Our Community, Our Mission
Our Community, Our Mission
Ep #316- God Runs Toward Us When We Finally Turn Back
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In this episode we discuss one of Scripture’s most powerful images of grace, the father who watches in Luke 15, and what it means that he does not simply wait for his son’s return but runs to meet him. Through stories of faith, compassion, and unexpected moments of care, we explore how God calls us to see people beyond labels, beyond assumptions, and beyond their worst decisions. Sometimes the greatest act of love is simply keeping watch for someone a long way off.
Opening Prayer And Welcome
SPEAKER_04Father, we just come to you with incredibly grateful hearts. Um I thank you that we are able to reach out to people to share our thoughts, share our hearts. Uh Lord, um there's just so much that goes on in this world. Um things that we hear every day that break our hearts, whether it's losing one of our neighbors, whether it's difficulties at home, whether it's sickness, what all of these things just weigh on us each and every day. Lord, I would just ask that you be in the middle of our conversation today and that you receive all the glory for what we discuss, what we talk about, um, and that it can hopefully draw someone who needs you closer to you. Lord, um help them to know that you pursue them, that you care for them, that you never abandon them. Lord, um we are just so grateful that you are our God and that you love each of us so desperately and want us close to you. I pray all of this in Jesus' precious name. Amen.
SPEAKER_01Hello, everybody. Thank you for joining us for our community, our mission, a podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission on June the 16th, 2025. This is episode number 316. I'm your host today, Barry Feeker, here with uh one and only Marian Crable, who is Director of Strategic Development. Good morning. I am, good morning.
SPEAKER_04You are and actually I'm not that anymore.
SPEAKER_01You're not.
SPEAKER_04I have a new title. Uh-oh. It's June. Well, it's June at TRM. That's right.
SPEAKER_01That's right. Yes, that's right.
SPEAKER_04No, I am the Chief Strategy Officer. Chief Strategy Officer.
SPEAKER_01Okay. CSO. Exactly. All right, I'm writing down C S O. And then next time I'll say, what does that mean? Exactly. Okay, well, CSO. We also have the one and only Mike Shottle, who has been here a number of times, who is the director of spiritual wellness and discipleship. Last I knew. Yes. So is that still have a running title of made-up titles, but nothing's changed. Well, that's why we have long doorways, so you can just keep all the different pilots. Exactly. So yeah, absolutely. So okay. Well, we want to talk about something cool today called Step Up Beds that you may have heard about. We're going to do that in a minute. And then we want to interrogate, I mean, interview Mike today in regards to uh a newsletter that came out at the beginning of this month. We're going to talk about that in a minute. But before that, for all of those who really tune in, actually you don't tune in, you just turn on uh the podcast of our community, our mission. Uh we're not we're not tuning in yet. We don't have our live radio program on this, do we?
SPEAKER_04Uh no.
SPEAKER_01How about a taped one?
SPEAKER_04Well, no.
SPEAKER_01No. No. Okay. Do people still record, yeah. But like I'm still carrying a pen around, buddy.
SPEAKER_00I've got a fountain pen in my look at that.
unknownThat's a fountain pen.
SPEAKER_01That's really good. So does that have uh uh Coca-Cola in it or it comes with all different kinds of fountain. Oh, that's good.
SPEAKER_00Right now it's uh that's a Dr. Pepper.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes. So some some people some people have wondered uh why we then go through the Research and Development Department's findings about what's special about the day that we're in. This is June the 16th, 2025. And there's some national uh recognitions. The main reason we do this is this gives me an opportunity to put Merriam and Willamandis here on the spot and tell them to feel very embarrassed because they don't know the answers to these things, even though the answers in front of them. But sometimes they don't read what the answers are.
SPEAKER_04So we try to be authentic, people.
SPEAKER_01You do, you really do. You're very authentic very much of the time, especially the looks that I get are very authentic looks.
Fudge Veggies And Sea Turtles
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes, so anyway, for those of you who really have turned on, uh plugged in uh the tape of uh the uh our community, our mission. Uh today is National Fudge Day. National Fudge Day. Yum. Yum. I agree with that. Yes, please. Yum. So what's why would somebody have a National Fudge Day? What's what's what's special about it? And when was it actually developed? And why?
SPEAKER_04I think this was so interesting. And I did not know this. The only thing I know about fudge, I like it. You just like it. Uh-huh. I like it. I like it when it's good. If it's not good, it's not a good thing. But how interesting is this that it has historical ties to women's colleges? Aaron Powell, Jr.
SPEAKER_00That is wild. That is. Yeah, I did not know that.
