Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 310: Using God’s Cattle to Serve God’s People — The Story Behind Feed the Need with Dave Shumpert

Transcript

310: Using God’s Cattle to Serve God’s People — The Story Behind Feed the Need with Dave Shumpert · CattleUSA Daily

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On the podcast today I am so excited to bring you guys an
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episode that I have done with Dave Schumpert.
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Dave is the mastermind behind X2D Ministries and Feed the
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Need. Feed the Need and what they are
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doing in their community in Colorado is absolutely amazing
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and I am so excited to bring this podcast episode to you guys
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as Dave is a fellow rancher and someone that has a really great
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story of just the way that life has taken him over his entire
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life. From being a rancher all over
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the West to now focusing their operation in Colorado and really
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what they're doing through their ministry and through Feed the
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Need and serving their community through agriculture and through
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beef production and the rodeo world as well.
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This conversation with Dave is one of my favorite episodes that
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we have ever done on this podcast and I am so excited to
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share it with you guys today. But before we hop in, if you're
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watching on YouTube, you could take a second to hit that
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subscribe button. And like this episode, if you're
1:04
watching on any of our other podcast platforms, make sure you
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take a second to go follow the show rate and review it.
1:09
And this is definitely a podcast episode that you are going to
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want to share with your friends, share with all of your contacts
1:15
out there, share it with your friends and send it to anyone
1:17
that you think that this podcast episode today would really
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impact within agriculture. Now without further ado, let's
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go ahead and hear from Dave. Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily
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podcast, your go to source for the latest livestock markets,
1:34
industry insights and the updates shaping agriculture
1:37
today. I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a
1:40
passionate advocate for agriculture, here to keep you
1:42
informed and connected. Now let's dive into today's
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episode. Dave, welcome to the podcast.
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I am so excited to have you on today.
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It's since I first heard about what you are doing and your
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ministry and Feed the Need and everything that you are doing.
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I just knew we had to have you on the podcast.
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And I have been waiting for this day to finally come around to be
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able to talk to you about your ministry and what you are doing
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with Feed the Need. So I would love it if you could
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just kind of take it away and share a little bit about
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yourself first and kind of who you are, what you do and then a
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little bit about feed the need as well.
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OK, well, thanks for having me on here.
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I think it's really fun. This is not something I hate to
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very often. So I'm like half nervous, half
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kind of panic in a little bit and stuff.
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But yeah, I'm just Dave Shumpert that we were X2D ministry or X2D
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Ranches. And then when this whole God
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thing happened in my life about 10 years ago, it turned into X2D
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Ranch Ministries, which is the X2D was just our brand.
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And so then when the whole God thing happened in my life and I
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asked God what he wanted from me one day, so everything changed.
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And then through the ministry, you know, we do tons of rodeo
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practices, bronchi and practices.
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We have a couple 100 kids in our youth and all the things that we
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get to do that way. And then through all of that,
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our own Cal Cap operation that we have, it's kind of turned
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into this feed the Need program. And it's been a huge blessing in
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the family that we've been able to reach and touch through.
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It was never my intent, but it just, it's a God thing.
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It's his thing. And it's one of the most fun
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things that we get to do through the ministry, through all the
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the things that we get to do. And like we say, we try to reach
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people on both sides of the Cal Guard is kind of our ministry, I
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guess. Absolutely.
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Can you dive a little bit more into the concept of feed the
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need and kind of where that came from?
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I know it was definitely one of those things that you're
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probably having a conversation with God and he just started
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nudging you that way, but what kind of did those early days
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look like? And then also just like the full
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concept of feed the needs. So what are you exactly doing
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with that part of your ministry and what does that really look
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like? OK well got it really late.
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This feed the need program on me, just not in name, but just I
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felt like we should be doing more in our community to help
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families in need. And about 3 years ago got it,
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really put it on my heart to do this.
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But then like with everything else that I do in my life, I
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argue with God on a regular basis.
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And so I just sort of had put it off on the back burner thinking
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there's no way you could with our own operation that we have
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going on. There's no way I have time to or
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the grass or the way to do anything on any scale like that.
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And I didn't even have a vision for it.
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And so I kind of had just put it on the back burner.
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Oh, God. Well, maybe someday, you know,
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kind of thing. And then I was actually in a
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meeting with the Weld County commissioners over some issues
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in the county kind of thing through a council deal.
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And I had they were, there was people there that were talking
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about foster care and safe families for children and all
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this stuff. And, and I was in this meeting
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in this circle of people and I just, it came out of my mouth,
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kind of like when you throw a bad loop in the short round, you
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wish you could get it back, but it's too late.
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You, you lost your opportunity. So I said, well, you know, we're
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starting to speed the need be program to help people in need.
