Latest / Our Community, Our Mission / Ep #189 - Meet Suzie Paslay

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Ep #189 - Meet Suzie Paslay · Our Community, Our Mission

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and God, your blessings and provisions.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: God, thank you for this time.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Lord, thank you for a special guest today and the amazing job that she does here at TRM.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Lord, just pray, lord, that ears that would hear this podcast would be encouraged to action today.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Lord, in your holy name, we pray amen.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Hello everybody.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: You're listening to our community, our mission, a podcast of the Topeka rescue mission here on Wednesday, september 13th 2023, podcast 189 wow, good morning.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Amanda and Mary Royals, the executive director of Topeka rescue mission, and Marion Krabel, deputy director of supportive services.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, we're really on a roll.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: So we got a really special guest today.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: We do and we're gonna talk about Christmas.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: We are so.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: Once again it is.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: September 13th of 2023, so Christmas is right around the corner but that's not all we're gonna talk about.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: No, it's so.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: But before we jump to that, amanda, we we really need to skip today's special dates?
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: We do not.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: I don't think.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: No, I don't think so we really do need to skip these.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Okay, so we're gonna move on.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: No, we're not.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: You know what.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: I would really like to read some scripture.
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: Oh, I think that would be good.
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: And then I think.
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: I could tie in after you read something so important like this.
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: This is the first time you've ever do a community, our mission.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: If this is your first time, what we try to do is you, can you him right special dates in history.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: No, we're gonna go through this.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Okay, it's international September 13th so I'm beginning to interrupt it.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: I'm the.
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: I'm the host.
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: This scripture is all right, go ahead.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Really gonna pay for this.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: I think we have to read the whole thing, everyone.
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: Second Kings 2, 23 Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: As he was walking along the road, a group of boys From the town began mocking and making fun of him.
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: Go away Baldy, they chanted.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: Go away Baldy.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: So today is national, bald is beautiful day.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: I am a bit fearful, though, because up above that it says that the prophet Elisha Curse the 42 youths teasing him about his baldness, and two bears came out and mold them.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: Amanda, we may need to be a little careful right for at least a couple of weeks.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: No for the rest of your lives now, however short that may be.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so for those who cannot see today a mold, is beautiful right here and Amanda, you're here 36 years.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: We're gonna see what.
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: I was just telling Barry a couple of days ago.
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: We were joking, but I said you know, barry, a lot of times people will say, oh, that's giving me gray hair, or something like that.
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: I said now, as I'm the executive director, I see why you have no hair, because you pulled it out.
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: And so I said I'm not sure if it's a matter of if I'm gonna go gray or I'm gonna pull it out.
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it just happens sometimes it does very much.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: Since you brought scripture into this, I think it's important to know that those of us who have no hair on top don't have really any filter between us and God Discussing earlier.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: We can tell what temperature it is quicker than the rest of you, and also when it's raining, you're gifted Right directly to my mind, anyway.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: So it's some other important days.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Today it's also national hug-a-boss day we're not gonna do that now and it's also national.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Or it's positive thinking day, and it is international chocolate day, so I'll see you guys later.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Anyway, we do have some fun.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Amanda's over here about ready to pass out.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: She's laughing.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: So anyway, before we get to our special guests to get some serious good stuff in today's podcast, it was something about when you said that God removed the barrier.
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: And that's when I lost it.
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: Let's go from that.
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: There is no way to nicely Go into the next part, but we're gonna talk about worshiping the Lord, which apparently is easier for Barry since the barriers have been removed.
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: No, but we, you know, we are about to have an exciting night and we are going to be doing a night of praise and it's a night of praise, fundraiser and benefit for the rescue mission.
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: And a couple of people have been asking me because Historically, we have not really done a fundraiser like this, you know, and so what I've been trying to do is just share our heart with this.
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: I've been telling people we still have a healthy budget, things are okay.
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: However, we are also facing a lot of stuff in our economy that we haven't had to, and so it just budgets and Gas prices and grocery store trips, like all of that has impacted our donors, and we still have so much generosity coming our way and we're blessed with that and we're able to continue to serve and be a community staple Just because of God's blessings and his provisions.
