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Freedom House: With Jane Thomas · Deep Dive into Joy

0:00
Music. This is Deep Dive into Joy, and I'm your
0:26
host, Gina Rickner. Hey, Joe listeners, it's
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your host, Gina Rickner. Welcome back to Deep
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Dive into Joy, the podcast where we talk about
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our own personal testimonies, how God shows up
0:37
for us in our everyday lives, health and wellness,
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and journeying through the Bible. I'm so glad
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and scalp go another day without Divi. So I'm
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excited to sit down today with Jane Thomas and
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she's a chaplain. She is the director of Freedom
3:06
House. So Jane has served the Lord for 35 years,
3:11
which is amazing. And in eight of those years,
3:14
she was a chaplain in the state correctional
3:17
system. So this is where God grew her heart for
3:20
those who lived a life in survival mode and trauma,
3:25
lives filled with hopelessness. It was her volunteer
3:29
work at the Clearfield County Prison in 2015
3:32
that changed the trajectory of her life forever.
3:37
So the rotating doors of women returning again
3:40
and again from addiction and brokenness was more
3:43
than what her heart could bear. And something
3:46
had to be done. It was from this place that Freedom
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House Women's Residential Recovery House was
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birthed. The house is in its third year of running
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and we are seeing God restore many broken daughters
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into a beautiful life of hope and wholeness.
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We're going to talk about the drug epidemic,
4:06
the importance of a healthy support system, and
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what we can just do as a community. We're going
4:13
to talk about Freedom House. So everybody welcome
4:17
Chaplain Jam Thomas to the podcast. Hi, Jane.
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I want to welcome you to the podcast and thank
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you so much for coming on with me today. Well,
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thank you, Jean. I'm excited to be here with
4:29
you today. So I like to ask every guest, what
4:32
is your favorite drink? Well, it's probably going
4:35
to be propel. Propel? Any flavor specific or
4:39
just propel? Probably watermelon. Yeah. So I
4:46
just want to deep dive in with you because you,
4:50
I said in the intro, are part of Freedom House.
4:52
And we're going to go over all about that. And
4:55
if you can explain it all to my listeners. But
4:58
I first want you to share just a little bit about
5:00
yourself and your testimony before we head into
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that. Oh, wow. OK. Well, I've always had a heart
5:08
for women that struggle, probably because I was
5:10
in the struggle myself. Excuse me. I grew up
5:15
in a very dysfunctional family, very loving mother,
5:19
very loving. But you know, she was trying to
5:22
raise four children on her own. So. There was
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just a lot of, my father was an alcoholic. He
5:29
was very violent. You know, I saw my mother get
5:32
her teeth knocked out of her mouth. But before
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that, I remember, my earliest remember of trauma
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was my father was in the army and him and my
5:45
mother had gone to a party at a friend's house
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and they took us with them. I imagined myself
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to be about four. And so while they were at this
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party, there were a lot of older teenager people
6:00
there too, like young adults. And I was sexually
6:05
assaulted by three teenage boys that night. So
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the trauma began. How do you articulate that
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to your mother or your father? I didn't even
6:17
know what that was. So that was a lot of my Survival
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skills came from that as life went on because
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then I came from an alcoholic father who was
6:31
never there who was mostly absent who would just
6:33
come and go every now and then maybe two years
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would pass before he would pop in and Just very
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cruel to my mother so I learned that men weren't
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safe that And because my mother had to work so
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much to support four of us, and my sister and
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I laugh, we all always say that we were free
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-range kids. I mean, back in that day, it was
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a different time. It kind of were, yeah. It was
7:04
a different time and place back in the day, but
7:07
we were very much free -range children. So what
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I learned was men are not safe, and you take
7:16
care of yourself. It wasn't an affectionate family.
7:21
I wasn't told that I was loved or had value or
7:25
any kind of skills. I just was a free -range
7:29
kid. Of course, I grew up as a teenager and just
7:36
really got hooked up with the really wrong people
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at a very young age. I was 12 and they were 17.
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You kind of do that when you live in the country.
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But got involved in things that were, you know,
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way too involved for a person so young and just
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was very rebellious and very wounded and very
7:59
rejected. And got into the party scene. And then
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I ended up getting pregnant when I was fourteen
8:09
years old. So at fourteen now, I'm pregnant.
