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Speaker 1: It's not a new idea to empower neighbors to see

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Speaker 1: and serve other neighbors using technology to connect kids and

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Speaker 1: families in crisis with churches and people who care in

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Speaker 1: proximity that want to help.

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Speaker 2: That was the thing.

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Speaker 1: And how can we take the six foot barrier of

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Speaker 1: taking a kid into your home and bring it down

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Speaker 1: to six inches where you might be able to help

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Speaker 1: a mom keep her kids if you could provide some

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Speaker 1: things she really needed for that to happen. Or you

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Speaker 1: might be able to help kids get out of foster

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Speaker 1: care if you could provide some things that they really

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Speaker 1: needed to make that happen. That's a six inch bar.

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Speaker 1: And so if I ask you, Bill, would you be

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Speaker 1: willing to receive an email about a single mom who

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Speaker 1: just left an abusive relationship and she's got a new

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Speaker 1: place now, but she needs some beds so her kids

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Speaker 1: can get back with her. It's the last thing that

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Speaker 1: she needs before she can have them back. Would you

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Speaker 1: be willing to see an email about that?

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Speaker 2: Meet? Not only would I see the email, I'd buy

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Speaker 2: the damn bet. Buy the damn bet. Welcome to an

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Speaker 2: army of normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney, I'm a normal guy.

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Speaker 2: I'm a husband, a father, I'm an entrepreneur, and I've

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Speaker 2: been a football coach an inner city Memphis. And the

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Speaker 2: last part it accidentally led to an oscar for the

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Speaker 2: film about our football team. It's called Undefeated. Guys, I

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Speaker 2: believe our country's problems will never be solved by a

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Speaker 2: bunch of fancy people in nice suits using big words.

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Speaker 2: Nobody ever uses on cinn in Fox, but rather an

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Speaker 2: army of normal folks, US just you and me deciding hey,

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Speaker 2: I can help. That's what Adrian Lewis, the voice we

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Speaker 2: just heard, has done Care Portal is his technology platform.

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Speaker 2: That's this creative idea. It connects families whose kids should

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Speaker 2: not be in foster care, but those kids either are

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Speaker 2: or at risk of being in foster care because they

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Speaker 2: can't afford basic needs. It connects them with churches and

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Speaker 2: individuals and their area who want to serve those needs

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Speaker 2: and them. I can't wait for you to meet Adrian.

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Speaker 2: Right after these brief messages from our general sponsors, Adrian Lewis,

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Speaker 2: Welcome to Memphis. I'm so glad to be here, brother.

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Speaker 2: Where'd you flying from?

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Speaker 1: Kansas City? That's home, right, Kansay's home a long time.

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Speaker 2: Where were you were? I know you went to you

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Speaker 2: went to the University of Kansas, right, Yeah. Where'd you

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Speaker 2: grow up? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: So I was born in Levenworth, got out of mility.

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Speaker 2: Born in Leavenworth. You're born in jail.

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Speaker 1: You say that, Well, you could say my dad was

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Speaker 1: in jail, you could say something like that, but uh,

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Speaker 1: but yeah, he just came from a military family and Levenworth.

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Speaker 2: Is where they were. Was he a military guy? Was Yeah? Vietnam?

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Speaker 1: No kidd in Vietnam? Yeah, wow, But I grew up

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Speaker 1: in Massachusetts. My mother is an immigrant from Armenia. From Armenia, Armenia. Wow, yeah,

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Speaker 1: from Armenia. Yeah, off the boat, didn't speak English all

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Speaker 1: the things.

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Speaker 2: Really yeah. Yeah. And your father was a.

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Speaker 1: Black guy from Levenworth, Kansas.

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Speaker 2: Black guy from Levenworth, Kansas and a non speaking, non

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Speaker 2: English speaking mom off the boat from Armenia. And where

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Speaker 2: did they meet? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: So more detail. Yeah, my in high school, my mom

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Speaker 1: was dating a black guy, okay, and when her parents

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Speaker 1: found out, they put her out of the house. Right so,

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Speaker 1: and from their perspective, Armenian girls don't date black guys, okay.

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Speaker 2: And she goes to college This is going to be

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Speaker 2: a weird question and it shows my complete ignorance. But

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Speaker 2: what is an Armenia in person?

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Speaker 1: Typically look like Armenian person could look Greek or Italian.

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Speaker 1: Armenia is just not love skin, olive skinned, just northeast

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Speaker 1: of Turkey, and so there's a Middle East slash Russian

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Speaker 1: kind of blend a little bit.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, I would say olive skin. Okay, so almost

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Speaker 2: for the uninformed like me, Southern Mediterranean kind of southern Mediterranean.

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Speaker 1: And my mom is on the lighter side of it, right,

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Speaker 1: So you saw her, you think maybe she's Jewish or

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Speaker 1: Italian like.

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Speaker 2: That, all right, And so she's staying in a black

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Speaker 2: day being a black dude, which is non not no

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Speaker 2: go on Armenian rules, and they put her out, and

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Speaker 2: they put her out, Yeah, they put her out. She

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Speaker 2: ended up living at a w MCA. You remember those

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Speaker 2: those but they s so got them WMC. Sure there's

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Speaker 2: wmcas around Okay, Yeah, that's YMCA for women.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right, right, and they have residential programs. Back

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Speaker 1: in the day, she's living at one of those places.

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Speaker 1: She breaks up with this guy, but she's still living there.

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Speaker 1: My dad gets out of.

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Speaker 2: Well, do the parents say, okay, you can come back now.

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Speaker 1: No, no, no, that was like not paying for college,

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Speaker 1: not coming home.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it's you know, and everybody has a story

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Speaker 1: of how they got to.

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Speaker 2: How they are.

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Speaker 1: My grandparents were wrong, zero question about it, no doubt.

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Speaker 1: I also understand how they got to be wrong right,

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Speaker 1: and that really matters to because of the culture that

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Speaker 1: came from. Absolutely, yeah, this is not a new idea.

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Speaker 1: They didn't make it up, you know. It came with

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Speaker 1: them and the people who they lived with, and it

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Speaker 1: was just just the way it was wrong as can be.

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Speaker 1: But they didn't start it right. So that's so I

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Speaker 1: have some compassion for how they got to where they were,

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Speaker 1: and I'm grateful that when I was fifteen they came

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Speaker 1: through it right, and so we end up okay. On

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Speaker 1: the other side of that, there was healing and restoration.

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Speaker 1: But when my mom's you know, nineteen grace on your

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Speaker 1: mom's side, then oh my goodness, brother, right, my mother

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Speaker 1: overcame so much adversity through the power of love and forgiveness.

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Speaker 1: And she wasn't even a believer, she just had it

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Speaker 1: in her love and forgiveness will rule the day.

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Speaker 2: But then she found another black dude because you just

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Speaker 2: told me your dad was black. That's right. So what happened?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So he gets out of Vietnam okay, and he

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Speaker 1: ends up living at the y MCA right next to

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Speaker 1: the w NCA of course, sorry, and they start dating

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Speaker 1: and this is true story. One day, my grandpa, who

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Speaker 1: is all Armenian like full everything, I didn't speak hardly

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Speaker 1: any English. Still, he decides to come visit my mom

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Speaker 1: and so he comes and he sees her sitting on

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Speaker 1: the steps with this guy whose name.

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Speaker 2: Is Robert your father, my dad, my dad, to be right,

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Speaker 2: this is before yeah, ultimately yeah, my dad. Yeah, and dude,

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Speaker 2: he attacks my dad, attacks physically physically, my five foot

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Speaker 2: six Armenian grandpa attacks my six foot three dad, who

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Speaker 2: just got a Vietnam our. Armenians overly brave, are just stupid. Well,

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Speaker 2: where's the line, right, that's what the line on. That's

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Speaker 2: blurred with a lot of people, the present company in clues.

