Join us for a beautiful episode as we sit down with Holton Witman, the outgoing Director of Distribution Services at TRM. Delve into his journey within the organization, from his beginnings in the street outreach team to his conscious choice to prioritize his role as a father and family man. Experience the thrilling narrative of following one's faith journey while also grappling with the bittersweet challenge of departing from a place where divine intervention is a daily occurrence.
Amidst this period of transition, we are excited to visit with Andrew Lucas, the incoming Director of Distribution Services. Discover the path that led Andrew to TRM, witness the seamless passing of the torch from Holton, and his observing firsthand the tangible acts of being the hands and feet of Jesus.
To learn more about TRM Ministries: Click Here!
To support TRM, Click Here!
Join us for a beautiful episode as we sit down with Holton Witman, the outgoing Director of Distribution Services at TRM. Delve into his journey within the organization, from his beginnings in the street outreach team to his conscious choice to prioritize his role as a father and family man. Experience the thrilling narrative of following one's faith journey while also grappling with the bittersweet challenge of departing from a place where divine intervention is a daily occurrence.
Amidst this period of transition, we are excited to visit with Andrew Lucas, the incoming Director of Distribution Services. Discover the path that led Andrew to TRM, witness the seamless passing of the torch from Holton, and his observing firsthand the tangible acts of being the hands and feet of Jesus.
To learn more about TRM Ministries: Click Here!
To support TRM, Click Here!
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and your blessings and your provisions. God, thank you for this time, Lord, and just the amazing work that you're doing here and through the people that you're doing it through God. We thank you for the hearts of the individuals that are with us today and, Lord, just thank you for our listeners. Pray your blessing upon them In your holy name. We pray Amen.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone, this is Lamanda Broyles, the executive director here at the Topeka Rescue Mission on this Wednesday, April 24th 2024. If only it was episode 224. Oh, that would be special, I know, but it's not. But it's still okay.
Speaker 2:It is Because it's episode 219, miriam right, so we're going to keep on moving, it's okay. Episode 219 Miriam. Right, so we're we're gonna keep on moving, it's okay. Um so, miriam, you and I are close and we're friends, and so we're just not gonna do the mean quizzes that Barry normally does. Yeah, let's just discuss them. Um so, national pigs in the blanket day. You know I love pigs in my.
Speaker 2:I did not know that about you. I do okay, but Okay. But the true test is do you dip them in something? I do Okay. There's only one thing you can dip pigs in a blanket. That's right On the count of three. Say it Okay One, two, three, mustard. You know that was going to be the test. I have been so grossed out when I've seen people dip pigs in the blanket in ketchup or barbecue sauce.
Speaker 1:The real question is do you eat them while you're in a blanket? So you're eating pigs in a blanket.
Speaker 2:As a pig in a blanket, but then that means I'm a pig in the blanket.
Speaker 4:I was going to say I think I'm offended.
Speaker 1:It's just the more cozier way to eat them.
Speaker 2:It's nothing bad and I don't know what I do, but for some reason my piggies always pop out of the blanket and so, like you know, the dough is really busted, busted can of biscuits. But anyways, okay, you use biscuits, yeah, and I tear them all up into pieces and then try doing it with the crescent rolls oh, maybe that's what I'm missing it's triangular and this edge is long and then,
Speaker 1:you and it's rolls right out, perfect perfect.
Speaker 2:You are so good at everything that's logical.
Speaker 4:I'm telling you what? Yeah, okay, there are people that would seriously say no, that's not true well, I mean, we do need to give some credit to Betty Crocker.
Speaker 2:So 1957, betty Crocker published Betty Crocker's cooking for kids with the first simple recipe for this tasty treat. And the rest is history. It is.
Speaker 4:I know I want to see how you handle that one. I was going to do it. No, don't. Okay, I won't, because we're all wearing headphones, exactly.
Speaker 2:Scream day, scream day. It's a good way to release built up frustrations through screaming. I think we did that earlier, didn't we Amanda? Yeah, I think we practiced this a couple of times a day, we did.
Speaker 1:Especially right before the podcast too right, that's exactly right.
Speaker 2:We're like okay, let's just do it, just right now, and usually Lamanda and Miriam screams are followed by it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Nothing is okay. We're all right. We're all right. No, we're not all right. No, I hope you know. If you're practicing screaming today, I hope that it works for you. I hope it's not at someone.
Speaker 4:Well, it's therapy, right, isn't there something that is actually literally scream therapy?
