Our Community, Our Mission
Our Community, Our Mission
Ep #241 – Uniting Through Worship: Reflections on Night of Praise
Join us in this episode as we sit down with Bill Horn, Worship Ministry Lead at Fellowship Bible Church, and Josh Turley, Director of Strategic Development, to dive into the incredible experience of our recent Night of Praise! Get a behind-the-scenes look at the passion and effort that went into bringing the event to life, discover the deeper purpose that inspired it, and hear our hopes for how it impacted everyone who attended.
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Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this day and your blessings. God, your continual provision over our lives. God, we thank you, Lord, as we take this time to just reflect on God, the work that you're doing here at the mission, and for our most recent event. And, Lord, we just give you praise for all of it. Lord, thank you for this time and pray that the listeners that hear it today would be blessed and encouraged. Father, In your holy name, we pray Amen.
Speaker 3:Hello everyone. This is Lamanda Broyles, the Executive Director here at the Topeka Rescue Mission, and we want to welcome you today to Our Community, our Mission. This Thursday, october 3rd we are in October. I think everybody kind of loves the month of October. This is also episode 241.
Speaker 3:We are always so excited to be able to talk about that. The reason that's so exciting is that means it's 241 episodes where we have talked about exciting things in our community. We have talked about tough things in our community. We have talked about encouraging things in our community, controversial things in our community, and when those discussions happen, that means it steps towards unity, it's step towards understanding, steps towards sometimes approaches or taking action, and so if this is your first time listening, we encourage you to possibly subscribe and listen to this podcast. There is a variety of topics you can listen to and we welcome you If you are a loyal follower. We have some of you that. Let us know you listen week after week and have done so for 241 episodes. Let us know you listen week after week and have done so for 241 episodes. So welcome today. I think you will be pleasantly excited about today's topic too. We are unpacking Night of Praise. Miriam Crable, how are you? I?
Speaker 4:am wonderful. Yes, I am wonderful. It's fall, it's almost fall. The weather doesn't feel exactly like fall, but I am ready.
Speaker 3:I'm ready for fall I think that's the one downfall is. We're all so excited it's October and then we see we've got a couple of days where it's still 90 degrees.
Speaker 4:We're like that's not supposed to go, it's going to get there, and then we'll be worrying about warming centers. We should just enjoy while we can not having to think about that.
Speaker 3:You know, before we jump into night of praise, um, and there is one, there's just so much to praise the Lord about, um, even in the midst of sometimes chaos and heartache and uncertainties and things like that. Um, let's talk about warming centers real quick, because we're being asked about that Um, so our team to to just kind of give a little explanation real quick the past couple of years we've done a warming center for our unsheltered neighbors who are on the streets. Talk a little bit, miriam, about why we do a warming center.
Speaker 4:Well, we do it because the temperatures are dramatically dangerous for people who are living outside, and so we need to be able to provide them with at least temporary shelter in a warehouse, honestly, you know, just to make sure that they're safe and that we don't lose people to the inclement weather. And we're talking about extremes, you know. We're talking about polar vortex kind of cold, where people really won't survive if they're out there on their own, or the likelihood is they'll end up with extreme frostbite or loose fingers, loose. Get it habitable in a way that it's definitely not plush, but it does keep people warm and fed and safe from the elements. So it's, it's a big undertaking, and I think it feels even bigger though, because it's just it happens so quickly, because it's like most of the time we don't have a whole big bunch of warning Right.
Speaker 4:That it's going to drop below 23 degrees or something like that and have the precipitation and the wind chills and and right. So it happens very quickly, but it's kind of amazing how it comes together and how thankful people are, yes and how thankful we are for all the other organizations that assist us, as well as all the volunteers, because it's a 24 hour operation, in addition to the two shelters that we're running every single day of the year.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you know, as we talk about October and we're going to dive into Night of Praise and it being our fundraiser and it being a heart to bring glory to the Lord but also unity in our community, I wanted to highlight one of the reasons we do this is for additional things, like the warming center that comes up. We've already had three or four planning meetings internally. We are about to send out a couple of surveys to our incredible partners that open up their own warming centers, such as Scent over in Highcrest. Richard Martinez had a couple of churches that he worked with. We were incredibly thankful. We had Vallejo that opened up their crisis center. We had United Way of Kaw Valley helping us. I mean, it was just a group effort very much like Night of Praise that we're going to talk about in a minute. But also, Miriam, in addition to having these conversations starting in really July about warming centers, since May we've been talking about a certain holiday, or actually two holidays. What also have we been?
Speaker 4:talking about.
Speaker 4:Well, you know, thanksgiving and Christmas are coming too, and those are really important and big events in our year long kind of activities, because there's so many people that we want to make sure are blessed during the holidays.