SPEAKER_04Aaron Powell And invites everyone to indulge. But I'm curious about that. So was that because in the 19th century women's colleges were teaching women to cook?
SPEAKER_01I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I'm not going to go there. Okay. But seriously, I just got back from vacation. My sister is the uh she I don't know her title, but she works for Holy Cross in South Bend. So the college that partners with Notre Dame. Yeah. Holy Cross initially was just a men's college. And the the fathers that the the priests that founded Holy Cross were like, okay, well, we're going to educate the men. And then the nuns were like, hold on a second. If you're just going to do the men, we're not here just to wait on you hand in foot. We want to educate the women too. Uh-huh. So then they were like, we're not just going to cook for you, we're not just going to do everything working. Yeah. Uh-huh. So they were like, oh, that's incredible. So then St. Mary's is still St. Mary's in South Bend, too. They're they're they're still in education and everything. It's still a women's college. Interesting.
SPEAKER_01So we don't really know why. No. But we do know that there is a common thought when you think of the word fudge. What flavor do you think of?
SPEAKER_00Chocolate.
SPEAKER_01Chocolate. But there's all other kinds of things.
SPEAKER_00There's chocolate peanut butter. Shoot, being from Michigan, and I was telling I was telling Miriam right before we started this. Tourists that are like in Mackinac City, uh Mackinac Island, you have the Mackinac Island fudge. Um tourists are called fudgies, but like they you think of the flavor they make it, like Traverse City Cherry Fudge, mint chocolate chip fudge, maple fudge, maple fudge, cookies and cream fudge, turkey and gravy fudge. Let's make this a short podcast and get out of here.
SPEAKER_04Don't we need to call Gary Stark?
SPEAKER_01We do, man. That's a that's a yeah, Gary's berries, they do the fudge all the time. Yeah. So it's National Fudge Day, and um everyone's encouraged to indulge. However, we have to follow it up with another National Day that's very important to counteract that. It's called the Antidotes. It's fresh veggies day. I know. Isn't that something probably start with the veggies and then work into the votes?
SPEAKER_00To dessert, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So Barry, do you have a favorite veggie?
SPEAKER_01Hmm. Yeah. Sort of.
SPEAKER_04What is it?
SPEAKER_01Salad. Mm-hmm. Okay. Tost. Maybe salad. That's my favorite veggie. That's your favorite veggie. Okay. Well, you know. Kind of depends on the day in the moment and the crispus, crisp crisp crispness. The crispiness. And what I smother it with.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's the dressing. You do that for the dressing. We know.
SPEAKER_01So anyway, this is the time of year to eat your veggies and make sure you get some fudge. Yes. Okay, one last very important uh part of today research and development. They just try to expand the horizon here. Yeah. So we went from fudge to veggies to World Sea Turtle Day. I know in Kansas we look forward to that all the time. All the time. World Sea Turtle.
SPEAKER_04All the time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Actually, I have not not here in Kansas, but I think the sea turtle thing is fascinating because they lay their eggs on the shore and then all of a sudden you see all these babies erupt and run toward the ocean.
SPEAKER_01How do they know that? How do they not go the wrong way?
SPEAKER_04Isn't that fascinating?
SPEAKER_01I've seen that too. It's amazing. They all hatch about the same time. Exactly. And then they invade the beach from head into the ocean, little tiny things which turn into monsters.
SPEAKER_04Yes, they turn into very big things, but they're very they're not aggressive. Oh no. The big ones. They're not like a snapping turtle.
SPEAKER_00They grow the size of like a Honda Civic. Exactly. They do.
SPEAKER_01If they survive getting that old, because obviously there's some other kind of creatures out there going, ooh, this is National Sea Turtle baby. I know.
SPEAKER_04Then they eat the babies.
SPEAKER_01They do, yes.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, they eat the babies. That's why they have to have so many.
SPEAKER_00According to finding Nemo, they get older than a hundred years old.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. That's right. I forgot that.
SPEAKER_04Well, the babies got eaten, but many live.
SPEAKER_01Many live. Most live, yes, most live for a very good life. Long years. Yes. Okay. Now uh that that part's over. You guys did really good on this. So we read this.
SPEAKER_00Almost like we had the words right in front of us.
SPEAKER_01I'm glad you got it before this morning so you're prepared. Okay. So,
Step-Up Beds For Safer Shelter
SPEAKER_01Miriam, real exciting things happening with basic service to People Stake at Topeka Rescue Mission. It's something called step-up beds.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_01Talk about that.