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Speaker 2: That's right.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, if you asked me if he was stubborn, I

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Speaker 1: would say absolutely.

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Speaker 2: Yees. So he really attacks him, and he in his

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Speaker 2: warped mind defending his daughters.

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Speaker 1: This is wrong, that's right. Yeah, this is wrong, dead wrong.

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Speaker 1: But that's what he's doing. And he's thinking this is wrong.

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Speaker 1: So I'm going to make it like this is not

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Speaker 1: going to happen under my watch. Right, And they get

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Speaker 1: into a fight and my dad goes to jail. Well,

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Speaker 1: of course he's the black guy. Of course, that's right.

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Speaker 1: And this is nineteen seventy right now, he's really going

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Speaker 1: to jail. He's going to jail, probably got his ass

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Speaker 1: whipped on the way to jail. Could be just served

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Speaker 1: our country. Now he's getting thrown into jail because of

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Speaker 1: straight up racism. There's no other way to look at it. Again,

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Speaker 1: I underst where this is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Yeah, this

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Speaker 1: is where they came off the boat to Uh. He

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Speaker 1: went to jail a couple of times because of being

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Speaker 1: with my mom. You know, there was a walking down

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Speaker 1: the street, why are you with that white woman kind

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Speaker 1: of thing, and and so that's that was his experience.

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Speaker 1: But I'm gonna tell you something about my dad, and

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Speaker 1: this is this is part of the fabric of who

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Speaker 1: I am. My dad taught me you were nobody's victim.

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Speaker 1: You are nobody's victim if you have to work twice

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Speaker 1: as hard as the next guy. You do it, but

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Speaker 1: you are nobody's victim. And my mom taught me love

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Speaker 1: and forgiveness is the fuel for life and those things

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Speaker 1: for all the warts in my family, those things are

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Speaker 1: deep in this guy.

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Speaker 2: This has absolutely nothing to do with you being the

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Speaker 2: founder of care Portal, which we're getting to, but it's

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Speaker 2: it's cool to establish not only what amazing people like

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Speaker 2: normal folks like you have done to help the world,

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Speaker 2: but I think perspective of where somebody comes from really

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Speaker 2: helps even understand why you got involved in the first place.

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Speaker 2: But as I'm hearing your story, how do you identify?

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Speaker 2: Oh man, I'm so glad you asked because people aren't

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Speaker 2: looking at you. Yeah, I'm going to describe you. All right.

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Speaker 2: I don't know how old you are, but take a number,

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Speaker 2: but nine next week. You're right on. I was pretty strong,

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Speaker 2: all right. We're looking at a guy who, by all

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Speaker 2: into its purposes, does not have a full on dad.

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Speaker 2: Body's in pretty good shape. He's much better shape than

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Speaker 2: I am. He's got a really good looking salt and

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Speaker 2: pepper beard. His head is basically bald, shaved bald, and honestly,

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Speaker 2: if I were to just look at you, coming down

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Speaker 2: the street, I'd say you were from uh maybe Greece.

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Speaker 2: You look you look ish like that, and I would.

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Speaker 2: I mean, so growing up with an Armenian mother and

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Speaker 2: a black father, in having dealt with all of that

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Speaker 2: and the way you look, I just wonder where you fit.

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Speaker 1: So as a kid, I didn't. I had so much insecurity,

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Speaker 1: bet because if I'm with my black family, I like them.

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Speaker 1: If I'm with my Armenian family, I'm not like that

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Speaker 1: was your here straight? Nope, I had a fro. You

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Speaker 1: had a froe, but you weren't like them, No, I

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Speaker 1: mean not like them, like them.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 1: I was very If you look at the family picture

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Speaker 1: of my dad's family with me in it, it's very

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Speaker 1: different me than everybody else, right, And so or with

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Speaker 1: my black friends or with my white friends, there's a

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Speaker 1: there was an isolation just because of outward appearance. Like

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Speaker 1: we're human and humans see the thing they see and

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Speaker 1: they and we're clannish and work. Yeah, tribal now for sure.

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Speaker 1: And so I had a lot of insecurity as a kid,

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Speaker 1: a lot of insecurity, anxious a lot. And I overcame

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Speaker 1: that by making other people very comfortable around me. So

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Speaker 1: my strategy compensation, like I'm going to make you like

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Speaker 1: me and we're gonna be okay, because if you like me,

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Speaker 1: then I'm gonna feel okay, all.

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Speaker 2: The while harboring lessons that I'm not going to be

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Speaker 2: a victim and I'm going to have a great, full

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Speaker 2: affect towards others. That's right.

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Speaker 1: It's a good combination for being successful in life. But

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Speaker 1: it doesn't make your insecurity go away now. And I

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Speaker 1: know what it's like to be in a room full

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Speaker 1: of black people and not be black enough. And I

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Speaker 1: know what it's like to be in a room of

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Speaker 1: white people and be too black.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 1: That was how I thought of myself and wrestled with

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Speaker 1: And it wasn't until really I became a believer and

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Speaker 1: Jesus began to reshape my identity that I was able

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Speaker 1: to start shedding the things of this world, including what

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Speaker 1: is your race based on the color of your skin?

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Speaker 1: Because I don't actually have to fit into a box,

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Speaker 1: like my identity is secure in the Lord and I'm

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Speaker 1: I'm okay.

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Speaker 2: This is such a bad joke. But you probably look

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Speaker 2: more like Jesus than most people do with your skin

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Speaker 2: and your air. I mean, if you think of where

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Speaker 2: Jesus came from you probably more than anybody else. Maybe.

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Speaker 2: And now a few messages from our general sponsors. But first,

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Speaker 2: I hope you'll follow us on all your favorite social

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Speaker 2: media channels where we share more powerful content from the

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Speaker 2: Army search for at Army of normal folks on every channel.

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Speaker 2: We'll be right back. So you grow up in this

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Speaker 2: interesting place, and when I say place, I mean your

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Speaker 2: reality place and you're in Massachusetts. What makes you go

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Speaker 2: to Kansas to school? Parents split up when I was young?

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Speaker 2: That's part of the story. Both remarried, and when I

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Speaker 2: do you think the social pressures against them were part

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Speaker 2: of the component. No, that wasn't it. That wasn't that

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Speaker 2: wasn't it. I'll spare the details. Does matter? They split up,

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Speaker 2: that's right.

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Speaker 1: But when it came time to go to college, we

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Speaker 1: had no money and I could get in state tuition

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Speaker 1: at KU because my dad was in Levenworth, Kansas. And

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Speaker 1: I was like, well, I can spread my wings a

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Speaker 1: little bit, I can get to know my dad's family more,

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Speaker 1: and I can afford to go somewhere. And that's how

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Speaker 1: I got to KU. Did the insecurity do any better

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Speaker 1: at KU? Because you don't look anything like folks from Kansas.

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Speaker 2: Not at all.

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Speaker 1: I mean even in the dorms there was the black

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Speaker 1: table in the dorm. I get it, you know what

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Speaker 1: I'm saying, And it was it was a very hard

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Speaker 1: time from that perspective. I did not find myself in college.

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Speaker 1: I didn't find my faith in college. I didn't find

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Speaker 1: my identity in college. I didn't. I wasn't rooted in college.

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Speaker 1: I was still trying to grow up and work through

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Speaker 1: my stuff.

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Speaker 2: You know, we all have stuff broke, but your stuff

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Speaker 2: is different for sure than most people's reality, especially given

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Speaker 2: your age, because you know, the late sixties into the

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Speaker 2: early seventies, the civil rights movement and Armenian mother, a

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Speaker 2: set of grandparents that hate her choices, a black father.

