Latest / Our Community, Our Mission / Ep #322- Night of Praise: The Power of Prayer

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Ep #322- Night of Praise: The Power of Prayer · Our Community, Our Mission

0:00
SPEAKER_02: Gracious God, thank you.
0:02
SPEAKER_02: Uh thank you for this time together.
0:04
SPEAKER_02: Um thank you for your many, many blessings.
0:08
SPEAKER_02: They come in so many different ways, and sometimes we're moving so fast that we don't take time to just stop and watch what you do.
0:18
SPEAKER_02: Uh Lord, we are grateful for each and every day that you show up for us here at TRM and show up for the people that we serve.
0:28
SPEAKER_02: Father, as we talk about um our event coming up, uh Lord, just um help us to clearly communicate why this night is so important.
0:39
SPEAKER_02: It's about so much more than what it may sound like in the beginning, but really what we want to do, Lord, is just worship you and show you how grateful we truly are.
0:48
SPEAKER_02: Uh for the people listening, Lord, just have them hear exactly what they need to hear.
0:54
SPEAKER_02: Um touch their hearts, help our words be um the things that people need to hear from you today.
1:01
SPEAKER_02: I pray all of this in Jesus' precious name.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
1:10
SPEAKER_03: Hello, everybody.
1:10
SPEAKER_03: Thank you for joining us for our community, our mission, a podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission.
1:15
SPEAKER_03: This is August the 11th of 2026.
1:17
SPEAKER_03: This is episode number 322.
1:20
SPEAKER_03: I am your host today, Barry Feeker, here with Lamanda Cunningham.
1:23
SPEAKER_03: Marion Crable.
1:23
SPEAKER_03: Good morning.
1:24
SPEAKER_02: Good morning.
1:25
SPEAKER_03: Well, you know, it's a little warm out there right now.
1:27
SPEAKER_03: Uh yeah.
1:28
SPEAKER_03: It's August, right?
1:29
SPEAKER_03: It is.
1:30
SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
1:30
SPEAKER_03: So let's look ahead to a cooler time.
1:33
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
1:34
SPEAKER_03: And uh think about something that's actually two months from today on October 11th.
1:39
SPEAKER_03: Okay, Lamanda's over here.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's coming quickly.
1:42
SPEAKER_03: We're in an air conditioned room and she's sweating.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: That little panic.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm over it.
1:46
SPEAKER_03: Uh it's a special event.
1:48
SPEAKER_03: It's the fourth annual night of praise.
1:50
SPEAKER_03: Um this year it's going to be at Fairlawn Church of the Nazarene at 6 p.m.
1:55
SPEAKER_03: And so uh wanted to talk about that event, uh, the fourth annual, uh, what it is.
2:01
SPEAKER_03: Um I already said when and where it is, but uh the why it is and what's the value of it.
2:07
SPEAKER_03: So it's the fourth time.
2:08
SPEAKER_03: Um Lamanda, what is Night of Praise about?
2:12
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: Night of Praise uh developed four years ago when um our leadership team was really talking with our with our board and um at that time our uh position that was kind of a donor development.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: Um what are some ways that we could maybe embark on fundraising uh but then also didn't feel like mission drift, where it felt like we would do an event that maybe really did not pertain to the scope and work of our ministry.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: And so we were having this dialogue for several months uh because intentional fundraising, even if it was just an annual fundraiser, is something that had not been done before at TRM.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: And it was do we embark on this, do we not, um, evaluating what's the same in regards to donor relations, what is different nowadays?
3:06
SPEAKER_00: And it was just definitely something that our leadership team, uh myself included, didn't want to make the wrong decision.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we want to have our faith rooted in the Lord providing, but we also know he calls us to do things and he will work through the generosity of our community.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: And so what bubbled out of that was well, they brought an idea to me and said, what about if we did kind of like a praise and worship night?
3:32
SPEAKER_00: And that that could be a fundraiser for the rescue mission, but it's also a time for us to uh praise the Lord for all that he has done uh for over 70 years for the rescue mission, but that it's also a time where we can showcase uh what our community members have made possible by uh volunteering and donating, whether it's items or financially.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: And um, as soon as that idea was brought to me, I immediately felt peace about it for a couple of reasons.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: One, I think that we should always take time to give God glory um for all that he is still doing.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: Um his works are not in the past and just in scripture.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, he's still a work and alive every day, and we see it at the rescue mission.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: Not always in the ways that we would say, but we see the Lord working.
4:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so we had peace about that.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: We had the piece of, hey, this is a way where we're inviting everybody to this event.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: What does that look like?
