January 31, 2024 • 46 mins
In the latest episode of Mercy on Display, hosts Mark and Cindy welcome their inspiring guest, Andrey Ivanov, a Kyiv-born visionary who used the Gospel to create positive changes in communities. Andrey, the founder of Flash Love, a non-profit organization in Washington, shares his journey from a humble upbringing to becoming an emblem of unity and service towards others. His thought-provoking story serves as an affirmation of how faith in action can profoundly impact communities, including issues like homelessness and youth development.
Diving deep into Andrey's faith journey, Mark and Cindy discuss his struggle to maintain his faith and his evolving comprehension of the Bible and Jesus's teachings. The conversation emphasizes the necessity of matching actions with words, eschewing judgement based on superficial appearances, and learning humility and compassion.
Andrey also brings up the question of societal negligence and indifference towards the younger generation, homelessness, and how imperative it is to create empathy rather than judgement. He passionately accentuates the crux of Flash Love's mission: ensuring no one feels alone irrespective of their circumstances.
The discussion becomes particularly poignant when it focuses on youth homelessness, examining the fears and challenges that compel some to choose the streets over an unstable home. The hosts and their guests urge listeners to reach out with genuine kindness, creating a sense of family and connection for these lost youths.
Furthermore, they contemplate on how community events and concerted neighborhood actions can foster powerful connections and offer a profound message of acceptance and love. They underscore how this love and acceptance can instigate hope, empowering these young people to contribute back to the community.
Mark and Cindy wrap up the episode with a glimpse into Flash Love's upcoming project addressing homelessness, painting an optimistic picture of a world where everyone has a home. This resonates with their aspiration to turn our world into a 'heaven on earth'. They invite listeners to join them in extending hands of love and mercy and provide information on how to connect and support this sensible mission.
If you're seeking an understanding of how faith, kindness, and connection can bring about transformative societal changes, this episode is for you. Don't forget to leave a review if you find this podcast inspiring and helpful.
Donate, volunteer, or get involved with Flash Love: https://flashlove.org/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:04):
Hello i'm mark and i'm cindy and
we're the hosts of mercy on display a storytelling podcast about god's mercy
in people's lives from dating to marriage parenting to careers and everything
in between we hope you'll be inspired encouraged and grounded in god's purpose.
Music.
For your own life we're glad you're here thanks for joining us.
(00:45):
Hello friends, today we're going to be interviewing Andrei Avinov.
Andrei was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union was raised in
a large family of 13 children by his wonderful parents, Victor and Anna Ivanov.
As he embarked on a journey to find his purpose in life, he realized his faith
(01:06):
in God was not merely about attending church on Sundays, but about truly living
it out by serving others.
This discovery ignited a deep passion within him to serve and bring people together.
Andre believes that serving others is akin to igniting small fires of hope,
reminding humanity that compassion and kindness are still very much alive.
(01:30):
With his belief, he strives to make a positive impact on his community and unite
people from all walks of life.
Andre continues to inspire others through his selfless acts of service,
embodying the power of faith and the strength of unity.
Andre is also the founder of an organization called Flash Love,
(01:50):
Love, a non-profit in Vancouver, Washington, where he serves women,
children, youth, and the elderly in his community.
Through his organization, he's making a big change, and we're excited to hear
that today. Welcome to the show, Andre.
Good morning. Hi, Andre. How are you? I'm very well. Thanks so much for having
(02:12):
me. Thank you for being on the show today.
So we're really excited to talk to you. I know that you have a very interesting
amount of projects and different amazing things that you do in the community.
So we'll get to that in a little bit. But just to learn a little bit about yourself, where did you grow up?
And did you grow up in a Christian family?
(02:33):
Yeah. Wow. Where did I grow up? Well,
I was born in the former Soviet Union before it fell apart. And I was in Kiev, Ukraine in 1984.
And I grew up in a very busy family. It was like a beehive growing up. I'm one of 13 kids.
So that was fun. Family. There's a lot to talk about there for sure. Yeah.
(02:58):
And I did grow up in a Christian home. There was always love.
There was always comfort and protection from the outside world,
which had its benefits growing up.
But then it had its own confrontations and a massive wall of reality that hit after.
Right. Yes. Have you always stayed in your faith or have you ever walked away
(03:23):
and wouldn't you become a true Bible-believing Christian?
In the teens, when you start to make things your own, and it's not what your
parents have taught you to believe, it has to be your own at one point,
and you have to either own it or, well, you would otherwise reject it.
But to me, you know, when the world came at me, it was so contrary in a lot of ways.
(03:49):
And I'd have to, you know, take time to even unpack this.
But when the reality of the world hit me, it really sent me tumbling.
And I see that in a lot of youth, you know, today when I see their walk.
If there wasn't alignment with with
that walk that christian faith that was their own
(04:09):
that was you know love and and centered on on christ one like i don't want to
say a hundred percent because we none of us know what that means other than
reading his words and and and walking that out in the most real way it'll it'll
send you tumbling like it did me and that was my story for a while i I was just,
I was in many ways repulsed to a lot of the doctrines and really strict rules
(04:34):
that were never even in the gospel.
And so for me to undo a lot of that stuff, it was years of unnecessary confusion
and even I would say suffering that was inflicted on either myself or through
myself on others because of me trying to understand what the truth was.
Because so much of it was infiltrated with, you know, rules and religious practices
(04:58):
rather than the red words that he spoke from his heart.
I think some of us who've walked that path too have had to go down a really,
I guess, bumpy road or not even a road at all, but out in the wilderness until
you find yourself way back, but you see things differently.
(05:20):
At least that was, for me, a really big part of why I left my religion and instead
decided to explore what I call truth.
And then finally come back into, all right, what is this Bible?
Who is truly Jesus?
And it changed my life forever, for sure.
(05:43):
Truth and justice is the core of what humanity yearns for, whether they can explain it or not.
I mean, you can offend a little girl, you know, as a child and she can hold
that grudge for a long time because that an act was unjust or a little boy.
So ultimately, you know, humanity knows that there's something,
something very righteous about those things, truth and justice.
(06:06):
And when those things get tainted, it, it, it pulls us away.
It, it, it rips at our core and, and
before we can long before we can even explain, you know, what that was.
But if we live in accordance to our Jesus and actually live out how He has invited us into that walk,
(06:27):
we minimize the amount of suffering that we oftentimes cause because we're simply
trying to teach people to do better in their lives for themselves. I love that.
I think what you mentioned is that circle of the Slavica bringing.
I feel like those walls and the structures when you're young could be very strong, could be very tall.
(06:52):
And it's so beneficial as a child and adolescent years as well.
And I feel like they guide you, there's a good sense of foundation and I feel
like it's very important for every child and teen.
But when things get tough, when you're able to, I think, getting through your
(07:13):
early 20s and see to where maybe some of the people around me are not perfect, so you're questioning,
well, why are your motives and your actions are not lining up with your words?
And then things get tough inside the heart, inside the mind,
and all of a sudden it's a journey.
And it's such a very distinct and very important moment for a young man,
(07:39):
I would assume for young ladies as well,
to where then that's when your faith gets really raw,
to where you've got to meet Jesus in this faith that was passed on from your grandparents,
parents what you saw in your parents now you
have to make it your own because it's the
brokenness that you see around you whether that's your neighborhood
(08:02):
for those that don't know Christ are in a
dying world and desperately need that the good news and that's the message of
salvation and you're realizing well there are broken people around me what am
I going to make of it because You really saw that because you started with flash love and what can I do?
(08:23):
You know, you saw the brokenness and then how can I inspire these young men and women?
I think that's the beauty of everything you do, which we'll get to.
Well, you know, the emphasis was, you know, like there's, there's two ways to, to govern or to parent.
I mean, you can call it the same thing in some ways, but there's one way that
is, that is operated on punishment for, for all the wrongs.
And there's another way that is, that is operated on reward.
(08:45):
Which is, which is inviting, inspiring them to be better.
And humans time after time after time
respond better to reward because they
want to be better so you call them it doesn't mean that there isn't you know
room for you know for punishing and laying down you know some some very clear
guidelines you know of where to walk like i'm not dismissing those but generally
(09:08):
speaking where we as humans unfortunately are not good at the reward side because
we're hard on ourselves.
So therefore it, it reacts that way and, you know, on others.
And so when we launched, you know, Flash Love, the intent was,
Hey, let's stop trying to be perfect to then one day serve the Lord.
Let's just serve the Lord and then allow him to do what he does best as we each,
(09:29):
as we call each other higher to simply go and serve humanity.
And what that does is it shifts your mind from the things that you don't want
to be into the things that you do.