Speaker 2:Yeah, according to Google, it's even a very calming way thing for your brain. So I mean, if Google says, it.
Speaker 4:I bet it takes you back up into your upper brain oh.
Speaker 1:I trust Google.
Speaker 4:We should talk to our trauma team about this.
Speaker 2:They're probably mortified right now, At this point they're breaking people right now.
Speaker 4:That's exactly right. They're breaking people.
Speaker 2:And then, lastly, administrative Professionals Day. Yeah, yeah, what do you think about that? I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 4:I do too. We have some folks that just do such exceptional work for us. You know that do the things that some people don't want to do, the things that can be very tedious the things that can be repetitive, the things that we can drive them crazy with because we ask them to do it a hundred different ways. And so we just we have, we have some great folks that we work with, now you keep saying we yeah, I don't drive my administrative folks crazy you're right.
Speaker 4:I know that's what they've told you and you know what you need to believe what they tell you. When they tell you this, I'm going to, if not, then I have to scream when their eye kind of twitches like that or they're rubbing their eyebrows. I want you to just know that's a sign.
Speaker 1:They regularly practice scream day.
Speaker 2:That's exactly right Per LB.
Speaker 1:Per LB.
Speaker 2:No, I'm excited. You know, in the next couple of weeks we'll have our newest executive assistant on. I cannot wait to share that, but I am so proud. On. I cannot wait to share that, but I am so proud. We've had Kim Turley as my executive assistant and she has been remarkable from her friendship, her professionalism, her loyalty, through a lot of storms the past two years that I've been the executive director and I am so grateful for her. But she is switching positions here at TRM We'll talk more about that later and so I'm proud of her and am super excited to be able to work alongside Miranda Molinar We'll have her on in a couple of weeks as my new executive assistant. So we've all kind of been in transition.
Speaker 4:Sure, and with Miranda that's going to be a problem. Miranda LaManda, oh, that's going to be a problem. That opened up a position at the distribution center, and so we were able to move a current employee into that position.
Speaker 2:And she's rocking it Exactly Hope. She's been with us for a couple of years and her heart and her organizational skills are just incredible over at the DC. So we've got a lot of movement happening. We've got a lot of transition. We're going to talk about one of those transitions today, or a couple of them, I guess, but we still have some open positions.
Speaker 4:We actually have positions open in almost every area right now. We have receptionist positions open and trauma positions open and positions open in the kitchen and a driver position at the DC and just all kinds of things. So if people are interested in coming and finding out more about TRM and the work we do here and being a part of that, they need to just go to our website at trmonlineorg trmonlineorg and click on our jobs and take a look at what we have going on.
Speaker 2:Yes, and so, you know, it's just incredible to see the mixture we have here at the Topeka Rescue Mission, you know, from just different walks of life and different denominations, some of the different beliefs, but the thing that we all just feel called to do is the two commandments to love the Lord and love his people. And so what I love is just how there's just a lot of things that don't matter here. We don't argue and bicker over really stuff that this side of eternity doesn't matter, Because we are. We we're not perfect, but we are so focused on trying to love the God who created us and and to give him glory every day and to love one another, because that's what he does best.
Speaker 2:So, um, well, moving right along, talking about people who love, well is someone that I just like a little bit. I don't even know if I love him, I mean just a little, but we have Mr Holton Whitman on with us today. Many of you have heard from Holton in a variety of ways, from him being on our street outreach team to then transitioning to the director of distribution services. Um, he has been the one, along with his incredible team, who has led everything from the warehouse sales to the back to school um giveaways to Christmas time, and, and and and so um. I loved being able to gently toss Holton gently right leadership.
Speaker 2:For some reason he thinks I just threw him into it.
Speaker 4:I don't know.
Speaker 2:But he's done well. So you've seen him on the news a lot because he does interviews without me. He's just been incredible. But there is some change and transition happening your way, and so we want to just kind of talk a little bit about that, because so many people have grown to love you and respect you and I want that support for you to continue. And then I want to very excitedly talk about our newest friend that has joined us. So talk about what's going on in your world, holton.
Speaker 5:Oh man, what's not going on in my world, right?
Speaker 2:now.