Speaker 4:So providing them with the food that they need so that they can have a very joyful Thanksgiving, and then, working in conjunction with United Way of Caw Valley, adopting families for Christmas as well, so that people have a time to celebrate that holiday too, without all of the stress that they might have if they can't provide for their children or anything like that. And it's just Christmas in particular is just such a special time in terms of how thankful people are and what we get to see and how humbling it is in terms of what folks ask for for Christmas. You know, when we think about Christmas, I think very often we think about those things that we wouldn't buy for ourselves normally, right? We certainly don't think about buckets and cleaning supplies or underwear or all of those things that are just normal everyday things that most of us will just go to the store and buy. And people are asking for us for that, um, for Christmas. And so it's. It's a very humbling time and a very joyful time to be able to bless people.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, and you know it's one of those things that at the rescue mission I wanted to go ahead and announce today. We're going to really um walk out in faith this year. So, um, in the years past we have, either throughout the month of November and December, or sometimes just December, um kind of paused, accepting, uh, donations of like clothing and things like that that weren't new. So we kind of put a pause on some of that so that we could focus on really everything we only needed for Christmas. We also did that where we would go from a two day food pantry distribution on Tuesdays and Thursdays to a one day day, because I will tell you just what God asks us to do for Christmas is a full time, almost business, right In the operation standpoint. This year we're going to just step out in faith.
Speaker 3:The team really felt conflicted, not accepting other donations but also lessening the food drive because of the load, because we see the need is so great and so I don't know what that's going to look like. But we're trusting the Lord with two things we're trusting that the Lord is going to provide enough food to do everything we need for 250 plus guests a night. We're going to trust the Lord to provide for 200 plus households a week for the community food distribution. We're going to trust the Lord to provide Thanksgiving and Christmas foods for possibly a thousand plus households. There's just a lot, and so we're going to trust the Lord with that. We're also going to trust that we get the clothing donations to continue to clothe and stock the clothing trailer for the unsheltered neighbors, for our shelter guests, and to provide for people in need through the Christmas Bureau, and I'm also entrusting our staff with the Lord that we're going to take care of them like our first flock to ensure protection from compassion, fatigue, burnout, those kinds of things, illness, so, and our volunteers and the donors and the leadership, all of that.
Speaker 3:And so if you were listening and you are just a prayer warrior or maybe you're someone that's like I can't do any of that we would welcome your prayers. We would welcome you to hand write a note to our team. We make sure that anytime we get something like that we blast it out. So the team is encouraged. But this year I did want to announce we will be accepting everything as normal through the DC and we are not going to lessen to one food day. Usually we do a Tuesday or Thursday instead of both. This year we're going to continue DC operations as much as possible, in addition to taking on Christmas, and we're going to trust that, as we remember our Savior's birth, that he's going to continue to provide for the people that he loves.
Speaker 4:Absolutely, and there will be lots of ways for people to help us. Yes, you know, even by volunteering. Yes, volunteers are just such a critical piece of Christmas and Thanksgiving, both because we need extra hands, yes, and so people will be able to experience this joyful time with us as well.
Speaker 3:Yes, so, as we talk about it, the thing that keeps coming to mind is just the cliche thing, but it takes a village and it does.
Speaker 3:Another event that we just completed for year two is Night of Praise, and so we, miriam and I, are joined here with Bill Horn Superman, which I know he does not want to be called that, because he was just talking about being what was it at the shadow and the darkness in the back who love the Lord but have talents and giftings that are literally out of this world, from administrative sides to seeing the planning piece, to their own personal gifts too, and so they were instrumental in both years of Night of Praise, from coordinating to being prayer warriors, vision casting for this, all of that, and so I am so excited to have them on.
Speaker 3:Before we dive into that, I do want to thank all of our sponsors who made the night possible, but a very special thank you to our platinum sponsors, which was Dr Tagg Center for Nutrition and Preventative Medicine, which was Dr Tagg Center for Nutrition and Preventative Medicine. We are so appreciative of the ongoing support from that group. We are also thankful for Fueling Hope, mr Marvin Spies and the Topeka Community Foundation, in which we had an anonymous donor go through that to give to us, and so again a big thank you to the Platinum sponsors, Dr Tagg's office, fueling Hope and the Topeka Community Foundation. So as we dive in, bill, let's hear from you first. Just kind of walk us through what do you do for Fellowship Bible Church, and how in the world did you become an honorary employee, basically, of the Topeka Rescue Mission now on top of all your other duties?
Speaker 2:So I serve as basically the worship pastor at Fellowship Bible Church and one of the board members, greg Armbruster, is one of our elders and so he kind of brought this idea. I'm just going to someone had floated it to him. He's like what would you think about this? And kind of came in my office, sat down and we talked for a little bit. I was like, yeah, we could, we could pull something like that off and I let him know what the challenges would be, you know if trying to do something like this and kind of what it might look like, and you know what would be the hurdles we'd have to climb over to make it happen. But yeah, so from there then we just started coordinating. We kind of just had a feeling it out, kind of meeting, just kind of like let's just kick the tires of this idea.
