Ministry Spotlight - James Lansberry

James Lansberry is the Executive Vice President of Samaritan Ministries International, and the Project Director for SMI's The Morning Center. He joined The Matt Friedeman Show to talk about his ministry to mothers in crisis. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

What is The Morning Center about?

The Morning Center is a project to provide free maternal care to underprivileged urban areas. We want to be there to give women not just the best care they can get, but also the gospel of Christ.

Why are women open to accepting Christ in this position?

I think it's because they're in a vulnerable position. Part of our mandate as the Church is to take care of the poor.

We want to take care of them both body and soul. That's what the original faith-centered hospital movement was about, and I think we've gotten away from that.

How do you find these women?

We partner with local Crisis Pregnancy Centers and churches. Most of our referrals are word of mouth.

We do our very best to find these women by collaborating with other Christian ministries in the neighborhood.

Walk us through the process that a woman experiences.

The first thing we want to do is rejoice with her. As she goes through the pregnancy, she's going to get all the prenatal care right there in her own neighborhood.

We want to make sure we have mobile care units so she is able to receive aid without having to get on a bus. Most women in underprivileged areas won't be able to travel to get prenatal care.

We will provide first-class care in a hospital for the delivery. Hopefully, by that time she's become a Christian, and we will provide mentors as she begins to raise her child.

We're meeting with urban churches to make sure we have partners there, so women can have a church.

What drives women to abortion?

The primary reasons given are either that they can't afford a child, or that it's a bad time in their life.

The two groups that tend toward abortion are professional women and women who don't have the means to raise a child.

We will be focusing on helping the second group, trying to provide first-class medical care, adoption services if they can't raise the child, trying to give them the best quality of care that we can.

We look at this as a mission field right in our backyard.

Ministry Spotlight - Willie Jordan

Willie Jordan is the President of Fred Jordan Missions, a ministry in inner Los Angeles. She joined The Matt Friedeman Show's Ministry Spotlight. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of her interview.

Who is Fred Jordan?

The man who founded the mission. I was honored to be his wife.

The Lord took Fred to heaven nearly 24 years ago, but he left me and my children a wonderful staff, and we have ministered to people on the streets of Los Angeles.

First, we give them the Bread of Life, and then we give them physical bread.

 Do you see lasting change in the people you minister to?

That's why we're here. The fact that we can see them and give them physical aid is good, but we are here to preach the gospel.

We don't see as many as we would like to see, but we're there to share the central message that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. So Fred Jordan Missions just shares Jesus.

What makes poor people poor?

Poor choices. That's the bottom line. People get into financial difficulties, many of them are alcoholics, and in the last 25 years, drugs. 

The biggest drug has been crack cocaine. Men and women will do anything to get that white rock. And once you get hooked on drugs, nothing is important. 

If you had a job, you lose it. If you had a wife and children, you walk away.

And then, in LA, we have so many immigrants who come in. They speak no English; they can't get jobs, or if they do, they're at the very bottom of the income level.

With some people, poverty causes crime. But on our streets, crime causes poverty. Jesus is the only way out.

How do you keep the transformation?

Well, they come to Jesus. We have follow-up and discipleship. I like to tell my guests that I would like to see them gone, away from the streets and temptations and addictions.

So when they come to Christ, we try to get them away from the streets, into churches.

Ministry Spotlight - Miriam Neff

Miriam Neff is the Founder and President of Widow Connection, a ministry that serves widows all over the world. She joined The Matt Friedeman Show to discuss her ministry. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of her interview.

What are you trying to do?

First of all, no one wants to start a widow ministry. 

I was married for 40 years to Bob Neff. He succumbed to Lou Gehrig's disease. 

When I was dealing with that, I couldn't find anything to help me.

I could clearly see from my faith walk that I was supposed to help widows. So now, 24/7 widows can go to my website and get help.

Then I began to look around and ask where the widows where who needed help. I had traveled to Africa with Bob, and seen the poverty there.

So what we do is we help the widows there, we teach them to sew, and they graduate with a certificate to be a tailor. They can hold their heads high again.

You have seven tips for helping widows. Tell us about that.

One of the important things is to stay connected. It seems so simple. But often a widow will kind of disappear from the picture. 

And I understand, because I am one, that you kind of want to fade away.

But as a friend of a widow, you have to realize that she's not going to pick up the phone and call you.

You have to take the initiative. That's a simple thing that anyone can do.

Is there a drop in finances when you are widowed?

Widows often end up in a much worse financial situation than they had when they were married. 

The income goes down with the loss of the husband. The need goes down some, but not as much as the income.

Is the local church doing enough to help?

In my situation when I became a widow, I could not find any ministry to widows in any church.

I had friends, but many of them did not understand what I was going through, which is normal.

I do think we're seeing an increase in churches waking up to what they need to be doing.

