lot of people just want to talk about, my encouragement is that those people be encouraged knowing that, even if they're not given accolades or even if they may even be so misrepresented or frowned upon, if you're doing good stuff by people, even if no one sees it, you are part of the bigger revival that's happening and that is to come, and it is so incredible to be a small part of that. I hope that, as you listen, you are given a better understanding of who our father is. He is not concerned with our perfection because he knew about them and sent his son anyways to die to cover ours.
Speaker 2:I hope that, as you're listening, whether you are a CEO or you are someone that is in the midst of struggle, that you know that you do matter and that you are loved, and that it's okay to ask questions and it's okay to feel hurt and it's okay to have a struggle, that none of us are without that, but we serve a God who is in the midst of the messy, just waiting to put it all together as a beautiful mosaic piece, as Maryam said earlier.
Speaker 2:And that is so humbling to know that, despite what this world may or may not say about us, we have a Creator who says I see you, I know your name and I love you, regardless of anyone's else's thoughts. And so thank you for listening to our leadership team today, thank you for listening about the rescue mission, about our community, and thank you to all of you who are doing your best, doing the role of taking care of people, whether that's your people that you work with, people that are at your church, people that are on the streets. It's good Samaritan day, but remember we can make a good Samaritan day every day by just being kind, compassionate and grace-filled. Have a blessed day.