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And when it came out, I couldn't get the word back.
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I mean, it was said out loud. And then I thought to myself,
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what did I just do right there? And the short version of that
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story is somebody else that was in that council meeting came to
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me afterwards and said, tell me more about this Deep in Need
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program. And I said, well, I don't really
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have a vision for it, but I feel like, and then I just said, you
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know, help people in need. And that's about all I said.
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And I know the guy fairly well and he knows, you know, about
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our operation and stuff and the ministry.
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And he called me later that night and said, hey, I got a
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check for you for $20,000 to buy heifers for this be the neat
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program. It just blew me away.
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I mean, I sat my pickup just, you know, overwhelmed with the
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whole thing. And so anyway, from that moment
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on, we we were able to purchase some heifers.
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We had another rancher come on board and donate a heifers.
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We've had other guys that I know all in the industry, they have
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donated Hepers AID Hepers for us.
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We've had feed yards come on one specifically and and finish
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cattle for us. We've had guys donate 800 weight
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steers. And so we were able to get them
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finished and have them processed and we had to purchase freezers
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and we bought freezers and we filled them.
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And we've been able to deliver beef to families in need from
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heart transplant, kids with heart transplants, ministering
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to their families that are spending all their time at
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children's hospitals, cancer families, elderly homebound
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people and stuff like that. So we're not, we're not just
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giving them beef. We're our families that are in
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the ministry with us, you know, our own families, our rodeo
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ranching families and stuff. They're actually delivering the
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beef to them in their homes and been able to meet with them and
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find out what their needs are. We've been able to help some
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financially. It's people that aren't really
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in the system, you know what I mean?
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Like not on regular. It's situational things that
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they're going through that we've been able to do these amazing
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things. And it's not only help the
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families that we're delivering the beef to, we're not just
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giving them ground hamburger and stuff.
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I mean, we're, it's finished beef.
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So we're being able to, when people feel like they don't have
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any value in this world and they're kind of at the end of
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themselves and we show up with prime rib and and steak and
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hamburger and all the things. We've had kids donate their 4H
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projects it pigs and stuff. We've been able to bacon and
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pork chops and and stuff like that.
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And to show them that we value them, that we're giving them the
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best that we have to offer through the speed program has
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just not only fed their bellies and their children, but fed
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their souls as well. And then able to spend time with
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them and pray with them and find out what their other needs are.
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And it's not only changed them, but it's changed US.
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It's changed our families and our kids that grow up and our
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rodeo kids and stuff. And they don't really know what
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it is to give, if that makes sense.
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You know, rodeo is such a competitive world that it's all
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about competing. You know, it's not like pro
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sports where you get paid just to show up with.
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But rodeo, you know, you show up and you pay to enter and you
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have to win in order to get paid, right?
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So it becomes all about that. And you don't necessarily have
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the time because of the competitive world in the world
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that we live in to give back. And so these kids have got to
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see what other kids are going through in their life and
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situations. And so it's changed their lives
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as well. So it's been an amazing all
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around program. There's other layers to it too.
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I could just like pour out. Now that I'm on a roll, I could
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just pour out. But it's helped.
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It's also helping the next generation, like a lot of our
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families that rodeo and stuff like that.
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They they might that really don't compete, but they don't
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necessarily ranch. So they've never they've never
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calved out cows or never tag cabs.
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They've never done anything like that.
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So they would been able to go out with us.
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And it's also teaching not only that generation of kids from our
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world, but kids on the other side of the cattle garden.
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So it's we're reaching out to them and able to have kids that
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don't know what ranching is about, be a part of it and come
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to, you know, our goal is to have rope and drag brandings
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through the ministry, which we're getting ready to have one
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here here in just a couple weeks from the Cal Cal operation that
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we have. So it's been an amazing program.
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There's so many layers to it. I could go on and on about it,
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but it's changed my life and changed their lives on both
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sides, giving and receiving and stuff like that.
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So anyway, that's kind of where it's at small.
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Yeah, Before we dive too much into like the logistics side of
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it, I do want to take a second to just hear a little bit more
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about your testimony and your story as well.
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Like when you said that you got that phone call and you were
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sitting in the pickup and you got that $20,000 check.
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I got chills because it is amazing how quickly God can work
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when it's his hand at work. So I want to hear about before
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that though. So you, you go from being just
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a, just a rancher in Colorado to now sitting in a pickup
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following God's word and what he has planned for your life.
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And you are just like you're sitting there fighting with him,
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but at the same time like in full surrender and you get that
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phone call and you're sitting there with a $20,000 check.
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Now to start this Feed the Need program.
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I just want to hear a little bit about the lead up to that and
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what God's like kind of work that he had to do in your life
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to get you there kind of looked like.