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Speaker 2: I mean, all of it had to have been just

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Speaker 2: a lot.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, But I mean, whatever your stuff is, it's your stuff.

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Speaker 1: It's your stuff, and I don't but you were taught

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Speaker 1: not to be a victim to it, that's right, which

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Speaker 1: I love that.

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Speaker 2: I have talked on this show a lot about a

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Speaker 2: story that I will spare you and our listeners because

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Speaker 2: they've heard it more than once. But basically, when I

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Speaker 2: was in the middle of a lot of trauma and

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Speaker 2: insecurity Amone time I had one of my greatest mentors

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Speaker 2: tell me, you can be a victim of those circumstances

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Speaker 2: or you can be a rock that that dysfunction breaks

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Speaker 2: itself on. And it really is a choice, and if

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Speaker 2: you want to be a victim to it, nobody can

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Speaker 2: really blame me because of where you came from, and

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Speaker 2: everybody can excuse it. But let me let you look

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Speaker 2: at what forty years old looks like growing up a

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Speaker 2: victim verse forty years old looks like growing up being

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Speaker 2: a rock that dysfunction breaks itself on. And it's a

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Speaker 2: simple choice that leads to misery or some opportunity at happiness.

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Speaker 2: That's right. And I got to believe you were different words,

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Speaker 2: but you were figuring out the same thing. Absolutely. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And even in my insecurities, I still didn't see

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Speaker 1: in myself as a victim.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 1: The thing that my dad deposited was deep, and I'm

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Speaker 1: super grateful, I mean super grateful, and I don't even

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Speaker 1: judge people who can't get there because I wouldn't have

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Speaker 1: got there without the deposit. Somebody put that in me,

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Speaker 1: you know, now, I received it. I kept it. I

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Speaker 1: could have let it go, but I didn't put it there,

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Speaker 1: and that's a that's a blessing man.

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Speaker 2: That was a gift. One of the other things that

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Speaker 2: your mom's teachings about forgiveness and grace is first and foremost,

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Speaker 2: you got to be able to forgive yourself for the

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Speaker 2: things that you know that you've done that have unraveled

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Speaker 2: some of your healing. And I had to do that too,

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Speaker 2: for sure. I kind of get you. So you leave

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Speaker 2: Kansas and I think you got like a degree in

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Speaker 2: sports science or something and went into the business world.

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Speaker 2: Tell me about that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So I started off as a personal trainer, got

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Speaker 1: into the business side of healthcare, did that for a

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Speaker 1: long time. I always found myself loving to move the needle,

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Speaker 1: to galvanize, to get people to take action that mattered,

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Speaker 1: you know, And that's kind of what sales is. Business

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Speaker 1: development is get people to take action that matters and

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Speaker 1: develop relationships, totally develop relationships. And so my career was

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Speaker 1: really in that line of things. And so my last

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Speaker 1: job five or six years there, it's a company called Ati.

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Speaker 1: We created a software and a curriculum package for colleges,

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Speaker 1: mostly nursing colleges. Who had to get people to pass

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Speaker 1: their boards in order to be licensed. Right, and there's

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Speaker 1: a nursing shortage, there's a shortage of nurse educators. It

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Speaker 1: was the sweetest market. I mean, who's better than a

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Speaker 1: nurse who's also a teacher, right, I mean, just think

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Speaker 1: about what goes into becoming a nurse or a teacher.

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Speaker 1: You care deeply about other people. And I got to

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Speaker 1: work with nurse educators all across the country and build

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Speaker 1: the business and all the.

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Speaker 2: While developing a software to help grow their ranks, all.

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Speaker 1: To grow their ranks. Say that a different way too.

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Speaker 2: I mean, wasn't the software designed to help people get

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Speaker 2: through nursing so you can grow the ranks of nurses?

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Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. Yeah, so passing the boards as

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Speaker 1: a college, the higher your pass rate, the better school

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Speaker 1: you have.

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Speaker 2: Oh now that's interesting, that makes sense.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And we were really good at helping schools get

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Speaker 1: or pass rates high. And so it was a thriving business.

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Speaker 1: Got bought by a company, became a part owner in that,

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Speaker 1: just a little teeny part, but a part.

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Speaker 2: But you're on your way. I mean you're like seven

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Speaker 2: eight years out of college with us.

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Speaker 1: Now, let's see I was probably ten years well, yeah,

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Speaker 1: ten years when I left there.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, but yeah, you're on your way. I'm on

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Speaker 2: my way. Have you gotten married at this point? Married,

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Speaker 2: got kids, have been through divorce, have been remarried, have

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Speaker 2: blended family? Trying to figure out that's.

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Speaker 1: A blended family. Your kids, her kids now are kids.

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Speaker 1: My wife's son was eighteen, My kids were four and three. Wow,

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Speaker 1: and we were trying to figure out how you make

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Speaker 1: that work. My kids went back and forth to their

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Speaker 1: biological mom's house for a week at a time initially,

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Speaker 1: and things got real hard and she ended up becoming

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Speaker 1: not able to care for them. And by God's grace,

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Speaker 1: my wife was already caring for them. And so since

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Speaker 1: my kids have been five four years old, my wife

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Speaker 1: has been mom and so's she has given herself three

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Speaker 1: times now. I'll get through the third time in a

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Speaker 1: little while, but three times now she has started over

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Speaker 1: as a mom, caring for young kids. And most of

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Speaker 1: the kids that she cares for are not biologically hers.

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Speaker 2: Did you marry mother Tree? So I'll tell you what

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Speaker 2: My wife is. Cuban sold it. Of course, of course

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Speaker 2: she has to be Latino Hispanic looking. So now We've

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Speaker 2: got our media black and latinos all balled up into

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Speaker 2: the mutt syndrome that is your family, which is actually

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Speaker 2: leads into a lot of what we're going to talk about. Candidly,

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Speaker 2: that is crazy. She's Cuban.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, off the boat, her family's off the boat. She

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Speaker 1: was born here, but her older siblings were born there. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's pretty special. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, the only people are that aren't your

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Speaker 2: family or some white folks. I mean, that's about it.

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Speaker 2: Oh well maybe you got one of those that came along,

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Speaker 2: which we'll talk about. All right, So I'm going to

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Speaker 2: let you take me through this. I'll just lead it

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Speaker 2: in and let you run with it. You graduated, You've

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Speaker 2: you kind of grew up with this sensecurity that's understandable,

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Speaker 2: and this weird family trauma with your grandparents and everything,

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Speaker 2: and this mixed race deal, and they are many an influence.

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Speaker 2: And you go to Kansas of all places, and you

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Speaker 2: graduate and you're on your way and you're having success professionally.

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Speaker 2: You have one tough marriage that sounds like, but you

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Speaker 2: got a new marriage and you're blending this family and

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Speaker 2: you're kind of on your way and you're somewhere around

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Speaker 2: young thirties at this point. That's I'm doing the math right,

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Speaker 2: thirty two too.

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Speaker 1: And.

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Speaker 2: Somehow you say, let's check out foster parenting. So get

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Speaker 2: me to that. How do we get there? Yeah, that's

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Speaker 2: I'm connect that dot for me. So early in my

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Speaker 2: marriage with my life Cynthia, we got invited to you

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Speaker 2: know what we needed is Cynthia, Cynthia, Cuban Cynthia. There's

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Speaker 2: a Cynthia India, Dianna Okay, Tlvis of course, right, that's awesome.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So Cynthia and I are married, I get invited

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Speaker 1: to go on a mission trip, which was new to me.

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Speaker 1: I mean, like I said, I didn't become a believer

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Speaker 1: until I was twenty seven. There was nothing like that

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Speaker 1: in my past. Didn't have a clue what that meant.

