Our Community, Our Mission
Our Community, Our Mission
Ep #270 – Empathy Born from Brokenness: Meet Brandan Thomas
What if your greatest trauma became your greatest ministry tool? Brandan Thomas, President and CEO of Open Door Mission in Houston, shares how growing up with a father suffering from schizophrenia prepared him to walk with compassion and understanding alongside those facing homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. What began as a one-month volunteer role turned into a lifelong calling. From planting churches to sleeping in shelters across the country on a motorcycle journey, Brandan’s ministry path is anything but ordinary—and deeply rooted in empathy.
In this powerful conversation, Brandan challenges common assumptions about homelessness, emphasizing that it’s not just a housing issue, but a complex human struggle requiring individualized, Christ-centered care. He shares the heart behind Open Door’s transformative recovery program and reminds us that real change begins with relationship. “More than they need your money, they need your care,” he says. Whether you're leading a ministry or simply wondering how to help, Brandan’s story will inspire you to see people differently—and serve with greater purpose.
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Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you, lord, for this day and your blessings and your provisions, god, we thank you, Lord, just for the work that you're doing, not just in our community, lord, but across the nation and across the globe. Lord, you are active, you are present and we are thankful for that. Lord, I pray your blessing over this time, this conversation, and, lord, that each listener that would hear it would be blessed and encouraged today. Father, we love you and we praise your name. Amen. We love you and we praise your name, amen.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody, thank you for joining us for our community, our mission. A podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission here on Tuesday, june 10th 2025. Lamanda, episode number 270.
Speaker 3:I know, isn't that amazing? That is amazing.
Speaker 2:Now, you weren't around here when we started this, and so you've been here for now three plus years as the CEO.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:LaManda Cunningham. And again I'm Barry Feaker, which I didn't mention that before in case, this is the first time you've ever listened to this, but I want to thank Josh for 270. So 30 more, josh, and we're going to be at 300. I know that's wild, isn't that wild?
Speaker 3:That's crazy, it's hard to imagine. Yeah, it is. And you know, I just have to say, barry, we just got back from the CityGate annual conference and I told Josh I lost track at 12 people 12, that randomly came up to me. I would be walking and they would say are you, amanda from Topeka? And I said, yes, we listen to your podcast.
Speaker 3:We listen to your podcast there is a group right now that is embarking on starting one and said that they have been listening to these just to kind of help give ideas and all of that, and asked if they could contact us for more information. If they had it, you know as they go and I said yes, like you don't even have to beg to steal it, we'll just let you steal it. We got the easy part, josh got the hard part.
Speaker 2:Make sure all the technology's working, but yeah, we got the easy part. Well, we're going to talk a little bit about CityGate Network today and we're going to have again a guest here today that we're trying to have once a month from the CityGate Network. We'll talk a little bit about that, but before that we want to get into the research and development departments special things about the importance of the day of June 10th across the globe, or at least in the United States, or at least at the Topeka Rescue Mission.
Speaker 3:But today is called.
Speaker 2:National Ice Tea Day. National Ice Tea Day. Okay, yeah, so you don't have a glass of ice tea today.
Speaker 3:I am, but you know it has to be sweet tea I know, you're from Arkansas, not unsweet, right?
Speaker 1:I was going to say the ultimate question is sweet or unsweet? That's right.
Speaker 3:And I think, unless I'm wrong, our guest, who also has roots in Arkansas, might like his sweet tea too Well, you keep loading up with. Arkansas people around here, my goodness gracious.
Speaker 2:Okay, we'll make this a short one. Today, y'all.
Speaker 3:That's right.
Speaker 2:So what was an essential component in 1904 that had to be in place for this to be National Ice Tea Day?
Speaker 3:I have no idea the sun.
Speaker 2:How about ice?
Speaker 3:Oh, okay, the reason I say the sun is I never knew this until my father, but he makes sun tea. Sun tea, yeah, and that's like his favorite thing to do when we go camping. He gets up super early and there is the pitcher over there in the sun, making sun tea.
Speaker 1:My problem is I don't think of it till like later. I'm like I really want some tea, so then I make it like boil the water for it Right on the stove.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so there's a lot of different ways to make the tea, but you can't have iced tea without ice.
Speaker 3:Correct. Yeah, okay, no brainer. Sorry, barry, I know I'm so depressed, I know, I know I'm just trying to train her.