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: But there is also this element that if we're gonna continue to Be able to meet the needs and now these increasing needs because of the impacts of Recent evictions, some of the COVID benefits that were out there that are now subsided and they've gone away.
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: We're we're looking at just different things that impact our economy Access, cost.
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: We need to be able to make sure that we are trusting in the Lord to provide, and we do that.
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: But one of the ways that we also show our trust is to Trust the Lord to move in the hearts of our generous community.
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: And so when we started talking about do we want to do a fundraiser, one thing that was really Heavy on my heart was that our fundraiser would not be far from our mission.
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: And so when you look at the, the heart of TRM and what's at our core, it's Christ, it's the gospel, and so how can we do both?
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: How can we have something where we are sharing the gospel and we're coming together to Worship the Lord and to talk about the work that we do?
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: Because everything we do here is to serve others and to serve others the way we know Christ wants us to.
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: And so we had someone have the idea they had thrown out a couple of things and it just didn't feel right with me and prayed about it and Just kind of said no to those.
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: And then someone gave the idea of well, what about a worship night?
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: And instantly my heart just was at peace and I thought what a better way to Unite people from different denominations, different beliefs, who all believe in Christ.
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: And it's a way to bring the community together for just a night of purpose, a night of Positivity, a night of talking about brokenness.
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: That isn't national.
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: It's right here, our people, and so we're gonna have this night of praise.
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: It's going to be at fellowship Bible Church.
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: We're blessed by them.
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: We have two additional churches, grace Point and Tepika Bible Church, along with fellowship Bible Church, who their worship teams are gonna do different sets of just praise time, and so we're incredible Partners with that.
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: We also are gonna have SJ Hazeem, who's going to be doing Just some powerful pieces.
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: Maryam and I met with him yesterday on just authentic expressions based on Brokenness and braced, on hurt and stories that he's heard.
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: So we're blessed by that.
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: It's going to be Sunday, september 24th.
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: Doors open at 6.
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: The event will kick off at 6 30.
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: Again, a night of praise, also a fundraiser with us.
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: The team has been working hard and I just want to thank everybody, from Josh and Jesse and Kim and Maryam and the list goes on whom are Doing their normal jobs and responsibilities, which are heavy loads, and then this major community event, while also coming off the three informational sessions and city gate huddle that's coming up in October.
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: There's just so much and the team has just worked together to plan this.
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: So we're excited to see what God does, not only with the fundraising effort, but just in the hearts of people, souls are hurting.
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: It doesn't matter if that soul is someone on the streets right now or an executive.
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: We're all facing challenges.
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: We're facing the needs, the pressures.
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: I just spoke to a group two weeks ago and I finished.
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: What I was saying was saying that there's a lot of problem solvers in our community.
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: We're blessed by that problem solving partnerships, problem-solving people but I really feel like the Lord's moving in my heart to say people, better start Taking care of the people that are taking care of the problems and instead of us always focusing on doing better, doing good, being this, we've also got to be looking at the people we're doing that with and making sure that we're taking care of them.
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: So this night of praise is going to be a time where we're just unified Unified in the Lord, unified and gratitude of being able to serve, but also a time where we're checking on each other.
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: So Sunday, september 24th, at fellowship Bible Church, doors open at 6.
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: Event starts at 6 30.
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: There is a sign up.
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: The Links are on our Facebook page.
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: They're on our websites.
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: It's a free event but that helps us with just planning and we're excited.
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: We're excited about what that looks like.
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: We're also asking if people want to, they can bring a non perishable food item If they can.
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: If they can, it's okay, still come and, and we're excited to see everybody.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: It's good.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: No, nothing required of people.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: They're not gonna hear sermon.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: They're going to be able to just worship the Lord and to enjoy a time together in fellowship.
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: Yes, in addition to that, I Feel like this always needs this like big round of applause or hooping and hollering, because the community loves it when we do this.
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: But we're gonna have another warehouse cell so I explained this a couple of weeks ago where, you know, there is huge amounts of items that are donated to us that go right back into People who get new housing, who have done the programs, who are on their way to restoration, and so items that we get donated go straight to that.
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: But there are sometimes some items where we can't necessarily use them for different reasons.
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: We can't use them in the form of a donation.
