October 3, 2025 • 42 mins
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What if the path back to purpose winds through a kitchen? I sit down with Jeff Reynolds, a chef whose story spans late-teen addiction, a decade in a grunge-era band, a pandemic crisis, a dusted-off Bible, and a calling he once ran from. The turning point is startlingly human—a night of fear and honesty at home—followed by small, faithful steps: reading John, hard questions that outgrew a brother’s answers, and a four-hour lunch with a pastor that reframed “ministry” as more than a pulpit.
We walk through Jeff’s craft and recovery, and into his work at World Relief’s commercial learning kitchen, where refugees and immigrants rebuild livelihoods far beyond the 90-day resettlement window. He explains how culinary training becomes a vehicle for dignity, micro-enterprise, and healing from trauma. Along the way, he learns the language of spice markets, the etiquette of cross-cultural respect, and a deeper theology of the Imago Dei that holds firm in a plural space—open about faith, never coercive, always grounded in love and truth. The result is a kitchen that functions as classroom and community hub, where cinnamon and cardamom carry stories across continents.
Jeff also shares the discernment he and his wife, Lori, are navigating now—what shepherding a flock could look like, why stewardship precedes promotion, and how intentional practices like daily prayer can anchor a life that once drifted. His three takeaways are simple and strong: keep praying for prodigals, hold your calling with open hands, and make space for God every day. If you need a reminder that vocation can be redeemed and redirected, this conversation will meet you right where you are.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Grantley Martelly (00:09):
Welcome to Above the Noise, a podcast at
the intersection of faith, race,and reconciliation.
And I'm your host,Grantley Martelly.
Welcome back to Above theNoise.
It's my great privilege todayto have a friend, Jeff Reynolds,
(00:30):
and we're just going to behaving a conversation about his
life and about where he's been,where God has taken him, what
he's doing now, the excitingthings that he's doing.
I'm sure that you're going toenjoy hearing from him as much
as I'm looking forward to thisconversation.
So welcome to the show, Jeff.
Jeff Reynolds (00:46):
Thank you, Grantley.
Grantley Martelly (00:47):
Let's begin, Jeff, by telling our audience
about you.
Introduce yourself, yourfamily, where you live, what you
do, anything you think that thewould introduce you to our
audience.
Jeff Reynolds (00:57):
Certainly, yeah.
So my name is Jeff Reynolds.
I graduated from culinaryschool back in 1998 and been in
the food and beverage industryuh ever since.
Currently working through aministry call and course of
study, Port Ordination.
And I live in Kent, Washington,or Des Moines, Washington, I
should say, more appropriately.
I've got a wife and a son andcats, dog, that kind of stuff.
(01:20):
I grew up in Washington.
I was originally born inCalifornia, but I was less than
a year old when we moved uphere.
My wife is born and raised inSeattle, Washington, and loves
to remind me that I am aCalifornia transplant.
Um Yeah, that's a big thing uphere.
It is.
It's a funny thing thathappens, but yeah, she loves to
point that out once in a while.
Um just to rouse me.
(01:41):
So but yeah, that's kind of youknow, I grew up in Washington
and still here.
Grantley Martelly (01:48):
Well that's a good introduction to our
audience.
And we're gonna get into moreof your history and things that
you do.
You said you went to culinaryschool.
Tell us a little bit about thatpart of your life.
Jeff Reynolds (02:02):
Uh, so yeah, I would say post-high school, I
really didn't know what I wantedto do in life.
I played football, Americanfootball all through junior high
and high school.
And that's really like kind oflike what my life was at that
time, and I didn't know whatelse to do besides I wanted to
keep playing ball.
And so I went to Walla WallaCommunity College on the eastern
(02:23):
side of the state.
It was a good experience, uh,but I realized like six months
in that I this isn't where Iwanted to be, and came back
home.
It was a couple years before Iended up going to culinary
school.
Uh at that time in my life, Iwas in my late teens.
Life became about the party.
That caught up with me heavilyat that time, and I needed a
space to try and figure out howto get back from that.
(02:47):
And uh through grace and somedoors opening in culinary
school.
I have a passion for cooking.
I was probably second grade,summer school, I was I'm
dyslexic, and so I went tosummer school in elementary, and
you got to take a scholasticand an elective, and the
elective I took was a cookingclass because my mom's had me in
the kitchen since I was alittle kid.
And so I was like, oh, I liketo cook, I'll do that.
(03:09):
And that was like the beginningof that journey.
I took cooking classes throughelementary school, junior high,
high school, ultimatelygraduated from culinary school.
So it's just something that,you know, there's those things
that you have in your life thatyou can just do, and they help
you relax and you don't have tothink about them.
Cooking has been one of thosethings for me for a long time
where I can just walk into thekitchen, I'm comfortable, I know
(03:30):
what to do and how to do it.
There's also the artistic side.
I took plenty of sculpting andpainting and art stuff in school
and the realities of culinaryarts and the refinement that
came with that and the focusthat it brought.
So it just became somethingthat really helped uh form me as
a young person and ultimatelyled to where I am today.
Grantley Martelly (03:50):
So what did you when you went to put
culinary school, did you have aparticular area you wanted to
focus in, or you just wanted tolearn everything the best you
can?
Jeff Reynolds (04:00):
At the time, it was really about just learning
the best I could out ofeverything, techniques,
ingredients, all that kind ofstuff.
So it was really that focused.
In culinary school, I realizedmy understanding in baking and
pastry specifically, uh, insteadof strengthening what I already
knew cooking on the line.
I actually went into baking andpastry.
I am still not a great baker,but I do understand the
(04:24):
principles and the foundationsof that world a lot better than
I did before.
So it helped me round out as abetter show.
Grantley Martelly (04:32):
Well, if you ever want to practice on your
bacon and pastry and you need aquality control person, just
give me a call.
Be happy to come and help youimprove your skills.
Jeff Reynolds (04:42):
Sure.
We can make some stuff.
Grantley Martelly (04:45):
You also said that the partying became a part
of your life.
Was that mixed up with culinaryschool or after culinary
school?
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe partying part.
Jeff Reynolds (04:55):
I have two older brothers, and so growing up,
both of them went that directionduring high school.
And so, like honestly, thefirst time I ever smoked
marijuana, I was in seventhgrade.
Uh, not like 12, that's not agreat place for a young person
to be.
But my older brothers thoughtit was funny, and you know, and
me and I look my little skaterbuddies in junior high, and uh
(05:18):
that just kind of was thebeginning of that life.
Yeah, I grew up in the church.
I I mean I was I'm I'mdedicated and baptized and
married in the Nazarene church,which is funny.
But the reality was that thatthat wasn't the focus.
That that was just like thatwas my parents' religion, not
mine at the time.
And so life was about what washappening with my friends and
(05:39):
things and stuff like that.
So by the time I was a seniorin high school, you could say I
was a full-blown stoner.
And that's when, you know,going to play football, same
just kept going, came back fromthat experience.
And at this point, we're allout of high school, and my
friends while I was in collegeand walla walla were continuing
to ramp up.
And so when I got back, thingswere a lot heavier and deeper
(06:02):
than they were when we wereyounger, and had found myself
heavily into a fairly bad spacewhen I was around 19.
Me and one of my best friendssince junior high growing up
together.
At this point, we wereinjecting methamphetamines into
our veins.
And I knew it was a while, nota full year, but there was a
while into this life where I waslike, this is bad.
(06:25):
This is really bad, and I'mgonna die.
Times I should have.
And by the grace of God didn't.
And so that was caught up meneeding to get my life together.
I was going back to church andgoing to culinary school and
getting that under wraps.
There's a lot of stuff thatgoes on in between there.
Post-culinary school, ended upjoining a band, and the same
(06:47):
life came right back.
Again, I didn't know.
Yeah, I was gonna ask you aboutthat, the music part of your
life.
Tell us a bit about the bandlife, the road life, loving it
out.
I was 15 years old when I firstband I was ever in.
It was actually a bunch ofbuddies from youth group at
church.
We were, you know, this is likethe 90s grunge era, so we were
just kind of a noisy bunch ofkids getting in trouble for
(07:08):
jamming in the youth room, youknow, stuff like that.
So then I ended up in anotherband my senior year in high
school, and then ultimately theband that I played in for over a
decade was a band calledKilling Roots.
I met my bass player at a pizzarestaurant.
This is after culinary schoolwhen I was working, and we met
at a pizza restaurant andbonded, and the band that I was
in at that time was breaking up.
(07:29):
They needed a singer.
So we started hanging out, andthe drummer, he is still one of
my best friends to this day.
His daughter is my goddaughter,and so that just formulated
that relationship at that time,and it kindered, and we played
for over a decade.
We didn't really tour too much.
We played up and down the I-5,if you will, through Washington.
(07:50):
But we got to a place where wewere signed by an independent
label, put out a full-lengthalbum.
We were opening for a lot ofnationally touring acts that
were coming through town.
Uh, we were writing what wecalled second album material.
It was very much a moment wherewe thought this was actually
probably going to happen.
Um And then unfortunately,because of the lifestyle that we
(08:11):
lived in, my bass player that Ioriginally met, thank God he's
sober now, but also foundhimself in a deep place with
meth and needles.
I mean, it was not a goodthing.