8:13
I'm in high school. went on to have my son when
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I was 15 and I ended up marrying the father that
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of much of my child and so by the time I was
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17 I had two children and You know a wrecked
8:30
marriage when you're gonna have a marriage of
8:32
15 when yeah, you know, you're both broken. Yeah
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And so my life just really from that point spiraled
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out of control I just I got involved in a lot
8:42
of drinking, you know, I did a lot of speed,
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I smoked a lot of weed and just was in survival
8:48
mode living for my weekends because, you know,
8:51
I was heartbroken over my broken relationship
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and because, you know, for those of us, many
8:59
of us who come out of trauma, all we want is
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a family. We want a family so desperately, but
9:04
I absolutely lacked the tools to be able to make
9:08
that successful. There was not a tool in me,
9:11
in my tool belt, that I would have been able
9:14
to pull out and make anything work. So I just
9:17
went on this downward spiral. When I was 18,
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I tried to take my own life because I was just
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filled with self -hatred and disappointment of
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myself, self -rejection, just in this black abyss
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of depression. because I just couldn't see a
9:37
way in my life. I felt like a horrible mother.
9:44
Phil was filled with shame. Anyway, it was a
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couple years, maybe a year or two after that,
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and this little voice said to me, I just had
9:56
an inventory of my life. Jane if you want something
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different, you're you know, you're the chaos
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in this scenario not so true If you want something
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different you're gonna have to change some things
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So it was it was in that in my early 20s that
10:17
I stepped away from Drinking I stepped away from
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alcohol. I stepped away from the drugs and all
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the people associated to to it at that time.
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I didn't realize that that's one of the very
10:30
important steps to recovery, but God knew what
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it was. And so I just began that journey and
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it was probably about two or three years later
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in 1988 I got restored back to my husband and
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we were both really trying to have you know,
10:54
a family and a relationship and make better choices,
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both of us. And so in 1988 I got pregnant with
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my third son Levi and I showed signs of miscaring.
11:08
And my mother had just got saved and she said,
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Jane, I just want you to come to this little
11:13
Bible study and just come and see what it's all
11:16
about. I've been searching for God in the meantime
11:19
and found religion and I said, Lord, if this
11:22
is you, I don't want anything to do with it.
11:25
I wanted an accountant with him and I was just
11:30
really disappointed. Because you know, I was
11:33
kind of a hippie person so I didn't fit that
11:35
quote -unquote look of church I guess right and
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so I was just very disappointed and I said Lord
11:42
if this is you I'm gonna give you a big no to
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that And it was probably about within a year.
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My mom invited me to that church And I was so
11:53
backward Gina so backward like I couldn't I could
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not make friends with people I didn't know. And
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it's not that I was a snob. I was just so fearful
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and knew immediately no one would like me. You
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know, I already had that. That was from all my
12:10
rejection and stuff. I just had assumed no one
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would like me. So I said, OK, Mom, I'll go. Don't
12:16
let anyone pray over me. So I walked into this
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little church and it's just a little Bible study,
12:24
maybe 20 people. And they're worshipping. And
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Gina, I never heard people worship like that
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before. Like they were worshiping with their
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heart and they were lifting their hands to Jesus
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and calling on him and worshiping him and immediately
12:44
my heart connected. There was an immediate connection.
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And I didn't even know what was happening. And
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the pastor came over and asked me if he could
12:55
pray with me, and I said yes. That night I gave
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my life to Jesus. And I've never looked back
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since. So he's had me on since 1988. I went on
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to have my son and then a daughter. So you didn't
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miscarry? I did not miscarry. So I always tell
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Levi, he's called Leviticus, because it's a tribe
13:18
of praisers. He, you know, he, he led his family
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to salvation because soon after that, my husband,
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my ex -husband, he's my ex -husband now, which
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I'll explain led us to the Lord. So beautiful.
13:33
Yeah. So for a while it was very, very good.
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And then, um, my, my ex was in a horrible accident.
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He had his neck crushed by a forklift and it
13:44
almost killed him. So he had all this damage
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into his neck. So, um, You know the enemy he's
13:51
always around to kill, steal, and destroy. So
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he had to have extensive surgery done on his
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neck and he ended up becoming addicted to drugs.
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And it literally destroyed our family. So I was
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just heartbroken and devastated. Do you think
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that was a problem on the medical system as well?