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: It might not fit in Apartments or we might have just surpluses of them, and so, in order to be a wise steward, it's like well, the community has given this, we need to give it back to the community, and so it's essentially a warehouse cell.
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: So it will be at 201 Northwest Norris, the items will all be organized, the team does a great job with that, and then it's just give what you can, and so we don't put price tags on them, we don't do anything like that, but it's just open back up to the community and then we take those proceeds and designate them to something that gives back to our community.
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: So, for instance, the last warehouse cell that we did, we ended up buying, taking all of that money and buying food and that's what restocked our distribution center to then go back out.
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: So it's it's generosity coming in, it's us giving it back to the community and Allowing people to give as their hearts feel like it and then, whatever proceeds we get, go right back into the community.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: Those are two incredibly important events, and people do love to be able to Get something for their house or to give to somebody and then that turns around and helps other people and that's at the end of the month, so September 28th through the 30th.
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: The times are specific based on the day.
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: We're even doing a Saturday this year just because we got some feedback from the community that it's hard for Some people that were working on those Monday through Friday jobs and so hopefully this will help them.
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: But specific times and all of that it's on our Facebook page.
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: We've got flyers out and it's on our website as well.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: So two important events coming up at towards the end of the month.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: Yes, miriam, you have been at the mission a while now, and one of the reasons you came here is because we were needing some help with Christmas.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Yes, and you worked with a lot of volunteers and eventually, when you survived the Christmas event, yes and I do mean survive.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: You then stepped into some other roles, and one is to oversee the volunteer department.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: Right, you can rescue me.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: Talk about the, the the importance of volunteers to peak a rescue mission.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: Oh well, to peak, a rescue mission couldn't be to pick a rescue mission if we didn't have volunteers, from helping feed meals to helping out at the mobile access partnership, to helping in our distribution center, to Helping with special projects that we have, or coming in every week to fold Thank you letters.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: Our, our staff is Increased significantly by the number of unpaid volunteers that we have to come to us all the time.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: You know, if you, if you looked at it in a year, it would probably equate to probably about seven and a half full-time employees that these folks do the work for there are hundreds of them, right?
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: Oh, hundreds, yeah, hundreds of volunteers, thousands of volunteer hours and and it's amazing, and one of the most significant times for that, really, you know we used to say that that that was the significant time.
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: I'm pretty sure that somebody who works in our organization would say, yeah, it's all year round, but there are a lot of volunteer needs that are coming up and there are people that really enjoy helping us during the holidays and particularly at Christmas, and, if you can believe it, barry, we are already planning for Christmas.
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: I can believe this.
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: I know you can, because if we weren't, we would be going.
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: what's wrong?
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: We're a little late if we're just starting out, that's exactly right, so yeah, so we are always in need of volunteers, whether it's for Christmas and helping all the activities that go on there, from helping with gifts to planning parties for our guests, to helping us sort all the different items that come in there's just all kinds of needs.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Well, we're blessed today to have a person in your department who has been here since March as the volunteer and staff engagement coordinator.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: That's a load too as well.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: It's a long title Susan Pazley.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: welcome to our community, our mission as our volunteer and staff engagement coordinator.
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: Thank you, it's great to be here today.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: So, Susan Susie, what interested you in coming to the Pico Rescue mission?
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: And we're gonna get into what your job is and all that, but what you heard about there was an opening, and why here.
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: That was a whole God story there.
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: I was looking for a new role in ministry and I was praying about where to go.
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: Where did God want me?
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: And I looked at Pico Rescue mission.
• 15:47
  Speaker 5: I had volunteered here in different ways over the years and so I looked at it, started praying about that.
• 15:55
  Speaker 5: I also looked at some other minister or some other areas that helped people.
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: I like helping people and so I just started praying about it and I was getting ready to go on a trip to Florida to see some friends, cause I used to live there, and the morning when I was putting stuff in my suitcase, I just had this burden on my heart to be a rescue mission, to be a rescue mission and I was like, okay, yeah, I'll get to that.
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: When I get back from Florida, I'm going to Florida now, and it was just an overwhelming sense of no now now.
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: And so I sat down and put my resume together and sent it in and just said, lord, if this is what you want, I just pray that you would direct me and guide my steps.
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: And he did.
