April 24, 2024 • 47 mins
Join us for a beautiful episode as we sit down with Holton Witman, the outgoing Director of Distribution Services at TRM. Delve into his journey within the organization, from his beginnings in the street outreach team to his conscious choice to prioritize his role as a father and family man. Experience the thrilling narrative of following one's faith journey while also grappling with the bittersweet challenge of departing from a place where divine intervention is a daily occurrence.
Amidst this period of transition, we are excited to visit with Andrew Lucas, the incoming Director of Distribution Services. Discover the path that led Andrew to TRM, witness the seamless passing of the torch from Holton, and his observing firsthand the tangible acts of being the hands and feet of Jesus.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and
your blessings and yourprovisions.
God, thank you for this time,Lord, and just the amazing work
that you're doing here andthrough the people that you're
doing it through God.
We thank you for the hearts ofthe individuals that are with us
today and, Lord, just thank youfor our listeners.
Pray your blessing upon them Inyour holy name.
We pray Amen.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Hello everyone, this is Lamanda Broyles, the
executive director here at theTopeka Rescue Mission on this
Wednesday, April 24th 2024.
If only it was episode 224.
Oh, that would be special, Iknow, but it's not.
But it's still okay.
It is Because it's episode 219,miriam right, so we're going to
(00:43):
keep on moving, it's okay.
Episode 219 Miriam.
Right, so we're we're gonnakeep on moving, it's okay.
Um so, miriam, you and I areclose and we're friends, and so
we're just not gonna do the meanquizzes that Barry normally
does.
Yeah, let's just discuss them.
Um so, national pigs in theblanket day.
You know I love pigs in my.
I did not know that about you.
I do okay, but Okay.
But the true test is do you dipthem in something?
(01:06):
I do Okay.
There's only one thing you candip pigs in a blanket.
That's right On the count ofthree.
Say it Okay One, two, three,mustard.
You know that was going to bethe test.
I have been so grossed out whenI've seen people dip pigs in
the blanket in ketchup orbarbecue sauce.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
The real question is do you eat them while you're in
a blanket?
So you're eating pigs in ablanket.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
As a pig in a blanket , but then that means I'm a pig
in the blanket.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
I was going to say I think I'm offended.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
It's just the more cozier way to eat them.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
It's nothing bad and I don't know what I do, but for
some reason my piggies alwayspop out of the blanket and so,
like you know, the dough isreally busted, busted can of
biscuits.
But anyways, okay, you usebiscuits, yeah, and I tear them
all up into pieces and then trydoing it with the crescent rolls
(02:04):
oh, maybe that's what I'mmissing it's triangular and this
edge is long and then,
Speaker 1 (02:10):
you and it's rolls right out, perfect perfect.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
You are so good at everything that's logical.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
I'm telling you what?
Yeah, okay, there are peoplethat would seriously say no,
that's not true well, I mean, wedo need to give some credit to
Betty Crocker.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
So 1957, betty Crocker published Betty
Crocker's cooking for kids withthe first simple recipe for this
tasty treat.
And the rest is history.
It is.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I know I want to see how you handle that one.
I was going to do it.
No, don't.
Okay, I won't, because we'reall wearing headphones, exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Scream day, scream day.
It's a good way to releasebuilt up frustrations through
screaming.
I think we did that earlier,didn't we Amanda?
Yeah, I think we practiced thisa couple of times a day, we did
.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Especially right before the podcast too right,
that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
We're like okay, let's just do it, just right now
, and usually Lamanda and Miriamscreams are followed by it's
okay, it's okay, it's okay.
Nothing is okay.
We're all right.
We're all right.
No, we're not all right.
No, I hope you know.
If you're practicing screamingtoday, I hope that it works for
you.
(03:25):
I hope it's not at someone.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Well, it's therapy, right, isn't there something
that is actually literallyscream therapy?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yeah, according to Google, it's even a very calming
way thing for your brain.
So I mean, if Google says, it.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
I bet it takes you back up into your upper brain oh
.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I trust Google.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
We should talk to our trauma team about this.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
They're probably mortified right now, At this
point they're breaking peopleright now.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
That's exactly right.
They're breaking people.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
And then, lastly, administrative Professionals Day
.
Yeah, yeah, what do you thinkabout that?
I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
I do too.
We have some folks that just dosuch exceptional work for us.
You know that do the thingsthat some people don't want to
do, the things that can be verytedious the things that can be
repetitive, the things that wecan drive them crazy with
because we ask them to do it ahundred different ways.
And so we just we have, we havesome great folks that we work
(04:24):
with, now you keep saying weyeah, I don't drive my
administrative folks crazyyou're right.
I know that's what they've toldyou and you know what you need
to believe what they tell you.
When they tell you this, I'mgoing to, if not, then I have to
scream when their eye kind oftwitches like that or they're
rubbing their eyebrows.
(04:45):
I want you to just know that'sa sign.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
They regularly practice scream day.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That's exactly right Per LB.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Per LB.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
No, I'm excited.
You know, in the next couple ofweeks we'll have our newest
executive assistant on.
I cannot wait to share that,but I am so proud.
On.
I cannot wait to share that,but I am so proud.
We've had Kim Turley as myexecutive assistant and she has
been remarkable from herfriendship, her professionalism,
(05:14):
her loyalty, through a lot ofstorms the past two years that
I've been the executive directorand I am so grateful for her.
But she is switching positionshere at TRM We'll talk more
about that later and so I'mproud of her and am super
excited to be able to workalongside Miranda Molinar We'll
(05:35):
have her on in a couple of weeksas my new executive assistant.
So we've all kind of been intransition.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Sure, and with Miranda that's going to be a
problem.
Miranda LaManda, oh, that'sgoing to be a problem.
That opened up a position atthe distribution center, and so
we were able to move a currentemployee into that position.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And she's rocking it Exactly Hope.
She's been with us for a coupleof years and her heart and her
organizational skills are justincredible over at the DC.
So we've got a lot of movementhappening.
We've got a lot of transition.
We're going to talk about oneof those transitions today, or a
couple of them, I guess, but westill have some open positions.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
We actually have positions open in almost every
area right now.
We have receptionist positionsopen and trauma positions open
and positions open in thekitchen and a driver position at
the DC and just all kinds ofthings.
So if people are interested incoming and finding out more
about TRM and the work we dohere and being a part of that,
(06:40):
they need to just go to ourwebsite at trmonlineorg
trmonlineorg and click on ourjobs and take a look at what we
have going on.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yes, and so, you know , it's just incredible to see
the mixture we have here at theTopeka Rescue Mission, you know,
from just different walks oflife and different denominations
, some of the different beliefs,but the thing that we all just
feel called to do is the twocommandments to love the Lord
(07:11):
and love his people.
And so what I love is just howthere's just a lot of things
that don't matter here.
We don't argue and bicker overreally stuff that this side of
eternity doesn't matter, Becausewe are.
We we're not perfect, but weare so focused on trying to love
the God who created us and andto give him glory every day and
(07:33):
to love one another, becausethat's what he does best.
So, um, well, moving right along, talking about people who love,
well is someone that I justlike a little bit.
I don't even know if I love him, I mean just a little, but we
have Mr Holton Whitman on withus today.
Many of you have heard fromHolton in a variety of ways,
(07:58):
from him being on our streetoutreach team to then
transitioning to the director ofdistribution services.
Um, he has been the one, alongwith his incredible team, who
has led everything from thewarehouse sales to the back to
school um giveaways to Christmastime, and, and and and so um.
(08:18):
I loved being able to gentlytoss Holton gently right
leadership.
For some reason he thinks I justthrew him into it.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
But he's done well.
So you've seen him on the newsa lot because he does interviews
without me.
He's just been incredible.
But there is some change andtransition happening your way,
and so we want to just kind oftalk a little bit about that,
because so many people havegrown to love you and respect
you and I want that support foryou to continue.
(08:52):
And then I want to veryexcitedly talk about our newest
friend that has joined us.
So talk about what's going onin your world, holton.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
Oh man, what's not going on in my world, right?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
now.
Speaker 5 (09:03):
That's true.
So probably the biggest thingthat's happened in my world is
that in June of this past year,my wife and I welcomed our
little girl, claire Grace, intothe world.
And when they say that kidswill flip your world upside down
, boy, were they not lying?
We'll flip your world upsidedown, boy, were they not lying.
(09:24):
And so she has just been such ahuge blessing in our lives, and
just to be able to watch Abbyturn into a mom and me getting
to experience you know whatbeing a dad is like, it's just
been so sweet, and it's alsobrought some challenges, because
a lot of people probably don'tknow this, but Abby and I
(09:44):
actually live an hour south oftown, so it is an hour commute
for me to come into work everyday.
One way, one way, and so, youknow, I was able to do a
paternity leave and spend sometime with her early on and as
she has grown, there's just beensome challenges because when I
(10:06):
am leaving in the morning she'snot awake, and then I come and
put in a full day here and bythe time I get home, you know,
I'm lucky if I get to see herfor 45 minutes, you know, before
she's down for the night.
And you know my wife is doingfull-time, you know, caretaking
while still working a full-timejob.
And it just kind of becameclear that this was maybe not
(10:28):
sustainable.
And I didn't know what thatlooked like, sure, but about six
months.
So, yeah, six, eight months ago, the Lord kind of laid it on my
heart hey, there's going to bea change for you guys.