14:15
Him becoming addicted? Yeah. Well, the doctor
14:20
that prescribed him was later arrested for selling
14:25
narcotics. And that was back in the day where
14:30
it wasn't as well known, so they gave that medication
14:35
to everyone, and now they found out later how
14:38
addictive it was. So yeah, it's very sad. I mean,
14:44
we have a really good relationship now, but I
14:48
was devastated by that. And in the meantime,
14:55
I just got accepted into nursing school, and
14:59
I was so excited. I wanted to be a nurse all
15:01
my life. And I was feeling the Holy Spirit tell
15:06
me no, and I would stand up at the altar and
15:08
cry because I didn't understand why. A nurse
15:13
is a beautiful thing, and I always wanted that
15:15
to happen for me. Finally, he said, Jane, I didn't
15:21
call you to be a physical nurse. I called you
15:24
to be a spiritual nurse. So I knew he was calling
15:27
me into ministry then. And he said, I need you
15:30
to get your license because where I'm sending
15:32
you, it's not that I require them. I don't require
15:36
them for you to go and bring the kingdom in.
15:40
But he said, where I'm going to send you, you'll
15:44
need them. And so sure enough, it wasn't long
15:47
after that that the doors to the state prison
15:49
system opened up and I began my journey then
15:52
working with people in the prison system, which
15:55
is where I met my husband now. And so together,
16:01
together, that's what we do. We work with people
16:03
that are incarcerated or in prison. And to me,
16:08
I look at it like this. The enemy robbed me something
16:11
very precious to me in my life. This is payback.
16:16
Yeah. Amen to that. Yeah. I guess I can say that
16:20
about this podcast. You try to take my life and
16:22
this is payback. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly.
16:25
So, you know, I work with a lot of women in recovery
16:29
now. And, you know, a lot of them come from being
16:33
in prison. A lot of them come from Well, all
16:38
of them are out of addiction and so it's just
16:40
having been there and You and I were talking
16:43
a little bit knowing when you're in a season
16:46
or you're in a season your life or it just feels
16:48
hopeless And here comes God in all his glory
16:52
that he transformed something that was meant
16:55
for destruction into something beautiful But
16:58
even the correctional system is so broken. Oh,
17:01
it really is. I mean I just had an uncle come
17:05
out from DUI and a brother -in -law go back in
17:09
for drug addiction. And it's just, it's like,
17:14
go in and, you know, come out. There's nothing
17:17
for them on the other side. And there's nothing
17:19
for them while they're in there. Exactly. There's
17:21
nothing for them while they're in there. It's
17:23
absolutely horrible. And then it's like, everyone's
17:25
like, why do you keep going back? And they have,
17:29
it's like, it's... Well, they're feeling helplessness.
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Yeah. There's not an opportunity. And it's a
17:35
vicious cycle because, and I'll just use my girls
17:39
as an example, you know, once you get a felony,
17:44
it's hard to get a job. And if you can't get
17:48
a job and pay your fines, then guess what? You're
17:50
going to go back to jail. And if you lose your
17:53
license, guess what? You can't get a job to pay
17:55
your fines. You're going back to jail. It's a
17:58
vicious, vicious cycle for them. Filled with
18:00
hopelessness. There's no... restitution in there.
18:06
There's no, there's not any positive way that
18:10
it reflects a rehabilitation in any sense of
18:13
the word. And so when I started, when I retired,
18:17
I came home to take care of my mother and I started
18:19
volunteering up at the Clearfield Jail and I
18:22
was devastated by the revolving door of young
18:25
women, Gina. I'm sure young women just returning
18:29
returning returning and it broke my heart because
18:32
I understand the feeling of hopelessness I have
18:36
been there and I said Lord there has to be a
18:41
solution there has to be an answer which we know
18:43
it's him but they don't always some of them I've
18:47
seen generations of women now that have never
18:50
been taught a thing about God, and it's very
18:55
sad. So they not only don't have any tools, but
18:58
they don't have the one who can restore everything
19:02
to them. So it's almost like we need a worship
19:05
team just to be doing prison ministry or jail
19:08
ministry. Yeah, exactly. Sometimes you can get
19:14
access in, which is great. Not so much now, but
19:18
I used to go in and do that. I used to run a
19:20
recovery group and a Bible group and do worship
19:22
and have Sunday church. But it's really sadly
19:28
almost been closed off now. So the little bit
19:32
that they did have, now they don't have anything.
19:34
That's awful. It's horrifying. Sometimes we were
19:39
the only support that they would have when we
19:41
would go in there. So it is, it's very discouraging.