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: The next morning I was waiting in the airport in Kansas City and I got an email back and said hey, we'd like to talk to you.
• 16:50
  Speaker 5: And I'm like I'm so sorry, I'm headed to Florida right now.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: They didn't tell you to turn around and come back.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: No, I don't think it is, so it sounds like you've been in ministry before.
• 17:00
  Speaker 5: I was what kinds of?
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: ministry, have you done?
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I had the privilege for almost 10 years to serve on the staff at my church, at First Southern, as the director of discipleship, so I oversaw all the Sunday schools, classes that we had for adults, and also worked with volunteers in all of the different ministries recruiting, encouraging, walking alongside them, and so that was what I did for 10 years and so I love that.
• 17:35
  Speaker 5: And when God moved me out of that I was like, well, lord, what do I do now?
• 17:39
  Speaker 5: What's the next step?
• 17:41
  Speaker 5: And so it's just incredible.
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: I mean I love that time of ministry there, but I'm really this is like the cherry on top of my life.
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: It's just like amazing how God brought me here and has just blessed my heart in so many ways being here.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: So how would you describe what you do?
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: When we think of volunteers, we think, okay, there's some people that want to help, and so there's coordination efforts in that.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: But talk about the volunteer piece of this, what you've seen, what you've experienced here, and then we'll talk about the staff engagement piece as well.
• 18:17
  Speaker 5: Okay, so we have approximately 50 to 70 volunteers a week on site here in our separate.
• 18:27
  Speaker 5: We have five buildings, and so two buildings primarily use our two ministries primarily use volunteers most often.
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: And that would be our map, our mobile access partnership, which is on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then our DC, our distribution center.
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: We have food distribution, we have donations coming in, donations being sorted, food bags being filled, items being prepped for that, and then we have many opportunities in other areas too, but those probably take the majority of our volunteers each week, I would say.
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: But we also have a lady right now at our front desk answering the phone for us.
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: We had a lady that came in to help with childcare for our guests to be able to attend classes so that they can improve their walk and move forward to get into housing.
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: They need some time to be able to listen in those classes and not manage their children, and so we have ladies that come in and do that too.
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: We have folks that come in during the week and just do some of the little extra things that we need, for instance, getting ready for the night of praise that's coming up, folks that are just getting stickers on bags and things put together for a big event to get those things ready, and so there's just all kinds of areas, all types of giftings and skills that are needed to volunteer and it's really beautiful to be able to, when somebody calls in, just to be able to chat with them a little bit, get to know them, find out what they love doing, what has moved their heart to come here.
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: I love hearing people's stories how God has spoke to them or how their heart has just been moved.
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: A friend has shared with them the blessing that TRM has been to them.
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: There's a gentleman that he called me one day and just his friend had gone out on street reach and he was hearing his friend tell that story about that opportunity to visit the homeless and bring some water and some food and he was just so touched by that he was just like I need to be helping, and so now he's regularly volunteering at MAP.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: And so, in addition to the kind of duties that we would need because volunteers are like an employee, as Miriam said, there's a job assignment and there's things that you're looking for that they are interested in or being able to do, sometimes physical lifting and sometimes direct contact with people who are suffering and very challenged sometimes.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: But what would you say is kind of a general rule of what the kind of person that you're looking for, not the duties, but what kind of a person are you looking for?
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: Do they have to be a Christian to volunteer here?
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: No no.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: So what's the kind of the criteria that you look for, that you listen for, that you maybe see in their email application or actually when you meet them in person, to know that this is a good fit?
• 21:35
  Speaker 5: There's a sense of they just want to help.
• 21:38
  Speaker 5: That's a lot of times what they will say I just want to help, I don't know what to do but, I want to help, so that that spirit to serve others, to help someone, to walk with someone, whatever that might be Oftentimes too, it's a very humble, just willing to give.
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: It really doesn't matter what I do, I just want to help in some way, and so that's when, then, when I start asking questions about what do you love and what's really moving, what's something you have experience with, you've done before that you really loved and you like to do that now.
