Enjoyed your listen? Let us know!
Witness the transformative power of altruism and faith through the lives of Rebecca D'Emic, Al Barth, and their awe-inspiring journeys with Place of Hope. Rebecca, who began her path to philanthropy deeply moved at a Hope Bash event, takes us behind the scenes of her evolution from attendee to president of the Angel Moms. Her tale is not just one of personal growth, but also of the inspiring example she sets for her children, showcasing that true generosity can shape futures. Al Barth complements this narrative with insights into the trials faced when integrity and service are your guiding principles, especially in times of adversity.
The legacy of a pastor who dedicated his life to church planting and ministry echoes through the ages, shaping not only his daughter but entire communities with his commitment to spreading love and faith. His story is a testament to the indelible impact of a father's guidance, a beacon for those who seek to leave a meaningful mark on the world. From the intimate trials of personal faith to the expansive challenges of establishing urban ministries, we celebrate the qualities essential for leadership in these endeavors—love, honesty, and authenticity.
We round off with an exploration of how personal faith can be both challenged and fortified by the trials of life. Rebecca shares her candid account of spiritual struggle and revelation, underpinned by the unwavering support of her family. The stories unravel to reveal the profound impact of each individual's ministry, both within their immediate circles and the broader ripple effects in the community, inviting listeners to reflect on their legacy and future aspirations.
Takeaways
- Involvement with organizations like Place of Hope can have a profound impact on both the individuals being served and those doing the serving.
- Faith plays a significant role in personal growth and can provide a strong foundation for navigating challenging times.
- Parents have a powerful influence on their children's faith journeys and can set an example through their own actions and involvement in the community.
- Church planting requires integrity and a genuine love for people, and it can have a transformative impact on communities.
- Supporting and encouraging children in their involvement with charitable organizations can help them develop a sense of purpose and make a positive difference in the world.
- Making a difference locally is just as important as global impact, and individuals can use their skills and resources to serve humanity in their own communities.
Title Sponsor: Crypto Capital Venture | Follow Dan Gambardello's on Twitter (@cryptorecruitr)
Looking for assistance in south Florida? Visit VillagesOfHope.net
Link: Visit the Place of Hope Website, PlaceOfHope.com
Connect with Place of Hope on social media: Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | Linke
Title Sponsor: Crypto Capital Venture | Follow Dan Gambardello's on Twitter (@cryptorecruitr)
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Producer: Maya Elias
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Charles Bender (00:02):
Hello and thank you for tuning in to Ambassadors
of Hope.
I'm your host, Charles Bender.
We're so excited that you'vetuned in to hear from local
South Florida leaders who aremaking a difference in our
community and region through ourcharity Place of Hope.
Maya Elias (00:20):
Hello, I'm your producer, Maya Elias, and in
this episode's conversation onthe Ambassadors of Hope podcast
by Place of Hope with RebeccaD'Emic and Al Barth, we cover
various topics and involvementwith Place of Hope the impact of
faith on personal life,parenting and setting an example
, the father's influence androle, church planting and
(00:41):
integrity, faith duringchallenging times, Al's stories
from working with Tim Kellermaking a difference locally and
the exhortation to servehumanity.
Lisa McDulin (00:57):
Please continue listening on for the rest of
this week's episode.
So good morning, Al and Rebecca.
Thank you so much for beingwith us on our Ambassadors of
Hope podcast today.
Would love to dive right intosome of the questions that we
have.
And, Rebecca, I'm actuallygoing to start with you, just
(01:17):
because I know you better than Iknow your dad.
I know you've been involvedwith Place of Hope for a few
years and I'm wondering if youmight just tell our listeners a
little bit about yourinvolvement with the
organization and share with ushow you came to know about us,
the work that we do, and how Godkind of tapped on your heart to
get involved with us.
Rebecca D'Emic (01:32):
All right.
Well, my youngest son hadstarted school full time now he
was in elementary school and Iknew that it was time for me to
start serving, whether that wasat my church or a nonprofit.
And one of my girlfriends,Carly Altier, invited me to the
Hope Bash as her guest and myhusband and I went and after the
(01:52):
kids shared their testimony andheard what Place of Hope was
doing, I was crying, you know,just hearing what these kids had
been through and theircircumstances and what Place of
Hope was doing, and I was reallysurprised.
I hadn't heard of it beforebecause I've been in Boca for a
long time and I thought, wow, Ineed to, this is something I
need to pursue.
So I went out to campus, took atour, went to a coffee and
(02:13):
connection and signed up to beon the next committee for the
Angel Mom Brunch.
It was the right time in mylife where I knew I wanted to
get involved.
I do run a business and I havethree small kids, so I knew I
didn't have a ton of time, but Iknew that it was important to
tell other people about Place ofHope because I was surprised.
Here I'm living.
I feel like I know a lot aboutwhat's happening in Boca, but I
didn't know about Place of Hope,so that was really what was on
(02:35):
my heart from the beginning.
So getting on an eventcommittee was like the perfect
way to start because I couldinvite all my friends and start
talking about it in thecommunity and through our
business, elegant Child, I comein contact with a lot of women
from all different circles andgroups and it's just an easy,
easy way to engage differentwomen, to get involved, and it's
(02:56):
been great.
I had lunch with you and youwere able to sift through my
giftings and really help me andencourage me to get involved
with what worked with my life,and it was just a natural
progression.
I was on more committees andstarted engaging with other
women serving on campus wherethere was opportunity, within my
(03:17):
schedule and within my means ofwhat I had to offer.
Next thing, you know, a coupleof years later, he asked me to
help out, being the president ofthe Angel Moms.
So I'm currently doing that.
I really feel like I'm where Godwants me to be.
I do feel like my gifting isengaging other people, other
women, getting them involved.
I have a loud voice throughsocial media and just through my
(03:40):
circle of friends.
So I just try to share whatPlace of Hope is doing because I
really believe in what'shappening there.
It's not just a handout, it's aprogram that the kids get
involved with, they move throughand we're breaking the cycle of
abuse and giving them the toolsso that they can change how
their future is going to look.
(04:01):
And personally, why it has moremeaning to me is because I did
grow up in a super lovingenvironment with two Christian
parents who really providedevery single need I had and gave
me just a foundation of faithand security and peace and love,
and I just can't imagine beingwhere I am today without that
(04:26):
support system.
And so I look at these kidsthat don't have parents and
sometimes the parents were theabusers themselves and I just it
breaks my heart and I think,wow, I need to share from this
love and supportive place that Ihad and do anything I can to
help support the mission.
Lisa McDulin (04:44):
That's great and I know that we have appreciated
the work that you've done andhow you've used your voice, and
I think that you know themisconception is with a lot of
busy moms that are out there isthat they don't have time.
Right, I don't have time, I'mtoo busy, and yet I think this
is a great opportunity to reallyshow your children and we're
(05:04):
going to tie that in a littlebow in a minute but to show your
kids you know what's importantand let them see you serving and
giving, making sacrifices,whether that's your time or your
resources.
And so you've been a reallygreat example to so many of the
other younger moms who are inthe community in Boca Raton and
(05:26):
the surrounding areas of whatthat can look like.
You know, can you maybe address, you know what your kids have
maybe learned as a result of youbeing a volunteer and being
involved in a leadership rolewithin a nonprofit.
Rebecca D'Emic (05:40):
Yeah, well, you know it's been an opportunity
where I can let them see howimportant it is to give out of
our abundance.
You know, god blesses us witheverything we have and it is
important for us to be servingin our life wherever we're at.
So much joy comes from that,and so Paul and I both serve he
served through his work and wego out to campus and we've been
(06:02):
there for the ribbon cuttingsand the kids have helped before
the events paint the feathersfor the angel wings and they
donate their own clothes andtheir toys and we talk about it.