Ministry Spotlight - Don Shenk

Don Shenk, joining the Ministry Spotlight, serves as director of The Tide, a radio ministry that broadcasts in India, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Nepal, and Romania. He came on The Matt Friedeman Show to talk about The Tide's outreach in other nations. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

What is The Tide about?

Basically, we're trying to share Jesus Christ and bring people into a relationship with him.

Our mission statement is "Creatively sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ worldwide through media and partnerships."

What is the power of radio overseas?

Here we have so many different mediums of media, but in other places people rely very strongly on the radio.

There's an element of authenticity to what they hear on air. That can be dangerous, if there is false teaching, but it gives us authority in their eyes when we preach the gospel.

The Tide doesn't own any broadcasting services, so we purchase air time from other broadcasters. We use indigenous speakers, not a translated program from over here in America.

We broadcast in the heart languages of the countries. It becomes culturally relevant to the people who hear it.

What is a heart language?

When we talk about a heart language, it is the language that they were born to speak, that they grew up speaking. 

The importance of that in radio is that they can identify with Christ as a God who knows them, rather than a foreign God

We are doing in Zimbabwe, the Tide has a daily program. So we have some programs there that target youth, others that are specifically for men.

We deal with issues that they are facing every day. In Zimbabwe, that is family.

There are many single-parent families, because a spouse often has to go into another country to earn a living. The Tide is focusing on how to help these families that are broken.

One of the things as a ministry, The Tide doesn't want to be guilty of sending out a ministry on the air and then just leaving the listeners hanging. 

We provide literature; we have Bible correspondence programs that they can enroll in.

When we have an area where we have received responses from many listeners, we will hold a Seekers Conference about what it means to accept Christ.

What is the area you are most excited about?

That's a hard one to answer. I would have to say right now I'm most excited about Bhutan.

We had a ministry there, and we had to withdraw. But another door opened, and by March we will be going back in and broadcasting.

Ministry Spotlight - Steve Seaton

Steve Seaton is the Executive Director of I Am 4 Kids, a faith-based program that provides one-on-one mentoring for teenagers. He joined The Matt Friedeman Show to talk about his ministry. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

Tell us about I Am 4 Kids.

It's so unique. Basically it's just going out and meeting the needs of the community.

We want to go in to these kids who are hurting and bring them wholeness all across the board.

The school system explained to us that they had 50 homeless kids in the high school; they had drugs in the homes, abusive parents.

We went in and just started eating lunch with the kids. After a while, when they found out I was a pastor, they ended up coming to church and giving their lives to Christ.

In 2007, we started to recruit other mentors to help us. Adults will leave work at lunch and go eat with a child in school.

The difference is amazing. The first thing that changes is the self-image. As their insecurity disappears, so do other problems. The truancy goes down.

Do schools not have a problem with your being faith-based?

The reason they don't have a problem is that we just establish relationships, without trying to push anything.

They don't have a problem because we're respecting their boundaries.

We just don't go in and hand them a tract. If we did that, that's proselyting. After several months of mentoring, a light will come on, and the child will ask, "Why are you doing this?"

If they ask, we get to share it. A lot of times, they'll say something and I can share a story about how God changed my life.

Is this something that can work in other places?

Definitely. I'm hoping and praying that once we have this established, we can help this start in other communities.

It's so simple, because all you have to do is find out where there is need, and how you can meet it.

 Your core values are unashamedly Christian. How does sharing your faith work in this situation?

When these kids truly see love, they're going to ask where the source is, and that's when you can share your faith.

Mentoring is imparting character. I want to make sure my mentors are Christians, so they're imparting the right values.

Ministry Spotlight - Al Proo

Al Proo is Executive Director of Happy Hands, a Oklahoma-based Christian school for children with hearing problems. He joined the Ministry Spotlight to tell us about Happy Hands and their outreach. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his segment.

Tell us about your ministry.

We serve children from birth to age 6. This is something the Lord showed me I needed to do when I was pastoring a church.

Many of the deaf people I served didn't bring their bibles to church, not because they didn't want to read it, but because they couldn't.

Why do you start so young?

Statistics have proven that 99% of all deaf children are born to hearing parents.

Here's the real gist of the whole matter, is that the child's brain is being mapped. Most parents do not find out their child is deaf until age two and a half.

By that time, the brain has been mapped already.

How do you teach deaf children?

What we do is no different than what we would do with hearing children, except that we make it visual.

How early can they learn sign language?

I know some infants at 8 months who were signing before they can talk.

Science has proved that the children who can sign before they can speak have higher IQs and better reading skills.

Have you seen successes later on in your children's lives?

Some of the children who have graduated high school and gone to college are actually on the student council with hearing students.

Some of them are on the marching bands, and the football and swimming teams.

How can churches do a better job of serving the deaf?