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An Oh boy, well, so before that I was kind of a guy that lived
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under a rock like my whole life was.
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So now you're going to get to me over that deal was pretty much
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all about just ranching, rodeo the whole our whole life, right?
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That's what we do. And it was all about that.
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And I did it wasn't much of A people person.
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I didn't my whole life was pretty much about cattle and
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horses and all that stuff. And we were, we ran up upwards
11:10
to 100 head of horses all the time, like from here all the way
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to two places in Wyoming, Lots of grass around here all the way
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to the Canadian border in Montana.
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And we'd chase grass everywhere, whether it was cows or horses or
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whatever. That was just all, that's just
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what I did, who I was and that was all I knew.
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I had got to the point where I was so stretched so thin trying
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to build this empire. And I, for lack of a better
11:38
term, I just spent all my time doing all of that stuff.
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And in, in, in that time, I had worked all my family to death,
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like my wife, my kids, you know, trying to do all this stuff,
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trying to be everywhere all the time.
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And anyway, it was all about me and my goals and not and using
11:56
my family as we all do. We're all so busy.
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We're working. We got fences, we got well, we
12:01
got horses, we got Colts to break, we got rodeos to get to
12:04
and all this stuff. And I had just got to the end of
12:07
myself one day and I have this what we call the hay Meadow up
12:11
in the foothills. It's got a big side roll on the
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side of the hill up there and it's very uneven round.
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And so I was up there and usually I took my 2 youngest
12:22
stars with me and they helped me roll this big old side roll like
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a quarter mile. And it's a lot of work, no doubt
12:29
about it. And it's not in a good spot and
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it's kind of got a lot of train to it and stuff.
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And so anyway, just working them to death all the time.
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And I went up on the mountain that day to roll that side roll.
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My girls, like I said, Hey, let's go up with that side roll.
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And they're like, Oh, we're, we're good.
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We got all this other stuff. You really, they just don't want
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to be around me because I was such a jerk, you know, so busy
12:49
all the time. And so anyway, so I went up
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there by myself that day and I was trying to get that thing to
12:55
roll and get unbound. And because of the uneven
12:58
ground, it was all bound up. And so I was up there just
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working my butt off. It was really hot.
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And it's, you know, it's got those BIG4 foot wheels on it,
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you know, and, and it's all real heavy.
13:10
And anyway, I was just up there and nothing was going right.
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And I was, I was at the end of myself.
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You know how you get and I needed to be in Montana and I
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needed to be all these other places.
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But I'm fighting with this stupid side roll and I finally
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just knowing that God had been pursuing me ever since my all my
13:31
life, want me to do something else with my life besides what I
13:35
was doing. He wanted me to do it, but not
13:37
for myself, but for him. And I knew it.
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And I was just fighting him all those years.
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So I turned around that day and I was at the end of myself and I
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just looked up to him and I go, what do you want from me?
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Like what do you want me to do? And so he says, well, he said,
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look down that side road to me. I was I could hear it in my
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heart. Look down that side Rd.
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You see all those wheels that are behind a bound up in life.
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He goes, I want you to lift those people up and get them to
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where they need to be. My whole life changed.
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I said, God, whatever you want. So here we are.
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So then God kind of I said, OK, God.
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So I packed that around. I didn't tell nobody.
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Anyway, eventually I, I told my wife and she just looked at me
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and go, what's about time? So anyway, from that moment on,
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everything started to shift. I mean, my whole operation
14:25
started to change. I went from being all the way in
14:27
Montana to everything started coming back towards home and I
14:32
started giving up leases and my operation started started to
14:35
change. And so then here we are.
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I mean, it's that that all LED up to doing everything for
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myself versus still doing what God had called me to do, who he
14:45
created me to be, but not doing it for myself anymore, but doing
14:49
it for him. And the impact on my life and my
14:52
family's and everybody else's has just been we're amazing.
14:57
I highly recommend it. Let's just say that that's
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that's kind of my story leading up to that day sitting in the
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pickup that you're talking about.
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Yeah, the life of God is it's pretty great.
15:06
I also highly recommend it to everyone out there.
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It's, I always love to hear people's testimonies because
15:14
especially our ranchers out there, like my, my dad has a
15:18
really great testimony and I know some other people who have
15:21
really wonderful testimonies. And I just, it's, it's wonderful
15:25
to be able to sit back and listen to the way that God has
15:29
worked in other people's lives and how he has brought them to
15:33
the life that they live now. And I really love what you said
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about you're still doing what you are called to do in life,
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even before God got a hold of you, but you're doing it for him
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now. And I think that that is really
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just the focus of your guys's ministry and of what feed the
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Need really represents. And it's so unique because I
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think so often as Christians, we we go to church on Sundays and
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we hear about all of these things that our communities are
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doing, our churches are doing and who they're serving and what
16:03
they're doing. But sometimes it's hard as a
16:04
rancher to sit back and ask where, where can I provide?