SPEAKER_04You know, Barry, one of the things that we try each and every day to do is bring dignity to the people that we serve. And one of the things that we know with the population that we serve, with sometimes the abilities of the population that we serve, it's very hard for people to get into our bunk beds. Sometimes it's because of age, sometimes it's because of different kinds of abilities. All these things really impact the ability for people to stay with us. If we only have top bunks available, there are just folks that can't navigate that. It's just not safe. And some of them just physically cannot do it. So there is something that we are investing in called step-up beds, which will now allow more people the ability to access all of our sleeping quarters, right? Because there are just steps now to this cool little unit.
SPEAKER_01Not a stair or a ladder, but actually steps like you were in a house.
SPEAKER_04Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_01And there are not a lot of steps.
SPEAKER_04And no, it's just four, three or four steps to get up into a bunk, which will then make our sleeping quarters completely accessible or s uh almost a hundred percent accessible to just about anybody. Almost kind of like little private cubicles, too. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01So it's a revolutionary way to help people to feel safe. Absolutely. And they are safer coming in and out of those beds.
SPEAKER_04Aaron Powell Yes, and there is just a sense of dignity in my mind because um there is some privacy. You know, when you're in a room with 13 other people, um you don't necessarily feel like you have any space to yourself.
SPEAKER_01Well you don't if you're just in a standard bunk bed.
SPEAKER_04Correct. And and even with these, you will still be around a lot of people, but there is some like privacy space that will be awarded because of these beds. And so we're so excited. Um we got our first unit uh put together yesterday, so now it's about raising more money so that we can fully um be able to put these up in in all of our rooms.
SPEAKER_01There's an initial investment in this by uh um a a company that invested in this. Um uh City Councilwoman Hiller helped facilitate that. Absolutely. Which was very grateful to her for that. Um and uh that was the first initial um gift of around ten thousand dollars. Yes. And so to do all of the needs of TikTok rescue mission, it's probably pretty close to a quarter million dollars.
SPEAKER_04It absolutely is. So we definitely need more people to invest. Um, and we'll be releasing some ways that they can do that and the ways that we could recognize people even for their investment of this kind of situation in really helping people to um gain back some dignity um and have a safe place to be and not have to worry about falling out of bed, getting up into that bed. The there's just so many positives that are attached with these step-up units.
SPEAKER_01Rescue mission annual report from last year identified a very shocking percentage of people who are disabled to speak of rescue mission. The number of people who suffer from some type of disability who are experiencing homelessness is rising.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_01Not all of that is physical disability, some of it's mental disabilities and so forth, but many that you see that um are staying at the rescue mission or even on the streets today, got a um email the other day from uh someone who's reaching out in the streets. He said, What's going on? We're seeing more and more handicapped, disabled people homeless. And uh if you read all the statistics, all the reports, get ready for more. Sure. So to pick rescue mission is getting ready for more. Of course. Uh with step-up beds. So people who you know, uh I think somebody's listening to this right now, they think, you know, somebody needs a safe place, needs a bed, but they need to be able to get in it and get out of it. And so while it's not a nursing home, um there are many, many situations that the rescue mission can be prepared to take care of people in a much safer way, much more dignified way. And of course there's a cost to that, but it's well worth the investment.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, it it's what we need for the people that we care for, right? I mean, and so we have to always be looking for ways to bring better service, you know. I I think I've heard you say it, I know I've heard Lamanda say it. If we know better, we do better. That's right. Right? And we know that this is better. So um, we're so grateful for our first investor with Kansas Capital Group, them being willing to step forward and give us um the first amount of money that was able to build that first unit. It's great. So we have four new beds and we're excited.
SPEAKER_01That is. And so uh there will be some more information coming out. Yes. People that want to give, they'll be go to the Topeka Rescue Mission website or the Facebook page. There'll be some uh information off. Absolutely. Awesome. That's great. Wish they were around when I was here. It would have been so much greater. So, anyway, we have uh Mike again.
Rembrandt And The Prodigal Son
SPEAKER_01We said we would interrogate him today um in regards to this position of Director of Spiritual Wellness and Discipleship, which is still the same title since we started, which is good. Uh Mike, um Speaker Rescue Mission uh produces a uh newsletter every month that uh goes out in people's mailboxes and people can read it. Um June is Father's Day. There's always a general intention to recognize that. But this particular newsletter was about a story in the Bible about the prodigal son. And so unpack that for people who maybe didn't get it, haven't read it, or maybe they didn't forgot it, or whatever. What was the general theme of the newsletter for June of 2026? Um and so um, you know, when I introduced this podcast, I said it was 2025. So please You did? I wrote it right down here, 2025. Isn't that something? So are we 25 or 26? I don't know. Anyway, this is 2026, y'all. So uh this is not an old podcast. This is really fresh. Uh that's kind of funny.