Churches can be familiar with the deaf, make them feel comfortable.

Give them an opportunity to sit close to the pulpit. If they can provide an interpreter for the service, that would be fantastic.

The problem is churches serving children our age, that's where it's more difficult.

That's where Happy Hands comes in. We're not here as Baptists or Methodists, we're simply here to tell them about Jesus.

How do you stay afloat?

90% of our income comes from donations. We are always working hard to get scholarships for our children.

We don't take government funding. We're living in a Red Sea miracle here at Happy Hands.

One reason Happy Hands is here is for us to say, "God did this."

Ministry Spotlight - LUC Boys Ranch

Ken Ortman, Founder and Administrator of Lives Under Construction Boys Ranch, was a guest on The Matt Friedeman Show's Ministry Spotlight. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of the segment.

Tell us about your ministry.

We work with the tough kids who have been diagnosed with various disorders.

Frankly, I think oftentimes those disorders are used as excuses for holding them to a lower standard, both by parents and teachers and by the boys themselves.

They're put in our family atmosphere, and since we have a working ranch, the guys care for the animals. We teach them trades, which gives them a feeling of satisfaction after they master them.

Do the boys use the trades you teach them?

Two things happen. We work in the community a lot, mowing lawns and such. A lot of guys say to me that the last thing they'll ever do for a job is mowing lawns.

Invariably, in the first year after they leave our ranch, they end up getting a job mowing lawns.

The same thing happens with the trades. The guys have gone from here into trade schools knowing as much as their graduates do after the first year. They get to be used as tutors, which is just great for them.

What kind of families do they come from, and how do they get referred to you?

The families are generally solid families, who have tried the medication, the short-term programs, and the child just keeps on manipulating or bullying their way out.

We recognize that only God can change a heart. But they will generally not respect God's authority until they respect their earthly father's authority.

References come mostly from parents whose child has come through our program and had good results, and also from our website.

What's the most transforming thing you do?

They are accepted unconditionally. We are not going to kick them out, no matter what.

There's always some testing initially, to see if we'll stand by that, and then they settle in.

That develops the basis of them trusting us.

How long is a kid normally there?

The average is about 19 months. It takes about 6 months to get the bad habits out, and then about a year to get good habits in their place.

It changes for every boy, but that's the average.

Ministry Spotlight - Christian Women's Job Corps

Becky Sumrall is the Executive Director of the Christian Women's Job Corps of Middle TN. She joined The Matt Friedeman Show's Ministry Spotlight.. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of her segment.

Talk to us about your mission.

The mission at CWJC is to empower individuals to break harmful cycles caused by poverty by providing education, mentoring and resources.

That education is not only giving them life skills, but also teaching them about the Lord, and what He can do in their lives.

Many of the women have been assisted by the government for years,

How do these women find out about you?

Agencies in our communities refer to us.

The women in our program refer their friends and family to us, because they like what's happening in their lives.

We don't have trouble getting people in our area. We have thirty to forty people on our waiting list.

What makes your organization different?

Our mission allows us to have a much more holistic approach.

Because we are faith-based, people are mentored and

With most agencies, their mission doesn't allow them to do much of that.

What seems to be the common denominator with these women?

They have had some kind of crisis that has happened

We have women who have been deserted by their husbands. We have women who have been sexually or physically abused.

We have people who have been on welfare for several years, and are kind of stuck there.

We have homeless women, who have lost everything.

They come from a broad array of difficulties. Many are very discouraged. They have tried a lot of different things that haven't worked to help them.

Of anything that you do with them, what is the thing that seems to help them the most?

The most important possession to people in poverty is relationships.

It's usually through relationships that they come to our ministry.

They have a mentor who supports them and encourages them.

It's in that that women and men find the power and hope to make a change.

What's the problem that looks like Goliath to CWJC right now?

To have Christians join us and build relationships with these men and women.

This is a national organization. In most states, people are able to plug in.

Ministry Spotlight - Wesley House Community Center

Wesley House Community Center, located in Meridian, MS, has been "helping people help themselves" since 1904. Director Ginger Grissom Stevens was featured on The Matt Friedeman Show's Ministry Spotlight. Below are the CliffsNotes of her segment.

What do you do at Wesley House?

God is alive and working at our facilities.

The program that y'all have heard about is a Child Advocacy program that is available at one of our locations.

God is really blessing Wesley House Ministries, because we are people that care about other people.

How do you get in contact with these under-privileged people?

They come to us from various organizations. We believe in networking.

We work with law enforcement, child protection services, hospitals, medical facilities and mental heatlh facilities around the state.

Everyone on staff here is called to this ministry.

The reason God is blessing us is that we keep the course. We are faith-based. We are Christian. We don't beat people over the head with the Bible, but there is no doubt that we are a Christian ministry.

Part of the reason that we have takers in this society is that society has allowed them to become takers.