Speaker 2:See if this is something we could do here at the Children's Palace. From there we kind of hit the ground running that first year, when we had a pretty short runway. I think we did it in two months, I think so.
Speaker 4:I'm not even sure it's that Two months leading up to the first one, it felt like a week. It was very short.
Speaker 2:But you know we had that year we had Topeka Bible Church and Grace Point. Their worship teams joined in as well and jumped in on short notice to get that together and make that happen, and so it's one of the highlights for me of that. You know it's the challenges are trying to coordinate people coming from different environments and trying to work in. You know we've been hosting it at fellowship the last two years, trying to get them familiar and comfortable in our setting, when it's just not what they're normally used to.
Speaker 2:Everybody's got their own kind of setup and situation and technology. They use things like that and so just getting everybody coordinated to kind of acclimate into our environment and coordinate with our tech team to make sure all their lyrics and all that they need are situated. But you know, it's a beautiful thing. We've been talking about Amanda, the unity piece of that. One of my highlights for that evening is, you know, I just get a dinner together for all the worship teams, just sit around the tables and talk together, get to know one another. And so last year, you know, there was still unfamiliarity, even though there was a lot of overlap. A lot of our team members have crossed paths over the years. It's kind of a small community in terms of worship musicians in.
Speaker 2:Topeka, so there's a lot of overlap, but this year was really neat just having Ronnie and River of Life Fellowship join us this year.
Speaker 2:It was a lot of fun to kind of sit down with them and even see some of the connections there that I know about. And Ronnie I wish he could be here today. During dinner Ronnie was just kind of sharing a history of some of the musicians and kind of some of the worship teams of Topeka over the years and Ben, who played with our team and also played for them he's a bass player, a fellowship, and he's been around the block quite a bit, played for a lot of different churches and whatnot. So Ronnie knew him from before and had seen him when he was a kid, you know, kind of growing up.
Speaker 3:That's neat.
Speaker 2:Yeah, playing gospel music and stuff. So it was just really fun to kind of see the history a little bit and hear that from him, because he's just been around for a long time in Topeka.
Speaker 2:As part of that. I'm a transplant here, so it's just neat to kind of be brought up to speed a little bit on some of that history. So anyway, that's, you know I love it. But yeah, I've coordinated a lot of events like this kind of thing. You know this was. This is probably another level, just in terms of what we're trying to accomplish in one night.
Speaker 3:So it's just fun to be able to kind of help put that together. And you know, from the rescue mission side, this was kind of new to us too because, you know, trying to figure out, do we try to start doing an annual fundraiser, do we not? Historically there have been kind of some one offs where groups would do, you know, like some worship times and stuff for us, but saying, okay, are we committing to trying to do something that, yes, is a fundraiser for the rescue mission but is something for the community that they can anticipate, that they can look forward to, they can participate in? And we also have to evaluate on the rescue mission side, if we do a fundraiser, we also want to ensure it's not mission drift. We also want to make sure it's not in confliction with what we're trying to do.
Speaker 3:And so to me, when it was brought like hey, could we do a worship night? It's a no brainer. Brought like hey, could we do a worship night? It's a no brainer. And our focus is bringing God glory, trying to be the church with a bunch of different churches, whether it's people in the audience, you know, that are participating, whether it's the bands on the stage, even just our employees alone.
Speaker 3:We make up numerous denominations, beliefs, cultures, all of that. And so we were like, okay, let's go with this. And so, you know, it's just exciting to see what has unfolded over two years. And then it's also exciting to see and anticipate, like, what is God going to do with this over the next year or two, you know. So I love how you mentioned, you know, like let's kind of kick the tires and let's see. Let's talk about some challenges, because I think there is sometimes this false stigma that because we're all ministries of some sort and we're all Christians, that then everything just means it falls into place and we're all just the nicest people and that we are, except for Mary. No, I'm joking.
Speaker 3:And it's not. I want to bring this. I hate the word normal and so I got to find another way, but I want a normal size. Like we're still people, like we're juggling, we're trying to problem solve.
Speaker 2:Well, everybody's got their normal jobs and things that they're going on with week to week, and so this is an added thing that is kind of being thrown onto all of their plates. And, like I said, you know, being in a different environment, they don't. Other teams from other churches don't necessarily know what the hosting church is going to need. They're not familiar with it. And just schedule-wise, in an ideal world we'd be able to do rehearsals during the week and whatnot beforehand, but there's still stuff happening the rest of the week in our environment. So it's just not. It wasn't super feasible, especially this year. Just, you know, with the schedule, the way it was to try to tear everything down, reset for some rehearsals, then put it back together for our weekend and whatnot. So so just people having to be flexible and having to kind of just demonstrate a lot of trust. We're going to make it work for you guys, and so everybody had such a great attitude.