And ultimately we had to askhim to leave the band because we
knew it wasn't healthy for therest of us and we wanted to keep
pursuing.
Um unfortunately, it was hardto get the wheels back on the
bus with different bass playersafter playing together for a
(08:33):
decade.
And at that time, life washappening.
I was getting married, mybuddies were having kids, and it
just kind of pitered out.
Grantley Martelly (08:42):
Yeah, like most bands, right?
Eventually it they peter out.
Many bands, you have your lifecycle like everything else, and
people's life go on.
And if you're not willing tomake a commitment to that, then
it will peter out.
Yeah.
Tell us about your conversionexperience, about your faith
journey.
Jeff Reynolds (09:00):
Yeah, so like I said, I I did grow up in the
church, so there's always been afoundation of understanding.
But the reality of like whendid it penetrate my heart and
make that change?
It was really COVID.
It really was.
There was a moment of that itwas this open, this thing that
just happened, and nobody knewwhat was going on.
(09:20):
And at this time, we didn'tknow if it was, you know, how to
get it, what was happening.
I remember I was pumping gasand reaching into the little
thing to pull my debit card backout and thinking to myself,
should I have even touched thisthing?
You know, like rubbingsanitizer on my hands.
And I remember I got home andI'm just, you know, what l my
(09:41):
wife Lori hadn't gotten homeyet.
So I was at home just dwellingon all this stuff, and I've got
the news on.
I was I was a news junkie atthat time.
Like my morning routine was toget up, get a cup of coffee,
flip on the local news, and thenI would spend an hour
throughout the morning just likeyou know, getting all those
stories filled in.
And so that at that time, it'slike all that going on, and so
(10:03):
she came home and was like, youknow, and I'm clearly
distraught.
And she's like, Are you okay?
And I the the exact words wereno, I'm not okay, I'm not effing
okay.
And and I'm in tears, and she'sjust like, What is happening?
She made me sit down, westarted talking over stuff, and
this is before even her, youknow, she did not grow up in the
(10:24):
church.
And so there's this moment thatwe both have looked back on and
recognized that this is thelove of God coming through her
to me at that time when I neededit more than I ever really
realized.
And I just remember as wewatched this, we like
documentaries, so there's thisone that she wanted to watch,
and it happened to be she has apassion for anti-sex
trafficking.
And so it was this documentaryabout this.
(10:46):
And one of the things that itwas a faith-based documentary,
and one of the things that theyhad at the bottom was um the
Ephesians 6, 10 through 20,talking about the armor of God.
And it was on the bottom of thescreen the whole time through
this documentary, and one of thethings they kept saying,
because they were implicatingthat this was a demonic and
satanic agenda with all thistrafficking and the line they
(11:08):
kept saying in the documentarywas even if you don't believe
it, they do.
And and so I looked at thatarmor of God passage and being
readied and thinking to myselfthat even when I wasn't
necessarily following at all, Iknew somewhere in the back of my
mind, in the back of my heart,that if there really was a God,
and there really was somethinggoing on in the unseen realms,
(11:30):
that Jesus was probably the guy.
And and so I remember justbreaking down that evening, and
and I actually I went and had todig out my Bible that my
parents gave me when I wasprobably like 14.
It's literally the junioradventure Bible, and I had to
dust it off out of the old deskdrawer and dug in and read that
passage, and I remember reallylike I broke down in tears and
(11:54):
cried out, God, I do believe inwho you are, and I do want to
serve you.
I don't know what I'm doingwith my life.
And that was that beginningmoment of him hearing,
listening, and starting movingme forward to where I am today.
Which is funny because inculinary school, when I was
going to church and met my firstwife, and that's when God
(12:16):
actually called me to ministry,was in culinary school.
And I remember thinking, whywould I do that?
I'm, you know, clearly I cook,I know how to cook, I'm in
school for that.
Like, why would I why would Ido that?
Like, it doesn't make any senseto me.
And then ultimately after mydivorce, I that's when I full on
walked away from the church andjoined the band at that time.
And so it's it's been comingall the way back to where we are
(12:40):
now.
How many years was that inbetween?
That was 20 years.
Okay.
Easily a 20-year wander in myown personal desert.
And with that, because I wasn'tgrounded, the substance abuse
patterns just continued from onething or another.
At one point, my wife and Ifound ourselves in a deep pit
and needed to get out of uh aswell.
(13:01):
Long story short, I messed upmy back and knee within a year
of each other.
This is back before they wereregulating pain meds and they
were handing out, you know,opiates like tic-tacks.
Every appointment you went tothey wanted to get in.
Did you need a refill?
Yeah.
And so then the two of us justfound ourselves in this pit of
like, what are we doing?
And and so, yeah, it wasinteresting.
Grantley Martelly (13:24):
So how did you get out?
How did you get out of that pitto the point to where you felt
stable, though you were ready tomove on with your life, and
that you'd be able to get tothat point that God had been
working on you for 20 years?
Jeff Reynolds (13:39):
At that time, and this wasn't a fate measure, it
was a personal effort, uh,really is how that worked.
At that time, there was uh anew it wasn't new, but it was
technology made it advanced, andso they've been able to figure
out how to extract THC from theactual plant fiber and create
hash oils, which are like superhigh concentrated.
(14:02):
And so we moved into smokinglike extremely intense, like 80
to 90 percent THC oil, andthat's how we got away from
opiates, but now we foundourselves deeper in a in a pit
of of smoking still.
One addiction to the other.
We just transferred one to theother, and it wasn't until
actually returning to Christ tofinding sobriety.
Grantley Martelly (14:24):
Like returning to Christ.
Let's go on that journey.
Jeff Reynolds (14:28):
Yeah.
Grantley Martelly (14:29):
How did you get back to that point to where
you realized that you won't beable to do it by yourself?
Jeff Reynolds (14:34):
Oh, again, that was the COVID story.
Um that I just found myself inthat place.
Grantley Martelly (14:38):
And so with that I So when you did the COVID
story and you were you werecrying and you she breaks down
and she you said, she said,What's wrong with you?
Yeah.
That was the conversion pointto where you began to walk away.
Yeah.
Okay, I didn't make theconnection.
I thought they were happeningsimultaneously.
Jeff Reynolds (14:57):
No, no, no.
And that was just a lot ofthree.
I reached out to my brother.
Again, both my brothers didwalk away from the church in
their young years, and so Ifollowed suit with them.
Ultimately, both of them havereturned to Christ and raised
their families and all that.
And so I remember reaching out,my my I've got two older
(15:19):
brothers, the one of them isonly two years older than me.
So he and I like we've alwaysknown it's our lives have always
had each other in them, as faras our our recollection goes,
right?
So we're just very we usedpeople used to think we're twins
when we were younger.
It was funny.
So I just reached out to himone day and was like, hey, I'm
this is what I'm where I'm atand what I'm going through.
He was one of those people thatwas when I was, you know,
(15:39):
trying to get off math.
He so he's an amazing man, agreat sounding board.
And so it's just one of thosethings where I reached out to
him and it's like, hey, I'mgetting back into the word and I
don't know where to start.
So to he's like, okay, startwith John.
Like that was kind of like hisdirection.
Start with John, work throughthe gospels.
And I kept asking him questionsas I'm reading, like, what does
(16:00):
this mean?
What does Jesus say when hesays this?
And why would he call the womana dog?
And he's like, it gets to apoint where he's like, hey,
you're asking some real deepquestions now.
Stuff I don't feel capable ofanswering.
So he introduced me to hispastor, Craig Laughlin, up in
Marysville at GenerationsChurch.
So that was the beginning of mereally seeking out.
So Craig and I got togetherwhen they first opened
(16:21):
restaurants again.
Uh he and I got together andhad lunch in what was supposed
to be an hour meeting turnedinto a four-hour conversation.
Oh.
And I remember saying, I youknow, the one of the things when
I really reached back into theword and started reading again
was that there was that tap onmy shoulder one day where the
Lord said, Remember when Icalled you to ministry in
culinary school?
Yeah, I was serious about that.
(16:42):
I still want you to do that.
And that was a big mind blow.
You know, like what you want meto what?
And so I remembered saying toCraig, I don't know what being a
pastor is, but I think I'msupposed to do that.
And so that was kind of sixmonths or so of viewing their
services online through YouTube,you know, and just really doing
(17:02):
church in our living room.
Okay.
And so Lori's Lori's conversionstory is me reading through
scripture and and uh telling herabout it all the time.
And then one day she's like, Iwant to read the Bible.
And I'm I'm starting John, youknow.
I'm in Matthew, you can readit.
Just repeat a process.
And that's when I was like, oh,that's different.
The fact that she wants herown.
Like, we have one in the house,you can read it.
(17:23):
She's like, no, no, I wantmine.
Yeah.
And her story is more like welaughed.
Like, and I got this was from Ithink Eugene Peterson said it.
The message as far as some ofus have the uh Damascus Road
conversions and some of us havethe Emmaus Road conversions.
Hers was an Emmaus Road.
As she first read through theSermon on the Mount, she was
like, I never knew that this iswho Jesus was.
(17:46):
And so that was kind of how thetwo of us start moving forward
as a couple in faith.
And then as I'm expressingthese things where I think I'm
supposed to be a pastor, andshe's like, I don't know what
that means.
I don't even know what it meansto be a pastor's wife.