And you begin to move towards that. so it's a very
fundamentally you know effective process so so
that was one of the critical effective areas of of what of the shift that we
(09:49):
made and what made this so enticing and and really motivated a lot of youth
from the very very beginning not limited to youth but that was you know our
target demographic you don't have to be perfect in order to come to jesus and actually do do the work.
And then for you to little by little, like your heart starts seeing.
And I remember hearing one of your podcasts, you said you start seeing those
(10:12):
lines from black and white and not just gray.
And that's when you start actually seeing what goodness is and what is bad.
And I think that applies too.
You know, when you judge, when you, when you, when you stay in a place of judging
people, like for instance, like I grew up in a place and it wasn't always that way.
Just kind of like, you know, eventually like I crawled that way.
(10:36):
We're at a point where it's like, there's all these things that we are not the
world is like people with that, people with tattoos, you know,
people with skirts that are a little bit too high, people with this,
people, you know, all these things, you know, and, and, and, and the hair.
And so there's all these things of all of what people around us are and we're not.
(10:56):
So what it's implying to a young mind at the time is we're good.
They're not. So therefore, you're not of that world.
So I'm like, well, how are you supposed to accept them? And it puts this in
a very weird space. It's like, so are they all going to hell now?
It's weird. And that's not at all of what the heart of Christ was.
(11:18):
Look who he was the hardest on the teachers
yeah those are the people that he picked up
a whip you know too and yet he loved forgave and invited the rest and it's not
that they didn't have salvation is they knew what they were doing so anyway
like that to me when i realized you know the simplicity of the gospel and the
(11:39):
fact that we all get to move you know towards his heart you you know,
every day and have that same kind of compassion and mercy to others,
gosh, it takes a load off your shoulders and you get out of the judgment seat
that you were never authorized to sit in in the first place. Oh, it does.
It so does because you don't even realize you start mimicking and whether motives,
(12:01):
understanding and actions and getting comfortable in that judgment seat that
you didn't even know you climbed up into, and you're pointing fingers down.
And I think that the Lord even this week confronted me.
I was thinking through specks in some individuals, and the Lord reminded me
(12:24):
of the forest of logs that I have to go through.
It was very humbling. Yeah, who made you the judge? It was a common reminder to myself.
Well, fast forwarding to now, what is your relationship with Jesus like,
and how does he show up in your life?
My relationship with him is simple. It's real.
(12:44):
I, I honor him for what he's done and, and how I honor him is,
is in the breath that I take and, and, and the world and how I see the world through that.
So I often say it's, it's very tangible. Like that love is tangible,
meaning my, my, my response, I'm not earning his love anymore.
(13:06):
I'm simply responding out of the gift that I was given.
And so to me, what that looks like is I look at suffering,
I look at the things around me that are not in accordance to His will,
and I respond to those people or to those issues which are around people or
(13:26):
are affecting people, and I live my life that way.
So for instance, without getting into the details, I'm just going to kind of
underscore some points. if I see people who are homeless or are struggling with housing.
That may not have been my dream. That may not have been my call or at least
what I thought was my call, but I need to solve this.
(13:46):
I'm going to pray about it. I'm going to invite the answers and I'm going to solve this.
So what that did was it sent me down a long journey to solve that issue.
Three years later, we now have a real solution that will actually change the world. I know that.
When I saw suffering because there was injustice and people were getting evicted
(14:10):
out of homes and left out on the street, that wasn't my issue either.
I wasn't excited about that. That wasn't my call.
But in accordance to His heart—.
My compassion because of him, because he had that towards me,
I choose to have that compassion towards others.
And now things are coming into alignment with him. So that's how it looks like in real ways.
(14:34):
People often say, well, that's not my passion, that's not my lane,
that's not my call, whatever you want to describe it as.
But when my heart loves him and is committed to him, the things that I may not
have ever even considered are now my problem too.
And I take that problem on and say, Lord, what do you want to do about it?
(14:56):
I'm saying yes to the answer. What does that look like?
And oftentimes that answer looks like a lot of grinding in doing things that
you would never, ever do.
And you commit to them until you see it through because he has all of them,
meaning the answers. Yeah, right.
Wow. That's powerful. I know that we've recently spoke to another ministry here, just in conversation.
(15:19):
And we've been feeling like we've been called to do something in our life recently.
And when we were sharing our hearts with this individual, he said,
you know that you have your purpose when you find the thing that breaks your heart.
And once you find that one thing that breaks your heart, what are you going to do about it?
(15:41):
And this is a whole other
episode i'll share but it really reminded
me of seeing all the different types of ministries and what yours was one of
them like who is caring for the youth so they can grow up and be the men and
women that we need in this world and what are we going to do about the homeless
(16:01):
people it's just an exciting project that i'm looking forward to sharing more i'm assuming I mean,
those are the things that broke your heart. You want to do something about.
There was, gosh, there was so many, so many disconnects, you know, we're, we're so quick.
And I was one of those guys on the, on the sideline at one point saying like,
why is the society so weak?
Why is there so much, so much cowardice? Why is it, why is there so much just breakdowns?
(16:25):
And then it's like, okay. Okay.
For one, what if they weren't taught what right looks like? What if you didn't help teach them as well?
Would you get up and do it, right? Would you get up? And it doesn't mean I'm
now getting up and, you know, I figured it out and I'm now going to go teach.
Like, that's a lot of learning that I have to now do because,
(16:46):
you know, again, who made me the judge, right? For one.
And then two, I have to equip myself before I can, you know,
even begin to equip others.
And so that That was one of those things where instead of sitting and complaining,
you know, that we have so much breakdown specifically with this young generation
who people would oftentimes write off as the useless generation or the troubled
(17:08):
generation or whatever, you know, expletive you want to attach to it.
Or people would know it's our duty to take that territory and simply respond
and help them become better because that is in accordance to Jesus's heart. Yeah.
Now that we're here in the Pacific Northwest, how important is it for us to
(17:28):
not be ashamed of the name Jesus Christ?
I'm going to answer that question this way. I've thought about this one a lot for a while.
When I sat on the sidelines, I had nothing to talk about.
I would never defend the name that I never actually had an attachment to.
And so that's That's where a lot of the shame comes from, is people will hear
(17:50):
about him as another entity, as someone somewhere out somewhere.
But because they haven't taken the stand, taken the step and said,
Lord, what is your heart?
I want to emulate it. And when they begin to emulate that heart,
it's being passionate about him is not a task anymore. It's an expression.
(18:14):
That was the difference for me. I didn't, I don't defend him because he needs any defense.
He doesn't need any of my defense. What, what changed things and actually made,
made me effective to be in whatever,
whatever circle of people that I was around politically, you know,
(18:35):
in, in, in, in all kinds of, you know, divided,
you know, territories or, or backgrounds that people would oftentimes, you know, come from.
I simply say, my actions that you see are not my own.
It's a response to the mercy and the grace that I've received.
So because of that, I choose to love you and I choose to do this,
(18:57):
this, and this other thing.
That's what changed me. You take that away. There's nothing left.
And that gives you your purpose. There is no way to rebuttal that. Mm-hmm.
Which leads us into the next question. How can we make Him, Jesus Christ,
part of our daily walk and conversations?
I know that a lot of young people will be listening to this.
(19:20):
We're just getting started, and the majority of the youth who are Russian are
starting to follow us, which I think it's great that they need to hear this.
They just can't sit in religion in my comfortable seat.
I get up and walk the faith. Well, a comfortable seat is a slow death.
I don't think anybody wants it. True.
(19:41):
But for me, what made me come alive is when I stopped waiting for permission
and I simply said yes to the one who has called me into that space in the first place.
He says, if you love me, you will love my people. He's given example after example
after example. If you love me, you will love my people, serve my people,
(20:05):
even if it's a cup of cold water in my name, as simple as that.
That's what we started. So when I began to say, Lord, I hear you now,
it's not theology to me. It's personal.
It's out of my love. I want to do this.
And so, I mean, for me, it was, I can share the story of what shifted me.
(20:30):
I was driving home from Portland where I was going to college and finishing up my degree.
And it was a late night because I was taking late classes. I was working full
time, you know, and loaded schedule.
And so schooling was in the evenings. And I was coming across the 205 bridge heading northbound.
And it was one of those things, like if you would take a snapshot of my life,
(20:53):
it looked like I had everything put together.
You know, the, the, the way I was dressed, the car I drove, the lifestyle I
lived, the, the, the vacations I took, you know, in the circle of friends I
had, it looked from the outside, like I was put together and,
and, and I've made it to some degree to that, you know, age group.