And I didn't know what thatlooked like.
You know, anytime the Lord says, hey, there's something I want
you to start preparing for.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
It's like okay, what does that look like?
Moving?
Speaker 5 (10:48):
That look like you know changing jobs.
You know who knows?
Because the one thing I canalways say about following the
Lord is it's an adventure.
And it's an exciting adventurebecause you, just if you've got
your life with open hands, hecan call you and ask you to do
whatever you want and you'd befoolish not to do it, because he
really truly does know what'sbest.
Yeah, and it's good.
His plans are good for us.
(11:09):
But what I was not thrilled tofind out later on was that that
probably looked like me leavingthe Topeka Rescue Mission, which
has been this transition time,has been one of the hardest
things that I've ever had to do,because I love this place
dearly and it's not lost on mewhat a privilege it is to work
(11:32):
here and to have been a part of.
You know what we're about here.
You know reaching the lost.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
So why do you think that it is so hard for you to
leave?
What?
What about it?
Cause, let let's just be real,the days are long.
It is filled with a lot ofopportunities, of stress.
Um, there's a lot of timeswhere you are dancing the dance
of do I have faith that God'sgoing to provide, or do we need
(12:05):
to act on this?
Um, there is homelessness hasbecome political.
Um, the demands really, we weprobably should be running the
DC with I mean, in a dream world15 to 20 people, when we look
at all the production that goeson there, and we do it with
seven.
So none of that really soundsglamorous.
(12:29):
And yet, holton, I have seenyou and I'm laughing now, just
so that neither one of us crybecause we've cried so much yeah
.
I mean, I put makeup on today soI'm going to try to keep it on,
but yet I have seen you trulyhurt to leave.
(12:54):
That it is truly been a tug ofwar with you where you are so
trusting the Lord and you knowwhat he's called you to do and
you are so anticipating that.
But I have seen you like trulymourn, as if this is a loss,
that, but I have seen you liketruly mourn as if this is a loss
.
And so just talk to me withwith how things can be that
(13:14):
stressful and that demanding,not lavish, yet it's so hard for
you to leave.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Yeah, it it a hundred percent has been a grieving
process, and I think it'sbecause when you're in a place
where you get to see the Lordshow up and work daily, it's
hard to think about not being inthat place.
And TRM has been just so favoredby the Lord and the work that
we do here that it's a wrestlingmatch to realize okay, well,
(13:39):
I'm being called away from thatto do something awesome and be a
dad full time and those kindsof things which I love and I'm
excited about.
But it's a loss, you know.
And I think the other thing forme too, is that I just I have
such a heart.
You know, the Lord has blessedme with a heart for lost people
and we work with lots of lostpeople, and so being able to be
in the thick of it every day andit's not always glamorous,
(14:02):
right, it's hard, it's dirty,sometimes it's stinky, sometimes
it's extremely stressful, butthe fruits of what come out of
that are so sweet and so goodthat it's it's.
Yeah, it's definitely been agrieving process knowing that
I'm going to be stepping awayfrom that.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
So you know, for any listener that might be listening
and kind of struggling with whoGod is, you know, if you think
about it to really we say, well,slaying giants and we've got
bushes that are talking and allof this right.
(14:51):
But I love how you just saidthe hardest part is you leaving
what the Lord is here doingevery day.
Talk to me about who is theLord to you and how do we make
the connection from all of thosekind of wild biblical stories
to you saying that same God thatdid all of that is the same God
(15:16):
who you just said is doingthings daily here.
So you're telling me that youfeel like the Lord does stuff at
the Topeka Rescue Mission, thedistribution center, every
single day in Topeka, kansas,yep, yep.
So talk to me about how andhelp the listener to connect
that right.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
So you asked who the Lord is to me.
You know, Jesus gives a parableabout the shepherd who leaves
the 99 sheep that he has in hisfield that are perfectly fine
and perfectly healthy to findthe one that has wandered off,
and I can tell you that I haveexperienced that first hand in
my life.
The Lord has, um had literallymoved heaven and earth and in
(16:00):
some ways, uh, reorchestrated umpeople's plans and all kinds of
things to reach me when I waslost.
And and so when you realize thatyou have a God who loves you
that much, who willinconvenience other people's
lives to get your attention, whowill, you know, just go, put on
these massive displays ofaffection for you, even when
(16:20):
you're not looking for it, andand then he gets your heart, and
then you get to experience thatparable in real life.
It's like oh, okay.
And then, and then to flip that, it's like, okay, well, I can
be in a place working where thatsame display of affection is
(16:41):
constantly being poured out,where things are being shifted
and people are beinginconvenienced and we go above
and beyond to do things thatseem kind of wild to reach that
one lost person who's out thereaway from the flock, and so when
you get to experience that andthen turn around and be in a
place where you can be on theother side of that, you know,
just to see what the Lord willdo is just remarkable.
(17:03):
I don't know if that fullyanswers your question.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
It does, so you've been the 99.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
And you've been the one.
Uh-huh, when you were the one,were you pretty cute and lovable
and just so deserving ofeverything.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
I was a hot mess who drank myself silly every night
for several years straight.
Yeah, now was I able to holddown a job and maintain some
appearance of things beingnormal Sure, but I was a broken
mess.
I was a broken mess on theinside.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
So a broken mess.
I was a broken mess on theinside, so a broken mess.
So talk to me about what.
What if people would have justbeen like if they would have
known?
First of all, some, we can hidebetter than others, right, but
if they would have known thatand you might hear some of this
today too, where they're likehe's bringing that on himself,
(17:58):
he's got his own consequences,he's made his bed, he can lay in
it.
What are your thoughts aboutthat when you were the one?
Some of it was true.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
Some of it was I was making my bed and I was laying
in it and at the same time, Ihad a God who was not content
with leaving me there, who lovedme exactly where I was, in the
middle of my abusive alcohol andslowly decaying relationships
and all of those things.
He loved me there, but he lovedme way too much to leave me
(18:31):
there.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
So did you have to get yourself better before you
could go to God?
Mm-mm, why?
Speaker 5 (18:38):
Because I can't, I couldn't, there's no way I could
.
Hey, just to let you know,because I can't, I couldn't,
there's, there's no way I couldhey, I mean, I just to let you
know I can't either, right?
well, we can relate.
Yeah, it's a human condition.
I mean, we do we?
I, in that, in those that darkseason of my life, knew I was a
mess and I knew that I wanted tochange and I knew I wasn't
happy, you know with where I wasat.
But then every evening wouldroll around and I would just do
(18:59):
the same thing again becauseit's what I had become
accustomed to, it's what I knew.
And you know, then I wake up inthe morning disappointed with
myself, like, why am I?
You know, why am I doing this?
And it wasn't until God finallygot my attention and he said son
, what are you doing?
You know better than this andI've seen you through all of it
(19:22):
and I'm, I'm gonna pull you outof the muck and the mire if
you'll just let me.
And so he did.
And it wasn't it.
What didn't happen overnight?
I, you know, I wish I couldtell you like, and it was in
that moment that I just becameclean as snow and everything was
fine and everything.
No, it was a process.
God took me back through all ofthose missteps along the way
(19:44):
that got me to that pit.
Yeah, and he worked with methrough all of those and it was
kind of messy.
Actually, it was really messy attimes and uncomfortable and you
know I had to bring stuff upthat I had been hiding from you
know, and he walked with methrough all of it yeah.
And loved me through all of itand cared for my soul through
all of it.
Mm-hmm, and I'll okay, I'mgoing to try to tell the story
(20:08):
without losing my ever-lovingyeah, I don't know if I can do
it.
Uh-huh, this is going to seemcrazy, but this was the moment
when I realized, okay, all right, yeah, this is, this is the God
that I hear about in thescripture.
So we, um, you know, god hadgotten our attention.
I was like, okay, what do Iknow?
(20:31):
I'm like, okay, I need to goback to church.
So I started going back tochurch and this kind of thing.
And there was these.
It was during COVID, so therewas these Thursday night
services, you know, cause theywere trying to socially distance
and all this stuff.
And so we got connected inchurch and got back in a small
group and, you know, and thingswere getting better.
You know, things were gettingbetter and fast forward like six
, eight months, and a dearfriend of ours, who we were in a
small group with, pulled measide after a service, randomly
(20:55):
said, hey, can I talk to you fora second?
And I was like sure, what's up?
And he said the Lord, duringworship, just really laid
something on my heart that Iwant to share with you.
And I said okay, and he saidyou know those Thursday services
that the church did those extraThursday services.
God did those just for you.
(21:15):
And it broke me because when Irealized all of the people's
schedules who had gotten movedaround and all of the special
things that had to happen justfor that and I had a hard time
believing it at first I'm likeno, no, no.
Well, maybe it was for me, butyou know it was for also these
other people who schedulesdidn't work out to come on a
Sunday.
And this guy's name is Danny.
(21:36):
He's like no, like I'm here totell you it was just for you.
I start sobbing.
I just started sobbing because Irealized, oh, that's the kind
of God that I have.
And so that was at that momentthat I realized, okay, if there
was all of these other peoplewho belong to the body of Christ
, who are willing to say yes, todo that thing on Thursday, just
(21:58):
to win my heart back to theLord, well then I need to be
that person for other people,and so it's.
I need to be willing toinconvenience myself, to die to
myself, to serve, to put myselfin a position where those that
are lost and who don't even knowthat they're looking for God
yet, can be in a place to have arelational connection with
(22:20):
somebody you know, because theLord loves him, he's crazy about
him, and that's just the God weserve.
