Latest / More Than Medicine / MTM - Interview with Larry Lawrence. Christophers Hope

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MTM - Interview with Larry Lawrence. Christophers Hope · More Than Medicine

• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: And uh Dr.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Jackson, you delivered him in 88.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_03: I don't even remember.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_03: I don't even remember.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: I delivered so many babies over the years.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_03: How about that?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: Way back there.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: I've been a children's pastor, education director, uh for over 40 years.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we I retired in uh 2023.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: And then uh since then uh we uh have been uh directing uh Christopher's Hope Foundation, and uh also I've been substitute teaching at uh Boeing Springs High School and we live in Boeing Springs.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we live we've lived there for since about the time Jordan was born, about 38 years in that same house.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_04: How about that?
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_04: How about that?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_04: So uh now you had another son named Christopher.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_04: Tell me a little bit about his life and what he was like.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so we uh Christopher came into our lives and he was 14 months old.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um he uh by relationship, he was my sister's was my sister's grandson.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_04: Mm-hmm.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: Easiest way to explain it.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we had uh my niece called me back in I think 2006 and uh asked us if if we would adopt Christopher because she wasn't able to take care of him.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: She had some drug issues and other issues, and so we had been praying already.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: If we ever had the opportunity to adopt, we would do it.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: So we uh so yes, we'll take Christopher.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: So I went out to Oklahoma, brought him back, and uh the adoption went through about when he was about four years old.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um he uh just beautiful boy, uh handsome, loved people, everyone loved him and uh outgoing, friendly, real affectionate, uh nice, you know, nice personality and so forth.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: He did uh have a few behavioral problems, and he uh when he got into adolescence, he began to have some depression issues, and he also was also uh very uh just very impulsive.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: He had ADHD.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: I did not like school, but uh the principals always said every time they called me into the office about his behavior, uh he was always respectful.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: He always said yes, sir, no, sir, yes, ma'am, so forth.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: And he never did the same thing twice.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: He did a lot of uh lot of impulsive acts.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: I can write a book about all the things he he did that were funny and not so funny, but uh he never did the same thing twice.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: He'd try anything but never kept doing it the same thing.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: So he was uh he was a character.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um we love Christopher and uh just he just uh once we brought him home, he was our son.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, just on that.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: I agree.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: Immediately he became our son and uh so we we miss him.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_04: Well then in January of 2019 you and Kathy went through something that was very horrific, a terrible tragedy.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_04: Tell us about that and how God has been with you through it.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um on January tw January twenty-second, twenty nineteen, uh we were uh kind of running late from work.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um I was tied up at the office and uh picked my wife up and we're driving one car for that week.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so Christopher had about an hour at home, hour and a half at home.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: He got off the school bus, and then we got home about an hour and a half later, or an hour later, typically, but we're running a little bit late.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so we went to get some takeout food and uh tried to call him, and uh we couldn't reach him on his phone.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: And then we got a disturbing call from his girlfriend's mother.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: She said, You guys need to get home because Christopher sent a very disturbing picture to the little girl he was girlfriends with.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and so we raced home and uh he was under his childhood playground uh with a rope around his neck.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: He wasn't hanging, but he was kind of leaning into it.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: And we uh cut that rope off, tried to do CPR, and uh and then we of course called Namo one immediately also, but uh he we uh he did not make it.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: He'd lo we he we lost him, so we we believe he uh we we feel sure he was intending to uh take his life at that moment, or at least he was very reckless about it, and uh he showed other signs he was wanting to do that.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: So uh we lost him.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_04: Even prior to that day, do you think he had suicidal thoughts?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: He has had some, yes.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: He had some thoughts.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we didn't know as much of it as we do now, but uh we had him in counseling and he was also on some uh some medication.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: But uh he just we believe he just uh felt bad at that moment.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: He's very like we say, he's very impulsive and just made a very bad decision.