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Where can I step in? Because we, we hear about need
16:14
all the time. And it's like, let's go serve in
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Africa. Let's go pick up trash in our
16:19
community. Let's go do all of these things,
16:21
which don't get me wrong, all of those are wonderful, but we are
16:24
very busy people and you have found a way to fully surrender
16:28
to God and serve Him and serve your ministry while also still
16:33
being a rancher. Can you talk a little bit about
16:35
that? Well, yeah, I mean, I think God
16:37
gives us everything that we need to do what he's called us to do
16:40
since before we're ever born. Right now, I don't want to come
16:43
along too preachy at all, but truly God gave us all the
16:47
purpose before we were ever born, like we were never, we
16:52
never had a choice to be born. So he gave us life.
16:55
So what better thing to do than give the life that he gave us
16:59
back to him so he can do with it what he had called us to do
17:02
originally. And so when you're born to be a
17:05
rancher, born to be a cowboy, whether it's something you do
17:08
later in life or it's something that you just, it's in your DNA
17:12
like you can't help it, you just like me.
17:15
I just that's, that was just who I am, who I was and that you
17:19
can't fight it. But when you do it for God, you
17:22
get to see him do such amazing things and you get to see life's
17:26
change. Walking through life, you'll
17:28
find yourself like if you're standing in the middle of a hay
17:32
pasture or a hay field and you're talking to a farmer about
17:35
alfalfa, let's say, and you're, and you're talking about, well,
17:38
let's do this on this field and let's, let's create this and
17:41
let's irrigate it. Let's spray it and let's do all
17:44
this other stuff. But when you're doing it for
17:45
God, pretty soon you're standing there with your hand on his
17:48
shoulder and you're praying with him over something that he's,
17:51
he's going through and his life and his family's life.
17:53
Or you're out of branding and you're, you're roping tabs and
17:57
you're dragging to the fire and somebody else because you,
18:00
you're doing it for the Lord. Somebody rides up to you and
18:03
goes, Hey, you know, I've been following you on social media
18:06
and see what all you're doing and everything he says, I got
18:09
questions and so I didn't want to talk about it.
18:11
So then you're standing in the branding pen instead of the
18:15
normal branding, you're sitting there sitting next to somebody
18:18
on your horse talking about Jesus with them.
18:21
And he presents these opportunities to do things for a
18:24
much greater purpose than just roping and Brandon calves.
18:28
Like you find yourself talking about life and the love of
18:32
Christ and what God's doing and in your life and how God wants
18:37
to help them and be there for them and, and all that stuff.
18:40
It just, it's like we put on bronch rides and stuff and is
18:44
one of the things that we do and we, we have this thing in, in
18:47
the arena because we tell the guys all these guys.
18:50
And, and we know that in the rough stock world, it's it's
18:53
rough and humble and it's lots of testosterone.
18:56
It's all the things that make bronc riding what it is.
19:00
And we see it on a national stage and we tell our Cowboys
19:02
all the time, Hey, look, you guys represent all of us.
19:06
You are on the worldwide stage representing the cowboy way of
19:10
life. Don't just do it for yourself.
19:12
Do it for Christ, do it for all of us, because you represent us
19:16
out there. And we have a thing at where we
19:19
do our bronc, right? And we say if it wasn't for God,
19:21
we wouldn't be here. We call it holy ground.
19:24
And so we tell the guys, hey, look, when Moses walked towards
19:27
the burning Bush, it was just a burning Bush.
19:29
But because God was in it, it was holy ground, right?
19:32
That's the difference. And so we tell these guys God is
19:35
in this place and if we want to save ranching, if we want to
19:38
save rodeo and we want to save this western way of life, we
19:41
have to keep God again. And so I know it comes from a
19:46
conversation I had with Binion survey because I do the ministry
19:50
out there at that survey ranch for the bronc riding school to
19:53
Ace high and stuff and, and many other things like that.
19:56
And so we were talking about how rodeo at that time was really
19:59
struggling and. How bareback and bronc riding
20:03
especially. So anyway, him and I were having
20:06
a conversation. It was actually in front of all
20:08
the Cowboys and it was actually in a room full of a professional
20:11
bronc rider, some world champion stuff.
20:12
We're all in the same room having this conversation.
20:15
And I said, here's the thing, if we keep God in it, it won't die
20:18
because anything with God in it doesn't die.
20:21
And so from that the broad bronc riding deal started.
20:24
So I tell the guys at bronc riding practices, hey, look, the
20:27
only reason we're here is because of God.