SPEAKER_04I didn't even catch it.
SPEAKER_01I didn't until I look down. I go, I actually wrote down 25. I don't know why. Anyway, um I'm having coffee. Uh need some fudge. Uh anyway, Mike. The newsletter for June of 2026 uh is um um about the prodigal son story. So unpack a little bit about what that newsletter was, and then I'm gonna have a few questions for you. And Mary Mull as well. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Um so the gears for this one just kind of started turning honestly, probably May last year, so 2025. Uh 2025. I'm so intuitive. Yeah, you are. So at the end of May, beginning of June, uh Lamanda and Miriam, Scott and Marcus went out to Phoenix for the Citigate conference. Um that was kind of the theme for the the Citigate Conference in 2025. I didn't go, but the gears were turning for them on that aspect. Heard about it. Yeah, heard about it, saw one of the the uh messages from Bishop Claude Alexander. Um my side of the story, I was finishing up my master's degree with City Vision University in Kansas City, Missouri. Shout out CVU. Um, one of my classmates, uh Wayne Earl, he is at the Bay Area Rescue Mission out in California. Uh some of the classes that we were in together with, he had a painting behind him on the Zoom calls. And this painting haunted me. Um I'd seen it before, but never really kind of looked into it of what it was. I knew it was the prodigal son, I knew it was a painting of the prodigal son. But really just kind of that catching my attention, and then realizing that one of my favorite theologians, authors, Henry Nowen, uh wrote a beautiful, beautiful point of view of the return of the prodigal son of Rembrandt's painting. And this was the painting. 1669, it was done. Um I could not shake how much I loved this painting because it depicts a repentant son who you can see still the color red that is in his robes, the shoes that he's wearing, the soles are falling off. And then you have different points of view. You have the bro the older brother that's looking upon his father and his younger brother with almost like a jealousy. Are you kidding me? I've been here for this long and I get nothing. And then there's officials, um maybe like a uh financial advisor of the father who's sitting there too, and then there's one character in the shadows that's looking at you. And the longer that I look at it, the more it haunts me. It's almost the look of saying, Do you realize what's happening here? And it it is so moving and so beautiful. So then that then catapulted everything. I ended up wanting to get the painting for my office. I got it for Christmas, it's hanging right above my computer.
SPEAKER_04You've got the original?
SPEAKER_00I have the original Rembrandt in my office. It's eight feet wide. Got it from St. Petersburg, Russia. From the Hermitage Museum. So just kind of looking at that, we always kind of think the point of view of the sun, the repentance of the sun, of even even my father's servants live a better life than I do. You know, just selling all of your oats and the all of the inheritance.
SPEAKER_01So let me pause you there just a second. Uh uh Talk a little bit. What is if somebody doesn't know the story, uh-huh, what's the story? What's what's the summary of the story?
SPEAKER_00Right. So Luke chapter 15, verses 11 through 32. I had to write that down. That's not Luke 11, it's Luke 15, 11 through 32. There's this there's this very rich father who has two sons. He has an older son and a younger son. The younger son goes to his father and he says, basically, you're dead to me. I want my inheritance. Now I'm out of here. So the father goes, Okay, here you go, here's the money. The the guy, the kid goes and sells all of it. The parties, the the the drinks, the food, the women. He blew it. He blows all of it. He finds himself laying in a pig trough eating the pigs' food, which also in that culture you don't touch pigs.
SPEAKER_01That's not cool today, eating pigs' food. Back then it was what they call abomination. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Like it is horrible to even be around those kind of animals. He's the lowest of low. Yes.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And he thinks if I just go back to my father and plead with him, maybe I can live a bit a better life than I am now.
SPEAKER_01I mean, he would be willing to be the servant rather than the son now.
SPEAKER_00Yes. The servants live better than what I'm living. Let's just do that. So then the other point of view is so the son returns and he goes. And in verse 20, it says that while he was a long way off, meaning the father saw his son while the son was a long way off. What does that mean? The action has to be the father's looking, he's looking for him, he's expecting, he's waiting for his son to return. We don't know how long his son had been away, but he is still looking and hoping that maybe on the horizon his son's going to show up. And who's telling him, like, just give up all hope. He's not coming back. He literally just gave you the middle finger and he's not coming back. And if he does come back, tell him what it's like.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you blew it out of here.