Speaker 2:You know, river of Life, they've never used like in-ear monitors. So we use kind of an in-ear monitor. We don't have floor wedges with speakers that kind of spit the sound back at the teams, and so they've never used those before in a an environment like this and so it was all learning, yeah. But you know, the attitude that the whole team had was just so cool because they're like we want to get here while we're using this and so we're willing to put up with the inconvenience of trying to figure it out right now and the steep learning curve like they were. They were all in for doing it, you know. So, yeah, um, and I feel like you, we got to a place where it was workable for them. I don't think it was ideal, you know. Uh, just cause it. You know it takes some adjusting. I mean, it took our team a month or two to kind of be okay with it. It was something I made them do. It wasn't something that they were asking for.
Speaker 4:So that was one of the first things I did when I moved to Topeka.
Speaker 2:I'm like here's number one, we're switching to this and they're like, oh no.
Speaker 3:I call that voluntold Voluntold, exactly yes, and so yeah.
Speaker 2:So just, you know the attitude of everybody. You know in communication ahead of time it can feel a little tense, just trying to figure out or kind of trying to pry from the different teams like, ok, we need this, we need this from you, we need this from you to just make sure we can make this happen for you and make it good for you. And they don't always understand why. But then when they get in there like, oh, that's why you needed all of this.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, well, and you know, the beautiful thing is, there is all of this chaos that goes on beforehand, right and even. You know that whole chaos of just oh, there was none.
Speaker 4:I don't know what you're talking about but nobody, nobody who was there that night no no one who was there that night would have thought that there was any of that Right it just it just presents them so smoothly, even if it doesn't happen exactly the way we thought it would. Yeah, it's still to the people that are attending. Was just this marvelous, beautiful experience? Yes, still to the people that are attending. Was just this marvelous, beautiful experience? Yes, and to me that's great. Yes, right, they don't need to know behind the curtain, right, the whole you really don't want them behind the curtain.
Speaker 3:Don't just don't. It's so much, you know, and I would say, um, I love Bill's kind of explanation of, like the logistics from the band side. I mean it's so much, and then you've got three different incredible bands that are still responsible for their home churches, doing those kinds of things. Then you've got at least four to seven band members that still have their own families, maybe schooling, maybe jobs, whatever the case may be. You know, from the rescue mission side, I'm going to talk kind of from just the executive side and then want to touch base with Josh, but I think a challenge that is from my viewpoint is the balance of understanding that this is a fundraiser, mm hmm, and we do need the funds. We are in a time where the needs are increasing and are we still financially stable? Absolutely, I mean, we have a very healthy budget, but is it at a time where donations, both in kind so items, donations both in kind so items, and sometimes the money side of it, are decreasing? Yes, because right now, between inflation, whether it be the cost of groceries, whether it be property taxes, the values going up, everyone's budgets are being impacted right now. And so trusting the Lord financially right now, as the executive director is definitely on my forefront, but I have to then balance that trust in the Lord with also the practical wisdom too of mine and my teams and the boards budget knowledge, to make sure that we are watching what we're spending, being financial stewards and all of those things. And so finding this balance of recognizing this is a fundraiser and making that known, doing an ask, being responsible to say here is what all the rescue mission does, not in a boastful way, but a transparent way to say the community needs to know that, thankfully, because of the Lord, the great donors, the volunteers, this is how mega of an impact daily. The five out of the six because one is a building that we're not utilizing yet for programming five out of our six facilities are being used to impact this community, and so we have this responsibility to say we need community support, and that is through donations. And so I'm not sure I'll ever, as the executive director, get to a place where I'm not trying to do this like ants in the pants, dance between the faith piece and the practicality, but I just say that to you as listeners Night of Praise is a fundraiser, and we can tell you every reason why the funds are needed.
Speaker 3:The other side of it is we will never trust ourselves or man more than we trust the Lord's provision and what he blesses us with. And so we are also thankful for every gift that we are given, every prayer that is given to us, because we are a ministry before we are anything. And if we remove that walk of faith and that doesn't always mean having extra, that doesn't always mean having plenty our Lord is that and we can get that. But we also know that sometimes it is also when not a lot comes in and we still have a lot of glory to give and we will do that of what we kind of face in just this. Oh, my goodness, how do we balance knowing this is a time for the community to worship the Lord, but it's also a need financially? So, josh, you know I can't even begin because the tissues I can't reach and I've got a bad shoulder.