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: A lot of folks we have a wide variety, we have young people as well as folks that are retired that volunteer here, and a lot of times when folks retire, they come and they want to do something that maybe they didn't have time to do before, and so they want to have that opportunity to just really enjoy what they're doing and not for it to be an obligation or a requirement Like a permanent job.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: We had a retired physician at one time.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: He wanted to volunteer and I go great, we got a clinic and he goes no, I don't want to do that anymore.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: Is that anything?
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: Sometimes that happens Exactly so there's lots of different opportunities.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: If somebody's interested in possibly volunteering it's speaker rescue mission, what do they do If they're interested?
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: How do they know where to go?
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: What to find out?
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: Talk about the different avenues.
• 23:09
  Speaker 5: Okay, Well, one of the first things is you can just call our main line and ask for the volunteer coordinator or Susie, and I'll be happy to chat with you and just we can just talk about.
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: What are you thinking?
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: What is your time, what's your availability?
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: I just got off the phone before I came in here with the lady.
• 23:27
  Speaker 5: She's like right now work is crazy, but I can do Saturdays and Sundays Awesome.
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: Here's what we have available.
• 23:33
  Speaker 5: Here's a little new thing that's coming up with the warehouse sale.
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: You know when would you like to jump in and what's your availability.
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: And sometimes you know it's it's limitations too.
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: They're like I can't like climb hills.
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: Oh great, we won't send you out on street.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, just having a conversation about what.
• 23:58
  Speaker 5: What are they thinking and what's been on their heart and their minds?
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: so they can call what about going online?
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: online.
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: We are going to have a connection where they can sign up, and Because our new volunteer system that we have, that just has rolled out here in August, is all through email.
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: So if they Want to email me their email address, then I can send them an invitation and that invitation they just accept put in some contact information name, address, phone number and that just makes it easier for me to get in touch with them different ways, and then it opens up our whole.
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: A volunteer hub is what it's called, and it shows all the different options.
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: It's very pretty because it has pictures, which is nice.
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: It's not just words, so you can actually see our volunteers.
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: They are like a lot.
• 24:51
  Speaker 5: There are pictures of our actual volunteers Serving in those different areas and they can see, and then it has a little description there so they can understand what they would need.
• 25:02
  Speaker 5: Some things require a background check, not everything, but if you're going to work with our children or if you're going to Work with our street reach teams, those do require background checks, but there's so many opportunities that don't require that, and so it gives you those requirements what you need if you need to wear a closed-toed shoes because you don't want it run over by something in the DC and or you know.
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: So it gives you those little details, it gives you the location where you would come to and then there's a point person on there also.
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: So every location has a person that they would go and they would ask for that person.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: So somebody's interested now they could go to the rescue mission website and find the volunteer page and then be able to get the phone number and also this other information.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: And if you're listening right now, that's TRM online dot org TRM online dot org and there's a lot of stuff on there, but there's a special button for volunteers.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: So pivot now to the staff engagement Volunteers.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: You're working with a lot of people.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: You've done this before in ministry.
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: That's probably why you're really good at what you're doing and and talk about the staff part of this.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: What's staff engagement mean?
• 26:18
  Speaker 5: staff engagement is a beautiful role.
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: It's.
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: It's an An opportunity to love on about 75 folks that work here at TRM, to honor them on their birthdays and their anniversaries, their work anniversaries.
• 26:34
  Speaker 5: We celebrate their 30 days here, they're 60 days here, they're 90 days here, their year and we just it's just a wonderful opportunity to remind them of how incredibly amazing and beautiful they are as a person and what they bring to this ministry.
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: I truly believe that God brings a Group of people together for his purpose and his plan, with the people that he is also bringing to us to serve, and so it is just a beautiful team.
• 27:09
  Speaker 5: Here.
• 27:09
  Speaker 5: There's a lot of, there's a lot of love and caring between all of us and that's a special cultural vibe that you don't get everywhere, and it's just a really beautiful piece that I get to play in that just to celebrate them.
• 27:31
  Speaker 5: And oftentimes I am Looked at very favorably as I show up in different buildings because I usually come bringing chocolate or some type of a little just Kudo Appreciation.
• 27:46
  Speaker 5: Sometimes it's words of affirmation and and also, you know, I can check in on folks.
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: You know how, how is your mom doing?
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: She had that surgery last week, or how is this situation going, and so I count that as a real privilege.