You know just of the situationsthese kids come from.
We're very transparent withthem about how blessed they are
and how much these kids are inneed.
(06:24):
So just, it's a constantconversation that we're having
and they know that sometimesmommy has to go to events or do
things, but they understand whyand another, just going off what
you said about a lot of womendon't feel like they have the
time to be involved.
One thing that is really cool isI kind of get to do two things
at once because a lot of myfriends are serving at Place of
(06:48):
Hope as well.
It's also social.
We have fun when we're doingthis.
It's a lot of times we get todo things together in groups
with our kids.
Even so, they get to see theirfriends there and we're all
serving together.
So it's really nice that we cankind of have an opportunity to
combine social and serving.
It's a side benefit that's alot of fun.
Lisa McDulin (07:06):
That's great, and I know that you've shared with
me more than one time that thiswas really something that your
mom and dad passed on to you andthat you learned from an early
age and they set that examplefor you, and that was one of the
reasons why I wanted to haveboth of you here.
I thought that was such aspecial, unique, you know
relationship that you all have.
That's worth highlighting andtalking about, because you know
(07:27):
we are serving so many kids whodon't have a father figure or
mother figure in their life andif they did, maybe they weren't
the best influence, and that'ssuch an important element to all
of this, and so we have anopportunity to step into these
kids' lives and defend the caseof the fatherless.
That's part of our mission atPlace of Hope.
But you know your dad issitting here and he's starting
(07:49):
to fidget because he wants totalk and say something.
Maya Elias (07:52):
What I would love is .
Lisa McDulin (07:54):
Rebecca, I want you to introduce your dad.
I want you to tell the audiencethis is my dad, this is who he
is, and then we're going to talkto him for a minute, but I'd
love to hear you.
Rebecca D'Emic (08:06):
I don't know if I can do my dad justice, but my
dad is an amazing man.
He's a pastor and he was achurch planner most of my
childhood.
So we were moving into a newarea and he was starting with
nothing, building relationshipsand starting a church.
He building relationships andstarting a church he was such.
A great example of how I lookat God is how I see my dad, this
(08:31):
beautiful balance of absolutelove.
But I had a very healthy fearof him.
He was strict, for sure, but insuch a loving way, and there was
definitely expectations in ourhousehold and discipline, but it
was never out of anger.
It was always a controlled,loving environment and I got to
(08:56):
watch both my parents be inministry since I was a little
girl and I went early on Sundaymornings and set up the chairs
in the school gym where we weresetting up church that week and
we were opening our home onThanksgiving to people that
didn't have anywhere to go andwe were doing vacation Bible
schools in our backyard and itwas just all about building the
(09:18):
church and they always includedus in that, us in that.
And so my father, al Barth, isa great man and has really
walked the walk and lived outwhat it means to be a Christian
in a just.
I don't know how anybody doesit better.
I mean, he wasn't perfect.
(09:41):
Oh, come on.
Lisa McDulin (09:43):
Oh, my goodness, grab the tissues.
So, al sorry, we didn't mean tomake you teary-eyed today, but
I know you must be really proudof your daughter oh yeah.
The work that she does in thecommunity and the fact that
she's taking that legacy andshe's passing it on to that next
generation.
And it's so great that you andyour wife are here and you're
(10:05):
local and you get to be a partof their lives.
You're so invested in yourgrandkids' lives and I see you
at the events too.
I've seen all of you at eitherthe brunch or the bash or the
pickleball tournament saying theprayer, so I know the role that
you play.
And her life has beentremendous.
She's told me about this andthat was, like I said, one of
(10:28):
the reasons I wanted to have youguys both on here.
But, gosh, maybe you can nowtell us a little bit more about
kind of your background andwhere you got that from, because
I'm sure that this came fromsomewhere yeah, sure, the um.
Al Barth (10:43):
so I was actually born and raised in Minneapolis,
minnesota.
A family moves to South Florida, to Naples, in the late 60s,
really to get away from the cold.
I came over to Boca to go toFlorida Atlantic.
My folks ended up moving backto Minnesota for a couple of
years so I was very alone andalone in a number of ways.
(11:04):
I was extremely young Back then.
Fau didn't have freshmen andsophomores.
Amy Kazma (11:09):
Oh, wow.
Al Barth (11:09):
So I was 17 years old and I entered as a junior, which
was weird.
So everyone around me was mucholder, much more mature, and I
felt very isolated.
And, to make a long story short, I came to kind of an
existential crisis and ended upgiving my heart to Christ.
So that's when I became abeliever.
(11:29):
After my wife and I married andwe were in business for a
couple of years, I ended upfeeling called to ministry.
So I would do my education in anumber of different places and
then would end up, as Rebeccawas just saying, I planted four
churches one in Tennessee, twoon the west coast of Florida and
one up in New York.
That led me to.
(11:50):
You know, the last 23 years orso I've been involved with
helping to plant or helping guyscreate urban center church
plants in the major cities ofNorth America, europe, middle
East and Africa, middle East andAfrica.
But what led to all this to getback to your question was I felt
(12:14):
when I came to Christ that theFather really loved me
unconditionally, sorry.
So that experience ofunconditional love from a father
and my father was was myearthly father was a little
severe.
It was germanic father.
That was very demanding and Ididn't feel all that much
affection.
I'm sure he loved me, but, buthe didn't feel that.
(12:35):
But when I came to christ, Ibegan to experience this love of
a father that was unreserved,so that what that did is it
created within me a response ofboth gratitude and love, you
know.
So that's, that's what hasdriven my life of faith.
You know my life as a father.
You know that sort of thing, um, and there was a good, solid,
(12:59):
you know, kind of, uh,disciplinary environment.
You know, within my home, uhand I think I carried that
through, you know.
So we would have expectationsof the kids.
We would expect them to bequiet, be respectful, be loving.
You know these kinds of things.
And so when they were selfishor self-centered or whatever, we
would discourage that andencourage them to to give it
(13:20):
others.
So that's been the drivingforce of my life.
Lisa McDulin (13:23):
That's great.
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Lisa McDulin (13:56):
Now, Rebecca, you have shared with me that your
personal journey has taken yousort of through lots of
different phases of your faithand I know that your dad and
your mom played a role in yourjourney and your faith journey
and I'm wondering if you canshare a specific memory or an
experience that stands out, youknow, where your faith in God
played a significant role inguiding your path, especially
during very challenging timesand kind of how your dad walked
(14:20):
alongside of that with you.
Rebecca D'Emic (14:22):
There's been lots of different tragic moments
where my faith has grown deeper.
I definitely accepted Christearly on and was involved in the
church my whole childhood untilwe moved to New York for my
dad's church plant in the middleof high school and that was a
really challenging time for mewhere I had a hard time making
(14:44):
friends.
It was a very wealthy communityand we were not, and I ended up
just making friends withwhoever would be my friend and
it ended up being a bad, a badgroup of kids and I started to
stray.
And that continued into mycollege years until I had, you
know, just woke up one morningafter doing drugs and partying
(15:06):
and still thinking I'm aChristian and living my life for
God.
But I have this total otherlife that has kind of taken form
and just got to the end ofmyself and was disgusted with
where I was and was kind ofshocked at how did I get to this
(15:27):
point in my life.
But because of the foundationthat my parents laid, I always
read my Bible and I always wentto church, even in the midst of
all the partying.
I was just really leading thesetwo lives side by side, still
considered myself a Christiancompletely but was not living my
(15:49):
life dependent upon Christ, andopened up my Bible to Ephesians
5 and read the passage ofliving as a child of a light
versus the child of the darkness, and here I thought I was
living as a child of the lightbut everything that I read as a
child of the darkness wasdescribing my life currently.