Speaker 5:That's true. So probably the biggest thing that's happened in my world is that in June of this past year, my wife and I welcomed our little girl, claire Grace, into the world. And when they say that kids will flip your world upside down, boy, were they not lying? We'll flip your world upside down, boy, were they not lying. And so she has just been such a huge blessing in our lives, and just to be able to watch Abby turn into a mom and me getting to experience you know what being a dad is like, it's just been so sweet, and it's also brought some challenges, because a lot of people probably don't know this, but Abby and I actually live an hour south of town, so it is an hour commute for me to come into work every day.
Speaker 5:One way, one way, and so, you know, I was able to do a paternity leave and spend some time with her early on and as she has grown, there's just been some challenges because when I am leaving in the morning she's not awake, and then I come and put in a full day here and by the time I get home, you know, I'm lucky if I get to see her for 45 minutes, you know, before she's down for the night. And you know my wife is doing full-time, you know, caretaking while still working a full-time job. And it just kind of became clear that this was maybe not sustainable. And I didn't know what that looked like, sure, but about six months. So, yeah, six, eight months ago, the Lord kind of laid it on my heart hey, there's going to be a change for you guys. And I didn't know what that looked like. You know, anytime the Lord says, hey, there's something I want you to start preparing for.
Speaker 4:It's like okay, what does that look like? Moving?
Speaker 5:That look like you know changing jobs. You know who knows? Because the one thing I can always say about following the Lord is it's an adventure.
Speaker 5:And it's an exciting adventure because you, just if you've got your life with open hands, he can call you and ask you to do whatever you want and you'd be foolish not to do it, because he really truly does know what's best. Yeah, and it's good. His plans are good for us. But what I was not thrilled to find out later on was that that probably looked like me leaving the Topeka Rescue Mission, which has been this transition time, has been one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do, because I love this place dearly and it's not lost on me what a privilege it is to work here and to have been a part of. You know what we're about here. You know reaching the lost.
Speaker 2:So why do you think that it is so hard for you to leave? What? What about it? Cause, let let's just be real, the days are long. It is filled with a lot of opportunities, of stress. Um, there's a lot of times where you are dancing the dance of do I have faith that God's going to provide, or do we need to act on this? Um, there is homelessness has become political. Um, the demands really, we we probably should be running the DC with I mean, in a dream world 15 to 20 people, when we look at all the production that goes on there, and we do it with seven. So none of that really sounds glamorous. And yet, holton, I have seen you and I'm laughing now, just so that neither one of us cry because we've cried so much yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, I put makeup on today so I'm going to try to keep it on, but yet I have seen you truly hurt to leave. That it is truly been a tug of war with you where you are so trusting the Lord and you know what he's called you to do and you are so anticipating that. But I have seen you like truly mourn, as if this is a loss, that, but I have seen you like truly mourn as if this is a loss. And so just talk to me with with how things can be that stressful and that demanding, not lavish, yet it's so hard for you to leave.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it it a hundred percent has been a grieving process, and I think it's because when you're in a place where you get to see the Lord show up and work daily, it's hard to think about not being in that place.
Speaker 5:And TRM has been just so favored by the Lord and the work that we do here that it's a wrestling match to realize okay, well, I'm being called away from that to do something awesome and be a dad full time and those kinds of things which I love and I'm excited about. But it's a loss, you know. And I think the other thing for me too, is that I just I have such a heart. You know, the Lord has blessed me with a heart for lost people and we work with lots of lost people, and so being able to be in the thick of it every day and it's not always glamorous, right, it's hard, it's dirty, sometimes it's stinky, sometimes it's extremely stressful, but the fruits of what come out of that are so sweet and so good that it's it's. Yeah, it's definitely been a grieving process knowing that I'm going to be stepping away from that.
Speaker 2:So you know, for any listener that might be listening and kind of struggling with who God is, you know, if you think about it to really we say, well, slaying giants and we've got bushes that are talking and all of this right. But I love how you just said the hardest part is you leaving what the Lord is here doing every day. Talk to me about who is the Lord to you and how do we make the connection from all of those kind of wild biblical stories to you saying that same God that did all of that is the same God who you just said is doing things daily here. So you're telling me that you feel like the Lord does stuff at the Topeka Rescue Mission, the distribution center, every single day in Topeka, kansas, yep, yep. So talk to me about how and help the listener to connect that right.
Speaker 5:So you asked who the Lord is to me.
Speaker 5:You know, Jesus gives a parable about the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep that he has in his field that are perfectly fine and perfectly healthy to find the one that has wandered off, and I can tell you that I have experienced that first hand in my life.
