Our Community, Our Mission
Our Community, Our Mission
Ep #250: Transformation Tuesday with John Ostenson
Welcome to the 250th episode of Our Community, Our Mission! On this Transformation Tuesday—our take on Giving Tuesday—we’re joined by John Ostenson, Vice President of TRM’s Board of Directors. John shares how serving on the board has deepened his faith and transformed him into a prayer warrior. He also reflects on TRM’s mission, emphasizing that it’s not just about providing food and shelter, but about transforming lives through faith, love, and community.
We discuss TRM’s approach to Giving Tuesday, the power of prayer in overcoming challenges, and the importance of unity in pursuing our mission. As we celebrate this milestone, we invite you to join us in making a lasting impact—through prayer, service, and support—to help TRM thrive and continue transforming lives in our community.
Want to support us this Giving Tuesday? Visit: trmonline.org/givingtuesday
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Gracious Heavenly Father, we just come humbly before you today and thank you, lord, for your blessings and for all that you've done for us. Lord, we just thank you for this time, lord, to really reflect and celebrate, god, just the transformation that you and you alone accomplished, lord, using the people here. And, lord, we just thank you for that. Lord, thank you for this Giving Tuesday and, lord, we're reminded of our incredible supporters and we we're thankful for them and pray your blessing over them too. And, lord, just pray, your spirit would just be upon this time and this conversation. In your holy and wonderful name, we pray Amen.
Speaker 3:Hello everybody, thank you for joining us for a very special edition of our Community, our Mission, a podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission here on Giving Tuesday, december 3rd 2024. And it's special not only because it's Giving Tuesday. This is an anniversary date we're going to talk about for Our Community, our Mission. But with that I'm your host, barry Feeker, I have the Executive Director, lamanda Broyles. Good morning, lamanda, good morning. And Marion Crable, who's Deputy Director of Supportive Services.
Speaker 5:Good morning.
Speaker 3:Good morning. Good morning, this is a really special day. It is For a lot of reasons, and we have a special guest here who's the Vice President of the Board of Directors, topeka Rescue Mission. We're going to talk to him in a minute, but before we get into really the special thing about Giving Tuesday and this is actually airing today and you're probably hearing this at the end of the day so there's probably a lot of great things that have happened we want to talk about. If you haven't been able to go out to the social media posts to be able to see the different testimonies, that you'll be able to do that. But this is podcast number 250. Woo, I know, yes, all right, josh Turley down here, who was the guy that we worked in a little tiny office to get this thing going Yep.
Speaker 3:And we're still a little tiny office, so to speak.
Speaker 1:It's a little bigger. It's a little bigger right now We've got a bigger table, not your little desk.
Speaker 3:Josh, did you ever realize that over the last five years that our community, our mission, would have over 10,000 minutes of stories? Absolutely not 10,000.
Speaker 1:No idea, You've counted each one of those down by minute by minute. Well, actually I averaged. I said, hey, we are usually about 40 minutes. We've got you know, this many podcasts.
Speaker 3:So you know, safe to say over 10,000 minutes. So, what's also very interesting, there's been 18,503 downloads since our first episode, 250 times ago, and 17.9 thousand downloads in North America makes sense. 52 downloads in South America makes a little bit of sense. 395 downloads in Europe, 16 downloads in Africa, 165 downloads in Asia and then 10 downloads in Oceania, which we've all been there before.
Speaker 5:Where exactly is Oceania? I asked.
Speaker 3:Josh that it showed up on the report.
Speaker 1:I believe it's like Australia and down there, down under, down under, terrible accent.
Speaker 3:It's pretty good. Josh, we should have an interview sometime on impersonations. Ah, that's okay, but anyway, thank you all for listening to our community, our mission. We've been supportive of this. It's been a great platform to be able to get the word out. We're going to talk to again our vice president here in a minute, and he is one of the unique individuals who have not missed one podcast, so great anniversary to have him here. We're going to talk to him in a minute podcast so great anniversary to have him here. We're going to talk to him in a minute. And so anyway, and Josh, thank you again for putting all this together and just keeping it rolling. It's been an incredible experience, and so now we're on our way to 300 and we'll see how far this goes.
Speaker 1:And beyond, yeah, and beyond.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and so thank you all of you who have been faithful listeners to this 179,000 of you in the United States and beyond. So nothing about here at the International Space Station. We've been working on that. Don't know why you haven't accomplished that yet.
Speaker 5:Keep working on it, Josh. It's a hard reach. Keep working on it.
Speaker 3:We understand there's people on the moon too. So, yeah, keep working on it, we'll get there, we'll get there. So, lamanda, miriam, giving Tuesday what's it about? We hear about Black Friday, and then we hear about Cyber Monday, and then this thing, which is the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, which is called Giving Tuesday. What's it about? And what are we doing here at Topeka Rescue Mission?