So that was humbling andturning point and a deepening in
(16:11):
my faith where God reallyexposed my sin and drew me back
to him.
And that was from thefoundation that my parents laid.
You know, our whole childhooddoing family devotions, reading
the Bible together, prayingtogether as a family, going to
church, no matter what, and thenrecommitted my life to God,
(16:34):
ended up meeting a man who wasnot a Christian and I thought I
would reform him and get him toknow the Lord and we ended up
getting married quickly and Ithink he ended up professing he
(16:55):
made a commitment to the Lord,but I don't think it really
happened in his life.
Don't think it really happenedin his life.
I think it was just kind of sowe could get married and two
years later he ended up havingan affair and asked for a
divorce.
And that was another time in mylife where I just was at the
end.
It was just my whole life as Iknew it was over.
You know, here I was going tobe a divorced woman.
(17:16):
No man would ever want me.
My dad drives down through thenight, rescues me from Auburn
University, where we were livingat the time, and was just by my
side and just reminded me ofhow loved I was and that this
isn't the end and that there ishope.
And he was my rock and aphysical presence there to just
(17:41):
help me get my focus back on.
What is this life about?
Bringing worth and value to mylife that wasn't based on my
circumstances.
And shortly after that, hebrought me on a trip to Europe
with him for two weeks and I wasa mess.
I mean, I was just nonstopcrying, every day, all day.
(18:02):
What's going to happen with mylife now?
I really didn't know what wasgoing to happen and we were
meeting in city after city withthese godly men, these pastors
all over Europe, and just beingby him and having conversations
with him about forgiveness andhow I'm going to have to forgive
my ex-husband, how I'm going tohave to forgive the woman he
(18:22):
had an affair with, you know,and just practically having this
godly man, my father, with meto show me God's love through
that time I'm just so thankfulfor because that time was so
life-changing, you know justanother deeper level of my
relationship with God and thathe is my true husband and he is.
(18:45):
He is my lover and he is myidentity, and that's what I'm
going to move forward in.
Lisa McDulin (18:52):
Is it amazing to listen to her just share that
part of her testimony and theimpression that you made not
only the Lord made on her, butthat you did.
And that's hard as a parentwhen you see your kids going one
direction and you know that'snot maybe what you taught them
to do and then you know it'salmost like the prodigal son,
(19:15):
you know where.
You just welcome them back withopen arms and you love them
unconditionally anyway.
What kind of goes through yourmind as you hear her recount
some of this?
Al Barth (19:23):
Well, I mean just on the you know, straightforward
level.
You know, I just think we needto be there for our kids, you
need to be with them.
You know, even in the Bible, youknow, as Job goes through
incredible suffering, you knowthere are friends that come and
just sit with him in the ashes,and that's oftentimes what we
(19:48):
need to do is just be there inthose dark moments.
And, sure, each of our childrenhad moments at which, maybe
more than a moment, but a periodof time, where they were
rebelling against maybe all thatthey hadn't learned and thought
and that kind of thing, and youjust have to stay with them and
hope and pray that they'llreturn to the things that you've
taught them and that sort ofthing.
And what was really interestingfor us, I think, was that
(20:11):
pretty much after college ormaybe even during, you know,
late university, with a numberof them, our kids became our
best friends, which was just agreat relationship.
When you're no longer under theauthority of your parents, you
can make decisions that you wantto make.
That's when you kind of see theproof of whether or not they're
on the right path.
Lisa McDulin (20:32):
And what an awesome opportunity that you had
to take her along with you overto Europe, as she said.
So you were church planting atthe time.
Al Barth (20:41):
What I would do is I would help national guys plant
churches in their cities.
One of the funny things aboutthat trip was I knew Becca was
not in a good place and it wouldbe good for us to be together,
and ironically I ended upfinding an unbelievably cheap
fare.
So we flew nonstop to Europeround trip for $179 a piece.
(21:05):
It was crazy and then we did thewhole Eurail things.
We were on trains together fromthis place, that place and you
would just have time to reallytalk and, you know, experience
something different and be outof out of pocket and I I think
that was restorative.
She was also reading a book byRick Rick Warren, purpose Driven
Life, which I think reallyhelped her sort through you know
(21:27):
a lot, a lot of things.
So it's a good book.
Yeah, it's a great book.
Amy Kazma (21:31):
Yeah, I'm Amy Kazma and I have been involved with
Place of Hope since 2018.
Well, I have to say myphilanthropic career, or
volunteer career, really started, I guess, in college, when I
was in a sorority.
I always volunteered when I wasin college for different
organizations and programs.
I would have to say the biggestinfluence is probably my mom.
(21:52):
She always would volunteer atchurch and, of course, with my
sisters and I, variousactivities.
After our father passed away ofa heart attack, she got
involved with the American HeartAssociation, so I always
watched her volunteer as I grewup in various stages of our life
.
Place of Hope was brought to myattention through a mutual
friend who contacted me to seeif I was interested in doing a
(22:14):
sponsorship for their Angel MomsBrunch.
I read the information, sharedit with my husband and we both
agreed that it was somethingthat we wanted to support.
So my first exposure to Placeof Hope was to an Angel Moms
Brunch and I've been involvedsince then and I think the
organization really resonateswith me because, based on most
(22:35):
of the volunteerism andphilanthropy that we do is with
children and education.
I think about my own childrenand you know, when they turned
18 and they were in no wayprepared to reach out and be in
the world on their own, and it'samazing that Place of Hope does
all these wraparound servicesfor these children who have aged
(22:57):
out of foster care and at 18really aren't prepared to live
on their own.
I think what Place of Hope doesis so inspiring, not only on the
Boca campus but throughout theother campuses in Palm Beach
County and the Treasure Coast.
They offer something that noother organization that I have
been affiliated with does,something that no other
(23:18):
organization that I have beenaffiliated with does.
You know, I hope that thechildren here learn that no
obstacle can be overcome.
I have to say most of mydearest and closest friends I
have met through volunteerism.
It has brought me so muchself-esteem to help people.
It enriches my life to knowthat I can maybe do something
(23:38):
small to change somebody else'slife.
I feel sometimes that I get somuch more out of volunteering
and bring so much more to mylife than what maybe I'm putting
out there.
Lisa McDulin (23:49):
So let's talk about the church planning piece
okay, because I know that's whatyou love doing and that you're
traveling all over.
You've been a catalyst forchurch planting across many
regions, as you just shared withus.
Can you recall a particularmoment or a story where the
importance of integrity was adefining factor in the success
(24:11):
of a church planting endeavor,or in your work with Redeemer
City?
Al Barth (24:21):
endeavor, or in your work with Redeemer City.
For the last 23 years or so,I've been officially employed as
a catalyst, coming alongsideyoung leaders and helping them
do what I would describe as eventhough we say church planting,
that doesn't mean a lot for alot of people, but I would be
helping them form communities ofpeople that would love each
other and try to figure out whatdoes it mean to really follow
(24:42):
Christ and then also how todemonstrate God's love to the
community around it.
So that's, that's the nature ofit, character qualities.
You know the the the primarything that good leaders of
churches need to do is they.
They need to one love people andreally care about people they
(25:04):
need to be honest, you know,they need to be authentic in
relation to uh, none of us areperfect, you know.
So we have flaws and that kindof thing.
So you don't hide from people.
So even even like with the kids, we never made them kind of
conform to an image.
If you will be quiet, beperfectly dressed, all that kind
of thing.
Just that's not who we are aspeople.
(25:26):
So I think they had the freedomto kind of form.