We do our best to turn people in to productive members of society.

We look at the situation, we assess it, and then we do our best to work in it. None of us can do it alone.

Ministry Spotlight - Arkansas Sheriffs' Ranch

Mike Cumnock, CEO of the Arkansas Sheriffs' Ranch, joined The Matt Friedeman Show to discuss his ministry. Here are the "CliffsNotes" of his segment.

Tell me about the Arkansas Sheriffs' Ranch.

The program was started in the early 70's by a group of sheriffs, which is why we're the Arkansas Sheriffs' Ranch.

We actually don't have any other connection to law enforcement, beyond the fact that they are very supportive of us.

Often in towns, you'll see kids sitting around, and people will say, "Why aren't they at home?"

The answer is that their homes aren't safe places for them to be.

We are basically very long-term safe places for kids to grow up.

How long is the typical stay at one of your ranches?

The typical stay is about 4.5 years.

The idea is that a child has to get there before they're 18, but after that they can stay as long as they need to.

Give me the profile of the kind of kid who comes to stay with you.

Typically the average age of admission is 13-16. Oftentimes, they have been in several homes before they get there.

Typically a child will be referred by a grandparent..

Often the mom is wanted by the police. She'll leave the kids and say something like, "Mom, , I'll come back and get the kids once I've gotten my life together." And she never comes back.

Our second most likeley referral source is juvenile judges.

What does your program look like?

First of all, I consider myself a professional lover. Many of these kids have never been loved by anyone.

We try to offer stability. We're a long-term placement.

Once a child is at the ranch, they are required to be involved in a church.

We want all of our kids to go to public school if possible. Educations are key for these kids. If they can get an education, they can get out of this cycle of abuse.

Each of the kids have chores they have to do. Each of our locations is actually a working farm.

Every child in our program is required to be in counseling.

We're filling in a lot of the gaps for what the kids didn't get before they came here.

We're basically treating a lot of wounded kids. These are the walking wounded.

I love every kid who comes through our doors. I don't like them a lot of times, but I love them all.

Ministry Spotlight: Truth For Youth

Tim Todd is the President and Executive Director of Revival Fires International. He is partnering with AFA to provide the Truth For Youth Bibles to teenagers in public schools.

Where did you get this idea of Truth For Youth Bibles?

I was in Russia, and there was a program to make the Bible a textbook in the Russian schools. They asked me what the Bible program in public schools was in America, and I had to hang my head and say that while Russia was putting the Bible into schools, America had taken it out. 

I went back to America with a burden on my heart for these schools. In 1998, the Lord laid it on my heart to create the Truth for Youth Bible.

Are these Bibles working?

Absolutely. In fact, just a few days ago I received a call from the principal of a school who said he had a young lady who had been ready to commit suicide. She was cutting herself, involved in sorcery and witchcraft, and heavily into drugs. 

She got one of these Bibles from a friend, and gave her life to Christ. The principal who was calling me ordered 1000 Bibles, set them up on tables, and within fifteen minutes they were taken. The whole school was strongly impacted.

According to your strategy, Christian teens order your Bibles and give them to their friends at school. How well is this tactic working?

Extremely well. We had one young man, a drug dealer, get one of those Bibles and give his heart to Christ. He quit smuggling drugs into school, and started smuggling Bibles. 

We're gonna see a massive movement of God in these last days. One thing we're seeing is young people becoming radical for God. 

I believe that the revival is going to take place outside of the four walls of the church building. I believe that getting the Bible into schools will be a massive part of this national revival.

Ministry Spotlight - Union Mission Ministries

Union Missions Ministries, based in Norfolk, VA, is dedicated to reaching "the least, the last, and the lost" in their community.

Tell me about your ministry.

Well, we were started in 1892 by a group of Methodist businessmen.

We now have nine original ministries in three cities, including men's and women's shelters, a children's home, and substance abuse rehab.

Which ones seem to be most productive?

I'm not sure what you mean by productive.

To us, productive is saving souls. And our shelters are doing a great job of that.

We have huge numbers of people coming to us every day, because of the economic downturn.

How are you funded?

We've never received any federal funding.

We're able to do what we do with only church and personal donations.

As we look around at the other organizations like us who have accepted federal money, we frequently hear that they're constrained because of their funding.

We've been able to do everything God has called us to do.

What have you seen as the fruit of your ministry?

People come to our ministry from all over the region, and from all walks of life.

As in most homeless shelters, you would see your typical drug and alcohol addictions.

We have a lot of mentally impaired.

The first thing they do is meet with a case worker, who assesses their case and helps them understand how to get back on track with their lives.

We help people with housing. We have GED and literacy classes. We have parenting classes.

What does it look like when people get a plan for their lives?

We treat people as individuals. It's not like we have one plan and everyone fits into that mold.