I think we're still searchingthat for both of us at times.
But that was just through thatprocess.
And then at one point, Craigwas really, really like, hey,
(18:09):
you you guys should find a homechurch.
I appreciate that you'rewatching online.
I love that you're askingquestions, but you need a faith
community to be a part of.
And then one day he was like, Idon't know why I've never said
this to you before.
You should go check out KentHillside, they're not far from
you.
And so that's I remembersitting with Pastor Ev and
saying the same thing.
I think I'm supposed to be apastor, and I don't know what
(18:31):
that means.
Grantley Martelly (18:32):
Well, a lot of us have been to that
lifestyle.
You know, my call to ministrywas about a 20-year journey as
well.
It wasn't drugs, stuff likethat, but it was just not
wanting to say yes.
Not wanting to see, you know, Itold the Lord, You got my two
brothers, you don't need me.
I'm happy to be a layer person,I'm happy to be a musician.
(18:54):
Actually, I played I startedplaying in bands when I was 13
years old.
And I've been playing music mywhole life, and but I was
playing in gospel bands.
Jeff Reynolds (19:02):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Playing music beer.
Grantley Martelly (19:05):
But that whole pr process, you know, it
took me many years to get tothat point, answering that
question as well.
And one of the things that oneof my mentors taught me is that
God's call on you to ministry isnot always to be a pastor.
And sometimes if he calls youto be a pastor, it's not the
pastor that you may have taughtor you may have seen.
(19:29):
He may have a different rolefor you, which is completely
different because there arehundreds of ways to be a
minister, hundreds of ways to bea pastor, hundred ways to be a
leader, which has been very,very helpful for me to get away
from thinking about thattraditional role and trying to
ask God, what do you really wantme to do?
So we get to this point in yourlife now, you've made a
(19:51):
commitment, you're trying tofind the journey to see where
you're going.
Where are you now?
And uh what do you what are youdoing now?
Jeff Reynolds (19:58):
So as I'm moving through some of these spaces and
working in the beverageindustry, I had been removed
from cooking for quite a whileat that point.
I was in the beverage industryworking in sales, and I remember
one of the guys that I wastraining with as a sales guy
said to me something about beinga chef.
And I was bitter and angryabout never having actually
(20:20):
followed through and pursuingthe things.
I pursued my band more thancooking at that time and ended
up just taking a driving job tomake the hours work for what I
wanted to do.
And I remember my buddy Larrysaid something about, you know,
well, you know, you're a chef,and I was like, no, I and I just
kind of barked at him, like,no, I'm not.
You know, and so moving intowhere I am now, I work for uh
(20:42):
organization called World Reliefhere in our Western Washington
office.
When I first started talking toEv at Hillside, he says, Hey,
we've got this kitchen thingthat we're building.
They're gonna need somebody torun their program.
It's not my job to give you,but you know, talk to Tamina
Martelli, you might know her,and apply when they're ready to
hire.
And so that's what I did.
(21:02):
And by the grace of God, here Iam at World Relief.
So, what I am is the uhcommercial learning kitchen
coordinator, where World Reliefis a refugee and immigrant
services agency.
And so through that, I workspecifically in the resiliency
uh department, where we are, youknow, the federal government
(21:23):
gave us 90 days worth of fundingfor resettlement as people come
to the country.
And as an organization, webelieve that it takes a lot more
than three months to get yourlife together from such a
disruption.
And so our resiliency programgoes beyond that.
And so, specifically in healingwith trauma and working through
place-based programming, we'vegot a community garden, a sewing
(21:45):
studio, and our equity andsustainability internship
program with immigrant refugeeyouth in our local Kent School
districts.
So that's kind of the stuffthat we do as a whole as a
program.
I specifically am the kitchencoordinator.
So this is a moment where ittakes my skills as a chef and
bring me into a faith-basedorganization to be able to work
(22:09):
with a community that I wouldhave never had any attachment to
prior.
And so it's been quite anamazing journey to get to this
space.
We're actually just entered ourthird cohort.
We've actually graduated ninestudents already, and some of
them have already started theirown businesses.
So it's been a pretty amazingprogram to be a part of.
Grantley Martelly (22:31):
Yeah, it sounds amazing to me that this
is where your journey has ledyou.
When you look back on how yougot here, did you ever imagine
that being a chef would be beingthe chef with people coming
from all around the world, withall sorts of tears and all sorts
of vision, also dealing with awhole bunch of trauma, a whole
(22:53):
bunch of religious background.
And now what does it mean to bea m pastor?
I mean, I'll use the wordminister.
What does it mean to be aminister?
How am I going to use my gifts?
Did you ever imagine that theywould be coming together in a
way like this?
Jeff Reynolds (23:08):
Never.
And so as a part of ourprogram, as we built the
curriculum, we've also alignedour competencies for the
curriculum with the AmericanCulinary Federation, which is
one of the largest networks ofprofessional chefs here in the
States.
And so they have kind of theirown certification guidelines.
And so we're training peopletoward some of that.
The redemption factor of neverthinking, like I said earlier,
(23:30):
that I was a chef or going to bea chef by title has been
redeemed.
And that's been an amazingplace to be in.
I never thought I needed thatblessing, but it was something
that that the Lord reallyblessed me with and being able
to be technically called chefnow.
But the funny thing is, themoment that I was like, I think
I can retire here was the momentthat the Lord really ripped the
kitchen out of my hands andsaid, This is not yours.
(23:52):
You're a steward right now.
Uh, but until then, I do knowthat I am to be a good steward
over the program that's been setbefore me.
Grantley Martelly (24:00):
So, Jeff, now you're working with people who
you grew up in California,raised in Walla Walla.
You talk about the life you hadand the things that you've
done, mostly veryAmerican-centric,
Western-centric.
And now you're working withpeople who come from all over
the world, completely differentbackgrounds, different skin
(24:23):
colors, different languages,different experiences, some of
them very traumatic and they'rerecovering.
How do you feel working in thisspace?
Has it been challenging foryou?
What are some of your thoughtsthere?
Jeff Reynolds (24:39):
It has been one of the single greatest
challenges of my food careerbecause I've entered into
territories of cuisines that Iam completely unfamiliar with,
spice palettes and ingredientlists that are like what?
So learning how to justnavigate shopping.
If you go to your local grocerystore, you're not going to find
all the things you probablywant to find if you're not from
(24:59):
the States.
And so now, just as an example,we put together a spice display
for an event, and we'recollecting different whole
spices that were coming fromaround the world.
I had to go to like sixdifferent stores to ultimately
find everything that I neededand still couldn't find certain
ingredients.
That's a reality when you thinkabout just coming to a new
(25:21):
country and trying to findsomething that's like home and
how difficult that actually is.
My boss tells a story about herfirst year working in Greece
and trying to do Thanksgivingwith her family and how much of
a challenge it was to pull offAmerican Thanksgiving in Greece.
And that's just a reality.
And so, like you said, thedifferent backgrounds that come
into that kitchen have also sobeyond just challenging me as a
(25:44):
chef and ingredients and allthose things, has now challenged
me with my understandings ofcultural norms and behaviors and
respect levels and just littlethings.
I'm the person that's going torub your shoulder and say, How
you doing, and get a hold of youand give you a high five or
whatever.
I have found out thatculturally, like I went to shake
an Afghan lady's hands and shefroze.
(26:07):
And my boss pulled me aside.
He's like, Look, men nevertouch women in that culture
unless you're married.
So just don't do that.
And that was like a I'm I'mjust being friendly, you know,
but that was a big thing.
And a cultural intelligencejourney.
Yeah, it has.
And then language is, you know,I I don't speak Dari, I don't
speak French, I don't speakSpanish, all those things.
(26:28):
And so having people in thatare from Morocco, that are from
the Congo, that are fromAfghanistan, like you have these
moments where you have toreally humble yourself and like
how do we move forward tocommunicate on a level where we
can all understand?
That has been another greatchallenge of my life.
But it's opened doors to mewith relationships with people
(26:50):
that I've that now I callfriends that have graduated from
my program to challenge me as aperson, like preconceived and
in-rooted things you just didn'tknow were there that you hold
toward other cultures or otherpeople.
And to really check thosemoments, to really search your
heart and go, well, where's thatfrom?
And why would I have thatattitude?
Or and and is something thatcan be dismantled right now.
(27:12):
And pretty much every time,yes, it is something that can be
dismantled because the realityis that we stop, and I think the
biggest thing that has hit meover the last few years is the
reality of Imago Day, thereality of being image bearers
of God, and the reality of that,yes, when we're adopted into
the family, we are called sonsand daughters, but we are built
in with inherent dignity of God.
(27:34):
And so that has transcendedinto my life in a way that I
never thought would havehappened five years ago, almost
four years at World Lead.
And that has been probably oneof the deepest things that has
affected me is to really lookinto, as Jesus said, the windows
of the soul and understand thatthat's a person that was made
(27:54):
and formulated and known beforethey ever took their first
breath.
And that's the God that knowsme.
And so that's a really coolthing to step into a space where
it's like, you have changed mein such a way that even the
quote unquote most vilest of actof humans, I still stop and I
say that person needs Jesus moreever than ever.
Grantley Martelly (28:16):
Yeah, that's powerful coming to that point of
realizing the image of God inall people.