Speaker 5:I think it really is about originally. I think Giving Tuesday was a way for people to be reminded that it's good to give to others as well as just buying buying stuff Right that there's people out there that need to be remembered and valued, and this is an opportunity to do that. That, on after you've spent a lot of money other places or after you've been looking for those great deals, all that money you save then can be given to nonprofit organizations that are trying to help folks that are struggling in different kind of ways.
Speaker 3:It's a really good time. You know, after Thanksgiving, before Christmas, people are thinking about giving and, you know, being generous on those kind of things, which is which is normal, but this hasn't been around forever. Being generous on those kind of things, which is normal, but this hasn't been around forever. It started in 2012. So it really hasn't been around for centuries, or even decades, and so somebody came up with an idea National Day of Giving, or Giving Tuesday, to be at this particular juncture If anybody has any money left after they spend it, and hopefully, you know.
Speaker 5:If nothing else, is it just a time to pause and reflect on the blessings that each of us have and that there are folks that are facing difficult times right, and let's remember them. So, whether it's giving their time, it could be volunteering, it could be giving financially, of course, as a nonprofit. End of year is always so important to us in terms of those last end of year gifts, but there's just different kinds of ways that people can give too, and I think just being aware is incredibly important.
Speaker 3:Being aware is important all the time, and you will notice in your inbox emails a lot of different organizations that are reminding you it's Giving Tuesday, which is the same thing with Topeka Rescue Mission if you're on the email list there. Lamanda, there's been some really awesome things that happened today, and so talk a little bit about that and how people then can go and see some and hear some testimonials.
Speaker 4:Sure, you know, we start. I feel like we start talking about Giving Tuesday the previous year, on Giving Tuesday, right To start going. What really is our message? What's our ask? What's the best way to do it? And it can be kind of awkward too, because when we look around at what so many people are doing, our stance is not to be competitive.
Speaker 4:You know, when you mentioned that there's so many emails in the in the inbox this morning I was up at about 6.15. Well, I'd been up for two hours but started on emails at 6.15. And I already had seven in my personal and then had more in my professional, and so I just kind of said a quick prayer to the Lord of like. There are so many incredible organizations doing good work and God, you see their needs, please meet them. So that was just kind of my heart as just a community member as far as TRM goes to represent. You know what we're doing at the rescue mission.
Speaker 4:I think our heart is to take everybody behind the scenes and maybe a step further to say let's take it past the money that you're giving. And maybe a step further to say let's take it past the money that you're giving, let's even take it past the kind of surface level work that people see we do the sheltering, the feeding, the clothing Really, what is behind that? So, when people are giving us the monetary and financial support through money yes, that's buying food. Yes, that's buying food, yes, that's buying clothing, yes, that is doing all of these incredible departments that are walking alongside of people when they're hurting but really, what then is the outcome of those? It's much more than a full belly. It's much more than someone being safe overnight and being warm, and that is where I feel like we stand out in what we do here and I think that's what we're trying to capture on this Giving Tuesday is that here are the things that we do, but here is why we do it and what then comes from this and it's all centered around transformation and knowing that people are coming to us with financial challenges, people are coming to us with mental health concerns, people are coming to us with addictions, people are coming to us so overwhelmed with traumatic implications because of maybe one event, maybe years of events, and so what do we do then?
Speaker 4:Well, we feed them, we shelter them, we provide education classes with them, we clothe them, we offer chapel, we offer all of these different things, but what comes of that? It's really for us to say, hey, we know where you're at right now, but we serve a God who's going to walk through this and transform you to something different when you leave. And I hope that that is the message that we really capture today in all of these testimonies, and it's the why of why the money piece matters, but through the money then comes opportunities for the Lord to just work and to transform.
Speaker 3:So for people who are listening to this, either on this Day of Giving, tuesday or later, how can they go and hear those testimonials or watch them?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so you can go to trmonlineorg slash Giving Tuesday, so it's our website trmonlineorg slash giving Tuesday. So it's our website, trm onlineorg slash giving Tuesday, and that goes directly to our giving Tuesday campaign. I'm not really sure how long that will be up, but you can do that. Or you can go to our website and there is a normal donate page as well all throughout the year where people can give that way. Another thing not just the financial piece, but 365 days a year. We have a needs list on our website and I really want to incorporate that on this Giving Tuesday. That's basically updated every 30 to 45 days and that is a way people can give outside of just the Giving Tuesday, because we are seeing all sorts of needs.
Speaker 4:We are seeing an increase in needs for kids, which is a soft spot for me. We have gone over 60 kids. Now we're at 270 guests, 60 of them being children, and on one hand, I just think that it's incredible that there's a place like the Topeka Rescue Mission that is here to be the safety net for people when they're in transition of hurt to healing, but it also breaks my heart to know that that's just 270 individuals that we know of. That doesn't include the even middle class individuals who are needing to access our food lines right now through the distribution center, the many people that come to the community dinners every night, seven days a week. We do our best to provide statistics and numbers and that's our responsibility. However, I'm not sure we can ever truly capture, one, the need that our community really has, and two, to capture the impact that the rescue mission makes and that is important on Giving Tuesday. But I cannot stress enough that those needs list and the volunteers and the prayers those are needed 365 days a year.