When someone comes to us and they're trying to support a family on a fast-food job, they can't do it. You can't support a family like that.

But they don't have an education to get a better job.

So we help the acquire the skills that they need to get a better source of income.

Can you measure your success?

I don't know that we can. We can look at how we've taken care of a person's physical needs.

And the most important thing to us is a relationship with the Lord.

If someone leaves us with a relationship with Jesus, we consider that a success.

Every week someone accepts the Lord. We just finished a six-week summer camp for kids from the inner city.

We had  a record number of 570 kids this year, and of those, sixty accepted the Lord.

I don't know that I can give you a number or a percentage, but people come to me all the time saying, "I don't know where I would be without you."

To me, that qualifies as a success.

Ministry Spotlight - Panama City Rescue Mission

Billy Fox, executive director of Panama City Rescue Mission, talks about the mission's ministry.


Fill us in just a little bit. Tell us what the Panama City Rescue Mission is all about.

We've been at this a long time.

Rescue mission here, and every other rescue mission I've been at, is not a faith-based mission. It is faith at the top, middle, and bottom.

We start off sheltering people, feeding them - we're feeding about 800 meals a day.

We give them opportunities to either connect with the other social services in the community.

If the people are working on their problems, then we continue to extend their time of stay.

My rule is, "We'll try to match your effort. But if you don't make an effort, we'll match that."

A lot of people establish programs that aren't godly, because they make people dependent on their services. How important is it to make people self sufficient?

It's essential in my biblical philosophy.

Those who are not ready to help themselves, and don't want to let their pride down.

Then they just continue to stay in their bad behavior as long as we aid and abet it.

If they're not ready, it's never a waste of time sharing the love of God with someone.

One of the things that is really interesting to me. All of the ministries that are really working have said no to government funding. What would happen to the Panama City Rescue mission if you started taking government money?

The other night we had two young Muslim men who were here who refused to go to chapel.

I offered to call the mosque to pick them up.

If I was getting government money, and we did that, not only would they stop the money, many times there have been times where the money has been taken back.

Our purpose is to share the gospel. We've had about 900 people who have accepted Christ in the last nine months.

We're going to pray and thank God for everything He has given us. You have to sit there and deal with it.

If you were at my house and ate dinner, you would hear me pray.

You sound like a tough love guy. Which comes first, tough or love?

Tough has to come first.

It's a lot easier to start tough and get easy than it is to start easy, then get tough.

But the tough is still delivered with dignity.

That's tough, but it's also with respect and dignity.

How do you know whether you're being successful or not?

The people in all of our programs are having devotions or bible studies.

They're constantly seeing the power of God in our lives.

I'm not responsible for that. I just have to make sure that we're delivering the gospel pure and clean?

And lives are being changed.

We had five adults through our programs get custody of their children back this year.

We just finished a project last week, and outfitted almost 600 children with back-to-school uniforms and supplies.

That says we're successful, because the Christian community believes in the fact that we do this through faith.

Ministry Spotlight: Redwood Gospel Mission

Jeff Gillman, executive director of Redwood Gospel Mission, stepped into the InTheFight Ministry Spotlight to talk about his ministry, and how it's having an impact.

We want you to tell us a little about what your ministry is.

Our ministry really is to mobilize the body of Christ in the community...so lives are transformed.

We do that through providing homeless and alcoholics ministries.

But really our ministry is to mobilize...the Christian community.

Isn't this what the church is supposed to be all about? Why do we need organizations?

The churches working together can do much more than one individual church.

We exist, so that we can help churches work together.

It's more cost effective. It's more efficient.

Tell me about your specific call to your involvement with the poor and homeless.

Well, it was many years ago while I was in college, I came to the Lord.

I had had some challenges in my life that kind of brought me to my knees.

After my third year of college, I took some time off to go to bible college.

When I was in Chicago...I saw many, many homeless people and it broke my heart.

How important is it that the church do this without government funds?

I don't want to criticize those ministries that do receive government funds, but we don't find it something that helps us...share the gospel of Christ.

In doing so, it's been freeing. And in doing so, it's helped us focus on what our true mission is.

What's the most challenging program that you do?

We recognize that a lot of the need in our society is caused by broken relationships, family breakdown.

Those things cause homelessness et cetera. We try to deal with the cause of homelessness at that root level.

That's probably the most difficult. Seeing people whose lives have been torn apart as a result of alcohol, and helping them find freedom in Christ.

We seek to provide that help. For those who want help, there's hope, but it's a huge challenge.

It involved a lot of folks in the community. A lot of volunteers in the community working in the lives of men and women whom we serve.

Tell me about the most life-changing program you do.

Our must successful has also been the most difficult, our drug and alcohol program.

We've had hundreds who've found new life through that program.

What is the greatest need of the poor?

Relationships.

Relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And relationships with people who will love and support them.

When we see the broken and needy in our community, we see people in isolation.

God said it in the Bible. The first not-good thing is man being alone.

Who is someone really good at this kind of thing?

(laughs)

Someone who loves Jesus.

If we took out passages about caring for the poor from the Bible, we'd have a pretty thing book.

Anybody that loves Jesus is a good volunteer opportunity person.

I think a lot of people agree, "I love Jesus," but they're not reaching out to the poor.

I think the disconnect is that too often we have made our relationship about Christ about a personal relationship.

I think that that's what we need to do as a society: remember the poor.

"The Lord's really blessing us, and we're just holding on to his coattails."

Phil Newton, Executive Director of Southside Mission, entered into the Matt Friedeman Show ministry spotlight to talk about how Southside Mission is changing the community of Peoria Illinois.

Talk to us about Southside Mission.

We try to share Christ with the poor in tangible ways they can feel Christ's love.

How do you do that?

We're going to do fifty projects this year where we work on houses all to the glory of God.

Who does this?

We've got the Metro Peoria Baptist association.

We've got a whole bunch of contractors.

Then we work with home centers that are willing to donate roof shingles, siding, etc.

How do you know that what Southside Mission is doing is actually working?

We hear from a lot of the alumni from Southside Mission.

A lot of them will come back and help us out in terms of volunteering.

We also have a lot of graduates from our jobs school...who are out working in the field.

You probably need a lot of government money, right?

Zero!

Our board of directors made the decision years ago not to accept any money from the government or United Way.

We're having a fantastic year. The Lord has us $300,000 above budget this year on a $3.5 million budget.

Phil, when you look out there at the many things you do, what seems to be working the best?

The Lord's really blessing us, and we're just holding on to his coattails.

What warms my heart the most is just seeing these homeless ladies who come to us strung out on drugs...thinking the world has given up on them...just seeing them living the blessed life, the abundant life in Christ.

What in people's background has damaged them?

If they're living without Christ, they're living without hope.

If you can just introduce them to our Lord, so much can change.

Do y'all do twelve-step programs?

We sure do.

We partner with a lot of great Christian ministries in the area.

We work with a lot of Celebrate Recovery programs.

We have job-training programs that will help them.

If that person has a spark to succeed, we'll turn that spark into a bonfire.

What keeps people volunteering?

It's just a fun place to volunteer. We have a blast down here.

We give people the opportunity to live their mission right here on the Southside of Peoria.

Today a lot of biblical Christians are taking the poor seriously.

If you're going to take the literal view of (the Bible), you have to take (the poor) seriously.

It's not an option to take the poor seriously. It's a necessity.

What's the best way to stay active in a ministry like this?

Well, you have  to take a very big picture.

There are going to be some battles you lose.

There are some women who leave the mission.

It's that daily, taking the 50,000 foot view of things, taking the big picture.

At the same time - it's kind of a paradox - you have to look at the here and now.

When you're looking out at your ministry, what are the biggest difficulties, outside of money?

Faith. Number one. If you take care of that part, everything else will come.

Faith and wisdom. I'm so thankful for the board of director for Southside Mission.

How long have y'all been in business, Phil?

Since 1925.

What would you say to someone who wants to start a ministry like yours?

Well, Matt, I have opportunities to meet with people who are trying to start up ministries all the time.

While you're still small, you can stay personally connected to all your donors.

There are some great things about being small and start-up.

Don't be afraid to start small.

Ministry Spotlight - Promise of Hope Recovery

For the Matt Friedeman Show Ministry Spotlight, Denise Dobbins & Sandy Tarpley - Promise of Hope Recovery - talked about their ministry to women.


Denise started first. 

Talk to us about what the mission is for Promise of Hope, kind of the overall structure of the program.

Our mission statement says that we present to women God's word n

We bring together a balance of the teaching of Jesus Christ and his life. We bring that together with the twelve step programs. Any kind of secular program they have available.

Most of these ladies come from rural areas that don't have access to recovery programs.

You talk about a 6-12 month program. Is that enough time?

We see the turnaround, the miracle as we call it, happen around the 9-month point.

Talk to us about this halfway house y'all have.

It allows the residents a little more freedom, so they can utilize the tools they've been taught.

We allow them to work with a sponsor.

They begin to see how a life with a personal relationship with life unfolds.

I've found that a lot of ministries find it helpful to introduce clients to work. Is that something that has worked well for you guys?

Oh yes, they begin that the day they get here.

They fall in line with structure through getting up on time everyday, being at breakfast on time everyday...beginning to retrain their brains to get them to think about what they need to do.

The women do begin to go to work between 30 and 90 days after they're here at fast food restaurants.

(At this point, Sandy began to answer the questions)

Talk to us about "the miracle." What gets these women turned in the other direction?