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Speaker 2: And Armenia, I thought Armenians were fairly religious people.

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Speaker 1: Yes, so if you ask my grandma, Armenia was Armenia

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Speaker 1: was the first Christian nation, which really means that as

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Speaker 1: a culture, Christianity is bacon. That happens in this country

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Speaker 1: too for lots of folks. But culture and relationship are

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Speaker 1: not exactly the same thing. And because my mom ended

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Speaker 1: up marrying a black guy. The whole church thing just

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Speaker 1: it was fuzzy. So we went a few times, but

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Speaker 1: that was it.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So it was a cultural Armenian Christianity more than

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Speaker 2: a practicing faith.

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Speaker 1: When it got to my mom, that's where it was.

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Speaker 1: So my mom wasn't a believer growing up.

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Speaker 2: I got it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So we go on this mission trip.

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Speaker 2: My wife comes, I'm sorry you are good man. Well, no,

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Speaker 2: I mean I like your curiosity. Well, I mean why

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Speaker 2: you know, I'm sitting here thinking through it. But if

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Speaker 2: you have parents that denounce you because you happen to

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Speaker 2: fall in love with somebody that looks different, that doesn't

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Speaker 2: feel very faithful Christian, so I can absolutely understand why

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Speaker 2: your mom would say, you know, that's not for me.

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Speaker 1: No, no, yeah, tons of tons of hurt there, I

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Speaker 1: mean to get it hurt there.

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Speaker 2: It's the difference in being faithful and very overtly religious,

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Speaker 2: and there is a difference there. There's a massive difference.

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Speaker 2: And I can't tell you my grandparents' hearts. And I'm

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Speaker 2: not talking about your grandparents. I'm really just speaking culturally. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I think the church, the Christian Church, has done itself

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Speaker 2: a horrific disservice over the last however, many decades with

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Speaker 2: dogma first action. Sure, and this feels a lot like that. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and it's not a new phenomenon, nor gray barriers certainly

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Speaker 2: didn't invent that either. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I mean you go all the way back to biblical

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Speaker 1: times and you had the Pharisees who all of it,

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Speaker 1: all of it, right, So there's nothing new one of

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Speaker 1: the sun. I mean, this is human condition.

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Speaker 2: But I guess I'm just saying, is I can understand

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Speaker 2: why your mom was like, for sure, I'm out, what's

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Speaker 2: this for? Yeah, I'm out. This is nothing but painful now? Yes, right,

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Speaker 2: So that's how you raised, That's how I was raised.

434
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:42,280
Speaker 2: That's I get it.

435
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:46,160
Speaker 1: And my dad's family was fairly religious, and there were

436
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,000
Speaker 1: some people who really loved Jesus and there was others

437
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:52,000
Speaker 1: who were going through the motions, and that's how it was.

438
00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,719
Speaker 1: But I was never rooted in that either, and so

439
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,960
Speaker 1: I didn't start getting rooted until my twenties and didn't

440
00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,359
Speaker 1: come to face I was twenty seven. But this mission

441
00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:04,080
Speaker 1: trip that we went on, it was a life alter

442
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:08,320
Speaker 1: and experience. Where'd you got Haiti? Wow, to the south

443
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:09,960
Speaker 1: of Haiti? I know, it's in the news a lot.

444
00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:12,960
Speaker 1: Right now things are super bad. It was bad then,

445
00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:14,360
Speaker 1: but it's even worse now.

446
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:14,680
Speaker 2: Right.

447
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:17,879
Speaker 1: We're in the south of Haiti, and the organization I

448
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,960
Speaker 1: went with was called the Global Orphan Project, right. Their

449
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:25,280
Speaker 1: mission was to really transform lives through orphan care, trying

450
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:30,160
Speaker 1: to empower churches in these really impoverished countries to care

451
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,160
Speaker 1: for the most vulnerable kids where they were.

452
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:32,600
Speaker 2: Right.

453
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,520
Speaker 1: So we were going as a vision trip really to

454
00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,959
Speaker 1: just love on some kids who were there and some

455
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,720
Speaker 1: families who were there, to see what was happening, to

456
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,840
Speaker 1: dream about what could be in the future. It was exposure.

457
00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:47,439
Speaker 1: It was like get out of your own bubble for

458
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,840
Speaker 1: a little while and go be Was this sponsored from

459
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:52,560
Speaker 1: your congregation for me? Now?

460
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:54,880
Speaker 2: We paid for it? Yeah? Well no, when I say sponsored,

461
00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:58,040
Speaker 2: was this a group of people from your church or

462
00:26:58,119 --> 00:26:58,879
Speaker 2: just your area?

463
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,760
Speaker 1: It was a group of people invited by the hosts.

464
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:06,879
Speaker 2: Got it. So lots of different So it's a belting

465
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,080
Speaker 2: pot in and of itself.

466
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:13,120
Speaker 1: Totally fifteen or twenty people five six days, and one

467
00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:16,240
Speaker 1: of the days we're on a field, and so try

468
00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,239
Speaker 1: to picture there's it's in Haiti, right, and so it's

469
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,400
Speaker 1: an island. There's mountains all around. We're in this valley

470
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:29,359
Speaker 1: and it's beautiful, simple and desolate at the same time.

471
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:32,639
Speaker 1: And the vision was that one day there would be

472
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,960
Speaker 1: homes on that land for the kids in that community

473
00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:41,119
Speaker 1: who are parentless, who are destitute. And my wife and

474
00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:46,479
Speaker 1: I are walking in this little valley holding hands and

475
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:54,240
Speaker 1: Bill we have a supernatural moment where I saw a

476
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,200
Speaker 1: purpose for my life like I had never seen before.

477
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:04,760
Speaker 1: I believe that we went from being believers to being

478
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:09,199
Speaker 1: followers in that moment, and God's grace to let us

479
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:12,760
Speaker 1: do it as a couple, and so the sense of

480
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 1: purpose bigger than ourselves, something beyond us that we're here for.

481
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:21,640
Speaker 1: That's the moment where it happened, and I have this.

482
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:28,119
Speaker 1: I'm just grateful for the gift of multiple times in

483
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:32,159
Speaker 1: my life or God has just been so good to

484
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 1: show me something that is transformational for me just a

485
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,560
Speaker 1: moment in time. There's a before and there's an after,

486
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,959
Speaker 1: and that was one of the big ones. So we

487
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:46,560
Speaker 1: came home from that trip, we made some radical changes

488
00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:49,120
Speaker 1: in our life. My wife became a stay at home mom,

489
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,720
Speaker 1: which prepared her for when she needed to be a

490
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,160
Speaker 1: full time mom because that was coming down the road.

491
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:57,600
Speaker 1: We didn't see that coming, but that was coming. And

492
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,320
Speaker 1: when she took in our my two little ones, she

493
00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:03,120
Speaker 1: became mom to them and it was just sweet. It

494
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:04,520
Speaker 1: was just just all sweet.

495
00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:04,840
Speaker 2: Right.

496
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:10,440
Speaker 1: But that experience let us down this path of hanging

497
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:14,000
Speaker 1: out with that ministry, going on trips with them, leading trips,

498
00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,440
Speaker 1: giving to the organization. And so we were invested in

499
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:21,160
Speaker 1: this organization to help these kids in other countries. And

500
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,480
Speaker 1: that was my entree into this whole world of ministry.

501
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:26,440
Speaker 1: Has nothing to do with foster care, by the way,

502
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:31,720
Speaker 1: right we're talking about Haitian orphans. We're talking about Haitian

503
00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,880
Speaker 1: orphans right, which, by the way, and update for long

504
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:40,840
Speaker 1: time listeners, the the generator arrived at what's what's his name?