Speaker 3:I think it's hard for us to wrap our heads around and our brains around sometimes that when we talk about 270 and the 60 children, these aren't just bodies who are here that have a bed and something to eat.
Speaker 3:These are people who are maybe one of the lowest times in their life, most desperate, most confused, most hopeless, don't necessarily want to be in a homeless shelter, but yet they come in as they are because the other options are not good. And so to be here, the complexities of what people are facing in life, a Topeka Rescue Mission being here to meet them in the midst of those complexities, take you in right where you are, however you are, whatever's going on in your life, and not only provide a place to be but all the necessities to help those people to process and heal. And so it takes a lot to do a lot, and so Giving Tuesday is a way for people to participate in helping somebody know they matter Not just a bed, as you said, not just something to eat, but much, much more than that about them as individuals, to help them to have not only a future today, but a future going forward, and people get to be a part of that.
Speaker 4:And not everything can be made pretty, barry. So you know that's another thing. I think that's a challenge for me as the ED on Giving Tuesday is. There is so much that is in what we sometimes just call the mundane right, everything that we're doing every day, the consistency, all of that where life is happening, and whether it's I can't break confidentiality or it's just not a quote unquote great story, sometimes it's hard to also communicate the differences that we're seeing, because either we can't tell that story or it's not wrapped up in a pretty bow. So just a brief story I want to share is, as we're thinking about the Giving Tuesday and we're thinking about keeping lights on making sure we have enough food to feed guests, a couple of weeks ago we experienced a loss and one of our guests who passed away and I can't go into all of that, who passed away and I can't go into all of that.
Speaker 4:But when those things happen, leadership comes down and we talk with the other guest mates and the dorm room people that share a dorm room and it's really just hey, we realize this is a loss and so what we all have the blessing and privilege to do if we have a family member who passes. Many of our guests don't have that. They don't have a family to do, and so the people mourning their loss are often the people sharing a dorm room. And so we came down and we're processing this and we're processing this and one of the men who has a background in lots of incarceration and just things like that, that I know, if was walking the streets would be judged, would be judged by his tattoos, would be judged by his past, all of this kind of stuff. He made the statement and he said he was pretty quiet through some things. And then he looked at me and he looked at Christian, my deputy director of shelter services, and he said you know, I I think the biggest struggle that I have right now is I lost the only sense of joy that I had each day. And Christian and I kind of tilted our heads and we said in this person and he said, yeah, because he had these challenges, he had this, he still got up, he went to work and all of that got choked up because another guest who is in the midst of his challenges, in the midst of his brokenness, in the midst of his struggle, that man was this man's source of joy. I'm never going to put that man in front of a camera. I'm never going to put a microphone in his face right To motivate somebody on a giving Tuesday to do that.
Speaker 4:The other side of it is those real life stories of struggle, friendship, messing up, redemption, all of that. That is literally what we walk through every single day at the rescue mission and you cannot put a price tag on that. And so, as I'm sitting there with these 14 other men in this room and seeing them discuss feelings and loss and care, well, first of all, I'm trying not to cry because I'm the only woman in the room. Second, of all, my heart just aches because I thought, if the rescue mission was not here, of all, my heart just aches because I thought, if the rescue mission was not here, one who would be trying so hard to honor this man that nobody else knows, but when, also with these 14 other men, have the opportunity to express a connection, and that their main connection was not a family member, was not a best friend, was not a past employer, it was someone else that they are learning and living with in a homeless shelter.
Speaker 3:It kind of speaks to the fact that the giving is not just one way To people who are in need. They actually give back as well. And this man and his brokenness and his health multiple health problems which speaks to it isn't always pretty when it comes to the doors. It doesn't always leave pretty. Brokenness can get better, but not always unbroken. But yet this man was giving in a way through his brokenness to somebody else.
Speaker 3:That was noted and missed and had a great impact. And so to provide an opportunity for people to have a place to be if they didn't have this place, there'd be no place to be necessarily and for them to be able to have those kind of healing relationships with each other by people giving to Topeka Rescue Mission. That makes it possible, and so it's a bigger story than we can ever tell. It's a bigger story than we can ever tell, Very much so. So it's giving in lots of different ways. Giving Tuesday is the financial giving, but there's also the ongoing, and it doesn't stop on Tuesday. Now we go all the way through the end of Christmas, into the new year, into the next year of 2025. But people also give of their time, and one of the groups that give of their time is the board of directors of.
Speaker 3:Topeka Rescue Mission, and so we're glad to have a dear friend, vice president of Topeka Rescue Mission Board of Directors, john Ostenson, here today, and John, thanks for being a part of this and thank you for being in the rare club of I've Never Missed a Podcast. Thank you, barry, and thank you for having me today.