20:29
And so we don't want to bring all the things that's killing
20:32
Rodeo and killing Bronx and killing bears.
20:36
We don't want to bring that stuff into our practice.
20:39
We want to keep this holy ground.
20:41
We want to take this and make it different, make it what God had
20:45
intended it to be. And then you take everything
20:48
that we do here back out into the world.
20:50
And so I just say all that to say, whatever you're doing in
20:53
life, if you do it for God, it's at a much bigger scale and a
20:57
much bigger purpose than if you're doing it for yourself.
21:00
Because anything we do for ourselves dies with us, but
21:02
anything that we do for God has an eternal impact.
21:05
And we have no idea how far that ripple effect goes.
21:08
So to me, that's the difference in doing it for yourself and
21:11
doing it for God, whether it's rodeoing or wrenching or working
21:15
at a bank or whatever you do in life, if you do it for God, it
21:19
has a it has an eternal impact versus just you're here and now
21:23
in your own life. You know, there really doesn't
21:26
serve a bigger purpose. And I was a long answer no.
21:30
I could not agree more on all standpoints on that.
21:34
And I think that that also really points to the start of
21:37
Feed the Need and what you have been doing in your community and
21:41
in your state with just kind of that aspect of your ministry and
21:46
really pushing that forward. And so I want to take some time
21:49
to also chat about it. And with Feed the Need, I am
21:53
sure that you have a whole filing cabinet full of hundreds
21:56
of amazing stories of God at work and what He has been doing
22:00
and the different ways that you guys have been able to impact
22:04
your community or families. But do you have kind of one
22:07
story that you'd be willing to share that kind of stands out to
22:10
you? Yeah, I think one, one story
22:13
that I actually just got a kind of an update on it the other day
22:16
was we had we had actually just delivered some beef to a family.
22:20
A father that's having, he's going through chemo right now
22:23
and he has five kids at home and the youngest one is 1 year old
22:27
and they're going to be without their dad for 100 days while he
22:31
gets this bone marrow transplant and stuff.
22:34
And so being able to minister to that family and deliver the beef
22:38
into their home to help them get by while they're going through
22:40
this time. And as I was talking with
22:43
Kaylee, who was what, who was one of our ministry families,
22:47
her family that's ministering to this family, we were talking
22:49
about with Zach, her husband, about this other young.
22:52
The very first feed the need family that we were able to help
22:56
was this little boy was now four years old and he's had brain
23:00
cancer since he was 2. And he's one of the local
23:02
families, our community. And he's always wanted to be a
23:05
cowboy. Like he's of this whole family.
23:07
He's like the cowboy kid and he's all his head's all shaved
23:11
and everything. And so a group of us dads got
23:13
together and actually little back story to that was we were
23:18
having a men's prayer breakfast in my barn.
23:20
We had all these men there and we're having this men's prayer
23:23
breakfast in the morning. And it was right after the whole
23:25
$20,000 check thing, right? So I'm telling the all these men
23:28
I said, hey, just so you guys know, like I'm going to be
23:30
talking about this a bunch because this feed the need
23:33
program thing started and blah, blah, blah.
23:35
So I'm just like, they're all just looking at me like that's
23:37
crazy. Like how you even going to do
23:39
that? Especially in the market now
23:41
where you don't like, you know what cattle cost right now,
23:43
right? I'm thinking there's no way that
23:45
we could do this now. And so, so anyway, but like it
23:48
is you wait till the only way it can happen is if God does it,
23:52
you know what an old time market like.
23:53
And then now we got we got 40 females out here, you know, that
23:57
are cabin and getting bread and all this stuff, all top quality
24:00
Angus anyway. And so, so we were talking
24:03
about, well, there was a guy in the room and he heard what I
24:06
said and he didn't say anything about it at the time, but he
24:10
went the next day he was meeting with another friend of his.
24:13
And his friend says, Hey, I just got this beef process.
24:15
But they got they gave me be the wrong one and they're going to
24:19
make it right. But I have this whole beef, you
24:20
know, anybody that could use it. He goes, holy smokes.
24:23
He says, I just was at Dave's breakfast and he just started
24:26
this program. So anyhow, so he calls me up.
24:30
He goes, hey, I got this beef. And I heard he was starting this
24:32
program. Do you have a family?
24:34
I said actually, so we never actually had the beef in our
24:38
possession. So this group of men and he he
24:41
loaded his truck full of this beef.
24:42
And we go to this family's house and there's this little boy, all
24:45
the head shaved and and so we go in the house and they have got a
24:48
house full of kids and they had completely freezer empty.
24:52
And so we were able to fill that entire freezer with that very
24:55
first beef that we had had donated and went straight to
24:59
that family. And we took them little cowboy
25:01
Bibles and ropes. And I got down and we had one of
25:04
our girls, Morgan, who was a great artist and she had painted
25:08
a Bible and painted this cowboy on a Bible and everything.