Jeff Reynolds (28:20):
Yeah.
Grantley Martelly (28:21):
You know, we live in pretty tumultuous days
today and a lot of things aregoing on in this country and
around the world.
So when you hear some of thethings being said about
immigrants and about people whoare different, how does that
make you feel?
Or what comes to your mind as abeliever in Christ who is now
working in the space with peoplewhose lives you see and being
(28:41):
transformed?
And they're not all Christian.
Some of them are Muslims, someof them are Hindus, some of them
are all faiths, some of themmaybe no faith.
How are you making thatjourney?
And how do you put those twothings together with what you
might hear, with what you'reactually seeing, and the work
that you're doing and how it'stransforming lives?
Jeff Reynolds (29:05):
I focus on the task at hand in front of me and
really letting God work throughme.
As an organization, we don'tproselytize, but we're not
hiding our faith either.
Everybody that comes throughour doors knows that we're a
Christian organization.
I am honest with every one ofmy students.
I'm a minister in this church.
Our partnership with where thekitchen is built is at Hillside
(29:28):
Church.
It is a space where I am openwith who I am and what I'm
doing, which does allow to enterinto some wonderful
conversations engaged fromstudent inquiry.
The challenge has been tooperate respectfully, but also
operate it in truth and not toshy away from that.
Grantley Martelly (29:46):
As we turn the corner to come home on this
topic, I really appreciate yousharing with us and sharing your
story and sharing your journey.
Uh two questions to bring ithome.
First one is if you had to lookinto the future, where do you
see yourself and Laurie in theNext five, ten years?
Jeff Reynolds (30:02):
You know, as we've navigated through what it
means to be called into ministryand what that looks like, the
Lord has really opened our eyesinto different avenues.
I came into this with thepreconceived notion of what a
pastor is and does.
And that was just from growingup and that view.
It hasn't completely beendismantled.
(30:24):
That is something that's still,you know, I've prayed
diligently, and both Lori and Ihave, the people around me,
about what is it that you wantfrom my life, Lord, and where is
it you want to take me.
It really was over this lastyear that it really has set in,
that I am still building thattool belt and toolbox, still
really leaning into where he'staking me.
(30:44):
He has called us to some formof international service that we
felt in the past, but he's alsoredefined what that also means
in the roles that my wife, she'snot here anymore.
She was unfortunately laid offearlier this year with a third
of our organization afterfederal fundings were cut.
But what it means to work ininternational communities and
(31:06):
and that really, you know, asyou and I have talked at one
point in time too, the realityof the mission field in America
is very right and needed to havepeople in it.
Over this last year, as I'vebeen praying about where where
is it, it really settled in thislast year that the Lord is
calling me to shepherding aflock and that there is a place
somewhere out there that He hasfor Lori and I to be that senior
(31:29):
role.
And so now knowing that, okay,this is where you're taking me,
and this is not where I thoughtthis was going.
And what does that mean in allthese other things you've told
me?
So there's still some stuffthat we're navigating through
and praying through.
I know the one thing that myboss asked me the other day, you
know, what is Jesus telling youright now?
And it is to be a good stewardover the things I have given
(31:51):
you.
Grantley Martelly (31:51):
Master this, and we will move forward right
now.
Yeah.
One of my friends who became amissionary, uh, I remember her
saying this to me.
Everything that we go throughin life in our walk with Christ
is boot camp for what he ispreparing us for in the future.
Jeff Reynolds (32:08):
Yeah.
Grantley Martelly (32:09):
But you gotta go, you gotta go through boot
camp before you can move on tobeing out in the field.
So you're learning a lot, and Iappreciate your honesty about
that as well.
And seeing you grow and seeingyou minister and seeing you
relate to people has beenencouraging to watch your
journey and to watch Lori'sjourney as well.
So, as we close out thismorning now, what are three
(32:30):
things that you would like ouraudience to take away from this
conversation, or three thingsthat you would like to say to
the person who may be saying, Ithought my life was going in
this direction, I went this way,and now I'm coming back this
way, but I'm still not sure howdo I get to that point to where
I feel like I'm walking in thelight that I've been given
(32:54):
towards something that ispurposeful.
Jeff Reynolds (32:57):
As I thought about that question, one of the
things that I would please,please, please hear, if you have
a prodigal in your life, don'tstop praying.
Don't stop praying.
Never know when the Lord willtap that person on the shoulder
again.
I I sit here as a prodigalknowing for a fact that I had
(33:21):
parents and grandparents anduncles, aunts, and brothers,
sisters, people diligently,diligently praying over my life.
That's my brother and I love tospread that message to folks.
Like, don't stop prayingbecause you don't know when that
will happen.
That is one thing I wanted tomake sure people knew to walk
away with this.
Another one was that if you arein that place of call to
(33:42):
ministry or where the Lord'sleading you, be open.
Uh, don't let it be a rigid setof what you think it's supposed
to be, because the moment yougrasp onto those things, the
Lord's really good atdismantling those from your
hands.
So be open to the fact that hehas a journey for you.
The will of God is not a onesingle dot, not a one single
(34:05):
point for you.
It may be a series of dots andpoints that he's going to work
you through.
And that is what we just saidabout building that tool belt
and your experiences.
And so be be open to the factthat where you think you're
supposed to be might not bewhere you're supposed to be.
Now, discerning that, that's awhole different thing, and that
comes with a lot of prayer andlistening.
(34:25):
But that would be like, Iguess, my third thing, is find
time every day for the Lord.
Sometimes easier said thandone.
But I think one of the thingsthat I have said to my son many
times is that if you can spendan hour in the morning focusing
and digging into devotional andprayer, that it grounds you in
(34:49):
such a way, not only for theday, but just as a practice in
life.
And there's a huge benefit thatcomes from that.
There are studies that show usthe benefits of just reading
scripture alone.
Find time every day.
And it doesn't have to be themorning, that just is my sweet
spot because I love coffee andpraying in the morning and being
alone.
But find that space if it's inthe evening, if it's the middle
(35:09):
of the day, because the realityis that when we don't, it can
derail so fast.
And so having a foundation ofspending time alone with God.
I mean, my dad said this to meone time in reference to reading
through specifically, but alsoLuke, you see repeatedly that
Jesus steps aside to be alone inprayer.
If if the Son of God neededthat, how much more than do we?
(35:34):
And that's a reality.
You've got to spend time alonewith Jesus.
Grantley Martelly (35:39):
Thank you, Jeff.
That's a great point to end on.
You know, if we call ourselvespeople of faith, we call
ourselves followers of Christ,then we've got to spend time
becoming acquainted, familiar.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We've got to be finding ourtime becoming students of his
word.
What does the word actually sayand how is it speaking to us?
(36:00):
And time in prayer, followingthe model that he gave us.
You know, I've been focusingreally on this topic called
intentional discipleship.
And I'm working on somematerials in that way, right?
Being intentional about ourfaith journey.
Because, like you said, ifwe're not intentional, it can so
easily become derailed.
(36:21):
And not because we intend to dothat, but it's because life
always has something that'sgonna come in there before,
right?
There's always gonna besomething to do, always gonna be
some other thing to say, well,I can pray later, I can read
later, I can study later.
But like you said, when yousay, I'm gonna get up in the
morning and spend this hourdoing this, then that intention
(36:44):
helps you to get to that pointto where it becomes a habit.
Jeff Reynolds (36:48):
Yeah.
Grantley Martelly (36:48):
And also your point about trying to put God
in a box.
Jeff Reynolds (36:53):
Yeah.
Grantley Martelly (36:53):
He can lead us in many ways.
And sure we have mentors and wehave people around us that we
look at and we say, you know, wesee God working in their life,
and that's good.
However, God can work in yourlife, but your picture may look
different to theirs.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And you know, when we firststarted out, we thought we had
(37:13):
this one picture, and now it'sturning out to be this different
picture.
Very different.
But it's the same God, right?
Or yeah, yeah.
So I really appreciate you, andI appreciate the conversation
that we've had, and for youtaking the time here to come and
share.
And I know that this time willtouch other people, other people
are gonna listen to it, andit's gonna relate to them and
help them in their journey.
(37:34):
And I wish you all the best inyour journey and your and
Laurie's journey.
Anything else you want to saybefore we go?
Jeff Reynolds (37:40):
I was just, you know, as I was thinking about
it, something that literallyhappened just this week.
The power of prayer.
I love the guys that I playedmusic with, like brothers.
We spent a decade of our livestogether, and I have diligently
been praying over them.
I've told them all, I've sharedthe gospel with them all, and
I've said to them collectivelyand individually, I want you in
(38:03):
eternity with me.
All three of them are currentlypursuing Christ.
Amen.
And it's been one of thegreatest blessings.
I just talked to my bassplayer, and he's like, I'm going
to mass for the first time intwenty-something years.
And when I talk to himafterwards, he's like, It was
great.
The pastor that helped methrough hospice with my mom has
(38:24):
invited me to his church.
I'm going there next week.
And we're gonna start an onlineBible study together.
I never thought I'd be in aplace where my best friends
would be.
Grantley Martelly (38:34):
God hears an answer to our prayers, and he
heard your heart, and he he isanswering your prayer.