SPEAKER_00You're done. Bye-bye. But while he was a long way off, what does it say? It says that his father was filled with compassion and he ran to his son. He didn't walk, he didn't throw stones at him or any insults. Actually, too, with what you're saying, with he didn't throw any stones at him. With with one of the ways that Bishop Claude Alexander kind of painted it was is there were probably people that were between him and his son. So he's running to his son to be like, no, no, you're not going to harm him. He didn't wrong you, he wronged me. And what am I doing? I'm running to him to protect him. And what does it say? He hugs him, he kisses him, he says, Behold, my son was dead, but he has come back from the dead. Let's take a fattened calf. Let's kill it. Let's have this party of all parties. For my son has returned to the living. And he and the son's like, no, Dad, I messed up. I messed up. And this is where I think Rembrandt did such a beautiful job depicting this painting because what do you see when somebody's really mad? Like in a painting in a picture, they've got they've got things, they're ready to throw hands. But the softness of the father's hands touching his son's shoulders and the reassurance that, yes, paintings don't talk, but they do. That his that the father is saying to the son, It's okay. I forgive you. Thank you for coming back. I waited for you.
SPEAKER_01Now let's party. He didn't say, okay, you can sign up to be the servant now. Right. He brought him right back into the relationship with the father. Yep. What a powerful story for all of us. Yeah. You know, so much time, so many times with the people who've experienced homelessness and there's been some decision they made in their life for whatever reason, uh, they feel like they can never fit in again. They feel like that they're never loved, there's not any value or whatever. And the message of that story alone is that God says they're important, they're valuable, they want them back, and we should, as followers of Christ, also emulate the same thing that, okay, you may have messed up. However, God loves you and he wants you with the family.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And Henry Nowen puts it perfectly in his book, The Return of the Prodigal Son. He says, Jesus wants to make it clear, and I also quoted this in the newsletter. Uh, Jesus wants to make it clear that the God of whom he speaks is a God of compassion who joyously welcomes repentant sinners into his house. If God forgives the sinners, then certainly those who have faith in God should do the same. If God is compassionate, then certainly those who love God should be compassionate as well. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01We're to be imitators of Christ. Well, I I cut you off there. I just wanted for people that maybe don't know that story. That's a powerful story. And uh go read it. It's Luke 15, uh chapter 15, verses 11 through 32, uh, that you can pick up that. I've used that that that that uh passage so many times at funerals. It's it's amazing how it speaks to everybody in the audience. Sure. Because we're all prodigals. We've all kind of gone away from God and that he says, hey, uh come on back.
SPEAKER_04But but he does more than that. In the prodigal son, the thing that struck me, it struck me last year, and every time I hear it now, it's what I can't not hear, which is he didn't just wait, he ran to him, right? And to think about the father pursuing us when we've done anything but bring glory to him is overwhelming. Is overwhelming. So when we talk about, you know, we'll always be here for the people that want to come to us, right? Are we pursuing them? Are we going out there to bring them back home? That to me, that for me is that kicking point in that story or in that uh story, yeah. Um in terms of what God is really telling us. It's like, look, I'm coming for you. All you have to do is just turn toward me.
SPEAKER_01And that's the key there, too. The individual has to make a decision that they want to come. Yeah. It's not like we can go make people receive love. We can't make people want to be healed, we can't make people want to seek out sobriety. They have to be at that place and we need to be ready.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_01And for them.
SPEAKER_04And be turned, right? It's about constantly seeking. I I think that's just so amazing that the God of the universe is just waiting for us to turn toward him and he is there, right? He is there. That to me is just almost unthinkable.
SPEAKER_01Powerful, powerful. Well, the the the theme of the newsletter is the father who watches.
The Father Who Watches And Prays
SPEAKER_01And you've kind of unpacked that. And you also praise. So you kind of unpacked uh that, but why right now? Why is this a timely message? Obviously, it started for you in May of 2025 hearing about it. Why now? Yes, Father's Day month, those kind of things. What else?
SPEAKER_00Um I mean, the the big thing is is you know, last year and the year before, because I think this is the third Father's Day that I've written the newsletter for. Um you know, we we want to have something that honors honors the father during the month of June. Um and this one I think is really big because last year we did the uh I think we focused on the he is good. Uh I I quoted um Chronicles of Narnia in that one with, you know, is is Aslan is he safe? Of course he's not safe, but he's good. Um this aspect is is that, you know, my earthly father, best dad I could have ever asked for, even not asked for. Um how patient he's always been with me, how he has taught me to lead with a quiet strength, um, sometimes a loud strength, uh with humor. Um but not everybody has that. Not everybody has that father who uh has told them that they love them. Not everybody has had the father of um knowing what support is, knowing what selflessness is. So this this year and this month was more of a hey. Folks, I know your dad was not a dad, was not a father. But there's good news. You may be in that pig trough thinking nobody loves me, nobody cares about me. But there is a father who cares. There is a father who watches and longs and prays. And oh, but God prays. Yes, he does. I mean, Romans 8 says that he intercedes on our behalf, and that's actually coming up in the next month uh for the newsletters. But the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf, groans for us on our behalf.