25:11
So we gave that to that little boy and his name's Briggs.
25:14
And so now anyway, we were able to have a big old prayer meet in
25:18
the garage and tear shed and all this stuff.
25:21
Well, I just heard the other day that he is he's cancer free now
25:25
and he just want to state wrestling tournament.
25:27
And this is all happened within a year.
25:30
So this is April. The first time I actually said
25:33
this out loud about this feed to me program was like March or
25:36
April of last year. And so in this one year's time,
25:41
we've been able to purchase top quality bull, top quality bred
25:45
cows, bred to top quality and all of this stuff because the
25:48
whole idea is to make it a sustainable program, which we
25:50
can talk a lot more if you want, but that's one of my favorite
25:53
stories, right There was the very first one that we were able
25:56
to help this family and then get to see a success story out of
25:59
that. It's life changing really.
26:01
Love stories where you point to him and you're like, nothing but
26:04
God, nothing but God could have made this happen because wow,
26:09
that's that's just a story that will forever stay with me and
26:14
forever remind me of just the power that he has in our lives
26:19
and in our communities to bring all of the right people together
26:21
at the right times with the right needs, with the right
26:24
strengths, all of those things. Wow, that's just really
26:26
wonderful. But I do want to talk about this
26:28
to the sustainability aspect because I think that that is
26:32
definitely a question on a lot of people's minds if they're
26:34
listening to this right now. And a question on my mind too,
26:36
of with the cattle market that we have right now, how are you
26:38
affording to do this? And how is it something that you
26:40
are keeping sustainable within your herd, within your ministry,
26:44
within all of it without it just being a, hey, we're setting
26:48
aside one beef per year that we're going to donate type of
26:50
situation? Yeah, for sure.
26:53
And that I think that's part of maybe why I went through so many
26:56
things in my life was but trying to learn to be a good steward of
27:00
what God has given us. One of the things, of course, is
27:03
how do you start a herd of cattle in an all time high
27:06
market? When people donate a heifer,
27:08
it's not like donating a $750 heifer anymore, right?
27:13
It's, it's donating a $2500 heifer and it, you know, they
27:17
can feel that. And so one of the things I guess
27:20
is we have been surrounded by our community in a very generous
27:24
way, not because we've asked for anything, but just because God
27:27
just did it. I mean, like pushed it out of my
27:31
face that day and then it's just sort of gone from there.
27:34
But I got to say that the the first part of it is Geyser Dope
27:38
have donated top quality heifers.
27:39
A lot of people, I will say a lot of people doing a little
27:43
does a lot right. And so everybody donating 1
27:47
heifer is a lot, but if you have 250 heifers at home, 1 heifer,
27:53
you know, she could die tomorrow, you know what I mean?
27:55
And so when they're pulling like a top quality effort and we've
27:59
had guys donate 12 heifers out of 120 replacements, like right
28:04
off the top. And so we were able to take a
28:06
whole group of our youth, like 30 of them out there and let
28:10
them pick through and pick the heifers and that sort of stuff.
28:13
So, so I'm just first I want to say the generosity of whether it
28:17
be financial or in cows or heifers or AI and stuff like
28:23
that, our community have really stepped up to help us get
28:26
started. With that being said, those are
28:29
also the same kind of folks that I feel responsible to, to show
28:33
them that we are going to take what they have given us and do
28:37
great things with it and not just be a gift, you know, take,
28:41
take, take. In our ministry in X2D Ranch
28:44
ministries, we're all about giving everything that we get,
28:47
we give. And so we want to be able to
28:49
sustain that of the cattle market regardless of the serious
28:53
drought that we're in right now in our own herds as well.
28:58
But we want to make sure that everything is clear and cut and
29:01
everybody can see that we're honoring what they gave us to
29:04
make it a sustainable program. So with that said, I called the
29:07
state grand board and so R is AX over 2D.
29:12
So they rearrange that brand to be in a strong X2 backwards D.
29:17
And so that way the two herds are completely separate.
29:21
Like there's no question that Shumpert's X2D is not the same
29:25
as X2D feed the need. And so those state brand board
29:29
workers on that, they know what we're doing.
29:31
They know what we're all about. So that was a huge blessing.
29:34
So with that being said, the idea that God's really put on my
29:38
heart to be a good steward of so that all 100% of the beef is
29:43
given away. Everything that is from pasture
29:45
to plate, everything that has been donated to us that has been
29:49
finished on the lot. Everything that we are going to
29:52
put on the lots and finish, whether it's through donated
29:55
finishing or we pay for finishing, we pay for processing
29:59
or whatever. All of that beef is given away.