So I I just want to take aminute right now and just say,
Lord, thank you for Jeff'sconsistency in praying for his
friends, and thank you for howyou have brought them to you.
You you know where they areright now, reach them, continue
(38:56):
to grow in their lives, andcontinue to grow in their
journey together.
And maybe this can be thebeginning of a new journey for
them together again.
And the people who may belistening to this podcast
episode right now, and who arewondering, should I give up or
should I keep praying that theywould keep praying?
And if there were those who arewondering about how you're
(39:17):
gonna use them in their lives,in Jesus' name, amen.
Thank you, my friend.
Thanks, brother.
Have a great day.
Remember to subscribe and leaveus a rating.
Written is very important tohelp in our podcast.
(39:38):
Email us and comments at theparty noise24 at email.com.com.
Thank you for listening toInstagram.
Welcome to Above the Noise, a podcast at
the intersection of faith, race,and reconciliation.
And I'm your host,Grantley Martelly.
Welcome back to Above theNoise.
It's my great privilege todayto have a friend, Jeff Reynolds,
(00:30):
and we're just going to behaving a conversation about his
life and about where he's been,where God has taken him, what
he's doing now, the excitingthings that he's doing.
I'm sure that you're going toenjoy hearing from him as much
as I'm looking forward to thisconversation.
So welcome to the show, Jeff.
Jeff Reynolds (00:46):
Thank you, Grantley.
Grantley Martelly (00:47):
Let's begin, Jeff, by telling our audience
about you.
Introduce yourself, yourfamily, where you live, what you
do, anything you think that thewould introduce you to our
audience.
Jeff Reynolds (00:57):
Certainly, yeah.
So my name is Jeff Reynolds.
I graduated from culinaryschool back in 1998 and been in
the food and beverage industryuh ever since.
Currently working through aministry call and course of
study, Port Ordination.
And I live in Kent, Washington,or Des Moines, Washington, I
should say, more appropriately.
I've got a wife and a son andcats, dog, that kind of stuff.
(01:20):
I grew up in Washington.
I was originally born inCalifornia, but I was less than
a year old when we moved uphere.
My wife is born and raised inSeattle, Washington, and loves
to remind me that I am aCalifornia transplant.
Um Yeah, that's a big thing uphere.
It is.
It's a funny thing thathappens, but yeah, she loves to
point that out once in a while.
Um just to rouse me.
(01:41):
So but yeah, that's kind of youknow, I grew up in Washington
and still here.
Grantley Martelly (01:48):
Well that's a good introduction to our
audience.
And we're gonna get into moreof your history and things that
you do.
You said you went to culinaryschool.
Tell us a little bit about thatpart of your life.
Jeff Reynolds (02:02):
Uh, so yeah, I would say post-high school, I
really didn't know what I wantedto do in life.
I played football, Americanfootball all through junior high
and high school.
And that's really like kind oflike what my life was at that
time, and I didn't know whatelse to do besides I wanted to
keep playing ball.
And so I went to Walla WallaCommunity College on the eastern
(02:23):
side of the state.
It was a good experience, uh,but I realized like six months
in that I this isn't where Iwanted to be, and came back
home.
It was a couple years before Iended up going to culinary
school.
Uh at that time in my life, Iwas in my late teens.
Life became about the party.
That caught up with me heavilyat that time, and I needed a
space to try and figure out howto get back from that.
(02:47):
And uh through grace and somedoors opening in culinary
school.
I have a passion for cooking.
I was probably second grade,summer school, I was I'm
dyslexic, and so I went tosummer school in elementary, and
you got to take a scholasticand an elective, and the
elective I took was a cookingclass because my mom's had me in
the kitchen since I was alittle kid.
And so I was like, oh, I liketo cook, I'll do that.
(03:09):
And that was like the beginningof that journey.
I took cooking classes throughelementary school, junior high,
high school, ultimatelygraduated from culinary school.
So it's just something that,you know, there's those things
that you have in your life thatyou can just do, and they help
you relax and you don't have tothink about them.
Cooking has been one of thosethings for me for a long time
where I can just walk into thekitchen, I'm comfortable, I know
(03:30):
what to do and how to do it.
There's also the artistic side.
I took plenty of sculpting andpainting and art stuff in school
and the realities of culinaryarts and the refinement that
came with that and the focusthat it brought.
So it just became somethingthat really helped uh form me as
a young person and ultimatelyled to where I am today.
Grantley Martelly (03:50):
So what did you when you went to put
culinary school, did you have aparticular area you wanted to
focus in, or you just wanted tolearn everything the best you
can?
Jeff Reynolds (04:00):
At the time, it was really about just learning
the best I could out ofeverything, techniques,
ingredients, all that kind ofstuff.
So it was really that focused.
In culinary school, I realizedmy understanding in baking and
pastry specifically, uh, insteadof strengthening what I already
knew cooking on the line.
I actually went into baking andpastry.
I am still not a great baker,but I do understand the
(04:24):
principles and the foundationsof that world a lot better than
I did before.
So it helped me round out as abetter show.
Grantley Martelly (04:32):
Well, if you ever want to practice on your
bacon and pastry and you need aquality control person, just
give me a call.
Be happy to come and help youimprove your skills.
Jeff Reynolds (04:42):
Sure.
We can make some stuff.
Grantley Martelly (04:45):
You also said that the partying became a part
of your life.
Was that mixed up with culinaryschool or after culinary
school?
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe partying part.
Jeff Reynolds (04:55):
I have two older brothers, and so growing up,
both of them went that directionduring high school.
And so, like honestly, thefirst time I ever smoked
marijuana, I was in seventhgrade.
Uh, not like 12, that's not agreat place for a young person
to be.
But my older brothers thoughtit was funny, and you know, and
me and I look my little skaterbuddies in junior high, and uh
(05:18):
that just kind of was thebeginning of that life.
Yeah, I grew up in the church.
I I mean I was I'm I'mdedicated and baptized and
married in the Nazarene church,which is funny.
But the reality was that thatthat wasn't the focus.
That that was just like thatwas my parents' religion, not
mine at the time.
And so life was about what washappening with my friends and
(05:39):
things and stuff like that.
So by the time I was a seniorin high school, you could say I
was a full-blown stoner.
And that's when, you know,going to play football, same
just kept going, came back fromthat experience.
And at this point, we're allout of high school, and my
friends while I was in collegeand walla walla were continuing
to ramp up.
And so when I got back, thingswere a lot heavier and deeper
(06:02):
than they were when we wereyounger, and had found myself
heavily into a fairly bad spacewhen I was around 19.
Me and one of my best friendssince junior high growing up
together.
At this point, we wereinjecting methamphetamines into
our veins.
And I knew it was a while, nota full year, but there was a
while into this life where I waslike, this is bad.
(06:25):
This is really bad, and I'mgonna die.
Times I should have.
And by the grace of God didn't.
And so that was caught up meneeding to get my life together.
I was going back to church andgoing to culinary school and
getting that under wraps.
There's a lot of stuff thatgoes on in between there.
Post-culinary school, ended upjoining a band, and the same
(06:47):
life came right back.
Again, I didn't know.
Yeah, I was gonna ask you aboutthat, the music part of your
life.
Tell us a bit about the bandlife, the road life, loving it
out.
I was 15 years old when I firstband I was ever in.
It was actually a bunch ofbuddies from youth group at
church.
We were, you know, this is likethe 90s grunge era, so we were
just kind of a noisy bunch ofkids getting in trouble for
(07:08):
jamming in the youth room, youknow, stuff like that.
So then I ended up in anotherband my senior year in high
school, and then ultimately theband that I played in for over a
decade was a band calledKilling Roots.
I met my bass player at a pizzarestaurant.
This is after culinary schoolwhen I was working, and we met
at a pizza restaurant andbonded, and the band that I was
in at that time was breaking up.
(07:29):
They needed a singer.
So we started hanging out, andthe drummer, he is still one of
my best friends to this day.
His daughter is my goddaughter,and so that just formulated
that relationship at that time,and it kindered, and we played
for over a decade.
We didn't really tour too much.
We played up and down the I-5,if you will, through Washington.
(07:50):
But we got to a place where wewere signed by an independent
label, put out a full-lengthalbum.
We were opening for a lot ofnationally touring acts that
were coming through town.
Uh, we were writing what wecalled second album material.
It was very much a moment wherewe thought this was actually
probably going to happen.
Um And then unfortunately,because of the lifestyle that we
(08:11):
lived in, my bass player that Ioriginally met, thank God he's
sober now, but also foundhimself in a deep place with
meth and needles.
I mean, it was not a goodthing.
And ultimately we had to askhim to leave the band because we
knew it wasn't healthy for therest of us and we wanted to keep
pursuing.
Um unfortunately, it was hardto get the wheels back on the
bus with different bass playersafter playing together for a
(08:33):
decade.
And at that time, life washappening.
I was getting married, mybuddies were having kids, and it
just kind of pitered out.
Grantley Martelly (08:42):
Yeah, like most bands, right?
Eventually it they peter out.
Many bands, you have your lifecycle like everything else, and
people's life go on.
And if you're not willing tomake a commitment to that, then
it will peter out.
Yeah.
Tell us about your conversionexperience, about your faith
journey.
Jeff Reynolds (09:00):
Yeah, so like I said, I I did grow up in the
church, so there's always been afoundation of understanding.