Speaker 3:I'm so proud of you for all that you have done and maybe I need to just kick it off to Miriam after you talk, a minute to brag on you, but your heart shines so beautifully through so many challenges with this. Miriam, usually I don't talk about me and you personally, but I don't think you'd mind this Like we're two of your super immediate supervisors and both of us got taken out either by injury or sickness for a couple of weeks of this Um, and so not only were you are, your load was already great, but then we were down for the count, um, and so we, we were still checking on you, but I say that loosely right. And so to see your authentic reliance on the Lord is something that I probably and sometimes it was humorous, like it wasn't all churchy, like, oh, the Lord's going to provide. It was like I don't know, but we're going with it and God's in control. You know, I loved how authentic you were when we were trying to do programs, we're trying to do magnets, we're trying to get this, we redid this, all of that stuff.
Speaker 3:So, just as a, as a supervisor, as your friend, sister in Christ, like I am so proud of you, so proud of you, the Lord, and that pride. It's not just your gifts, your talents, but it was also you truly let the Lord, you trusted in him, with all of the junk and the mess too that came along with it, and he shined through you. So, josh, just talk about night of praise, whatever you want to. I mean you. You helped with the planning behind the scenes, you coordinated it, and it started off with last year almost an anxiety attack from you when I said you're going on the red couch with me and you went from that to almost neck and neck with Bill on this. I mean, and literally it was you too. So talk about whatever you want to about Night of Praise.
Speaker 1:Oh man, oh man.
Speaker 3:It's so much.
Speaker 1:I just want to say one I appreciate you guys and you saying that. I'm very humbled, but it was definitely going back to how you're talking about, how we trust the Lord for finances. Yeah, it was definitely. I think I had just started repeating the Lord's prayer and was always getting to like Lord, give us your daily bread, you know, and trusting in his provision and I think I joked with you guys too.
Speaker 1:I think this is probably the healthiest season I've been in, because I try to, you know, and to take care of, like, my stress is to run, and so I was actually running quite a bit so I was doing pretty well with that. So no, it was, I don't know it was. There was a lot going into it. I knew there was going to be a lot going into it. You know I tried to get as far as the planning. Planning and everything of it was definitely trying to get ahead of last year, as we talked about, you know, going from feeling like two weeks of prep time, I was like, all right, we're going to start like February, we're going to like get on FBC's calendar for the event. We're going to, you know, try and do this a lot earlier. And I, you know, I felt like we did pretty good with that. I think you know, definitely reflecting, we'll have you know other things we work on, but I mean Bill.
Speaker 1:Uh, so appreciated you. I mean, I was not worried about the bands at all. I think I maybe checked in with you once, but like hey, you need anything. Cause I hadn't heard anything from you in a little bit and I was like you know you're doing good.
Speaker 1:Not that I didn't trust you, but I just wanted to, you know, be so appreciated your coordination of that piece, so then I could really focus on, like, all the other logistical stuff that needed taking care of. So, um, that was such a huge blessing, um, so seriously appreciate you for that.
Speaker 2:Um well, I'm thankful for you kind of being the point through the whole process. I think that just kind of kept you just kept checking in with everybody, with with Dalton, our tech director, with the different teams, just make sure everybody's on the same page. And you know, yeah, just keeping it moving forward, keeping communication open through the whole thing. Yeah, like you said, starting early, I think that reduced the stress level of the whole thing.
Speaker 1:Yes, quite a bit yeah, yeah and uh, yeah, absolutely yeah, and a huge shout out to the tech guys. Dalton was amazing. You had sam sam reed from tbc, from tbc. Um, there's another gentleman working the lights um I'm trying to think who's doing lights tonight?
Speaker 1:there were so many there were so many tech people um so huge shout out to all the tech guys. As a tech guy, I know what all you do and so super, super appreciate them. Um, because that's no easy thing, especially having it on a sunday they're, they're there. As a tech guy, I know what all you do and so super, super appreciate them, because that's no easy thing, especially having it on a Sunday. They're that, they're there all day and you guys were too. Like the bands were there all. I mean at church all day. I mean you guys were obviously there all day, but it's like you finished. I mean, how early do you guys get there on a Sunday?
Speaker 2:We're there before 8, so before 8, and then you left, so left by it was 13 hours for the FPC guys, but River of Life we set up their rehearsal time and Dana, who is kind of communicating with us from River of Life, she's like we'll try to get there. We usually get done at 1.30. So we're like, oh, I thought that might be a problem, but we'll just be flexible, so we'll be waiting for you when you get there. I thought that might be a problem, but we'll just be flexible, so we'll be. We'll be waiting for you when you get there. You know. So, uh, and yes, so everybody, you know everybody was serving that weekend at their churches and then coming right over and coming right over.
Speaker 1:So for all of those bands, all those tech guys, it was full days, I mean.
Speaker 3:and then we had people just coming in on Sundays who don't work Sundays, like. We had Danielle Norwood, who agreed to be our MC. We had Sergeant Matt Rose from Topeka police department, who works um grueling hours, so many hours, and needs a day off Um. We had SJ Hazim, who, if you follow SJ Hazim for five minutes, you will realize he is all over the place all the time.