But out of all the churchesthat were planted in Europe I
think there was a couple hundredthat were planted we probably
only had three or four failures,uh.
Thankfully, only one of themwas moral, uh, and then several
of the other ones were merelybecause the situation wasn't
(25:46):
right.
You know, the guy wasn't in theright place or he wasn't the
right leader, the not the rightgift mix, that kind of thing but
, those internal qualities werejust incredibly important.
You know, living the Christianlife is not necessarily easy.
All kinds of challenges.
And as a leader you know you can.
You can idolize and this maysound weird outside of church
(26:07):
circles, but many times leadersgauge who they are by how many
people are coming, which is thewrong criteria.
And so keeping them from thatand actually trying to help them
figure out how do I really liveout that, the fact that God
loves me and that God offers hislove to everyone in the world,
(26:29):
and demonstrate that.
But I don't know if that reallygoes quite to the integrity
piece.
But there have been a togetherof people and the kind of
helping people get started.
Lisa McDulin (26:53):
I can see the influence that you've had over
your daughter in what she doesand her gifts and her skills
that she's been using at Placeof Hope I mean Rebecca, that's
what you do.
Rebecca D'Emic (27:04):
Totally, I'm his mini-me.
You really are.
Lisa McDulin (27:07):
Like you really are, like that's your natural
gifting is connecting andbringing people together and
building, and that's what you'vebeen doing, and she had to
learn that from you, and I thinkit comes from a real love for
people.
Rebecca D'Emic (27:25):
You know, really loving people is what makes
that happen, and I'm thankfulthat.
I was made like that and got tosee an example.
Al Barth (27:35):
It has been interesting that both my wife,
rebecca's mom and all three ofthe kids seem to be just
incredibly entrepreneurial.
They tend to be risk takers.
They start new things, theyenter into situations with
confidence and then they put allthe pieces together and then
they work their tails off, youknow, or to to see it be done.
(27:55):
That's great.
I'm incredibly proud of beccaand all the things she's doing.
So she's uh, I think she's verymuch personality wise.
She is that connector.
She puts people together, helpsthem figure out, you know how
they can serve Christ or servean organization like Place of
Hope and really make adifference in people's lives.
Lisa McDulin (28:15):
Yeah.
So now we're past all of thosethings that happened a long time
ago in her life and you'reyou're here today.
What do you, what do you thinkare some of the ways that you
are impressing upon her now, atthis stage in her life?
I mean, I know that wasn't oneof the questions we were going
(28:36):
to ask, but I'm just curious howdo you support her in what
she's doing at this point in herlife?
Rebecca D'Emic (28:46):
as a dad.
Al Barth (28:47):
Yeah, I don't know how much it's support or whatever
you know.
Rebecca D'Emic (28:51):
Well, I could say one thing go ahead some of
it is uh the financial supportof uh both, that's true my
father and my mother uhsponsoring events at place of
hope um on my behalf, so I caninvite potential donors,
potential people that want to bemore involved with Place of
Hope.
So that's one practical wayimmediately, I could think of.
Al Barth (29:11):
You know several other things that may not go quite to
that, but you know so.
The church that I'm connectedwith now, spanish River Church,
and you know I've only been onstaff for not even quite two
years, but they have a wholetrack record of folks in that
church that are engaged with notonly place of hope but other
charitable organizations.
You know kind of in this areaand, and you know so, one of the
(29:34):
things that we want to do as achurch literally is promote
people.
Don't just give money to thechurch, although the church
needs support in order to dothis ministry.
You guys need to be involved inall these different places.
So seeing Rebecca, or you knowpeople like Kelly Fleming or
others engage, give, you know,care about, you know that kind
of thing is good, no-transcript,all led by native leaders and
(30:37):
that hopefully will bring aboutchanges, because the very things
that they that well, that manyof the people that you work with
, they experience unbelievabletrauma in the home unbelievable
deprivation.
So something's got to make adifference, and so I suppose
that that's parallel to whatBecca's trying to hear locally
(30:57):
is help engage with really goodorganizations that are making a
difference yeah, that's greatthat that display integrity.
Rebecca D'Emic (31:04):
you know that's one of the things that attracted
me so much to place of hope waseverything I've been a part of
with Place of Hope is done withtransparency, with integrity.
They use their resources to thebest potential they possibly
can and it's an organization I'mreally proud to be associated
with because of what they'redoing, with what they've been
given, to really change lives.
Lisa McDulin (31:27):
We strive to.
You know, and I'm thinking asI'm sitting here, listening to
you talk to and and knowing theimpact you've made on your kids'
lives, your grandparent, yourgrandkids' lives, it'd be great
to have you come and speak toour kids sometime.
At Place of Hope, we doleadership and career days.
I mean one of the things that'spart of our program at Villages
(31:49):
of Hope, which is the post-18,we're dealing with kids who have
aged out of the foster caresystem, who otherwise might be
homeless, single moms and, likesome of the people that you just
mentioned, I mean they've hadunimaginable trauma happen in
their lives and so some of thevery basic, fundamental things
that we take for granted, thatwe got from our parents, these,
(32:10):
these kids don't.
They've never experienced that,and so when we do these
leadership and career days, it'san opportunity for people like
yourself.
So I'm going to call you feel.
Feel free to do so, come in andand just speak some life into
them and and to you know, sharetheir life experiences, and in
some cases I mean that that caninvolve, I mean you know, some
(32:35):
area of business or expertisethat you have that you know just
might plant the seed in them tohave an interest in taking a
look at doing somethingdifferent.
Because I think too, I mean alot of these kids lack direction
.
They don't really know whatthey want to do.
They haven't grown up in a homewhere they saw a mom or a dad
(32:57):
basically set a good example.
And I mean Rebecca watched youdo what you did for such a long
time, and she may not beplanting churches, but she's
planting good seeds in hercommunity and she's making an
impact on other people aroundher, not only just for the kids
at Place of Hope, but in thelives of these other women, I
(33:18):
mean, and I've seen how you'vedone that too, and that's really
remarkable.
I think it's been a great way.
One of my goals has always beento try to give women basically a
platform and a place where theycan come and they can use their
God-given gifts and theirabilities.
That I think so oftentimes asmoms we put them up on a shelf.
(33:39):
We forget about them becausewe're so busy with our lives and
our kids and our husbands andother priorities that we forget.
You know to use them, so I justwent like all around, You're
the gift finder.
Well try to be.
Try to be Okay.
So I know that you worked withTim Keller and I know he
(34:02):
recently passed away and Rebeccasends me podcasts and different
sermons to listen to that shethinks that I would enjoy.
But tell me what that was likeworking with him.
Al Barth (34:16):
I first met Tim when he was quite young and nobody
knew who he was.
I suppose he was probably 30s,but there were a group of us
kind of young Turks, so to speak.
You know, we were going to setout to change the world.
We were all late 20s, early 30sor something like that, and one
of my buddies had heard Timgive a presentation on mercy
(34:39):
ministry.
This was long before he goes toNew York and he comes out away
from this and he said you know,this guy is really interesting.
He's got a really interestingperspective on things.
We need to start following him.
So Tim ends up becoming afriend of a number of us and
(34:59):
then he would go to New York in1989, he and Kathy Honestly most
of us who were his friendsthought he will fail.
You know, new York is a placethat breaks ministers in half.
So we'd already tried to planta church at one point of the
nomination and it failed utterly.
So Tim's going to walk intoManhattan, one of the most dense
(35:21):
, powerful, arrogant places inthe world.
And how in the world do youstart a church in the middle of
a place like that?
So, even though we loved himand we thought he was really
smart.
That kind of thing with thethought was man better you than
me?
I can't imagine, you know.
So let's watch.