Speaker 3:You're just. You know, john, you and I got to know each other when you were a lieutenant even probably before you were a lieutenant the Shawnee County Sheriff's Department. You were a lieutenant even probably before you were a lieutenant the Shawnee County Sheriff's Department, and you had a lot of responsibilities. But there was one thing that was very clear in getting to know you to begin, you were a law enforcement officer who had a heart and really cared about people's lives as well as their souls.
Speaker 3:And I remember I've told this story before, but we were in a meeting here with outreach teams and I was conducting the meeting. We had people from different agencies and we started the meeting talking about how we're going to most effectively outreach. And I just started the meeting and I remember you very kindly, in your sheriff's uniform, with your badge and your gun, stopped me and said is this not a place where we pray? Is this not a Christian organization? I go yes. He said, don't you, barry, think we should start with prayer? That was very convicting, and you weren't a board member yet, and so but, john, you've just been very, very, very wonderful in so many ways, even before you became a board member. So you retired as a lieutenant here a few years ago and you have a little bit of a heritage here at Topeka Rescue Mission.
Speaker 6:I do.
Speaker 3:My first assistant was your wife's grandma, and so, no, your wife's mom. That's right. Your wife's mom, my mother-in-law. Your mother-in-law. That's right, mother-in-law? Yeah, get that a little mixed up and you have a nephew here I do and works at and that's Christian Stringfellow, and so there's, there's some connections, even before you became a board member here. So, john, why the board of directors at Topeka Rescue Mission? What brought you to say yes to this opportunity?
Speaker 6:Well, it's interesting. I've been friends with Hal Smith for Hal and Debbie Smith for probably 30 years and knew them from church and doing another ministry.
Speaker 3:Former board president of TRM. Correct Now with the Lord.
Speaker 6:Right and, and so you know, we, we did a lot of ministry together and then, after that was over, we, we would still meet for dinner or lunch or something every once in a while. And so he called one day and wanted to have dinner with my wife, gail and I. So we did that, and afterwards he said you want to come back over to the house and, you know, visit, whatever. So I did that. So, as I'm talking to him, he mentions hey, have you ever thought about doing something with TRM or being on the board? And I said, well, actually I had, a couple months before that God had put it on my heart to do something with TRM, but I didn't know in what capacity at all. And so, out of that, know, I started praying about that and he asked me if, if, uh, he called me and asked me if, if, I wanted to submit my name, and I said yeah, and. And so I submitted my resume and was interviewed by y'all, and here I am well, we're really glad you are here.
Speaker 3:How long ago was that now?
Speaker 6:three years already. Uh, this month Okay.
Speaker 3:All right. So, john, you knew about Topeka Rescue Mission. You were involved in the outreach systems. Also, you were working with the folks over at 911 Call Center, so you're very familiar. I think the Sheriff's Department supervised that and you were the supervisor of Melanie. I think it was Something along those lines.
Speaker 6:She was actually in a weird way because of the it's a lot of different things, but she was actually over me. Oh, okay, yeah, she was very kind about that. Well, it was led by civilians, and then the sheriff's office took over and I didn't know how to be a dispatcher, but I quickly learned you were on the other end of dispatch. Yeah, I didn't learn how to be a dispatcher, but I learned we did a lot of the hiring and all the administrative things for that.
Speaker 3:Well, I know that between you and her you opened up many doors for us just to kind of minister to the dispatchers too and to be able to show appreciation to them for what all they do. And we were working on some special things about how to help individuals in human trafficking to be able to maybe contact without making a phone call and those kind of things to get the help that they needed. So, john, you're three plus years and again very familiar with Topeka Rescue Mission. You jumped on board listening 250 times ago to the Our Community, our Mission. So what has maybe changed at all in your life since you have become a board member and now vice president of the board of directors?
Speaker 6:I've never considered myself to be a prayer warrior. I always had a lot of respect for those that I knew were prayer warriors and really I think it's turned me into that, especially specifically for TRM. I pray a lot for TRM. A lot of reasons to pray. There's a lot, I think, about the guests, the friends, the neighbors and those experiencing homelessness. And it's even more than that and Amanda alluded to it earlier and that is it's for the staff too. We get involved in ministry, but it changes and transforms our lives as well. And obviously we have a budget and you know there's challenges there. But it's turned me into a prayer warrior, I think, really, barry. But it's really helped my spiritual walk in every area, I think, as well. I've really grown a lot and I had some room for growing, barry.
Speaker 3:Well, don't we all? Yeah. Yeah, so has it changed in regard? You came as a board member. Now you're the vice president of the board. That's a different kind of level of responsibility. What do you see as the pressure of that, but also the importance of maybe the opportunity in that?