Speaker 3:Um, um. So to also make us a priority with that is incredible. Yeah, we had john the iron man control who, if you know, is if there is any kind of like charitable, positive trying to do good for any type of underdog event going on, he and his beautiful family are there and they just all wanted to be a part of this and so that's. It's just incredible to see so many different viewpoints. I mean, you've got different backgrounds, you've got different ethnicities, sometimes different views even on homelessness, but there is just this commonality of let's just be good people and try to do the very best we can for good for people. And then there is an understanding between a lot of us that we do this because the Lord calls us to do this. And then there is so many people right now that they're not sure they're ready to believe that way yet, but they see something at the rescue mission that, even if their why isn't the Lord yet they want to be a part of it. And to me that is so incredible because I feel like our churches, the rescue mission, small groups, just anything should be so welcoming that it makes hard, makes it hard for people every day To have any type of understanding or even desire to go to hell. And sometimes, if people feel like they are Not like us, or they don't understand the Lord the way we do, or they don't believe yet the way they do, they don't feel like they come, and so there's no chance for any kind of understanding or change in their life or anything like that, because they just stay away.
Speaker 3:And I looked out between those what? 350 plus people and I thought there's no way. Every person in here is a believer. There's no way, but I know that there's a few in there that were brave enough. That said, you know this place is going to be safe enough that I'm going to come and try to figure out. What are people talking about? So, josh, touch on real quick. You were running around like a chicken with your head cut off, because some of the time I was with you and other times you weren't, other times I wasn't. But when you think of the community piece of this, when you see different people on stage, you see the different people that were walking in. You did the news interviews, those kinds of things. What was your why and what's your hope? When you think about Night of the Praise not from the rescue mission side, not necessarily from your personal side, but when you think of the community impact of Night of Praise, what's your why, why do you do it and what's your hope for it?
Speaker 1:So, as you were talking, you know, one of the the things that had always been big for me was kind of like we've talked about before, is unity. It kind of gives a a pretty picture of what I think the big C church should look like, you know, and that there's no. You know, no matter what denomination or you know kind of background you come from, there it's all about Jesus. Like that's why we're here, that's why the mission's here, that's why that's what motivates us to do. What we do is to love those in front of us.
Speaker 1:And so, you know, I think like a big piece for me and kind of what you talked about is like TRM works really hard to be a light on a hill for people in darkness, and whether you're an unsheltered person, whether you're a volunteer, whether you're a supporter, whether you're just watching from the outside and saying, hey, they're doing some pretty cool stuff, I like to think that Night of Praise is an opportunity for you to be invited in and, just like you said, you know this is an event. You know, come support us. You know, if you're not a believer, you know, just come check it out and for you to hopefully really get a picture of what our heart is and that's to serve the Lord you know, to love him and to love others, and you know everybody is others.
Speaker 1:you know, obviously, for us in a very specific way, it's our unsheltered neighbors, but it's, you know, it's your, literally your neighbor next door. Have you talked to your neighbor lately?
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:It's your. You know your coffee barista. If you go to your um, it's every person, because you know co-workers, your coworker cause we're all going through stuff Um, you know you're not alone, and I think that's really what I desire for people to feel is that you're not alone. You know, no matter what kind of crap you're going through, you have people who genuinely love you just because you're you, and that's, you know, the heart of Christ, and that's what motivates me.
Speaker 3:So I love that Miriam talk to us, you know, when you hear his hope. It is why for the community Now let's pivot to. What did the community.
Speaker 4:Help us do. You know it was amazing, right, it was amazing. So we, like you just said, we had almost 400 people in attendance. They brought in about 819 pounds of stuff, right, some of it was food, some of it was diapers, some of it was hygiene products. So all of these things that we need on a daily basis, and in addition to that, they also helped us raise about $8,000 more than we did last year.
Speaker 4:Right so we had people whether it was our sponsors or people giving that night or people becoming brand new donors for us. We were able to raise almost $30,000, which is incredible and an increase from last year, which was our first year, so they helped us do a lot. The other thing I think that was important that we did this year is we offered to pray with people, and whether that was that they came to the front that we could pray with them, or whether we just accepted prayer cards from them so that they know we care about them, not just because of what they bring to us, but what we can also do for them. Right, how can we, how can we be supportive of them as well? So it was a beautiful night.
Speaker 4:The thing that I noticed and I think Josh and I even talked about this we had so many more youth there, and I don't know if it was youth groups that were coming.