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_04: Uh-huh.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we we uh just made a bad decision and we lost him that day.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: How old was he?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: Christian was 14 years old.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: He was eighth grader at uh Boeing Springs Middle School.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um so he was fourteen months when we came into our lives and fourteen years when he when we we left he left us.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: He just turned fourteen that December, and then in January twenty second is when we lost him.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_04: Now, how did that affect you guys and your family?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: Oh it was it was literally the worst day of our lives, all of us, uh myself, Kathy, and Jordan.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um just tremendous sadness and just it's uh indescribable how bad we felt and uh uh just just horrible.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um but you know, God um God was met us, God was there, um walked us through it.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um it it was a hard, hard, hard time, but uh we learned uh many things uh through that period of time.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh one of the things we learned was that you know grief uh is a cost of loving.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: Grieving is the cost of loving.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: You're right.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: If you love somebody, you grieve for them.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_02: If you didn't love them, we wouldn't grieve.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you wouldn't care.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: So uh we've discovered that uh a lot of the things we learned, uh, to be honest, with uh was through Greg Laurie's ministry.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: Uh huh.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: 106.9 the light.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh uh I don't have time to tell the whole story, but uh that next morning I heard him on the radio.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: He was doing a sermon on losing a loved one suddenly.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: Really?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: He suddenly lost a loved one.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: Literally, it was it was like aimed at us.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um so uh I learned some things f through that and uh just kind of gave it all to God and uh it's uh we're still losing someone like that is a is a process and it's an ongoing process.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um you know, we don't just you can't just get over something, but you do begin to move forward after a period of time.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you're right.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: But uh you know, we never just get over it in that sense.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: But uh we begin uh just walking through with uh the help of Lord's help with uh friends, uh family, uh close people to us.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we discover that you know love and grief can coexist at the same time.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: Joy and grief can coexist if God gives us joy, you know, it's uh fru fruit of the spirit, and uh that's down deeper in our hearts than grief is.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: And so joy can continue on, love can continue on, but uh at the same time we're grieving, and uh it's gotten gotten better, but uh you never always completely get over something like that.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_04: I understand.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_04: When my daddy died, uh I was in medical school, he died in an airplane crash.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_04: Uh and uh it was sudden and unexpected.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_04: Uh-huh.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_04: And uh and I you know I I I was so depressed for a year, literally.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_04: And I don't know how I graduated from my second year of medical school because uh I cried a lot.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_04: Uh I slept all day, stayed awake all night, and cried about every little thing.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_04: And I couldn't concentrate, which was the hardest thing.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_04: I couldn't think or remember anything, which is uh I don't know how I graduated from my second year of med school because of that lack of concentration.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_04: And uh certainly and but you're right, I uh you know I I kept uh abiding in the word and I kept abiding in prayer and I kept going to church and and I was surrounded by Christian friends, and uh and you're right, the joy of the Lord was my strength.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_04: And and through it all th there was a joyfulness in my heart, even though there was this deep-seated grief that overwhelmed me.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_04: But after about eight months, I woke up one day and it was like the birds started singing and the blue sky came out, the clouds parted and there was a blue sky there, and and I knew I was past the grief.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_04: Not that it was gone completely, but I I was out of the deep dark hole.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_04: You know, and and I knew that I was on the other side.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_04: Now m even twenty and thirty years later, if I got to talking about my dad, I would dissolve into tears.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_04: Even with complete strangers, sometimes I would talk about my father and I would start weeping.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_04: Sure.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_04: You know, but but I didn't cry about it every day.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: We don't you know the we don't grieve as the world does, because we have no have no they have no hope.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: But that's true.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's right as Christians we can grieve uh you know, Jesus grieved himself grieved.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: Sure he did.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: When Lazarus was dead, he wept.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: Bible says Jesus wept.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so he grieved.