I didn't cry, I don't know howI didn't.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
I'm impressed I was even looking off so I wouldn't
make eye contact with you thatI'm looking this way.
No, holton, there is just somany things that I adore about
you and Abby, and I think one ofthe biggest things is that you
both try so hard to takeanything that is not beautiful
(22:55):
and show how God has turned it,and I just think that that is
incredible, and I think that'swhy you have been extremely
successful here, and when Idefine successful, I mean
trustworthy and loyal andsomeone that people want to go
to, even if it's through yougiving correction or things like
(23:18):
that.
Not everything is always peachy, but you do it in such a way
that is full of grace andunderstanding and kindness, and
I think that that is such ablessing here at the Rescue
Mission and we are thankful forall that you have done.
I personally have had some ofthe best moments with you.
(23:44):
I've had some of the moststressful moments with you and I
have loved doing it all.
It has truly been an honor tosee what all you've brought to
the team, how you've grown.
I appreciate your authenticity.
I appreciate every time youhave challenged me and a
(24:04):
decision I made and you wereright probably 99.9% of those.
Maybe a percent I was.
But no, you are a blessing andwe are forever grateful for what
all you've done.
And I would be lying if Ididn't you know secretly say or
tell everybody that secretly I'mgoing to God saying and now
(24:25):
you're going to bring him backaround somehow, right and Abby,
and then maybe by that timeclear grace can work and we'll
hire her too, right?
But no, you're incredible andwe're grateful for that.
But no, you're incredible andwe're grateful for that.
You know, I've kind of been in asimilar situation as to our
next guest and I want to make itreally clear that we start off
(24:47):
talking about you, holton, andjust what God has done through
you and your love for the Lord,and why you've done what you've
done so well.
You've done what you've done sowell, but now that you are
stepping away, it's not time forsomeone to be the new Holt.
And I remember when I wastransitioning you know, just two
(25:09):
days ago it was two years thatI've been the executive director
.
Thank you to everyone whohelped me survive I mean thrive
for two years.
Two years, um, our team isincredible, um, but one of the
most powerful things that anyoneever said to me was uh, barry
and I were discussing justconcerns I had and um things
(25:32):
that I was worried about, and helooked at me in his office one
day and he said, lamanda, theLord is not calling you to be
Barry 2.0.
He doesn't need Barry anymore.
He didn't need me to begin with, but he chose me to use me, and
now he's telling me to moveaside so that you can lead TRM
(25:53):
as Lamanda and you bring yourgiftings and your challenges and
your journey to the team.
Because now it's this.
And so, as we welcome Mr AndrewLucas, our new director of
distribution services, I want tostart off by making that really
clear to you.
Andrew, you know I think we'vesaid that, but I really want to
(26:15):
emphasize we love that God hascalled you here for such a time
as this.
And are there attributes that Ineed to hold?
Like Barry did right andcharacteristics?
Absolutely.
But just like I didn't need tobe Barry 2.0, you don't need to
be Holton 2.0.
If God still needed Holton tolead the distribution center, he
(26:38):
would have kept him here and hehasn't.
And so we want to welcome youon our community, our mission,
this morning, but we also wantto make sure that you continue
to feel a warm welcome to theTRM family, without the
pressures of being whoever wasbefore you, because God's going
to work through you.
So, andrew, welcome.
(26:58):
Well, thank you, yes, wewelcome.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yes, we're glad to have you on here.
I do want to dive in in just amoment of just how incredible
this transition has been and howmuch I appreciate both of your
hearts and your position on that.
But before we do that, Andrew,just tell us a little bit about
kind of your background andmaybe just kind of your journey
to the Rescue Mission.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Well, sure, First I want to thank Holton for all of
his time, his mentorship.
I'm glad to hear that I'm notexpected to be Holton 2.0,
because I don't know thatanybody can be Holton 2.0.
Correct, first of all I lackthe facial hair.
But secondly, when you stepinto the DC you can immediately
(27:38):
sense the culture that he hasdeveloped there, one of
redemption, one of grace, one ofpastoral leadership that he has
, you know.
And so as we're transitioning,we see certainly that, you know,
the staff is grieving throughthat, you know, and they're also
excited, they're nervouseverything that would go with
the transition.
And so Holton has certainlymade an impact here that I think
(28:01):
will be an exciting transitionto be a part of.
Thanks, andrew.
I certainly think that he washere for the right time and
certainly was the right personin that position.
So my background has been forroughly 25 years.
I was in the ministry,preaching, trained for that,
(28:23):
enjoyed that.
That's where my heart was andthrough various circumstances
God brought a broken of yearsreally, and needing to find God
(28:45):
in a very tangible way.
He's always.
I thrive on the academic, and sothere's a 12-inch separation
many times, from my head to myheart, of where I know who God
is.
I can write you a paper on whoGod is but being able to
experience that and live thatand feel that from staff, from
(29:09):
the guests and just theenvironment that we have is, I
think, something that's going tobe therapeutic therapeutic for
me and having some kind oftangible sense.
We talk about it in church alot, but doing it is certainly
going to be different.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
So what do you feel like we talk about versus doing?
I think we talk about feedinghungry people.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
We talk about sacrificial giving how they love
.
We talk about needing to beJesus to others, but do we
really Do?
We do that, and I've beenaround a lot of churches, I've
been around a lot of Christians,and sure we see that sometimes.
(29:56):
But to see a culture where thatis what we do, that we are, as
Holtens, famous for saying,radically generous and
sacrificially loving, and thosekind of things.
Churches are really good atgiving money, maybe donations,
(30:22):
but to physically be there,handing or sorting or
interacting with those who needto see Jesus from you can
certainly be an eye-openingexperience, one that I'm
experiencing.
I think I will be for some timethe, you know, to a culture
that I've not been exposed tobefore, and so this is certainly
(30:45):
, I think, an educationalexperience.
This will be a therapeuticexperience for me.
I'm just starting to understandreally what is expected in the
position that I'm taking, andthat will take some time to
learn because there's a lot toit and that will take some time
to learn because there's a lotto it, but getting to really
feel that and be a part of thatis a journey that I think is
(31:05):
essential to mature Christiandevelopment.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yeah, I told you before I think this is going to
be a very act of spiritualdiscipline on my part that I've
been lacking.
And you know, andrew, I justone of the things that I love
about you is just your honesty.
I think sometimes we can bevulnerable with our brokenness,
(31:31):
in regards to that brokennessbeing an addiction or a bad
choice or whatever the case maybe.
But I'm not sure we would be asopen to talk about how the
actions of knowing who Christ isis sometimes very different
(31:53):
than what we just talk about,and so I have loved that about
you that you can say, hey, Iknow a lot about the Lord
Biblically, I am sound, thesekinds of things but I have seen
our God be a whole differentlevel of God by the actions of
(32:14):
the rescue mission.
And I'm just excited I told youthat the other day to see not
only what you bring to TRM butwhat God is going to do in your
life.
You know, as the executivedirector, I have to look at
everything as the whole, and,yes, I want the ministry taken
care of, but I don't want thatabove the individual needs of
everyone that makes up TRM Right, and so I'm so excited to see
(32:37):
what growth you're going to haveand and all of that because
you're already bringing greatskill sets to the team.
Um, but to know that you're onsuch an intimate journey with
who the Lord is is exciting tome, because we've all been here
for a little bit now and we'relike, oh, he's going to get the
love bug that we all get.
You know, we all get it.
Um, but talk to me a little bit.
(33:00):
There might be listeners herethat just feel like maybe they
are so far gone.
Or there might be listenerslistening who really kind of
feel like they don't have anyblemishes.
So the correlation that I wantyou to kind of discuss is you
can't you still said a brokenperson has been brought to TRM,
(33:24):
but your brokenness isn't thealcoholism like Holton was
talking about.
It's not a very diversebackground with lots of trauma
and things like that.
You were very scholarly and yousaid that, but you would still
consider yourself a broken being.
So can you talk about why youfeel like you need the Lord and
(33:46):
why do you feel like you'reunderstanding how, despite the
scholarliness, despite all ofthe pastoral knowledge that you
have, that you still have a lotto learn?
Speaker 3 (33:57):
Will you ever stop learning?
I mean, you can never.
It's a journey.
We call Christian walk ajourney, never a place.
You arrive, and so you'reabsolutely going to always need
to grow, and if you feel likeyou've arrived, you're doing it
wrong.
And so, as we do ministry and aswe work with others, we find
(34:22):
ourselves learning about a Godwho is vast.
Let me get academic a littlebit fast.
Let me get academic a littlebit, just trying to understand
God as an act of idolatry,because we're going to
conceptualize him in our ownmind and make him out of human
traits.
And then he shows up in a waythat we don't ask or imagine and
we go oh, you know, we see alife changed that we wouldn't
(34:45):
expect to be changed.
So, you know, I think achallenge would be come and work
with my team when you seepeople who have come out of a
life of homelessness oraddiction or whatever their
background is, and they findhousing and they find a marriage
, they find a career, they findthings that are going on and
they're excited, and you seeJesus working through them and
(35:06):
you go wow, I'm jealous ofsomebody and their excitement
and their newness and everythingthat's going on, because you
know, I've been a Christian for30, 40 years.
So it's, you know.