Speaker 5:The Lord has, um had literally moved heaven and earth and in some ways, uh, reorchestrated um people's plans and all kinds of things to reach me when I was lost.
Speaker 5:And and so when you realize that you have a God who loves you that much, who will inconvenience other people's lives to get your attention, who will, you know, just go, put on these massive displays of affection for you, even when you're not looking for it, and and then he gets your heart, and then you get to experience that parable in real life. It's like oh, okay. And then, and then to flip that, it's like, okay, well, I can be in a place working where that same display of affection is constantly being poured out, where things are being shifted and people are being inconvenienced and we go above and beyond to do things that seem kind of wild to reach that one lost person who's out there away from the flock, and so when you get to experience that and then turn around and be in a place where you can be on the other side of that, you know, just to see what the Lord will do is just remarkable. I don't know if that fully answers your question.
Speaker 2:It does, so you've been the 99.
Speaker 5:Yep.
Speaker 2:And you've been the one. Uh-huh, when you were the one, were you pretty cute and lovable and just so deserving of everything.
Speaker 5:I was a hot mess who drank myself silly every night for several years straight. Yeah, now was I able to hold down a job and maintain some appearance of things being normal Sure, but I was a broken mess. I was a broken mess on the inside.
Speaker 2:So a broken mess. I was a broken mess on the inside, so a broken mess. So talk to me about what. What if people would have just been like if they would have known? First of all, some, we can hide better than others, right, but if they would have known that and you might hear some of this today too, where they're like he's bringing that on himself, he's got his own consequences, he's made his bed, he can lay in it. What are your thoughts about that when you were the one? Some of it was true.
Speaker 5:Some of it was I was making my bed and I was laying in it and at the same time, I had a God who was not content with leaving me there, who loved me exactly where I was, in the middle of my abusive alcohol and slowly decaying relationships and all of those things. He loved me there, but he loved me way too much to leave me there.
Speaker 2:So did you have to get yourself better before you could go to God? Mm-mm, why?
Speaker 5:Because I can't, I couldn't, there's no way I could. Hey, just to let you know, because I can't, I couldn't, there's, there's no way I could hey, I mean, I just to let you know I can't either, right?
Speaker 5:well, we can relate. Yeah, it's a human condition. I mean, we do we? I, in that, in those that dark season of my life, knew I was a mess and I knew that I wanted to change and I knew I wasn't happy, you know with where I was at. But then every evening would roll around and I would just do the same thing again because it's what I had become accustomed to, it's what I knew. And you know, then I wake up in the morning disappointed with myself, like, why am I? You know, why am I doing this?
Speaker 5:And it wasn't until God finally got my attention and he said son, what are you doing? You know better than this and I've seen you through all of it and I'm, I'm gonna pull you out of the muck and the mire if you'll just let me. And so he did. And it wasn't it. What didn't happen overnight? I, you know, I wish I could tell you like, and it was in that moment that I just became clean as snow and everything was fine and everything. No, it was a process. God took me back through all of those missteps along the way that got me to that pit. Yeah, and he worked with me through all of those and it was kind of messy.
Speaker 5:Actually, it was really messy at times and uncomfortable and you know I had to bring stuff up that I had been hiding from you know, and he walked with me through all of it yeah.
Speaker 5:And loved me through all of it and cared for my soul through all of it. Mm-hmm, and I'll okay, I'm going to try to tell the story without losing my ever-loving yeah, I don't know if I can do it. Uh-huh, this is going to seem crazy, but this was the moment when I realized, okay, all right, yeah, this is, this is the God that I hear about in the scripture. So we, um, you know, god had gotten our attention. I was like, okay, what do I know? I'm like, okay, I need to go back to church. So I started going back to church and this kind of thing.
Speaker 5:And there was these. It was during COVID, so there was these Thursday night services, you know, cause they were trying to socially distance and all this stuff. And so we got connected in church and got back in a small group and, you know, and things were getting better. You know, things were getting better and fast forward like six, eight months, and a dear friend of ours, who we were in a small group with, pulled me aside after a service, randomly said, hey, can I talk to you for a second? And I was like sure, what's up? And he said the Lord, during worship, just really laid something on my heart that I want to share with you. And I said okay, and he said you know those Thursday services that the church did those extra Thursday services.
