February 25, 2025 • 53 mins
Discover the power of community transform tragedy into an opportunity for unity and revival! We invite you to Pacific Palisades, California (Ground Zero of one of the greatest natural disasters in US history). We visit with Pastor Stephen Snook as he takes us to the mounds of ashes that was once his home until the L.A. wildfires took it all away. He shares how serving the community with the values of Jesus becomes the cornerstone of rebuilding the wildfires. Then embark on an enlightening journey to Moss (co-working space) in Venice Beach California. Savannah Aubinoe (owner) hosts Beyond the Plate in Moss’s podcast studios. Savannah shares her unexpected encounter with Pastor Snook and how it sparked a heartwarming collaboration showcasing the profound impact of faith and community in challenging times.
This episode dives into the community's response to the LA wildfires, emphasizing resilience, connection, and hope. Listeners are invited to reflect on the power of love and purpose in helping others during times of crisis.
• Reflecting on the impact of the L.A. wildfires
• Sharing experiences of loss and grief
• Transforming Moss into a hub of community support
• Discussing the power of volunteerism and connection
These experiences underscore the strength found in collective action and the community's ability to come together and support one another when it matters most.
Discover how the adversity faced by the community has not only highlighted the importance of embracing diversity but has also inspired acts of kindness and volunteerism that forge stronger connections.
@mossvenice
Beyond The Plate is a podcast by international charity, Food For The Poor
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's just interesting because I've driven this so
many times, but it's gone.
Our whole neighborhood's gone.
It has a major effect and Ifeel it.
But I also am feeling thisheart for all these people in
the ministry and I think thatthis is an opportunity like
we've never had before.
If I were in their shoes and Ididn't have the hope, that
(00:23):
anchor of hope that we have inChrist, what would I do?
Let's start loving these peoplewhere they are, the way Jesus
did, and do it with Jesus' style, and let's use Jesus' values,
but let's do it together.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
So Metro Cafe 3.0, Metro Church 3.0, Metropolis 3.0
, Metro Mobile now it's notgoing into the community, it's
becoming part of the community.
Oh, that's good.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
It's becoming the community.
That's it, and I think it's.
Every day is a new adventureand we don't know what's going
to happen.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Welcome to Beyond the Plate I'm Paul Jacobs where
food is more than just a meal.
It's a powerful way to connect,inspire and transform.
We call it Tertulia, agathering where bonds are formed
and stories are shared.
Get ready to dive into realstories that inspire, challenge
and nourish the soul.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I'm Daniel Patino, inviting you to join our
Tertulia and explore how foodand connection can truly
transform lives.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Let's go beyond the plate.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Why are we not in our studio?
They moved us out of our studiofor a good reason, and I'm
liking this one a little bitbetter.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, first of all, we're not like a couple of miles
away from home.
We ended up in California.
Hi everybody, Welcome back toBeyond the Plate.
I'm your host, co-host PaulJacobs, and.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
I'm co-host Danny Patino, and yes, we're not at
home.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah, but it feels like it.
This is amazing.
First of all for those of youthat follow Beyond the Plate.
A number of months ago we hadthe pleasure of interviewing
this amazing gentleman, pastorStephen Snook.
He's not only a pastor out herein California, but he's also a
food for the part of food forthe poor family, and we talked
about his background, his vision, what God gave him for
(02:09):
California to reach thecommunity.
But now it for those of youthat have been following the
news.
You've seen the LA wildfires,you've seen so much that has
gone on in this community andGod has turned the tables a
little bit and we'll talk alittle bit about that.
But we have the blessing andhonor to have this special
(02:32):
edition of Beyond the Plate hereat Moss Simply Moss.
I love that.
It's like share or sting, right.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
It's.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Moss, and we have another guest with us today, and
this is Savannah abano.
Did I, did I get that right?
You got that right?
Ah, yes, I've been practicingfor the last three minutes, but,
uh, welcome, savannah, to be onthe play.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
We're so grateful to have you so so grateful for you
guys coming here on such shortnotice in such insane times
right now in la, and it's ablessing to have you well, I
think what?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
when we finish this episode, we're going to find out
that this, a lot of this, wasGod ordained.
Not insane, but God ordainedbecause I think God can take.
His scripture says he can makebeauty out of ashes and I really
believe that, literally, istaking place right now.
But I have to start with howdid this all happen?
I mean, how did we end up inthis amazing podcast studio with
(03:26):
you both?
This, something happened thatconnected you two, and that is
the first story we want to getbefore we get.
All.
My notes are like, for example,I want to hear about the vision
you had, the dream you had, andhow that brought the two of you
together to enable thisopportunity today.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Three days ago I needed a little normality for my
wife and I.
We're in a hotel and she loveshaving in the morning some good
tea, and I was like I'm going toget her a kettle.
I want to do a pour over.
So I'm going to go get thiskettle and I'm going to get a
good one.
And so I knew that I could getit at this place called Fellow
over here.
So I'm walking down the streetand and part of this, some
(04:03):
things start happening.
One of the stores like draws mein and says we got some clothes
.
You want it?
I'm talking about a kettle.
And then the kettle thing comesout and then they said well,
you know, there's this placethat also has some stuff over
there and it's called moth andit's right around the corner.
So I'm like okay, and so Idecided I'm just gonna go with
(04:24):
this and and so I walk over hereand they're like welcome.
And they're like are you avictim of the fire or something?
I said yeah, and they go look,all this is yours, Just come in.
And I said I also heard this isa coworker in space.
I lost my place to work.
I'm going to need a place towork and they said, well, come
in.
I'm like, okay, and I'm,there's something special about
this place, but you need to meet.
(04:45):
And then, walking down thestairs is Savannah and and she
just welcomed me and just, and Isaid, well, tell me the story.
And she began to tell the storythat you're going to hear from
her about what has happened inthe last two weeks.
That is really an amazing storyof one person who was willing
to say let's do this and stepout and then watch what God
(05:07):
could do in the middle of thatand so.
But the story goes on becausewe began to talk and she said
what's your story?
And then, out of that shestarts opening her heart and she
was very open and vulnerable,which is which was really
meaningful to me.
And listen to me while she'spouring.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
She's making me a pour over of good coffee, and
then we started with a fellowpitcher with a fellow pitcher,
yeah, the whole thing is I'mlike wait, this is all coming
together.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
But the beauty of it was in the middle of that.
I said you know, we're tryingto get together some of our
neighbors because we lost ourwhole neighborhood.
And she said well, how aboutSunday morning here?
Bring them together here?
And immediately she said Sundaysessions.
And she said do you want to doit?
(05:59):
And then we talked a little bitmore.
I'm like yes, and so we're liketo gather some of our neighbors
who are who really grievingover this loss.
But to then to to watch, therewas like filled with people, all
these people here down, below,above, and they're just coming
in and they're all serving, andthen that number, 700 people
(06:20):
that have been serving up tothat point.
And then the.
Then the guy comes in and saidoh, it's at a thousand now.
So I was like what?
And they're distributing andtaking all these.
This is amazing.
But she's got to tell thatstory.
But that's how we met.
Okay, so two days, three daysago, whatever wow.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
So, savannah, before we get to january 7th when the
fires started, before we get toa few days ago, before you met
Pastor Stephen, what were youstarting here?
What was going on here withMoss?
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Moss has been open for 10 months and the intention
behind it is an intention thatstems from Ikigai right, so it's
what the world needs.
What I was passionate about,which was wellness combined with
co-working in a model that Ihad never seen exist anywhere
else.
In fact, I went to New Yorkbefore we opened the co-working
(07:11):
Mecca of the country and Ididn't find anything like this
and it was coming out of thepandemic.
People really were cravingcommunity, but there was this
sort of like invisible wallbetween people Like you weren't.
You were sort of.
It was seen as like a fearresponse when you would meet a
stranger and so.
(07:33):
But apps were taboo.
So this place that people couldgather a passion space for me,
which was like operations mixedwith design, mixed with wellness
, what you can be paid for andon my own terms, and then I
guess, yeah, just sort ofstemming from what the community
(07:55):
was really asking me for.
Also, I was I was taking notesabout the downfalls of coffee
shops and uncomfortable seatsand lack of outlets and bad
coffee, you know, co-workingspaces feeling too exclusive and
really understanding thatexclusivity doesn't really serve
(08:17):
a purpose in this world anymore, and that was sort of more of
like the vibe for social clubsin like 2015, 2016.
So what does a place look likewhere you can curate the events,
where events are part of themembership, where wellness
offerings can be affordable andaccessible for people and where
(08:37):
co working doesn't have to be sosterile?
So I called my good friend,who's a professional interior
designer named Sakura Hefron.
She's Japanese and she taughtme about wabi-sabi design how
the way that we can curate aspace and how it can appeal to
(08:57):
our senses can really impact ourlives and impact your
relationships and impact howpeople feel before, during and
after an event or co-working day.
So we've hosted around 150events in under a year.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
In 10 months 150 events here Wow.
We have member-led events.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
We have private events.
We have over 100 members events.
We have private events.
We have over 100 members uh,we've done, you know, and it
just become essential part ofthe community.
And then the past week takesthat to a different plane than I
could have ever imagined and,um, I'm I'm still processing
(09:42):
what just happened, but I have avery strong intuition that it's
a reason that it exists in thefirst place.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah.
So let's fast forward now.
Let's really start at what isthe reason why we're here.
January 7th, the fire is ragingin Pacific Palisades.
It is knocking at the doorstep,and literally of Pastor Stephen
and many that I'm sure are hereenjoying the wellness in this
space.
But it's now taken to anotherlevel.
(10:12):
What did you experience?
What was it like first for youwhen everything shifted?
It was, it was not justwellness as usual and forgive me
for being, you know, flip itwith that comment, but I really
mean it was.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
You had a plan, but then this fire and wildfires
took it to another level, as yousaid it was interesting because
people noticed the change inthe air a couple of days prior
and I haven't really heard thatmany people talking about it,
but the weather was like 75, 80sin January and people were
posting about how insane theweather was and it was almost
like a switch flipped of justthis like summer breeze, and um,
(10:48):
then I I woke up, kind of wasfeeling in a strange yeah, it
was just, it wasn't like thebest morning walked outside with
my dog, was taking her on awalk and then exactly at 10 30,
we're on the beach and I juststart to see this one billow of
(11:09):
smoke and it was coming.