But the reality of like whendid it penetrate my heart and
make that change?
It was really COVID.
It really was.
There was a moment of that itwas this open, this thing that
just happened, and nobody knewwhat was going on.
(09:20):
And at this time, we didn'tknow if it was, you know, how to
get it, what was happening.
I remember I was pumping gasand reaching into the little
thing to pull my debit card backout and thinking to myself,
should I have even touched thisthing?
You know, like rubbingsanitizer on my hands.
And I remember I got home andI'm just, you know, what l my
(09:41):
wife Lori hadn't gotten homeyet.
So I was at home just dwellingon all this stuff, and I've got
the news on.
I was I was a news junkie atthat time.
Like my morning routine was toget up, get a cup of coffee,
flip on the local news, and thenI would spend an hour
throughout the morning just likeyou know, getting all those
stories filled in.
And so that at that time, it'slike all that going on, and so
(10:03):
she came home and was like, youknow, and I'm clearly
distraught.
And she's like, Are you okay?
And I the the exact words wereno, I'm not okay, I'm not effing
okay.
And and I'm in tears, and she'sjust like, What is happening?
She made me sit down, westarted talking over stuff, and
this is before even her, youknow, she did not grow up in the
(10:24):
church.
And so there's this moment thatwe both have looked back on and
recognized that this is thelove of God coming through her
to me at that time when I neededit more than I ever really
realized.
And I just remember as wewatched this, we like
documentaries, so there's thisone that she wanted to watch,
and it happened to be she has apassion for anti-sex
trafficking.
And so it was this documentaryabout this.
(10:46):
And one of the things that itwas a faith-based documentary,
and one of the things that theyhad at the bottom was um the
Ephesians 6, 10 through 20,talking about the armor of God.
And it was on the bottom of thescreen the whole time through
this documentary, and one of thethings they kept saying,
because they were implicatingthat this was a demonic and
satanic agenda with all thistrafficking and the line they
(11:08):
kept saying in the documentarywas even if you don't believe
it, they do.
And and so I looked at thatarmor of God passage and being
readied and thinking to myselfthat even when I wasn't
necessarily following at all, Iknew somewhere in the back of my
mind, in the back of my heart,that if there really was a God,
and there really was somethinggoing on in the unseen realms,
(11:30):
that Jesus was probably the guy.
And and so I remember justbreaking down that evening, and
and I actually I went and had todig out my Bible that my
parents gave me when I wasprobably like 14.
It's literally the junioradventure Bible, and I had to
dust it off out of the old deskdrawer and dug in and read that
passage, and I remember reallylike I broke down in tears and
(11:54):
cried out, God, I do believe inwho you are, and I do want to
serve you.
I don't know what I'm doingwith my life.
And that was that beginningmoment of him hearing,
listening, and starting movingme forward to where I am today.
Which is funny because inculinary school, when I was
going to church and met my firstwife, and that's when God
(12:16):
actually called me to ministry,was in culinary school.
And I remember thinking, whywould I do that?
I'm, you know, clearly I cook,I know how to cook, I'm in
school for that.
Like, why would I why would Ido that?
Like, it doesn't make any senseto me.
And then ultimately after mydivorce, I that's when I full on
walked away from the church andjoined the band at that time.
And so it's it's been comingall the way back to where we are
(12:40):
now.
How many years was that inbetween?
That was 20 years.
Okay.
Easily a 20-year wander in myown personal desert.
And with that, because I wasn'tgrounded, the substance abuse
patterns just continued from onething or another.
At one point, my wife and Ifound ourselves in a deep pit
and needed to get out of uh aswell.
(13:01):
Long story short, I messed upmy back and knee within a year
of each other.
This is back before they wereregulating pain meds and they
were handing out, you know,opiates like tic-tacks.
Every appointment you went tothey wanted to get in.
Did you need a refill?
Yeah.
And so then the two of us justfound ourselves in this pit of
like, what are we doing?
And and so, yeah, it wasinteresting.
Grantley Martelly (13:24):
So how did you get out?
How did you get out of that pitto the point to where you felt
stable, though you were ready tomove on with your life, and
that you'd be able to get tothat point that God had been
working on you for 20 years?
Jeff Reynolds (13:39):
At that time, and this wasn't a fate measure, it
was a personal effort, uh,really is how that worked.
At that time, there was uh anew it wasn't new, but it was
technology made it advanced, andso they've been able to figure
out how to extract THC from theactual plant fiber and create
hash oils, which are like superhigh concentrated.
(14:02):
And so we moved into smokinglike extremely intense, like 80
to 90 percent THC oil, andthat's how we got away from
opiates, but now we foundourselves deeper in a in a pit
of of smoking still.
One addiction to the other.
We just transferred one to theother, and it wasn't until
actually returning to Christ tofinding sobriety.
Grantley Martelly (14:24):
Like returning to Christ.
Let's go on that journey.
Jeff Reynolds (14:28):
Yeah.
Grantley Martelly (14:29):
How did you get back to that point to where
you realized that you won't beable to do it by yourself?
Jeff Reynolds (14:34):
Oh, again, that was the COVID story.
Um that I just found myself inthat place.
Grantley Martelly (14:38):
And so with that I So when you did the COVID
story and you were you werecrying and you she breaks down
and she you said, she said,What's wrong with you?
Yeah.
That was the conversion pointto where you began to walk away.
Yeah.
Okay, I didn't make theconnection.
I thought they were happeningsimultaneously.
Jeff Reynolds (14:57):
No, no, no.
And that was just a lot ofthree.
I reached out to my brother.
Again, both my brothers didwalk away from the church in
their young years, and so Ifollowed suit with them.
Ultimately, both of them havereturned to Christ and raised
their families and all that.
And so I remember reaching out,my my I've got two older
(15:19):
brothers, the one of them isonly two years older than me.
So he and I like we've alwaysknown it's our lives have always
had each other in them, as faras our our recollection goes,
right?
So we're just very we usedpeople used to think we're twins
when we were younger.
It was funny.
So I just reached out to himone day and was like, hey, I'm
this is what I'm where I'm atand what I'm going through.
He was one of those people thatwas when I was, you know,
(15:39):
trying to get off math.
He so he's an amazing man, agreat sounding board.
And so it's just one of thosethings where I reached out to
him and it's like, hey, I'mgetting back into the word and I
don't know where to start.
So to he's like, okay, startwith John.
Like that was kind of like hisdirection.
Start with John, work throughthe gospels.
And I kept asking him questionsas I'm reading, like, what does
(16:00):
this mean?
What does Jesus say when hesays this?
And why would he call the womana dog?
And he's like, it gets to apoint where he's like, hey,
you're asking some real deepquestions now.
Stuff I don't feel capable ofanswering.
So he introduced me to hispastor, Craig Laughlin, up in
Marysville at GenerationsChurch.
So that was the beginning of mereally seeking out.
So Craig and I got togetherwhen they first opened
(16:21):
restaurants again.
Uh he and I got together andhad lunch in what was supposed
to be an hour meeting turnedinto a four-hour conversation.
Oh.
And I remember saying, I youknow, the one of the things when
I really reached back into theword and started reading again
was that there was that tap onmy shoulder one day where the
Lord said, Remember when Icalled you to ministry in
culinary school?
Yeah, I was serious about that.
(16:42):
I still want you to do that.
And that was a big mind blow.
You know, like what you want meto what?
And so I remembered saying toCraig, I don't know what being a
pastor is, but I think I'msupposed to do that.
And so that was kind of sixmonths or so of viewing their
services online through YouTube,you know, and just really doing
(17:02):
church in our living room.
Okay.
And so Lori's Lori's conversionstory is me reading through
scripture and and uh telling herabout it all the time.
And then one day she's like, Iwant to read the Bible.
And I'm I'm starting John, youknow.
I'm in Matthew, you can readit.
Just repeat a process.
And that's when I was like, oh,that's different.
The fact that she wants herown.
Like, we have one in the house,you can read it.
(17:23):
She's like, no, no, I wantmine.
Yeah.
And her story is more like welaughed.
Like, and I got this was from Ithink Eugene Peterson said it.
The message as far as some ofus have the uh Damascus Road
conversions and some of us havethe Emmaus Road conversions.
Hers was an Emmaus Road.
As she first read through theSermon on the Mount, she was
like, I never knew that this iswho Jesus was.
(17:46):
And so that was kind of how thetwo of us start moving forward
as a couple in faith.
And then as I'm expressingthese things where I think I'm
supposed to be a pastor, andshe's like, I don't know what
that means.
I don't even know what it meansto be a pastor's wife.
I think we're still searchingthat for both of us at times.
But that was just through thatprocess.
And then at one point, Craigwas really, really like, hey,
(18:09):
you you guys should find a homechurch.
I appreciate that you'rewatching online.
I love that you're askingquestions, but you need a faith
community to be a part of.
And then one day he was like, Idon't know why I've never said
this to you before.
You should go check out KentHillside, they're not far from
you.
And so that's I remembersitting with Pastor Ev and
saying the same thing.
I think I'm supposed to be apastor, and I don't know what
(18:31):
that means.
Grantley Martelly (18:32):
Well, a lot of us have been to that
lifestyle.
You know, my call to ministrywas about a 20-year journey as
well.