You get to experience alllevels of maturity, you get to
see and work with people withdifferent gifts and you go.
Man, I don't know much at all.
There was a saying they told mein seminary.
(35:27):
They said you know, the moreyou know, the more you know.
You don't know, you know.
And so as you get further inyour journey, you go wow, I
didn't know nearly as much as Ithought I did.
I thought I knew it Right.
You know, and I wrote thispaper, I took this class, or I
preached this message and, ohwait, I forgot about that.
And there's more here and thenGod shows up in a way that you
(35:47):
just didn't even know he existed.
Yeah, and you see things happenin the DC and I've heard you
know I want to been here alittle while, but you hear
stories of God showing upunprompted and showing you know
I need you to go this way, orhere's a need I didn't, you
didn't know you had, and here itis and you discover just how
much God blesses that.
You discover just how much Godblesses that and you can see
(36:10):
that by the multiplication thatwe have in the ministry Once
something comes in and we have arecord of reproducing that over
and over again and seeing liveschanged and seeing people fed
and people loved in various ways, and just you know, you can
just see that in a five minuteconversation.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yes, you know, in a way, it's beautiful.
And then it happens every day.
Yeah, every day.
Talk a, you know it's beautiful, and then it happens every day.
Every day, um talk a little bit.
Andrew and Holton, both ofy'all can kind of tag team this
one.
But what was the transition?
Was it just you said peace out,I'm out, and Andrew's like I'm
here?
Nope, not quite Okay.
Um did Andrew say you're thelame duck, get out?
(36:47):
And you said here's all thestuff you're responsible for.
Don't call me, not so much.
Speaker 5 (36:51):
Not so much.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
So talk to me about the transition guys.
Yeah, so the transition startedwith me weeping uncontrollably
in LaManda's office trying toget out the words that hey, I
think I'm going to leave, andthat that that might have some
trauma from that.
Speaker 5 (37:07):
Yeah, me too.
And that happened, let's seefrom that.
Yeah, me too.
And that happened, let's seethat happened in January.
So this has been an ongoingprocess for several reasons.
One, it's complicated, like therole, the job is.
It's a lot, there's a lot ofmoving pieces, our staff does
each one of them does the workof about two people, and so
(37:28):
there's just a lot of things tolearn about.
You know how the opera, howthings operate and things like
that.
But there was also just thisyou know, when I transitioned in
, I didn't get a lot of training.
I didn't get, there wasn't alot of resources for me and it
was hard, you know, and therewas a lot of.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
And let's just say that was because I didn't know
what in the world I was doing.
So we all learned together.
I survived, asked Miriam a lotof questions.
Speaker 5 (37:54):
I survived and, luckily, mike Schottel was great
, you know he, he walked methrough that He'd been there for
four or five years, and so, and, and Andrew, I'll just take a
little aside here and say I'vebeen doing this for two years
now and you'll still learn newthings every day.
Yeah, so, like, don't worryabout learning new things, it'll
happen, you know, and it's goodand it's beautiful.
But, um, but yeah, and so therewas this process of okay, we
(38:15):
need to make sure that we'rebeing thorough about this,
because one the ministry is tooimportant not to you know like
the people that it's not justokay.
It would be helpful for Andrew,you know, that's good, um,
it's's.
There's real people who dependon us, you know, and so we need
to make sure that fooddistribution is happening, um,
the way it's supposed to.
We need to make sure that ourcompletions of program are going
(38:37):
the way that they're supposedto, so our guests who have
worked so hard to get intohousing are getting the
furniture and the hygiene itemsand the things like that that
they need.
So there's it's not just atransition between andrew and I,
it's a transition for thecommunity that we serve and they
just they may not even know it,but they'll know it if it
doesn't go well, right, and sothat's some of the level there.
But Andrew has been reallygreat because he could have said
(39:00):
all right, thanks, you stuckaround long enough, let's see
you later.
And he didn't do that, you know, and so I'll let you kind of
give your kind of thoughts on.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
Well, you know, when I first came on, I had the
exposure of the interview andthen the acceptance, coming on
and realizing what did I getinto?
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Talk about the interview, Andrew.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Well, the interview was fun to begin with.
Holton and I, you know, I think, have developed a friendship
over the last month and thatstarted, you know, the day of
the interview.
And I, you know, I realizedthat I've been kind of being
(39:41):
positioned maybe for this joband in certain jobs that I
didn't really want to have atthe time but kind of qualified
me for this.
So we're in the interview and Ifelt like it was going well,
doing good, and you know, theaudience may not know that I've
met you outside.
And LaManda comes in and Ithought, oh good a friend, and
(40:04):
here come the hard questions.
And I was kind of taken backand mumbled through her answers
and she graciously didn't nixthe interview at the moment but
having and I think Holton kindof sat back and laughed.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
He's like we've all been through LB.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
So if you've never been interviewed by LaManda
Brooks, I think twice.
But no, it was great and I leftfeeling good.
I left feeling overwhelmed, butprivileged, you know, and when
the offer came I was, I didn'thesitate to take that.
(40:45):
And then they started talkingabout Christmas.
And then they started talkingabout Christmas.
How much that involves.
So we'll determine yet how thetransition goes, but this
transition would not havehappened not only with Holton
but with our team at the DC.
They have been exceptionallygracious.
They've been training theirboss, and that's never a fun
(41:05):
proposition.
They're going through thetransition, with Miranda coming
out, hope coming in, so there'smultiple things going on and you
know so nothing's been smooth.
I'm asking questions thatthey've known the answers to and
that's great.
They have ran the DC as I'mtraining and they have just done
a phenomenal job over there.
(41:27):
So their success, yes, is partlydue to Holton, but it's really
due to the team.
They've done so much over there, and so I couldn't be blessed
with a better team to come inwith.
So, yeah, the transition isgoing to go on, because if
Holton doesn't think I'm goingto call him every day, he's got
something else coming.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
That's right, you know.
I just I appreciate both of you.
It has been quite the littlejourney you know to we
interviewed a lot of peoplebefore we interviewed Andrew and
to just trust the Lord with theprocess, because you know we
(42:08):
had a lot of applicants andthings like that and we
appreciate everybody thatapplied.
But it's one of those thingsthat you would rather wait and
really get the person that Godneeds for that position in that
moment.
And it's so cool how sometimessomething might not work for
someone and then a couple ofmonths later it'll work for them
(42:29):
in another position, in anotherdepartment, that kind of thing.
And so, um Holton, I've enjoyeduh doing uh me, you and Miriam
tag team some of the interviewprocess.
Um, thank you for having such aheart.
That was focused on I hate thisphrase, but doing it right.
Um, you have I'm not sure whatyou have given God glory more
(42:51):
for your time here or how you'veleft Um cause that is a game
changer for some, and I haveseen you be still so loyal and
dedicated to the Lord and hisministry and his people,
regardless if that's the staff,the volunteers, the unsheltered
(43:13):
neighbors.
Um, whatever the case may be,um, and so I I thank you for
that and for just the man thatyou have been a man of wisdom,
um, a man of a kind heart, um,but, most importantly, a man who
is willing to do what's bestfor his wife and his beautiful
daughter, um, over anything else, and I know God's going to
(43:34):
honor that.
Andrew, I appreciate yourwillingness.
Um, you have been a go-gettersince you've come um, but not
demanding, not anything likethat.
You have just really taken thereins and wanting to continue
doing whatever God is doing, andI know that as long as you
continue to do that, it's goingto be beautiful, and so we're
(43:56):
excited to have you, holton.
It's a loss, but I'm not goingto count it as a loss.
I'm just going to count it, asI now have someone that I love
deeply that's no longer going tobe employed at TRM, but is
still a part of TRM, right?
So, miriam, I also want tothank you, because we had quite
(44:19):
a few transitions all occurringat the same time, and so if only
we would have known that therewas a scream day.
Speaker 4 (44:28):
It could have taken the pressure off completely.
Speaker 2 (44:30):
That's right.
But no, miriam, I thank youbecause it does not matter if it
is stuff that's on themountaintops or the valleys.
I know that I can count on youto be a friend, a prayer warrior
, um to do late nights with me,early mornings, weekends, as we
are processing all of theapplications and doing, and so
(44:54):
thank you for all that you dothrough transitions as well.
So you've heard it.
You've heard that we don't cometo TRM because we're perfect
people.
You've also heard that there'sno getting cleaner or getting
better before the Lord.
The only way that we can,whether it's through brokenness
or sin or hurt, it's throughChrist, and once we have given
(45:20):
it to him, then it's a journey,and it's a step by step journey.
So I don't know where you're at.
I don't know if you're someonewho has always been in church
and scholarly knows who the Lordis, but just feel him nudging
to say know me in a differentway.
Know me as a father, know me asa provider, Know me as a healer,
(45:43):
know me as the Jesus who wasalways in the midst of the
people that no one else wantedto be.
I don't know if you're in themidst of brokenness right now,
dealing with alcoholism, dealingwith divorce, dealing with
addiction Just remember thosethings do not define you either,
(46:04):
because before any of this andbefore any of us are even broken
even though we all are we havebeen made in his image, and so
remember that your identitytoday, regardless of your age,
regardless of your demographics,regardless of sin, regardless
of brokenness, you are adaughter or a son of a king, and
(46:28):
the king is amazing, but he'salso a father who loves you
dearly.