You could.
At this point there wasn't thatmuch smoke where you couldn't
see where it started and I couldsee it was like smack in the
middle of the palisades hill andit's one of those things where
you're just like, ok, this firestarted.
There's homes around, someonehas already called, someone has
already reported that this firehas gone off and it was so hard
(11:36):
to look away, but it just gotevery 10 minutes.
It was almost like it wasmultiplying.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
And really quick not to interrupt you, but here,
southern california, wildfiresis commonplace, right?
I mean, over the years there'sa wildfire story almost every
year, somewhere somehow.
So what's that any differentfrom any other wildfire over the
years am I?
Am I correct?
Speaker 4 (12:00):
And I'm fortunately I've only been here for five
years, so, like I wasn't herefor the Woolsey fire, I've heard
about other ones, but I've alsoheard from people that have
lived here for 50 years, likeour gardener, who had never seen
anything like this, and Steveas well, like mentioned the same
thing.
So I started taking out myphone to let my team know and I
(12:25):
realized that I was taking thesepictures.
The wind was picking up and itwas almost like everything was
happening in slow motion.
My immediate thought was OK,this is getting really big, this
is.
I'd never seen smoke like thisin my life.
I need to call my friends thatare out in Topanga, because to
me, I didn't know exactly whereit was coming from and I was
(12:46):
like but, in country.
Our community is in topanga, sotwo friends that weren't even
home no one knew that this washappening yet and it you wanted
to believe it was just temporarycalled my friends.
They came to my house, theyfelt really unsafe and my dog
was the one who was giving methe signals that it wasn't okay
(13:10):
and cause she had never donethis before.
But she went home and she likeit's not, like there was a loud
noise or that like the wind wasknocking at the door, but there
was just like an unsettling.
And she came in and she hidunder my bed.
Just like an unsettling.
And she came in and she hidunder my bed and that night my
friends did not feel safe and sowe drove towards San Clemente.
(13:33):
We got a hotel that I told theteam to shut down and I woke up
the next day we were on the thenews and when we were driving
down there I made sure that theywere okay to.
My team was at peace, no onereally had to work.
(13:53):
We sent messaging to ourmembership base and then I
called my dad, got reallyemotional, had to let it out and
(14:16):
he was like you want to signinto my Home Depot Plus account
I was like yep.
And then, from the parking lot,our event coordinator.
I had her make a social mediapost that went viral about us
becoming a donation center.
And you know, thank God I justwasn't in the place where I had
to go through checks andbalances, asking permission was
(14:38):
not an option at that moment.
It was like do right now ordon't do at all.
Shout out to Mission Viejo HomeDepot.
They were incredibly helpful.
They helped me load a generatorinto the back of my car Oil gas
, five fire extinguishers, fireblocks, fire blankets what kind?
of car is this I have a liftedJeep 2004 Grand Cherokee.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Oh my gosh, that's better than the Montero.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
It fits a lot more.
It fits all the way up.
And you know what?
2004 Grand Cherokee oh my gosh,that's better than the.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
Montero, you know what the craziest thing is?
I tried to sell it six monthsago.
The guy flaked on me, and so itwas like I was meant to have
this car also.
So put the hoses in the car, Ifireproofed the space and I got
back that evening this wasWednesday evening had our
production team that wouldtypically be in the podcast room
helped me bring the generatorinside because again, we all so
(15:27):
much of my team came from COVIDtesting like disaster first
response.
So come in here, put thegenerator in.
The next morning you know Ididn't have anyone that like
confirmed they were going todrop off stuff.
I just had a post but itstarted to be shared around town
and someone brought in a watercontainer at 830.
(15:50):
By 9am we were completelyfilled with stuff.
We had no team, I had no plan,we had no departments.
We didn't have a Slack channel.
Within three days we had aSlack channel.
I converted one Luma page intoa donation link page and we
converted one Luma link page,which is an event platform, um
(16:13):
for a female founders market.
That was supposed to be thatSaturday, so it's Thursday.
We had an event for thatSaturday.
We turned it into a volunteerday on Saturday that amassed 150
volunteers.
Within three hours my my phonewas ringing off the hook and I
couldn't manage answering thephone and the DMs and telling
(16:36):
people no, it's sold out.
No, it's sold out.
So we opened the floodgates tovolunteers, because you feel
helpless in a situation that youhave no control of.
The fire was gaining so muchmomentum and we were just we
didn't know if we were going tobe safe or not.
The alarms were going off onour phone for, like, constantly
(16:59):
different evacuation zones.
So it was like, all right,people need to help put
unlimited signups.
700 volunteers came in and thatwas supposed to be for the
Saturday event but we started.
We had a full house on Thursday.
By Friday property manager cameand gave me a key so we could
(17:22):
expand the operation and, um, Imean we've had engineers,
founders, movie directors,people that just moved here,
people that didn't know anybody.
I mean there's no rhyme orreason to why people came and
volunteered.
But every single person cameand it didn't matter where they
(17:44):
came from, didn't matter whatthey did.
It was like can you lift thisbox?
Great.
And we then createdcommunication channels over time
to first responders on the PCH.
So we were serving, we were themain West side hub that was
serving PCH Palisades, uh,malibu to Panga, then eventually
(18:07):
Pasadena and Altadena and thepeople around the area, like the
brands that came together, therestaurants that came together
to feed our volunteers, todistribute things to uh, the
first responders is just insane.
And we had a team of SpaceXengineers that were our
(18:28):
volunteers running our dispatchcenter.
That's so great.
And they put together all thedifferent departments.
They helped to create systemsfor shoppers, for example.
Some people don't want to be inperson, they're in shock, they
don't want to see anybody, theydon't want to be vulnerable.
(18:49):
So they would create a typeform, um, and fill out what they
needed.
We would put it in a box, printout the form and then ship it
to their homes with our drivers,um.
So I could go on and on.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
No, okay, first of all, I've got to, I've got to
issue a PSA.
You had SpaceX engineers herehelping save lives and respond
to the community Children athome.
Math is important.
You will use it later on inlife and this is proof of that.
You may save the next world,the world, just by making sure
you pass that algebra test.
But I digress.
(19:25):
We're here on our specialedition of Beyond the Plate.
We've got our guests, pastorStephen Snook, as well as
Savannah Abino from Moss, and Iwanted to, before we kick it
over to Dani, I wanted to justtouch on one thing that you just
finished talking about, andthat is the spirit of humanity
that was endued by all of, fromthe SpaceX engineers, from the,
(19:49):
the, the people from industry,the entertainment industry, all
those very individuals goingback to your story with
Metropolis and Metro cafe for somany years.
But there's something that isis riding in my mind, because
we're from Florida, so this isalmost reminiscent of what we
experienced during hurricaneseason.
(20:10):
But something I just reallywould love for you to address
for our audience is each andevery person that's here part of
your team, your podcast team,all those that are here as part
of your team in Moss.
When all this is going on, youincluded.
You left your homes.
Wherever your homes were, theywere unattended while you were
(20:32):
here attending to the community.
What was that like that?
You just put yourself second tothis community and serve.
I just can't fathom the spiritof humanity that was taking
place here through that.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Absolutely nothing else mattered.
Nothing else mattered.
I describe it with myoperations partner during this
operation, roger, about how ourbackground and coming from this,
like COVID testing operation,when there's a natural disaster
(21:13):
like this, I mean nothing.
I, I was portaled into adifferent world.
It didn't matter.
I you know, and I sent amessage to my family two weeks
ago my whole family.
This is what's happening.
I could use your support rightnow and they were all very
supportive and just wish me wellbecause they knew what I was
(21:36):
about to do.
But group chats, friend text,the members that were here, as
much as I wish I could say, youknow, it mattered to me and I
cared.
I was so fully about thismission that it was like it
(21:57):
spoke volumes to me about likewhy I'm on this planet, am on
this planet, and our team alsodropped everything to be here.
Despite, you know, one personbeing a little bit worried about
the air pollution and anotherperson not having transportation
, they all made ways to get here.
And it's fascinating becausethere's a lot of different
volunteers that were like whatcan I do to help?
(22:20):
Do you need me?
And then there's the peoplethat just showed up.
And the people that showed up,were here for two weeks and it
became a family and I've neverseen anything like it and I
think that Los Angeles reallyneeds that in a way, because
there's such a divide betweenthe east and the west, between
(22:40):
the highways, and it takes solong to get places and the
traffic is a mess and there'snot centralized transportation
and you know, but people camefrom all over just to be here I
felt that sense of communityalmost immediately because all
of a sudden I see this familyand then they're inviting me in
(23:03):
and she she even acknowledged inthat moment, do you feel it?
Speaker 1 (23:05):
And I'm like, yes, and she's.
I mean, I knew that she hadbeen here hours and hours and
hours and for days and days.
And one of the other guys waslike yeah, like 12 hour days,
and I think that I didn't seeany lack of energy in you or
anyone else.
It was just this.
It's like we're in thistogether, gnu or anyone else.
It was just this.
It's like we're in thistogether.
And again, while I'm here,people are bringing stuff in and
(23:29):
people are taking stuff out,but they weren't.
They were taking boxes,distributing it to other places,
and I didn't know where it wasgoing.
I just knew there was a lotgoing on.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
You were just here for a pour over.
You were just here for a kettleand a pour over.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I have a business too .
I was expecting a steve, ohyeah that's a good story.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
This is the craziest part.
So I was expecting a steve fromlinkedin, yeah, and he was
supposed to be here when stevewalked in.
And so I come downstairs andI'm like, are you steve?
And he's like, yes, how did youknow?
Wow.
And then the other steve justhappened to be like an hour late
and he came later and I waslike, but I had already met
(24:09):
steve like this is the onlyperson I needed to meet, so, and
the other person was extremelyhelpful and very kind, but it
was just very.
It was a surreal experience andI had wanted to do Sunday
sessions.
I heard Steve's story and I wasincredibly inspired and also
(24:30):
just so saddened to see, youknow, a really real depiction of
how it affected somebody onsuch a deeply personal level and
which is still hard to process.
But with this offer and thispresence of somebody coming in
here in a space that was soenergetically, you know,
(24:52):
operating for the past two weeks, it was like a no-brainer of
okay, we'd wanted to do somesort of worship on Sundays and I
, you, it was just the perfecttime and the perfect person to
walk in.