19:46
But a lot of, you know, I don't know if a lot
19:49
of people may know this, but Clearfield County
19:52
is the eighth highest in drug overdose of all
19:58
the counties in Pennsylvania. Now think about
20:00
the big cities that we have, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia,
20:03
Harrisburg. Clearfield County is eighth highest.
20:06
That's so sad. In drug addiction. And we have
20:10
no resources here. Women are twice as likely
20:15
as men to struggle and suffer with PTSD. And
20:19
women, especially those who have been sexually
20:21
assaulted and abused, seven out of ten will turn
20:25
to addiction. So now you're going to put that
20:28
woman who's in survival mode, maybe most of her
20:32
life, Maybe comes from a lot of dysfunction that
20:36
has no healthy tools is struggling with PTSD
20:39
has been sexually assaulted Cannot overcome her
20:42
addiction So you're gonna you're gonna place
20:44
her in a rehab for 30 60 90 days and now say
20:47
okay now get it together Yeah, there's there's
20:50
there's nothing in that plan that's going to
20:52
work because all of those all of that trauma
20:56
is In ours is found in our spirit in our home
21:01
That would be great to just have a team of pastors
21:04
just doing deliverance the whole time. That would
21:07
be amazing. I work with some that do. We actually
21:12
have a trauma coach that works with our girls
21:17
every week. She's wonderful. That's why I believe
21:23
that we're able to see a lot of healing because
21:27
we're addressing the issue. We're not just band
21:29
-aiding it. I know for my own life, I had to
21:32
address those things. They were very painful
21:34
memories. They were very painful. It was a very
21:37
painful and very sad And then you're afraid to
21:42
voice them because you're afraid of what other
21:44
people are going to think of you or... Oh, absolutely.
21:46
Like you said, it just brings up all the memories
21:49
again. Well, absolutely. And if you've been sexually
21:51
assaulted or abused as a person, you lose your
21:55
voice. And that's why for many of us, myself
21:58
included, I couldn't talk to people. I didn't
22:01
know how to handle conflict. I didn't know how
22:05
to... have conflict resolution. I didn't have
22:08
any of those skills to be able to propel me into
22:11
success in life. And it all was down for my trauma.
22:15
So I had to develop those things and learn those
22:18
things. So until you've done that like yourself,
22:21
you know, I feel like we come through healing
22:24
so we can lead, we can go back. in the darkness
22:27
is what I call it, go back in and pull our sisters
22:30
out and help them find healing, help them find
22:33
truth, help them find what they need. I mean,
22:36
we're commissioned to do that. Yes, we are. Jesus
22:39
has commissioned us in Matthew to go and make
22:41
disciples to go and bring healing to go. And
22:45
I think a lot of my frustration comes from even
22:51
the church body. Like a lot of our are people
22:55
that come out of addiction don't go to church
22:58
because they don't feel accepted and they don't
23:02
feel welcomed. It's so true. And listen, I've
23:05
heard pastors say, sadly, and this was in Philadelphia
23:09
though, but I would have guys going to leave.
23:13
the prison and want to get hooked up somewhere.
23:15
So I would call different places to see if there
23:18
was a group of men that could disciple him while
23:20
he got out, help him get on his feet, help him
23:23
make connections, help, you know, help him get
23:26
a job. And the pastors would say, we don't want
23:30
them here in our church. So wrong. Yeah. It would
23:38
be wonderful if he would all work together. And
23:43
churches are gifted many times in different areas.
23:46
Well, let's all work together and bring the fullness
23:49
of Christ into our communities, because our communities
23:52
need them, Gina. I almost felt, too, like I was
23:55
thinking a long time ago, just it would be amazing
23:58
if churches would be equipped with a mental health
24:02
coach or just something along those lines, just
24:06
to be there to help people. Like I have an example.
24:11
I have I have one young lady who I kept seeing
24:13
every time I would go in and She was trafficked
24:17
at 12 years old like people don't understand
24:19
what goes on in our communities at 12 years old
24:23
and Watched her little sister her father kill
24:27
her little sister. So the trauma behind this
24:32
beautiful young girl who Who had lost her children?
24:36
She struggled with addiction and she had no means
24:42
to have success because she didn't even have
24:44
a good support team around her. So we finally
24:48
won her favor. She went to a rehab for six months.
24:53
So she went for three months and then did a step
24:56
-up program and then she came to us. So in one
24:59
year, Gina, one year, she got her GED, she got
25:04
her driver's license, she got off parole. She
25:08
got a job making 20 -some dollars an hour with
25:11
benefits. She never had a job like that before.