SPEAKER_01And that's very hard for some people who have had a bad experience with a parent, um, whatever their upbringing is, and yet we are called to um watch for them and pray for them. What does that practically look like that that the father and the prodigal son was watching, praying for his son to come back? What does it mean for us as people who um whether rescue mission or whatever we do in life as Christ followers, what does it mean to watch and pray over the people that God has entrusted to in a practical level? Because it's easy to drive by and say, Oh, there's a homeless person. Oh, well, they're still here. Oh, oh man, they're panhandling, or this or that, the other thing, and just check. I noticed, but I'm not watching for them other than if they cross in front of me, or I'm not praying for them. What does it mean and what is the value of watching and praying for?
SPEAKER_00I think that's what the compassionate and the empathy really is. Um of the lines that I say all the time to staff, to volunteers, um, is what my mentor from college always said is people often have a very valid reason for why they act the way they do. Something happened to them in the past, and we have to ask ourselves what must have happened, and then to understand that they're not just homeless. There's a brokenness that's inside of them. And when we understand that why, we have to put ourselves out there, whether we understand it or not, we have to pray for them and feel that they're not just a nuisance, they're not a waste of space, they're not an eyesore, they are created in God's image. And the moment that we have that love that you know what, they're they're created by God and God loves them. We have to be the we have to be the instrument to reach out, however that looks like. Just even even just saying, Hey, I see you, I love you, I want to help you. Again, they have to be willing to turn just like the sun does. But when we don't just see them as an eyesore or as a nuisance, or just a problem that needs to be taken care of, but as an individual that is fearfully and wonderfully made, then I think that's when barriers start to get torn down when when dignity is given rather than, you know, what no, you messed up, you stink, um, maybe go take a shower and then we'll then we'll talk.
SPEAKER_01Um not everybody um necessarily knows how to, feels comfortable with engaging for some with someone they don't know, uh, like somebody who is experiencing homelessness. But that does not say, okay, we don't have responsibility here. Right. And so about the watching and praying is that there is a value in um seeing people, uh, not necessarily understanding the why of what you see, but for praying for them.
When You Learn Someone Prayed
SPEAKER_01And talk about that. Um, maybe in the in the in the framework, Miriam, you this is for you as well. Have you ever been aware of somebody who had been praying for you that you didn't even know about and later learned in life that they'd been praying for you? Have you ever had that experience? And if you did, what kind of impact was it later on that you discovered that somebody had been praying for you and it was revealed maybe years later? Um Sure.
SPEAKER_04It you know, I'll tell you that it wasn't exactly years later. I was going through a Bible study um about a very particular issue, and because it was a heavy issue, um they also had people who only knew me as a number and I didn't know them praying me through this entire Bible study. And I would get cards every week from them, not with a name that I didn't, I still don't know their names, right? They still don't know my name. I'm just a number. And it was stunning to me how their prayers were spot on every week, right? Spot on to whatever I was struggling with in the lesson, whatever I was struggling with emotionally, whatever I was going through. These cards showed up that talked about how they were praying for me, the issue that they were praying for me about. I still don't know who those women are.
SPEAKER_01So you didn't really know them, they didn't know you necessarily, but there was something happened here that was revealed to them about who they were praying for.
SPEAKER_04Through the Lord.
SPEAKER_01What does that say to you?
SPEAKER_04Oh, that honestly, it is almost it almost takes speech away from me because it means that the Heavenly Father was through the Spirit, through the Holy Spirit, communicating to these women what I needed. And that not only what I needed, but that I needed to know that the Lord was involved. It wasn't these women being in, yes, these women were vessels, right? But it was showing me each and every time that the Lord cared specifically for me because the other women in the study were getting these cards too, not from the people that were praying for me. And the messages to them were very specific to them. And again, these women didn't know us. We didn't know them. There was no like personal connection that could have led people to know how to pray.
SPEAKER_01So there's a third party involved here. Yeah, that that it's it's it's there's no way that they could know about somebody that they don't know, other than there's a number here. And so they have to get a download of information about how to pray for that person. That doesn't come out of the thin air. Correct. That comes with something.