505
00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:44,240
Speaker 2: Place of Hope and Haiti. Place of Hope and Haiti.

506
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,160
Speaker 2: Have you ever heard of this thing? Not by name, no, So,

507
00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:55,960
Speaker 2: Pastor Andre Forges, Andre the Johnson's nickname. Okay, Haitian born

508
00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:00,600
Speaker 2: had a dream of starting a orphanage in Haiti in

509
00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:04,680
Speaker 2: a place of Hope and they care for sixty or

510
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:08,680
Speaker 2: seventy kids in the exact circumstances that you were right

511
00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:13,320
Speaker 2: now talking about. And he was a guest some months ago,

512
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:17,400
Speaker 2: and he became a guest because another guest who is

513
00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:23,400
Speaker 2: sleeping Heavenly Peace builds beds for children who are bedless

514
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,880
Speaker 2: in the United States. You're shaking your head. I'm familiar

515
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:31,360
Speaker 2: with them. Okay. Well, Andre decided his orphanage that had

516
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 2: a workshop was going to the orphans were going to

517
00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 2: build beds for children who had parents but no beds.

518
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:43,320
Speaker 2: Wow in Haiti. Wow. And they're currently doing it. And

519
00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:46,480
Speaker 2: their generator crash and they were the only place that

520
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,320
Speaker 2: had clean running water and electricity and they couldn't run

521
00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:52,719
Speaker 2: their machines to make beds. So some people from an

522
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,320
Speaker 2: army of normal folks raised twenty five thousand dollars and

523
00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,560
Speaker 2: literally this week the generator was delivered to their orphanage

524
00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:02,479
Speaker 2: and they now power true your stories connecting three different

525
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:07,480
Speaker 2: guests leaping Heavenly piece. You and Andre forges with orphans

526
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:11,160
Speaker 2: being cared for in Haiti, now making beds under the

527
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:15,320
Speaker 2: guys that sleep in Heavenly Peace for non orphans who

528
00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 2: are Haitian children that are so poor they don't have bets.

529
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:19,640
Speaker 1: Does it get any better?

530
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:20,480
Speaker 2: Not much?

531
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:24,320
Speaker 1: I mean when when someone who is used to being

532
00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:27,920
Speaker 1: on the receiving end all the time has the opportunity

533
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:31,280
Speaker 1: to be on the giving end. What changed the side

534
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:36,120
Speaker 1: of them? Everything? Everything, everything does. Talk about dignity, you

535
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:39,520
Speaker 1: talk about purpose. You start seeing value in yourself in

536
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:40,960
Speaker 1: ways that you didn't see before.

537
00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,080
Speaker 2: I'll tell you something else it'll do. It'll quickly strip

538
00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:47,680
Speaker 2: away all of those insecurities you have because you start

539
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,040
Speaker 2: to understand who you are and what your purpose is

540
00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:54,440
Speaker 2: and in whose image you were made. Right, that's right.

541
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,800
Speaker 2: So go ahead, Sorry to interrupt your story, to interject

542
00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:01,360
Speaker 2: a little army and normal of stuff. I love this'

543
00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:06,360
Speaker 2: that's the story anyway, Go ahead, So we are so yeah,

544
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:10,320
Speaker 2: you come back and you and your your wife keep going,

545
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:14,040
Speaker 2: and you're just like all in about helping kids in

546
00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:14,960
Speaker 2: Haiti at this point.

547
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,760
Speaker 1: Organs, that's right, Yeah, and other parts of the world,

548
00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:21,800
Speaker 1: but Haiti's where our heart was attached to. And and

549
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,240
Speaker 1: so I've become good friends, but my family becomes good

550
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,800
Speaker 1: friends with some of the people leaving that organization. Joe

551
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:28,800
Speaker 1: Knittik is one in the organization. One more time, the

552
00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 1: Global Orphan Project, the Global Orphan Project. Okay, but I

553
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:38,760
Speaker 1: guarantee you people listening, there are people who know it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

554
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,920
Speaker 1: So Joe calls me one day and says, I can't

555
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,120
Speaker 1: remember where I was standing. I was at my kids'

556
00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,880
Speaker 1: school at a basketball practice, and he was like, Hey,

557
00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:51,760
Speaker 1: this organization is growing and we need someone to help

558
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,200
Speaker 1: with development, and I think you're the guy. Will you

559
00:32:55,280 --> 00:33:00,640
Speaker 1: join us? And that's what you had been doing development

560
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:03,480
Speaker 1: in the business sense in the business show, that's right. Yeah,

561
00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,320
Speaker 1: so the transfer skills could be there to find development,

562
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:10,040
Speaker 1: raise money, raise money, that's right, donor development, donor relationships,

563
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,240
Speaker 1: those kinds of things. I had never done any fundraising,

564
00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:14,600
Speaker 1: but I certainly understood the process of.

565
00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:17,720
Speaker 2: Engaging relationship buildings. So that's getting people around.

566
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:22,320
Speaker 1: And not being hesitant to make an invitation, like do

567
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:23,239
Speaker 1: you want to be part of this?

568
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:24,000
Speaker 2: Right?

569
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:29,320
Speaker 1: So I am a hall I say, I'm gonna pray

570
00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:36,239
Speaker 1: about it. I talked to my wife, who's mother, Teresa, Well,

571
00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:44,040
Speaker 1: she's she's like a sassy mother Teresa fire. My girl's

572
00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:50,000
Speaker 1: got some power, she's I talked to her about it,

573
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:53,200
Speaker 1: and she says, you know, Adrian, God has provided for

574
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 1: us before, and if this is what he wants you

575
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:57,840
Speaker 1: to do, then we're in.

576
00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:00,960
Speaker 2: Like He'll provide, It'll it'll be fine. Would you have

577
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,680
Speaker 2: to quit your job to do this? Then this is

578
00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:09,120
Speaker 2: definitely a financial step down for sure, absolutely, But your

579
00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:10,680
Speaker 2: wife is go for it.

580
00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,040
Speaker 1: She's like, if this is what you think that God

581
00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:15,360
Speaker 1: wants you to do, I'm in Wow.

582
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:20,240
Speaker 2: So we're scared because of the money. Well, I'm almost

583
00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,279
Speaker 2: there because there's a moment. Like I told you, God

584
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:26,000
Speaker 2: gives me these moments, and there's one coming. I talked

585
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:29,520
Speaker 2: to three guys who I feel are elders to me,

586
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,560
Speaker 2: and I asked them, what do you think about this?

587
00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:36,839
Speaker 2: And Bill one of them says, Adrian, I don't think

588
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,120
Speaker 2: you should pray for clarity. I think you should pray

589
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:44,520
Speaker 2: for conviction. Mm hmm. Wow huh.

590
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:48,840
Speaker 1: And I didn't really even think of the difference until

591
00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,719
Speaker 1: that moment. So a few weeks later, I'm at my

592
00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:54,200
Speaker 1: kitchen table and I mean with my accountant, I have

593
00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:56,120
Speaker 1: got to fill out K one stuff and you know,

594
00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:59,960
Speaker 1: do all that, And I am overwhelmed with this thought.

595
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:02,600
Speaker 2: Well, if you're figuring out filling out K one stuff,

596
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,520
Speaker 2: you are in an ownership position and some escort or

597
00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:08,840
Speaker 2: something you're making money. Yeah, so you're about to walk

598
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:15,760
Speaker 2: from money and probably future money opportunity and everything there were.

599
00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:18,880
Speaker 1: There were things on the table that I had to

600
00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:26,080
Speaker 1: wrestle with. And in that moment, what came over me was, Adrian,

601
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:29,799
Speaker 1: you are comfortable and you are afraid to give up

602
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:31,640
Speaker 1: your comfort.