Speaker 5:God did those just for you. And it broke me because when I realized all of the people's schedules who had gotten moved around and all of the special things that had to happen just for that and I had a hard time believing it at first I'm like no, no, no. Well, maybe it was for me, but you know it was for also these other people who schedules didn't work out to come on a Sunday. And this guy's name is Danny. He's like no, like I'm here to tell you it was just for you. I start sobbing.
Speaker 5:I just started sobbing because I realized, oh, that's the kind of God that I have. And so that was at that moment that I realized, okay, if there was all of these other people who belong to the body of Christ, who are willing to say yes, to do that thing on Thursday, just to win my heart back to the Lord, well then I need to be that person for other people, and so it's. I need to be willing to inconvenience myself, to die to myself, to serve, to put myself in a position where those that are lost and who don't even know that they're looking for God yet, can be in a place to have a relational connection with somebody you know, because the Lord loves him, he's crazy about him, and that's just the God we serve. I didn't cry, I don't know how I didn't.
Speaker 2:I'm impressed I was even looking off so I wouldn't make eye contact with you that I'm looking this way. No, holton, there is just so many things that I adore about you and Abby, and I think one of the biggest things is that you both try so hard to take anything that is not beautiful and show how God has turned it, and I just think that that is incredible, and I think that's why you have been extremely successful here, and when I define successful, I mean trustworthy and loyal and someone that people want to go to, even if it's through you giving correction or things like that. Not everything is always peachy, but you do it in such a way that is full of grace and understanding and kindness, and I think that that is such a blessing here at the Rescue Mission and we are thankful for all that you have done. I personally have had some of the best moments with you. I've had some of the most stressful moments with you and I have loved doing it all. It has truly been an honor to see what all you've brought to the team, how you've grown. I appreciate your authenticity. I appreciate every time you have challenged me and a decision I made and you were right probably 99.9% of those. Maybe a percent I was. But no, you are a blessing and we are forever grateful for what all you've done. And I would be lying if I didn't you know secretly say or tell everybody that secretly I'm going to God saying and now you're going to bring him back around somehow, right and Abby, and then maybe by that time clear grace can work and we'll hire her too, right? But no, you're incredible and we're grateful for that. But no, you're incredible and we're grateful for that.
Speaker 2:You know, I've kind of been in a similar situation as to our next guest and I want to make it really clear that we start off talking about you, holton, and just what God has done through you and your love for the Lord, and why you've done what you've done so well. You've done what you've done so well, but now that you are stepping away, it's not time for someone to be the new Holt. And I remember when I was transitioning you know, just two days ago it was two years that I've been the executive director. Thank you to everyone who helped me survive I mean thrive for two years. Two years, um, our team is incredible, um, but one of the most powerful things that anyone ever said to me was uh, barry and I were discussing just concerns I had and um things that I was worried about, and he looked at me in his office one day and he said, lamanda, the Lord is not calling you to be Barry 2.0. He doesn't need Barry anymore. He didn't need me to begin with, but he chose me to use me, and now he's telling me to move aside so that you can lead TRM as Lamanda and you bring your giftings and your challenges and your journey to the team. Because now it's this.
Speaker 2:And so, as we welcome Mr Andrew Lucas, our new director of distribution services, I want to start off by making that really clear to you. Andrew, you know I think we've said that, but I really want to emphasize we love that God has called you here for such a time as this. And are there attributes that I need to hold? Like Barry did right and characteristics? Absolutely. But just like I didn't need to be Barry 2.0, you don't need to be Holton 2.0. If God still needed Holton to lead the distribution center, he would have kept him here and he hasn't. And so we want to welcome you on our community, our mission, this morning, but we also want to make sure that you continue to feel a warm welcome to the TRM family, without the pressures of being whoever was before you, because God's going to work through you. So, andrew, welcome. Well, thank you, yes, we welcome.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yes, we're glad to have you on here. I do want to dive in in just a moment of just how incredible this transition has been and how much I appreciate both of your hearts and your position on that. But before we do that, Andrew, just tell us a little bit about kind of your background and maybe just kind of your journey to the Rescue Mission.
Speaker 3:Well, sure, First I want to thank Holton for all of his time, his mentorship.