It wasn't drugs, stuff likethat, but it was just not
wanting to say yes.
Not wanting to see, you know, Itold the Lord, You got my two
brothers, you don't need me.
I'm happy to be a layer person,I'm happy to be a musician.
(18:54):
Actually, I played I startedplaying in bands when I was 13
years old.
And I've been playing music mywhole life, and but I was
playing in gospel bands.
Jeff Reynolds (19:02):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Playing music beer.
Grantley Martelly (19:05):
But that whole pr process, you know, it
took me many years to get tothat point, answering that
question as well.
And one of the things that oneof my mentors taught me is that
God's call on you to ministry isnot always to be a pastor.
And sometimes if he calls youto be a pastor, it's not the
pastor that you may have taughtor you may have seen.
(19:29):
He may have a different rolefor you, which is completely
different because there arehundreds of ways to be a
minister, hundreds of ways to bea pastor, hundred ways to be a
leader, which has been very,very helpful for me to get away
from thinking about thattraditional role and trying to
ask God, what do you really wantme to do?
So we get to this point in yourlife now, you've made a
(19:51):
commitment, you're trying tofind the journey to see where
you're going.
Where are you now?
And uh what do you what are youdoing now?
Jeff Reynolds (19:58):
So as I'm moving through some of these spaces and
working in the beverageindustry, I had been removed
from cooking for quite a whileat that point.
I was in the beverage industryworking in sales, and I remember
one of the guys that I wastraining with as a sales guy
said to me something about beinga chef.
And I was bitter and angryabout never having actually
(20:20):
followed through and pursuingthe things.
I pursued my band more thancooking at that time and ended
up just taking a driving job tomake the hours work for what I
wanted to do.
And I remember my buddy Larrysaid something about, you know,
well, you know, you're a chef,and I was like, no, I and I just
kind of barked at him, like,no, I'm not.
You know, and so moving intowhere I am now, I work for uh
(20:42):
organization called World Reliefhere in our Western Washington
office.
When I first started talking toEv at Hillside, he says, Hey,
we've got this kitchen thingthat we're building.
They're gonna need somebody torun their program.
It's not my job to give you,but you know, talk to Tamina
Martelli, you might know her,and apply when they're ready to
hire.
And so that's what I did.
(21:02):
And by the grace of God, here Iam at World Relief.
So, what I am is the uhcommercial learning kitchen
coordinator, where World Reliefis a refugee and immigrant
services agency.
And so through that, I workspecifically in the resiliency
uh department, where we are, youknow, the federal government
(21:23):
gave us 90 days worth of fundingfor resettlement as people come
to the country.
And as an organization, webelieve that it takes a lot more
than three months to get yourlife together from such a
disruption.
And so our resiliency programgoes beyond that.
And so, specifically in healingwith trauma and working through
place-based programming, we'vegot a community garden, a sewing
(21:45):
studio, and our equity andsustainability internship
program with immigrant refugeeyouth in our local Kent School
districts.
So that's kind of the stuffthat we do as a whole as a
program.
I specifically am the kitchencoordinator.
So this is a moment where ittakes my skills as a chef and
bring me into a faith-basedorganization to be able to work
(22:09):
with a community that I wouldhave never had any attachment to
prior.
And so it's been quite anamazing journey to get to this
space.
We're actually just entered ourthird cohort.
We've actually graduated ninestudents already, and some of
them have already started theirown businesses.
So it's been a pretty amazingprogram to be a part of.
Grantley Martelly (22:31):
Yeah, it sounds amazing to me that this
is where your journey has ledyou.
When you look back on how yougot here, did you ever imagine
that being a chef would be beingthe chef with people coming
from all around the world, withall sorts of tears and all sorts
of vision, also dealing with awhole bunch of trauma, a whole
(22:53):
bunch of religious background.
And now what does it mean to bea m pastor?
I mean, I'll use the wordminister.
What does it mean to be aminister?
How am I going to use my gifts?
Did you ever imagine that theywould be coming together in a
way like this?
Jeff Reynolds (23:08):
Never.
And so as a part of ourprogram, as we built the
curriculum, we've also alignedour competencies for the
curriculum with the AmericanCulinary Federation, which is
one of the largest networks ofprofessional chefs here in the
States.
And so they have kind of theirown certification guidelines.
And so we're training peopletoward some of that.
The redemption factor of neverthinking, like I said earlier,
(23:30):
that I was a chef or going to bea chef by title has been
redeemed.
And that's been an amazingplace to be in.
I never thought I needed thatblessing, but it was something
that that the Lord reallyblessed me with and being able
to be technically called chefnow.
But the funny thing is, themoment that I was like, I think
I can retire here was the momentthat the Lord really ripped the
kitchen out of my hands andsaid, This is not yours.
(23:52):
You're a steward right now.
Uh, but until then, I do knowthat I am to be a good steward
over the program that's been setbefore me.
Grantley Martelly (24:00):
So, Jeff, now you're working with people who
you grew up in California,raised in Walla Walla.
You talk about the life you hadand the things that you've
done, mostly veryAmerican-centric,
Western-centric.
And now you're working withpeople who come from all over
the world, completely differentbackgrounds, different skin
(24:23):
colors, different languages,different experiences, some of
them very traumatic and they'rerecovering.
How do you feel working in thisspace?
Has it been challenging foryou?
What are some of your thoughtsthere?
Jeff Reynolds (24:39):
It has been one of the single greatest
challenges of my food careerbecause I've entered into
territories of cuisines that Iam completely unfamiliar with,
spice palettes and ingredientlists that are like what?
So learning how to justnavigate shopping.
If you go to your local grocerystore, you're not going to find
all the things you probablywant to find if you're not from
(24:59):
the States.
And so now, just as an example,we put together a spice display
for an event, and we'recollecting different whole
spices that were coming fromaround the world.
I had to go to like sixdifferent stores to ultimately
find everything that I neededand still couldn't find certain
ingredients.
That's a reality when you thinkabout just coming to a new
(25:21):
country and trying to findsomething that's like home and
how difficult that actually is.
My boss tells a story about herfirst year working in Greece
and trying to do Thanksgivingwith her family and how much of
a challenge it was to pull offAmerican Thanksgiving in Greece.
And that's just a reality.
And so, like you said, thedifferent backgrounds that come
into that kitchen have also sobeyond just challenging me as a
(25:44):
chef and ingredients and allthose things, has now challenged
me with my understandings ofcultural norms and behaviors and
respect levels and just littlethings.
I'm the person that's going torub your shoulder and say, How
you doing, and get a hold of youand give you a high five or
whatever.
I have found out thatculturally, like I went to shake
an Afghan lady's hands and shefroze.
(26:07):
And my boss pulled me aside.
He's like, Look, men nevertouch women in that culture
unless you're married.
So just don't do that.
And that was like a I'm I'mjust being friendly, you know,
but that was a big thing.
And a cultural intelligencejourney.
Yeah, it has.
And then language is, you know,I I don't speak Dari, I don't
speak French, I don't speakSpanish, all those things.
(26:28):
And so having people in thatare from Morocco, that are from
the Congo, that are fromAfghanistan, like you have these
moments where you have toreally humble yourself and like
how do we move forward tocommunicate on a level where we
can all understand?
That has been another greatchallenge of my life.
But it's opened doors to mewith relationships with people
(26:50):
that I've that now I callfriends that have graduated from
my program to challenge me as aperson, like preconceived and
in-rooted things you just didn'tknow were there that you hold
toward other cultures or otherpeople.
And to really check thosemoments, to really search your
heart and go, well, where's thatfrom?
And why would I have thatattitude?
Or and and is something thatcan be dismantled right now.
(27:12):
And pretty much every time,yes, it is something that can be
dismantled because the realityis that we stop, and I think the
biggest thing that has hit meover the last few years is the
reality of Imago Day, thereality of being image bearers
of God, and the reality of that,yes, when we're adopted into
the family, we are called sonsand daughters, but we are built
in with inherent dignity of God.
(27:34):
And so that has transcendedinto my life in a way that I
never thought would havehappened five years ago, almost
four years at World Lead.
And that has been probably oneof the deepest things that has
affected me is to really lookinto, as Jesus said, the windows
of the soul and understand thatthat's a person that was made
(27:54):
and formulated and known beforethey ever took their first
breath.
And that's the God that knowsme.
And so that's a really coolthing to step into a space where
it's like, you have changed mein such a way that even the
quote unquote most vilest of actof humans, I still stop and I
say that person needs Jesus moreever than ever.
Grantley Martelly (28:16):
Yeah, that's powerful coming to that point of
realizing the image of God inall people.
Jeff Reynolds (28:20):
Yeah.
Grantley Martelly (28:21):
You know, we live in pretty tumultuous days
today and a lot of things aregoing on in this country and
around the world.
So when you hear some of thethings being said about
immigrants and about people whoare different, how does that
make you feel?
Or what comes to your mind as abeliever in Christ who is now
working in the space with peoplewhose lives you see and being
(28:41):
transformed?
And they're not all Christian.
Some of them are Muslims, someof them are Hindus, some of them
are all faiths, some of themmaybe no faith.
How are you making thatjourney?
And how do you put those twothings together with what you
might hear, with what you'reactually seeing, and the work
that you're doing and how it'stransforming lives?