4:31
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so then the more we started planning logistics of what music will we have and who will be the musicians and how is this gonna work and what's the theme, it all just really honestly came together um through a lot of coordination.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: And the first one um was just such a blessed time of being able to showcase what the Tobeka Rescue Mission is about, what happens every day here, what is needed significantly, both financially and through volunteerism and through items.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: And um, so that quickly became a way of hey, we think we want this a part of who we are.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's a way that it can be a community outreach, but also a way where we can try to um seek some financial blessing also from the community.
5:18
SPEAKER_03: I think that's um this number of things you said about this um really reflect Topeka Rescue Mission's um mission.
5:26
SPEAKER_03: Um fundraisers generally are about a specific goal.
5:30
SPEAKER_03: We're trying to reach a goal, um, we're trying to get people to be aware of a certain thing.
5:36
SPEAKER_03: Um, and also there's an element of gratitude for what's been done before.
5:40
SPEAKER_03: You've got all that in this, but take it another level, and that is acknowledgement of what Topeka Rescue Mission uh firmly believes in, and that's the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and God's plan to give him thanks and to credit for that.
5:55
SPEAKER_03: So it's a lot packed into one night uh for sure, but it's it's kind of the whole package of recognizing what Topeka Rescue Mission is about, what Topeka Rescue Mission has done, recognizing some testimonials of people who have benefited from the Service of the Rescue Mission, but not excluding the foundational reason the Topeka Rescue Mission's here.
6:15
SPEAKER_03: And was started in the first place.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: What are um our financial deficits when we have them, uh, what are the needs, whether that is food or items to help people rehabilitate and stabilize into housing.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: So we have that responsibility.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: One thing, though, that I love about Night of Praise is we remind the community every time, hey, we're gonna give you these statistics.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna tell you about the numbers we've served and and you're gonna hear that.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: However, um sometimes statistics are not to be celebrated.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: And that has been a challenge for me at the rescue mission because the first year there was clapping in the numbers that we served.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: And on one hand, that is a celebration in regards to how God worked through his people to provide safe shelter nights, food needs, um, transformative classes, all of those things.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, that's incredible.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: The other side of it is those were thousands of people that were in the middle of brokenness, thousands of people who didn't have XYZ, fill in the blank.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: And so after that first year, I thought to myself, I have got to figure out a way where I authentically and transparently bring this other perspective, but not where it's you know somber, but yet that we really talk about is it really a good thing that last year we had, you know, an average of 65 kids a night?
8:14
SPEAKER_00: So year two, um, I really started talking about the statistics to give God glory, to thank the community for what they do, to continue to talk to them about our urgency of how we need people to partner with us.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: We need recurring donors, all of that.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: Yet I prefaced it by saying, and before I read these statistics, please remember every statistic is actually a story.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Every number I'm going to tell you is a person.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, and that has been something that we've continued to say since then.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: So that yes, this is a time where we're giving God glory.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: We're thanking him because he does miraculous things all the time at the rescue mission that we couldn't do from protection to peanut butter jars, right?
9:02
SPEAKER_00: That we need.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: The other side of it is I also never want this to become an event where we're looking at what the rescue mission does, that we're celebrating our own efforts.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: And I also don't want it to what we are able to accomplish with the Lord never needs the to trump the dignity of somebody who needed it.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: And that is something that I think is so beautiful about this event is if we really let the Lord lead it, you're gonna see a balance in all of that that comes after we keep people as the focus.
9:42
SPEAKER_03: And so you are very uh aware of the value of the nonprofit to express, communicate, to describe to community um what it does.
9:54
SPEAKER_03: And um and so sometimes we can get into that position to where um more need is actually better in our minds.
10:05
SPEAKER_03: And to Lamanda's point is that more need is kind of a sad report to bring out.
10:11
SPEAKER_03: So, Merriam, of all your experience and now being at the rescue mission for a long time now, what what how do you how would you describe what Lamanda just said in your own words?
10:20
SPEAKER_02: Well, I yeah, I think Barry I think that nonprofits very often, and TRM isn't any different, we see the need that we have for financial support to be able to serve all of the people that we need to serve, all of these individual stories that Lamanda referred to.
10:40
SPEAKER_02: And so we then seem to feel like we have to show that the need is so great.
10:47
SPEAKER_02: Which it is, which it is, right?
10:49
SPEAKER_02: So I think it is this balance though of sharing the stories of why we do it.
10:57
SPEAKER_02: You know, why are why are we here for the folks that are around us?