Speaker 6:Yeah. So I was so new into that I mean I'd been here a year. And here comes Hal again. He corners me after a meeting and says, hey, I want to put you in for vice president. And I really did. I gulped right there because I had. I did not see that coming at all. But and then Penny Moylan took over as president and I have a lot of respect for Penny and so what a great role model to watch. But then it gets back into my prayer. What's the saying?
Speaker 6:God doesn't, he qualifies the called he doesn't call the qualified, and I really feel like that's me. And so nobody has arrived yet. I haven't, but I want to be obedient to what God has called me to do. I don't take that lightly, and so I say yes, and I want TRM not to just survive, I want it to thrive.
Speaker 3:And whatever that is, I want to be faithful to that LaManda every day you and the team are on the front lines you and Miriam and so many others here that you see these complexities. You have budgets to deal with utilities, leaky roofs yeah, you know, carburetor goes out on a car, whatever. I mean, there's a lot of moving parts here. You come back to that place of wait a minute, this isn't ours, it belongs to the Lord. What does it mean to you to hear John say that probably the number one thing he's learned is how to pray and have a board leadership that prays?
Speaker 4:You know? Um, comically, I was just thinking. Really, what John probably says is LaManda has caused me to learn how to pray is really what it is.
Speaker 3:I was going to go there, but I'm just getting too serious.
Speaker 4:I know, um, no, but I, you know, I. One of the things that I feel like I am strong at is talking about my flaws, like the stuff that I don't know, the stuff that I'm learning, the stuff that I know. God called me here and I want to be obedient in that as much as possible. But, being a younger leader and learning, I also am not hotheaded and think I know everything. Like I recognize. I want to seek wisdom in what's been done before me. I need to be so engrossed with the Lord to know what's coming so that we're planning right for the future as much as possible. So that we're planning right for the future as much as possible.
Speaker 4:And there is just stuff every day that we face that we don't know what to do, and we just trust in the gifts that God has given us. We trust in discernment, we trust in our teamwork, but behind all of that is the direct connect that we have with the Holy Spirit through prayer. And so I know it sounds cliche, but there is probably nothing that matters to me more out of a board member than their true connection on our behalf to the Lord. Because I am thankful, and I mean this. I do not feel like I have one board member that I go. They are clueless to what we do. They are so supportive and proud and concerned when we face hard things. I mean it's incredible how invested they are in the work we do, but also our people, and to me that is just something that I don't ever want to take for granted and I'm not sure I can really put in words as a new and learning executive with this amount of responsibility internally. That doesn't even include the external factors that our staff play and that we face, whether that is the inflation costs, whether that is the inclement weathers. If that is the budget, you know inflections sick kids because we have our own lives.
Speaker 3:you know inflectuation, sick kids.
Speaker 4:Sick kids, because we have our own lives, you know. And so there's just so much that we face as we're trying to do this, and it's not like there's staff and then the board. It's like there's the TRM family. You might be a TRM staff member, you might be a TRM volunteer, you might be a TRM board member, but we're all the TRM family and, as the executive director, I am very thankful for that because it's authentic. I wish I could come to you and say all of our board meetings are just lighthearted.
Speaker 3:I was going to say it almost sounds like it's heaven on earth.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 3:It's people and it's not always pretty. And, John, everybody doesn't always agree. Right.
Speaker 6:No, not always, and we don't want that. We want unity as brothers and sisters in Christ, but we also don't want a bunch of yes people either, and that's the best way to work through Sometimes.
Speaker 3:ED would like all yes people, but ain't going to get it.
Speaker 4:And that is one thing that is so neat that I don't have to feel like, as the ED, I'm walking on eggshells when I'm talking with the board, whether it's pushing another idea or being transparent of like hey, I feel like God's laid this on my heart, those kinds of things. Idea. Or being transparent of like, hey, I feel like God's laid this on my heart, those kinds of things. But I also think they can trust me as the ED that if they say, hey, this doesn't feel right yet, well then we're going to table it and we're going to revisit it, like that's how we work together.
Speaker 4:And I think that that unity that John's talking about, that doesn't mean that there are not controversial conversations. It doesn't mean that there's not conflict. It doesn't mean that there are not controversial conversations. It doesn't mean that there's not conflict. It doesn't mean that there is not issues that we have to work through, but because our hearts are aligned to what God wants us to do, I feel like that keeps everyone's attitudes in check, everybody's hearts focused on the mission of what TRM is about. And we recognize that, regardless of what we're having to solve or work through, the end game is we know we want to do it together and there's just no breaking that. And I am incredibly grateful because I think John is a big leader in that inside and outside those board meetings. And so when you have people's characters being the same as just who they are and they don't change to be a board member, they don't change to be the ED or whatever it is, there's just beautiful things that can come through the challenges that we face.
Speaker 3:Miriam, we've talked to you about your why of coming to Topeka Rescue Mission former director of the United Way, also in Bakersfield, california, being with the chamber leadership out in California before. This was different. Coming to Topeka Rescue Mission, yes, in regards to kind of that not that other organizations aren't doing phenomenal work, but there was a different kind of grounding here and we kind of talked about that a little bit. Talk about your experience coming in here as you were invited to be the Christmas coordinator.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that was that bait and switch you did.