Speaker 3:I'm glad to hear that I'm not expected to be Holton 2.0, because I don't know that anybody can be Holton 2.0. Correct, first of all I lack the facial hair. But secondly, when you step into the DC you can immediately sense the culture that he has developed there, one of redemption, one of grace, one of pastoral leadership that he has, you know. And so as we're transitioning, we see certainly that, you know, the staff is grieving through that, you know, and they're also excited, they're nervous everything that would go with the transition. And so Holton has certainly made an impact here that I think will be an exciting transition to be a part of. Thanks, andrew. I certainly think that he was here for the right time and certainly was the right person in that position. So my background has been for roughly 25 years. I was in the ministry, preaching, trained for that, enjoyed that. That's where my heart was and through various circumstances God brought a broken of years really, and needing to find God in a very tangible way. He's always.
Speaker 3:I thrive on the academic, and so there's a 12-inch separation many times, from my head to my heart, of where I know who God is. I can write you a paper on who God is but being able to experience that and live that and feel that from staff, from the guests and just the environment that we have is, I think, something that's going to be therapeutic therapeutic for me and having some kind of tangible sense. We talk about it in church a lot, but doing it is certainly going to be different.
Speaker 2:So what do you feel like we talk about versus doing? I think we talk about feeding hungry people.
Speaker 3:We talk about sacrificial giving how they love.
Speaker 3:We talk about needing to be Jesus to others, but do we really Do? We do that, and I've been around a lot of churches, I've been around a lot of Christians, and sure we see that sometimes. But to see a culture where that is what we do, that we are, as Holtens, famous for saying, radically generous and sacrificially loving, and those kind of things. Churches are really good at giving money, maybe donations, but to physically be there, handing or sorting or interacting with those who need to see Jesus from you can certainly be an eye-opening experience, one that I'm experiencing. I think I will be for some time the, you know, to a culture that I've not been exposed to before, and so this is certainly, I think, an educational experience. This will be a therapeutic experience for me.
Speaker 3:I'm just starting to understand really what is expected in the position that I'm taking, and that will take some time to learn because there's a lot to it and that will take some time to learn because there's a lot to it, but getting to really feel that and be a part of that is a journey that I think is essential to mature Christian development.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I told you before I think this is going to be a very act of spiritual discipline on my part that I've been lacking. And you know, andrew, I just one of the things that I love about you is just your honesty. I think sometimes we can be vulnerable with our brokenness, in regards to that brokenness being an addiction or a bad choice or whatever the case may be. But I'm not sure we would be as open to talk about how the actions of knowing who Christ is is sometimes very different than what we just talk about, and so I have loved that about you that you can say, hey, I know a lot about the Lord Biblically, I am sound, these kinds of things but I have seen our God be a whole different level of God by the actions of the rescue mission. And I'm just excited I told you that the other day to see not only what you bring to TRM but what God is going to do in your life. You know, as the executive director, I have to look at everything as the whole, and, yes, I want the ministry taken care of, but I don't want that above the individual needs of everyone that makes up TRM Right, and so I'm so excited to see what growth you're going to have and and all of that because you're already bringing great skill sets to the team. Um, but to know that you're on such an intimate journey with who the Lord is is exciting to me, because we've all been here for a little bit now and we're like, oh, he's going to get the love bug that we all get. You know, we all get it. Um, but talk to me a little bit.
Speaker 2:There might be listeners here that just feel like maybe they are so far gone. Or there might be listeners listening who really kind of feel like they don't have any blemishes. So the correlation that I want you to kind of discuss is you can't you still said a broken person has been brought to TRM, but your brokenness isn't the alcoholism like Holton was talking about. It's not a very diverse background with lots of trauma and things like that. You were very scholarly and you said that, but you would still consider yourself a broken being. So can you talk about why you feel like you need the Lord and why do you feel like you're understanding how, despite the scholarliness, despite all of the pastoral knowledge that you have, that you still have a lot to learn?
Speaker 3:Will you ever stop learning? I mean, you can never. It's a journey. We call Christian walk a journey, never a place. You arrive, and so you're absolutely going to always need to grow, and if you feel like you've arrived, you're doing it wrong.
Speaker 3:And so, as we do ministry and as we work with others, we find ourselves learning about a God who is vast. Let me get academic a little bit fast. Let me get academic a little bit, just trying to understand God as an act of idolatry, because we're going to conceptualize him in our own mind and make him out of human traits. And then he shows up in a way that we don't ask or imagine and we go oh, you know, we see a life changed that we wouldn't expect to be changed.