Volunteering can go into so manydifferent facets of life and so
(25:15):
many different.
It could be a natural disaster,or it could be a shelter, or it
could be just helping someonein need and normalizing that.
What does it look like tonormalize that and to give back
and to process?
And so this is a value-basedspace, right?
(25:35):
I have a 10-questionapplication for members to come
in here and one of the questionsis you know, what is the change
they want to be in the worldand things like that, and it's
already at baseline, veryconscious co-working space.
But this in five years ofliving in LA, I've never seen
such consciousness and um somuch cohesion between those that
(26:02):
are working on the front lines,those that are impacted, those
that feel helpless and want tohelp.
And, yeah, just reallysolidified my love for Los
Angeles the idea of community.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
You brought that early on, that that's something
you were experiencing here and Ithink people are, so they're
just dying for it and as theywere serving they were they're
experiencing that community andwe experienced that as well so
many different times.
But I think when you're talkingabout this, this, this meshing
of you know first responderstoday we were being greeted by
(26:38):
first responders that were justso kind and I and and yet
there's purpose.
And I think when we come backto that, all of us they want, we
all want that purpose, but wedon't want to.
We don't have a purpose.
That's alone.
We don't want to just sit in abehind a screen and say, look at
, this is my purpose, it's gotto be more, and if there's not
relational, if it's notrelational, it's like we just we
(27:01):
miss out.
And I'm finding a lot of peoplehere in Venice Beach, for some
of you don't know, this is acommunity.
That that is where people are,find identity and they don't
look like anyone else.
They don't dress like it orcarry themselves.
They can be themselves, and soto be able to have a.
That's why I'm excited aboutmaking a co-working space for
myself here.
(27:21):
I'm like how do I fit into thiswithout bringing too much of me?
But what does it look like tobe able to do this and say but
let's continue to serve othersas we each find our place and
purpose?
So it means a lot.
I can't believe just a few days.
I'm so excited to be tellingeverybody about what, what
you're doing here and and nowhere we are use that word
(27:42):
purpose and I want to take youback to episode 13 of Beyond the
Plate.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
We're sitting on our podcast in our cushy studio, but
this is nice though.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
This is nice, but I was in a pretty cushy office and
you were in a pretty cushyoffice Looking at the ocean.
That's not there anymore.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Exactly.
You gave us a quote aboutpurpose that I want to bring
back to you because I think it'sa kickoff to our next topic
here.
You said you and your son werehaving a conversation.
This is back in 2016,.
Metro Cafe, metropolis, metro,colab.
It's a matter of faith, and ifwe're committed, then we're
(28:21):
going to make it about people.
And you talked about purpose,and I think back then, that
purpose is still following youtoday.
God hasn't changed his plan,his purpose.
What does that say to you now,given the situation you're in?
Because I really want you to Ireally would love for our
audience to hear how you hadthis tragic situation take place
(28:46):
, where your home, the museum ofyour life, as I heard a
broadcaster once say, the museumof your life is gone, and I
don't mean to put salt in thewound, but the reality for
everyone understanding asthey're watching us here.
But God has a purpose from backthen that is still following
you to today.
But God has a purpose from backthen that is still following
(29:07):
you to today.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I'm a pretty positive person but I know during this
time I needed to feel this.
I had to take it in and, asI've been processing, my wife
wasn't ready to go see the placeuntil two days ago and we went
in together and being in thatmoment with her and tears and us
just being together in thatmoment, realizing that we had to
(29:30):
be the recipients of a lot oflove during this time.
But when I looked around and Isaw our neighborhood, my heart
went to those people, becauseit's not about our homes, it's
not that it was walking the dogand meeting the neighbors, it
(29:50):
was hearing what's going on atbecause they just got out of the
hospital.
It was these things and sopeople.
I'm one of those people but forme, I'm not one on the outside
saying I want to try to beempathetic and oh, oh, I'm so
sorry you're going through that,and I'm going to say all the
right things and lean in alittle bit and and say, oh, you
(30:11):
know, and I don't want to.
I just know that it's not aboutmy story alone, but my story is
important and what I'm feelingis important.
This is my family.
I want to take care of them.
But my heart's breaking for myneighbors.
My heart is breaking for thepeople that I meet that are so
lonely and they feel likethey're all like this is it and
(30:33):
everything is taken.
They have no anchor of hope.
So when we come back to thisplace of purpose, we come back
to this place that these arepeople.
It's acknowledging that I'm oneof them, but I'm a part of a
community that I want to healthrough this process and see
restoration.
I was working through somethingearlier.
This idea people are trying tomake like well, you know, I
(30:56):
heard someone say um, well, alittle too much christian I'm,
I'm a pastor, okay so, but alittle too much like
in-your-face guy with threemillion views on this video.
We had the Golden Globes andfive days later, the fire.
What does that mean?
I'm like are you kidding me?
So it's just like the grittingthe teeth.
(31:18):
People want to make it likeSodom and Gomorrah.
I'm like you don't understandthe heart of God.
I don't think and it's not me tojudge them either it's just
that in this time we have peoplegrieving and they have nothing
to hold on to, but for some ofus that our hope and our
treasure is not in these things.
(31:38):
We better live it out in a waythat they can see that we have
something that gives us a peacethat's not going to get taken
away because of a fire.
We're going through this andwe're coming out of this, and so
, yes, I think that there's somethings in this that is causing
a greater passion and a greaterlove for LA.
(31:59):
This is where I'm called, thisis where I live, this is my kids
, this is home, and so I want torebuild, but you know it's it's
not coming quick, and that's OK.
That's what I can, so can Iembrace this and and use this as
a time to get my eyes off ofmyself, but not to forget myself
(32:20):
.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
We saw your neighborhood today.
We had the chance and it will.
Our audience will visit it aswell.
It's ashes.
It's ashes at the moment.
How is it you're going torebuild that neighborhood?
And the strength to come back,the hope, the knowing that one
day it might not stand the sameas it was before, but it's going
to be mine again, yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Well, if I can stay in the moment, if I'm not going
to worry about tomorrow,tomorrow, because tomorrow's got
enough worries of itself I'mnot going to be anxious about
this.
But what if I can be in thismoment?
So when I went at 7 am to Mel'sDiner to meet with a group of
people that we pray every Fridaymorning for the community and
praying for God to do somethingonly he could do, I walk in and
(33:06):
one of the heads of one of thedepartments for the state that I
need to talk to, but you cannever get to the head of the
department.
He's going to sit down and Isaid I see that there and I have
a couple of questions.
I'm so appreciative.
I had to drive to Riverside toget some information from you
guys, but you know what?
Can I ask you a question?
He goes yeah, get someinformation from you guys, but
you know what?
(33:26):
Can I ask you a question?
He goes, yeah, and he givesthem fact.
When I began to ask the question, I told him where we live.
He says after we finish, we'regoing to your neighborhood and
he told me exactly what it wouldlook like to rebuild and he
says don't think it's happeningquick and it may not happen
because of some circumstanceswith your neighborhood, which is
a mobile home park at the beach, because if the owners say we
don't want to go back, then 178people may not be able to go
(33:48):
back home.
But right after that, someonethat I know a part of our
congregation walks in and theyare meeting a firefighter there
that's taken them in to seetheir house.
For three generations they'velived there.
So I can say how am I going torebuild?
And focus in on that and sayhow am I going to do it and
what's going to look like andhow much it's going to cost and
(34:10):
what did I lose?
Or I'm going to realize, god,you, just you met me this
morning at 7 am with the head ofthis whole state agency that
gave me what I needed and I gotto see someone else who needs
you to be with them today, morethan just a firefighter that
takes them in.
So God is like I'm going to bein the moment today and then I'm
(34:34):
going to just take you what youneed.
I'm going to provide for you,but you've got to trust me.
Lean not on your ownunderstanding.
Trust me with all your heart.
Lean not on your understandingIn all your ways.
Acknowledge me and I willdirect your paths.
I'm going to hold on to thatscripture.
I'm not letting go that Godworks all things together for
good, and God's like I'm goingto work this out.
But you've got to trust me.
(34:57):
You're going to meet Savannah afew days before and then you're
going to meet someone tomorrowthat you weren't expecting.
You were going to meet and Igot a place for you to go when
you leave the hotel.
But right now you say, how'sthat ever going to happen?
But I could either get caughtin.
What's the future going to looklike?
I just know that this is myhome and I'm not going anywhere
(35:17):
and we're going to rebuildtogether.
But together is looking like adifferent picture.
Huh, savannah, it's all thesepeople who have never been
brought together.
But that's a beautiful pictureof diversity and just seeing.
We're going to do this.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
God loves LA, god loves Santa Monica and God loves
Pastor Snoke and Savannah andMoss.
I'm going to go on a limb there.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Strong limb limb there.
No, that's strong limb.
Hashtag facts strong limbdiversity.
You were, we were, we were outin santa monica pier earlier,
yeah, and you were kind ofshowing us the landscape of
pacific, palisades, as far as Icould see, and what we could
kind of see from where we were.
And then you talked about, um,having a.
(36:03):
Your son had mentioned havingsomething on the wall on the
beach and having Christians,non-christian Jews, every walk
of life.
Why is that so important inthis junk?
Why is that?
I mean, listen, you're a pastor, a Christian pastor, just you
know, get the congregationtogether.
Why is this so important?
To open the arms wider, to letmore in.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
So I think we're all created in the image and
likeness of God, all of us, andthe picture of heaven is every
tribe and tongue, every nation.
That's a picture of heaven.
And between this idea ofeveryone created the image and
likeness of God, we are broken.
Every one of us are broken.
(36:47):
So our picture sometimes ofChristianity or any one of the
big world religions or whateverreligion overall, sometimes
becomes a little bit too muchlike us and not much like, I
think, what God is.
So if Jesus is the embodiment ofGod, then he has given us a
picture of the way he treats awoman that's caught in adultery
(37:08):
when everyone else wants tostone her.
There's a lot of that going onnow, in the name of Christ even.
But that's not what Christ did.
He said whoever is without sin,go ahead and cast the first
stone and they all walk away.
And he says that neither Idon't, they don't condemn you,
neither do I.
And he said but you can't justkeep living this way.
I mean, he was honest, a womanat the well.
(37:28):
That's like you can give me adrink of water, but I could give
you some living water.