SPEAKER_04Just like the people that we pray for, right? So if I see someone on the street who appears to be homeless or appears to be struggling with something, I don't know them. So all I can do is go to the Lord and say, Lord, n tell me, tell me how to pray for this person. Or even if I don't know that I'm just lifting them up to the Lord because He knows what they need, He knows how they need to be touched. But Lord, you know, sometimes I think my prayers for the people we serve are more about Lord, what do you need me to do to touch them versus Lord, do this for them. But Lord, what do you need from me to be able to help folks even just get a glimpse of you?
SPEAKER_01So Yeah, there's so many different levels of that. But you know, first of all, we have to notice, we have to see. Yeah, it's like the father and the prodigal, he was watching for his son. Um we need to, you know, be watching for people who God has assigned us to watch for. And if we don't know what to do, that's kind of a good thing sometimes, that we can pray. Yes. Yeah, we can just pray. Mike, uh, have you had an experience in your life where you can recall somebody praying for you that you didn't know about.
SPEAKER_00It didn't come full circle until about a couple years ago, which I've shared this before on the podcast, that the the church that I grew up in, uh, the lead pastor back in the 80s, you know, felt the Lord's calling that at 10.02 every single day prayed to the Lord of the harvest for the labor, the the harvest is plenty, but the labors are few. Uh, he believed that the Lord was going to be calling multiple uh men and women, children at the time into the ministry. And I was one of like 35 that was called um into ministry. So that happened in the 80s, all throughout the 90s, me growing up, and then uh 2010 I went off to college, and there was a couple, uh, older couple in the church that um they were always there, they were friends with with my grandmother, um, and she had passed away June of 2010. Um I just thought that Jane was just writing letters to me in college and to those that were going into the ministry in college because she's got an impeccable humor and an impeccable care for the younger generations. Um every month I would get these letters of her just sharing her heart and sharing prayers and really just intentionally investing in me. And I thought, well, what the heck is this all about? Why is she sending why is Jane Shember sending me a letter in the mail at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana? Why is she doing that? Because she's funny, because she because she cares? What is it? No. I know now beyond a shadow of a doubt that she knew what that prayer was back in the 80s. That even though I was called, I still needed that prayer because I didn't know where I was going to be going. I said to my best friend, my roommate, my sophomore year in college, he's a he's a police officer in South Bend, Indiana now. Uh we grew up together, so he's getting letters two from Jane. But I said to him, I will not pastor anywhere. Or I I will pastor anywhere except Ohio or Iowa.
SPEAKER_01That's always a really smart thing to do.
SPEAKER_00Really smart thing to do. Luckily, the Lord had mercy on me and he sent me to Iowa. Um, not Ohio. Um sorry, Ohio. But through that entire time of me saying I'm not gonna pastor in Iowa or Ohio, the Lord goes, nah, you're gonna pastor in Iowa. Why? Why would I be in southwest Iowa for three years wanting to just rip my beard hair out because the Lord was preparing me through prayers, like Jane Shember, to start me to come down here to Topeka, and now I am doing something that I never would have dreamt that I'm doing. It all makes sense now.
Two Listeners Prodigal Or Watcher
SPEAKER_01You know, there's so much depth in this, and and we're gonna have to wrap it up here today. But uh, you know, I mean, we could go further and further. But but the the listener out here, I I think there's two kind of just categorically a couple listeners. One is a person out here that maybe just needed to hear this today, that you might be the prodigal. Um you may feel like you are not wanted, you've messed up, there's no hope for you, there's this, it's it's over, and it's not. It's not. Just know that there is a heavenly father that already knows what where you've been, what you've done, but he also knows the why. He knows your hurt, he knows, he knows your heart. And in spite of what you did yesterday, uh, in spite of maybe what you're doing right now, um, God still is saying, Come on, let's do this. Come on back. And um, and when you say, Well, I've never been with the Lord, how can I come back? Yeah, you really have. You just didn't know it. Um, and just uh just know that He He uh He wants you forever. So just take that to heart and just know that we're all prodigals. Um you may be seeing yourself that way. Maybe you've been the prodigal and you've come back and um and you're still confused. Just know that the Father still loves you in your confusion. We don't go from uh zero to sixty in you know one second on this whole journey of walking with the Lord. But but he he uh he's patient. Thankfully, he's patient, and uh and he's gonna he's gonna continue to be there with you um thick and thin, regardless of how you see it or understand your ability, because you really can't do anything without him. And he can do all things. The other person that may be listening this today is the person that says, What is my opportunity, my responsibility? What can I do to be able to be effective in the kingdom of God, to be there looking for, watching for someone and praying for them. And that is um, just like uh the people that both of you have shared that was uh praying for you, you didn't know exactly why. The Lord wants to use us in this partnership of a person who is maybe being the prodigal is out there, somebody who is seeing that, not knowing what to do, but going to the father about this and saying, Lord, how do I pray for this person? How do I how do I be ready to love them? Maybe, maybe I don't do anything more than just pray. But oftentimes we say, Well, there's nothing I can do, so I don't even do that. How much more effective would we see, even here at the rescue mission, um, throughout our country, uh, everywhere in regards to this issue of homelessness or human trafficking or domestic violence or violence, if we did more intentional praying and watching? And people say, Well, I, you know, I guess I could pray. Well, maybe start there. Start there and then see what the Lord reveals to you. So, whatever your situation is as a listener right now, just know that uh God loves you both ways, and he wants to invite you into his space to walk with him, whether you've been out there away from him, or um uh you're wondering if you can even come back. Yep, come on back. Jesus says, uh, I'm here for you. Um, he died for you, he rose again for you, he's prepared a place for you. Come on back. Uh the rest of you who maybe are okay, you're there, just know that uh it's not one and done there. Um there's an opportunity for you to have a profound impact in uh Mike Shottle's life and Marion Kreble's life and so many other people's lives to see an incredible transformation in their lives and uh just know that God is saying, Hey, I want to partner up with you in this whole thing. So it's pretty awesome. Pretty awesome. Mike, anything else uh that you'd like to share with people about uh the importance of um watching and praying?