Speaker 3:Yes, well, I'll let you have it and you do well. But then more came. But for people who I think are currently hearing this talk, you came in from a leadership position, leading good things for good works and those kind of things. What's that common difference here that brings us all back to square?
Speaker 5:one. That's simple. It's Christ right. So in every other job I've had that was not the center of what we do right. Christ wasn't the why that we did it as a collective right. It may have been why for individuals that worked within the organization, but it wasn't as a collective. And coming to TRM, you know John and Lamanda are both talking about prayer. It's like I wish people could understand that that is such a critical piece of every single day for us here.
Speaker 5:That and I think it makes it very so that we don't have to feel like we're in the struggles or celebrations, but definitely the struggles alone, right, because when it gets to that point where LaManda and I are sweating over a budget, we can just For weeks, for weeks.
Speaker 3:I'm bleeding over the budget. That's right.
Speaker 5:Yeah, sweating is, but you know that always bothers Marcus, because he has to come up and clean up after that's right, but you know that always bothers Marcus, because he has to come up and clean up after.
Speaker 5:But to know then that all we have to do and LaManda has done it multiple times and just said, ok, we just have to go to prayer on this one, right it's. It's that you have this thing where, if we just allow our hands to be open enough and not hold so tight onto what we know or what we think we can do alone right, there is a comfort and a peace that comes with that, in being able to just take it to the Lord. And there is no way to describe that to other people and there's no way to talk about what a difference it makes when you walk into our organization and people will say gosh, something just feels different here. This place just feels different. Employees, new employees say it all the time and I know I said it no, there's just something different here, but you're not taking credit for that. Oh, no, it's not.
Speaker 3:Well no, you know, some people say it was really different, it's really better here, because you know we got our act together. Oh no, we know exactly what we're doing.
Speaker 5:No, we don't have our act together, we have the shiniest rescue mission in the world If we close our eyes.
Speaker 3:No, it's something beyond the people, it's Christ. But people have got to allow it to happen.
Speaker 5:It's what John described as the unity as brothers and sisters in Christ. It's why it can work.
Speaker 3:If you have a place in Topeka, kansas or the state of Kansas or the United States that has the potential of having more problems, it would be a homeless shelter, because we invite problems here. We say you all come in. And so there are all problems of the natural, of compound trauma and mental illness and addiction and loss of job and hopelessness and physical disability and problems. Yeah, come on. Yeah, so, but the reality is you can do everything until the sun rises, until it goes down again, to try to fix those problems. And sometimes natural problems require supernatural solution.
Speaker 3:And that's where it's different Is that even when the disciples saw Jesus saying, go take these loaves and fishes and go feed the people and they were saying ain't going to happen, we ain't got enough, and they wanted to wash their hands of it he said, let me, bless it, let me. And so they gave it to him. That's what you guys do, is give it to the Lord, and then he doesn't say I've got it from here, no, he gives it right back to you to say go do it. John, as a vice president of the board, you went right to the number. One thing you've learned is prayer, the importance of prayer, the going in deeper. It's kind of a heavy responsibility to be a vice president of a board or Penny Moylan's presidency or any board member than to realize that you guys are the oversight of the executive director, which is the oversight of all the different functions of Topeka Rescue Mission Kind of the God connection here. It's pretty important that you do that well. How's that feel, brother? Well?
Speaker 4:you know, if people could only see him sweating now.
Speaker 6:And I'm a volunteer, barry, yes, you are.
Speaker 3:But we don't fire volunteers very often, so you got the job for a bit.
Speaker 6:Well, I want to share what's really motivating to me, and where rubber meets the road, is I am reminded that the enemy hates the Topeka Rescue Mission, and I reflect on something that our pastor says often, and I want to make sure I get it right. But he says where there is great potential and power and promise and opportunity, you can just expect the enemy and opposition from him, and so we've talked about it already today this man who died at the TRM, how he was a joy to others. Amongst the things you just said, we're bringing people with addictions and mental health issues and just all this disparity, and yet this place functions very, very well. And so, with that reminder how much the enemy hates this place is motivating to stay in prayer, and I would ask all the listeners for TRM to join us in that prayer for God's provision, because he provides every single day, every day.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and I think, barry, when we think about other boards or other staff, frankly, other boards or other staff, frankly, there is almost an end game that people will bring all of their skills to the table to solve issues and that's what it takes. And here our folks have to understand whether it's our board or our staff or our volunteers that maybe a more critical piece is that we'll bring everything that the Lord has blessed us with in terms of skills, but, at the end of the day, if we do not have faith that he will provide for what he wants us to do, we will not be successful. And that faith piece can be the hardest component of all. When we're working on budgets, when we're looking at staffing, when we're looking at what should we be doing next for the people that need us, we can bring everything we know to the table, the discernment that we need to be able to do his work. We will not be successful or we will not be successful at the level that he wants us to be.