So if I'm looking at jesusvalues and jesus message and
jesus model and jesus style andI say that we're to be embodying
that.
Then we don't say let's get abunch of people who believe like
I believe, and we'll take careof you.
If I'm going to love myneighbors myself and my neighbor
(37:51):
when Jesus told the story, myneighbor is someone of a
different race and religion isthe story of the Good Samaritan
that most people know, even ifthey're not religious.
So we said we're throwing aparty at the beach and a bunch
of people are going to to, we'regoing to do a barbecue, we're
going to bring a taco man, we'regoing to bring all this stuff
and it's for my neighborhood tofeel the love and then we're
(38:13):
going to move on to the nextneighborhood.
But I have a place to start.
But we can start doing that inmany neighborhoods and I don't
people like how are you going tofund it?
Well, I started going to mybrother standing over here and
some other guys that are inOrange County, kind of the Mecca
of, I don't know, the BibleBelt of California.
I say are you guys going tosupport this?
So we've got our resources, butwe're not afraid to ask other
(38:50):
people, like Savannah is notafraid to ask other people and
people just to keep flooding in.
So to care for people that maybe a little different than us is
to show the love of Christ bynot just vomiting the message of
like, just get this right andyou could have what we have, but
maybe the really the message ofChrist, and that means we go
back to his model, not whatsomeone else has tried to create
in their image instead of his.
So it's a long answer to that,but that's where my heart's at.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
No, it's the right answer.
That's great, savannah, thesame for you.
I'm sure you're not justgetting rocket scientists and
entertainment executives, techexecutives.
There is a wide array ofindividuals that need wellness,
that need healing, that need tobe made whole, if it's a pour
(39:31):
over in a kettle, or it's ablanket, or it's just a pair of
shoes, because the ones thatthey've had on for two, three
weeks, however long it's been,is just worn.
What has it been like to seejust a wider variety of this
community show up here at mossvenice, california?
Speaker 4 (39:50):
I mean amazing I've never seen it and I think
there's a lot of stereotypes ofthis place that people believe
on the east coast and differentparts of the country, different
parts of California.
I remember when I went toschool in the bay area, I was on
(40:12):
a plane and there was a manreading a newspaper and he takes
down the newspaper and he'slike you've been to SoCal?
And I said no, it was in 2012.
And he puts right.
Before he put the newspaperback up, he said uh, norcal is
like socal with books, right andjust so.
(40:35):
There's these.
There's these images that youcan give as much truth to as you
want.
And then there's times like thisthat strip people of their
human suit and the stories andthe identities that they build
up for themselves, whether it'sto make a career or to make
friends, or to fit in with acommunity or a job or whatever
(40:59):
that is, and that was the mostbeautiful part of it for me, and
I think it's also.
I don't know what anyone did.
I don't know where anyone comesfrom, because that's not what
it was about and that's not whatgot people through the door and
that's not what got people tostay for pizza parties in the
(41:20):
evenings, and you know, if Icould do this every day for the
rest of my life, I would.
I would offer free classes, Iwould offer free classes, I
would offer Sunday sessions.
I would.
So many things that I would do.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
But now you've got to decide.
Do I want to expand next doorand is that going to?
Is the provision going to comeand the inspiration's here?
Speaker 4 (41:45):
The inspiration's here, the inspiration's here, I
think the need's here and Ithink people need to be
activated, and so activating anarmy of 700 kind souls is a
full-time job in itself, butI've already had volunteers that
have said I want to be a partof this.
Can I work for you full time?
(42:06):
I'm leaving my job at spacex.
This is where my heart is, andso what you know, as I'm
processing on day 15, what isthe next move, what is the right
move, and just taking notes andsitting on that and seeing the
(42:29):
most effective ways that I canexpand as a business.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Before we wrap up and we kind of end our time here,
Pastor Stephen, I want to reallytake us to the Sunday sessions
that's going to take place incollaboration.
This purpose is Sunday sessions.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
It's not church as usual, right?
No, in fact, I think this isreally.
This is us getting stepping outof the box, and she really
confirmed it the other day to me.
My neighbors need to betogether and they need to tell
their story of how this hasaffected them, and they need
someone to listen.
But this Sunday Sessions isn'tabout the other people to listen
(43:15):
.
I think it's really more aboutinviting my neighbors, of all
different faiths and their viewson life and lifestyle, to be
able to say we are family.
Let's come together.
They know me.
I've been spending a lot oftime with them.
We've worked through sometragedies in our neighborhood
and we did it together beforethis ever happened.
(43:36):
So when they come and to beable to just sit and experience
this place with the peace here,but to be able to just say how
has this affected you?
And for us to be ready for thetears and to be able to, and
maybe anger and frustration, andfor them to say I'm mad at god,
why didn't god protect us?
(43:58):
Or whatever, but they're coming.
They're jubu, jewish buddhists,they're um, they're atheists.
They're all different kinds oflifestyles, backgrounds,
different countries, alldifferent ages.
When she began to paint thepicture, I could see the picture
of people, of a group of peoplesitting in this whole
(44:19):
downstairs area and just to beable to listen and then to say,
well, let me share somethingwith you and allow that open
discussion, to allow some ofthose questions.
And I think it's got to beorganic.
But I realize I've got a model.
Jesus is this model that hepeople were in where he might be
(44:43):
sharing something and they'reinterrupting with questions.
So that doesn't happen inchurch today.
They'll be like sit down, getout of here.
Where he might be sharingsomething and they're
interrupting with questions.
So that doesn't happen in churchtoday.
They'll be like sit down, getout of here.
I mean, I think let's justlet's see what it looks like.
And I think there would be apoint, savannah's, like you're
not the right guy or whatever tohelp facilitate this.
But if God's in it, I thinkwe're going to see that he's
(45:03):
going to navigate in the firstweek.
God's in it.
I think we're going to see thathe's going to navigate in the
first week.
Because she said it's a weekfrom Sunday, because they were
doing some things here over theweekend they had to close down,
but then she yesterday, today Idon't know, I lost track of time
.
She goes, it's open, let peopleknow, and now it means, just
like all this happened the lasttwo weeks and two days or
(45:24):
whatever, this is going tohappen, by me just putting the
word on a WhatsApp to all myneighbors and saying listen, I
know you guys have come fromdifferent places but here's a
place where we can be together.
So we'll see.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
From the ashes you're , I think, building a greater
community for the future greatercommunity for the future.
We were pretty excited Againbefore the fires there wasn't a
lot of contacts that were beingshared between us four here and
everybody else that you've seenalong the last few weeks, so
that's an amazing thing.
Again, there's nothing that wecan plan for and again, nobody
(45:59):
wants a fire to bring familytogether.
There's so many other reasonswe can bring family together,
but devastation it kind.
We're meeting people that areactually changing families in a
matter of time, not having towait a week or three weeks or
something to return to your ownhome or whatever's left Right.
(46:20):
So I mean this conversation is.
It is inspiring and nourishingmy soul as well as everyone in
this room, and almost everyepisode we like to end it on a
positive note.
We like to end it on a positivenote, right, but because of that
positive note and the themethat we got going on this is
actually from episode 13 that wehad with you, Pastor Snook, and
(46:43):
it was regarding the Olympicsthat are coming here to LA soon,
Soon 2028.
2028.
But I think after this it'sprobably going to be even better
, bigger, stronger.
No, you had mentioned that LosAngeles is ready for the games
for this.
For decades, this has been aplace where God has done some
(47:05):
great things over the years, butit kind of just goes off
somewhere else Azusa Street it'sa revival CRU Ministries, which
is on the campuses.
There's been all these amazingthings that have happened, and
so this is a time we're sayingGod, would you do something in
your church as we unite aroundyour mission, and I think what's
next is that we are uniting inprayer, we are uniting people
(47:30):
and serving the community andserving one another, and that
means we just laid down some ofthose things that we got to let
go for the sake of somethingbigger.
Speaker 1 (47:38):
Wow you said, you said that I hear you.
Speaker 3 (47:41):
You can say wow, you did say that, but and this was
before we even yeah, so here weare yeah so the greatest natural
disaster in American history.
Speaker 1 (47:52):
They say now, and let's see what comes out of the
ashes.
I even read, you know, thewhole story from Greek mythology
of the phoenix coming out ofthe ashes.
But there was one of the earlychurch fathers.
He said that my faith is builton one who's come out of the
ashes.
It gives us something that isnever going to end.
(48:14):
Of the ashes, that gives ussomething that is never going to
end.
And so for me to hold to thisand say what do I treasure?
These things that can be burnedup, that can be stolen, that
moth or rust can destroy, or amI going to?
Am I going to invest intreasures in heaven?
So, no matter what, or mysocial economic place, no matter
what my background is, you knowwhen, when she was telling me,
(48:35):
I'm like, I'm pretty impressed.
She didn't want it, she wasn'tgoing to go into it, but she
goes we were able to scale like52 different COVID things.
I heard you and I'm like butGod, you had a bigger plan for
her and you had a bigger planfor me and all of us.
We just got to find what isGod's assignment for each of us
in this season in our lives andto be able to hear it and be
(48:56):
willing to step out and say I'mnot too old, I'm not too young
and I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm me, youknow I.
I'm going to end with somethingI want to share with you guys.
Two days after the fire, I gotto go back to my neighborhood
with my son and one of my sonsand my daughter and I had a safe
(49:16):
that was there and it'ssupposed to be fireproof, but
everything was gone.
But this is the ring that mywife put on my finger in 1987
when we got married, and it'svery black and still smells like
smoke.
But when the Bible says, you becareful how you build, you
(49:37):
build with wood, hay and stubble.
It gets burned up, but it's theprecious jewels and gold and
silver that are being refined.
So this is a time of refinementand I'm willing to say there's
still more in me.
But I walk away with this ringthat reminds me of this.
Someone said the other day aregonna, are you gonna, get all
(49:58):
polished up again because it'sgold?
I'm like, no, that's gonna stayright the way it is.
It's just a little too 1987 towear, though you know what I
mean but, but you know that'spart of this story, so let's see
if, if we can.
I don't think we need to be inthe lead, though we need to be,
but we just need to know whowe're following.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
Thank you, pastor, thank you.
Well, we're not done with thisconversation.
Here in Los Angeles we have apart two of this two-part series
, a special edition of Beyondthe Plate.