And then what was crazy was theresult of both his primary work
(35:45):
he and Kathy really trying tofigure out how to contextualize
ministry for the particularManhattan situation and I think
there was a special outpouringof the Spirit in the first three
years.
They saw about a thousandpeople come to Christ very, very
quickly, you know, people thatwere coming from really
non-Christian backgrounds.
So then, a few years later, timasked me if I would come up and
(36:07):
plant a daughter church of thatchurch, and this is 1995.
And so that's the one Becca wasreferring to.
When we moved to New York webegan meeting together with
three guys that were startingthe first three churches.
We would meet with either Timor one of the other pastors on
staff there just trying tofigure out how to do work in the
city and what took place,because even at that time Tim
(36:28):
really didn't know how to planta church in a city.
So even though he was six yearsinto it, it had been just this
incredible ride and they'retrying different things and you
know.
So that actually gave him theopportunity to begin to think
through and articulate well,what had they done that had
really worked?
We're sharing them together.
So I'm just, I think, I guesstwo years younger than Tim,
(36:52):
something like that.
It was a group of us that weretalking together.
So it became a friendship thatwas very fruitful in a lot of
ways.
And then when we created whatwas called the Church Planting
Center in 2000, I left thechurch that I planted and came
on board with that, and so wehad a very, we had a very close
relationship, not necessarilyintimate, you know, tim, tim.
(37:12):
Tim was more intimate in hispreaching than actually in
relationships.
You know, he's actually veryintroverted.
So it it, it was.
It was great, you know, havingthis, this good relationship,
good working relationship.
It was always profitable, youknow, I think, and it worked, uh
, worked, worked both ways.
But, uh, it was incredibleprivilege to actually take what
(37:35):
he had been learning in New Yorkand to be able to help others
across the world grab ahold ofthose principles and then
literally affect the world forChrist.
Lisa McDulin (37:45):
Amazing.
And you said that, that thatthat was a difficult market to
to break into what?
Maya Elias (37:49):
but.
Lisa McDulin (37:49):
I would imagine that some of the cities that you
might have gone to in europemight have been even more
spiritually deprived oh, yes,very definitely.
Al Barth (37:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah it's.
You know it's a weird dynamicand I don't know how much you
want to hear about this kind ofthing, but one of the things
that we discovered I suspect isthe way to put it is people
living in these large citiesglobalized cities are actually
more like each other than theyare like people in the
countryside.
So if you take somebody fromManhattan and somebody from Hong
(38:21):
Kong, they're going to have allkinds of commonalities.
But if you take somebody from100 miles west of New York, in
Pennsylvania, and, and somebodythat's a hundred miles inland
from Hong Kong, there's almostno shared, you know similarities
.
But Hong Kong, paris, london,singapore, all these different
places, they all speak the samelanguage.
(38:41):
They're all financial centersyou know all those kinds of
things and and for the most part, they've been the most
resistant places to the gospel.
And, of course, they're wildly,you know multi-ethnic, all
kinds of cultures, you knowthey're coming together.
So it was interesting havingthat opportunity.
(39:01):
I think it was a moment in timewhere the whole world was
becoming globalized and so thekinds of things that we were
learning actually would work inother places.
Lisa McDulin (39:10):
It's really fascinating how it's.
You know, literally you canwatch the things that the Bible
said would happen coming to lifeand you know the whole world
kind of just being exposed toall of this and you can see it
now because of all of thetechnology and everything that's
in front of us, which is prettyincredible.
But I think we have anopportunity in our own backyard
(39:34):
to make a difference.
Yes, we need to go into all theearth, but I think for those of
us who can't do that, we canmake a difference right where we
live and we work and we playand we raise our families, and I
think that your family hascertainly demonstrated that in
Booker Tone in South Florida.
You've been just instrumentalin creating such incredible
(39:57):
awareness in your church family,in the community, in the work
you've done for Place of Hope,and we appreciate the impact
that you've made on Rebecca'slife, because she's making a
difference in the lives of somany other women and families
that are around us and, in turn,because of the work that she
does and the impact that you'vemade on her as a father, that's
(40:20):
making a difference for the kidsthat are living in a place of
hope, and I just, I really justwanted you all to know that
Thank you Good, absolutely,absolutely.
So I just, I really just wantedyou all to know that Thank you
Good, it's a privilegeAbsolutely.
Al Barth (40:31):
So I just turned 70.
Lisa McDulin (40:33):
Happy birthday Late happy birthday.
It was a month ago, Okay.
Well, that's still.
Al Barth (40:38):
But you know, so in my mind and this may be a weird,
weird way to think but I thinkI've got 12 or 15 years left to
actually do a number of things.
And so, even with this NativeAmerican thing that I'm working
on, you know, this is all fun,but there is tremendous
(41:01):
potential in these communitiesof people that are 60, 62, 65,
68.
Of people that are 60, 62, 65,68, and to use a lot of the
wisdom and the knowledge and theexperience and their power both
financial as well as in termsof learning that kind of thing
(41:22):
to impact people's lives.
And even though I like to playgolf I really don't play much
golf anymore, but I love to playgolf I really don't play much
golf anymore, but I love to playgolf I can't imagine playing
golf three times a week and thensitting around and reading
novels and just what.
No?
So the very thing that Becca wastalking about as people get
involved, making a difference inother people's lives, what they
(41:45):
do is they form really goodfriendships with other people,
which are life-giving, and youmake a difference.
So I would want to challengepeople to say, hey, listen, if
you're going to retire early, oreven if you're retiring late,
you know.
Think about using the years youhave to to serve humanity.
It's actually much morelife-giving than just kind of
(42:08):
taking a vacation to this placeor that place.
Nothing wrong with those things, you know, we have the, we have
the right to do those things.
But we ought to be trying tofigure out how, how can we
fulfill God's ultimate purposefor us, no matter what faith
you're, you're, you're comingfrom?
Lisa McDulin (42:21):
Yeah, no, I would agree with that.
That's a great, that's a greatnote to end on.
Thank you for that.
Appreciate it.
Thank you both.
Thanks for having us Absolutely.
We appreciate all your wisdom.
Charles Bender (42:34):
Thank you for listening.
Please be sure to subscribe andshare with your friends so you
don't even miss a thing, and ifyou really gained value today,
please be sure to give us afive-star review so, of course,
we can be put in front of morelisteners.
For details and show notesabout today's podcast and how
you can connect with and supportour guests, please go to
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to email us at pohpodcast, atplaceofhopecom, and, for sure,
(42:58):
follow us on social media.
Ambassadors of Hope placinghope in a child's future.
Hello and thank you for tuning in to Ambassadors
of Hope.
I'm your host, Charles Bender.
We're so excited that you'vetuned in to hear from local
South Florida leaders who aremaking a difference in our
community and region through ourcharity Place of Hope.
Maya Elias (00:20):
Hello, I'm your producer, Maya Elias, and in
this episode's conversation onthe Ambassadors of Hope podcast
by Place of Hope with RebeccaD'Emic and Al Barth, we cover
various topics and involvementwith Place of Hope the impact of
faith on personal life,parenting and setting an example
, the father's influence androle, church planting and
(00:41):
integrity, faith duringchallenging times, Al's stories
from working with Tim Kellermaking a difference locally and
the exhortation to servehumanity.
Lisa McDulin (00:57):
Please continue listening on for the rest of
this week's episode.
So good morning, Al and Rebecca.
Thank you so much for beingwith us on our Ambassadors of
Hope podcast today.
Would love to dive right intosome of the questions that we
have.
And, Rebecca, I'm actuallygoing to start with you, just
(01:17):
because I know you better than Iknow your dad.