Speaker 3:So some people might get the impression that people that work here board of directors, whatever are super spiritual, you know, mega stars. Not the case, is it Not the case? It's just regular people. And, amanda, you and I were having this conversation, I think, a couple of different times yesterday one in person, over texting.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 3:We go from sight to fear, to faith and sometimes back to sight.
Speaker 3:Repeat Over and, over and over again. And so where do you land on? Are we supposed to do this, are we supposed to do that? And then those big, big decisions. I mean we're talking about a warming center here pretty soon. We're going to make budget for 25. Got some different properties. What do you do with them to help? Do we expand? Do we take on more? We take on or stay the course, or whatever. We're trying to end chronic homelessness.
Speaker 3:Topeka, shawnee County, topeka Rescue Mission is pretty important in that whole equation, right? Yes, so what do you do? And so do you walk by sight? Only Can't do it. Do you walk in fear? Well, we never got this far if we did, but yet fear occurs. And so we go back to wait a minute. We need to walk by faith, then God will give us the sight, so we don't have to fear. And, john, you get to be in that kind of unique place, and I can see why that would be one of the number one things you learned, because you have gotten in the weeds of how this place really functions and the really impossible task by man's standards that it can even happen.
Speaker 6:Oh, definitely, there's not a one meeting. You know, we the board meets once a month and we meet for about three hours. It's a long meeting and not a one time. I've left a meeting and not had a pounding headache and just a heavy heart. Every single time, every single time.
Speaker 3:She's trying.
Speaker 4:That's why everybody keeps passing around the ibuprofen.
Speaker 3:We joke there, but a headache and a heavy heart Talk about that.
Speaker 6:Well, because there's just so many things and just so many tough issues that we have to tackle and address and you just feel like you're being attacked by the enemy all the time. And so that's really why I pray for this place so much and ask for more prayer, and why I pray for this place so much and ask for more prayer. And, miriam, when you said we were talking just a moment ago, when we get fearful and we've got this problem in front of us, in our natural, in our flesh, we want to go and just go try to solve it. But we really have to take a step back and remember God will provide, and having that faith and trust in him. And that's really where I've learned a lot and I've got more to go to do that.
Speaker 6:But yeah, after those meetings there's just so much swirling around in my head and my brain and I just almost need a cleansing in a way, and just really surrender it to God. You know he says cast all your cares. He didn't say throw it or just kind of chuck it away. No, he said cast it. It doesn't mean that I don't care and not submit it to the Lord, but you know, I often think about in life. You know, we have a backpack on us and there's certain things that we just carry that are heavy, and there's no getting rid of those things. But there are some things in our backpack that are there unnecessarily, and you know, and so anytime we can get rid of those things because we carry heavy load in life, our life is just hard.
Speaker 3:And then that scripture out of 1 Peter cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you. And you know, without that part, why would we cast our cares upon him? And you know, the thing about the foundational aspects, as you mentioned it, miriam, is the Lord is that this Lord cares about everybody that comes through this door, everybody that Topeka Rescue Mission is touching out in the streets, about everybody that comes through this door, everybody that Topeka Rescue Mission is touching out in the streets, every little child whose future is very questionable but yet may have an opportunity, that comes through these doors.
Speaker 3:He cares for every single one of them and he says this above all the things that you do, love the one in front of you. Love the one in front of you. So you're talking about budgets and headaches and trying to make this decision. Another thing, coming back to the square one it's not rocket science. He is more capable than anything that we can do, as long as we remember that he cares for us and we can cast our cares and love the one in front of us because he is loving them right now and, yes, there's going to be the enemy.
Speaker 3:Yes, there's going to be opposition. Yes, there's going to be distortion and people making up stories and people being kind of persuaded this way or the other thing. But there's true, loving the one in front of you here at Topeka Rescue Museum, that's a big responsibility, but yet, joy, joy, to love the one in front of you, yes.
Speaker 6:And that reminds me I'm a big fan of TBRI trust-based relational intervention and because for me, going through that training, that was a real game changer for me. In some ways I still love that person prior to that, but at a deeper level, really understanding the trauma. Some of the why that they're where they are.
Speaker 6:And if I could, I'd like to share just an analogy that really helped me, and it's a law enforcement analogy, so bear with me. But you know, when an officer investigates an accident and you're trying to determine why did this head-on collision, for example, happen? And so they go to the scene and you look at all the evidence in its entirety to come to that conclusion. And so these two vehicles didn't meet happenstance. So what we look for is what was the what we call the first harmful event? And it's not when the car, the striking vehicle, went left of center and struck the vehicle. That's not the first harmful event. And it's not when the car drifted off in the roadway and lost control. That's not the first harmful event. And it's not when the driver reacted and oversteered. That's not the first harmful event. The first harmful event was probably a distraction in the vehicle. Maybe they're driving and texting.