So stick around, like subscribeand definitely share this.
Like subscribe and definitelyshare this.
Share Moss in Venice,california, with your friends
and family.
Out here in SoCal, west LA eventhe East LA folks I got some
(50:43):
family Orange County All arewelcome here.
Speaker 4 (50:49):
All are welcome here.
All are welcome here, and we'llhave some complimentary events
at Moss Venice for some time tocome, and stay tuned for sunday
sessions there you go, amen,thank you bear brews.
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Hey everyone.
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We love having you here.
Speaker 2 (52:43):
Keep up with us on Instagram and TikTok at
beyondtheplatepodcast.
Speaker 3 (52:48):
And if you enjoy the show, don't forget to subscribe
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Just search Food for the Poor.
Speaker 2 (52:56):
Beyond the Plate.
Speaker 3 (52:57):
Your support means the world to us All right folks,
we'll see you on the nextBeyond the Plate episode.
I'm waving you.
It's just interesting because I've driven this so
many times, but it's gone.
Our whole neighborhood's gone.
It has a major effect and Ifeel it.
But I also am feeling thisheart for all these people in
the ministry and I think thatthis is an opportunity like
we've never had before.
If I were in their shoes and Ididn't have the hope, that
(00:23):
anchor of hope that we have inChrist, what would I do?
Let's start loving these peoplewhere they are, the way Jesus
did, and do it with Jesus' style, and let's use Jesus' values,
but let's do it together.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
So Metro Cafe 3.0, Metro Church 3.0, Metropolis 3.0
, Metro Mobile now it's notgoing into the community, it's
becoming part of the community.
Oh, that's good.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
It's becoming the community.
That's it, and I think it's.
Every day is a new adventureand we don't know what's going
to happen.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Welcome to Beyond the Plate I'm Paul Jacobs where
food is more than just a meal.
It's a powerful way to connect,inspire and transform.
We call it Tertulia, agathering where bonds are formed
and stories are shared.
Get ready to dive into realstories that inspire, challenge
and nourish the soul.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I'm Daniel Patino, inviting you to join our
Tertulia and explore how foodand connection can truly
transform lives.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Let's go beyond the plate.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Why are we not in our studio?
They moved us out of our studiofor a good reason, and I'm
liking this one a little bitbetter.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, first of all, we're not like a couple of miles
away from home.
We ended up in California.
Hi everybody, Welcome back toBeyond the Plate.
I'm your host, co-host PaulJacobs, and.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
I'm co-host Danny Patino, and yes, we're not at
home.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah, but it feels like it.
This is amazing.
First of all for those of youthat follow Beyond the Plate.
A number of months ago we hadthe pleasure of interviewing
this amazing gentleman, pastorStephen Snook.
He's not only a pastor out herein California, but he's also a
food for the part of food forthe poor family, and we talked
about his background, his vision, what God gave him for
(02:09):
California to reach thecommunity.
But now it for those of youthat have been following the
news.
You've seen the LA wildfires,you've seen so much that has
gone on in this community andGod has turned the tables a
little bit and we'll talk alittle bit about that.
But we have the blessing andhonor to have this special
(02:32):
edition of Beyond the Plate hereat Moss Simply Moss.
I love that.
It's like share or sting, right.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
It's.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Moss, and we have another guest with us today, and
this is Savannah abano.
Did I, did I get that right?
You got that right?
Ah, yes, I've been practicingfor the last three minutes, but,
uh, welcome, savannah, to be onthe play.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
We're so grateful to have you so so grateful for you
guys coming here on such shortnotice in such insane times
right now in la, and it's ablessing to have you well, I
think what?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
when we finish this episode, we're going to find out
that this, a lot of this, wasGod ordained.
Not insane, but God ordainedbecause I think God can take.
His scripture says he can makebeauty out of ashes and I really
believe that, literally, istaking place right now.
But I have to start with howdid this all happen?
I mean, how did we end up inthis amazing podcast studio with
(03:26):
you both?
This, something happened thatconnected you two, and that is
the first story we want to getbefore we get.
All.
My notes are like, for example,I want to hear about the vision
you had, the dream you had, andhow that brought the two of you
together to enable thisopportunity today.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Three days ago I needed a little normality for my
wife and I.
We're in a hotel and she loveshaving in the morning some good
tea, and I was like I'm going toget her a kettle.
I want to do a pour over.
So I'm going to go get thiskettle and I'm going to get a
good one.
And so I knew that I could getit at this place called Fellow
over here.
So I'm walking down the streetand and part of this, some
(04:03):
things start happening.
One of the stores like draws mein and says we got some clothes
.
You want it?
I'm talking about a kettle.
And then the kettle thing comesout and then they said well,
you know, there's this placethat also has some stuff over
there and it's called moth andit's right around the corner.
So I'm like okay, and so Idecided I'm just gonna go with
(04:24):
this and and so I walk over hereand they're like welcome.
And they're like are you avictim of the fire or something?
I said yeah, and they go look,all this is yours, Just come in.
And I said I also heard this isa coworker in space.
I lost my place to work.
I'm going to need a place towork and they said, well, come
in.
I'm like, okay, and I'm,there's something special about
this place, but you need to meet.
(04:45):
And then, walking down thestairs is Savannah and and she
just welcomed me and just, and Isaid, well, tell me the story.
And she began to tell the storythat you're going to hear from
her about what has happened inthe last two weeks.
That is really an amazing storyof one person who was willing
to say let's do this and stepout and then watch what God
(05:07):
could do in the middle of thatand so.
But the story goes on becausewe began to talk and she said
what's your story?
And then, out of that shestarts opening her heart and she
was very open and vulnerable,which is which was really
meaningful to me.
And listen to me while she'spouring.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
She's making me a pour over of good coffee, and
then we started with a fellowpitcher with a fellow pitcher,
yeah, the whole thing is I'mlike wait, this is all coming
together.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
But the beauty of it was in the middle of that.
I said you know, we're tryingto get together some of our
neighbors because we lost ourwhole neighborhood.
And she said well, how aboutSunday morning here?
Bring them together here?
And immediately she said Sundaysessions.
And she said do you want to doit?
(05:59):
And then we talked a little bitmore.
I'm like yes, and so we're liketo gather some of our neighbors
who are who really grievingover this loss.
But to then to to watch, therewas like filled with people, all
these people here down, below,above, and they're just coming
in and they're all serving, andthen that number, 700 people
(06:20):
that have been serving up tothat point.
And then the.
Then the guy comes in and saidoh, it's at a thousand now.
So I was like what?
And they're distributing andtaking all these.
This is amazing.
But she's got to tell thatstory.
But that's how we met.
Okay, so two days, three daysago, whatever wow.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
So, savannah, before we get to january 7th when the
fires started, before we get toa few days ago, before you met
Pastor Stephen, what were youstarting here?
What was going on here withMoss?
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Moss has been open for 10 months and the intention
behind it is an intention thatstems from Ikigai right, so it's
what the world needs.
What I was passionate about,which was wellness combined with
co-working in a model that Ihad never seen exist anywhere
else.
In fact, I went to New Yorkbefore we opened the co-working
(07:11):
Mecca of the country and Ididn't find anything like this
and it was coming out of thepandemic.
People really were cravingcommunity, but there was this
sort of like invisible wallbetween people Like you weren't.
You were sort of.
It was seen as like a fearresponse when you would meet a
stranger and so.
(07:33):
But apps were taboo.
So this place that people couldgather a passion space for me,
which was like operations mixedwith design, mixed with wellness
, what you can be paid for andon my own terms, and then I
guess, yeah, just sort ofstemming from what the community
(07:55):
was really asking me for.
Also, I was I was taking notesabout the downfalls of coffee
shops and uncomfortable seatsand lack of outlets and bad
coffee, you know, co-workingspaces feeling too exclusive and
really understanding thatexclusivity doesn't really serve
(08:17):
a purpose in this world anymore, and that was sort of more of
like the vibe for social clubsin like 2015, 2016.
So what does a place look likewhere you can curate the events,
where events are part of themembership, where wellness
offerings can be affordable andaccessible for people and where
(08:37):
co working doesn't have to be sosterile?
So I called my good friend,who's a professional interior
designer named Sakura Hefron.
She's Japanese and she taughtme about wabi-sabi design how
the way that we can curate aspace and how it can appeal to
(08:57):
our senses can really impact ourlives and impact your
relationships and impact howpeople feel before, during and
after an event or co-working day.
So we've hosted around 150events in under a year.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
In 10 months 150 events here Wow.
We have member-led events.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
We have private events.
We have over 100 members events.
We have private events.
We have over 100 members uh,we've done, you know, and it
just become essential part ofthe community.
And then the past week takesthat to a different plane than I
could have ever imagined and,um, I'm I'm still processing
(09:42):
what just happened, but I have avery strong intuition that it's
a reason that it exists in thefirst place.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah.
So let's fast forward now.
Let's really start at what isthe reason why we're here.
January 7th, the fire is ragingin Pacific Palisades.
It is knocking at the doorstep,and literally of Pastor Stephen
and many that I'm sure are hereenjoying the wellness in this
space.
But it's now taken to anotherlevel.
(10:12):
What did you experience?
What was it like first for youwhen everything shifted?
It was, it was not justwellness as usual and forgive me
for being, you know, flip itwith that comment, but I really
mean it was.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
You had a plan, but then this fire and wildfires
took it to another level, as yousaid it was interesting because
people noticed the change inthe air a couple of days prior
and I haven't really heard thatmany people talking about it,
but the weather was like 75, 80sin January and people were
posting about how insane theweather was and it was almost
like a switch flipped of justthis like summer breeze, and um,
(10:48):
then I I woke up, kind of wasfeeling in a strange yeah, it
was just, it wasn't like thebest morning walked outside with
my dog, was taking her on awalk and then exactly at 10 30,
we're on the beach and I juststart to see this one billow of
(11:09):
smoke and it was coming.
You could.
At this point there wasn't thatmuch smoke where you couldn't
see where it started and I couldsee it was like smack in the
middle of the palisades hill andit's one of those things where
you're just like, ok, this firestarted.
There's homes around, someonehas already called, someone has
already reported that this firehas gone off and it was so hard
(11:36):
to look away, but it just gotevery 10 minutes.
It was almost like it wasmultiplying.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
And really quick not to interrupt you, but here,
southern california, wildfiresis commonplace, right?