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: It's almost like a shepherding role in many ways.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: So is he.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: You know, when think about this, you got about 75 staff and you got around 50 volunteers on an average week and that Translates into multiple different people, so several hundred people.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: You got a pretty good size team here that you're trying to take care of.
• 28:17
  Speaker 5: It's pretty fun yeah.
• 28:18
  Speaker 5: Sometimes I would think huh you know, I don't feel overwhelmed, I just feel incredibly blessed.
• 28:24
  Speaker 5: I love people.
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: I do, and I know that the father has called us to love people, and so it's just.
• 28:33
  Speaker 5: I'm so thankful for the way that he has designed me in that way to love people and to put me in the spot.
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: Earlier Amanda was talking about caring for those who care for people, and you get to do that.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: That's that's kind of your primary job here is to care for the caregivers, whether they be a volunteer or whether they be a staff member, to be able to do that.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: What have you Learned that you didn't know that you would experience before.
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: You were on your way to Florida and I decided to get kind of messed up with the phone call there.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: So what have we learned?
• 29:06
  Speaker 5: What have I learned?
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: maybe that you didn't expect.
• 29:10
  Speaker 5: That I would love this as much as I do, that the father would give me the privilege and the opportunity to do this at this season in my life.
• 29:18
  Speaker 5: And Just and all that TRM does, not only for unsheltered but for our community.
• 29:30
  Speaker 5: It's just incredible.
• 29:30
  Speaker 5: I can remember my first couple of weeks here going around and visiting the different departments, because you can't get to know people if you don't go wandering around on all the different sites here, and so Just how amazing how God has Brought us here.
• 29:47
  Speaker 5: You know I study the history too, because that's one of the things we share with volunteers and employees, so they understand the whole background of how God has has placed this here by by three men that got burdened their hearts and Coffee and donuts brought them together with the Bible and shared the word.
• 30:05
  Speaker 5: And and you know, just Watching that incredible story of God working through all of the history of tears, the history of TRM, to bring us to today, to this time in this place, is just amazing.
• 30:22
  Speaker 5: It's it's just such a beautiful story of his work and and it just reminds you again, I think it strengthens, I think there's ways it strengthened my faith In that I knew he's always faithful, he's always with us.
• 30:36
  Speaker 5: He always goes before us and beside us, but I think it's, you know, it's also been a spiritual growth time for me.
• 30:44
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm and seeing all of his work.
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, thank you for that, Mary and Amanda.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: I know that you appreciate Susie a lot.
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, can you imagine what it'd be like without a Susie?
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 30:59
  Speaker 4: That gives me PTSD.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: That is not an image that I want ever again.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah so there are.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: There's been a gap or two.
• 31:07
  Speaker 4: Uh-huh, you know, speaking of that, gap you, and then I'm gonna be short because Miriam supervises Susie and I know Miriam has so much to say.
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: But in August, you know, one of the things that we do here is we do a newsletter for our staff.
• 31:20
  Speaker 4: We do the newsletter that goes out into the community, but we also do a newsletter that's just internal.
• 31:26
  Speaker 4: And so we have a section on there that our staff shoutouts and Susie is who manages those.
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: So she gets the little award that we get and the little candy that comes with it and then she goes and passes them out.
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: But she got one and I know that if she wasn't the one doing them she would probably get 10 shoutouts each newsletter, right, but people know that, they know that she's doing it.
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: But this one I just thought was beautiful.
• 31:50
  Speaker 4: It says in the short time Susie has been on our team, she has done an amazing job.
• 31:56
  Speaker 4: She has brought life and excellence back into our volunteer department.
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: Her gracious approach to staff and volunteers is amazing and I just love that the word choice is there of she's brought life, excellence and her gracious approach.
• 32:19
  Speaker 4: In addition to that, I have had I'm not joking when I say at least two dozen, so 24 people out of our 70 staff members who have made it a point to come to my office to say I just have to tell you this about Susie coming from other buildings, coming from, and why.
• 32:45
  Speaker 4: I've heard the excellence, I've heard that.
• 32:47
  Speaker 4: But I've also heard gentleness, I have heard positivity, I have heard laughter, like those are the words also that describe her.
• 32:57
  Speaker 4: So does she work hard?