I know you've been involvedwith Place of Hope for a few
years and I'm wondering if youmight just tell our listeners a
little bit about yourinvolvement with the
organization and share with ushow you came to know about us,
the work that we do, and how Godkind of tapped on your heart to
get involved with us.
Rebecca D'Emic (01:32):
All right.
Well, my youngest son hadstarted school full time now he
was in elementary school and Iknew that it was time for me to
start serving, whether that wasat my church or a nonprofit.
And one of my girlfriends,Carly Altier, invited me to the
Hope Bash as her guest and myhusband and I went and after the
(01:52):
kids shared their testimony andheard what Place of Hope was
doing, I was crying, you know,just hearing what these kids had
been through and theircircumstances and what Place of
Hope was doing, and I was reallysurprised.
I hadn't heard of it beforebecause I've been in Boca for a
long time and I thought, wow, Ineed to, this is something I
need to pursue.
So I went out to campus, took atour, went to a coffee and
(02:13):
connection and signed up to beon the next committee for the
Angel Mom Brunch.
It was the right time in mylife where I knew I wanted to
get involved.
I do run a business and I havethree small kids, so I knew I
didn't have a ton of time, but Iknew that it was important to
tell other people about Place ofHope because I was surprised.
Here I'm living.
I feel like I know a lot aboutwhat's happening in Boca, but I
didn't know about Place of Hope,so that was really what was on
(02:35):
my heart from the beginning.
So getting on an eventcommittee was like the perfect
way to start because I couldinvite all my friends and start
talking about it in thecommunity and through our
business, elegant Child, I comein contact with a lot of women
from all different circles andgroups and it's just an easy,
easy way to engage differentwomen, to get involved, and it's
(02:56):
been great.
I had lunch with you and youwere able to sift through my
giftings and really help me andencourage me to get involved
with what worked with my life,and it was just a natural
progression.
I was on more committees andstarted engaging with other
women serving on campus wherethere was opportunity, within my
(03:17):
schedule and within my means ofwhat I had to offer.
Next thing, you know, a coupleof years later, he asked me to
help out, being the president ofthe Angel Moms.
So I'm currently doing that.
I really feel like I'm where Godwants me to be.
I do feel like my gifting isengaging other people, other
women, getting them involved.
I have a loud voice throughsocial media and just through my
(03:40):
circle of friends.
So I just try to share whatPlace of Hope is doing because I
really believe in what'shappening there.
It's not just a handout, it's aprogram that the kids get
involved with, they move throughand we're breaking the cycle of
abuse and giving them the toolsso that they can change how
their future is going to look.
(04:01):
And personally, why it has moremeaning to me is because I did
grow up in a super lovingenvironment with two Christian
parents who really providedevery single need I had and gave
me just a foundation of faithand security and peace and love,
and I just can't imagine beingwhere I am today without that
(04:26):
support system.
And so I look at these kidsthat don't have parents and
sometimes the parents were theabusers themselves and I just it
breaks my heart and I think,wow, I need to share from this
love and supportive place that Ihad and do anything I can to
help support the mission.
Lisa McDulin (04:44):
That's great and I know that we have appreciated
the work that you've done andhow you've used your voice, and
I think that you know themisconception is with a lot of
busy moms that are out there isthat they don't have time.
Right, I don't have time, I'mtoo busy, and yet I think this
is a great opportunity to reallyshow your children and we're
(05:04):
going to tie that in a littlebow in a minute but to show your
kids you know what's importantand let them see you serving and
giving, making sacrifices,whether that's your time or your
resources.
And so you've been a reallygreat example to so many of the
other younger moms who are inthe community in Boca Raton and
(05:26):
the surrounding areas of whatthat can look like.
You know, can you maybe address, you know what your kids have
maybe learned as a result of youbeing a volunteer and being
involved in a leadership rolewithin a nonprofit.
Rebecca D'Emic (05:40):
Yeah, well, you know it's been an opportunity
where I can let them see howimportant it is to give out of
our abundance.
You know, god blesses us witheverything we have and it is
important for us to be servingin our life wherever we're at.
So much joy comes from that,and so Paul and I both serve he
served through his work and wego out to campus and we've been
(06:02):
there for the ribbon cuttingsand the kids have helped before
the events paint the feathersfor the angel wings and they
donate their own clothes andtheir toys and we talk about it.
You know just of the situationsthese kids come from.
We're very transparent withthem about how blessed they are
and how much these kids are inneed.
(06:24):
So just, it's a constantconversation that we're having
and they know that sometimesmommy has to go to events or do
things, but they understand whyand another, just going off what
you said about a lot of womendon't feel like they have the
time to be involved.
One thing that is really cool isI kind of get to do two things
at once because a lot of myfriends are serving at Place of
(06:48):
Hope as well.
It's also social.
We have fun when we're doingthis.
It's a lot of times we get todo things together in groups
with our kids.
Even so, they get to see theirfriends there and we're all
serving together.
So it's really nice that we cankind of have an opportunity to
combine social and serving.
It's a side benefit that's alot of fun.
Lisa McDulin (07:06):
That's great, and I know that you've shared with
me more than one time that thiswas really something that your
mom and dad passed on to you andthat you learned from an early
age and they set that examplefor you, and that was one of the
reasons why I wanted to haveboth of you here.
I thought that was such aspecial, unique, you know
relationship that you all have.
That's worth highlighting andtalking about, because you know
(07:27):
we are serving so many kids whodon't have a father figure or
mother figure in their life andif they did, maybe they weren't
the best influence, and that'ssuch an important element to all
of this, and so we have anopportunity to step into these
kids' lives and defend the caseof the fatherless.
That's part of our mission atPlace of Hope.
But you know your dad issitting here and he's starting
(07:49):
to fidget because he wants totalk and say something.
Maya Elias (07:52):
What I would love is .
Lisa McDulin (07:54):
Rebecca, I want you to introduce your dad.
I want you to tell the audiencethis is my dad, this is who he
is, and then we're going to talkto him for a minute, but I'd
love to hear you.
Rebecca D'Emic (08:06):
I don't know if I can do my dad justice, but my
dad is an amazing man.
He's a pastor and he was achurch planner most of my
childhood.
So we were moving into a newarea and he was starting with
nothing, building relationshipsand starting a church.
He building relationships andstarting a church he was such.
A great example of how I lookat God is how I see my dad, this
(08:31):
beautiful balance of absolutelove.
But I had a very healthy fearof him.
He was strict, for sure, but insuch a loving way, and there was
definitely expectations in ourhousehold and discipline, but it
was never out of anger.
It was always a controlled,loving environment and I got to
(08:56):
watch both my parents be inministry since I was a little
girl and I went early on Sundaymornings and set up the chairs
in the school gym where we weresetting up church that week and
we were opening our home onThanksgiving to people that
didn't have anywhere to go andwe were doing vacation Bible
schools in our backyard and itwas just all about building the
(09:18):
church and they always includedus in that, us in that.
And so my father, al Barth, isa great man and has really
walked the walk and lived outwhat it means to be a Christian
in a just.
I don't know how anybody doesit better.
I mean, he wasn't perfect.
(09:41):
Oh, come on.
Lisa McDulin (09:43):
Oh, my goodness, grab the tissues.
So, al sorry, we didn't mean tomake you teary-eyed today, but
I know you must be really proudof your daughter oh yeah.
The work that she does in thecommunity and the fact that
she's taking that legacy andshe's passing it on to that next
generation.
And it's so great that you andyour wife are here and you're
(10:05):
local and you get to be a partof their lives.
You're so invested in yourgrandkids' lives and I see you
at the events too.
I've seen all of you at eitherthe brunch or the bash or the
pickleball tournament saying theprayer, so I know the role that
you play.
And her life has beentremendous.