11:01
SPEAKER_02: Why are we here for the folks that are struggling to have enough food, um, that don't have housing, all of those things.
11:08
SPEAKER_02: Why are we doing that?
11:10
SPEAKER_02: And then we get to really talk about the people that we serve.
11:13
SPEAKER_02: So we still want to touch people's hearts and we still want to let them know the need is great here.
11:20
SPEAKER_02: Um and that's not what our success is.
11:24
SPEAKER_02: Our success is really helping each one of these individuals go beyond their current situation, um, whether that's finding ways um to make ends meet so that then they don't have to depend on us for food, or that finding ways that they can learn how to be a better tenant and the importance of saving money so that then they can be in their own apartment again, those kinds of things.
11:51
SPEAKER_02: That's truly our success.
11:53
SPEAKER_02: Our success does not come from the number we serve.
11:56
SPEAKER_02: That really, the numbers we are able to serve is really more about the success of the people who support us than it is ours.
12:05
SPEAKER_03: But you have to also talk about the why in order to talk about the what and how.
12:10
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
12:10
SPEAKER_03: It's kind of like there in the in the Bible, there's a a story that we're all familiar with, and that's the parting of the Red Sea.
12:16
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
12:16
SPEAKER_03: Where Moses lifted up a staff and the waters parted, and the children of Israel walked across maybe a million people.
12:22
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
12:22
SPEAKER_03: And if that's all we heard, we'd go, well, that's cool, but why?
12:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
12:27
SPEAKER_03: There was a problem.
12:28
SPEAKER_03: And the problem was they were gonna die if they didn't go across the Red Sea.
12:31
SPEAKER_03: So God made a way.
12:33
SPEAKER_03: And so what did they do?
12:34
SPEAKER_03: They got on the other side and they praised him for it.
12:36
SPEAKER_03: But the Bible gives us a complete story, and that's what you have here at Speaker Rescue Mission.
12:40
SPEAKER_03: You are providing a complete story.
12:42
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
12:42
SPEAKER_03: It's not just about the problem.
12:44
SPEAKER_03: Problem has to be stated.
12:45
SPEAKER_03: Right.
12:46
SPEAKER_03: But here is the good news of how that problem's being addressed.
12:49
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
12:50
SPEAKER_02: And I think Night of Praise also does allow us to say thank you to the people that make our work possible, right?
12:58
SPEAKER_02: That so, really, when we're giving them these numbers, we're celebrating their success.
13:04
SPEAKER_02: When we share the individual stories, um, we're sharing the success that God has allowed us to be a part of.
13:11
SPEAKER_02: Um, when we talk about whether it's Billy or who think about any of the people that have that we've highlighted, that really is our opportunity to celebrate what the Lord has been able to use us to be able to bring about.
13:24
SPEAKER_02: So there's almost two successes that we're looking at.
13:28
SPEAKER_02: And the numbers and our ability to serve those really have a lot to do, yes, with the Lord, but also thanking our donors for saying yes to supporting us, whether it's through volunteerism or money or prayer or whatever.
13:42
SPEAKER_03: So there's demonstration of need, there is a results or some reporting of how that need was met, and a gratitude to donors, and then one more.
13:52
SPEAKER_03: And that is a night of turning to God and saying thank you and praising him.
13:58
SPEAKER_03: So that kind of in a nutshell is is what it is about.
14:03
SPEAKER_03: Lamanda, what kind of a person, maybe who has never been to Night of Praise before, what kind of person would be interested in coming to Night of Praise?
14:12
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think we've seen all people um come to Night of Praise.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: I've had people who um say that they have a background in church and they're at church every Sunday and Wednesday when the doors are open, and they come because um they it's a night of worship.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: We have um some people that bring youth groups uh to this because it's kind of a a youth group celebration that they could do.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: And I've had people also tell me, hey, I have not set foot in a church in 10 years because of church hurt or whatever the case may be.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but I come to this because and I know there's gonna be talking about God and all of that, and I know it's held in a church, um, but it's also about the rescue mission.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: And um, I think that the work we do when someone is either one not a person of faith or is a person of faith, but maybe is not connected to church, that aspect of it, people still feel welcome to come because they know the rescue mission is also about humanity in general, um, feeding people.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: So it's God.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, and that's where it's been so neat.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: When I first started trying to communicate this, I was banging my head against a wall, like, how do I do this?
15:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I was hearing all these things back in uh particularly 2023, kind of going into 2024, that that we limited people here that we served, and you know, people had to go to chapel to get food and all these myths.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: And you and I did these uh community meetings to debunk some of that, right?