• 11:21
  unknown: Yeah.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: And so if the son of son of God grieved, we can certainly grieve and yeah.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_04: My dad was a strong believer and and I I knew that he had gone to be with Jesus, and and I that comforted me.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_04: And the God of all comfort comforted me.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_04: And and I pulled through it in time.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_04: And uh so, you know, I understand what you're saying when God gives you joy in the midst of sorrow.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_04: Well now you you guys started a ministry a as a consequence of this tragedy in your life called Hope Squad, and tell us a little bit about that.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, uh we um of course we lost Christopher in January uh twenty nineteen, and uh we of course we were walking through a grief that's you know for several months.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: But uh and uh but sometime early summer, late spring, we uh just began looking around for something to uh help other people.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we just made a determination that we're gonna do something and not just kind of wall around our grief, so to speak.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: We were gonna take some action to help other people.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: And so my wife mainly looked began looking around, and we came across Hope Squad.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: It was an existing existing program based out of Provo, Utah.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so uh we uh contacted uh the founder there and uh arranged to go out to Utah uh to meet with the founder and go through a training called advisor training.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: And so uh it was the next January before we actually got out there.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: So we went out to Utah, uh went through advisor training, and uh we just determined we would bring Hope Squad back to South Carolina.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: At that time, there were no Hope Squads in the whole Southeast in the United States.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: So we brought Hope Squad back to South Carolina.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um do you want me to go and share what Hope Squad is?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_03: Sure, sure.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, Hope Squad is a group of students in a school who are nominated by their fellow students to uh just reach out to their fellow students if they are uh exhibiting signs of uh distress, uh suicidal ideation, or just depression or any kind of sign that they might be at risk for self-harm or suicide.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um so they're nominated by their peers, uh, not elected, but nominated, and uh not trained to be counselors, but just be connectors to help a student get to someone who can help them if they express a desire to uh need help.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: They meet weekly, uh they wear t-shirt that says Hope Squad.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they bring mental health awareness to the whole school through different activities, um, and they have a they have a good time together, but they're also focused on uh reaching other students.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: And the reason they're nominated because they have the qualities of being kind, caring, good listeners, and don't bully other kids.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: And so students look for students in their school who have these qualities.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: They nominate them and then they they're brought together to form a hope squad, and they uh they meet usually weekly or sometimes every other week, and they just go through a curriculum that helps them learn uh self-care boundaries, uh the signs of suicide, uh, and self-harm, uh what people might say if they're at risk, and so forth.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we've uh so far we have helped uh 34 schools begin their Hub Squad.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: We're in uh five count five counties, uh huh.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh all in the upstate.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_04: Are these uh high schools or middle schools?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_04: What are you talking about?
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, they're a mixture.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: We have uh elementary, middle school, and high school.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_04: How about that?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_02: We have some of the bigger high schools in the area, and then uh we have middle schools and elementary.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: Elementary is uh fourth and fifth grade and up.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we don't get down to lower grades, but uh fourth and fifth grade is kind of like a new seventh and eighth grade.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: If you you know uh they are involved in social media, they uh a lot of times they might do self-harm.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_02: They have a lot of the same uh symptoms as like middle schoolers do, and uh, but they're but they're younger, they start imitating, I guess, older kids.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I understand so they need need help as well.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_04: Well now, what what all has happened since y'all started Hope Squad?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we uh our Chris Christian Soap Foundation, um we uh like I said we we have started those thirty 34th school start.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we uh do a lot of things.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, uh last just a few days ago I did an assembly for uh Seneca High School.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's a mental health assembly.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh did actually uh I used uh Bible verse and talked to them uh from the Word of God and uh it was very real well received.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um that's my first assembly that I did.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um we what we do, what I do specifically is that uh we will train the advisors for a school.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_02: Each school that has a hub squad has to have uh at least two advisors, just like you might have for any kind of club or anything.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I have there's a four-hour training that I I present uh so that they can teach the curriculum.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we I train those advisors and they they help they get the students nominated to be on the Hub Squad.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um I go into schools and uh meet with advisors and um visit their Hope Squad and bring snacks.