• 32:59
  Speaker 4: Yes, does she play hard?
• 33:01
  Speaker 4: Yes, does she have this way of loving people in a way that I just know one day and I wish I could see it that the Lord is gonna say you loved exactly how I loved when I walked on earth?
• 33:17
  Speaker 4: And I'm not sure that I can say that a lot.
• 33:22
  Speaker 4: But we all serve well, right, and we have the right heart.
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: We do.
• 33:28
  Speaker 4: But when you look at the adjectives that describe this woman, I can just only imagine that it is maybe as close as we can get to someone of the way Jesus walked this earth.
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: And so she stands for excellence, she stands for a strong worth ethic, she does well, she's someone that people are trustworthy with, right, all of these things.
• 33:53
  Speaker 4: But then there are the words of gentleness and graceful and trustworthy and nurturing, and those are the adjectives that we don't always see in people.
• 34:07
  Speaker 4: And so I adore Suzie, I love her, I'm thankful for her.
• 34:12
  Speaker 4: I don't tell her near as often as I should, and that has convicted my heart in the last week or two, because my office is right there by hers and I should be telling her every day.
• 34:22
  Speaker 4: But I just had to start off with that shout out that people loving Suzie, regardless if it's a staff member, a volunteer, whatever, they love her, because some of them have never been loved the way she loves them, and that, to me, is just beautiful.
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: So Okay, Suzie.
• 34:49
  Speaker 5: Regroup yourself here.
• 34:50
  Speaker 5: Oh my goodness.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you don't have to say anything, because it's just been well said right now.
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I can imagine Amanda, somebody listening to this podcast will say I just want to volunteer so I can meet Suzie.
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, because, suzie, what you are is, you are a minister of the love of Christ, not just a coordinator of volunteers and staff engagement.
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: You're a minister, and God has equipped you for that before you even got here, that's what you were doing, by discipling and loving people, and so TRM is blessed, right Mary?
• 35:24
  Speaker 3: Oh, we're incredibly blessed, absolutely.
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: And that doesn't even really touch on the skills that Suzie has.
• 35:31
  Speaker 3: I mean, the skills are just the icing on the cake, because really, what makes her so important is what Amanda just talked about, and it's her heart.
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: It's her heart, and I don't know that there's anything that is more needed at TRM than people that just have that kind of heart you know, because it just comes through very quickly and very easily.
• 35:55
  Speaker 3: I hear it all the time, almost to the point of going yeah, yeah, yeah, we know Suzie is fabulous, but she really does.
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: I mean, I hear those compliments all the time and that has not been always the experience in terms of how things always go, because, you know, sometimes you set up volunteers that may not be exactly the right person right, or they don't show up or something like that.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: It's not an easy assignment.
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: No, it's not an easy assignment, but Susie just has this ability to make it all okay.
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, all okay, including going and filling in when it's necessary, so it isn't just about saying, oh, you're really busy, but we don't have any volunteers.
• 36:39
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry to going then and really trying to step in and assist with whatever needs to be done.
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: So she's a gem.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: She is Susie.
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: God made it clear to you you were supposed to come here.
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: This was a spiritual moment.
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: Have you had times to pray in some volunteers, like when there's a gap here, and see the Lord provide?
• 37:03
  Speaker 5: Yes, yes, I have.
• 37:04
  Speaker 5: There have been a few mornings where I'm like, oh my goodness, what are we gonna do today?
• 37:10
  Speaker 5: And the father has reminded me.
• 37:13
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you wanna talk to me about that?
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 37:18
  Speaker 5: And then he has just abundantly provided.
• 37:22
  Speaker 5: Sometimes it's somebody walking in at the last moment To me, the last moment to him it was his plan and the point of a pastor calling last week with 12 of his people that want to volunteer and given me their names and email addresses so we could call and email them.
• 37:44
  Speaker 5: I mean, god has just been gracious.
• 37:46
  Speaker 5: I was able to speak at my home church this last week and several folks came up and were just like you know, I used to volunteer there.
• 37:55
  Speaker 5: I'd like to get back.
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: You know, covid kind of has pulled us away, made a difference to them.
• 38:00
  Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, and you know, my home church, clark Johnson, who I know is a very much an integral part of the ministry here for years, always shared about the Topeka Rescue Mission and we had many folks on Sunday.