25:14
That's amazing. She took college classes and
25:16
she got her children back in a year. Wow. And
25:19
that's just because it's not that we're anything
25:23
spectacular. We're just doing what... You just
25:25
gave her the resources. Yeah. We gave her the
25:27
resources. We gave her the support. We gave her
25:29
a safe. place to walk it out and get some time
25:34
under her so that she could go through, you know,
25:37
her spiritual healing or physical healing. She
25:40
could acquire tools and begin to feel confident
25:43
about herself. And really, that's all it is.
25:47
There's no quick fix. And that's the only thing
25:51
that's going to break the cycle. So the trafficking,
25:54
was that in Clearfield County? Was she? Yes.
25:59
Yeah. Do you know much about that, like signs
26:03
to look for, anything along those lines that
26:08
we can be watching for, like in our own communities?
26:10
Well, there's a lot of stuff, like up at Clearfield,
26:15
up at the hotels by the interstate. Okay. Actually,
26:19
we were up there one day and I was with a friend.
26:22
I have a friend who works specifically with trafficked
26:25
women She has a ministry and that's all she does
26:27
and she I was actually with her that day And
26:30
there was a woman in the room with a guy the
26:32
door was open and she said Jane That woman's
26:36
being trafficked right now so she got her attention
26:40
you have to be careful because her her pimp was
26:44
there and She went over and slipped her slipped
26:49
her card and said if you need help You call this
26:52
number and we can have find a way to get you
26:56
out Wow, but there's just I mean, we're not exempt
27:00
from it here. No, and that's so scary Yeah, we're
27:04
really not exempt. Maybe I can have her on I'd
27:07
love to talk about that more just to get more
27:09
awareness out there Her name is Paula Millsaps
27:11
and she has a beautiful heart. She's very fierce
27:15
like she's very serious about what God's asking
27:19
her to do in this day and time. I'll have to
27:21
make that connection for you. Yeah, I'd love
27:23
just to get more awareness out there. Yeah. So,
27:27
you know, we're here, you're here, I'm here.
27:29
You know, God planted us right here in this day
27:32
and time to bring His light and hope and healing
27:36
to this community. I always love that we are
27:39
made for a time such as this. And you know what
27:41
I love to think about? It talks about in Ephesians
27:44
how the Father has given us every spiritual blessing
27:49
from heaven through Christ Jesus. Like we are
27:52
so empowered for success for the kingdom here.
27:57
I wish people, and I get, I think that's part,
28:00
because I remember where I was when I first got
28:02
saved, and it's, there's just, we don't have
28:05
the faith to believe that. You know, we look
28:07
at our imperfections and think, That's what's
28:10
going to mess it up for us being used by God.
28:13
But it's not about us. It's about Him. He just
28:16
needs a yes. And He's willing to use whoever's
28:20
raising their hand. I love that you said that
28:22
because our past episode season was almost all
28:26
about that. Just saying yes. You don't have to
28:29
be equipped. You don't have to have it figured
28:31
out. In fact, it's going to change. You can bet
28:33
it's going to change as you go along. That's
28:37
not really where I wanted to go. Actually, we're
28:39
working over here. I just couldn't show you that
28:42
big picture back then. Anyway, we have a lot
28:47
of good things to do. Another big problem I see
28:51
in our community is homelessness. I get so many
28:55
calls for homeless women and I can't take them
28:58
because Homeless women come with addiction many
29:02
times or Undiagnosed mental illness like I just
29:06
can't bring them in to my center because our
29:09
girls have been clean first Sometimes over a
29:12
year and I have children in our center. We have
29:15
We work with CYS so that there's reconciliation
29:20
with the children. So we have a young mom right
29:23
now whose little guy lives with us. He's really
29:26
sweet. And her older kids come on the weekend.
29:28
That's great. That's so great to hear that. She's
29:30
right now getting ready to fly and get her own
29:33
place. So she's doing wonderful. She's a manager
29:37
over at Penn State. So look what God did for
29:40
her, restoring her. But so I can't take in I
29:47
can't take in women that are just homeless. I
29:50
There's just I can't and put my girls at risk
29:53
But I'll tell you what's frustrating and you
29:56
might have thought of this, you know How many
29:58
churches do we have in our community? Let's say
30:01
50 these are the people that we're supposed to
30:03
be helping Yeah, let's just say 50. Can you imagine
30:06
if we all work together? renovated one of these
30:10
many empty buildings and worked together as a
30:13
team to provide a place for homelessness. Wow.