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: We uh Christ Christmas Hope uh sponsors fully probably uh about ten Hope Squads, and then a lot of them are we've spent partially, and some of them the districts have picked up the the mantle and they and they sponsor their hope squads in their district.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_04: I got you.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: So it's been an amazing thing.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_04: Well now, so I'm sure there's some par parents out there listening right now who are saying, Well, what are the symptoms and risk factors and warning signs of of uh depressed or suicidal youth?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_04: Tell us about that.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, uh one uh way to remember some warning signs as uh it's a it's a mnemonic, it's uh is path warm.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: Is path warm, and it's uh uh I'll just read what they are.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um first one is uh ideation, eyes, ideation, like thoughts, or making comments about suicide or wanting to end the life end of their life.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: A teenager might say, uh, I've had it with my life, I'm done, I'm through, don't want to live anymore, or something like that.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so ideation, substance abuse.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh a lot of times teens will uh or kids will self-medicate, try to you know get through the pain.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: Then P purposelessness, so they have a sense of a lack of purpose in their life.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh A anxiety, like if they're if they can't sleep at night or or they get too much sleep.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's one.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh T is trapped feelings.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: They just feel like they're all their feelings are all bottled up, they're they're trapped where they're at, they can't get away from where they're at.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: Whether it's being bullied or any situation, uh hopelessness, H just feeling hopeless.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's not gonna get any better for me.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's it's this it's the best it's gonna get.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: Uh W is withdrawal, you know, withdrawal from family, friends, classmates.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's uh A is anger, uh just rage, uh just uncontrolled anger.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_02: Then R is recklessness, just doing things that almost like a death a death wish, uh, you know, just doing crazy things.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: And then without regard to their life, and then M is mood changes.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: Are they happy one minute and you know, sad the next, or just back and forth in their moods?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: So it's is path warm.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: Just the biggest thing is just uh signs of depression withdrawn, uh don't want to participate in activities.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: Just not themselves, I suppose, is the biggest one of the biggest things.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I understand that.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_04: And of course I have patients, both teenagers and adults, that exhibit uh those symptoms that come into my office.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_04: And and one of the first questions I have to ask them is, do you have suicidal thoughts?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_04: Um and of course sometimes people will lie to you, but other times they'll tell you the truth and admit to you.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_04: Uh-huh.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: And what we uh we call the question, um the question is, you know, are you thinking about killing yourself?
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: Are you thinking about suicide?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, uh it sounds like a way too direct question to ask somebody, but people who actually are contemplating uh studies show that they actually feel relieved that someone would actually ask them that.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, you're right.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: And they feel they want to get it.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like a little pressures take yeah, pressures taken off of them and it opens up a conversation.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, where they can talk.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_04: They like to talk about it.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly right.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly right.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_04: Now that's true for teenagers and young adults, but sometimes older folks um that's not necessarily true because they're they're secretive about it and they're very intent on hurting themselves and they don't want anybody to know.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_04: That's right.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_04: But for youth and young adults, it's a relief.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_04: They really do want to talk about it because at that young and tender age they really don't want to hurt the put their life uh in danger.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: One thing I want to mention about Hope Squad, uh, I forgot that's very, very important that uh seven out of ten students contemplating suicide will tell a friend or a classmate of their intentions before they do it.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_03: Uh huh.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: So it's seven out of ten will speak up.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: But hope squads are uh trained to listen and watch for those signs, those those statements.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh could be verbal or nonverbal.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: And so they're trained to intentionally listen and watch.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: And so and then most students who uh are contemplating suicide, they might say, uh, don't tell anybody or don't say anything about it, just keep it to yourself.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: And most students will do that, they'll keep it to themselves.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: But Hub Squad's members are trained to intentionally go directly to it at an adult.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: And tell them.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: And they get and and uh they'll go back to that child and get them some help.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: And we've had uh several examples of uh students bringing the information to uh an advisor and they've contacted the parents.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: We've had some examples of a student uh actually saving their life because they uh they were alerted that what their intentions were.