So we are excited for thechanges that continually come
our way at the rescue mission,through transitions and through
God's transformations, and welook forward to seeing what he's
going to continue to do for thenext 71 years.
As we are celebrating that thismonth.
(46:49):
You are loved.
You are loved, you are valued.
And remember, even if you arebroken, god knew that when he
made you and he is ready toredeem you.
Thank you for listening to ourcommunity, our mission.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and
your blessings and yourprovisions.
God, thank you for this time,Lord, and just the amazing work
that you're doing here andthrough the people that you're
doing it through God.
We thank you for the hearts ofthe individuals that are with us
today and, Lord, just thank youfor our listeners.
Pray your blessing upon them Inyour holy name.
We pray Amen.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Hello everyone, this is Lamanda Broyles, the
executive director here at theTopeka Rescue Mission on this
Wednesday, April 24th 2024.
If only it was episode 224.
Oh, that would be special, Iknow, but it's not.
But it's still okay.
It is Because it's episode 219,miriam right, so we're going to
(00:43):
keep on moving, it's okay.
Episode 219 Miriam.
Right, so we're we're gonnakeep on moving, it's okay.
Um so, miriam, you and I areclose and we're friends, and so
we're just not gonna do the meanquizzes that Barry normally
does.
Yeah, let's just discuss them.
Um so, national pigs in theblanket day.
You know I love pigs in my.
I did not know that about you.
I do okay, but Okay.
But the true test is do you dipthem in something?
(01:06):
I do Okay.
There's only one thing you candip pigs in a blanket.
That's right On the count ofthree.
Say it Okay One, two, three,mustard.
You know that was going to bethe test.
I have been so grossed out whenI've seen people dip pigs in
the blanket in ketchup orbarbecue sauce.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
The real question is do you eat them while you're in
a blanket?
So you're eating pigs in ablanket.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
As a pig in a blanket , but then that means I'm a pig
in the blanket.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
I was going to say I think I'm offended.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
It's just the more cozier way to eat them.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
It's nothing bad and I don't know what I do, but for
some reason my piggies alwayspop out of the blanket and so,
like you know, the dough isreally busted, busted can of
biscuits.
But anyways, okay, you usebiscuits, yeah, and I tear them
all up into pieces and then trydoing it with the crescent rolls
(02:04):
oh, maybe that's what I'mmissing it's triangular and this
edge is long and then,
Speaker 1 (02:10):
you and it's rolls right out, perfect perfect.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
You are so good at everything that's logical.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
I'm telling you what?
Yeah, okay, there are peoplethat would seriously say no,
that's not true well, I mean, wedo need to give some credit to
Betty Crocker.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
So 1957, betty Crocker published Betty
Crocker's cooking for kids withthe first simple recipe for this
tasty treat.
And the rest is history.
It is.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I know I want to see how you handle that one.
I was going to do it.
No, don't.
Okay, I won't, because we'reall wearing headphones, exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Scream day, scream day.
It's a good way to releasebuilt up frustrations through
screaming.
I think we did that earlier,didn't we Amanda?
Yeah, I think we practiced thisa couple of times a day, we did
.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Especially right before the podcast too right,
that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
We're like okay, let's just do it, just right now
, and usually Lamanda and Miriamscreams are followed by it's
okay, it's okay, it's okay.
Nothing is okay.
We're all right.
We're all right.
No, we're not all right.
No, I hope you know.
If you're practicing screamingtoday, I hope that it works for
you.
(03:25):
I hope it's not at someone.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Well, it's therapy, right, isn't there something
that is actually literallyscream therapy?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yeah, according to Google, it's even a very calming
way thing for your brain.
So I mean, if Google says, it.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
I bet it takes you back up into your upper brain oh
.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
I trust Google.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
We should talk to our trauma team about this.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
They're probably mortified right now, At this
point they're breaking peopleright now.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
That's exactly right.
They're breaking people.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
And then, lastly, administrative Professionals Day
.
Yeah, yeah, what do you thinkabout that?
I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
I do too.
We have some folks that just dosuch exceptional work for us.
You know that do the thingsthat some people don't want to
do, the things that can be verytedious the things that can be
repetitive, the things that wecan drive them crazy with
because we ask them to do it ahundred different ways.
And so we just we have, we havesome great folks that we work
(04:24):
with, now you keep saying weyeah, I don't drive my
administrative folks crazyyou're right.
I know that's what they've toldyou and you know what you need
to believe what they tell you.
When they tell you this, I'mgoing to, if not, then I have to
scream when their eye kind oftwitches like that or they're
rubbing their eyebrows.
(04:45):
I want you to just know that'sa sign.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
They regularly practice scream day.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That's exactly right Per LB.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Per LB.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
No, I'm excited.
You know, in the next couple ofweeks we'll have our newest
executive assistant on.
I cannot wait to share that,but I am so proud.
On.
I cannot wait to share that,but I am so proud.
We've had Kim Turley as myexecutive assistant and she has
been remarkable from herfriendship, her professionalism,
(05:14):
her loyalty, through a lot ofstorms the past two years that
I've been the executive directorand I am so grateful for her.
But she is switching positionshere at TRM We'll talk more
about that later and so I'mproud of her and am super
excited to be able to workalongside Miranda Molinar We'll
(05:35):
have her on in a couple of weeksas my new executive assistant.
So we've all kind of been intransition.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Sure, and with Miranda that's going to be a
problem.
Miranda LaManda, oh, that'sgoing to be a problem.
That opened up a position atthe distribution center, and so
we were able to move a currentemployee into that position.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And she's rocking it Exactly Hope.
She's been with us for a coupleof years and her heart and her
organizational skills are justincredible over at the DC.
So we've got a lot of movementhappening.
We've got a lot of transition.
We're going to talk about oneof those transitions today, or a
couple of them, I guess, but westill have some open positions.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
We actually have positions open in almost every
area right now.
We have receptionist positionsopen and trauma positions open
and positions open in thekitchen and a driver position at
the DC and just all kinds ofthings.
So if people are interested incoming and finding out more
about TRM and the work we dohere and being a part of that,
(06:40):
they need to just go to ourwebsite at trmonlineorg
trmonlineorg and click on ourjobs and take a look at what we
have going on.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yes, and so, you know , it's just incredible to see
the mixture we have here at theTopeka Rescue Mission, you know,
from just different walks oflife and different denominations
, some of the different beliefs,but the thing that we all just
feel called to do is the twocommandments to love the Lord
(07:11):
and love his people.
And so what I love is just howthere's just a lot of things
that don't matter here.
We don't argue and bicker overreally stuff that this side of
eternity doesn't matter, Becausewe are.
We we're not perfect, but weare so focused on trying to love
the God who created us and andto give him glory every day and
(07:33):
to love one another, becausethat's what he does best.
So, um, well, moving right along, talking about people who love,
well is someone that I justlike a little bit.
I don't even know if I love him, I mean just a little, but we
have Mr Holton Whitman on withus today.
Many of you have heard fromHolton in a variety of ways,
(07:58):
from him being on our streetoutreach team to then
transitioning to the director ofdistribution services.
Um, he has been the one, alongwith his incredible team, who
has led everything from thewarehouse sales to the back to
school um giveaways to Christmastime, and, and and and so um.
(08:18):
I loved being able to gentlytoss Holton gently right
leadership.
For some reason he thinks I justthrew him into it.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
But he's done well.
So you've seen him on the newsa lot because he does interviews
without me.
He's just been incredible.
But there is some change andtransition happening your way,
and so we want to just kind oftalk a little bit about that,
because so many people havegrown to love you and respect
you and I want that support foryou to continue.
(08:52):
And then I want to veryexcitedly talk about our newest
friend that has joined us.
So talk about what's going onin your world, holton.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
Oh man, what's not going on in my world, right?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
now.
Speaker 5 (09:03):
That's true.
So probably the biggest thingthat's happened in my world is
that in June of this past year,my wife and I welcomed our
little girl, claire Grace, intothe world.
And when they say that kidswill flip your world upside down
, boy, were they not lying?
We'll flip your world upsidedown, boy, were they not lying.
(09:24):
And so she has just been such ahuge blessing in our lives, and
just to be able to watch Abbyturn into a mom and me getting
to experience you know whatbeing a dad is like, it's just
been so sweet, and it's alsobrought some challenges, because
a lot of people probably don'tknow this, but Abby and I
(09:44):
actually live an hour south oftown, so it is an hour commute
for me to come into work everyday.
One way, one way, and so, youknow, I was able to do a
paternity leave and spend sometime with her early on and as
she has grown, there's just beensome challenges because when I
(10:06):
am leaving in the morning she'snot awake, and then I come and
put in a full day here and bythe time I get home, you know,
I'm lucky if I get to see herfor 45 minutes, you know, before
she's down for the night.
And you know my wife is doingfull-time, you know, caretaking
while still working a full-timejob.
And it just kind of becameclear that this was maybe not
(10:28):
sustainable.
And I didn't know what thatlooked like, sure, but about six
months.
So, yeah, six, eight months ago, the Lord kind of laid it on my
heart hey, there's going to bea change for you guys.
And I didn't know what thatlooked like.
You know, anytime the Lord says, hey, there's something I want
you to start preparing for.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
It's like okay, what does that look like?
Moving?
Speaker 5 (10:48):
That look like you know changing jobs.
You know who knows?
Because the one thing I canalways say about following the
Lord is it's an adventure.