I was 25 at the time and, and I'm driving across this, this bridge and I just
(21:13):
have like this just deep sorrow, just like of where in the world,
why, why do I feel so distant?
And where is like, Lord, I'm just so heartbroken at, at, at my,
at my life, like looking at myself and I'm like, and I was just,
and it was this, and it was this compassion that just, it was a cold night and
(21:36):
it was about 11 o'clock going and going on, you know, further.
And I just had this deep compassion that just went over my heart.
And I'm just like, Lord, I'm here in my, in my, you know, in,
in, in my BMW with my heated seats and I'm dressed warm and,
and yet there's people who are just rotting in the streets right now.
(21:57):
Don't even know what to do. I have no idea, but my heart is so broken and I
want, I want to just do something just so I could feel like I have at least began to respond.
And that was the one thing that I had in my heart that night.
And I'm, and I'm, I remember I'm driving home and I passed my exit and I'm just
(22:18):
like, Lord, where do I even find someone? I mean, it was freezing.
It was, no ice or rain at the time, but it was freezing. It was,
gosh, below actually even.
And I'm driving down. So I turned off of, you know, 205.
I went on to 500, got onto fourth plane and I'm driving down fourth plane,
(22:38):
like a really slow, just looking. I had some cash.
I think I, no, I stopped by the bank, you know, withdrew some cash.
So I had a wad of cash in my hand and I was just looking for homeless people
people that I could just for myself even, not even for them, just to respond.
And I drove all the way down the entire road, a fourth plane from 205 down to
(23:03):
where it ended on the other side of Vancouver, on the west side of Vancouver,
no one, not one. Like, wow.
And I remembered about seeing this homeless shelter.
It was called Open House Ministries. And so I pulled up to that and I saw that
there was a few people standing outside, you know, some were having conversations,
(23:24):
some were smoking, you know, and chatting.
And I walked out of my car kind of timidly, like wondering, who am I going to
approach? How am I going to approach them? What am I going to say? I have no idea.
And I'm dressed up, you know, like, well, anyway, so I'm not fitting into the
vibe either. You know, I'm like as far out as you could possibly imagine.
(23:46):
And I'm walking down this, down this path. I pass the front of it.
I walk around the corner and I see, I see this, this young lady,
you know, she was standing just with a, I don't know what you call them,
like a robe or something like that.
And she was just staring up in the, at the stars.
And I, I very carefully, you know, I approached her and I asked,
(24:07):
you know, I was, you know, hey, is it okay if I, if I just give you this?
And, and, and, and so I, cause I didn't, I didn't know how else to,
you know, totally clueless.
And, and so I, I came up to her, I stretched out my hand, I gave her what was
in mine and, and, you know, she looks at me or she, she, she looks at her,
(24:29):
you know, opens her hand, she looks at it. And then she like,
she asked, can I give you a hug?
And she like ran up and just, and gave me a hug. She says, you don't know what this means to me.
And she was confused. And it was, it was just strange. He's like,
I've never met her, right?
And, you know, I turned around, you know, and just, and I just,
I teared up and I'm walking to my car, just like, I just, I felt,
(24:50):
I felt connection for the first time in this space of responding,
connection to a human that I didn't know.
And that was one of those acts. It's not like I've not ever done anything good
for people, but it was, it was this, this was the journey that began reeling.
This was Jesus reeling me in. I went to my car, I pulled out whatever else I
(25:10):
had, you know, and just came up and said, here, this belongs to you and,
you know, have a Merry Christmas. And I walked away.
But that just wrecked me and it shaped the course, the trajectory of how I began to see people.
I began to notice people very differently. I think a lot of people just want
(25:31):
to be acknowledged that they have a story, that they are human and they're not just.
And I think that's when I moved being from Indiana when
I moved here it broke my heart to see
the homeless and I was shocked it was just like a culture shock as if I went
to outer space to a different world and I've never seen this many homeless people
(25:53):
I mean you will have like one or two in the city of Indianapolis but I never
really saw that besides in my home country you you know?
And I was a kid back then. So I remember some things, but not everything.
And then coming here, I thought, we're in the U.S.
This is the place where I was brought because there's so much opportunity as
(26:14):
an immigrant. What's going on?
And it really broke my heart. And then little by little, I started meeting people
here in the Pacific Northwest.
And their hearts were so hard towards the homeless people.
And I thought, why are their hearts so hard? and they would
give me a thousand and one excuses on why
they don't want to help the homeless
(26:35):
why they unfortunately have so little regard for them and it wasn't it started
hardening up my heart too and it wasn't until you started talking to mark and
you you guys were all talking about your project, upcoming project,
that I thought, there's finally a solution, finally,
(26:57):
you know, I don't have to feel constantly that no one's ever going to do something,
that there's something that actually can be done,
people can get back on their feet, because sometimes I thought,
am I going to be homeless because of the difficulties that when we got here,
we couldn't find jobs, you know, and that person could be me,
constantly thinking that, and I'm sure that it goes through a lot of of people's
(27:20):
heads, especially how expensive things are getting,
that they too could lose their home at any moment.
The reality that we're living in, unfortunately, in this society today,
just by how expensive things get that a single parent could be struggling just to keep up rent,
(27:43):
because rent is just shooting through the roof.
It's an epidemic of housing issues here, especially here.
So thank you for sharing that. That really speaks to us, for sure.
And I hope that the audience will will open up
their heart and think about that there's more to
that story than just i don't have
(28:05):
housing because maybe i don't want to work but it's more it's
more than that there's a whole other universe that
we don't know about in each person that's walking down the street right now
it's so both painful and beautiful at the same time when the lord takes your
heart and takes takes you to that edge and shows you, opens up your eyes.
(28:29):
And I feel like when I had those moments to the very first time,
the Lord just started taking the veils off my eyes of religion and by religion.
And I mean, it's just the comfort of life.
I would share this with my wife, with Cindy and with others,
that I feel like my upbringing has been so comfortable. And I was around church 24-7.
(28:55):
And I mean that both during summer, spring, winter, going to the park with someone
you know, with a family member, cousins, a church member, but just always surrounded by that circle.
But when the Lord started showing me that, look, there are people that are broken around you,
that are in need of not only spiritual food, but also materialistic needs that they have,
(29:24):
and the needs that they have around, and that we are to walk up to that calling.
To match our faith with our actions, with our words, that all those worlds become one.
That what you speak of, what you read of, what Jesus has said,
(29:47):
then for you to go out to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.
Like you said, it just simply started off with you guys as just giving that cup of water.
It was that first step of service, of action.
And I feel like that very first step for a young Christian, for a person of
(30:07):
faith, where you hit Jesus,
you really start to encounter where God is able to step in and start working,
start drastically changing your life, taking off comfort, whether that's money, fame,
just the comfort of life, four walls of a church.
(30:28):
But actually to go meet the needs of the broking, of the widows,
of the orphans, of the homeless men and women,
to where you're able to actually walk your faith out through your actions and your words.
Which brings us to the next question. What is it that you do through Flash Love
(30:49):
to be the hands and feet of Jesus?
What programs do you have?
Everything we do is about human connection. It's one of the things that are
underscored, I think, the least, you know.
It's like what we oftentimes hear is, you know, well, here's all the things that Jesus did.
And he didn't use very many material resources besides the bread and the fish that we know of, right?
(31:11):
Most of what he used was he called it down from heaven.
It's like, well, I'm not calling anything down from heaven right now,
but I'm living in the side of Acts where people came and then they brought their
possessions, you know, before the disciples' feet.
And they distributed it amongst themselves and there was no need among them.
(31:32):
It was that kind of a reality that they lived and there was no need among them.
What if that could be our reality today?
So one of the things in the primary things that we focus on is we are building
connections because what I want to underscore, and for a lot of the listeners,
you know, who are going to be hearing this, this may be new or a concept that
(31:52):
they may have not thought about.
You know, we We oftentimes wonder, why in the world would the youth run away
from home? If they had a home, now they're homeless.
And I ask those who often wonder that, what if the hell they ran away from was
worse than the hell that they came into?
So what if there was so much destruction that was happening in the homes,
(32:15):
it was better to be on the street and, and cold and hungry because the life
at home was that much worse.
I can't tell you how many, how many foster kids I've ran across,
you know, in the streets, you know, and would have a conversation,
you know, they're out from that side of the country down from South,
they're just roaming somewhere because the terror that they've lived through,
(32:38):
they, they, they, they want to be as far from it as possible.
They're not even of age, just out on the streets, you know, running from that
thing, that grasp and so on.