Speaker 2:Okay, but there's something else and it's in your hand right now it's National. What day?
Speaker 3:Pin Day.
Speaker 2:Ballpoint. Pin Day Ballpoint. Oh, okay, yeah, it's amazing that we still recognize that because of all the technology today.
Speaker 3:And just, uh, we won't, we won't mention her name out loud, but A-L-X-E-A and then S-E-R-I, yes, so, because, she'll start talking back to us, but anyway, we can just tell her what to write, or him, or whatever you've got your thing set up, are you going to take the time to tell people about your struggle with your ballpoint pens?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 3:We might need to do an intervention.
Speaker 1:No, I'm talking to a therapist about it. I'm sure at some point listeners have heard it.
Speaker 3:I know, just in case you're a listener and you think Barry Feaker is perfect. I just want you to know that one of his imperfections is he is a pen clicker nonstop, and so if you could see us probably three times during this podcast, I'm going to be whacking his hand or grabbing the pen lid out of his hand.
Speaker 2:I think that you're all missing the rhythm by which I close my pen. I think, there's great artistic music, something or other. There it's something.
Speaker 1:Barry's actually doing Morse code for like SOS. That's right, probably so.
Speaker 3:And when I stress him out more, it does get faster.
Speaker 2:Actually I'm just talking to AI, trying to get ready for the next meeting this way. So Morse code. So anyway, one more thing. Again, it's national ballpoint pen day. If you still have one of those around the house, you might just recognize it and say thank you. And so it's national. And if you don't know how to click, I can show you how to do that in rhythm, so I don't just click at a podcast.
Speaker 1:I click all the time. I click all the time.
Speaker 2:That's right I never use my pen anymore, but I click my pen.
Speaker 3:So anyway, and when you're thinking or processing deeper, you do it more, yeah.
Speaker 2:You do not want me to quit?
Speaker 3:No, well, that's true.
Speaker 1:That's true. That's when you get concerned is that it's not clicking, that's right.
Speaker 3:What's wrong with Barry?
Speaker 2:Is he alive?
Speaker 3:Is he okay? Yeah, is he alive.
Speaker 2:Is he okay? Yeah, some people will chew gum, some people smoke cigarettes. You're a clicker and some people click the pen. Okay, all right. So anyway, one more special research and development department. This is a little more serious. It's National Forklift Safety Day. Oh, that's important around here.
Speaker 3:That's very important, isn't it? Yes?
Speaker 1:Shout out to our distribution center guys.
Speaker 3:Practice that forklift safety and all of that OSHA training.
Speaker 2:OSHA training. You know there's 35,000 to 62,000 injuries every year on forklifts in the United States. That's a lot. I mean you don't want to get injured by a forklift or injure someone else. Stub your toe on it is one thing, but you know I'm in the wrong place, wrong time. But 70% of those were preventable. Topeka Rescue Mission and rescue mission does you use forklifts and its distribution and moving stuff off of trucks and around and lifting stuff way up in the air and pushing it on big mezzanines and every day, so that you have plenty of supply and well-trained personnel to do it.
Speaker 3:so so I have a question did you ever drive a forklift? I did, they will not let me well, I wonder why I. Has anybody ever ridden in a cart with you? Can we cancel that out? Let's do a first time edit in the 270 episodes and edit Barry out for saying I can't start now I click the pin and you tell people to get out of the way when you're driving.
Speaker 2:So the same thing would apply with the forklift.
Speaker 3:I know, for some reason they do all the OSHA trainings and every year I'm like, hey, you know, because I feel like there's nothing here that I shouldn't do, especially if I'm asking someone else to do it, and everybody's like, nope, boss, it's okay. We're going to not do that and leave the forklift.
Speaker 2:I know what they probably said to you we really want to protect you, we do not want you to get injured. I have heard that, but we like to have these fun moments to be able just to kind of get us set up for just another part of what we do here on our community mission, which is very fun and also very meaningful. Today in relationship to the CityGate Network, we have another leader in the CityGate Network by the name of Brandon Thomas. Brandon is president and CEO of the Open Door Mission in Houston, Texas.
Speaker 4:Welcome Brandon. Welcome Brandon. Hey guys, thanks for having me Appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Brandon, citygate Network, as we've talked about before on the podcast, is an association of rescue ministries that have come together. Last I knew, there were about 300 of them in North America, that's the United States and Canada, I believe, and I think at one time there were some overseas as well, but I'm not sure where that stands now. It's been around for over 100 years, and so, lamanda, you've had the opportunity to be involved a lot with CityGate leadership and with what we call emerging leaders, and so talk to us about how you know Brandon, and I want to get into Brandon and him tell his story.