30:17
Yeah, I agree. That's pretty radical thought,
30:20
isn't it? Yeah. So there's a lot of work for
30:27
us to do here. There really isn't our own community,
30:29
but God's faithful, so. He's a restorer of all
30:36
things. He's a restorer of all things, and it's
30:38
always what I tell the girls. There's nothing
30:40
too big for him. In fact, he loves to take what
30:43
the enemy meant for evil and return it for good.
30:47
So can you talk a little bit more about Freedom
30:53
House, like where it is, how it came about, what
30:57
you do, all the things? Well, I really, from
31:02
working in the prisons, just grew a heart for
31:05
the incarcerated because I heard the stories
31:10
behind them. And when you hear that kind of dysfunction,
31:14
like one of our guys, when I was up in Philadelphia
31:18
prison, I worked in the state prison up there,
31:20
so that was maximum security prison with 5 ,000
31:23
inmates. Yeah. One of the guys that was on my
31:28
church team. Just a young man. He was in jail.
31:34
His dad was in jail, and his grandfather was
31:36
in jail. And from the time he was six, they used
31:39
him as a mule. Six years old. So it's generational
31:42
curses that I like to talk about too. And he
31:45
was in the car one day with one of his other
31:50
uncles. And a rival came up and shot him right
31:54
in the head in front of this little guy. Six
31:56
years old. So you don't ask yourself, why are
32:00
they doing this? You say, why not? Of course,
32:03
that's all they know. What do you do with that
32:06
kind of stuff? That's trauma that's embedded
32:09
in your very heart of who you are. And so John
32:14
and I, my husband, we ended up adopting five
32:17
children from... From foster care because our
32:22
hearts especially boys we wanted because number
32:24
one they never get a home they age out Mm -hmm,
32:27
and we wanted to give someone a chance So, uh,
32:31
that's beautiful. Yeah. So now we have nine nine
32:34
children and 16 grandchildren. So we're busy
32:37
Wow. Yeah. Yeah, but my friend Brittany is a
32:41
manager at a Foster care center and she is all
32:45
the time. Yeah, it she carries it on her sleeve
32:48
because she's just like It's so disheartening
32:51
inside, in that part of the world too, because
32:56
they can't find anybody to take these kids in.
32:58
No. That should be, there should be no one in
33:02
foster care with all of our churches. There should
33:04
be no one. That's so true. Especially these children,
33:07
they didn't ask for any of this. They're the
33:09
innocent ones that take place in all this. And
33:11
look what happens then, as we see in our population
33:15
that's in prison. That's where a lot of all of
33:19
this stuff comes from so we have to be willing
33:22
to to be a vessel that brings healing Mm -hmm.
33:26
So anyway, we came back I came back here After
33:31
we retired we came back here and I've really
33:35
thought the Lord Challenged me to go up to Clearfield
33:38
County jail And as I said earlier, I just saw
33:41
this revolving door of these beautiful women
33:44
that were just filled with hopelessness. Absolute.
33:48
This was going to be their life. And I heard
33:52
the Lord begin to press upon me the need for
33:57
a home. And so before COVID, I started to look
34:01
and then COVID hit. So that put the kickers on
34:04
everything for a while. But in 2022, then we
34:08
found a CMA church in Osceola and we bought it
34:14
and began the renovations and to turn it into
34:17
a facility. So we just wanted it to be a place
34:26
where women could come and be at peace. and that
34:32
the community would rally around together with
34:35
them and just have healing in general life. So
34:37
we have a lot of programming there. They have
34:39
to, they're there for a year. And there's a parenting
34:42
class, there's a budgeting class, there's a life
34:46
skills class. Obviously there's a Bible class,
34:48
they have to go to church. Sometimes there's
34:52
a class individually for them, depending on their...
34:56
Like if they have a sexual addiction or something
34:59
else, we work on specific things like that. They
35:03
see our trauma coach once a week. There's a licensed
35:09
drug and alcohol guy that comes every Monday
35:13
night and runs a class for them. And then they're
35:15
in a faith -based 12 -step class every week.
35:20
So we try to keep them filled with stuff. Plus
35:24
they do community service, so they go to St.
35:26
Joe's every week. Some of them have been through
35:29
there, so they're able to take back hope because
35:34
they were there and now they're here. And so
35:37
sometimes we get people from there that want
35:39
to come, some ladies, and come to our program.