So, so having, you know, that human connection, the first thing that you do,
one of the first things we do is we give them a family.
It's not saying, hey, come to my church. You know, we have it figured out.
You know, you'll have a sense of belonging. No, we're going to you.
(33:00):
And so when we, when we do these, you know, neighborhood events or community
events, sometimes people think like, a lot of times people think like,
you know, what's your painting this wall going to fix anything?
What's you giving away Christmas tree is going to fix anything.
What's you, you know, what, you know, this thing that you're,
that you're, you know, this other, you know, event, let's say you're,
you're giving out grocery bags, what's that going to do? How's that going to change anyone?
(33:22):
What they don't realize is that gives us an open door,
a physical one, but also one into their heart where we simply love them,
not with a message that's been, been packed,
you know, five minute message, you know, you know, cramped or,
or compressed into a 30-minute elevator speech. No, it's not about that.
(33:43):
It's about we hear you, we see you, we notice you, and we're here to simply love you.
What that does is it begins to break those walls. And so every event that we
do, no matter what it's described as, no matter what the actual work looks like,
it gives us an opportunity to set a table, because oftentimes there is one.
We set a table and we invite them to a feast. There's the worship team that
(34:07):
is simply playing music, right?
There is a group of people who are doing this, whatever this act happens to
be, like I said, whether it's removing graffiti, picking up trash in a park
or in a neighborhood, and simply saying, we love you, and we want you to come
and dine at this table with us, right?
So it's those kinds of opportunities. There's times when there is no table.
It's just that human connection.
(34:27):
And they get to see, they get to follow, they get to one day and hopefully someday
soon come to the next event or whatever that looks like.
But it's about lighting these little fires, igniting these little fires for
people to simply be a part of something.
And so when there's this, you know, heart to heart conversation now that gives
(34:49):
them an opportunity to have more and what more looks like, again, it really creates,
you know, a space and an environment for people to express.
I get a lot of frustrated evangelists, you know, who would say things like,
I'm really struggling getting my students you know to go and simply you know
declare the lord is good you know like okay.
(35:10):
What if we simply set the conditions for the people that came that weren't even
part of an evangelistic team, and you simply gave them permission by saying,
hey, those people need you.
Your kind words really will shape their life.
They're hungry for that kindness. They're hungry for that love.
If you can release it to them, and it just happens naturally,
(35:34):
it seems like, without effort.
For me, me having to give them a script, nothing.
Nothing it just changes them because because they've received something that
they've not received without some kind of an expectation in the past and it's
confusion to some of them they'll even they'll even sometimes be mean you know
when they when they receive that kind word because every time a kind word came
(35:54):
around it it always came with the hook on the other side,
so so when when we engage the community that's our focus i can go into the logistics
of it of what what other things look like.
But when we engage, whatever event we happen to do, it's always around people
and it's always around relationships and that's what's creating this change.
(36:17):
Everything you've said, I always wonder, how is it that you engage so many youth?
Because I feel like I connect well with other adults and I've mentored youth,
you know but when I see all
the people that show up I mean it's literally mobs
(36:37):
of people right that's what how flash love started with
a flash of love by a
mob right of people I thought how does he do that like how does all these youth
and then seeing the most recent event that you did for Christmas for all those
moms how does how do you engage all these youth to come together and do something for the city?
(37:01):
How is it that you help youth feel welcomed and that they are.
They're wanted. And I feel like I just finally got my answer today.
So thank you for sharing that. Well, I'm going to give you another answer.
The other answer is we formed a group called CLC or Community Leadership Council.
(37:23):
And so we invited leaders. I mean, when I say leaders, I'm talking,
you know, whether they were appointed by an organization like the recent one,
Living Hope Church or Kingdom Movement Church are sending representatives,
you know, to others are simply saying, hey, I'm from this church, can I help?
And so we invite them to a table and we let them dream.
(37:44):
And we let them dream of helping us create the next event. So their DNA,
their fingerprint is on the next event.
And that next event could be as far as an hour and a half to the east from here
in Klickitat, a little tiny town called Klickitat in Klickitat County.
(38:04):
It's the same hearts, the same needs oftentimes, and sometimes worse.
Sometimes the hopelessness is so bad where then drug use and abuse comes in
and the frustrated sheriff is putting up a billboard,
like, if I catch you in my town and you're a dealer, I will shoot you on sight, type language.
(38:27):
So much frustration, it's so much unnecessary suffering and death.
So they get to create, what does that event look like?
So we're preparing right now a party that's going to show up in that little
town and we're going to set a banquet table for that whole town to show up to.
And we're going to arrive, you know, likely in the evening because we're going
(38:49):
to stop by another town before we get there.
And the youth are going to simply deliver grocery bags.
We're going to buy thousands of dollars worth of groceries and go house to house
and simply knock and say, hey, we brought this for you.
If there's anything you don't like, we'll take it, you know,
to another, but this is for you.
By the way, there's a banquet table set. We'd love for you to come and join us. Oh, that's awesome.
(39:10):
And so we're inviting the whole town to come and celebrate.
And see, through that conversation, through that festivity, through that evening,
we get to invite some of those youth who would consider being part of that conversation
and part of that team of architects who are going to draft up the next event at the next town.
(39:31):
And now they're participating. That intent is to invite them.
The intent is to fund them.
The intent is to give them the means, all the tools so they can dream without any limitations.
We provide the funding by inviting the business community to participate.
We provide the transportation through the buses that we bought,
through the businesses that participate.
And all of a sudden, everyone's playing a part.
(39:54):
It's not limited. Those events are not limited to youth. They're just the ones
who plan it. I say, what if you could plan something so big that the mayors would come to?
What if you could plant something so big that would affect everyone in that town?
And when that little light of hope hits that little town, that becomes the talk
of the town and that brings hope.
Hope brings ideas. Hope begins to help people dream and think in color again. Transform.
(40:20):
Yeah. Yeah. So because the title of our program is Mercy on Display,
obviously we see in different ways that the Lord is showing His mercy to His
people through the works of yours and all your volunteers' hands.
But how have you seen God in your life through flash love in those that you
(40:43):
work with who are not believers?
Those who are what others call secular or what in the Old Testament you'll hear
called the Gentiles, right?
Which really are us. We just happen to believe.
But how do you see that in your life? I love those the most.
(41:07):
And they come in the same way, and they understand the language I speak.
My language is not trapped in the four walls.
The language of love actually has no weapon formed against it.
You see, they understand compassion. They understand love.
And when I was able to disconnect my mind from the limitations of what a seasoned
(41:31):
or perfect Christian looks like, or at least one that fits in the walls,
I began to see and realize that the world was so hungry for that word,
for that action that was attached to it, that if I speak and move with that
kind of compassion with them,
they come in droves.
So the organization is not a steer towards a political party.
(41:56):
It's simply responding to the hurt that is around all of us.
And I'm inviting the perfect ones, which was myself at one time.
You know, into the, into the story and saying, hey, would you help us serve
the less perfect ones than yourself?
And, and we will all become one beautiful mess.
We will all, and, and, and the world gets it. The world wants to be a part of
(42:17):
that imperfect mess because they understand that they're,
you know, where they're at and, and, and they see and they feel something that
they don't know how to say no to. That's the difference.
They don't know how to say no to that compassion Passion that is extended to them.
And the first response is, how can I help? When does that next one look like?
(42:39):
What if we simply had an arm that poured out from the warm pews into the colder
streets and helped serve people that we would never see ourselves serving?
That would be a very different kind of heaven, huh? Yeah. Almost like a heaven on earth.
Yeah. It would be. which brings us to our final question which i'm excited for you to share.
(43:03):
Is that you're doing next now that you're what you've
been preparing for for a long time which to
address the homeless situation so to
every town that we go to to every mayor that we have a conversation with to
every police chief that we meet with and the large celebration that we're inviting
them to on may 31st coming up this year a large banquet celebration that will
(43:28):
be at the the Hilton Hotel. I just wanted to throw that in. Wow.
What we're inviting them to is a journey, a story of what's developing.
And that is we have unlocked a forest to the south of us, but not limited to, of the abundance,
the manna, the trees, the resources that we've needed to build a solution that
(43:53):
is on the scale of not just the United States, obviously much bigger than this little county.
So the solution is here.
It just needed some pieces pulled together. It needed some refinement.
It needed some walls that needed to be broken legally, you know,
and, and, and, and logistically.
(44:13):
And now we have a plan and a trained up team that is about to display to the
world, starting with our little county, our little community,
that a house is available for everyone. one.
And there's many ways of how to put that together. Some of that will come through
grants, some of that will come through loans, forgivable loans,
(44:35):
low interest loans, and other means.