Speaker 4:I don't know, but it was like collections of youth, which I thought was beautiful for so many reasons. Number one they were there hearing our message and that kind of thing. It was exposing them to people who are experiencing homelessness in what might be a different way there can be so much fear and trepidation about people who are homeless or experiencing homelessness, that it was good to see young people being able to hear a different message right, being able to be educated in a different kind of way. So that was different than last year, and so I was really excited to see that and wonder and hopeful about what that means for the future on all fronts, whether it's about how they will engage in the community, maybe through volunteerism, or how they'll engage with us in different kinds of ways. Engage with us in different kinds of ways Because as we look at the future, we have to look at who are the generations coming up that need to know?
Speaker 4:about the work that we do and have an understanding of why they are so important to us and how we can then also be supportive of them.
Speaker 3:I love that. I've said this before, but it's so incredible to be able to look at impact from numbers and it's important we need to.
Speaker 3:But then I also just love to think about. These were incredible community members that cared enough to go to the store, buy a box of diapers, carry it across the parking lot a fellowship Bible church, put it in our truck, you know. Across the parking lot, a fellowship Bible church, put it in our truck, you know. And so, whether it was the diapers, the wipes, the foods, it was people scanning QR codes, taking money from themselves and investing in the kingdom. It's such a personal thing too People there just praying as they watch the videos.
Speaker 3:You know, we had two very brave individuals that we highlighted one in the midst still of homelessness that is sheltered right now and with kids, with children, who was able to still talk about her dreams, to still talk about her dreams. And then another video, and he was so humbled that he gave us, you know, permission to use the picture we take at the rescue mission and stuff when we bring, we bring people in, and he was so vulnerable with his state of drug use and brokenness, even showing us the picture of his tent under the bridge, and not just that, but then invited our team into his home to talk to him about it. And so, um, we are so thankful for the almost 30,000 in in-kind and donations. We're so thankful for the over 800 pounds of food, but we are also so thankful for the almost 400 people that came and probably came in with heavy loads, worries, concerns. We're also thankful just for people who are experiencing homelessness. The hope in Christ is also for people who are sheltered married, single, divorced, sick, healthy, younger, older, and that was shown at Night of Praise.
Speaker 3:Bill, as we wrap up. Just last thoughts. As you know, you are preparing all of this. You know beforehand, and then you are watching all of this unfold on the stage and then you have to put that brain aside and then you get up there and you are playing instruments, you are singing, you are worshiping the Lord and you're still a part of it. Then you stop that and then you're part of the wrap-up in all of this. What is just your conclusion of it and what are your hopes or anticipations of the Lord? To the Lord, whatever for next year?
Speaker 2:the Lord whatever for next year.
Speaker 2:So when I think about the event and you can kind of look at it and you might think, okay, those videos are kind of a different piece, there's something else there, or kind of recounting what the rescue mission has accomplished over the past year, all those things that kind of feel, they could feel disjointed if you're kind of looking at it with too narrow of a lens.
Speaker 2:But if you back up and I was reading Psalm 111 this morning and it says Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them, full of splendor and majesty is His work and His righteousness endures forever. He has caused His wondrous works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and merciful. He provides food for those who fear Him. He remembers his covenant forever and it just goes on and you know kind of talks about. You know, throughout the Psalms you see this picture of just remembering all that he has done. And when we remember what he's done and you know it's worship is a very practical thing. We, we recount what the Lord has done and we thank him for it.
Speaker 2:You know and so worship is not just this act of singing.
Speaker 2:A lot of times we narrow it down to that, but a night of praise is truly like. The whole night is about praising the Lord for what he has done in the lives of people specifically in the lives of all of us as his people who have been rescued by him. All of that goes hand in hand and so I think there's really an overall overarching picture of we have praised the Lord and remembered what he's done, we've celebrated that and given him thanks for what he's done in the lives of people specifically, but also in all of our lives as people. So I think it all just ties in together. So when I kind of look at that and then you know, just throughout the city, not just in our respective parts of the Big C Church, not in our little C churches but in the big C church, and how he's brought us together and I think you know proximity is part of that just being near one another, remove some of those barriers, you know. I think the barriers stay up when we stay apart from one another.
Speaker 2:But when we get arm in arm doing something together. All of that goes away because we realize the common bond we have in Christ. So, all of that is just a yeah, it's just a really beautiful picture, as all of you have said about the evening so but just kind of that big picture of praising the Lord for what he's done. And I think you know the fundraising part of it, you know that's.
Speaker 2:That is a part of it and it is a need and I think all of these things you know we get to be a part of that and seeing what God does through the rescue mission, whether through volunteering, through giving whatever, we all have an opportunity that we can be a part of that, and when we see what the Lord has been doing in it, I think that is an encouragement. So, regardless. So yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and when, I think the next year, I think just continuing to involve more people in it in different ways and seeing whatever that looks like, even if that's, you know, like fellowship we're not actually the ones doing any of the music, part of it but just, you know, helping in some way to help facilitate the thing. You know that's fine. So just kind of just seeing how the Lord might bring more people in and get get us around more people together.