And it's an exciting adventurebecause you, just if you've got
your life with open hands, hecan call you and ask you to do
whatever you want and you'd befoolish not to do it, because he
really truly does know what'sbest.
Yeah, and it's good.
His plans are good for us.
(11:09):
But what I was not thrilled tofind out later on was that that
probably looked like me leavingthe Topeka Rescue Mission, which
has been this transition time,has been one of the hardest
things that I've ever had to do,because I love this place
dearly and it's not lost on mewhat a privilege it is to work
(11:32):
here and to have been a part of.
You know what we're about here.
You know reaching the lost.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
So why do you think that it is so hard for you to
leave?
What?
What about it?
Cause, let let's just be real,the days are long.
It is filled with a lot ofopportunities, of stress.
Um, there's a lot of timeswhere you are dancing the dance
of do I have faith that God'sgoing to provide, or do we need
(12:05):
to act on this?
Um, there is homelessness hasbecome political.
Um, the demands really, we weprobably should be running the
DC with I mean, in a dream world15 to 20 people, when we look
at all the production that goeson there, and we do it with
seven.
So none of that really soundsglamorous.
(12:29):
And yet, holton, I have seenyou and I'm laughing now, just
so that neither one of us crybecause we've cried so much yeah
.
I mean, I put makeup on today soI'm going to try to keep it on,
but yet I have seen you trulyhurt to leave.
(12:54):
That it is truly been a tug ofwar with you where you are so
trusting the Lord and you knowwhat he's called you to do and
you are so anticipating that.
But I have seen you like trulymourn, as if this is a loss,
that, but I have seen you liketruly mourn as if this is a loss
.
And so just talk to me withwith how things can be that
(13:14):
stressful and that demanding,not lavish, yet it's so hard for
you to leave.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Yeah, it it a hundred percent has been a grieving
process, and I think it'sbecause when you're in a place
where you get to see the Lordshow up and work daily, it's
hard to think about not being inthat place.
And TRM has been just so favoredby the Lord and the work that
we do here that it's a wrestlingmatch to realize okay, well,
(13:39):
I'm being called away from thatto do something awesome and be a
dad full time and those kindsof things which I love and I'm
excited about.
But it's a loss, you know.
And I think the other thing forme too, is that I just I have
such a heart.
You know, the Lord has blessedme with a heart for lost people
and we work with lots of lostpeople, and so being able to be
in the thick of it every day andit's not always glamorous,
(14:02):
right, it's hard, it's dirty,sometimes it's stinky, sometimes
it's extremely stressful, butthe fruits of what come out of
that are so sweet and so goodthat it's it's.
Yeah, it's definitely been agrieving process knowing that
I'm going to be stepping awayfrom that.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
So you know, for any listener that might be listening
and kind of struggling with whoGod is, you know, if you think
about it to really we say, well,slaying giants and we've got
bushes that are talking and allof this right.
(14:51):
But I love how you just saidthe hardest part is you leaving
what the Lord is here doingevery day.
Talk to me about who is theLord to you and how do we make
the connection from all of thosekind of wild biblical stories
to you saying that same God thatdid all of that is the same God
(15:16):
who you just said is doingthings daily here.
So you're telling me that youfeel like the Lord does stuff at
the Topeka Rescue Mission, thedistribution center, every
single day in Topeka, kansas,yep, yep.
So talk to me about how andhelp the listener to connect
that right.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
So you asked who the Lord is to me.
You know, Jesus gives a parableabout the shepherd who leaves
the 99 sheep that he has in hisfield that are perfectly fine
and perfectly healthy to findthe one that has wandered off,
and I can tell you that I haveexperienced that first hand in
my life.
The Lord has, um had literallymoved heaven and earth and in
(16:00):
some ways, uh, reorchestrated umpeople's plans and all kinds of
things to reach me when I waslost.
And and so when you realize thatyou have a God who loves you
that much, who willinconvenience other people's
lives to get your attention, whowill, you know, just go, put on
these massive displays ofaffection for you, even when
(16:20):
you're not looking for it, andand then he gets your heart, and
then you get to experience thatparable in real life.
It's like oh, okay.
And then, and then to flip that, it's like, okay, well, I can
be in a place working where thatsame display of affection is
(16:41):
constantly being poured out,where things are being shifted
and people are beinginconvenienced and we go above
and beyond to do things thatseem kind of wild to reach that
one lost person who's out thereaway from the flock, and so when
you get to experience that andthen turn around and be in a
place where you can be on theother side of that, you know,
just to see what the Lord willdo is just remarkable.
(17:03):
I don't know if that fullyanswers your question.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
It does, so you've been the 99.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
And you've been the one.
Uh-huh, when you were the one,were you pretty cute and lovable
and just so deserving ofeverything.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
I was a hot mess who drank myself silly every night
for several years straight.
Yeah, now was I able to holddown a job and maintain some
appearance of things beingnormal Sure, but I was a broken
mess.
I was a broken mess on theinside.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
So a broken mess.
I was a broken mess on theinside, so a broken mess.
So talk to me about what.
What if people would have justbeen like if they would have
known?
First of all, some, we can hidebetter than others, right, but
if they would have known thatand you might hear some of this
today too, where they're likehe's bringing that on himself,
(17:58):
he's got his own consequences,he's made his bed, he can lay in
it.
What are your thoughts aboutthat when you were the one?
Some of it was true.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
Some of it was I was making my bed and I was laying
in it and at the same time, Ihad a God who was not content
with leaving me there, who lovedme exactly where I was, in the
middle of my abusive alcohol andslowly decaying relationships
and all of those things.
He loved me there, but he lovedme way too much to leave me
(18:31):
there.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
So did you have to get yourself better before you
could go to God?
Mm-mm, why?
Speaker 5 (18:38):
Because I can't, I couldn't, there's no way I could
.
Hey, just to let you know,because I can't, I couldn't,
there's, there's no way I couldhey, I mean, I just to let you
know I can't either, right?
well, we can relate.
Yeah, it's a human condition.
I mean, we do we?
I, in that, in those that darkseason of my life, knew I was a
mess and I knew that I wanted tochange and I knew I wasn't
happy, you know with where I wasat.
But then every evening wouldroll around and I would just do
(18:59):
the same thing again becauseit's what I had become
accustomed to, it's what I knew.
And you know, then I wake up inthe morning disappointed with
myself, like, why am I?
You know, why am I doing this?
And it wasn't until God finallygot my attention and he said son
, what are you doing?
You know better than this andI've seen you through all of it
(19:22):
and I'm, I'm gonna pull you outof the muck and the mire if
you'll just let me.
And so he did.
And it wasn't it.
What didn't happen overnight?
I, you know, I wish I couldtell you like, and it was in
that moment that I just becameclean as snow and everything was
fine and everything.
No, it was a process.
God took me back through all ofthose missteps along the way
(19:44):
that got me to that pit.
Yeah, and he worked with methrough all of those and it was
kind of messy.
Actually, it was really messy attimes and uncomfortable and you
know I had to bring stuff upthat I had been hiding from you
know, and he walked with methrough all of it yeah.
And loved me through all of itand cared for my soul through
all of it.
Mm-hmm, and I'll okay, I'mgoing to try to tell the story
(20:08):
without losing my ever-lovingyeah, I don't know if I can do
it.
Uh-huh, this is going to seemcrazy, but this was the moment
when I realized, okay, all right, yeah, this is, this is the God
that I hear about in thescripture.
So we, um, you know, god hadgotten our attention.
I was like, okay, what do Iknow?
(20:31):
I'm like, okay, I need to goback to church.
So I started going back tochurch and this kind of thing.
And there was these.
It was during COVID, so therewas these Thursday night
services, you know, cause theywere trying to socially distance
and all this stuff.
And so we got connected inchurch and got back in a small
group and, you know, and thingswere getting better.
You know, things were gettingbetter and fast forward like six
, eight months, and a dearfriend of ours, who we were in a
small group with, pulled measide after a service, randomly
(20:55):
said, hey, can I talk to you fora second?
And I was like sure, what's up?
And he said the Lord, duringworship, just really laid
something on my heart that Iwant to share with you.
And I said okay, and he saidyou know those Thursday services
that the church did those extraThursday services.
God did those just for you.
(21:15):
And it broke me because when Irealized all of the people's
schedules who had gotten movedaround and all of the special
things that had to happen justfor that and I had a hard time
believing it at first I'm likeno, no, no.
Well, maybe it was for me, butyou know it was for also these
other people who schedulesdidn't work out to come on a
Sunday.
And this guy's name is Danny.
(21:36):
He's like no, like I'm here totell you it was just for you.
I start sobbing.
I just started sobbing because Irealized, oh, that's the kind
of God that I have.
And so that was at that momentthat I realized, okay, if there
was all of these other peoplewho belong to the body of Christ
, who are willing to say yes, todo that thing on Thursday, just
(21:58):
to win my heart back to theLord, well then I need to be
that person for other people,and so it's.
I need to be willing toinconvenience myself, to die to
myself, to serve, to put myselfin a position where those that
are lost and who don't even knowthat they're looking for God
yet, can be in a place to have arelational connection with
(22:20):
somebody you know, because theLord loves him, he's crazy about
him, and that's just the God weserve.
I didn't cry, I don't know howI didn't.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
I'm impressed I was even looking off so I wouldn't
make eye contact with you thatI'm looking this way.