So we can deliver to everyone that absolutely wants one.
And we'll start with a priority list, the women and children,
the elderly, and then continue to move down that line. There's a lot of people that need help.
We're starting with that priority list and we choose that priority.
Well, heaven did, but now we're implemented in such a way.
(44:58):
We're really excited for that. That's so exciting. Thank you so much for sharing your heart.
The vision that the Lord continues to unfold before your eyes.
And thank you so much for answering that call and for your humility as well,
that to allow yourself to be the hands and feet and an instrument of the Lord's will here on earth.
(45:23):
And like you said, that we can truly live in a heaven-like earth here right
now to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. So thank you for your heart.
I thank you for giving me a voice.
Oh, I'm excited to share this with a lot more community.
And actually, you can find how to connect with Andre on the show notes,
(45:46):
how to join you if they want to participate or they want to donate.
So we'll put those links there.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a review so we can continue to
reach more people. Also, make
sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
(46:07):
Music.
Hello i'm mark and i'm cindy and
we're the hosts of mercy on display a storytelling podcast about god's mercy
in people's lives from dating to marriage parenting to careers and everything
in between we hope you'll be inspired encouraged and grounded in god's purpose.
Music.
For your own life we're glad you're here thanks for joining us.
(00:45):
Hello friends, today we're going to be interviewing Andrei Avinov.
Andrei was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union was raised in
a large family of 13 children by his wonderful parents, Victor and Anna Ivanov.
As he embarked on a journey to find his purpose in life, he realized his faith
(01:06):
in God was not merely about attending church on Sundays, but about truly living
it out by serving others.
This discovery ignited a deep passion within him to serve and bring people together.
Andre believes that serving others is akin to igniting small fires of hope,
reminding humanity that compassion and kindness are still very much alive.
(01:30):
With his belief, he strives to make a positive impact on his community and unite
people from all walks of life.
Andre continues to inspire others through his selfless acts of service,
embodying the power of faith and the strength of unity.
Andre is also the founder of an organization called Flash Love,
(01:50):
Love, a non-profit in Vancouver, Washington, where he serves women,
children, youth, and the elderly in his community.
Through his organization, he's making a big change, and we're excited to hear
that today. Welcome to the show, Andre.
Good morning. Hi, Andre. How are you? I'm very well. Thanks so much for having
(02:12):
me. Thank you for being on the show today.
So we're really excited to talk to you. I know that you have a very interesting
amount of projects and different amazing things that you do in the community.
So we'll get to that in a little bit. But just to learn a little bit about yourself, where did you grow up?
And did you grow up in a Christian family?
(02:33):
Yeah. Wow. Where did I grow up? Well,
I was born in the former Soviet Union before it fell apart. And I was in Kiev, Ukraine in 1984.
And I grew up in a very busy family. It was like a beehive growing up. I'm one of 13 kids.
So that was fun. Family. There's a lot to talk about there for sure. Yeah.
(02:58):
And I did grow up in a Christian home. There was always love.
There was always comfort and protection from the outside world,
which had its benefits growing up.
But then it had its own confrontations and a massive wall of reality that hit after.
Right. Yes. Have you always stayed in your faith or have you ever walked away
(03:23):
and wouldn't you become a true Bible-believing Christian?
In the teens, when you start to make things your own, and it's not what your
parents have taught you to believe, it has to be your own at one point,
and you have to either own it or, well, you would otherwise reject it.
But to me, you know, when the world came at me, it was so contrary in a lot of ways.
(03:49):
And I'd have to, you know, take time to even unpack this.
But when the reality of the world hit me, it really sent me tumbling.
And I see that in a lot of youth, you know, today when I see their walk.
If there wasn't alignment with with
that walk that christian faith that was their own
(04:09):
that was you know love and and centered on on christ one like i don't want to
say a hundred percent because we none of us know what that means other than
reading his words and and and walking that out in the most real way it'll it'll
send you tumbling like it did me and that was my story for a while i I was just,
I was in many ways repulsed to a lot of the doctrines and really strict rules
(04:34):
that were never even in the gospel.
And so for me to undo a lot of that stuff, it was years of unnecessary confusion
and even I would say suffering that was inflicted on either myself or through
myself on others because of me trying to understand what the truth was.
Because so much of it was infiltrated with, you know, rules and religious practices
(04:58):
rather than the red words that he spoke from his heart.
I think some of us who've walked that path too have had to go down a really,
I guess, bumpy road or not even a road at all, but out in the wilderness until
you find yourself way back, but you see things differently.
(05:20):
At least that was, for me, a really big part of why I left my religion and instead
decided to explore what I call truth.
And then finally come back into, all right, what is this Bible?
Who is truly Jesus?
And it changed my life forever, for sure.
(05:43):
Truth and justice is the core of what humanity yearns for, whether they can explain it or not.
I mean, you can offend a little girl, you know, as a child and she can hold
that grudge for a long time because that an act was unjust or a little boy.
So ultimately, you know, humanity knows that there's something,
something very righteous about those things, truth and justice.
(06:06):
And when those things get tainted, it, it, it pulls us away.
It, it, it rips at our core and, and
before we can long before we can even explain, you know, what that was.
But if we live in accordance to our Jesus and actually live out how He has invited us into that walk,
(06:27):
we minimize the amount of suffering that we oftentimes cause because we're simply
trying to teach people to do better in their lives for themselves. I love that.
I think what you mentioned is that circle of the Slavica bringing.
I feel like those walls and the structures when you're young could be very strong, could be very tall.
(06:52):
And it's so beneficial as a child and adolescent years as well.
And I feel like they guide you, there's a good sense of foundation and I feel
like it's very important for every child and teen.
But when things get tough, when you're able to, I think, getting through your
(07:13):
early 20s and see to where maybe some of the people around me are not perfect, so you're questioning,
well, why are your motives and your actions are not lining up with your words?
And then things get tough inside the heart, inside the mind,
and all of a sudden it's a journey.
And it's such a very distinct and very important moment for a young man,
(07:39):
I would assume for young ladies as well,
to where then that's when your faith gets really raw,
to where you've got to meet Jesus in this faith that was passed on from your grandparents,
parents what you saw in your parents now you
have to make it your own because it's the
brokenness that you see around you whether that's your neighborhood
(08:02):
for those that don't know Christ are in a
dying world and desperately need that the good news and that's the message of
salvation and you're realizing well there are broken people around me what am
I going to make of it because You really saw that because you started with flash love and what can I do?
(08:23):
You know, you saw the brokenness and then how can I inspire these young men and women?
I think that's the beauty of everything you do, which we'll get to.
Well, you know, the emphasis was, you know, like there's, there's two ways to, to govern or to parent.
I mean, you can call it the same thing in some ways, but there's one way that
is, that is operated on punishment for, for all the wrongs.
And there's another way that is, that is operated on reward.
(08:45):
Which is, which is inviting, inspiring them to be better.
And humans time after time after time
respond better to reward because they
want to be better so you call them it doesn't mean that there isn't you know
room for you know for punishing and laying down you know some some very clear
guidelines you know of where to walk like i'm not dismissing those but generally
(09:08):
speaking where we as humans unfortunately are not good at the reward side because
we're hard on ourselves.
So therefore it, it reacts that way and, you know, on others.
And so when we launched, you know, Flash Love, the intent was,
Hey, let's stop trying to be perfect to then one day serve the Lord.
Let's just serve the Lord and then allow him to do what he does best as we each,
(09:29):
as we call each other higher to simply go and serve humanity.
And what that does is it shifts your mind from the things that you don't want
to be into the things that you do.
And you begin to move towards that. so it's a very
fundamentally you know effective process so so
that was one of the critical effective areas of of what of the shift that we
(09:49):
made and what made this so enticing and and really motivated a lot of youth
from the very very beginning not limited to youth but that was you know our
target demographic you don't have to be perfect in order to come to jesus and actually do do the work.
And then for you to little by little, like your heart starts seeing.
And I remember hearing one of your podcasts, you said you start seeing those
(10:12):
lines from black and white and not just gray.
And that's when you start actually seeing what goodness is and what is bad.
And I think that applies too.
You know, when you judge, when you, when you, when you stay in a place of judging
people, like for instance, like I grew up in a place and it wasn't always that way.
Just kind of like, you know, eventually like I crawled that way.
(10:36):
We're at a point where it's like, there's all these things that we are not the
world is like people with that, people with tattoos, you know,
people with skirts that are a little bit too high, people with this,
people, you know, all these things, you know, and, and, and, and the hair.