Speaker 3:Sure.
Speaker 3:So Brandon is just a dear, dear friend, someone that I also look up to, and have learned a lot in the about two years of knowing him.
Speaker 3:Brandon has done a lot with mission work, which you're going to hear about in just a minute, but one of his stops that he's made on his journey is to be vice president of CityGate Network before transitioning, and so I was able to kind of partner with him on a couple of different projects that we were doing, whether it was kind of this revamping of emerging leaders.
Speaker 3:He was really supportive of what Jordan and I felt like we needed to do and would hear what we felt like needed to remain the same but yet what needed to change, and so he was helpful with navigating that. We also did some work together with kind of this outreach that CityGate was once involved in with, called Hope in the Gate, where we were working with musicians out of Nashville to really bless guests and stuff of rescue missions that were coming out for kind of this retreat and this oasis, and so I worked with Brandon on a couple of focuses with that and you know there's just sometimes people that you connect with that you just know we're going to be friends and we're going to be colleagues, regardless of where it takes us in the world, and Brandon is one of those.
Speaker 3:And so I'm honored to know him. He does love Arkansas so that helps, you know, cover up some of the flaws he has.
Speaker 2:So what is this? The conspiracy of Arkansas to populate rescue missions around the country? Because I've heard about this more than.
Speaker 3:Arkansas is God's country.
Speaker 3:So I'm just saying but he is. He's just a neat guy, and I think one of the things that I value the most about him is how balanced he is with logic, professionalism and wisdom in today's society. But that doesn't trump what God is asking him to do, and so you see him at these DC forums, you see him in boardrooms, you see him advocating on state and national levels, but that doesn't trump the journey he's on with the Lord for ministry and for his family, and so I aspire to be that he's such a great example of both my opportunity to visit with him just briefly before we started recording here was very of both.
Speaker 2:My opportunity to visit with him just briefly before we started recording here was very, very good and he's a really engaging guy, brandon. Thank you for joining us again today, brandon. We want to talk about Houston what's going on there, but talk about your journey out of Arkansas. You escaped and what's your journey been to get where you are today as the CEO of Open Door in Houston.
Speaker 4:Sure, before I get into that journey, we do have to point out the fact that Arkansas is planning to beat LSU this weekend in Omaha on their journey to win the College World Series. So it's very important to point that out.
Speaker 2:So some of us would say so, because we're not even close in Kansas.
Speaker 4:Our Kansas, I'm told, is better than your Kansas. That's right.
Speaker 2:Our Kansas may be getting the Kansas City Chiefs here one of these days Can come up with the $3 billion to buy them.
Speaker 4:How about that?
Speaker 2:Anyway, yeah.
Speaker 4:Well then, I might cheer for them, that's right.
Speaker 4:So I'll tell you a little bit about my journey, uh, cause I think it's really what got me where I am, uh. So, uh, part of my journey is really recognizing where I grew up and how I grew up. Um, so I I again, as LaMana said, grew up in Arkansas, uh, and so typically I tell people that's why I talk funny. But now I live back down in the south where that's pretty typical, so I talk like everybody else down here. But we I actually grew up in a home with a dad who was schizophrenic, bipolar and really did not realize the effect that that had on me until later in life, not realized the effect that that had on me until later in life, and I just really honestly thought my dad was not a great person. It turned out it was the mental illness and the substance use was connected to him medicating his mental illness. So you fast forward.
Speaker 4:After I graduated from seminary, I really felt the call, a deep call, to be a church planter.
Speaker 4:So I ended up in northern Virginia, about 60 miles west of DC, in a town called Winchester Virginia, where, in 2013, started a church and really one of the coolest experiences of my life starting with 10 of my friends in a basement and watching God really grow that ministry in a big way.
Speaker 4:But through that journey, we truly had this desire. In 2013, when church planting was happening, there was two main questions that were asked of church planters, and the question was do you want to be a missional church or an attractional church? Those were kind of the hot aspects. Do you want to be a missional church or an attractional church? Those were kind of the hot aspects and my response to that question was yes, I want to be both. I think Sundays have to be at a certain level, but I also think that the heart of your ministry has to be based around being on mission. So we started serving at a pretty high capacity at our local rescue mission and through that journey, I was invited to be on the board of directors and in 2016, january of 2016, our CEO at the time stepped down and our board president asked me if I would step in and be the CEO for a month.