Speaker 2:And Dana from river of life you know talked about and this would be a, and initially we had talked about this this would be a challenge in and of itself, but just trying to maybe put a band of you know, from different groups, all of one you know, so I don't know. So just kind of there. There are possibilities, there are challenges, you know, and some more than others, with some of those ideas. So I don't want to get the cart before the horse, but you know just like I think there are.
Speaker 2:You know, there are more ways to get more people involved and um more of the community involved and just getting around one another you know I mean that's so um so I don't know what that looks like, but I think I think it is a beautiful event and I think it uh, the unity it fosters, just like I said, the proximity it fosters, all that stuff is really, really sweet.
Speaker 2:To see just getting lots of people from lots of different backgrounds in one room praising the Lord together as, uh, as a community, is pretty sweet, and so I'd love to see more people be a part of that, because it really is beautiful to witness and just to be able to. You know, I talk about music like it's a language. Musical styles are like languages. Some are more familiar to us than others, right, and so, and that's not a bad thing, it's not a good or bad thing to have a language that's kind of your primary language, that you're comfortable in communicating in right, but to see lots of other languages you know kind of being spoken through music and styles of music and whatnot, and seeing how God's glorified in that as well.
Speaker 2:I think it just it broadens our perspective and opens our hearts a little bit wider to be able to worship God in all these different ways. I think that's really sweet to see too, because I mean, that's heaven is going to be like that.
Speaker 4:Absolutely For sure.
Speaker 2:You know, we, just like all of us, have our lenses. We see the world through and we think everything's going to look like that you know, but God's a big God, you know. But god's a big god, you know. We're gonna have every tribe, every nation, every tongue praising the lord in their own language and their own musical style too, you know, and all of it's going to be to one aim, that's.
Speaker 4:That's, uh, pretty amazing that's exciting, that's really exciting. And how beautiful that will be yes, it will you know as we wrap up.
Speaker 3:I just want to end on the point of fellowship. You know God intends for us to be in fellowship, and I think that is one of the most beautiful things that comes from Night of Praise is being together, yes, being with the Lord, but also standing next to people, meeting new people, seeing people you haven't seen in a while. There is just beauty in that. And real quickly, I just want to touch on the fact that you know I had a pretty major injury and so it had taken me away from the office for a little bit and I don't do that well, but I did turn to the Lord and say you know, why have you allowed? Why has this been allowed? And one of the things that I was able to do, first, being back after my injury, was night of praise, and what I recognized is there is beauty and smiles. There is beauty in hugs, even if they're one handed. There is beauty in high fives when people are scared to hug you because you're in a sling. But I use myself as an example, because if I was only sidelined for a short period of time and I still have an incredible village checking on me every day, personally, professionally, and I still had to walk through some darkness because of isolation, because of questioning, because of loss, change in routine, all of these just life things. I cannot imagine how some of the people feel that are on the streets right now, that are in our shelters, that are possibly sitting in the church pews, that are that are sidelined, whether that be physically, whether that be because of stigma, whether that be because of ordinances, whether that be because of society in general addiction, whatever the case may be, of society in general addiction, whatever the case may be. And so my personal experience was an injury. My personal experience was short lived, but the lasting impression that the Lord showed me was fellowship is crucial. Smiles, touch and love that is genuine, from friends, from families, from loved ones is a game changer. And so the night of praise is such a blessing on so many different levels.
Speaker 3:The rescue mission stands firm in loving the least of these who are on the streets, in loving the least of these who are on the streets, who are in the shelters, who might be dressed in business suits, that are people that want no one else to know that they're hurting, but we want to be a place of fellowship, whether it's in our buildings, whether it's events that we put on, whether it's volunteer opportunities, and so we are thankful. We're thankful for how everybody gets involved. But we also want to send the message that the rescue mission is also a place where you can always come to fit in, and it's a place where you can always come and have someone that will pray for you, that will care for you, that will try to show you the best we humanly can, because we're flawed to who the Lord is and just know that we are walking with him the best that we can. And no denomination matters with that, no ethnicity matters with that. We are broken people who desperately needed and still need the cross, and I think we highlighted that at Night of Praise and hopefully our actions every day at the Rescue Mission highlight that.
Speaker 3:So I want to thank again all of our Night of Praise sponsors, especially the Platinum sponsors Dr Tague Center for Nutrition and Preventative Medicine, fueling Hope, topeka Community Foundation, all of our bands, all of our incredible staff members, all of our volunteers that came together to make a night of praising the Lord, a time of worshiping him and a time of unity for one another. Remember to smile to someone, remember to care for someone and remember that you too are loved and the rescue mission is a place for all. Have a great day and remember that you can always subscribe, share and like our community, our mission, where we strive to talk about everything that is important in our community. We love you and we hope you have a great day.