And so there's all these things of all of what people around us are and we're not.
(10:56):
So what it's implying to a young mind at the time is we're good.
They're not. So therefore, you're not of that world.
So I'm like, well, how are you supposed to accept them? And it puts this in
a very weird space. It's like, so are they all going to hell now?
It's weird. And that's not at all of what the heart of Christ was.
(11:18):
Look who he was the hardest on the teachers
yeah those are the people that he picked up
a whip you know too and yet he loved forgave and invited the rest and it's not
that they didn't have salvation is they knew what they were doing so anyway
like that to me when i realized you know the simplicity of the gospel and the
(11:39):
fact that we all get to move you know towards his heart you you know,
every day and have that same kind of compassion and mercy to others,
gosh, it takes a load off your shoulders and you get out of the judgment seat
that you were never authorized to sit in in the first place. Oh, it does.
It so does because you don't even realize you start mimicking and whether motives,
(12:01):
understanding and actions and getting comfortable in that judgment seat that
you didn't even know you climbed up into, and you're pointing fingers down.
And I think that the Lord even this week confronted me.
I was thinking through specks in some individuals, and the Lord reminded me
(12:24):
of the forest of logs that I have to go through.
It was very humbling. Yeah, who made you the judge? It was a common reminder to myself.
Well, fast forwarding to now, what is your relationship with Jesus like,
and how does he show up in your life?
My relationship with him is simple. It's real.
(12:44):
I, I honor him for what he's done and, and how I honor him is,
is in the breath that I take and, and, and the world and how I see the world through that.
So I often say it's, it's very tangible. Like that love is tangible,
meaning my, my, my response, I'm not earning his love anymore.
(13:06):
I'm simply responding out of the gift that I was given.
And so to me, what that looks like is I look at suffering,
I look at the things around me that are not in accordance to His will,
and I respond to those people or to those issues which are around people or
(13:26):
are affecting people, and I live my life that way.
So for instance, without getting into the details, I'm just going to kind of
underscore some points. if I see people who are homeless or are struggling with housing.
That may not have been my dream. That may not have been my call or at least
what I thought was my call, but I need to solve this.
(13:46):
I'm going to pray about it. I'm going to invite the answers and I'm going to solve this.
So what that did was it sent me down a long journey to solve that issue.
Three years later, we now have a real solution that will actually change the world. I know that.
When I saw suffering because there was injustice and people were getting evicted
(14:10):
out of homes and left out on the street, that wasn't my issue either.
I wasn't excited about that. That wasn't my call.
But in accordance to His heart—.
My compassion because of him, because he had that towards me,
I choose to have that compassion towards others.
And now things are coming into alignment with him. So that's how it looks like in real ways.
(14:34):
People often say, well, that's not my passion, that's not my lane,
that's not my call, whatever you want to describe it as.
But when my heart loves him and is committed to him, the things that I may not
have ever even considered are now my problem too.
And I take that problem on and say, Lord, what do you want to do about it?
(14:56):
I'm saying yes to the answer. What does that look like?
And oftentimes that answer looks like a lot of grinding in doing things that
you would never, ever do.
And you commit to them until you see it through because he has all of them,
meaning the answers. Yeah, right.
Wow. That's powerful. I know that we've recently spoke to another ministry here, just in conversation.
(15:19):
And we've been feeling like we've been called to do something in our life recently.
And when we were sharing our hearts with this individual, he said,
you know that you have your purpose when you find the thing that breaks your heart.
And once you find that one thing that breaks your heart, what are you going to do about it?
(15:41):
And this is a whole other
episode i'll share but it really reminded
me of seeing all the different types of ministries and what yours was one of
them like who is caring for the youth so they can grow up and be the men and
women that we need in this world and what are we going to do about the homeless
(16:01):
people it's just an exciting project that i'm looking forward to sharing more i'm assuming I mean,
those are the things that broke your heart. You want to do something about.
There was, gosh, there was so many, so many disconnects, you know, we're, we're so quick.
And I was one of those guys on the, on the sideline at one point saying like,
why is the society so weak?
Why is there so much, so much cowardice? Why is it, why is there so much just breakdowns?
(16:25):
And then it's like, okay. Okay.
For one, what if they weren't taught what right looks like? What if you didn't help teach them as well?
Would you get up and do it, right? Would you get up? And it doesn't mean I'm
now getting up and, you know, I figured it out and I'm now going to go teach.
Like, that's a lot of learning that I have to now do because,
(16:46):
you know, again, who made me the judge, right? For one.
And then two, I have to equip myself before I can, you know,
even begin to equip others.
And so that That was one of those things where instead of sitting and complaining,
you know, that we have so much breakdown specifically with this young generation
who people would oftentimes write off as the useless generation or the troubled
(17:08):
generation or whatever, you know, expletive you want to attach to it.
Or people would know it's our duty to take that territory and simply respond
and help them become better because that is in accordance to Jesus's heart. Yeah.
Now that we're here in the Pacific Northwest, how important is it for us to
(17:28):
not be ashamed of the name Jesus Christ?
I'm going to answer that question this way. I've thought about this one a lot for a while.
When I sat on the sidelines, I had nothing to talk about.
I would never defend the name that I never actually had an attachment to.
And so that's That's where a lot of the shame comes from, is people will hear
(17:50):
about him as another entity, as someone somewhere out somewhere.
But because they haven't taken the stand, taken the step and said,
Lord, what is your heart?
I want to emulate it. And when they begin to emulate that heart,
it's being passionate about him is not a task anymore. It's an expression.
(18:14):
That was the difference for me. I didn't, I don't defend him because he needs any defense.
He doesn't need any of my defense. What, what changed things and actually made,
made me effective to be in whatever,
whatever circle of people that I was around politically, you know,
(18:35):
in, in, in, in all kinds of, you know, divided,
you know, territories or, or backgrounds that people would oftentimes, you know, come from.
I simply say, my actions that you see are not my own.
It's a response to the mercy and the grace that I've received.
So because of that, I choose to love you and I choose to do this,
(18:57):
this, and this other thing.
That's what changed me. You take that away. There's nothing left.
And that gives you your purpose. There is no way to rebuttal that. Mm-hmm.
Which leads us into the next question. How can we make Him, Jesus Christ,
part of our daily walk and conversations?
I know that a lot of young people will be listening to this.
(19:20):
We're just getting started, and the majority of the youth who are Russian are
starting to follow us, which I think it's great that they need to hear this.
They just can't sit in religion in my comfortable seat.
I get up and walk the faith. Well, a comfortable seat is a slow death.
I don't think anybody wants it. True.
(19:41):
But for me, what made me come alive is when I stopped waiting for permission
and I simply said yes to the one who has called me into that space in the first place.
He says, if you love me, you will love my people. He's given example after example
after example. If you love me, you will love my people, serve my people,
(20:05):
even if it's a cup of cold water in my name, as simple as that.
That's what we started. So when I began to say, Lord, I hear you now,
it's not theology to me. It's personal.
It's out of my love. I want to do this.
And so, I mean, for me, it was, I can share the story of what shifted me.
(20:30):
I was driving home from Portland where I was going to college and finishing up my degree.
And it was a late night because I was taking late classes. I was working full
time, you know, and loaded schedule.
And so schooling was in the evenings. And I was coming across the 205 bridge heading northbound.
And it was one of those things, like if you would take a snapshot of my life,
(20:53):
it looked like I had everything put together.
You know, the, the, the way I was dressed, the car I drove, the lifestyle I
lived, the, the, the vacations I took, you know, in the circle of friends I
had, it looked from the outside, like I was put together and,
and, and I've made it to some degree to that, you know, age group.
I was 25 at the time and, and I'm driving across this, this bridge and I just
(21:13):
have like this just deep sorrow, just like of where in the world,
why, why do I feel so distant?
And where is like, Lord, I'm just so heartbroken at, at, at my,
at my life, like looking at myself and I'm like, and I was just,
and it was this, and it was this compassion that just, it was a cold night and
(21:36):
it was about 11 o'clock going and going on, you know, further.
And I just had this deep compassion that just went over my heart.
And I'm just like, Lord, I'm here in my, in my, you know, in,
in, in my BMW with my heated seats and I'm dressed warm and,
and yet there's people who are just rotting in the streets right now.
(21:57):
Don't even know what to do. I have no idea, but my heart is so broken and I
want, I want to just do something just so I could feel like I have at least began to respond.
And that was the one thing that I had in my heart that night.
And I'm, and I'm, I remember I'm driving home and I passed my exit and I'm just
(22:18):
like, Lord, where do I even find someone? I mean, it was freezing.