603
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,440
Speaker 2: That's hard to do, bro, But you did. But I

604
00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:41,520
Speaker 2: did because I know better. I've watched provision come, I've

605
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:42,799
Speaker 2: watched being taken care of.

606
00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:46,000
Speaker 1: I know better. I know that comfort's a trap. And

607
00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:49,480
Speaker 1: when you talk about an army of normal folks, sometimes

608
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,960
Speaker 1: I believe that the barrier for everyday people to do

609
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:58,440
Speaker 1: the thing they can do, it's fear. Fear of losing something,

610
00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:02,400
Speaker 1: fear of being taken advance, fear of not being comfortable,

611
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:05,960
Speaker 1: fear of being left at, fear of being laughed at. Dude,

612
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:08,960
Speaker 1: when you're leaving a company to go to a ministry

613
00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:10,840
Speaker 1: and I don't even know how much money I was

614
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:12,680
Speaker 1: going to make it the ministry. We hadn't talked about it.

615
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:15,480
Speaker 1: It wasn't even in the cards for making the decision.

616
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:20,680
Speaker 1: It sounds dumb. It does sound a little dumb, bro.

617
00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:23,080
Speaker 1: What are you thinking?

618
00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:26,040
Speaker 2: You know? And I just it's not just you. You

619
00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:26,960
Speaker 2: got a wife and kids.

620
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:28,960
Speaker 1: That's a wife and kids. Yeah, No, it's it's a

621
00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:32,240
Speaker 1: it's a decision. But I'm telling you, when you see

622
00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:37,200
Speaker 1: purpose bigger than yourself, when this is not about me

623
00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:40,040
Speaker 1: so much, things change.

624
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:42,960
Speaker 2: I say almost every show, and I'm going to keep

625
00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:46,759
Speaker 2: saying it until people get to where they say it.

626
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:51,240
Speaker 2: But I think the magic happens or passion and ability

627
00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:54,600
Speaker 2: meet opportunity. And this sounds like that point for you.

628
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,520
Speaker 2: You had a passion, you had the ability and development,

629
00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:00,840
Speaker 2: and you saw an opportunity and that when the magic

630
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:01,920
Speaker 2: started for you.

631
00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:07,160
Speaker 1: It did in a in a way that was truly

632
00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:10,520
Speaker 1: like bigger than myself. And I'm not saying everybody's got

633
00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:14,440
Speaker 1: to leave their job and go join something. It's just

634
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:16,600
Speaker 1: my story. Yeah, it's just what I was given the

635
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:21,000
Speaker 1: opportunity to do. And and so we said yes. I

636
00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:23,560
Speaker 1: went to my wife and I was like, hey, I

637
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:26,520
Speaker 1: think I think we're supposed to give more money away

638
00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:29,760
Speaker 1: and I'm supposed to quit my job and join this ministry.

639
00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:32,840
Speaker 1: And you know what she says, it's a little cuban

640
00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 1: another Teresa. That sounds exactly like God to me.

641
00:37:39,840 --> 00:38:03,799
Speaker 2: Wow, dude, we'll be right back. So now you are

642
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:09,799
Speaker 2: the newly apped development director, and what's life look like, so.

643
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:13,319
Speaker 1: I'm traveling, there's an earthquake in Haiti. I spend the

644
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:16,839
Speaker 1: first three months in Haiti. It's crazy. Then we start

645
00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:18,080
Speaker 1: going to Africa.

646
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,359
Speaker 2: And that earthquake, by the way, I would argue it's

647
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:24,840
Speaker 2: the beginning of where we are right now in Haiti

648
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:29,560
Speaker 2: because nothing got fixed and it just society continued to

649
00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:32,960
Speaker 2: downgrade from there a little by little on the road.

650
00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:33,840
Speaker 2: Do you agree with that?

651
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:38,399
Speaker 1: Well, Haiti has been under what's the word I'm looking for. Man,

652
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:43,080
Speaker 1: it's just been so hard, so much oppression in Haiti

653
00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:45,680
Speaker 1: for hundreds of years. I mean, if we had time,

654
00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:49,439
Speaker 1: I'd tell you the backstory. Maybe he did, the Andre guy,

655
00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:53,240
Speaker 1: But it's been way back into the seventeen eighteen hundreds

656
00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:54,279
Speaker 1: where this got really tough.

657
00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:55,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, the French left in a mess.

658
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:59,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they just never climbed out of that hole

659
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:03,080
Speaker 1: by design, right, it was. It was hard and so

660
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,120
Speaker 1: there have been peaks and valleys along the way, and

661
00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:09,200
Speaker 1: we're in a valley right now. The earthquake had some

662
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:13,080
Speaker 1: upswing because there was a tension and then things faded off.

663
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:17,439
Speaker 1: There's no one person to blame. It's just lots of circumstances.

664
00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:20,520
Speaker 1: But it's a mess. It's a hot mess, right, So

665
00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:22,760
Speaker 1: figuring out what our role is is a question.

666
00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:26,800
Speaker 2: I forgot where we were though, Bill, Well, I'm sorry,

667
00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:30,319
Speaker 2: Well we were. You are now the development director of

668
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:36,200
Speaker 2: this thing, and somehow you decide, well, orphans on enough,

669
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:38,840
Speaker 2: let's find out what's going on in the foster system.

670
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,799
Speaker 2: It's another moment, man. So we're at church one day

671
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:48,080
Speaker 2: and my wife it gets approached by this lady, older lady, grandma,

672
00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:50,680
Speaker 2: and the woman comes up and says, thank you so

673
00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:52,960
Speaker 2: much for your help the other day.

674
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:55,200
Speaker 1: You know, I couldn't have done this without you. Well,

675
00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:59,200
Speaker 1: my wife had seen her trying to help some kids

676
00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:01,680
Speaker 1: like check in or do something at the church, and

677
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:04,000
Speaker 1: she just stepped up to help her. Her found out

678
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:07,759
Speaker 1: that the grandparents had taken in their two grandkids and

679
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,200
Speaker 1: they were fully overwhelmed. I mean, seventy something years old

680
00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:13,480
Speaker 1: got eight and eleven year old kids. Now they're not

681
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,759
Speaker 1: prepared for this and all kinds of baggage. Right, And

682
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,200
Speaker 1: so when the woman comes up to us at church,

683
00:40:19,239 --> 00:40:21,319
Speaker 1: I was like, well, we can help you some more

684
00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:24,479
Speaker 1: just came out of my mouth. My wife can tutor again.

685
00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:28,200
Speaker 1: I'm volunteering, my wife.

686
00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:28,560
Speaker 2: And so she did you know.

687
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:31,719
Speaker 1: She just started tutoring the kids, and then we took

688
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:33,880
Speaker 1: them to practice, and then they joined our sports teams,

689
00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:35,840
Speaker 1: and so we're just walking alongside of them. It's the

690
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:39,040
Speaker 1: first time I had gotten anywhere close to foster care. Personally,

691
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,160
Speaker 1: I didn't get it at all. Right, the ministry wasn't

692
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:44,960
Speaker 1: doing foster care. That wasn't what our jam was. We

693
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:48,200
Speaker 1: were all international. But that's my backdrop. And then I

694
00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:52,719
Speaker 1: go to Uganda in August of twenty ten and I'm

695
00:40:52,719 --> 00:40:55,720
Speaker 1: in this little round hut behind a pastor's house, grass

696
00:40:55,880 --> 00:41:01,120
Speaker 1: roof and just simple, you know, and a very concrete

697
00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:05,719
Speaker 1: thought crosses my mind that was not mine. Take the

698
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:11,400
Speaker 1: foster care class, I mean Uganda, Bill, take the foster

699
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:12,640
Speaker 1: care class.