No, holton, there is just somany things that I adore about
you and Abby, and I think one ofthe biggest things is that you
both try so hard to takeanything that is not beautiful
(22:55):
and show how God has turned it,and I just think that that is
incredible, and I think that'swhy you have been extremely
successful here, and when Idefine successful, I mean
trustworthy and loyal andsomeone that people want to go
to, even if it's through yougiving correction or things like
(23:18):
that.
Not everything is always peachy, but you do it in such a way
that is full of grace andunderstanding and kindness, and
I think that that is such ablessing here at the Rescue
Mission and we are thankful forall that you have done.
I personally have had some ofthe best moments with you.
(23:44):
I've had some of the moststressful moments with you and I
have loved doing it all.
It has truly been an honor tosee what all you've brought to
the team, how you've grown.
I appreciate your authenticity.
I appreciate every time youhave challenged me and a
(24:04):
decision I made and you wereright probably 99.9% of those.
Maybe a percent I was.
But no, you are a blessing andwe are forever grateful for what
all you've done.
And I would be lying if Ididn't you know secretly say or
tell everybody that secretly I'mgoing to God saying and now
(24:25):
you're going to bring him backaround somehow, right and Abby,
and then maybe by that timeclear grace can work and we'll
hire her too, right?
But no, you're incredible andwe're grateful for that.
But no, you're incredible andwe're grateful for that.
You know, I've kind of been in asimilar situation as to our
next guest and I want to make itreally clear that we start off
(24:47):
talking about you, holton, andjust what God has done through
you and your love for the Lord,and why you've done what you've
done so well.
You've done what you've done sowell, but now that you are
stepping away, it's not time forsomeone to be the new Holt.
And I remember when I wastransitioning you know, just two
(25:09):
days ago it was two years thatI've been the executive director
.
Thank you to everyone whohelped me survive I mean thrive
for two years.
Two years, um, our team isincredible, um, but one of the
most powerful things that anyoneever said to me was uh, barry
and I were discussing justconcerns I had and um things
(25:32):
that I was worried about, and helooked at me in his office one
day and he said, lamanda, theLord is not calling you to be
Barry 2.0.
He doesn't need Barry anymore.
He didn't need me to begin with, but he chose me to use me, and
now he's telling me to moveaside so that you can lead TRM
(25:53):
as Lamanda and you bring yourgiftings and your challenges and
your journey to the team.
Because now it's this.
And so, as we welcome Mr AndrewLucas, our new director of
distribution services, I want tostart off by making that really
clear to you.
Andrew, you know I think we'vesaid that, but I really want to
(26:15):
emphasize we love that God hascalled you here for such a time
as this.
And are there attributes that Ineed to hold?
Like Barry did right andcharacteristics?
Absolutely.
But just like I didn't need tobe Barry 2.0, you don't need to
be Holton 2.0.
If God still needed Holton tolead the distribution center, he
(26:38):
would have kept him here and hehasn't.
And so we want to welcome youon our community, our mission,
this morning, but we also wantto make sure that you continue
to feel a warm welcome to theTRM family, without the
pressures of being whoever wasbefore you, because God's going
to work through you.
So, andrew, welcome.
(26:58):
Well, thank you, yes, wewelcome.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yes, we're glad to have you on here.
I do want to dive in in just amoment of just how incredible
this transition has been and howmuch I appreciate both of your
hearts and your position on that.
But before we do that, Andrew,just tell us a little bit about
kind of your background andmaybe just kind of your journey
to the Rescue Mission.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Well, sure, First I want to thank Holton for all of
his time, his mentorship.
I'm glad to hear that I'm notexpected to be Holton 2.0,
because I don't know thatanybody can be Holton 2.0.
Correct, first of all I lackthe facial hair.
But secondly, when you stepinto the DC you can immediately
(27:38):
sense the culture that he hasdeveloped there, one of
redemption, one of grace, one ofpastoral leadership that he has
, you know.
And so as we're transitioning,we see certainly that, you know,
the staff is grieving throughthat, you know, and they're also
excited, they're nervouseverything that would go with
the transition.
And so Holton has certainlymade an impact here that I think
(28:01):
will be an exciting transitionto be a part of.
Thanks, andrew.
I certainly think that he washere for the right time and
certainly was the right personin that position.
So my background has been forroughly 25 years.
I was in the ministry,preaching, trained for that,
(28:23):
enjoyed that.
That's where my heart was andthrough various circumstances
God brought a broken of yearsreally, and needing to find God
(28:45):
in a very tangible way.
He's always.
I thrive on the academic, and sothere's a 12-inch separation
many times, from my head to myheart, of where I know who God
is.
I can write you a paper on whoGod is but being able to
experience that and live thatand feel that from staff, from
(29:09):
the guests and just theenvironment that we have is, I
think, something that's going tobe therapeutic therapeutic for
me and having some kind oftangible sense.
We talk about it in church alot, but doing it is certainly
going to be different.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
So what do you feel like we talk about versus doing?
I think we talk about feedinghungry people.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
We talk about sacrificial giving how they love
.
We talk about needing to beJesus to others, but do we
really Do?
We do that, and I've beenaround a lot of churches, I've
been around a lot of Christians,and sure we see that sometimes.
(29:56):
But to see a culture where thatis what we do, that we are, as
Holtens, famous for saying,radically generous and
sacrificially loving, and thosekind of things.
Churches are really good atgiving money, maybe donations,
(30:22):
but to physically be there,handing or sorting or
interacting with those who needto see Jesus from you can
certainly be an eye-openingexperience, one that I'm
experiencing.
I think I will be for some timethe, you know, to a culture
that I've not been exposed tobefore, and so this is certainly
(30:45):
, I think, an educationalexperience.
This will be a therapeuticexperience for me.
I'm just starting to understandreally what is expected in the
position that I'm taking, andthat will take some time to
learn because there's a lot toit and that will take some time
to learn because there's a lotto it, but getting to really
feel that and be a part of thatis a journey that I think is
(31:05):
essential to mature Christiandevelopment.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yeah, I told you before I think this is going to
be a very act of spiritualdiscipline on my part that I've
been lacking.
And you know, andrew, I justone of the things that I love
about you is just your honesty.
I think sometimes we can bevulnerable with our brokenness,
(31:31):
in regards to that brokennessbeing an addiction or a bad
choice or whatever the case maybe.
But I'm not sure we would be asopen to talk about how the
actions of knowing who Christ isis sometimes very different
(31:53):
than what we just talk about,and so I have loved that about
you that you can say, hey, Iknow a lot about the Lord
Biblically, I am sound, thesekinds of things but I have seen
our God be a whole differentlevel of God by the actions of
(32:14):
the rescue mission.
And I'm just excited I told youthat the other day to see not
only what you bring to TRM butwhat God is going to do in your
life.
You know, as the executivedirector, I have to look at
everything as the whole, and,yes, I want the ministry taken
care of, but I don't want thatabove the individual needs of
everyone that makes up TRM Right, and so I'm so excited to see
(32:37):
what growth you're going to haveand and all of that because
you're already bringing greatskill sets to the team.
Um, but to know that you're onsuch an intimate journey with
who the Lord is is exciting tome, because we've all been here
for a little bit now and we'relike, oh, he's going to get the
love bug that we all get.
You know, we all get it.
Um, but talk to me a little bit.
(33:00):
There might be listeners herethat just feel like maybe they
are so far gone.
Or there might be listenerslistening who really kind of
feel like they don't have anyblemishes.
So the correlation that I wantyou to kind of discuss is you
can't you still said a brokenperson has been brought to TRM,
(33:24):
but your brokenness isn't thealcoholism like Holton was
talking about.
It's not a very diversebackground with lots of trauma
and things like that.
You were very scholarly and yousaid that, but you would still
consider yourself a broken being.
So can you talk about why youfeel like you need the Lord and
(33:46):
why do you feel like you'reunderstanding how, despite the
scholarliness, despite all ofthe pastoral knowledge that you
have, that you still have a lotto learn?
Speaker 3 (33:57):
Will you ever stop learning?
I mean, you can never.
It's a journey.
We call Christian walk ajourney, never a place.
You arrive, and so you'reabsolutely going to always need
to grow, and if you feel likeyou've arrived, you're doing it
wrong.
And so, as we do ministry and aswe work with others, we find
(34:22):
ourselves learning about a Godwho is vast.
Let me get academic a littlebit fast.
Let me get academic a littlebit, just trying to understand
God as an act of idolatry,because we're going to
conceptualize him in our ownmind and make him out of human
traits.
And then he shows up in a waythat we don't ask or imagine and
we go oh, you know, we see alife changed that we wouldn't
(34:45):
expect to be changed.
So, you know, I think achallenge would be come and work
with my team when you seepeople who have come out of a
life of homelessness oraddiction or whatever their
background is, and they findhousing and they find a marriage
, they find a career, they findthings that are going on and
they're excited, and you seeJesus working through them and
(35:06):
you go wow, I'm jealous ofsomebody and their excitement
and their newness and everythingthat's going on, because you
know, I've been a Christian for30, 40 years.
So it's, you know.
You get to experience alllevels of maturity, you get to
see and work with people withdifferent gifts and you go.
Man, I don't know much at all.
There was a saying they told mein seminary.
(35:27):
They said you know, the moreyou know, the more you know.
You don't know, you know.
And so as you get further inyour journey, you go wow, I
didn't know nearly as much as Ithought I did.
I thought I knew it Right.