Speaker 3:So, you know, I think a challenge would be come and work with my team when you see people who have come out of a life of homelessness or addiction or whatever their background is, and they find housing and they find a marriage, they find a career, they find things that are going on and they're excited, and you see Jesus working through them and you go wow, I'm jealous of somebody and their excitement and their newness and everything that's going on, because you know, I've been a Christian for 30, 40 years. So it's, you know. You get to experience all levels of maturity, you get to see and work with people with different gifts and you go. Man, I don't know much at all. There was a saying they told me in seminary. They said you know, the more you know, the more you know. You don't know, you know. And so as you get further in your journey, you go wow, I didn't know nearly as much as I thought I did.
Speaker 3:I thought I knew it Right. You know, and I wrote this paper, I took this class, or I preached this message and, oh wait, I forgot about that.
Speaker 3:And there's more here and then God shows up in a way that you just didn't even know he existed. Yeah, and you see things happen in the DC and I've heard you know I want to been here a little while, but you hear stories of God showing up unprompted and showing you know I need you to go this way, or here's a need I didn't, you didn't know you had, and here it is and you discover just how much God blesses that. You discover just how much God blesses that and you can see that by the multiplication that we have in the ministry Once something comes in and we have a record of reproducing that over and over again and seeing lives changed and seeing people fed and people loved in various ways, and just you know, you can just see that in a five minute conversation.
Speaker 2:Yes, you know, in a way, it's beautiful. And then it happens every day. Yeah, every day. Talk a, you know it's beautiful, and then it happens every day. Every day, um talk a little bit. Andrew and Holton, both of y'all can kind of tag team this one. But what was the transition? Was it just you said peace out, I'm out, and Andrew's like I'm here? Nope, not quite Okay. Um did Andrew say you're the lame duck, get out? And you said here's all the stuff you're responsible for. Don't call me, not so much.
Speaker 5:Not so much.
Speaker 2:So talk to me about the transition guys. Yeah, so the transition started with me weeping uncontrollably in LaManda's office trying to get out the words that hey, I think I'm going to leave, and that that that might have some trauma from that.
Speaker 5:Yeah, me too. And that happened, let's see from that. Yeah, me too. And that happened, let's see that happened in January. So this has been an ongoing process for several reasons. One, it's complicated, like the role, the job is. It's a lot, there's a lot of moving pieces, our staff does each one of them does the work of about two people, and so there's just a lot of things to learn about. You know how the opera, how things operate and things like that. But there was also just this you know, when I transitioned in, I didn't get a lot of training. I didn't get, there wasn't a lot of resources for me and it was hard, you know, and there was a lot of.
Speaker 2:And let's just say that was because I didn't know what in the world I was doing. So we all learned together. I survived, asked Miriam a lot of questions.
Speaker 5:I survived and, luckily, mike Schottel was great, you know he, he walked me through that He'd been there for four or five years, and so, and, and Andrew, I'll just take a little aside here and say I've been doing this for two years now and you'll still learn new things every day. Yeah, so, like, don't worry about learning new things, it'll happen, you know, and it's good and it's beautiful. But, um, but yeah, and so there was this process of okay, we need to make sure that we're being thorough about this, because one the ministry is too important not to you know like the people that it's not just okay.
Speaker 5:It would be helpful for Andrew, you know, that's good, um, it's's. There's real people who depend on us, you know, and so we need to make sure that food distribution is happening, um, the way it's supposed to. We need to make sure that our completions of program are going the way that they're supposed to, so our guests who have worked so hard to get into housing are getting the furniture and the hygiene items and the things like that that they need. So there's it's not just a transition between andrew and I, it's a transition for the community that we serve and they just they may not even know it, but they'll know it if it doesn't go well, right, and so that's some of the level there. But Andrew has been really great because he could have said all right, thanks, you stuck around long enough, let's see you later. And he didn't do that, you know, and so I'll let you kind of give your kind of thoughts on.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, when I first came on, I had the exposure of the interview and then the acceptance, coming on and realizing what did I get into?
Speaker 2:Talk about the interview, Andrew.
Speaker 3:Well, the interview was fun to begin with. Holton and I, you know, I think, have developed a friendship over the last month and that started, you know, the day of the interview. And I, you know, I realized that I've been kind of being positioned maybe for this job and in certain jobs that I didn't really want to have at the time but kind of qualified me for this. So we're in the interview and I felt like it was going well, doing good, and you know, the audience may not know that I've met you outside.
Speaker 3:And LaManda comes in and I thought, oh good a friend, and here come the hard questions. And I was kind of taken back and mumbled through her answers and she graciously didn't nix the interview at the moment but having and I think Holton kind of sat back and laughed.