35:44
So it's exciting. There needs to be more. We
35:53
keep it small for a reason. I was going to say,
35:56
do you have a max? Yeah, we have eight beds.
35:59
Okay. Because sometimes we get kids, so we try
36:03
to keep it to eight. And plus, we want it to
36:06
be very family oriented. The women feel like
36:09
family. Some of them, this is the most family
36:12
they've ever had. So we keep it small for a reason.
36:17
Think when you start to get big and this is just
36:19
my own opinion, but I think when you get big
36:21
you kind of lose that Yeah, there's more Opportunity
36:26
for mayhem. That's true. Yeah, you get drug random
36:29
drug tested every week, which they love their
36:32
drug testing Accountability, yes, they love it
36:38
And so, you know, we've had several girls graduate
36:42
we've had one woman graduate that was a beautiful
36:47
writer and You don't know your gifts when you're
36:51
in trauma, right? You don't know who you are
36:53
and here she was this beautiful beautiful gifted
36:56
beautiful poetry she wrote just exceptional so
37:00
actually a ministry she was also trafficked and
37:04
I Mean another ministry found her Through us
37:09
and they're actually she's actually taking classes
37:12
now. She actually wrote a book because he was
37:14
a publisher That's so cool. So he published her
37:18
testimony, and it's just beautifully written.
37:23
And he's going to use her. He's opening a facility
37:28
in Florida just for trafficked women. So it will
37:31
be for trafficked women and their children. And
37:34
he's going to hire her as one of the house managers
37:39
there. So look what God has done. Let's restore
37:42
her family to her, her children to her. She's
37:45
just beautiful. She just returned to the Philadelphia
37:48
area, so we miss her dearly. But she's just doing
37:53
phenomenal. And that's the beautiful gift, Gina.
37:58
Yeah. When you can see hope and joy and life.
38:07
and really the countenance of God fill these
38:11
women. It's priceless. Like I would never need
38:15
anything else in this world because just being
38:19
able to witness that and see and feel and hear
38:23
their words change from hopelessness to life
38:26
and see their life take off and be filled with
38:29
such goodness is priceless. It really is priceless.
38:35
We just want to be able to continue what we're
38:38
doing and we have wonderful volunteers that come
38:41
Actually, we just opened a thrift store there.
38:43
Okay, that's cool a little plug guys. You're
38:46
looking for furniture Okay, it's freedom house
38:49
furnishings in an all -seal us. So there's so
38:51
it's just specifically furniture Nothing like
38:54
clothing anything. Okay, we have we have that
38:56
too, but we try to have a lot of furniture We
39:01
there's no funding for what we do there's no
39:04
funding at all. It's nothing. So we had to find
39:08
a creative way to bring finances in. And so we
39:15
opened this little thrift store. It's all on
39:17
a donation. Everything's a donation. And it's
39:22
really been Helping us sustain what we're doing.
39:26
So so far so good. Okay. Yeah, can people donate
39:29
money to you? Is that money they can where do
39:32
they do that? They just bring it to your website
39:35
it's freedom house CC calm and on there is a
39:42
What do you call that a? I don't know, donate
39:46
icon maybe? Yeah, donate icon, you can hit that
39:48
and you can donate there or you can just write
39:50
a check to New Life Ministries or come and shop
39:55
with us and make a donation. But you know what,
39:59
the community has been wonderful. At first they
40:02
were a little hesitant and I understand, I understand
40:05
why. I mean, you know, we have children, there's
40:07
children on the block, I still get it. But once
40:11
they were able to see that this wasn't a rehab.
40:16
It's not, you know, a drug stop pit where people
40:21
come in and out and you have people visiting.
40:24
We have a lot of restrictions on the girls. There's
40:26
a lot of rules. The kids can't go off and do
40:30
what they want to willy -nilly. But once the
40:33
community saw how well they were doing, they
40:37
have been... Our communities have been wonderful,
40:40
Gina. They support us. They shop at the store.
40:42
They come and visit. They bring stuff in for
40:47
donations. Our community has been wonderful.
40:50
And the girls love it because they feel loved.
40:54
Like, here's these strangers giving to us. Wow.
40:57
It makes them feel like they matter and that
41:00
maybe they do have a purpose. So it's a beautiful
41:03
thing to watch women supporting women. It really
41:06
is. That is beautiful. Well, Jean, I thank you
41:10
so much. You really are doing God's work, that's
41:12
for sure. Hands, we've got to be the hands and
41:14
feet of Jesus. You do. So, I'd like to end with
41:19
these three questions to all of my guests. What
41:21
is your favorite Bible verse? It could be of
41:23
all time, it could be in this season, whatever
41:26
you want to share. In fact, I was ready for that.