700
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:19,120
Speaker 2: Why? Great question, I don't know, but it did say so.

701
00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:22,080
Speaker 2: Now it's put on your heart, take the foster care class.

702
00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:25,239
Speaker 2: Now what does quote take the foster care class? What

703
00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:27,880
Speaker 2: is a foster care class? Does it mean? Yeah?

704
00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:32,520
Speaker 1: So to become a foster parent you have to jump

705
00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:35,239
Speaker 1: through some hoops. Some of them are really important hoops

706
00:41:35,239 --> 00:41:39,000
Speaker 1: to jump through. For example, your home has to be

707
00:41:39,239 --> 00:41:42,799
Speaker 1: certified that it is fit to bring kids into it. Right,

708
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:45,759
Speaker 1: you have to go through ten weeks of training. It's

709
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:49,440
Speaker 1: about thirty hours something like that, where you understand the

710
00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:52,560
Speaker 1: circumstances from which these kids might come and how you

711
00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:55,560
Speaker 1: might deal with things when they do come. You're really

712
00:41:55,600 --> 00:42:00,320
Speaker 1: preparing yourself to bring in children who come from somewhere

713
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:05,080
Speaker 1: else the best way you can. And I got to

714
00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:10,040
Speaker 1: tell you, Bill, I was in that second foster care class.

715
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:14,359
Speaker 1: Mind you, I had been all over the world. I'd

716
00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:18,960
Speaker 1: give up my job to serve orphans. I'm in that

717
00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:25,360
Speaker 1: second foster care class, and I have a broken heart

718
00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:30,040
Speaker 1: for the first time for the orphan, for the orphans

719
00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:32,520
Speaker 1: or the foster kids. So what's the difference.

720
00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:36,160
Speaker 2: It's a really really good point. And this is also

721
00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:39,640
Speaker 2: where I want to stop for a second and set

722
00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:44,680
Speaker 2: up what happens next. I think numbers are important. Demographics help,

723
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:49,759
Speaker 2: so does data. This is what I read when researching you,

724
00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:54,239
Speaker 2: and I want our listeners everybody out there hear this.

725
00:42:55,239 --> 00:42:59,600
Speaker 2: Every year, more than seven million children are referred to

726
00:42:59,719 --> 00:43:08,520
Speaker 2: child protective services. Seven million. Consider that is like every

727
00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:14,440
Speaker 2: single breathing soul in Minneapolis as a child referred to

728
00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:19,480
Speaker 2: child protective services. Just consider the volume of human beings,

729
00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:25,120
Speaker 2: and those seven million children are often teetering on the

730
00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:29,360
Speaker 2: brink of entering foster care. More than four hundred thousand

731
00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:34,760
Speaker 2: children are in foster care, and most are for preventable reasons,

732
00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:36,960
Speaker 2: which we're going to get to in a second about

733
00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:41,160
Speaker 2: what you've done. Here's the other thing. Roughly eighty percent

734
00:43:41,200 --> 00:43:44,360
Speaker 2: of children in foster care have mental health issues versus

735
00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:49,960
Speaker 2: twenty percent and children not in the foster care and

736
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:54,799
Speaker 2: over fifty percent of children foster care have experienced homelessness,

737
00:43:56,160 --> 00:44:00,640
Speaker 2: and sixty percent of the girls and or women from

738
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:05,319
Speaker 2: foster care have been rescued from sex trafficking situations or

739
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:10,320
Speaker 2: being the daughter of a mother being trafficked. And seventy

740
00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:14,120
Speaker 2: five percent of the people incarcerated in prisons today have

741
00:44:14,239 --> 00:44:17,320
Speaker 2: been in the system at one point in their life.

742
00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:22,400
Speaker 2: Those are all correct numbers, right, is it? Crazy? Crazy

743
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:30,840
Speaker 2: crazy phenomenon? So Alex the producer, and everybody that listens

744
00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:34,080
Speaker 2: to us regularly knows that Alex. You know, his tongue

745
00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:36,800
Speaker 2: in cheek. I'd obviously like and care for Alex, or

746
00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:39,120
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be doing this show with him. But he's

747
00:44:39,160 --> 00:44:42,200
Speaker 2: also a producer, which inherently just makes him a pain

748
00:44:42,239 --> 00:44:45,080
Speaker 2: in the ass. One of the things he has said

749
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:48,279
Speaker 2: to me since before we ever went live, was that

750
00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:51,399
Speaker 2: there are four hundred thousand kids in foster care. There

751
00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:55,080
Speaker 2: are four hundred or so thousand places houses of worship

752
00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:58,680
Speaker 2: in the United States. If every single house of worship

753
00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:01,720
Speaker 2: adopted one kid, there would be no more foster children.

754
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:07,680
Speaker 2: So when you think that and you hear the demographics

755
00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:11,320
Speaker 2: of seven million children and child protector services, four hundred

756
00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:14,560
Speaker 2: thousand in foster care, eighty percent of the children fastcare

757
00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:17,480
Speaker 2: of mental health issues. Now understand the eighty percent of

758
00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:19,960
Speaker 2: kids that have mental health issues, they were born with

759
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:23,080
Speaker 2: those issues. Those issues are a product of the environment

760
00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:26,359
Speaker 2: and the dysfunction that they've grown up in that has

761
00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:30,680
Speaker 2: borne them to have mental health issues that they can

762
00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:35,320
Speaker 2: get over with proper care. But when they don't, fifty

763
00:45:35,360 --> 00:45:37,719
Speaker 2: percent of them end up homeless, sixty percent of the

764
00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:40,440
Speaker 2: girls end up in sex trafficking, and seventy five percent

765
00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:43,680
Speaker 2: end up prison. This is not just a moral obligation.

766
00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:45,960
Speaker 2: If you don't even care about children and foster care

767
00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:49,279
Speaker 2: from a moral standpoint, think about the pragmatic think of

768
00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:51,520
Speaker 2: what we could do to our prison populations and the

769
00:45:51,560 --> 00:45:53,960
Speaker 2: most underserved in our country, and the people not adding

770
00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:58,000
Speaker 2: to our tak space if we simply cared for.

771
00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:03,000
Speaker 1: Foster children, and if we simply prevented kids from coming

772
00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:05,880
Speaker 1: into foster care in the first place. Some have to

773
00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:08,879
Speaker 1: go right, right like some have to go. But you're

774
00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:11,480
Speaker 1: going to explain to us what you've found out and

775
00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:13,439
Speaker 1: what you've learned and what you've done about it, which

776
00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:17,240
Speaker 1: is phenomenal. But first you and your wife, of course.

777
00:46:17,560 --> 00:46:19,600
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think it's a surprise anybody socided

778
00:46:19,600 --> 00:46:22,440
Speaker 1: to be foster prairies. We did after the class. After

779
00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:26,200
Speaker 1: the class, we believe this was an assignment for us,

780
00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:29,600
Speaker 1: and so we said, yes, we actually put ourselves in

781
00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:36,120
Speaker 1: a position to foster or and adopt. And I got

782
00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:39,520
Speaker 1: to tell you this the fullness here. We get our

783
00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:44,040
Speaker 1: first phone call. We're driving down the road and the

784
00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:47,319
Speaker 1: caseworker says she has a four and two year old

785
00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:52,640
Speaker 1: boy that are sitting in her office. They need permanency.

786
00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:56,160
Speaker 1: They need to be adopted because their parental rights are

787
00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:59,880
Speaker 1: already terminated and their grandma is no longer an option.

788
00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:01,600
Speaker 2: Something fell apart.

789
00:47:01,840 --> 00:47:04,400
Speaker 1: So I'm driving down the road with my sassit keeping wife.