I mean, over the years there'sa wildfire story almost every
year, somewhere somehow.
So what's that any differentfrom any other wildfire over the
years am I?
Am I correct?
Speaker 4 (12:00):
And I'm fortunately I've only been here for five
years, so, like I wasn't herefor the Woolsey fire, I've heard
about other ones, but I've alsoheard from people that have
lived here for 50 years, likeour gardener, who had never seen
anything like this, and Steveas well, like mentioned the same
thing.
So I started taking out myphone to let my team know and I
(12:25):
realized that I was taking thesepictures.
The wind was picking up and itwas almost like everything was
happening in slow motion.
My immediate thought was OK,this is getting really big, this
is.
I'd never seen smoke like thisin my life.
I need to call my friends thatare out in Topanga, because to
me, I didn't know exactly whereit was coming from and I was
(12:46):
like but, in country.
Our community is in topanga, sotwo friends that weren't even
home no one knew that this washappening yet and it you wanted
to believe it was just temporarycalled my friends.
They came to my house, theyfelt really unsafe and my dog
was the one who was giving methe signals that it wasn't okay
(13:10):
and cause she had never donethis before.
But she went home and she likeit's not, like there was a loud
noise or that like the wind wasknocking at the door, but there
was just like an unsettling.
And she came in and she hidunder my bed.
Just like an unsettling.
And she came in and she hidunder my bed and that night my
friends did not feel safe and sowe drove towards San Clemente.
(13:33):
We got a hotel that I told theteam to shut down and I woke up
the next day we were on the thenews and when we were driving
down there I made sure that theywere okay to.
My team was at peace, no onereally had to work.
(13:53):
We sent messaging to ourmembership base and then I
called my dad, got reallyemotional, had to let it out and
(14:16):
he was like you want to signinto my Home Depot Plus account
I was like yep.
And then, from the parking lot,our event coordinator.
I had her make a social mediapost that went viral about us
becoming a donation center.
And you know, thank God I justwasn't in the place where I had
to go through checks andbalances, asking permission was
(14:38):
not an option at that moment.
It was like do right now ordon't do at all.
Shout out to Mission Viejo HomeDepot.
They were incredibly helpful.
They helped me load a generatorinto the back of my car Oil gas
, five fire extinguishers, fireblocks, fire blankets what kind?
of car is this I have a liftedJeep 2004 Grand Cherokee.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Oh my gosh, that's better than the Montero.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
It fits a lot more.
It fits all the way up.
And you know what?
2004 Grand Cherokee oh my gosh,that's better than the.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
Montero, you know what the craziest thing is?
I tried to sell it six monthsago.
The guy flaked on me, and so itwas like I was meant to have
this car also.
So put the hoses in the car, Ifireproofed the space and I got
back that evening this wasWednesday evening had our
production team that wouldtypically be in the podcast room
helped me bring the generatorinside because again, we all so
(15:27):
much of my team came from COVIDtesting like disaster first
response.
So come in here, put thegenerator in.
The next morning you know Ididn't have anyone that like
confirmed they were going todrop off stuff.
I just had a post but itstarted to be shared around town
and someone brought in a watercontainer at 830.
(15:50):
By 9am we were completelyfilled with stuff.
We had no team, I had no plan,we had no departments.
We didn't have a Slack channel.
Within three days we had aSlack channel.
I converted one Luma page intoa donation link page and we
converted one Luma link page,which is an event platform, um
(16:13):
for a female founders market.
That was supposed to be thatSaturday, so it's Thursday.
We had an event for thatSaturday.
We turned it into a volunteerday on Saturday that amassed 150
volunteers.
Within three hours my my phonewas ringing off the hook and I
couldn't manage answering thephone and the DMs and telling
(16:36):
people no, it's sold out.
No, it's sold out.
So we opened the floodgates tovolunteers, because you feel
helpless in a situation that youhave no control of.
The fire was gaining so muchmomentum and we were just we
didn't know if we were going tobe safe or not.
The alarms were going off onour phone for, like, constantly
(16:59):
different evacuation zones.
So it was like, all right,people need to help put
unlimited signups.
700 volunteers came in and thatwas supposed to be for the
Saturday event but we started.
We had a full house on Thursday.
By Friday property manager cameand gave me a key so we could
(17:22):
expand the operation and, um, Imean we've had engineers,
founders, movie directors,people that just moved here,
people that didn't know anybody.
I mean there's no rhyme orreason to why people came and
volunteered.
But every single person cameand it didn't matter where they
(17:44):
came from, didn't matter whatthey did.
It was like can you lift thisbox?
Great.
And we then createdcommunication channels over time
to first responders on the PCH.
So we were serving, we were themain West side hub that was
serving PCH Palisades, uh,malibu to Panga, then eventually
(18:07):
Pasadena and Altadena and thepeople around the area, like the
brands that came together, therestaurants that came together
to feed our volunteers, todistribute things to uh, the
first responders is just insane.
And we had a team of SpaceXengineers that were our
(18:28):
volunteers running our dispatchcenter.
That's so great.
And they put together all thedifferent departments.
They helped to create systemsfor shoppers, for example.
Some people don't want to be inperson, they're in shock, they
don't want to see anybody, theydon't want to be vulnerable.
(18:49):
So they would create a typeform, um, and fill out what they
needed.
We would put it in a box, printout the form and then ship it
to their homes with our drivers,um.
So I could go on and on.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
No, okay, first of all, I've got to, I've got to
issue a PSA.
You had SpaceX engineers herehelping save lives and respond
to the community Children athome.
Math is important.
You will use it later on inlife and this is proof of that.
You may save the next world,the world, just by making sure
you pass that algebra test.
But I digress.
(19:25):
We're here on our specialedition of Beyond the Plate.
We've got our guests, pastorStephen Snook, as well as
Savannah Abino from Moss, and Iwanted to, before we kick it
over to Dani, I wanted to justtouch on one thing that you just
finished talking about, andthat is the spirit of humanity
that was endued by all of, fromthe SpaceX engineers, from the,
(19:49):
the, the people from industry,the entertainment industry, all
those very individuals goingback to your story with
Metropolis and Metro cafe for somany years.
But there's something that isis riding in my mind, because
we're from Florida, so this isalmost reminiscent of what we
experienced during hurricaneseason.
(20:10):
But something I just reallywould love for you to address
for our audience is each andevery person that's here part of
your team, your podcast team,all those that are here as part
of your team in Moss.
When all this is going on, youincluded.
You left your homes.
Wherever your homes were, theywere unattended while you were
(20:32):
here attending to the community.
What was that like that?
You just put yourself second tothis community and serve.
I just can't fathom the spiritof humanity that was taking
place here through that.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Absolutely nothing else mattered.
Nothing else mattered.
I describe it with myoperations partner during this
operation, roger, about how ourbackground and coming from this,
like COVID testing operation,when there's a natural disaster
(21:13):
like this, I mean nothing.
I, I was portaled into adifferent world.
It didn't matter.
I you know, and I sent amessage to my family two weeks
ago my whole family.
This is what's happening.
I could use your support rightnow and they were all very
supportive and just wish me wellbecause they knew what I was
(21:36):
about to do.
But group chats, friend text,the members that were here, as
much as I wish I could say, youknow, it mattered to me and I
cared.
I was so fully about thismission that it was like it
(21:57):
spoke volumes to me about likewhy I'm on this planet, am on
this planet, and our team alsodropped everything to be here.
Despite, you know, one personbeing a little bit worried about
the air pollution and anotherperson not having transportation
, they all made ways to get here.
And it's fascinating becausethere's a lot of different
volunteers that were like whatcan I do to help?
(22:20):
Do you need me?
And then there's the peoplethat just showed up.
And the people that showed up,were here for two weeks and it
became a family and I've neverseen anything like it and I
think that Los Angeles reallyneeds that in a way, because
there's such a divide betweenthe east and the west, between
(22:40):
the highways, and it takes solong to get places and the
traffic is a mess and there'snot centralized transportation
and you know, but people camefrom all over just to be here I
felt that sense of communityalmost immediately because all
of a sudden I see this familyand then they're inviting me in
(23:03):
and she she even acknowledged inthat moment, do you feel it?
Speaker 1 (23:05):
And I'm like, yes, and she's.
I mean, I knew that she hadbeen here hours and hours and
hours and for days and days.
And one of the other guys waslike yeah, like 12 hour days,
and I think that I didn't seeany lack of energy in you or
anyone else.
It was just this.
It's like we're in thistogether, gnu or anyone else.
It was just this.
It's like we're in thistogether.
And again, while I'm here,people are bringing stuff in and
(23:29):
people are taking stuff out,but they weren't.
They were taking boxes,distributing it to other places,
and I didn't know where it wasgoing.
I just knew there was a lotgoing on.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
You were just here for a pour over.
You were just here for a kettleand a pour over.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I have a business too .
I was expecting a steve, ohyeah that's a good story.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
This is the craziest part.
So I was expecting a steve fromlinkedin, yeah, and he was
supposed to be here when stevewalked in.
And so I come downstairs andI'm like, are you steve?
And he's like, yes, how did youknow?
Wow.
And then the other steve justhappened to be like an hour late
and he came later and I waslike, but I had already met
(24:09):
steve like this is the onlyperson I needed to meet, so, and
the other person was extremelyhelpful and very kind, but it
was just very.
It was a surreal experience andI had wanted to do Sunday
sessions.
I heard Steve's story and I wasincredibly inspired and also
(24:30):
just so saddened to see, youknow, a really real depiction of
how it affected somebody onsuch a deeply personal level and
which is still hard to process.
But with this offer and thispresence of somebody coming in
here in a space that was soenergetically, you know,
(24:52):
operating for the past two weeks, it was like a no-brainer of
okay, we'd wanted to do somesort of worship on Sundays and I
, you, it was just the perfecttime and the perfect person to
walk in.
Volunteering can go into so manydifferent facets of life and so
(25:15):
many different.
It could be a natural disaster,or it could be a shelter, or it
could be just helping someonein need and normalizing that.
What does it look like tonormalize that and to give back
and to process?
And so this is a value-basedspace, right?
(25:35):
I have a 10-questionapplication for members to come
in here and one of the questionsis you know, what is the change
they want to be in the worldand things like that, and it's
already at baseline, veryconscious co-working space.