Speaker 4:And I said sure I can do a month because that's how they that's how they get you.
Speaker 2:Right, right, right Right.
Speaker 4:You're like I can do anything for a month, that's easy.
Speaker 4:And uh ended up being the thing that really, uh was most impactful in my life was getting the opportunity to step in and be the CEO of Winchester rescue mission.
Speaker 4:Uh, in that journey A I really watched God redeem my broken childhood. I began to realize why God allowed me the opportunity to grow up in the home that I grew up with and with the things that I had experienced, because it gave me an empathy for the men and women that we had the privilege of serving in Winchester. And so what I watched was these men and women coming in who were schizophrenic, bipolar and realize, you know, my dad's passed away and couldn't really do much to work on that relationship. But what I could do is the opportunity to serve these men and women who, because their family were exhausted because of the illness and because of certain things, be able to step in and love them and see how God redeemed the brokenness that I grew up in. And so I don't think I don't know if anybody really sets out to be the CEO of a rescue mission or get into this work.
Speaker 2:I think God uses this work to redeem, not just those that we get the privilege of serving, but it even redeems the broken parts of our life, and so Brenda, could you expound on that just a little bit, Because I know that people who are listening today they may have a relative, a loved one, who is homeless, has mental health problems. You grew up in that. That was very impactful, to say the least, I'm sure as you as a young person, and then ended up in the ministry. How did you see that God used you? Obviously, you're seeing people that may be reminded of your own dad. Obviously, you're seeing people that may be reminded of your own dad.
Speaker 4:But how did God bring healing to you through? Maybe what could have been more of a reinforcement of pain? Yeah, so for me I you know again, when you walk through what I walked through with my dad, I had a perception of my dad that really wasn't true and it was just a misunderstanding of the illness perception of my dad.
Speaker 4:That really wasn't true and it was just a misunderstanding of the illness. And so what God allowed me the opportunity to do is to become face to face with people walking through these same struggles and recognizing that. You know, something that I didn't recognize as a young man because I didn't have the capacity to recognize it, was that my dad actually, in his own way, actually truly did love me and he loved my sister and just didn't have capacity to show it because he was fighting his own sickness. You know, when you're faced with hearing voices every single day and you're faced with, you know, a chemical imbalance in your brain that causes you to go from depressed to angry, to overly excited on the turn of a dime, it's real tough to fit in there how you actually show and give love to kids.
Speaker 4:So again, I didn't recognize that as a young man, but as God gave me the opportunity to work with these men and women that he gave me the opportunity to work with, I began to realize their capacity for love and their capacity for care is probably deeper than anybody I've ever met.
Speaker 4:It's just a matter of them being given the right tools to be able to actually express that, given the right tools to be able to actually express that, and so where I got to see healing in that was for me. I began to realize my dad wasn't who I thought he was Not in a bad way. He was actually somebody who was just very sick, and had he had the right tools given to him, he probably would have been one of the best dads who ever lived. He just didn't have the tools given to him to do that, and so I watched God put me in a situation to help give men and women the tools to become the dad, the mom, the person God created them to be. And as you get to know people with schizophrenia bipolar, you also realize that they're some of the most brilliant and empathetic and caring people you'll ever meet, when given the right tools.
Speaker 2:But you, just by sharing what you share today. And then something that we've attempted to do here in Topeka and elsewhere is put a real face on this issue of who the homeless people that don't understand. They come to their own conclusion, write their own story, but, just like your own dad, if he had had the tools, he might have done things differently. Here you are giving people tools to do things, maybe differently. But also what you have talked about is oftentimes these are very intelligent people with a big challenge in their life who have a capacity to love, as maybe a lot of people don't understand, and I can only imagine what that's done in your journey to help people in your community. And then, of course, you worked at the government level, with people in Washington DC and so forth to paint a picture that's a true picture, so that's huge.