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_04: Now, very interestingly, you were in my office recently and you told me that there are overlapping lapping warning signs for suicide and school shooters, which I found fascinating.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_04: Now tell me a little bit about that.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: All right, so uh uh of course Hope Squad is focused on has been hopes focused on suicide prevention, but uh as the years have gone by they've realized that um there's an overlap of like maybe eighty percent of the symptoms or more between a school shooter and uh someone contemplating suicide.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: And then you know, school safety is a big huge topic right now with uh we hear about school shootings all the time on the news and so forth, and uh in the same way, uh in four out of five school shootings, at least one other person knew about the shooter's plan but did not report it.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: So four out of five school shootings, at least one person knew about it but did not report it.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: And so if a school has a hope squad and they can listen and watch, you know, and that they can find out their intentions and they can report that to you know, school administration.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then uh once again, you know, many school shooters are on a suicide mission.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: You hear about it when they go in, a lot of times there's a self-inflicted wound and they die from suicide, or you know, what's called death by police.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: So they go in and they start shooting, they know they're gonna get killed by the police before they're finished.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_04: Right, right.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um and uh so school shooters often give a very clear warning about what they're planning in advance.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: They either on social media they'll tell somebody.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um almost every time that a school shooting happens, they go to the social media and they find, you know, they find posts or find they find something that they've given an indication, like I'm gonna shoot the place up or something like that.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then school shooters, if you look at the last several years, you know, a lot of times it's a person that attended that school quite often.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's someone that's been bullied, uh, someone that struggled in school, might be a loner, uh they may seem to have a lot of anger, you know, socially awkward or real isolated type person, uh maybe a poor or violent home life, uh, might be have been abused, they might have financial troubles or just legal troubles too.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of the same things that you know, someone who has suicidal thoughts uh they're found in a school shooter's uh you know, his uh characteristics.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_04: I understand that.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: So uh you know, so if uh hope squad's in a school and they can help identify some of these people who uh may have these kind of thoughts and intentions, then they can get alert uh school administration and advisors and help and get them some help.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_04: I gotcha.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_04: Well now if somebody out there is listening and they're thinking, man, we need to have a hope squad in our school, how do they get more information about this?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: Well, first off, I will present uh Hope Squad to any school, any person, anytime, anywhere.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we uh our website is Christophershope.org.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: Christophershope.org.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: And then Hope Squad is hope squad.com.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: And uh and then uh I can be reached myself at Larry C Lawrence at hope at hopmail.com.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: Larry Clawrence at hopmail.com.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: And uh if you're a school counselor, uh teacher, admin, or a parent that's interested in Hope Squad for your school, just contact us and uh if the principal gives me an invitation to a school, I'll come and share about Hope Squad to any school anywhere.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_04: Gotcha.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_04: Well, this is a fascinating talk, Larry.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_04: I I'm just tickle pink that you guys have turned a tragedy into something that's filled with so much hope and promise and opportunity for intervention.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_04: And it's just a whole it's a fascinating talk, and I I want you to know I really appreciate this.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I I thank you for the opportunity for being here with you, and uh we're just kind of doing what God's called us to do.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh this is our mission, and uh we're just doing the best we can to bring hope to some students and schools.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_04: Well, thank you, sir.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you much.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_04: All right, you're listening to More Than Medicine.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_04: My guest today is Larry Lawrence, and his ministry is Hope Squad.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_04: And if you have any desire to find out more information, you contact him and tell us those contact points again, Larry.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it's uh Christopher's Hope, and there's no there's no apostrophe, Christophers Hope.org, then hopesquad.com, and then LarryClawrence at Hotmail.com.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_04: All right, thank you, sir.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_04: There you have it.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_04: All right.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_04: We'll be back again next week.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_04: We appreciate you listening.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_04: Till that time, I pray that the Lord will bless you real good, and remember, Jesus loves you and your doctor loves you.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry or to schedule a speaking statement, go to their Facebook page, Instagram, or webpage at JacksonFamily Medistry.com.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: Also, don't forget to check out Dr.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: Jackson's books that are available on the book, cookie tail, and biosphere.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: And Father's biography of Last of Us.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: The story of Country Locke, Family Matters, my father, audio.