But this in five years ofliving in LA, I've never seen
such consciousness and um somuch cohesion between those that
(26:02):
are working on the front lines,those that are impacted, those
that feel helpless and want tohelp.
And, yeah, just reallysolidified my love for Los
Angeles the idea of community.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
You brought that early on, that that's something
you were experiencing here and Ithink people are, so they're
just dying for it and as theywere serving they were they're
experiencing that community andwe experienced that as well so
many different times.
But I think when you're talkingabout this, this, this meshing
of you know first responderstoday we were being greeted by
(26:38):
first responders that were justso kind and I and and yet
there's purpose.
And I think when we come backto that, all of us they want, we
all want that purpose, but wedon't want to.
We don't have a purpose.
That's alone.
We don't want to just sit in abehind a screen and say, look at
, this is my purpose, it's gotto be more, and if there's not
relational, if it's notrelational, it's like we just we
(27:01):
miss out.
And I'm finding a lot of peoplehere in Venice Beach, for some
of you don't know, this is acommunity.
That that is where people are,find identity and they don't
look like anyone else.
They don't dress like it orcarry themselves.
They can be themselves, and soto be able to have a.
That's why I'm excited aboutmaking a co-working space for
myself here.
(27:21):
I'm like how do I fit into thiswithout bringing too much of me?
But what does it look like tobe able to do this and say but
let's continue to serve othersas we each find our place and
purpose?
So it means a lot.
I can't believe just a few days.
I'm so excited to be tellingeverybody about what, what
you're doing here and and nowhere we are use that word
(27:42):
purpose and I want to take youback to episode 13 of Beyond the
Plate.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
We're sitting on our podcast in our cushy studio, but
this is nice though.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
This is nice, but I was in a pretty cushy office and
you were in a pretty cushyoffice Looking at the ocean.
That's not there anymore.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Exactly.
You gave us a quote aboutpurpose that I want to bring
back to you because I think it'sa kickoff to our next topic
here.
You said you and your son werehaving a conversation.
This is back in 2016,.
Metro Cafe, metropolis, metro,colab.
It's a matter of faith, and ifwe're committed, then we're
(28:21):
going to make it about people.
And you talked about purpose,and I think back then, that
purpose is still following youtoday.
God hasn't changed his plan,his purpose.
What does that say to you now,given the situation you're in?
Because I really want you to Ireally would love for our
audience to hear how you hadthis tragic situation take place
(28:46):
, where your home, the museum ofyour life, as I heard a
broadcaster once say, the museumof your life is gone, and I
don't mean to put salt in thewound, but the reality for
everyone understanding asthey're watching us here.
But God has a purpose from backthen that is still following
you to today.
But God has a purpose from backthen that is still following
(29:07):
you to today.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I'm a pretty positive person but I know during this
time I needed to feel this.
I had to take it in and, asI've been processing, my wife
wasn't ready to go see the placeuntil two days ago and we went
in together and being in thatmoment with her and tears and us
just being together in thatmoment, realizing that we had to
(29:30):
be the recipients of a lot oflove during this time.
But when I looked around and Isaw our neighborhood, my heart
went to those people, becauseit's not about our homes, it's
not that it was walking the dogand meeting the neighbors, it
(29:50):
was hearing what's going on atbecause they just got out of the
hospital.
It was these things and sopeople.
I'm one of those people but forme, I'm not one on the outside
saying I want to try to beempathetic and oh, oh, I'm so
sorry you're going through that,and I'm going to say all the
right things and lean in alittle bit and and say, oh, you
(30:11):
know, and I don't want to.
I just know that it's not aboutmy story alone, but my story is
important and what I'm feelingis important.
This is my family.
I want to take care of them.
But my heart's breaking for myneighbors.
My heart is breaking for thepeople that I meet that are so
lonely and they feel likethey're all like this is it and
(30:33):
everything is taken.
They have no anchor of hope.
So when we come back to thisplace of purpose, we come back
to this place that these arepeople.
It's acknowledging that I'm oneof them, but I'm a part of a
community that I want to healthrough this process and see
restoration.
I was working through somethingearlier.
This idea people are trying tomake like well, you know, I
(30:56):
heard someone say um, well, alittle too much christian I'm,
I'm a pastor, okay so, but alittle too much like
in-your-face guy with threemillion views on this video.
We had the Golden Globes andfive days later, the fire.
What does that mean?
I'm like are you kidding me?
So it's just like the grittingthe teeth.
(31:18):
People want to make it likeSodom and Gomorrah.
I'm like you don't understandthe heart of God.
I don't think and it's not me tojudge them either it's just
that in this time we have peoplegrieving and they have nothing
to hold on to, but for some ofus that our hope and our
treasure is not in these things.
(31:38):
We better live it out in a waythat they can see that we have
something that gives us a peacethat's not going to get taken
away because of a fire.
We're going through this andwe're coming out of this, and so
, yes, I think that there's somethings in this that is causing
a greater passion and a greaterlove for LA.
(31:59):
This is where I'm called, thisis where I live, this is my kids
, this is home, and so I want torebuild, but you know it's it's
not coming quick, and that's OK.
That's what I can, so can Iembrace this and and use this as
a time to get my eyes off ofmyself, but not to forget myself
(32:20):
.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
We saw your neighborhood today.
We had the chance and it will.
Our audience will visit it aswell.
It's ashes.
It's ashes at the moment.
How is it you're going torebuild that neighborhood?
And the strength to come back,the hope, the knowing that one
day it might not stand the sameas it was before, but it's going
to be mine again, yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Well, if I can stay in the moment, if I'm not going
to worry about tomorrow,tomorrow, because tomorrow's got
enough worries of itself I'mnot going to be anxious about
this.
But what if I can be in thismoment?
So when I went at 7 am to Mel'sDiner to meet with a group of
people that we pray every Fridaymorning for the community and
praying for God to do somethingonly he could do, I walk in and
(33:06):
one of the heads of one of thedepartments for the state that I
need to talk to, but you cannever get to the head of the
department.
He's going to sit down and Isaid I see that there and I have
a couple of questions.
I'm so appreciative.
I had to drive to Riverside toget some information from you
guys, but you know what?
Can I ask you a question?
He goes yeah, get someinformation from you guys, but
you know what?
(33:26):
Can I ask you a question?
He goes, yeah, and he givesthem fact.
When I began to ask the question, I told him where we live.
He says after we finish, we'regoing to your neighborhood and
he told me exactly what it wouldlook like to rebuild and he
says don't think it's happeningquick and it may not happen
because of some circumstanceswith your neighborhood, which is
a mobile home park at the beach, because if the owners say we
don't want to go back, then 178people may not be able to go
(33:48):
back home.
But right after that, someonethat I know a part of our
congregation walks in and theyare meeting a firefighter there
that's taken them in to seetheir house.
For three generations they'velived there.
So I can say how am I going torebuild?
And focus in on that and sayhow am I going to do it and
what's going to look like andhow much it's going to cost and
(34:10):
what did I lose?
Or I'm going to realize, god,you, just you met me this
morning at 7 am with the head ofthis whole state agency that
gave me what I needed and I gotto see someone else who needs
you to be with them today, morethan just a firefighter that
takes them in.
So God is like I'm going to bein the moment today and then I'm
(34:34):
going to just take you what youneed.
I'm going to provide for you,but you've got to trust me.
Lean not on your ownunderstanding.
Trust me with all your heart.
Lean not on your understandingIn all your ways.
Acknowledge me and I willdirect your paths.
I'm going to hold on to thatscripture.
I'm not letting go that Godworks all things together for
good, and God's like I'm goingto work this out.
But you've got to trust me.
(34:57):
You're going to meet Savannah afew days before and then you're
going to meet someone tomorrowthat you weren't expecting.
You were going to meet and Igot a place for you to go when
you leave the hotel.
But right now you say, how'sthat ever going to happen?
But I could either get caughtin.
What's the future going to looklike?
I just know that this is myhome and I'm not going anywhere
(35:17):
and we're going to rebuildtogether.
But together is looking like adifferent picture.
Huh, savannah, it's all thesepeople who have never been
brought together.
But that's a beautiful pictureof diversity and just seeing.
We're going to do this.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
God loves LA, god loves Santa Monica and God loves
Pastor Snoke and Savannah andMoss.
I'm going to go on a limb there.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Strong limb limb there.
No, that's strong limb.
Hashtag facts strong limbdiversity.
You were, we were, we were outin santa monica pier earlier,
yeah, and you were kind ofshowing us the landscape of
pacific, palisades, as far as Icould see, and what we could
kind of see from where we were.
And then you talked about, um,having a.
(36:03):
Your son had mentioned havingsomething on the wall on the
beach and having Christians,non-christian Jews, every walk
of life.
Why is that so important inthis junk?
Why is that?
I mean, listen, you're a pastor, a Christian pastor, just you
know, get the congregationtogether.
Why is this so important?
To open the arms wider, to letmore in.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
So I think we're all created in the image and
likeness of God, all of us, andthe picture of heaven is every
tribe and tongue, every nation.
That's a picture of heaven.
And between this idea ofeveryone created the image and
likeness of God, we are broken.
Every one of us are broken.
(36:47):
So our picture sometimes ofChristianity or any one of the
big world religions or whateverreligion overall, sometimes
becomes a little bit too muchlike us and not much like, I
think, what God is.
So if Jesus is the embodiment ofGod, then he has given us a
picture of the way he treats awoman that's caught in adultery
(37:08):
when everyone else wants tostone her.
There's a lot of that going onnow, in the name of Christ even.
But that's not what Christ did.
He said whoever is without sin,go ahead and cast the first
stone and they all walk away.
And he says that neither Idon't, they don't condemn you,
neither do I.
And he said but you can't justkeep living this way.
I mean, he was honest, a womanat the well.
(37:28):
That's like you can give me adrink of water, but I could give
you some living water.
So if I'm looking at jesusvalues and jesus message and
jesus model and jesus style andI say that we're to be embodying
that.
Then we don't say let's get abunch of people who believe like
I believe, and we'll take careof you.
If I'm going to love myneighbors myself and my neighbor
(37:51):
when Jesus told the story, myneighbor is someone of a
different race and religion isthe story of the Good Samaritan
that most people know, even ifthey're not religious.