Speaker 6:So as you rewind that event, you work it all the way back to find out where was that first harmful event? And I thought about that when I was at the TBRI training, and that is so true with that one oftentimes in front of us. You know, yeah, they have some ugly behavior at times and that's what we see. But if you rewind their life, what is their story and what happened to them? What was their first harmful event? Were they raped? Were they a victim of domestic abuse? Did they witness a horrific event where they abandoned child abuse? These horrific things that happened to them, child abuse. You know these horrific things that happen to them. You know otherwise. You know they're not. They don't grow up and think, hey, I look forward, I have a life goal of being without a home or I want to live in a mission.
Speaker 6:They don't do that there's a reason why, and so when I connected that, that really helped me to understand and love that person in front of me that much more.
Speaker 3:Which is a great awareness and a position of TRM, to make sure that, in order to love the one in front of us, you don't judge them. In order to love the one in front of us, it goes beyond shelter and food and clothing. To love the one in front of us, it goes beyond shelter and food and clothing. To love the one in front of us is to understand them and to let them know that they're important to be understood. John, thank you for your service here just all these years, even before the last three years of being a board member here. Thank you for your faithfulness to be a part of a team called the Board of Directors who give, not just once a month, but uh, after you get the, uh, the Tylenol and the aspirin to take care of the headaches of a board meeting.
Speaker 3:then you come back again and and help to guide and make some critical decisions. We talked about the uh, uh charity checker called charity navigator. Um, part of the board of directors responsibility is to oversee um, the uh things that LeMann and Merriam and others are doing to be able to be evaluated by outside organizations, like audits every year, which Merriam loves those and reconciliations every month. And then to have an organization like Charity Navigator that has four-star ratings and Topeka Rescue Mission has a four-star rating out of four stars and has almost 100% within those and so 98%.
Speaker 6:We have goals.
Speaker 3:Yeah, goals, you know to be perfect, and so perfect is the goal, and so today's a special day because you're here, john, and thank you for being here. Thank you for being in the. We've Listened to Every One of them Club which, josh, you said your mom's one of them.
Speaker 1:Correct Shout out to my mom. Correct Shout out to my mom. Okay, that's awesome.
Speaker 3:She's on the West Coast, so we know we got this covered here and anybody else who's out there. And if you haven't been one of those, if you want to make up, go ahead and try 250 of them later. So the celebration and also this special day of Giving Tuesday, which is just a special recognition LaManda, last word. Giving Tuesday, podcast number 250, is the executive director of.
Speaker 4:Topeka Rescue Mission. What would you like to share, lamanda? I think just a thank you for what's already been done. You know, everything that we're doing every day at the rescue mission is really building upon what God started in 1953. And we just don't ever want to lose sight of where we've come from and the why of why it was established. We also want to depend on the Lord and the community to help us to continue on into the future of what is needed and to be able to keep up with community needs.
Speaker 4:But I think on this Giving Tuesday, what I'm reminded of is being in the present and right now, spending and devoting a day to asking community to financially support us, to spend a day in reflection.
Speaker 4:As you're watching the testimonial videos that we're pushing out, pray for those individuals, pray for our team, pray for our board of directors.
Speaker 4:So it is so important to always know where we came from and the why and where we're going, but not to overdo that, where we're missing out on the present and what God is doing, what God needs us to do.
Speaker 4:And I think Giving Tuesday is a reminder that, yes, the Topeka Rescue Mission needs financial support to continue to have a healthy budget to maintain keeping up with the needs that are being experienced all over our community, but also being able to move us forward in being able to meet the needs of the hurt and everything that we know, because of scripture, that's going to continue to come our way and we need that, so thank everybody for everything they've already done. I ask people to be in prayer and reflection, particularly today as we're talking about what we hope to continue to do, but I also ask for financial support on this Giving Tuesday to meet the basic needs that we're doing in the hopes of using that basic need to then gain trust, to gain stories, to backtrack, like John's analogy is to the first harmful event and to tell people that there's a Lord waiting to heal that harmful event and any other harmful events. And that is done often in our community through the Topeka Rescue Mission.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to Our Community, Our Mission, on this special Giving Tuesday of December 3rd 2024. It was episode number 250. And if you would like to participate in something that is fairly unique for Topeka Rescue Mission, you may notice the Topeka Rescue Mission doesn't have its handout a lot, but today it does. To be able to say this is important today to really focus on giving doesn't mean they're still not sheltering and feeding and they've stopped everything else, but they're really focusing on this. If you'd like to see some of these testimonials, you can go to TRM online dot org backslash giving Tuesday. That's TRM online dot org backslash giving Tuesday and you'll be able to see some of those there as well as if you just Google Topeka Rescue Mission. Thank you for being a part of today and every day thereafter, and also, as was mentioned here today on our community, our mission. Keep Topeka Rescue Mission in prayer for all of the wonderful people that find their refuge here.