It was, no ice or rain at the time, but it was freezing. It was,
gosh, below actually even.
And I'm driving down. So I turned off of, you know, 205.
I went on to 500, got onto fourth plane and I'm driving down fourth plane,
(22:38):
like a really slow, just looking. I had some cash.
I think I, no, I stopped by the bank, you know, withdrew some cash.
So I had a wad of cash in my hand and I was just looking for homeless people
people that I could just for myself even, not even for them, just to respond.
And I drove all the way down the entire road, a fourth plane from 205 down to
(23:03):
where it ended on the other side of Vancouver, on the west side of Vancouver,
no one, not one. Like, wow.
And I remembered about seeing this homeless shelter.
It was called Open House Ministries. And so I pulled up to that and I saw that
there was a few people standing outside, you know, some were having conversations,
(23:24):
some were smoking, you know, and chatting.
And I walked out of my car kind of timidly, like wondering, who am I going to
approach? How am I going to approach them? What am I going to say? I have no idea.
And I'm dressed up, you know, like, well, anyway, so I'm not fitting into the
vibe either. You know, I'm like as far out as you could possibly imagine.
(23:46):
And I'm walking down this, down this path. I pass the front of it.
I walk around the corner and I see, I see this, this young lady,
you know, she was standing just with a, I don't know what you call them,
like a robe or something like that.
And she was just staring up in the, at the stars.
And I, I very carefully, you know, I approached her and I asked,
(24:07):
you know, I was, you know, hey, is it okay if I, if I just give you this?
And, and, and, and so I, cause I didn't, I didn't know how else to,
you know, totally clueless.
And, and so I, I came up to her, I stretched out my hand, I gave her what was
in mine and, and, you know, she looks at me or she, she, she looks at her,
(24:29):
you know, opens her hand, she looks at it. And then she like,
she asked, can I give you a hug?
And she like ran up and just, and gave me a hug. She says, you don't know what this means to me.
And she was confused. And it was, it was just strange. He's like,
I've never met her, right?
And, you know, I turned around, you know, and just, and I just,
I teared up and I'm walking to my car, just like, I just, I felt,
(24:50):
I felt connection for the first time in this space of responding,
connection to a human that I didn't know.
And that was one of those acts. It's not like I've not ever done anything good
for people, but it was, it was this, this was the journey that began reeling.
This was Jesus reeling me in. I went to my car, I pulled out whatever else I
(25:10):
had, you know, and just came up and said, here, this belongs to you and,
you know, have a Merry Christmas. And I walked away.
But that just wrecked me and it shaped the course, the trajectory of how I began to see people.
I began to notice people very differently. I think a lot of people just want
(25:31):
to be acknowledged that they have a story, that they are human and they're not just.
And I think that's when I moved being from Indiana when
I moved here it broke my heart to see
the homeless and I was shocked it was just like a culture shock as if I went
to outer space to a different world and I've never seen this many homeless people
(25:53):
I mean you will have like one or two in the city of Indianapolis but I never
really saw that besides in my home country you you know?
And I was a kid back then. So I remember some things, but not everything.
And then coming here, I thought, we're in the U.S.
This is the place where I was brought because there's so much opportunity as
(26:14):
an immigrant. What's going on?
And it really broke my heart. And then little by little, I started meeting people
here in the Pacific Northwest.
And their hearts were so hard towards the homeless people.
And I thought, why are their hearts so hard? and they would
give me a thousand and one excuses on why
they don't want to help the homeless
(26:35):
why they unfortunately have so little regard for them and it wasn't it started
hardening up my heart too and it wasn't until you started talking to mark and
you you guys were all talking about your project, upcoming project,
that I thought, there's finally a solution, finally,
(26:57):
you know, I don't have to feel constantly that no one's ever going to do something,
that there's something that actually can be done,
people can get back on their feet, because sometimes I thought,
am I going to be homeless because of the difficulties that when we got here,
we couldn't find jobs, you know, and that person could be me,
constantly thinking that, and I'm sure that it goes through a lot of of people's
(27:20):
heads, especially how expensive things are getting,
that they too could lose their home at any moment.
The reality that we're living in, unfortunately, in this society today,
just by how expensive things get that a single parent could be struggling just to keep up rent,
(27:43):
because rent is just shooting through the roof.
It's an epidemic of housing issues here, especially here.
So thank you for sharing that. That really speaks to us, for sure.
And I hope that the audience will will open up
their heart and think about that there's more to
that story than just i don't have
(28:05):
housing because maybe i don't want to work but it's more it's
more than that there's a whole other universe that
we don't know about in each person that's walking down the street right now
it's so both painful and beautiful at the same time when the lord takes your
heart and takes takes you to that edge and shows you, opens up your eyes.
(28:29):
And I feel like when I had those moments to the very first time,
the Lord just started taking the veils off my eyes of religion and by religion.
And I mean, it's just the comfort of life.
I would share this with my wife, with Cindy and with others,
that I feel like my upbringing has been so comfortable. And I was around church 24-7.
(28:55):
And I mean that both during summer, spring, winter, going to the park with someone
you know, with a family member, cousins, a church member, but just always surrounded by that circle.
But when the Lord started showing me that, look, there are people that are broken around you,
that are in need of not only spiritual food, but also materialistic needs that they have,
(29:24):
and the needs that they have around, and that we are to walk up to that calling.
To match our faith with our actions, with our words, that all those worlds become one.
That what you speak of, what you read of, what Jesus has said,
(29:47):
then for you to go out to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.
Like you said, it just simply started off with you guys as just giving that cup of water.
It was that first step of service, of action.
And I feel like that very first step for a young Christian, for a person of
(30:07):
faith, where you hit Jesus,
you really start to encounter where God is able to step in and start working,
start drastically changing your life, taking off comfort, whether that's money, fame,
just the comfort of life, four walls of a church.
(30:28):
But actually to go meet the needs of the broking, of the widows,
of the orphans, of the homeless men and women,
to where you're able to actually walk your faith out through your actions and your words.
Which brings us to the next question. What is it that you do through Flash Love
(30:49):
to be the hands and feet of Jesus?
What programs do you have?
Everything we do is about human connection. It's one of the things that are
underscored, I think, the least, you know.
It's like what we oftentimes hear is, you know, well, here's all the things that Jesus did.
And he didn't use very many material resources besides the bread and the fish that we know of, right?
(31:11):
Most of what he used was he called it down from heaven.
It's like, well, I'm not calling anything down from heaven right now,
but I'm living in the side of Acts where people came and then they brought their
possessions, you know, before the disciples' feet.
And they distributed it amongst themselves and there was no need among them.
(31:32):
It was that kind of a reality that they lived and there was no need among them.
What if that could be our reality today?
So one of the things in the primary things that we focus on is we are building
connections because what I want to underscore, and for a lot of the listeners,
you know, who are going to be hearing this, this may be new or a concept that
(31:52):
they may have not thought about.
You know, we We oftentimes wonder, why in the world would the youth run away
from home? If they had a home, now they're homeless.
And I ask those who often wonder that, what if the hell they ran away from was
worse than the hell that they came into?
So what if there was so much destruction that was happening in the homes,
(32:15):
it was better to be on the street and, and cold and hungry because the life
at home was that much worse.
I can't tell you how many, how many foster kids I've ran across,
you know, in the streets, you know, and would have a conversation,
you know, they're out from that side of the country down from South,
they're just roaming somewhere because the terror that they've lived through,
(32:38):
they, they, they, they want to be as far from it as possible.
They're not even of age, just out on the streets, you know, running from that
thing, that grasp and so on.
So, so having, you know, that human connection, the first thing that you do,
one of the first things we do is we give them a family.
It's not saying, hey, come to my church. You know, we have it figured out.
You know, you'll have a sense of belonging. No, we're going to you.
(33:00):
And so when we, when we do these, you know, neighborhood events or community
events, sometimes people think like, a lot of times people think like,
you know, what's your painting this wall going to fix anything?
What's you giving away Christmas tree is going to fix anything.
What's you, you know, what, you know, this thing that you're,
that you're, you know, this other, you know, event, let's say you're,
you're giving out grocery bags, what's that going to do? How's that going to change anyone?
(33:22):
What they don't realize is that gives us an open door,
a physical one, but also one into their heart where we simply love them,
not with a message that's been, been packed,
you know, five minute message, you know, you know, cramped or,
or compressed into a 30-minute elevator speech. No, it's not about that.
(33:43):
It's about we hear you, we see you, we notice you, and we're here to simply love you.