30:02
The way that we want to make a sustainable, the way that we are
30:05
making it sustainable is the quality of cattle that we have,
30:10
of genetics that people are going to want.
30:12
So the herd that we have is all like, we bought a really nice
30:16
balancer bowl from Sega Galvi the other days.
30:19
He's a balancer, he's super nice, has all the right numbers,
30:22
minutes. This is a really good bowl and
30:25
we're going to put him on all these heifers so that these cabs
30:28
from these Angus in a tall cross out of this set of heifers that
30:32
we bought out of South Dakota. Those calves are going to be,
30:36
there'll be so many steers that we'll finish every year.
30:39
And there'll be so many steers that will sell as a group of
30:42
tabs to producers or to buyers that can will not only maybe pay
30:48
for them more because they're for ministry, but they're
30:50
genetics that we're going to walk because they'll be able to
30:52
make money on at the same time. And same thing with the heifers.
30:56
The females that we produce, we want to produce females that if
30:59
we sell a group of females, a group of Hepers that it'll be a
31:02
set of Hepers that they're going to want.
31:04
And so those funds that come from those sales are to help
31:08
fund the entire program instead of having just a bunch of, you
31:12
know, ragtag cattle running around here that we're trying to
31:14
feed and finish and grind into a bunch of hamburger to give
31:17
people that need it. We want to be able to produce
31:20
top quality product to give to people for all the value that
31:25
you and I have already talked about giving them value in life,
31:27
but to have a genetically superior herd of cattle that
31:31
people are going to want to purchase to help fund the entire
31:34
program. So I think that's the way that
31:36
we're going to sustain it is to be able to pay the way we're not
31:39
trying to make money, but everything that we bring in, we
31:43
give back, whether it's through our programs, through the feed
31:47
the Need program in our community or whatever.
31:49
Everything that comes in will help sustain that where.
31:52
Where are you going in the future?
31:54
You've been around for a year now.
31:56
You've got the sustainability plan, which is absolutely
31:59
amazing if I do say so myself. Like I love everything that you
32:03
have said there, but what's next?
32:05
What what is the future kind of look like for X2D Ministries and
32:10
also for Feed the Need? Well, God only knows.
32:13
I mean, honestly, all this was done without a vision, but as
32:17
God moves forward, I try to keep God in front of me and
32:21
everything. And so he has gotten all of this
32:24
done up to this point. So I'm not trying to get out in
32:27
front of him and start doing my own thing.
32:30
I want to do his thing. And so I really am letting him
32:34
guide and direct this whole thing.
32:36
I want him out in front because he's made the way so far.
32:39
Steve Wells, who is a friend of the ministries and and he has me
32:43
one day he said, well, how big people ask me that all the time
32:45
about X2D Ranch Ministries or Feed the need.
32:47
Well, how big do you think it's going to get?
32:49
I go, I really don't know. It's God's got to grow it.
32:51
We just got to serve the people that God puts right in front of
32:55
us, and that's all that matters. Like right now, the only thing
32:57
that matters to me is is you and me having this conversation and
33:01
everything that you do with your podcast.
33:03
If you put God in all of it, God's going to do amazing things
33:07
with it. And that's the same thing with
33:09
this ministry. As long as we keep God as our
33:11
focus and ministering and reaching the people that God
33:14
puts right in front of us, he can use us and what he does with
33:18
it after that, that's his deal. I have no idea.
33:21
You're like Steve had said when pull yourself 30,000 feet above
33:24
this and look down and what does it look like?
33:26
I'm like man, if it can be as big as God wants, you know what
33:31
I mean? Because we all these years he
33:34
has provided to us in our own, you know, the, the places, the
33:38
grass, the passion feed, the, the connection, all the
33:42
connections that God has put in my whole life, God is now using
33:46
for his will when not my will. And so it looks a whole lot
33:50
different as far as what do I see in the future?
33:52
Whatever God wants it to be. I mean that that's been the fun
33:56
part. When you follow God, you don't
33:58
know where he's going. You just keep riding for the
34:00
horizon. You just keep focusing on him
34:02
and it'll go wherever he wants it to.
34:05
I could, I personally could see it really growing and be able to
34:08
help more people on a bigger scale.
34:12
All the things and involving more families and not only to
34:16
the delivering process, but you know, and having our own yard
34:19
and having kids come and work and the fencing and the whole
34:23
ranching thing that the rest of the world has no idea what we
34:27
all do for a living to make it happen.