She's told me about this andthat was, like I said, one of
(10:28):
the reasons I wanted to have youguys both on here.
But, gosh, maybe you can nowtell us a little bit more about
kind of your background andwhere you got that from, because
I'm sure that this came fromsomewhere yeah, sure, the um.
Al Barth (10:43):
so I was actually born and raised in Minneapolis,
minnesota.
A family moves to South Florida, to Naples, in the late 60s,
really to get away from the cold.
I came over to Boca to go toFlorida Atlantic.
My folks ended up moving backto Minnesota for a couple of
years so I was very alone andalone in a number of ways.
(11:04):
I was extremely young Back then.
Fau didn't have freshmen andsophomores.
Amy Kazma (11:09):
Oh, wow.
Al Barth (11:09):
So I was 17 years old and I entered as a junior, which
was weird.
So everyone around me was mucholder, much more mature, and I
felt very isolated.
And, to make a long story short, I came to kind of an
existential crisis and ended upgiving my heart to Christ.
So that's when I became abeliever.
(11:29):
After my wife and I married andwe were in business for a
couple of years, I ended upfeeling called to ministry.
So I would do my education in anumber of different places and
then would end up, as Rebeccawas just saying, I planted four
churches one in Tennessee, twoon the west coast of Florida and
one up in New York.
That led me to.
(11:50):
You know, the last 23 years orso I've been involved with
helping to plant or helping guyscreate urban center church
plants in the major cities ofNorth America, europe, middle
East and Africa, middle East andAfrica.
But what led to all this to getback to your question was I felt
(12:14):
when I came to Christ that theFather really loved me
unconditionally, sorry.
So that experience ofunconditional love from a father
and my father was was myearthly father was a little
severe.
It was germanic father.
That was very demanding and Ididn't feel all that much
affection.
I'm sure he loved me, but, buthe didn't feel that.
(12:35):
But when I came to christ, Ibegan to experience this love of
a father that was unreserved,so that what that did is it
created within me a response ofboth gratitude and love, you
know.
So that's, that's what hasdriven my life of faith.
You know my life as a father.
You know that sort of thing, um, and there was a good, solid,
(12:59):
you know, kind of, uh,disciplinary environment.
You know, within my home, uhand I think I carried that
through, you know.
So we would have expectationsof the kids.
We would expect them to bequiet, be respectful, be loving.
You know these kinds of things.
And so when they were selfishor self-centered or whatever, we
would discourage that andencourage them to to give it
(13:20):
others.
So that's been the drivingforce of my life.
Lisa McDulin (13:23):
That's great.
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Lisa McDulin (13:56):
Now, Rebecca, you have shared with me that your
personal journey has taken yousort of through lots of
different phases of your faithand I know that your dad and
your mom played a role in yourjourney and your faith journey
and I'm wondering if you canshare a specific memory or an
experience that stands out, youknow, where your faith in God
played a significant role inguiding your path, especially
during very challenging timesand kind of how your dad walked
(14:20):
alongside of that with you.
Rebecca D'Emic (14:22):
There's been lots of different tragic moments
where my faith has grown deeper.
I definitely accepted Christearly on and was involved in the
church my whole childhood untilwe moved to New York for my
dad's church plant in the middleof high school and that was a
really challenging time for mewhere I had a hard time making
(14:44):
friends.
It was a very wealthy communityand we were not, and I ended up
just making friends withwhoever would be my friend and
it ended up being a bad, a badgroup of kids and I started to
stray.
And that continued into mycollege years until I had, you
know, just woke up one morningafter doing drugs and partying
(15:06):
and still thinking I'm aChristian and living my life for
God.
But I have this total otherlife that has kind of taken form
and just got to the end ofmyself and was disgusted with
where I was and was kind ofshocked at how did I get to this
(15:27):
point in my life.
But because of the foundationthat my parents laid, I always
read my Bible and I always wentto church, even in the midst of
all the partying.
I was just really leading thesetwo lives side by side, still
considered myself a Christiancompletely but was not living my
(15:49):
life dependent upon Christ, andopened up my Bible to Ephesians
5 and read the passage ofliving as a child of a light
versus the child of the darkness, and here I thought I was
living as a child of the lightbut everything that I read as a
child of the darkness wasdescribing my life currently.
So that was humbling andturning point and a deepening in
(16:11):
my faith where God reallyexposed my sin and drew me back
to him.
And that was from thefoundation that my parents laid.
You know, our whole childhooddoing family devotions, reading
the Bible together, prayingtogether as a family, going to
church, no matter what, and thenrecommitted my life to God,
(16:34):
ended up meeting a man who wasnot a Christian and I thought I
would reform him and get him toknow the Lord and we ended up
getting married quickly and Ithink he ended up professing he
(16:55):
made a commitment to the Lord,but I don't think it really
happened in his life.
Don't think it really happenedin his life.
I think it was just kind of sowe could get married and two
years later he ended up havingan affair and asked for a
divorce.
And that was another time in mylife where I just was at the
end.
It was just my whole life as Iknew it was over.
You know, here I was going tobe a divorced woman.
(17:16):
No man would ever want me.
My dad drives down through thenight, rescues me from Auburn
University, where we were livingat the time, and was just by my
side and just reminded me ofhow loved I was and that this
isn't the end and that there ishope.
And he was my rock and aphysical presence there to just
(17:41):
help me get my focus back on.
What is this life about?
Bringing worth and value to mylife that wasn't based on my
circumstances.
And shortly after that, hebrought me on a trip to Europe
with him for two weeks and I wasa mess.
I mean, I was just nonstopcrying, every day, all day.
(18:02):
What's going to happen with mylife now?
I really didn't know what wasgoing to happen and we were
meeting in city after city withthese godly men, these pastors
all over Europe, and just beingby him and having conversations
with him about forgiveness andhow I'm going to have to forgive
my ex-husband, how I'm going tohave to forgive the woman he
(18:22):
had an affair with, you know,and just practically having this
godly man, my father, with meto show me God's love through
that time I'm just so thankfulfor because that time was so
life-changing, you know justanother deeper level of my
relationship with God and thathe is my true husband and he is.
(18:45):
He is my lover and he is myidentity, and that's what I'm
going to move forward in.
Lisa McDulin (18:52):
Is it amazing to listen to her just share that
part of her testimony and theimpression that you made not
only the Lord made on her, butthat you did.
And that's hard as a parentwhen you see your kids going one
direction and you know that'snot maybe what you taught them
to do and then you know it'salmost like the prodigal son,
(19:15):
you know where.
You just welcome them back withopen arms and you love them
unconditionally anyway.
What kind of goes through yourmind as you hear her recount
some of this?
Al Barth (19:23):
Well, I mean just on the you know, straightforward
level.
You know, I just think we needto be there for our kids, you
need to be with them.
You know, even in the Bible, youknow, as Job goes through
incredible suffering, you knowthere are friends that come and
just sit with him in the ashes,and that's oftentimes what we
(19:48):
need to do is just be there inthose dark moments.
And, sure, each of our childrenhad moments at which, maybe
more than a moment, but a periodof time, where they were
rebelling against maybe all thatthey hadn't learned and thought
and that kind of thing, and youjust have to stay with them and
hope and pray that they'llreturn to the things that you've
taught them and that sort ofthing.
And what was really interestingfor us, I think, was that
(20:11):
pretty much after college ormaybe even during, you know,
late university, with a numberof them, our kids became our
best friends, which was just agreat relationship.
When you're no longer under theauthority of your parents, you
can make decisions that you wantto make.
That's when you kind of see theproof of whether or not they're
on the right path.
Lisa McDulin (20:32):
And what an awesome opportunity that you had
to take her along with you overto Europe, as she said.