Speaker 4:Because a big part of that, barry, is the fact that you know our mental health system and it's not a misknown fact here. But, like, our mental health system is so broken, you know, 3% of people are experiencing mental like severe mental illness, like schizophrenia, bipolar schizoaffective disorder, mental like severe mental illness, like schizophrenia, bipolar schizoaffective disorder, and the resources available to those individuals are almost non-existent. And I could give us, you know, I could talk for hours on this of why it's non-existent, but what that ultimately leads to is a number of individuals who are schizophrenic, bipolar schizoaffective disorder, who end up on the street or in jail. And the truth is we would never, you know, if we treated people with diabetes the way we treat people with schizophrenia, people would lose their minds. But unfortunately, because schizophrenia schizoaffective disorder, bipolar is so difficult sometimes to deal with, or difficult sometimes to deal with or understand how to deal with, we just we end up putting these folks in jail or on the street.
Speaker 2:Well, I appreciate you allowing me to kind of interject there with the question, because I think what your journey that's a huge part of your journey and so, yeah, carry us on from there and how that maybe has continued to affect and influence what you do and everything else.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so while in Winchester honestly, winchester at the time was a dream job and I had no idea that I had that dream of a job. I absolutely loved the opportunity God gave me to serve in Winchester. But through that journey I built several friendships around the country with CityGate Network. Back in 2019, I had this crazy idea to ride a motorcycle from DC to LA and spend the night in shelters. So I did that and that got me. You know, that helped me build relationships with some of the greatest people on the planet running shelters, which led to an invitation two years ago to step in at CityGate Network and begin to work at CityGate with rescue missions all around the country.
Speaker 4:And again, probably one of the greatest joys of my life is I've been in a well over a hundred, maybe 150, missions to this point and I've gotten to see some of the greatest individuals on the planet doing some of the best work. You know it's easy when you turn the news on to see all of the things wrong with the world, but my job at CityGate gave me an opportunity to see what's right in the world. And, you know, I'm not sure in my lifetime we will see an end to homelessness, but I do guarantee by the end of my life we're going to see a real change in homelessness. Men and women like LaManda and you, barry, and other individuals that I could spend an hour naming across the country who are dedicating their life to serving those experiencing homelessness.
Speaker 2:What kind of hope do you have that things will be different and I assume that you mean improved from?
Speaker 4:where they are.
Speaker 2:What are some of those elements being in a hundred rescue ministries across North America. I think there's a book coming out of here someday with all those stories that ought to be really good to tell. But what are you seeing that? I mean, we've got a lot of issues, economically, post-pandemic, as you said, the mental health system broken, broken. We have a number of indicators that are talking about an increase in homelessness and what they call the graying homeless the 60 plus population estimated to be the highest percentage of homeless by 2030 and some real uncertainties. So here you come along. I've seen it, I've been there, I do it, but I have hope that it can improve. What's your hope? But I have hope that it can improve.
Speaker 4:What's your hope? Well, my hope is that the church will continue to do what the church has done. When things like this happen, the church mobilizes, and what I'm watching happen is the church mobilized around ministries, like you guys in Topeka and here Open Door in Houston. The church has mobilized around us to allow us to do the thing that's prescribed for us to do in Scripture. My journey into this, really, if I can tell a quick story, I'll try to keep it quick, but a big part of my journey into this.
Speaker 4:I had the privilege of going to Israel a couple of years ago and while I was in Jerusalem I saw this Donald Trump yarmulke and it really bothered me.
Speaker 4:It bothered me a whole lot I'm not getting political, so don't worry there but it bothered me. And the reason it bothered me was not so much the novelty of the deal, but what I realized was people outside of our faith think that we think that Donald Trump is the face of our faith and whether or not you agree with him or happy he's president or not, I think we can definitely agree without a doubt that he's not the face of our faith. Jesus is the face of our faith. Jesus is the face of our faith. But the concern that I watched happen was this is that the concern is that people outside of our faith think that we in the American church are seeking political power more than we are Holy Spirit power and unfortunately, I see some truth in that and why they have that perception. And so when you look at church history, every time in church history that the church sought political power, it didn't go well for the church. That's for sure.
Speaker 4:But if you look back at church history, when the church grew, when the church was at its best point, was when we were serving those that nobody else would serve. And I think the work that God's called us to do is what God's doing in the church of America and that we're going to get to be a part of, which is calling us back to serve those that nobody else is serving, and to serve in ways that most people wouldn't serve. And out of that, honestly, not only do we get to see God's power at work in a mighty way as he transforms lives, but we also get to reap the benefits in our personal life of God doing amazing things in and through us, which is what I think that is his desire and what he created us to do, and so why I have hope is I think we're watching a revival take place of the church, but it's through rescue ministries, probably more so than it is your typical local church.