34:29
I can see how God wants to use that through our connections
34:33
outside of the ranching world to bring kids and families in and
34:37
make it available to them and make them feel welcome into our
34:41
world so that they can see what we do and they can get educated
34:44
on where their beat comes from. That all of those things are
34:47
available to provide on a larger scale to families that are in
34:51
need. So there's no telling what God's
34:53
going to do with it. I am just so blessed to be a
34:56
part of it. As I was going down the road not
34:59
too long ago, I had a a full load of Black Angus bread pot
35:03
quality towels in the stock trailer, the stock trailers
35:07
owned by The Minute ministry. Now the truck I was driving,
35:09
going by the ministry now all the cows in the trailer and I, I
35:13
look to God, I go, God, we Oh my God, about 60 days worth of
35:17
grass where I'm taking these cows.
35:18
But hey, I just work here. So I'm assuming you got a plan
35:22
for all these cows when we run out of grass.
35:24
And I thought to myself, how blessed am I that I actually get
35:29
to be the cow boss of God's herd, not just metaphorically,
35:33
but like for real, like how what kind of a dream job is it that
35:37
I'm actually like hauling God's cow out the pasture?
35:42
And sure enough, in 60 days, guy calls me up, says, hey, what are
35:45
you going to do with all them? Feed the decals you got on that
35:47
grass? How's your grass holding up?
35:48
I go, well, I'm about out of grass.
35:49
He goes, well, that's why I'm calling.
35:51
He says, like he says, I got grass.
35:53
He says, how about we just run those cows and we'll have them
35:56
out here on our place and then we'll figure it out after that.
35:59
And that's exactly what happened.
36:01
And so he showed up with a stock trailer about 60 days later, and
36:04
we loaded up all them cows on my trailer and his trailer, hauled
36:08
them out to his ranch, and they cabbed them out.
36:10
And it's been an amazing ride. So what God's going to do with
36:14
all that? I have no idea, but it's going
36:16
to be good. I know that.
36:17
It's going to be more than good. It's it's going to be great.
36:20
It's going to be beautifully designed.
36:22
It is going to be so perfect in his eye and I cannot wait to see
36:27
the ministry continue to grow and feed the need continue to
36:30
grow and just the impact that you guys are going to continue
36:33
to make on the livestock industry, but then also your
36:36
communities as a whole. You live in an area that really
36:39
has a need for people telling the story about American beef,
36:43
and it is just really wonderful to be able to see all of that
36:46
coming to fruition in his perfect and amazing plan.
36:50
This has been such an amazing podcast today, Dave.
36:53
I think I could sit here and talk to you all day given the
36:56
opportunity to, but as we round out the podcast, is there
37:00
anything else that you would kind of like to leave with our
37:02
audience as we wrap it up today? Well, I guess, you know, since
37:06
we're all in this industry together, I think it's it's easy
37:09
for us to get so focused on what we're doing that we forget about
37:14
the impact of what we're actually doing and and the rest
37:17
of the world that we are the light to the rest of the world.
37:19
I mean, I think being and ranchers, farmers, everybody in
37:23
the ag industry, you know, like everybody knows we feed the
37:25
world, right? But I think it's important that
37:28
we realize that, you know what, like the Bible says, you are a
37:32
city on the hill is the light of the world, right?
37:35
You cannot it cannot be hidden. And regardless of all the things
37:38
that are going on in the world, and I know I didn't put that
37:40
scripturally, just, you know, just right, just remember that
37:44
we are the light of the world mean God wants to use us an
37:48
amazing way, not just to feed the world, but to feed the
37:51
souls. And everybody sees that that is
37:53
what we're called to do. We should act like it, like we
37:56
should not just do it for ourselves, but to do it for the
37:59
world and do it for the Lord. And I think if God is in it, it
38:03
won't die. I guess that's what I'm trying
38:04
to say is if God is in agriculture and we keep God as
38:09
the foremost focus and we give from what God has given us,
38:13
it'll all turn out how it's supposed to.
38:15
Because if God's in it, it won't die.
38:16
And then I guess that's. Amen.
38:18
Amen. I love it, Dave, thank you for
38:21
your time today. Thank you for coming on and
38:24
sharing your story and being so open and raw about your
38:27
testimony, for sharing the story of Feed the Need and X2D
38:30
Ministries and just everything that you guys are doing for the
38:34
world of agriculture and for the Kingdom is really wonderful to
38:38
see. And thank you for coming on to
38:40
all of our listeners. If you loved hearing about
38:43
Dave's story today, make sure you check out the show notes
38:45
down below. I'm going to have all of the
38:47
links down there for X2D Ministries and so that you can
38:51
follow along on what they are doing in the world of
38:53
agriculture and stay plugged in to what Dave and his family and
38:58
the entire community is doing with Feed the Need as well.
39:01
So make sure you check out those show notes down below.
39:03
And Dave, thank you once again for coming onto the podcast.
39:07
And to all of you listeners, we will see you all on another
39:09
episode next time. Have a good one y'all.