For me, it was pain. I hit an emotional rock bottom while I was here.

All I could do was fall on my knees and beg God to help me.

It's interesting how much I hear this word surrender. Why is that word used by a lot of people who are now whole who once were broken?

That's when I was able to move out of God's way, and surrender the fight.

Are there problems unique to women that men don't know that much about? What is unique to the women?

Women are emotional and men are angry usually when they show up for help.

Women hold on to pain a lot longer than men do.

Women have the shame issue and the guilt whereas men don't seem to have as much shame.

Women are to be the caretakers of their families and when they're addicted they can't do that. That brings a lot of shame.

Talk to me about shame. But that word keeps coming up. Shame. What is that?

That is a remorseful feeling for the things that I did wrong, or perceived that I did wrong, or couldn't do perfectly.

They continue to grow inside of me, until I would give up, quit, run, try to numb hit, try to hide from it, deny it.

Until the rest of the women learn that there is no condemnation in Jesus Christ, that shame stays.

For most of these women it's not an overnight thing. It's not a flash thing that happens. It's a process.

God has to move in their heart, as you know. These women don't trust anything.

That trust has to develop horizontally before it can vertically. And that takes time.

Outside of money, what are the biggest challenges ahead?

We are embarking upon a new area. We are almost finished with the building for a men's program.

That volunteers will come, that the director for this men's program will come.

"I'm not going to say everything always turns out rosy...but it's worth the risk."

Today in our InTheFight Ministry Spotlight: Restoration Ministries. Executive Director of the ministry, Ray Banks, joined us to talk about the impact Restoration Ministries is having on their community.

What are you trying to get done at Restoration Ministries?

We're trying to share the love of God in very practical ways.

We have an after school program where kids can come, get a hot meal, get their homework done, and get some exercise.

Instead of them being at home, getting in trouble, they can be here at Restoration Ministries...by caring adults and college students.

We also have a men's home.

Ray, what helps with addictions. Is there some kind of program you're taking them through?

The program we're taking them through is primarily discipleship.

Just help them walk through the whole process of recovery.

How do you help them overcome their particular problem?

We definitely understand where they are, and know that no one woke up in the morning and said, "Hey, I'm going to be a drug addict."

It's a gradual process and it's a gradual process out of it.

A lot of our habits we have to unlearn, then we have to learn new habits.

Do you have total free reign as to how you can lead these people to total redemption?

We have  total free reign as to what we want to do.

We're not bound by government dollars.

We believe that, through the power of Jesus Christ, you can be set free from drug addiction.

We do it practically, really, by working with the men and women and discipling them.

When they come here, they have a certain amount of maintenance.

We get these folks involved in the mission right away.

We also begin to look at their potential. What is that undiscovered gift that hasn't been revealed to them?

We want to build on their strengths and manage their weaknesses.

It sounds like once they start serving, they begin to get healing.

Often the healing or maintenance is found when you join the mission.

Once you become a drug addict, you become a liability to the community.

But we believe that if a person comes to Christ, he's forgiven. And that person deserves a second chance at life. We don't want to give a man a handout, but a hand up.

So we want to begin to show these folks that they have value by giving them responsibility in the mission.

We have some who organize our food pantry.

Myself who came through the program is now Executive Director.

We have a young man and young ladies who are managers at our retail stores.

So we really put a lot of stock in folks.

I'm not going to say everything always turns out rosy...but it's worth the risk.

What are the biggest problems Restoration Ministries face this year?

I would say the biggest problem we face this year is, like all non-profits, finances.

We're trusting God that he will continue to send donors.

We don't rely totally on government funding for our programs; we rely on individual donors.

Ministry Spotlight: The John Perkins Foundation

Today's Ministry Spotlight focused on John Perkins, founder of the John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and Development.


What's the thing you're most excited about with the John Perkins Foundation?

What's resonating with my soul is this new Christian people that are developing on the scene.

A group of white, black, and others.

There's a new people developing on the scene, and I'm having the privilege of teaching these people.

These are black and white groups from all over the country. We have a bible study right now, and to see these people who are taking the Bible seriously, and are not going back into our racist trap culture.

We all need to be born again and start over. There's a new group of young people who are past that foolishness.

While the others are teaching the children, we're building houses, getting people out of prison.

I want to do the best I can to make the loving justice of God known.

Get away from what someone else said about God, but reading scripture again.

And for teaching, so that the people of God may do good works here on earth.

The people of God...are using most of the biblical resources for themselves.

Working together is what reconciles races. Is that right?

I think it's still important to come together and visit each other.

But I think real reconciliation will come when we get involved outside ourselves.

It's out of that they're going to see our good works and glorify our father in heaven.

You said the younger generation seems to be more open to reconciliation. Why is that?

They're looking quicker at our failures.

Now with the media, it's so quick, and they can also see the world.