Speaker 2:No, I think that's well said, and I think we do have to face things for they are. And and look at how we sometimes look for an answer outside of Christ and rescue ministries are focused on Christ. There's no, no disguising that, no hiding that. It's the. The power. Of the gospel is true, it sets people free and we're all about setting people free. Gospel is true, it sets people free and we're all about setting people free. Uh, that doesn't mean we don't work with everybody else.
Speaker 2:Um, in rescue ministry, um, there's a place for mental health and law enforcement and and uh, and, and veterinarians, and, and the list goes on and on, right and so, but, uh, there is a uniqueness about rescue ministries, that, um, that some people, uh um, are not aware of and some people are opposed to that. But the point, in fact, is that you've seen it, you've been on the ground, you've seen how God brings healing through suffering and the church. I think you're right. We've tried this war on poverty now for about 60 years. It hasn't worked so well.
Speaker 2:And so maybe it's time for another group to step back up to the plate and start swinging. And so then the question is how do they get trained, how do they get prepared? And I think that's where Rescue Ministries said yeah, we can show you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2:So from Colorado to now to Houston.
Speaker 4:And ultimately what happened is in Colorado. My wife has an autoimmune disease and actually got very sick back in the fall and actually almost died due to the complications from her autoimmune disease. And we found out through that journey that living in the high elevation was a contributing factor to her illness. And so God opened a door literally here in open for me to come and be the CEO. So we went from 7,000 feet above sea level to seven feet above seven feet and sometimes down there.
Speaker 2:If you haven't experienced yet, it'll be a little even below that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, well, that's what I'm told could happen later today, as we're expected to get quite a bit of rain, so yeah, so I'll get to experience maybe some of my first houston. Flooding, as I'm told, is kind of a normal thing around here, so I'm prepared. I wore my boots today for a session.
Speaker 2:So, brandon, you you've had some adversity in your life and you've seen God do some things through that adversity that has definitely helped other people, you know, I think I think a point that I don't want to miss here is that, through a big adversity in Colorado due to your wife's health got you to the next place Otherwise you wouldn't be down where you are with your boots on. And so when we look at these difficulties in life, we can be very disoriented about them, we can be very angry about them, we can be hopeless about them or seek God in the midst of them. And here you are as the CEO there in Houston at Open Door. So how long has Open Door been around?
Speaker 4:Seventy years.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right. So a long history there in the community I think I shared with you I'd been my first rescue mission with a different name other than CityGate. Back in the day it was called the International Union of Gospel Missions, but it was Star of Hope there and that's still a rescue ministry in Houston. Houston can use more than one due to the population size.
Speaker 4:We're the fourth largest city in the country, so we've got plenty of room to step in and help.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so talk about what does Open Door do in the area there in Houston.
Speaker 4:So currently Open Door is a ministry that primarily serves men and we hope to open a women's shelter at some point and move into more robust services. But over the last several years has really gotten known for its recovery services. So Open Door has a great recovery service. In fact, that's how I got connected with Open Door was one of my mentors, who has been in probably well over 200 of City Gates rescue missions, told me about a ministry in Houston that in his mind was the second best recovery program in all of CityGate, and so he said you got to check them out, you got to know more about them, and then a little did I know that soon they'd be looking for a CEO and ultimately I would end up here.
Speaker 4:But I got to see firsthand what their recovery program was like and the success that they're experiencing, and so now I get to sit in this seat and be able to be a part of it. It's really exciting because the recovery program here is pretty remarkable and well known in the Houston area for success. In fact I was at the CityGate conference last week as well, which I was sad I didn't get to see you. I was only there for a couple of days. I missed most of it because I was moving, but I even had some of the other ministry leaders from here in Texas tell me that they actually would send individuals to Open Door because Open Door is so well known for its recovery program, and so that's really where we excel the most is in our recovery program, and my hope is to continue to build upon that while also adding other services to continue to serve the community.
Speaker 2:For people who may not know exactly what you mean by recovery program. You know recovery from what and what do you?
Speaker 4:do there. So we we focus a lot on substance abuse disorder and recovery from that as well, as we we do offer quite a few mental health services, because we recognize that most people who have substance abuse disorder actually is co-occurring with some level of mental illness, and so if we can treat both of those while introducing them to a life connected to Jesus, that everything will change, and so I think that's the secret sauce for all that we do is not just our, you know abstinence-based recovery and giving folks the tools to deal with their you know childhood trauma and the traumas they've experienced, but also introducing them to Jesus, who has the capacity and the capability of changing everything.