• 38:16
  Speaker 5: I had him just anybody who's ever volunteered, just raise your hand.
• 38:21
  Speaker 5: I just was curious, you know, and they were all over the place in the balcony on the main floor and I was just incredibly blessed by seeing that, you know.
• 38:32
  Speaker 5: But yeah, the father is faithful, this is his ministry, this is his work.
• 38:37
  Speaker 5: He knows who needs to be there at that time to meet that person at map or in the drive up distribution.
• 38:46
  Speaker 5: He knows the face that the person in the car needs to see.
• 38:50
  Speaker 5: He knows it all and he provides.
• 38:53
  Speaker 5: He is the provider, and so that's an incredibly cool part to be to watch him just work.
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: Well, you know, and I think too, sometimes I'm not sure that we recognize, like we think about, how much they help us.
• 39:07
  Speaker 3: The volunteers help us, they help the guests, they help the folks that are coming through the food line.
• 39:13
  Speaker 3: But I think in many situations too, we are a lifeline for those volunteers.
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: Two way road there.
• 39:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely it is, and we are a way that they find purpose, that they find companionship.
• 39:29
  Speaker 3: You know, I think about, in particular, the distribution center.
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: We have folks that volunteer there that it's pretty much like a regular job, right.
• 39:38
  Speaker 3: I mean, they are that dependable.
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: They are there multiple times a week, every week.
• 39:43
  Speaker 3: They look at it like it is their responsibility and I know that's giving something to them too, and I think that that is the beauty of volunteering is you come believing and you will help others, and what you get in return sometimes can outweigh what you feel like you're giving.
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: The Lord said it's more blessed to give than to receive for a reason, and it's not about a later reward, it's about a current and later reward.
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: That that's God's economy to give.
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: He's a giver and he calls us to give.
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: And if you're listening to this podcast today, you may be one of those who is being tugged at the heart to consider what you might do to give.
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: But know that when you give you'll receive, and you may be a volunteer to peak a rescue mission.
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: Suzy, many years ago, before we had one of you, we built this building over here called the Main Building and we built this beautiful kitchen dining room and I had a panic because we didn't have volunteers to be able to serve the meals and we were starting to fill up very fast.
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: This was around 1991.
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: And I thought I've made a really big mistake.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: I should have got the people to work it before we built it.
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: And I just really felt the Lord after I got done, feeling like I wanted to quit and run, run, run.
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: I felt like the Lord said talk to me, they're out there and I'm gonna send them.
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: And sure enough he did.
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: He began sending volunteers I thought all the volunteers with all the other organizations and, speaking, there was none left.
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: There was nothing left right, nothing left.
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: I really thought that and I really, really, really thought that I really made a big mistake.
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: But God's got His people and you were one of His people that came here, and so were many of the staff, and so the volunteers today and there's others out there that may be listening to this and now we said all these nice things to you and we meet them, and so Christmas is coming.
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: So just remember that when you're kind of like what in the world am I doing here?
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: So you have not had Christmas here yet.
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: No, but I've gotten hints of what it's gonna be like, so yeah, so, susie, thank you for saying yes to the Lord, Thank you for your heart, which has been so adequately genuinely expressed here about the humility and about your love for others, and we're just blessed to have you here.
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: Thank you, it's a blessing.
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: Well, if you're interested in volunteering at Topeka Rescue Mission, as we said before, you can go to the website at trmonlineorg.
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: That's trmonlineorg.
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: Susie mentioned a guy named Clark Johnson.
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: He was a friend of mine, mentor of mine, pastor for many, many years.
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: He's with Jesus now.
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: He said something to me.
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: He said, or to a number of us one time.
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: He said find out what the Holy Spirit is doing and ask Him if he wants you to join Him there and then run like crazy to catch up.
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: So maybe that's you out there.
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: Just ask the Holy Spirit, god's Spirit.
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: Would you like for me to be a volunteer To pick a rescue Mr Somewhere Else, and he will answer your prayer.
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to Our Community, our Mission.
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: If you'd like to help support our Community, our Mission, you can subscribe, you can rate or you can share.
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: Thanks again for listening.
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: Music.