15:53
SPEAKER_00: And that's one of the things that I love about the rescue mission is we don't make it mandatory for anyone that we work with or serve or anything like that to say, hey, um, you you have to believe XYZ.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: But our staff do believe in Jesus Christ and we do this work because we see how he served people when he was on earth and we understand the Trinity and understand the power of that, and that is why we do what we do.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: We also understand that not every volunteer or every person we serve or anything might have those exact same views, but that we want people that will respect, hey, this is what we believe in.
16:37
SPEAKER_00: And at the root of all of it, we're doing this to help people.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: And so I think there's those kinds of people too that come tonight of praise that are not sure what they really think about God.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: They're not sure.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: Um I hear a lot of hesitancy tied to the word religion.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: I'm not religious or I'm nervous to be religious, those kinds of things.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: But people still come because they also know the rescue mission is about truly helping people and helping the transformation that comes.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: So I think you you look around, there's different people of different denominations at night of praise, there's different ages at night of praise, there's different cultures at night of praise, there's different socioeconomic statuses at night of praise.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: We will have unsheltered neighbors at night of praise, and we have some of our biggest donors at night of praise.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's just a plethora, which I personally think is beautiful.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: And I think one day when we all get to heaven for those who believed, um, heaven's gonna be eclectic.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: We don't all look the same, we don't all speak the same, maybe didn't attend all the same churches, maybe fought on earth whether or not we should have instruments or not, right?
17:51
SPEAKER_00: Um sprinkle.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: Right.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: But I think at the end, when you're a believer in Christ and follow him, um then you get that.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: And so that's one of the things that I love when I'm standing on stage and looking out in the audience is you just never know what brought people there, but you know God can use it.
18:11
SPEAKER_03: Makes me think of something when you mention the word religion, and people will say, Well, I'm not religious.
18:15
SPEAKER_03: You know, uh I heard a phrase here the other day is uh religion says that when I mess up, my father's gonna kill me.
18:23
SPEAKER_03: The gospel of Jesus Christ says, when I mess up, I can call my dad.
18:28
SPEAKER_03: And that is really the difference.
18:31
SPEAKER_03: The difference in that in that who speak a rescue mission foundationally follows is the dad that you can give a call to.
18:41
SPEAKER_03: Not a religious um punishment, um dogmatic, doctrinal, although doctrine's important, uh theology is important, but it's about people who really feel like that they've messed up.
18:54
SPEAKER_03: Right.
18:55
SPEAKER_03: And um why would I turn to a God who's gonna hurt me because I'm already hurt?
18:59
SPEAKER_03: And that's not what is shared here at Topeka Rescue Mission.
19:03
SPEAKER_03: It's about a God says, hey, we can talk to the Father because he loves you.
19:07
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
19:07
SPEAKER_03: In spite of what you've done.
19:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
19:09
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
19:10
SPEAKER_03: So a lot to a night of praise.
19:12
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
19:13
SPEAKER_03: Uh, logistically, of course, um, about some of those logistics, it still is an opportunity for people to give financially to Topeka Rescue Mission.
19:21
SPEAKER_03: And so, what are some ways that people, we got two months out before, two months from today.
19:26
SPEAKER_03: What are some things that people can do today to help underwrite the event um to support it, and or the night of um to be able to financially participate in uh what uh what's happening here?
19:38
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, one of the ways that people can help right now is um if anybody is interested in being a sponsor of Night of Praise, uh, those went live within the last week or so.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so we are beginning to reach out to uh business owners, churches, um, individuals that just believe in TRM that want to be a sponsor for this event.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, this is a tricky topic for me in regards to I know very strong leaders um usually attached to a strong leader is a lot of of goals.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: And I believe in that being an educator for my entire life, um I've written smart goals for 20 years and uh believe in that.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: And then there's sometimes where the goal looks very different and maybe doesn't seem to be the most popular.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: And night of praise is a tough one for me because it is a financial fundraiser, and I believe in that, and we are so thankful for every dollar it brings in.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: And so this year in sponsorships, um I have set a goal for myself and the team to have$20,000 um raised in sponsorships.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: And so that is set, that's established.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: We are praying about that, we're going after that, um, we're pursuing that.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: The other side is even though it is a financial fundraiser, and I would love for us to, you know, bring in thousands of dollars for this, or hundreds of thousands.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: And and I know that God can.