Speaker 4:So what, uh, what I love is that we, um we, we really holistically help somebody walk through our doors, uh, recover from mostly, you know, substance abuse disorder, but wrapped within that is all the trauma they experienced as kids all the, all the um, uh, other mental health factors that led to the substance abuse.
Speaker 2:When you hear the term and maybe you've read the book homelessness is a housing problem. What comes to your mind?
Speaker 4:It is way more complicated than that. I sure wish, if that was all it was, we would have solved it by now. But every individual who walks through our doors and I'm sure the same for you their experience of homelessness is vastly different. And one of the things we say around here all the time is our program has to be a one size fits one, because every person's journey to homelessness is different.
Speaker 2:I have not heard that expressed that way before. I like that. One size fits one. That's right. That's very good. Well, yeah, it's very complicated and there's some different aspects that different rescue ministries can major in around the country and then be able to share that information with each other. Amanda, I know that CityGate has been very important to you, as coming into this work and going to your first conference probably blew you away with the connectivity of people, getting to meet people like Brandon and others. You've kind of mentioned it before, but knowing a guy like Brandon and knowing his story, knowing his journey and forget the Arkansas part but what is it that really encourages you, as CEO here in Topeka, Kansas, to know a guy like Brandon in Houston?
Speaker 3:You know, I think knowing people like Brandon and continuing friendships and camaraderie is one of the biggest defenses we can have against spiritual warfare. And I know that might sound cliche a little bit, but the enemy seeks to kill and destroy. And you know, when we see the first issue right in Genesis, he didn't come to Eve with something that would be so appalling that she wasn't tempted. He came in the form of causing doubt. And if I could say anything about leaders whether it's leaders that are associated with CityGate Network, leaders that are in the secular world one of the things that can eat us alive is doubt. And then that doubt creeps into maybe isolation or a loneliness, or hey, you're not doing this well. And then you know, then you don't have a network around you. And then you start comparison is the thief of joy. You start looking at other ministries or other leaderships and then you're like, oh, they're excelling and all of this is happening.
Speaker 3:And the next thing you know, you're crumbling as a leader and that is not at all what God wants us to feel like, and so being able to see a leader like Brandon, but then get to know him and realize that he too is walking through, you know family illness or things with his wife and wanting to be a great husband and still trying to juggle work and all of these things.
Speaker 3:It allows you, as another leader, to realize we're all more similar than not and that the Lord made us for fellowship. And just because you continue to get higher up in leadership levels, that does not mean you have to isolate more and more. The other thing that I think happens if we don't stay connected to people like Brandon and I could say a whole long list of people that I've been so blessed to meet, could say a whole long list of people that I've been so blessed to meet, particularly through CityGate Network is you, then, are not allowing yourself to be a lifelong learner. Because the other thing that's a challenge for me is I would love for somebody to track in a 24-hour period how many answers I have to give, right From little ones to big ones, to whatever yes Answers, with decisions and consequences attached to them.
Speaker 3:Correct, and that's something that I don't take lightly. And, yes, I do think I get discernment from the Lord and he guides us. But the next big thing, aside from the Lord and the truth and scripture, is people you're surrounding yourself with, and so the enemy wants us to isolate. One so that we crumble, but two so that we're no longer lifelong learners. And whether it's me watching Brandon's Facebook posts or the CityGate network, they have little discussion forums that you can use.
Speaker 3:We did two posts from TRM last week on it to gather other people's inputs, their thoughts, before we decide. One of them was linked to a new partnership, so before we're deciding yes or no on that and I got seven responses back, all to which helped guide me and Miriam and Courtney and some other ones that were, you know, in that discussion. So I think connecting yourself with people like Brandon, people like you and just other people that you can learn from, allows you to realize you're not in this alone and allows you to have a village around you. And then two, I think it allows us to continue to be sponges, because, although I need to be able to answer 150 questions in three hours, there are some times where I don't know what I don't know, and I'm humble enough to admit that that is not an area that I struggle with. I want to seek other wisdom and knowledge.
Speaker 2:Because you can't not answer. You have to have an answer, but you want to have a wise answer. And having these connections, different people, different experiences, I know when I first got into this, one of my closest friends was the head of the Denver rescue mission.