You know, and I wrote thispaper, I took this class, or I
preached this message and, ohwait, I forgot about that.
And there's more here and thenGod shows up in a way that you
(35:47):
just didn't even know he existed.
Yeah, and you see things happenin the DC and I've heard you
know I want to been here alittle while, but you hear
stories of God showing upunprompted and showing you know
I need you to go this way, orhere's a need I didn't, you
didn't know you had, and here itis and you discover just how
much God blesses that.
You discover just how much Godblesses that and you can see
(36:10):
that by the multiplication thatwe have in the ministry Once
something comes in and we have arecord of reproducing that over
and over again and seeing liveschanged and seeing people fed
and people loved in various ways, and just you know, you can
just see that in a five minuteconversation.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yes, you know, in a way, it's beautiful.
And then it happens every day.
Yeah, every day.
Talk a, you know it's beautiful, and then it happens every day.
Every day, um talk a little bit.
Andrew and Holton, both ofy'all can kind of tag team this
one.
But what was the transition?
Was it just you said peace out,I'm out, and Andrew's like I'm
here?
Nope, not quite Okay.
Um did Andrew say you're thelame duck, get out?
(36:47):
And you said here's all thestuff you're responsible for.
Don't call me, not so much.
Speaker 5 (36:51):
Not so much.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
So talk to me about the transition guys.
Yeah, so the transition startedwith me weeping uncontrollably
in LaManda's office trying toget out the words that hey, I
think I'm going to leave, andthat that that might have some
trauma from that.
Speaker 5 (37:07):
Yeah, me too.
And that happened, let's seefrom that.
Yeah, me too.
And that happened, let's seethat happened in January.
So this has been an ongoingprocess for several reasons.
One, it's complicated, like therole, the job is.
It's a lot, there's a lot ofmoving pieces, our staff does
each one of them does the workof about two people, and so
(37:28):
there's just a lot of things tolearn about.
You know how the opera, howthings operate and things like
that.
But there was also just thisyou know, when I transitioned in
, I didn't get a lot of training.
I didn't get, there wasn't alot of resources for me and it
was hard, you know, and therewas a lot of.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
And let's just say that was because I didn't know
what in the world I was doing.
So we all learned together.
I survived, asked Miriam a lotof questions.
Speaker 5 (37:54):
I survived and, luckily, mike Schottel was great
, you know he, he walked methrough that He'd been there for
four or five years, and so, and, and Andrew, I'll just take a
little aside here and say I'vebeen doing this for two years
now and you'll still learn newthings every day.
Yeah, so, like, don't worryabout learning new things, it'll
happen, you know, and it's goodand it's beautiful.
But, um, but yeah, and so therewas this process of okay, we
(38:15):
need to make sure that we'rebeing thorough about this,
because one the ministry is tooimportant not to you know like
the people that it's not justokay.
It would be helpful for Andrew,you know, that's good, um,
it's's.
There's real people who dependon us, you know, and so we need
to make sure that fooddistribution is happening, um,
the way it's supposed to.
We need to make sure that ourcompletions of program are going
(38:37):
the way that they're supposedto, so our guests who have
worked so hard to get intohousing are getting the
furniture and the hygiene itemsand the things like that that
they need.
So there's it's not just atransition between andrew and I,
it's a transition for thecommunity that we serve and they
just they may not even know it,but they'll know it if it
doesn't go well, right, and sothat's some of the level there.
But Andrew has been reallygreat because he could have said
(39:00):
all right, thanks, you stuckaround long enough, let's see
you later.
And he didn't do that, you know, and so I'll let you kind of
give your kind of thoughts on.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
Well, you know, when I first came on, I had the
exposure of the interview andthen the acceptance, coming on
and realizing what did I getinto?
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Talk about the interview, Andrew.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Well, the interview was fun to begin with.
Holton and I, you know, I think, have developed a friendship
over the last month and thatstarted, you know, the day of
the interview.
And I, you know, I realizedthat I've been kind of being
(39:41):
positioned maybe for this joband in certain jobs that I
didn't really want to have atthe time but kind of qualified
me for this.
So we're in the interview and Ifelt like it was going well,
doing good, and you know, theaudience may not know that I've
met you outside.
And LaManda comes in and Ithought, oh good a friend, and
(40:04):
here come the hard questions.
And I was kind of taken backand mumbled through her answers
and she graciously didn't nixthe interview at the moment but
having and I think Holton kindof sat back and laughed.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
He's like we've all been through LB.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
So if you've never been interviewed by LaManda
Brooks, I think twice.
But no, it was great and I leftfeeling good.
I left feeling overwhelmed, butprivileged, you know, and when
the offer came I was, I didn'thesitate to take that.
(40:45):
And then they started talkingabout Christmas.
And then they started talkingabout Christmas.
How much that involves.
So we'll determine yet how thetransition goes, but this
transition would not havehappened not only with Holton
but with our team at the DC.
They have been exceptionallygracious.
They've been training theirboss, and that's never a fun
(41:05):
proposition.
They're going through thetransition, with Miranda coming
out, hope coming in, so there'smultiple things going on and you
know so nothing's been smooth.
I'm asking questions thatthey've known the answers to and
that's great.
They have ran the DC as I'mtraining and they have just done
a phenomenal job over there.
(41:27):
So their success, yes, is partlydue to Holton, but it's really
due to the team.
They've done so much over there, and so I couldn't be blessed
with a better team to come inwith.
So, yeah, the transition isgoing to go on, because if
Holton doesn't think I'm goingto call him every day, he's got
something else coming.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
That's right, you know.
I just I appreciate both of you.
It has been quite the littlejourney you know to we
interviewed a lot of peoplebefore we interviewed Andrew and
to just trust the Lord with theprocess, because you know we
(42:08):
had a lot of applicants andthings like that and we
appreciate everybody thatapplied.
But it's one of those thingsthat you would rather wait and
really get the person that Godneeds for that position in that
moment.
And it's so cool how sometimessomething might not work for
someone and then a couple ofmonths later it'll work for them
(42:29):
in another position, in anotherdepartment, that kind of thing.
And so, um Holton, I've enjoyeduh doing uh me, you and Miriam
tag team some of the interviewprocess.
Um, thank you for having such aheart.
That was focused on I hate thisphrase, but doing it right.
Um, you have I'm not sure whatyou have given God glory more
(42:51):
for your time here or how you'veleft Um cause that is a game
changer for some, and I haveseen you be still so loyal and
dedicated to the Lord and hisministry and his people,
regardless if that's the staff,the volunteers, the unsheltered
(43:13):
neighbors.
Um, whatever the case may be,um, and so I I thank you for
that and for just the man thatyou have been a man of wisdom,
um, a man of a kind heart, um,but, most importantly, a man who
is willing to do what's bestfor his wife and his beautiful
daughter, um, over anything else, and I know God's going to
(43:34):
honor that.
Andrew, I appreciate yourwillingness.
Um, you have been a go-gettersince you've come um, but not
demanding, not anything likethat.
You have just really taken thereins and wanting to continue
doing whatever God is doing, andI know that as long as you
continue to do that, it's goingto be beautiful, and so we're
(43:56):
excited to have you, holton.
It's a loss, but I'm not goingto count it as a loss.
I'm just going to count it, asI now have someone that I love
deeply that's no longer going tobe employed at TRM, but is
still a part of TRM, right?
So, miriam, I also want tothank you, because we had quite
(44:19):
a few transitions all occurringat the same time, and so if only
we would have known that therewas a scream day.
Speaker 4 (44:28):
It could have taken the pressure off completely.
Speaker 2 (44:30):
That's right.
But no, miriam, I thank youbecause it does not matter if it
is stuff that's on themountaintops or the valleys.
I know that I can count on youto be a friend, a prayer warrior
, um to do late nights with me,early mornings, weekends, as we
are processing all of theapplications and doing, and so
(44:54):
thank you for all that you dothrough transitions as well.
So you've heard it.
You've heard that we don't cometo TRM because we're perfect
people.
You've also heard that there'sno getting cleaner or getting
better before the Lord.
The only way that we can,whether it's through brokenness
or sin or hurt, it's throughChrist, and once we have given
(45:20):
it to him, then it's a journey,and it's a step by step journey.
So I don't know where you're at.
I don't know if you're someonewho has always been in church
and scholarly knows who the Lordis, but just feel him nudging
to say know me in a differentway.
Know me as a father, know me asa provider, Know me as a healer,
(45:43):
know me as the Jesus who wasalways in the midst of the
people that no one else wantedto be.
I don't know if you're in themidst of brokenness right now,
dealing with alcoholism, dealingwith divorce, dealing with
addiction Just remember thosethings do not define you either,
(46:04):
because before any of this andbefore any of us are even broken
even though we all are we havebeen made in his image, and so
remember that your identitytoday, regardless of your age,
regardless of your demographics,regardless of sin, regardless
of brokenness, you are adaughter or a son of a king, and
(46:28):
the king is amazing, but he'salso a father who loves you
dearly.
So we are excited for thechanges that continually come
our way at the rescue mission,through transitions and through
God's transformations, and welook forward to seeing what he's
going to continue to do for thenext 71 years.
As we are celebrating that thismonth.
(46:49):
You are loved.
You are loved, you are valued.
And remember, even if you arebroken, god knew that when he
made you and he is ready toredeem you.
Thank you for listening to ourcommunity, our mission.
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