21:21
SPEAKER_00: The other side of it is I don't want to be too busy chasing financial strategy that I'm not chasing the Lord's heart.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: And so one of the ways that we're trying to do that is you know, we hope that the night of praise brings in money.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: We hope that sponsorships bring in money.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: We need the money.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, people are well aware last year we ended the year in a deficit.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, we are monitoring our dollars.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: Um you're still here.
21:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
21:56
SPEAKER_00: And uh expenses continue to arise.
21:59
SPEAKER_00: We continue to have.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Big things break that's unexpected.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, we have those things.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: The other side is we also need more recurring donors, we need monthly financial support that we can count on.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, so those things are all very real.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: We're analyzing them, we're putting strategy to them.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: However, if a dollar that night is not raised, and we have three people accept Christ, I cannot look anybody in their eyes and say that was not a successful event.
22:33
SPEAKER_03: What do you mean by accept Christ?
22:35
SPEAKER_00: If someone comes in there and didn't know Christ as their savior, and because of that night, they can believe that trumps any dollar that would be donated.
22:44
SPEAKER_03: So what happens then?
22:47
SPEAKER_00: Well, what happens then is we have these discussions on how are we defining success?
22:57
SPEAKER_00: And so the budget and deficits and recruitment of donors, recruitment of volunteers, all of that sustainability is very real and is a part of mine and the team's life every day.
23:12
SPEAKER_00: The other side of it is we are not a business, we are a ministry even before we're social services.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: And we have to know that all of us have staff are called here, and I'll speak for myself, I won't speak for Miriam or anyone else.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: I don't think God called me here for the main purpose to be everywhere I go that I'm asking for money.
23:49
SPEAKER_00: Is that a part of my role?
23:50
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, because we need the budget to be sustained, and I understand that.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: But I don't think one day, when I reach judgment day, that the first thing the father's gonna say is, you did so great building all the relationships with all the people that had money.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: I just don't think that's gonna be the first thing that I am held responsible for.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: I do think the father cares about the feet were cleaning.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: I think he cares about did I act like I was too busy going to that meeting for that person that was talking to themselves on the sidewalk.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: I think that um I am gonna be held responsible that I loved immensely a person that could not give a dollar to night of praise in the same way that I loved somebody who wrote us a thousand dollar check.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: His ways are just different and it's narrow.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: And so night of praise is this is probably not the right word.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: I'll probably regret that I'm gonna say it, but night of praise is actually a test for me, I feel like, year after year of like every day.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: Am I am I doing my due diligence to get it out there, to raise funds and all of that a hundred percent.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: But the other side is I have to protect the Lord's heart.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: And if I am talking more about money that night instead of lives being changed, um, the hard parts of what people face, what our staff endured.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: You know, last year, one of the hardest things I did was get on that stage and talk about how a staff got assaulted and left for death.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: That was not in my strategic plan, Barry.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: That was not in my vision casting sessions.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't a part of what makes TRM look good.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: However, that's what we faced that year, and I needed to authentically address that just like I addressed the beautiful moments that TRM had.
25:57
SPEAKER_00: So night of praise is definitely a fundraiser.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: We need the funds.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: We're doing our due diligence to reach 20,000 in our sponsorship goal.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: We would love to raise thousands the night of.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: We need recurring donors so that we can count on funds month after month.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: We need that.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: The other side is um we are serving the Lord first before a budget.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: And I just have to know that if we continue to keep that posture, that God is going to bring in the funds we need at his timing, or then he's also gonna show us if we need to redo things or do things differently.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: And I have to maintain that level of trust in the Lord.
26:47
SPEAKER_02: And I think it's just this constant activity of surrender because we do feel this pressure for the financial responsibility, right?
26:57
SPEAKER_02: We feel that pressure.
26:58
SPEAKER_02: Um, but we just have to continue to set aside, to die to self daily, and continue to surrender that we're gonna do whatever we need to do, but at the end of the day, it's all his.
27:11
SPEAKER_02: And he is gonna provide what we need in ways that we can't even imagine at this point.
27:18
SPEAKER_02: We don't know how night of praise will impact somebody sitting in that group of folks that will show up that maybe has not ever been a financial donor, that because of how we talk about Jesus, how we talk about the work that He's done in the lives of the guests that we serve will touch their heart, not because we ask them for money, but because the Lord just puts, lays something on their heart that says, this is what you're gonna support.
27:47
SPEAKER_02: And we just have to constantly set aside the anxiety we feel when the budget or the actual financial situation doesn't look like we wished it did.
28:00
SPEAKER_02: And just know that he's got this, he is far ahead of us.
28:04
SPEAKER_02: He isn't behind us.