What that does is it begins to break those walls. And so every event that we
do, no matter what it's described as, no matter what the actual work looks like,
it gives us an opportunity to set a table, because oftentimes there is one.
We set a table and we invite them to a feast. There's the worship team that
(34:07):
is simply playing music, right?
There is a group of people who are doing this, whatever this act happens to
be, like I said, whether it's removing graffiti, picking up trash in a park
or in a neighborhood, and simply saying, we love you, and we want you to come
and dine at this table with us, right?
So it's those kinds of opportunities. There's times when there is no table.
It's just that human connection.
(34:27):
And they get to see, they get to follow, they get to one day and hopefully someday
soon come to the next event or whatever that looks like.
But it's about lighting these little fires, igniting these little fires for
people to simply be a part of something.
And so when there's this, you know, heart to heart conversation now that gives
(34:49):
them an opportunity to have more and what more looks like, again, it really creates,
you know, a space and an environment for people to express.
I get a lot of frustrated evangelists, you know, who would say things like,
I'm really struggling getting my students you know to go and simply you know
declare the lord is good you know like okay.
(35:10):
What if we simply set the conditions for the people that came that weren't even
part of an evangelistic team, and you simply gave them permission by saying,
hey, those people need you.
Your kind words really will shape their life.
They're hungry for that kindness. They're hungry for that love.
If you can release it to them, and it just happens naturally,
(35:34):
it seems like, without effort.
For me, me having to give them a script, nothing.
Nothing it just changes them because because they've received something that
they've not received without some kind of an expectation in the past and it's
confusion to some of them they'll even they'll even sometimes be mean you know
when they when they receive that kind word because every time a kind word came
(35:54):
around it it always came with the hook on the other side,
so so when when we engage the community that's our focus i can go into the logistics
of it of what what other things look like.
But when we engage, whatever event we happen to do, it's always around people
and it's always around relationships and that's what's creating this change.
(36:17):
Everything you've said, I always wonder, how is it that you engage so many youth?
Because I feel like I connect well with other adults and I've mentored youth,
you know but when I see all
the people that show up I mean it's literally mobs
(36:37):
of people right that's what how flash love started with
a flash of love by a
mob right of people I thought how does he do that like how does all these youth
and then seeing the most recent event that you did for Christmas for all those
moms how does how do you engage all these youth to come together and do something for the city?
(37:01):
How is it that you help youth feel welcomed and that they are.
They're wanted. And I feel like I just finally got my answer today.
So thank you for sharing that. Well, I'm going to give you another answer.
The other answer is we formed a group called CLC or Community Leadership Council.
(37:23):
And so we invited leaders. I mean, when I say leaders, I'm talking,
you know, whether they were appointed by an organization like the recent one,
Living Hope Church or Kingdom Movement Church are sending representatives,
you know, to others are simply saying, hey, I'm from this church, can I help?
And so we invite them to a table and we let them dream.
(37:44):
And we let them dream of helping us create the next event. So their DNA,
their fingerprint is on the next event.
And that next event could be as far as an hour and a half to the east from here
in Klickitat, a little tiny town called Klickitat in Klickitat County.
(38:04):
It's the same hearts, the same needs oftentimes, and sometimes worse.
Sometimes the hopelessness is so bad where then drug use and abuse comes in
and the frustrated sheriff is putting up a billboard,
like, if I catch you in my town and you're a dealer, I will shoot you on sight, type language.
(38:27):
So much frustration, it's so much unnecessary suffering and death.
So they get to create, what does that event look like?
So we're preparing right now a party that's going to show up in that little
town and we're going to set a banquet table for that whole town to show up to.
And we're going to arrive, you know, likely in the evening because we're going
(38:49):
to stop by another town before we get there.
And the youth are going to simply deliver grocery bags.
We're going to buy thousands of dollars worth of groceries and go house to house
and simply knock and say, hey, we brought this for you.
If there's anything you don't like, we'll take it, you know,
to another, but this is for you.
By the way, there's a banquet table set. We'd love for you to come and join us. Oh, that's awesome.
(39:10):
And so we're inviting the whole town to come and celebrate.
And see, through that conversation, through that festivity, through that evening,
we get to invite some of those youth who would consider being part of that conversation
and part of that team of architects who are going to draft up the next event at the next town.
(39:31):
And now they're participating. That intent is to invite them.
The intent is to fund them.
The intent is to give them the means, all the tools so they can dream without any limitations.
We provide the funding by inviting the business community to participate.
We provide the transportation through the buses that we bought,
through the businesses that participate.
And all of a sudden, everyone's playing a part.
(39:54):
It's not limited. Those events are not limited to youth. They're just the ones
who plan it. I say, what if you could plan something so big that the mayors would come to?
What if you could plant something so big that would affect everyone in that town?
And when that little light of hope hits that little town, that becomes the talk
of the town and that brings hope.
Hope brings ideas. Hope begins to help people dream and think in color again. Transform.
(40:20):
Yeah. Yeah. So because the title of our program is Mercy on Display,
obviously we see in different ways that the Lord is showing His mercy to His
people through the works of yours and all your volunteers' hands.
But how have you seen God in your life through flash love in those that you
(40:43):
work with who are not believers?
Those who are what others call secular or what in the Old Testament you'll hear
called the Gentiles, right?
Which really are us. We just happen to believe.
But how do you see that in your life? I love those the most.
(41:07):
And they come in the same way, and they understand the language I speak.
My language is not trapped in the four walls.
The language of love actually has no weapon formed against it.
You see, they understand compassion. They understand love.
And when I was able to disconnect my mind from the limitations of what a seasoned
(41:31):
or perfect Christian looks like, or at least one that fits in the walls,
I began to see and realize that the world was so hungry for that word,
for that action that was attached to it, that if I speak and move with that
kind of compassion with them,
they come in droves.
So the organization is not a steer towards a political party.
(41:56):
It's simply responding to the hurt that is around all of us.
And I'm inviting the perfect ones, which was myself at one time.
You know, into the, into the story and saying, hey, would you help us serve
the less perfect ones than yourself?
And, and we will all become one beautiful mess.
We will all, and, and, and the world gets it. The world wants to be a part of
(42:17):
that imperfect mess because they understand that they're,
you know, where they're at and, and, and they see and they feel something that
they don't know how to say no to. That's the difference.
They don't know how to say no to that compassion Passion that is extended to them.
And the first response is, how can I help? When does that next one look like?
(42:39):
What if we simply had an arm that poured out from the warm pews into the colder
streets and helped serve people that we would never see ourselves serving?
That would be a very different kind of heaven, huh? Yeah. Almost like a heaven on earth.
Yeah. It would be. which brings us to our final question which i'm excited for you to share.
(43:03):
Is that you're doing next now that you're what you've
been preparing for for a long time which to
address the homeless situation so to
every town that we go to to every mayor that we have a conversation with to
every police chief that we meet with and the large celebration that we're inviting
them to on may 31st coming up this year a large banquet celebration that will
(43:28):
be at the the Hilton Hotel. I just wanted to throw that in. Wow.
What we're inviting them to is a journey, a story of what's developing.
And that is we have unlocked a forest to the south of us, but not limited to, of the abundance,
the manna, the trees, the resources that we've needed to build a solution that
(43:53):
is on the scale of not just the United States, obviously much bigger than this little county.
So the solution is here.
It just needed some pieces pulled together. It needed some refinement.
It needed some walls that needed to be broken legally, you know,
and, and, and, and logistically.
(44:13):
And now we have a plan and a trained up team that is about to display to the
world, starting with our little county, our little community,
that a house is available for everyone. one.
And there's many ways of how to put that together. Some of that will come through
grants, some of that will come through loans, forgivable loans,
(44:35):
low interest loans, and other means.
So we can deliver to everyone that absolutely wants one.
And we'll start with a priority list, the women and children,
the elderly, and then continue to move down that line. There's a lot of people that need help.
We're starting with that priority list and we choose that priority.
Well, heaven did, but now we're implemented in such a way.
(44:58):
We're really excited for that. That's so exciting. Thank you so much for sharing your heart.
The vision that the Lord continues to unfold before your eyes.
And thank you so much for answering that call and for your humility as well,
that to allow yourself to be the hands and feet and an instrument of the Lord's will here on earth.
(45:23):
And like you said, that we can truly live in a heaven-like earth here right
now to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. So thank you for your heart.
I thank you for giving me a voice.
Oh, I'm excited to share this with a lot more community.
And actually, you can find how to connect with Andre on the show notes,
(45:46):
how to join you if they want to participate or they want to donate.
So we'll put those links there.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a review so we can continue to
reach more people. Also, make
sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
(46:07):
Music.
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