SPEAKER_00I think when you when you were closing with that, you know, why aren't people praying? And I think it I think it scares them because really the biggest the biggest and easiest prayer that you could pray is Lord, just give me the eyes to see how you see your people. Um and it doesn't have to be the homeless. It doesn't have to be the trafficked. It doesn't have to be the ones that are uh suffering from domestic violence or violence or violence or anything. It could be your neighbor who you haven't seen in a couple days because they have agoraphobia. It could be a friend who just deep down inside, they are just questioning, you know, is there really even a point for me to be living right now? When you ask the Lord something as simple as, Lord, just give me the eyes to see the people how you see them. That just clicks. And then there are amazing things that he does that you could not make up. You're just reaching out and just being there for the person because you are looking, whether you know it or not, you are looking a long way off for that person, just hoping that something or someone is going to be there to accept them back. Just pray, Lord, give me the eyes to see your people the way you see them.
SPEAKER_03That's great.
A Visit That Saved A Life
SPEAKER_01Thank you. I'm gonna share one story and then we're gonna close today. Um, a number of years ago, I went to a vacation Bible school way out in the country, and I knew that there was a gentleman that lived out fairly close to this area out in the country outside of Topeka. And I just had this nudging that I should go visit this person. Well, I'm not the door knocker, hey, hey, I'm here. Yeah, you know, I always try to make a call first, and I really wasn't comfortable with it. And um I said, okay, made a deal with a guide. I said, if I have a signal on my phone uh to call this person, because there were hardly any cell service out there, um, and I get a hold of them and they say, Come on over, I'll go. I was hoping I didn't get a sell signal. And I was just so nervous about it. And so um I'm going down and it's ups and down in hills, kind of the Flint Hills area, you know, no signal, no signal, no signal. And so I'm coming up on a hill and sure, full bars. I mean, you know it. And I'm going, where's the next valley? And uh and so I called and I said to this gentleman, hey, this is Barry. Um, I'm just in the neighborhood, haven't seen you in a long time. I'm sorry to bother you. Um, I could stop by if you want me to, hoping they'd say no. And they go, Yeah, come on by. And I go, Oh, great. So I pulled up in their driveway, went in their house, and sat there. And we were just chit-chatting and I had no idea what we were talking about. I had no idea why I was there. Um, I just felt like it was something maybe I was supposed to do and hoping I didn't have to. And after about 20 minutes or so, this guy said to me, You know what? I took my trash way out to the curb today. And while I was out there, I told God, if you don't give me a sign today, I'm gonna go in that house and kill myself. And he said, Barry, you're with a sign. That person's still alive today.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_01So we never know. We never know. And sometimes we're like, I'm not gonna make a difference. But Merriam, as you'd said, uh, about these people praying for you, didn't know who they were, you're praying for other people. There is a third party here. And that third party is the Holy Spirit of God that we get to be involved with.
SPEAKER_04Exactly.
SPEAKER_01So thank you both.
How To Connect With TRM
SPEAKER_01Thank you for listening to our community, our mission. We hope that this is ministered to you today, um, as it is to the three of us here as we uh talk about all this today. If you'd like more information about Topeka Rescue Mission, you can go to TRMonline.org. That's TRMonline.org. Thank you for listening to our community, our mission, and know that you matter.