Jeff Reynolds (29:05):
I focus on the task at hand in front of me and
really letting God work throughme.
As an organization, we don'tproselytize, but we're not
hiding our faith either.
Everybody that comes throughour doors knows that we're a
Christian organization.
I am honest with every one ofmy students.
I'm a minister in this church.
Our partnership with where thekitchen is built is at Hillside
(29:28):
Church.
It is a space where I am openwith who I am and what I'm
doing, which does allow to enterinto some wonderful
conversations engaged fromstudent inquiry.
The challenge has been tooperate respectfully, but also
operate it in truth and not toshy away from that.
Grantley Martelly (29:46):
As we turn the corner to come home on this
topic, I really appreciate yousharing with us and sharing your
story and sharing your journey.
Uh two questions to bring ithome.
First one is if you had to lookinto the future, where do you
see yourself and Laurie in theNext five, ten years?
Jeff Reynolds (30:02):
You know, as we've navigated through what it
means to be called into ministryand what that looks like, the
Lord has really opened our eyesinto different avenues.
I came into this with thepreconceived notion of what a
pastor is and does.
And that was just from growingup and that view.
It hasn't completely beendismantled.
(30:24):
That is something that's still,you know, I've prayed
diligently, and both Lori and Ihave, the people around me,
about what is it that you wantfrom my life, Lord, and where is
it you want to take me.
It really was over this lastyear that it really has set in,
that I am still building thattool belt and toolbox, still
really leaning into where he'staking me.
(30:44):
He has called us to some formof international service that we
felt in the past, but he's alsoredefined what that also means
in the roles that my wife, she'snot here anymore.
She was unfortunately laid offearlier this year with a third
of our organization afterfederal fundings were cut.
But what it means to work ininternational communities and
(31:06):
and that really, you know, asyou and I have talked at one
point in time too, the realityof the mission field in America
is very right and needed to havepeople in it.
Over this last year, as I'vebeen praying about where where
is it, it really settled in thislast year that the Lord is
calling me to shepherding aflock and that there is a place
somewhere out there that He hasfor Lori and I to be that senior
(31:29):
role.
And so now knowing that, okay,this is where you're taking me,
and this is not where I thoughtthis was going.
And what does that mean in allthese other things you've told
me?
So there's still some stuffthat we're navigating through
and praying through.
I know the one thing that myboss asked me the other day, you
know, what is Jesus telling youright now?
And it is to be a good stewardover the things I have given
(31:51):
you.
Grantley Martelly (31:51):
Master this, and we will move forward right
now.
Yeah.
One of my friends who became amissionary, uh, I remember her
saying this to me.
Everything that we go throughin life in our walk with Christ
is boot camp for what he ispreparing us for in the future.
Jeff Reynolds (32:08):
Yeah.
Grantley Martelly (32:09):
But you gotta go, you gotta go through boot
camp before you can move on tobeing out in the field.
So you're learning a lot, and Iappreciate your honesty about
that as well.
And seeing you grow and seeingyou minister and seeing you
relate to people has beenencouraging to watch your
journey and to watch Lori'sjourney as well.
So, as we close out thismorning now, what are three
(32:30):
things that you would like ouraudience to take away from this
conversation, or three thingsthat you would like to say to
the person who may be saying, Ithought my life was going in
this direction, I went this way,and now I'm coming back this
way, but I'm still not sure howdo I get to that point to where
I feel like I'm walking in thelight that I've been given
(32:54):
towards something that ispurposeful.
Jeff Reynolds (32:57):
As I thought about that question, one of the
things that I would please,please, please hear, if you have
a prodigal in your life, don'tstop praying.
Don't stop praying.
Never know when the Lord willtap that person on the shoulder
again.
I I sit here as a prodigalknowing for a fact that I had
(33:21):
parents and grandparents anduncles, aunts, and brothers,
sisters, people diligently,diligently praying over my life.
That's my brother and I love tospread that message to folks.
Like, don't stop prayingbecause you don't know when that
will happen.
That is one thing I wanted tomake sure people knew to walk
away with this.
Another one was that if you arein that place of call to
(33:42):
ministry or where the Lord'sleading you, be open.
Uh, don't let it be a rigid setof what you think it's supposed
to be, because the moment yougrasp onto those things, the
Lord's really good atdismantling those from your
hands.
So be open to the fact that hehas a journey for you.
The will of God is not a onesingle dot, not a one single
(34:05):
point for you.
It may be a series of dots andpoints that he's going to work
you through.
And that is what we just saidabout building that tool belt
and your experiences.
And so be be open to the factthat where you think you're
supposed to be might not bewhere you're supposed to be.
Now, discerning that, that's awhole different thing, and that
comes with a lot of prayer andlistening.
(34:25):
But that would be like, Iguess, my third thing, is find
time every day for the Lord.
Sometimes easier said thandone.
But I think one of the thingsthat I have said to my son many
times is that if you can spendan hour in the morning focusing
and digging into devotional andprayer, that it grounds you in
(34:49):
such a way, not only for theday, but just as a practice in
life.
And there's a huge benefit thatcomes from that.
There are studies that show usthe benefits of just reading
scripture alone.
Find time every day.
And it doesn't have to be themorning, that just is my sweet
spot because I love coffee andpraying in the morning and being
alone.
But find that space if it's inthe evening, if it's the middle
(35:09):
of the day, because the realityis that when we don't, it can
derail so fast.
And so having a foundation ofspending time alone with God.
I mean, my dad said this to meone time in reference to reading
through specifically, but alsoLuke, you see repeatedly that
Jesus steps aside to be alone inprayer.
If if the Son of God neededthat, how much more than do we?
(35:34):
And that's a reality.
You've got to spend time alonewith Jesus.
Grantley Martelly (35:39):
Thank you, Jeff.
That's a great point to end on.
You know, if we call ourselvespeople of faith, we call
ourselves followers of Christ,then we've got to spend time
becoming acquainted, familiar.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We've got to be finding ourtime becoming students of his
word.
What does the word actually sayand how is it speaking to us?
(36:00):
And time in prayer, followingthe model that he gave us.
You know, I've been focusingreally on this topic called
intentional discipleship.
And I'm working on somematerials in that way, right?
Being intentional about ourfaith journey.
Because, like you said, ifwe're not intentional, it can so
easily become derailed.
(36:21):
And not because we intend to dothat, but it's because life
always has something that'sgonna come in there before,
right?
There's always gonna besomething to do, always gonna be
some other thing to say, well,I can pray later, I can read
later, I can study later.
But like you said, when yousay, I'm gonna get up in the
morning and spend this hourdoing this, then that intention
(36:44):
helps you to get to that pointto where it becomes a habit.
Jeff Reynolds (36:48):
Yeah.
Grantley Martelly (36:48):
And also your point about trying to put God
in a box.
Jeff Reynolds (36:53):
Yeah.
Grantley Martelly (36:53):
He can lead us in many ways.
And sure we have mentors and wehave people around us that we
look at and we say, you know, wesee God working in their life,
and that's good.
However, God can work in yourlife, but your picture may look
different to theirs.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And you know, when we firststarted out, we thought we had
(37:13):
this one picture, and now it'sturning out to be this different
picture.
Very different.
But it's the same God, right?
Or yeah, yeah.
So I really appreciate you, andI appreciate the conversation
that we've had, and for youtaking the time here to come and
share.
And I know that this time willtouch other people, other people
are gonna listen to it, andit's gonna relate to them and
help them in their journey.
(37:34):
And I wish you all the best inyour journey and your and
Laurie's journey.
Anything else you want to saybefore we go?
Jeff Reynolds (37:40):
I was just, you know, as I was thinking about
it, something that literallyhappened just this week.
The power of prayer.
I love the guys that I playedmusic with, like brothers.
We spent a decade of our livestogether, and I have diligently
been praying over them.
I've told them all, I've sharedthe gospel with them all, and
I've said to them collectivelyand individually, I want you in
(38:03):
eternity with me.
All three of them are currentlypursuing Christ.
Amen.
And it's been one of thegreatest blessings.
I just talked to my bassplayer, and he's like, I'm going
to mass for the first time intwenty-something years.
And when I talk to himafterwards, he's like, It was
great.
The pastor that helped methrough hospice with my mom has
(38:24):
invited me to his church.
I'm going there next week.
And we're gonna start an onlineBible study together.
I never thought I'd be in aplace where my best friends
would be.
Grantley Martelly (38:34):
God hears an answer to our prayers, and he
heard your heart, and he he isanswering your prayer.
So I I just want to take aminute right now and just say,
Lord, thank you for Jeff'sconsistency in praying for his
friends, and thank you for howyou have brought them to you.
You you know where they areright now, reach them, continue
(38:56):
to grow in their lives, andcontinue to grow in their
journey together.
And maybe this can be thebeginning of a new journey for
them together again.
And the people who may belistening to this podcast
episode right now, and who arewondering, should I give up or
should I keep praying that theywould keep praying?
And if there were those who arewondering about how you're
(39:17):
gonna use them in their lives,in Jesus' name, amen.
Thank you, my friend.
Thanks, brother.
Have a great day.
Remember to subscribe and leaveus a rating.
Written is very important tohelp in our podcast.
(39:38):
Email us and comments at theparty noise24 at email.com.com.
Thank you for listening toInstagram.
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