They can see the conflict, and they can see the death.

I think it's because we're in an information age that drives that.

Other folks didn't care much about the environment.

We have a responsibility to care for this planet. 

We're at a moment of opportunity right now.

Ministry Spotlight - The Salvation Army

 Today's Ministry Spotlight: Major George Hood describing how the Salvation Army is an integrated ministry, and the effect that it's having.

We know that the Salvation Army is a church and a charity, so what is it really?

It's really an integrated ministry.

Some people say we're a charity. Others say we're a church, but the truth is when you're doing it right, there's no difference.

We integrate our ministry and our theology to the point that we  want to meet the needs of people and open up their eyes to the truth.

Is there a problem with what you do in accepting money from the government?

Our practice of accepting government money for contract work.

The important element is that you can't use those government funds to purchase hymnbooks.

There are experiences where government bodies come in and say you have to take this picture of Jesus down or you have to hid these Bibles.

So it's worked out okay. There have been hotbeds of dispute...but by and large...we've been able to accept government contracts, do our work, and not apologize for who we are.

What does most of the money go to?

Most of the money goes to reaching out to the poor and the needy.

People need the basic necessities of life.

I would say that the bulk of the funds that are donated to the Salvation Army are used to feed, shelter, and clothe needy families.

We run about 140 residential treatment centers for men and women, helping them to get through addictions.

The story of grace is repeated over and over through hundreds of thousands of men and women.

And of course Christmas.

Those are the three primary areas that you can focus on and we do extremely well.

Is there more of investing in people's lives than ever before?

Absolutely.

We introduced parenting classes, we introduced ways they could budget. Then you begin to see ways that change can start taking place in their lives.

We believe now that you have to fix bad habits and change lives.

If we can really get a family activated in this integrated ministry of social service...that's when we really see lives being changed.

We love what you do, we just wish more people knew that you're on-site first with the most.

We want to be an organization that's recognized as doing the most good for the most people.

We don't always get the most ink out of it. We don't always get the most television coverage out of it.

It's a healthy debate.

We're not in it to win a contest.

We want to bring the simplicity of the Gospel in a very practical way.

People are suffering. We're looking at it intensely right now in Joplin, MO.

We're always the first ones on site, no matter what the disaster is.

Look at 9/11. People were gone after months. We were there until the very end of that.

We know what we do. We would love to get more press out of it.

But you know what? It's okay.

We don't ever want to be defined by the media as a disaster organization.

Again, as we integrate our services, meeting practical needs in practical ways.

Ministry Spotlight - A Way Out

George Kuykendall, who is Executive Director of Citizens for Community Values (CCV), joined the show to discuss how CCV's "A Way Out" program has helped free more than 300 women from the sex-for-sale industry.

 

You got involved. Tell me why. 

When I grew up, I played with all girls.

 

Then I had three daughters. I've been to more tea parties than most women.

 

So I wanted to protect women.

  

I just thought I needed to do something to pay back all God had given me.

You have something called the Way Out program to help ladies leave the sex industry. How do you do it? 

I don't think most people realize that the ladies in topless bars and prostitution, don't want to be there.

 

One thing that runs through all of these women we've only had 5 or 6 who weren't sexually abused as a child.

 

Out of the 300 women we've had only about 3 of them didn't hear enough to know the Lord. They weren't here long enough.

There needs to be a godly mentor and support system for these ladies. Talk to me about this. 

First of all, the ladies who do this are God's angels here on earth, because it's not an easy job.

 

We have about 20-25 women who do this.

 

Their whole job is just to take care of these women just like they were her mother.

 

We do provide everything they need to get to get back into real life.

Safe living environment. What do you do? 

Well, we house them.

 

That's important, because we need to get the women away from their previous way of life.

 

We do provide all of their housing needs and their electricity. 

One of the things you talk about are Bible studies. What are in these Bible studies? 

They do them every Tuesday night. Dinner then a Bible study.

 

The mentors teach the classes.

 

We do go to a lot of the different religious teachings that come to Memphis. It's a long haul.

Education, job skills training? 

Some of the ladies are in college.

 

We help them get their GED.

 

Most cases the relationship of these women was not very good with their mother.

 

The reason for that was that the boyfriend sexually abused the daughter.

 

Every one (of the women) needs something different.

 

Even if it's a help volunteer position, the women they work with will see that they have changed and give them jobs. 

How big are the addictive issues in their lives? 

I've had a hard time understanding that when I first started.

 

We had a psychiatrist on our board of directors...he said you're not talking to a 30-year-old women, you're talking to a 9-year-old kid.

 

He told me that the people he normally treats are 20% sick and 80% well, but the ladies we're dealing with are exactly the opposite - 80% sick and 20% well.

Do these ladies have kids? 

1.5 children per women is what is amounts to. Some of them we take into the program if they're young.