28:05
SPEAKER_02: Well, he is also behind us, but he is he is so far ahead of what he knows he's gonna provide.
28:11
SPEAKER_02: And so we have to surrender to that understanding daily or multiple times a day because it isn't gonna matter.
28:20
SPEAKER_02: We can we can present the best kind of thing and ask in the best possible way.
28:26
SPEAKER_02: It isn't what's gonna move them.
28:28
SPEAKER_02: The Lord will move them.
28:30
SPEAKER_03: That's so authentic, and I appreciate both of you sharing it that way, um, which some people wouldn't really take the risk of just putting it out there.
28:39
SPEAKER_03: Yes, this is a stress, this is a challenge, this is a need, but recognition, not just in theory, but in practicality that there is something bigger here than just the money, and that is the one who called Speaker Rescue Mission into existence.
28:56
SPEAKER_03: I I think of Matthew 6.33, you all familiar with it, when Jesus said, Seek first the kingdom of God.
29:03
SPEAKER_03: And then all these things will be added to you.
29:05
SPEAKER_03: All these things were all the needs that the the disciples and the people that were listening to him needed.
29:09
SPEAKER_03: He didn't say, seek the kingdom of God only.
29:13
SPEAKER_03: He said, Seek it first, and that's about night of praise, from what I'm hearing, is it's not about a fundraiser.
29:20
SPEAKER_03: It's not just about a worship service, but it is first about honoring the Lord in a worship service and also talking about the other needs.
29:29
SPEAKER_03: And so I think it's a kind of foreign to us that we can say, okay, does that really mean what it says?
29:36
SPEAKER_03: Do we really do that?
29:38
SPEAKER_03: Do we really seek God above all things and trust him?
29:42
SPEAKER_03: Then all these things will be added to you.
29:44
SPEAKER_03: Or do we say, I'm gonna park God over here and call him when I need him.
29:48
SPEAKER_03: And if it doesn't work out for me to do it the other way, then I will latch on to God for rescuing.
29:54
SPEAKER_03: And he's not saying that's the method.
29:56
SPEAKER_03: That's not the seek me first.
29:58
SPEAKER_03: And so we could go on about this, and I think I think it's so valuable uh two months from tonight, um, in order for people to even hear that in their own personal lives.
30:10
SPEAKER_03: That this is tonight is a night about thanking God, seeking him first.
30:15
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, there's some financial needs here, and there's some testimonies you're gonna hear, and all this kind of stuff, but tonight we recognize the um author uh of our faith, the the one who established us and we'll finish this, and the one who we turn to.
30:29
SPEAKER_03: And that's the unique thing about Topeka Rescue Mission, not the only one in the world, but definitely that's the foundational, the why that you're doing.
30:37
SPEAKER_03: Okay, one more thing, and we will give all the dates and times and all that.
30:41
SPEAKER_03: But one more thing, Lamanda, just briefly, if you would.
30:45
SPEAKER_03: There is a theme of Topeka Rescue Mission uh each year that you focus on.
30:50
SPEAKER_03: Uh last year it was Standing in the Gap.
30:52
SPEAKER_03: This year it's a different theme, and you put that in your newsletters, you put that uh different things, and it's also part of the um explanation about the why of the night of praise.
31:01
SPEAKER_03: It's called the power of prayer.
31:04
SPEAKER_03: Um, why is that the theme for 2026?
31:08
SPEAKER_03: Or why has it been?
31:09
SPEAKER_03: Why does it continue to be?
31:11
SPEAKER_00: Or why I'm gonna change it, no joke.
31:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, just kidding.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: You know, when we started these, um I wanted to do themes so that people really walked away with understanding what specific component.
31:27
SPEAKER_00: And so one of them was the journey home.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: And the heart behind that was the journey home for people is not easy.
31:35
SPEAKER_00: Physically trying to get stabilized back into housing and all of that.
31:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, yet whether we like it or not, or whether we think about it or not, we are all currently on a journey to our eternal home.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: And that eternal home is either going to be in heaven or hell, and it is very real.
31:57
SPEAKER_00: So even if we have never experienced homelessness as some people do, and their journey of home looks like whatever, um, we're all on a journey home.
32:08
SPEAKER_00: And we have a short period of time where we're preparing what that home looks like for eternity, forever.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: Like that is extremely real.
32:19
SPEAKER_00: And so from that, you know, we looked at um what is what does this look like?
32:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, what does the rescue mission do when people are journeying home?
32:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, keeping both of that in our mind.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: And so that's where we were able to do um standing in the gap.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: A lot of people face gaps as they process a journey home.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: And the rescue mission does a plethora of things to help in those gaps.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: And then we looked at not just everybody being on this journey home and not just what the rescue mission does in regards to standing in the gap, but then how do we do it?
33:00
SPEAKER_00: Well, we help fill a lot of gaps, but we do that by loving in the gap.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: And I know we sometimes use, you know, love can conquer all, and love does this and love does that in a very cliche way, but ultimately our lives are different because we had a God who loved us so much, he sent his son, and that son died to be the perfect sacrifice for us.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: So everything I better do, and I I miss the mark probably more than I should, but everything that I do in Lamanda's life better be thinking about the love, the loving act that was done for me, that my home one day is completely different than what it should have been.
33:38
SPEAKER_00: And so then applying that to the rescue mission, how are we helping people in their journey home?
33:43
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we stand in the gap, but everything we do should be remembering Christ's love for us, but it also should be done lovingly.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: We we we can't be holding on to all these towels and then mad if we're giving them out.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: We can't, we can't do that.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't work.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: So coming out of journey home and coming out of standing in the gap and then loving in the gap.
34:04
SPEAKER_00: Um it was very clear uh to me, and then I bounced some things off of Mike Shottle, and the Lord had already been working in his heart too.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: Loving is not easy.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: And I wish that I could say every day, Miriam and me are cute little hamsters that just come into work.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, and we're loving, and it's easy to love her either.
34:27
SPEAKER_00: We're cuddly.
34:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's right.
34:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, it just doesn't happen.
34:30
SPEAKER_00: We're rodents.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: Yes, cuddly.
34:32
SPEAKER_00: It is.
34:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, and sometimes it is not easy for Miriam Crable to love Lamanda Cunningham, and sometimes it is not easy for Lamanda Cunningham to love Miriam Crable, and we can say that for other coworkers, we could say that for volunteers.
34:46
SPEAKER_03: So you're humans, yes.
34:47
SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
34:48
SPEAKER_00: And it it that's how it is.
34:50
SPEAKER_00: However, love is not just an action, it's a choice.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: And how do we make the best choices as possible?
35:01
SPEAKER_00: Not that we always get it right.
35:03
SPEAKER_00: How do we do that every day?
35:05
SPEAKER_00: And it comes through prayer.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: And so, in order for us to do the logistics of our work, in order for us to not only do the things we need to do to stand in the gaps, but we need to do them the right way through love, that has to mean it starts with prayer.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: And um, that's not just praying in the morning and that's gonna suffice our day.
35:28
SPEAKER_00: Barry, there are times where I know this sounds silly, but sometimes I feel like I talk to the Lord more than maybe what I do humans.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: And I guess on one hand, that's beautiful.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: On the other hand, it shows what we all need every day to survive this life.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: But the other part is how incredible is it that it does not matter if it is someone in a tent, if it is someone in a boardroom, if it's us on this podcast, we all have the ability to pray as often as we want, as frequent as we want.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: And that touched me last year to say, if I know how much I need to rely on prayer, and I also know what I look like as a person when I'm not, we need to be communicating to communicating that.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: The other side is sometimes I think we are very closed off in what prayer should look like, and we have wrong expectations.
36:41
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, sometimes prayer is in beautiful war rooms, and we sometimes it's with cute post-it notes, and sometimes it's on these beautiful walks we have.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: Well, sometimes prayer is not like that.
36:51
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is communication and fellowship with the Father, and sometimes that is in the form of crying, sometimes that is in the form of exhaustion, sometimes that is in the form of anger, sometimes that is in the form of desperation.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: And I need people, whether they are experiencing homelessness or not, to know whatever state of mind you're in, take it to the father.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: You're not alone.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: And I understand our outreach teams can't be in all of these encampments all the time, but the father can.
37:21
SPEAKER_00: I understand that the board members can't always give me every answer that I need as a CEO.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: The father can.
37:27
SPEAKER_00: I know that sometimes as a community we are walking in fear.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: Well, the father can change that mentality.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: And how is that done?
37:35
SPEAKER_00: And it's done through the power of prayer.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: And so that kind of birthed into that's going to be our next theme, looking at the themes that we've done and how they're connected.
37:46
SPEAKER_00: And really this cry out from myself and and Mike Schottle and our team to say, we need people to know you can pray.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to come to TRM to pray.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to come to Night of Praise to pray.
38:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I do hope that people leave this night of praise knowing prayer is sometimes um just as messy as it is beautiful.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: But that is also what makes it authentic.