Speaker 2:He's like we've all been through LB.
Speaker 3:So if you've never been interviewed by LaManda Brooks, I think twice. But no, it was great and I left feeling good. I left feeling overwhelmed, but privileged, you know, and when the offer came I was, I didn't hesitate to take that. And then they started talking about Christmas. And then they started talking about Christmas. How much that involves. So we'll determine yet how the transition goes, but this transition would not have happened not only with Holton but with our team at the DC. They have been exceptionally gracious. They've been training their boss, and that's never a fun proposition. They're going through the transition, with Miranda coming out, hope coming in, so there's multiple things going on and you know so nothing's been smooth. I'm asking questions that they've known the answers to and that's great. They have ran the DC as I'm training and they have just done a phenomenal job over there.
Speaker 3:So their success, yes, is partly due to Holton, but it's really due to the team. They've done so much over there, and so I couldn't be blessed with a better team to come in with. So, yeah, the transition is going to go on, because if Holton doesn't think I'm going to call him every day, he's got something else coming.
Speaker 2:That's right, you know. I just I appreciate both of you. It has been quite the little journey you know to we interviewed a lot of people before we interviewed Andrew and to just trust the Lord with the process, because you know we had a lot of applicants and things like that and we appreciate everybody that applied. But it's one of those things that you would rather wait and really get the person that God needs for that position in that moment. And it's so cool how sometimes something might not work for someone and then a couple of months later it'll work for them in another position, in another department, that kind of thing. And so, um Holton, I've enjoyed uh doing uh me, you and Miriam tag team some of the interview process.
Speaker 2:Um, thank you for having such a heart. That was focused on I hate this phrase, but doing it right. Um, you have I'm not sure what you have given God glory more for your time here or how you've left Um cause that is a game changer for some, and I have seen you be still so loyal and dedicated to the Lord and his ministry and his people, regardless if that's the staff, the volunteers, the unsheltered neighbors. Um, whatever the case may be, um, and so I I thank you for that and for just the man that you have been a man of wisdom, um, a man of a kind heart, um, but, most importantly, a man who is willing to do what's best for his wife and his beautiful daughter, um, over anything else, and I know God's going to honor that.
Speaker 2:Andrew, I appreciate your willingness. Um, you have been a go-getter since you've come um, but not demanding, not anything like that. You have just really taken the reins and wanting to continue doing whatever God is doing, and I know that as long as you continue to do that, it's going to be beautiful, and so we're excited to have you, holton. It's a loss, but I'm not going to count it as a loss. I'm just going to count it, as I now have someone that I love deeply that's no longer going to be employed at TRM, but is still a part of TRM, right? So, miriam, I also want to thank you, because we had quite a few transitions all occurring at the same time, and so if only we would have known that there was a scream day.
Speaker 4:It could have taken the pressure off completely.
Speaker 2:That's right. But no, miriam, I thank you because it does not matter if it is stuff that's on the mountaintops or the valleys. I know that I can count on you to be a friend, a prayer warrior, um to do late nights with me, early mornings, weekends, as we are processing all of the applications and doing, and so thank you for all that you do through transitions as well. So you've heard it. You've heard that we don't come to TRM because we're perfect people. You've also heard that there's no getting cleaner or getting better before the Lord. The only way that we can, whether it's through brokenness or sin or hurt, it's through Christ, and once we have given it to him, then it's a journey, and it's a step by step journey.
Speaker 2:So I don't know where you're at.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you're someone who has always been in church and scholarly knows who the Lord is, but just feel him nudging to say know me in a different way.
Speaker 2:Know me as a father, know me as a provider, Know me as a healer, know me as the Jesus who was always in the midst of the people that no one else wanted to be.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you're in the midst of brokenness right now, dealing with alcoholism, dealing with divorce, dealing with addiction Just remember those things do not define you either, because before any of this and before any of us are even broken even though we all are we have been made in his image, and so remember that your identity today, regardless of your age, regardless of your demographics, regardless of sin, regardless of brokenness, you are a daughter or a son of a king, and the king is amazing, but he's also a father who loves you dearly. So we are excited for the changes that continually come our way at the rescue mission, through transitions and through God's transformations, and we look forward to seeing what he's going to continue to do for the next 71 years. As we are celebrating that this month. You are loved. You are loved, you are valued. And remember, even if you are broken, god knew that when he made you and he is ready to redeem you. Thank you for listening to our community, our mission.