41:28
You know, I love James 1. 27, but I like the
41:33
passion translation version. Okay, so the passion
41:36
trans Translation says true spirituality is pure
41:43
True spirituality that is pure in the eyes of
41:48
the father God is to make a difference in the
41:51
lives of orphans and widows in their troubles
41:54
and Refused to be corrupted by the works of the
41:58
world And I love that. Like, we have to help
42:02
each other. We're all in this together. All of
42:05
us. All of us. You know, God bless us. We're
42:09
not going to be perfect till Jesus comes, you
42:14
know? So we all struggle with stuff. But we need
42:16
to really help each other. It's so easy to be
42:19
divisive. So easy. Or stay isolated. Or stay
42:23
isolated. Or think you have nothing to offer.
42:26
Oh my gosh. You know, God didn't... create garbage.
42:29
She creates everything with purpose. Everything
42:31
in creation has purpose. How much more do you
42:34
have purpose? Yeah. So we're just hoping people
42:37
find their purpose and want to be a part of God's
42:40
great commission. We're on assignment. We are.
42:44
And if you could tell your younger self one thing,
42:48
what would that be? Oh, my gosh, my younger self.
42:56
Ask for help. Yeah. We have so much trouble doing
43:01
that, don't we? Even asking our Father for help.
43:04
Yeah. Yeah. And what legacy would you like to
43:08
leave behind? An army of healed women. An army
43:16
of healed women empowered by Jesus to go back
43:18
in the darkness and bring out their broken sisters.
43:20
Yes. I hope to duplicate that. Amen. Yeah. Alright,
43:26
so let's have a little bit of fun. I like to
43:28
do rapid fire just to end the episode. What are
43:32
you doing? So are you coffee or tea? I'm coffee.
43:37
Coffee. One word to describe God. Mighty. Good
43:43
one. Favorite way to decompress after a hard
43:46
day? Crossword puzzles. Oh, I used to do word
43:54
search all the time. Yeah. I like to attach,
43:57
yeah. Favorite vacation spot? The mountains.
44:03
You just said you got back from Tennessee, right?
44:04
I love the mountains, girl. Yeah. It is beautiful
44:07
there. One thing that fills your cup instantly?
44:12
Worship. Yes, amen. And if your life had a theme
44:16
song, what would it be? Lord, you're beautiful.
44:20
Oh, I love that. Isn't that a beautiful song?
44:23
Yes. All right, Jean, thank you again so much
44:27
for being on to me today. It was a pleasure.
44:29
This was our first time meeting in person. Jean,
44:30
I had a wonderful time. I know. Thank you so
44:32
much for having us or having me. I love getting
44:37
just to make new friends and getting in our community.
44:43
It's really cool. I can see where you're an intricate
44:47
part of all the stuff that God's doing here,
44:49
girl. Thank you. Thank you. But I love getting
44:52
this kind of stuff out to our community, too,
44:54
just to let them know that there are some resources
44:58
out there. We want more, but there are some out
45:00
there to help other people. And I really do hope
45:03
that this helps the community just to learn what
45:05
is out there. And it's part of the reason why
45:10
I do this is just because I think there are a
45:13
lot of people that need the help, and they don't.
45:18
maybe don't know that it's available to them.
45:22
So I love that these kind of ministries exist
45:25
in our little town, and I'm sure it's going to
45:28
be helpful getting this information into the
45:30
hands of our local community. I will list everything
45:34
in the show notes, every way that they can donate,
45:37
where the actual Freedom House is located, the
45:41
website, all the things, just to make it easier
45:43
for finding the contacts. If you're interested
45:48
in coming on the podcast, you can join me as
45:50
a guest. You can reach out to me on socials at
45:52
Gina dot Rickner or GM Rickner at iCloud dot
45:55
com. I would love to have you. You can also hit
45:58
the download on each episode and the follow button
46:01
on whatever platform you listen on. You can leave
46:04
a review on Spotify and Apple podcast. Like I
46:07
said, I'll list the links and the codes, everything
46:09
that you didn't know in the show notes so you
46:11
can look over that. And I just, again, thank
46:15
you for my audience for tuning in today and as
46:17
always, go out and find the joy today. Bye, friends.