38:13
SPEAKER_03: Also, when you set a theme, there is a greater opportunity to express and practice that theme, right?
38:20
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
38:21
SPEAKER_03: And so I'm sure that this year has been no different.
38:24
SPEAKER_00: It has been, yes.
38:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:25
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think that that's um, if I want people to know, regardless of the why, that they can go to the father and cry out, why would I think that as a CEO I'm gonna be exempt from having needs that force me to cry out?
38:44
SPEAKER_00: And so one of the things that I've learned through this theme is um, and I think I had it etched in my heart, but I think I just feel it completely different now.
38:53
SPEAKER_00: But um we are all more alike than we really are different.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: And when the Lord allows me to go through horrific things, um, and sometimes maybe just annoying things or maybe not timing, whatever the case may be, um, he's not doing that so that it's just solely for me.
39:17
SPEAKER_00: I know the father weaves things and that sometimes I experience hurts so that I can better understand someone else, or that when I learn a lesson, um, that I can share that lesson with someone else.
39:34
SPEAKER_00: And so the power of prayer has also taught me that I better not just be talking about prayer, that I better be ready to be transparent with others on when prayer isn't what seems to just be tidy and the acronyms of how we've learned it, you know, the adoration and the acts and all of these things.
39:56
SPEAKER_00: Those things are good, but sometimes that's not really what prayer looks like for us in our lives.
40:01
SPEAKER_03: Prayer in a simple format is uh there is a God and he wants to hear from us.
40:06
SPEAKER_03: And so we can talk to him at any time, and there is power in talking to the creator of the universe.
40:12
SPEAKER_03: And so um certainly a foundational aspect of Topeka Rescue Mission.
40:17
SPEAKER_03: And those of you who are listening, um, you may be a prayer warrior, you may be a person who I'm not sure anybody's up there listening, uh, and all the in-between.
40:26
SPEAKER_03: And the fact that is um Topeka Rescue Mission believes that it's here because it was called to be here, and there's someone that all the time, the Topeka Rescue Mission, its CEO, it's staff, it's volunteers, and you who support it can actually turn to the father and say, Lord, here's what TRM needs, here's what the people need that are being served, and uh there's power in that.
40:48
SPEAKER_03: So thank you for addressing that as well.
40:51
SPEAKER_03: Uh there could be a whole other podcast on that.
40:53
SPEAKER_03: I'm sure that uh that'll be an opportunity before the end of the year.
40:56
SPEAKER_03: But wanted to talk today about Night of Praise.
40:59
SPEAKER_03: It's the fourth annual.
41:00
SPEAKER_03: Um, it will be on October 11th, two months from tonight, 6 p.m.
41:05
SPEAKER_03: at Fairlawn Church of the Nazarene.
41:06
SPEAKER_03: That's your first sponsor, is a place to have it.
41:09
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
41:09
SPEAKER_03: Thanks to uh Fellowship Bible Church for the previous three years that they hosted it.
41:13
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
41:13
SPEAKER_03: And there's an opportunity for you who are listening that you can invest in some of the things that it's going to cost to put on that night of praise.
41:20
SPEAKER_03: And uh, how can that be done?
41:22
SPEAKER_03: Uh, Miriam, how can people um say, hey, I want to see how I can sponsor?
41:27
SPEAKER_02: They can go to our website um at trmonline.org, and there's information there about how they can sponsor.
41:35
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
41:36
SPEAKER_03: Very good.
41:37
SPEAKER_03: So looking forward to that.
41:38
SPEAKER_03: Uh, it'll be a special night uh yet uh to be determined exactly what God will do.
41:44
SPEAKER_03: And so um the doors open at 5 30.
41:46
SPEAKER_03: Fairlong Church of the Nazarene is a 7 30 Southwest Fairlawn Road.
41:50
SPEAKER_03: Everybody's been on Fairlawn Road if you're Topeka.
41:53
SPEAKER_03: And uh big parking lot there.
41:54
SPEAKER_03: So the doors open October 11th at 5 30 p.m.
41:57
SPEAKER_03: There will be more information coming out about this, and the actual event starts at 6 p.m.
42:01
SPEAKER_03: on that evening.
42:02
SPEAKER_03: So thank you for listening to our community, our mission.
42:05
SPEAKER_03: We talk about a lot of things here.
42:07
SPEAKER_03: Today was specifically focusing on God and what he does through you as a person who supports the Topeka Rescue Mission and what he does to help our neighbors in need.
42:18
SPEAKER_03: Thank you for being a part of our community, our mission.