Speaker 2:He was a former aerospace engineer at NASA, yes, another one was a former banker in Lincoln, nebraska, and so forth, and so everybody comes into this work. I think, brandon you said it nobody really asked to do this. They get kind of pulled out in your situation. Hey, just do it for a month, you're going to be fine. But at the same time, the richness of the different people with different backgrounds, but you're sharing a commonality, even though things are vastly different in the way you approach things at Opendoor with the recovery program than maybe in Topeka. Just having these things that we can learn from each other. Brandon, you've got a credible story. The commitment is there. What gives you the greatest joy in what you're doing, in the position that you're in now?
Speaker 4:I could probably take an hour to answer that Truly. I think what gives me the greatest joy is watching somebody connect with Jesus in a real, tangible way that leads to the life transformation. We can give somebody all the tools in the world to succeed, but, apart from having the relationship with Jesus, their chances of success drastically go down. You know, the opposite of addiction is community, is community, and when we can connect people to Jesus, not only do you have the community with the creator of the universe that comes into play with that, it also gives you a built-in community with brothers and sisters.
Speaker 4:I think the thing that Amanda was just really highlighting was the fact that you know the beauty of CityGate Network and why I loved being a part of CityGate Network, is it created that exact thing. It created community. I had a community of other people to journey on this journey with, because it is a very difficult journey at times. We deal with some of the most tragic events on a daily basis, right, whether it's actually happening in our shelter or it's happened to the people that we serve. They've lived the most tragic lives of most people in your community and we're walking with that every day. So it gives us community. So for me short answer is when somebody connects with Jesus and community is formed because of that, it gives me joy because I know that person now has the greatest potential for success because they now have community.
Speaker 2:That's well said. And one more question for you, brandon, and what I've learned, maybe the hard way over the years, is that people really like to hear the story, they like to understand more. Those are all very important, but they want to know what they can do. Oftentimes I have failed to offer people how they can get in the game. So people are going to be listening to this in Kansas and Topeka. They're going to probably be listening to this in Houston and the CityGate Network and others. And so, as a sister ministry to Topeka Rescue Mission, what is it that people can do wherever they are? And maybe it's prayer, maybe it's tangible helping you there in Houston at Open Door Mission.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean always.
Speaker 4:You know we'll go today, because it's not small stuff but, like you know, praying for us and donating to us, whether it's tangible goods or financially always really helpful. But I think one of the greatest ways somebody can get involved if they want to get involved is, uh, you know, I'm always asked should I give money to the person at the stoplight, right? My answer is usually I'm not going to tell you not to do that, but what I am going to tell you more than they need your money, they need your care, and so the more we can seek to learn people's names, the more we can seek to learn their stories, the more God can shape our hearts and mold us to do what it is he's calling us to do. He's calling all of us to be involved in this in some way or another. But the quickest way to find out how God wants you to be involved is to actually learn who these individuals are that he's asked us to serve, because when we learn who they are, we learn where it is God's asking us to be involved.
Speaker 2:That's so well said. You know we missed that part. We want to give it off to the expert you being one of them, Amanda being another one, the ministries that you run Just hand them off to them. But what I heard is let's get a little more involved in people's lives, and when you get to know someone's name, that's huge. And a lot of our folks believe that they don't have a name because nobody recognizes them. I can just imagine on that day when we go to heaven and we're standing before there and the Lord comes up to us and goes what's your name? And so you really wanted to know your name, and so people right here on the earth want us to know their name, and that's powerful. Well, Brandon, thank you for joining us today on our community, our mission. Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Speaker 4:I just appreciate what you guys are doing. I appreciate your leadership, amanda. It's been awesome getting to know you and watch the journey God has you on, and I know that great things are going to happen in Topeka because he's placed you there as the leader. So keep up the great work and thanks for all you do to help folks like me feel connected in CityGate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're very welcome for all that and we're glad to be a part of this as well. And we've heard from Brandon Thomas, president and CEO of Open Door Mission in Houston Texas, another what we would call warrior on the battlefield, leading other people through the opportunities and the challenges of life to help people to know that they matter, and so thank you for listening today. If you would like more information about the Topeka Rescue Mission, you can go to trmonlineorg that's trmonlineorg and continue listening to our community, our mission, as we interview local people and then, once a month, visit with people like Brandon who are out there in the world doing great things. Thanks for listening.