790
00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:06,520
Speaker 2: That is not even fair to say to a person.

791
00:47:06,600 --> 00:47:08,720
Speaker 2: I'm sitting here thinking of you driving down the road.

792
00:47:09,080 --> 00:47:11,560
Speaker 2: If you say no to that, look you want to

793
00:47:11,640 --> 00:47:13,400
Speaker 2: kill yourself. It's not easy.

794
00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:15,479
Speaker 1: Like it's not easy, it's I mean, if.

795
00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:19,440
Speaker 2: Somebody says that to you, your heart is breaking for

796
00:47:19,560 --> 00:47:21,200
Speaker 2: people you've never laid os.

797
00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:27,120
Speaker 1: So I'm driving and we pray, and my wife says,

798
00:47:27,160 --> 00:47:32,120
Speaker 1: what comes to mind for her is the verses in

799
00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:38,760
Speaker 1: Matthew twenty five. When did we see you, hungry, thirsty, naked,

800
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:43,280
Speaker 1: a stranger? When did we see you? And Jesus says,

801
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:46,320
Speaker 1: whatever you do for the least of these.

802
00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:47,440
Speaker 2: You do for me.

803
00:47:50,320 --> 00:47:55,720
Speaker 1: And that moment, Wow, that moment a seed was planted

804
00:47:55,719 --> 00:48:00,279
Speaker 1: inside of me that has birthed all of what been

805
00:48:00,280 --> 00:48:06,600
Speaker 1: talking about. The seed of what it's like to care

806
00:48:06,719 --> 00:48:10,040
Speaker 1: for the Lord of the universe while you're caring for

807
00:48:10,040 --> 00:48:14,160
Speaker 1: somebody else, what it's like to be that close, so

808
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:17,640
Speaker 1: pivotal that a few months ago I was with some

809
00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:22,200
Speaker 1: guys who did spoken word, and I was inspired by them,

810
00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:25,960
Speaker 1: and I was like, I'm supposed to do this. The

811
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:28,200
Speaker 1: next day, I get home from the conference and I'm

812
00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:32,919
Speaker 1: walking my dog and it just comes this seed that's

813
00:48:32,960 --> 00:48:36,799
Speaker 1: planted deep inside of me. But I think I want

814
00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:41,000
Speaker 1: to be planted inside of everybody else. From Matthew twenty five,

815
00:48:42,400 --> 00:48:45,719
Speaker 1: do you adopt these kids? We took those kids in.

816
00:48:46,280 --> 00:48:51,439
Speaker 1: Seven months later, a judge decided that another relative who

817
00:48:51,520 --> 00:48:54,240
Speaker 1: was not supposed to be an option became an option.

818
00:48:55,160 --> 00:49:00,319
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, and you're building relations, you're building a bond

819
00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:03,920
Speaker 2: that is now imagine it's stripped from you.

820
00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:07,680
Speaker 1: I mean, imagine going to adopt a kid from another

821
00:49:07,719 --> 00:49:11,399
Speaker 1: country and they're with you, and seven months later somebody says,

822
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:13,960
Speaker 1: now we're taking them back, right, Like, that's what it

823
00:49:14,040 --> 00:49:17,279
Speaker 1: was for us, because from day one we plan to

824
00:49:17,320 --> 00:49:20,680
Speaker 1: adopt them. And this is why people are afraid, because

825
00:49:20,680 --> 00:49:22,000
Speaker 1: they don't want that to happen to them. But I

826
00:49:22,040 --> 00:49:26,040
Speaker 1: need to tell you, Bill, the human I am today,

827
00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:30,520
Speaker 1: even going through that pain, is a human who's capable

828
00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:34,600
Speaker 1: of doing the things I'm doing today. You understand, Yeah,

829
00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:41,959
Speaker 1: I understand. It doesn't Oh, I understand cognitively. But there's

830
00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:45,000
Speaker 1: the heart and the head and the heart part. I mean,

831
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:51,440
Speaker 1: it hadn't been hard for the kids too, oh of course.

832
00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:55,120
Speaker 1: And they love their grandma, they love that relative who

833
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:57,160
Speaker 1: who now could care.

834
00:49:57,040 --> 00:50:01,359
Speaker 2: For the conflict. All that's hard, but it's okay. So

835
00:50:01,400 --> 00:50:03,640
Speaker 2: did you go back to the till yes, of course.

836
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:05,480
Speaker 2: So we brought in two girls and they stayed with

837
00:50:05,560 --> 00:50:07,160
Speaker 2: us for a year and a half and they went

838
00:50:07,200 --> 00:50:08,560
Speaker 2: to be with their dad. That was great.

839
00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:11,640
Speaker 1: Then we got a phone call for three boys, Jacob,

840
00:50:11,719 --> 00:50:17,080
Speaker 1: Jalen and Isaac. Who Jacob, Jalen and Isaac. They were seven,

841
00:50:17,840 --> 00:50:22,000
Speaker 1: three and one and a half brothers. They were separated,

842
00:50:22,080 --> 00:50:23,840
Speaker 1: had been in foster care for a year and a half,

843
00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:29,239
Speaker 1: and parental rights were close to being terminated, so the

844
00:50:29,440 --> 00:50:31,719
Speaker 1: system was looking for a family who would take all

845
00:50:31,719 --> 00:50:34,719
Speaker 1: three of them. And my wife and I got the

846
00:50:34,719 --> 00:50:37,799
Speaker 1: phone call and we prayed on it and I had

847
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:40,719
Speaker 1: some sweet moments where I was just sure this is

848
00:50:40,719 --> 00:50:43,800
Speaker 1: what we were supposed to do, and so we said, yes,

849
00:50:44,280 --> 00:50:47,759
Speaker 1: we'll do this. That was in twenty fourteen. Took a

850
00:50:47,800 --> 00:50:50,040
Speaker 1: couple of years for the adoption to be finalized, but

851
00:50:50,080 --> 00:50:54,600
Speaker 1: it was twenty sixteen. And now these are my youngest

852
00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:58,760
Speaker 1: three kids, Jacob, Jalen, and Isaac. And you know, they're

853
00:50:58,760 --> 00:51:02,600
Speaker 1: three white boys. Finally we got some white kids in

854
00:51:02,640 --> 00:51:04,600
Speaker 1: this family. Finally I was.

855
00:51:04,560 --> 00:51:07,759
Speaker 2: Starting to think this dude might be racist. I mean,

856
00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:13,000
Speaker 2: he's got Armenians, he's got he's got Cubans, he's got

857
00:51:13,040 --> 00:51:21,760
Speaker 2: black folks. Finally these white kids. There goes the neighborhood. Dude,

858
00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:24,080
Speaker 2: your Christmas photo. Let's look like a shot at the

859
00:51:24,160 --> 00:51:28,279
Speaker 2: United Nations. It's beautiful, It is beautiful. I love that.

860
00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:32,200
Speaker 1: Mother Teresa says, God makes families in all kinds of ways, right,

861
00:51:32,520 --> 00:51:33,920
Speaker 1: and this is the way He made our family.

862
00:51:37,320 --> 00:51:41,200
Speaker 2: And that concludes Part one of my conversation with Adrian Lewis,

863
00:51:41,239 --> 00:51:43,919
Speaker 2: and you do not want to miss Part two that's

864
00:51:43,960 --> 00:51:46,680
Speaker 2: now available to listen to as we dive in to

865
00:51:46,840 --> 00:51:52,600
Speaker 2: this extraordinary platform that he's built called care Portal. Together, guys,

866
00:51:52,840 --> 00:51:55,920
Speaker 2: we can change the country. But it starts with you.

867
00:51:56,640 --> 00:52:06,560
Speaker 2: I'll see in Part two.