So we said we're throwing aparty at the beach and a bunch
of people are going to to, we'regoing to do a barbecue, we're
going to bring a taco man, we'regoing to bring all this stuff
and it's for my neighborhood tofeel the love and then we're
(38:13):
going to move on to the nextneighborhood.
But I have a place to start.
But we can start doing that inmany neighborhoods and I don't
people like how are you going tofund it?
Well, I started going to mybrother standing over here and
some other guys that are inOrange County, kind of the Mecca
of, I don't know, the BibleBelt of California.
I say are you guys going tosupport this?
So we've got our resources, butwe're not afraid to ask other
(38:50):
people, like Savannah is notafraid to ask other people and
people just to keep flooding in.
So to care for people that maybe a little different than us is
to show the love of Christ bynot just vomiting the message of
like, just get this right andyou could have what we have, but
maybe the really the message ofChrist, and that means we go
back to his model, not whatsomeone else has tried to create
in their image instead of his.
So it's a long answer to that,but that's where my heart's at.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
No, it's the right answer.
That's great, savannah, thesame for you.
I'm sure you're not justgetting rocket scientists and
entertainment executives, techexecutives.
There is a wide array ofindividuals that need wellness,
that need healing, that need tobe made whole, if it's a pour
(39:31):
over in a kettle, or it's ablanket, or it's just a pair of
shoes, because the ones thatthey've had on for two, three
weeks, however long it's been,is just worn.
What has it been like to seejust a wider variety of this
community show up here at mossvenice, california?
Speaker 4 (39:50):
I mean amazing I've never seen it and I think
there's a lot of stereotypes ofthis place that people believe
on the east coast and differentparts of the country, different
parts of California.
I remember when I went toschool in the bay area, I was on
(40:12):
a plane and there was a manreading a newspaper and he takes
down the newspaper and he'slike you've been to SoCal?
And I said no, it was in 2012.
And he puts right.
Before he put the newspaperback up, he said uh, norcal is
like socal with books, right andjust so.
(40:35):
There's these.
There's these images that youcan give as much truth to as you
want.
And then there's times like thisthat strip people of their
human suit and the stories andthe identities that they build
up for themselves, whether it'sto make a career or to make
friends, or to fit in with acommunity or a job or whatever
(40:59):
that is, and that was the mostbeautiful part of it for me, and
I think it's also.
I don't know what anyone did.
I don't know where anyone comesfrom, because that's not what
it was about and that's not whatgot people through the door and
that's not what got people tostay for pizza parties in the
(41:20):
evenings, and you know, if Icould do this every day for the
rest of my life, I would.
I would offer free classes, Iwould offer free classes, I
would offer Sunday sessions.
I would.
So many things that I would do.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
But now you've got to decide.
Do I want to expand next doorand is that going to?
Is the provision going to comeand the inspiration's here?
Speaker 4 (41:45):
The inspiration's here, the inspiration's here, I
think the need's here and Ithink people need to be
activated, and so activating anarmy of 700 kind souls is a
full-time job in itself, butI've already had volunteers that
have said I want to be a partof this.
Can I work for you full time?
(42:06):
I'm leaving my job at spacex.
This is where my heart is, andso what you know, as I'm
processing on day 15, what isthe next move, what is the right
move, and just taking notes andsitting on that and seeing the
(42:29):
most effective ways that I canexpand as a business.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Before we wrap up and we kind of end our time here,
Pastor Stephen, I want to reallytake us to the Sunday sessions
that's going to take place incollaboration.
This purpose is Sunday sessions.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
It's not church as usual, right?
No, in fact, I think this isreally.
This is us getting stepping outof the box, and she really
confirmed it the other day to me.
My neighbors need to betogether and they need to tell
their story of how this hasaffected them, and they need
someone to listen.
But this Sunday Sessions isn'tabout the other people to listen
(43:15):
.
I think it's really more aboutinviting my neighbors, of all
different faiths and their viewson life and lifestyle, to be
able to say we are family.
Let's come together.
They know me.
I've been spending a lot oftime with them.
We've worked through sometragedies in our neighborhood
and we did it together beforethis ever happened.
(43:36):
So when they come and to beable to just sit and experience
this place with the peace here,but to be able to just say how
has this affected you?
And for us to be ready for thetears and to be able to, and
maybe anger and frustration, andfor them to say I'm mad at god,
why didn't god protect us?
(43:58):
Or whatever, but they're coming.
They're jubu, jewish buddhists,they're um, they're atheists.
They're all different kinds oflifestyles, backgrounds,
different countries, alldifferent ages.
When she began to paint thepicture, I could see the picture
of people, of a group of peoplesitting in this whole
(44:19):
downstairs area and just to beable to listen and then to say,
well, let me share somethingwith you and allow that open
discussion, to allow some ofthose questions.
And I think it's got to beorganic.
But I realize I've got a model.
Jesus is this model that hepeople were in where he might be
(44:43):
sharing something and they'reinterrupting with questions.
So that doesn't happen inchurch today.
They'll be like sit down, getout of here.
Where he might be sharingsomething and they're
interrupting with questions.
So that doesn't happen in churchtoday.
They'll be like sit down, getout of here.
I mean, I think let's justlet's see what it looks like.
And I think there would be apoint, savannah's, like you're
not the right guy or whatever tohelp facilitate this.
But if God's in it, I thinkwe're going to see that he's
(45:03):
going to navigate in the firstweek.
God's in it.
I think we're going to see thathe's going to navigate in the
first week.
Because she said it's a weekfrom Sunday, because they were
doing some things here over theweekend they had to close down,
but then she yesterday, today Idon't know, I lost track of time
.
She goes, it's open, let peopleknow, and now it means, just
like all this happened the lasttwo weeks and two days or
(45:24):
whatever, this is going tohappen, by me just putting the
word on a WhatsApp to all myneighbors and saying listen, I
know you guys have come fromdifferent places but here's a
place where we can be together.
So we'll see.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
From the ashes you're , I think, building a greater
community for the future greatercommunity for the future.
We were pretty excited Againbefore the fires there wasn't a
lot of contacts that were beingshared between us four here and
everybody else that you've seenalong the last few weeks, so
that's an amazing thing.
Again, there's nothing that wecan plan for and again, nobody
(45:59):
wants a fire to bring familytogether.
There's so many other reasonswe can bring family together,
but devastation it kind.
We're meeting people that areactually changing families in a
matter of time, not having towait a week or three weeks or
something to return to your ownhome or whatever's left Right.
(46:20):
So I mean this conversation is.
It is inspiring and nourishingmy soul as well as everyone in
this room, and almost everyepisode we like to end it on a
positive note.
We like to end it on a positivenote, right, but because of that
positive note and the themethat we got going on this is
actually from episode 13 that wehad with you, Pastor Snook, and
(46:43):
it was regarding the Olympicsthat are coming here to LA soon,
Soon 2028.
2028.
But I think after this it'sprobably going to be even better
, bigger, stronger.
No, you had mentioned that LosAngeles is ready for the games
for this.
For decades, this has been aplace where God has done some
(47:05):
great things over the years, butit kind of just goes off
somewhere else Azusa Street it'sa revival CRU Ministries, which
is on the campuses.
There's been all these amazingthings that have happened, and
so this is a time we're sayingGod, would you do something in
your church as we unite aroundyour mission, and I think what's
next is that we are uniting inprayer, we are uniting people
(47:30):
and serving the community andserving one another, and that
means we just laid down some ofthose things that we got to let
go for the sake of somethingbigger.
Speaker 1 (47:38):
Wow you said, you said that I hear you.
Speaker 3 (47:41):
You can say wow, you did say that, but and this was
before we even yeah, so here weare yeah so the greatest natural
disaster in American history.
Speaker 1 (47:52):
They say now, and let's see what comes out of the
ashes.
I even read, you know, thewhole story from Greek mythology
of the phoenix coming out ofthe ashes.
But there was one of the earlychurch fathers.
He said that my faith is builton one who's come out of the
ashes.
It gives us something that isnever going to end.
(48:14):
Of the ashes, that gives ussomething that is never going to
end.
And so for me to hold to thisand say what do I treasure?
These things that can be burnedup, that can be stolen, that
moth or rust can destroy, or amI going to?
Am I going to invest intreasures in heaven?
So, no matter what, or mysocial economic place, no matter
what my background is, you knowwhen, when she was telling me,
(48:35):
I'm like, I'm pretty impressed.
She didn't want it, she wasn'tgoing to go into it, but she
goes we were able to scale like52 different COVID things.
I heard you and I'm like butGod, you had a bigger plan for
her and you had a bigger planfor me and all of us.
We just got to find what isGod's assignment for each of us
in this season in our lives andto be able to hear it and be
(48:56):
willing to step out and say I'mnot too old, I'm not too young
and I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm me, youknow I.
I'm going to end with somethingI want to share with you guys.
Two days after the fire, I gotto go back to my neighborhood
with my son and one of my sonsand my daughter and I had a safe
(49:16):
that was there and it'ssupposed to be fireproof, but
everything was gone.
But this is the ring that mywife put on my finger in 1987
when we got married, and it'svery black and still smells like
smoke.
But when the Bible says, you becareful how you build, you
(49:37):
build with wood, hay and stubble.
It gets burned up, but it's theprecious jewels and gold and
silver that are being refined.
So this is a time of refinementand I'm willing to say there's
still more in me.
But I walk away with this ringthat reminds me of this.
Someone said the other day aregonna, are you gonna, get all
(49:58):
polished up again because it'sgold?
I'm like, no, that's gonna stayright the way it is.
It's just a little too 1987 towear, though you know what I
mean but, but you know that'spart of this story, so let's see
if, if we can.
I don't think we need to be inthe lead, though we need to be,
but we just need to know whowe're following.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
Thank you, pastor, thank you.
Well, we're not done with thisconversation.
Here in Los Angeles we have apart two of this two-part series
, a special edition of Beyondthe Plate.
So stick around, like subscribeand definitely share this.
Like subscribe and definitelyshare this.
Share Moss in Venice,california, with your friends
and family.
Out here in SoCal, west LA eventhe East LA folks I got some
(50:43):
family Orange County All arewelcome here.
Speaker 4 (50:49):
All are welcome here.
All are welcome here, and we'llhave some complimentary events
at Moss Venice for some time tocome, and stay tuned for sunday
sessions there you go, amen,thank you bear brews.
Speaker 3 (51:13):
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