So you were church planting atthe time.
Al Barth (20:41):
What I would do is I would help national guys plant
churches in their cities.
One of the funny things aboutthat trip was I knew Becca was
not in a good place and it wouldbe good for us to be together,
and ironically I ended upfinding an unbelievably cheap
fare.
So we flew nonstop to Europeround trip for $179 a piece.
(21:05):
It was crazy and then we did thewhole Eurail things.
We were on trains together fromthis place, that place and you
would just have time to reallytalk and, you know, experience
something different and be outof out of pocket and I I think
that was restorative.
She was also reading a book byRick Rick Warren, purpose Driven
Life, which I think reallyhelped her sort through you know
(21:27):
a lot, a lot of things.
So it's a good book.
Yeah, it's a great book.
Amy Kazma (21:31):
Yeah, I'm Amy Kazma and I have been involved with
Place of Hope since 2018.
Well, I have to say myphilanthropic career, or
volunteer career, really started, I guess, in college, when I
was in a sorority.
I always volunteered when I wasin college for different
organizations and programs.
I would have to say the biggestinfluence is probably my mom.
(21:52):
She always would volunteer atchurch and, of course, with my
sisters and I, variousactivities.
After our father passed away ofa heart attack, she got
involved with the American HeartAssociation, so I always
watched her volunteer as I grewup in various stages of our life
.
Place of Hope was brought to myattention through a mutual
friend who contacted me to seeif I was interested in doing a
(22:14):
sponsorship for their Angel MomsBrunch.
I read the information, sharedit with my husband and we both
agreed that it was somethingthat we wanted to support.
So my first exposure to Placeof Hope was to an Angel Moms
Brunch and I've been involvedsince then and I think the
organization really resonateswith me because, based on most
(22:35):
of the volunteerism andphilanthropy that we do is with
children and education.
I think about my own childrenand you know, when they turned
18 and they were in no wayprepared to reach out and be in
the world on their own, and it'samazing that Place of Hope does
all these wraparound servicesfor these children who have aged
(22:57):
out of foster care and at 18really aren't prepared to live
on their own.
I think what Place of Hope doesis so inspiring, not only on the
Boca campus but throughout theother campuses in Palm Beach
County and the Treasure Coast.
They offer something that noother organization that I have
been affiliated with does,something that no other
(23:18):
organization that I have beenaffiliated with does.
You know, I hope that thechildren here learn that no
obstacle can be overcome.
I have to say most of mydearest and closest friends I
have met through volunteerism.
It has brought me so muchself-esteem to help people.
It enriches my life to knowthat I can maybe do something
(23:38):
small to change somebody else'slife.
I feel sometimes that I get somuch more out of volunteering
and bring so much more to mylife than what maybe I'm putting
out there.
Lisa McDulin (23:49):
So let's talk about the church planning piece
okay, because I know that's whatyou love doing and that you're
traveling all over.
You've been a catalyst forchurch planting across many
regions, as you just shared withus.
Can you recall a particularmoment or a story where the
importance of integrity was adefining factor in the success
(24:11):
of a church planting endeavor,or in your work with Redeemer
City?
Al Barth (24:21):
endeavor, or in your work with Redeemer City.
For the last 23 years or so,I've been officially employed as
a catalyst, coming alongsideyoung leaders and helping them
do what I would describe as eventhough we say church planting,
that doesn't mean a lot for alot of people, but I would be
helping them form communities ofpeople that would love each
other and try to figure out whatdoes it mean to really follow
(24:42):
Christ and then also how todemonstrate God's love to the
community around it.
So that's, that's the nature ofit, character qualities.
You know the the the primarything that good leaders of
churches need to do is they.
They need to one love people andreally care about people they
(25:04):
need to be honest, you know,they need to be authentic in
relation to uh, none of us areperfect, you know.
So we have flaws and that kindof thing.
So you don't hide from people.
So even even like with the kids, we never made them kind of
conform to an image.
If you will be quiet, beperfectly dressed, all that kind
of thing.
Just that's not who we are aspeople.
(25:26):
So I think they had the freedomto kind of form.
But out of all the churchesthat were planted in Europe I
think there was a couple hundredthat were planted we probably
only had three or four failures,uh.
Thankfully, only one of themwas moral, uh, and then several
of the other ones were merelybecause the situation wasn't
(25:46):
right.
You know, the guy wasn't in theright place or he wasn't the
right leader, the not the rightgift mix, that kind of thing but
, those internal qualities werejust incredibly important.
You know, living the Christianlife is not necessarily easy.
All kinds of challenges.
And as a leader you know you can.
You can idolize and this maysound weird outside of church
(26:07):
circles, but many times leadersgauge who they are by how many
people are coming, which is thewrong criteria.
And so keeping them from thatand actually trying to help them
figure out how do I really liveout that, the fact that God
loves me and that God offers hislove to everyone in the world,
(26:29):
and demonstrate that.
But I don't know if that reallygoes quite to the integrity
piece.
But there have been a togetherof people and the kind of
helping people get started.
Lisa McDulin (26:53):
I can see the influence that you've had over
your daughter in what she doesand her gifts and her skills
that she's been using at Placeof Hope I mean Rebecca, that's
what you do.
Rebecca D'Emic (27:04):
Totally, I'm his mini-me.
You really are.
Lisa McDulin (27:07):
Like you really are, like that's your natural
gifting is connecting andbringing people together and
building, and that's what you'vebeen doing, and she had to
learn that from you, and I thinkit comes from a real love for
people.
Rebecca D'Emic (27:25):
You know, really loving people is what makes
that happen, and I'm thankfulthat.
I was made like that and got tosee an example.
Al Barth (27:35):
It has been interesting that both my wife,
rebecca's mom and all three ofthe kids seem to be just
incredibly entrepreneurial.
They tend to be risk takers.
They start new things, theyenter into situations with
confidence and then they put allthe pieces together and then
they work their tails off, youknow, or to to see it be done.
(27:55):
That's great.
I'm incredibly proud of beccaand all the things she's doing.
So she's uh, I think she's verymuch personality wise.
She is that connector.
She puts people together, helpsthem figure out, you know how
they can serve Christ or servean organization like Place of
Hope and really make adifference in people's lives.
Lisa McDulin (28:15):
Yeah.
So now we're past all of thosethings that happened a long time
ago in her life and you'reyou're here today.
What do you, what do you thinkare some of the ways that you
are impressing upon her now, atthis stage in her life?
I mean, I know that wasn't oneof the questions we were going
(28:36):
to ask, but I'm just curious howdo you support her in what
she's doing at this point in herlife?
Rebecca D'Emic (28:46):
as a dad.
Al Barth (28:47):
Yeah, I don't know how much it's support or whatever
you know.
Rebecca D'Emic (28:51):
Well, I could say one thing go ahead some of
it is uh the financial supportof uh both, that's true my
father and my mother uhsponsoring events at place of
hope um on my behalf, so I caninvite potential donors,
potential people that want to bemore involved with Place of
Hope.
So that's one practical wayimmediately, I could think of.
Al Barth (29:11):
You know several other things that may not go quite to
that, but you know so.
The church that I'm connectedwith now, spanish River Church,
and you know I've only been onstaff for not even quite two
years, but they have a wholetrack record of folks in that
church that are engaged with notonly place of hope but other
charitable organizations.
You know kind of in this areaand, and you know so, one of the
(29:34):
things that we want to do as achurch literally is promote
people.
Don't just give money to thechurch, although the church
needs support in order to dothis ministry.
You guys need to be involved inall these different places.
So seeing Rebecca, or you knowpeople like Kelly Fleming or
others engage, give, you know,care about, you know that kind
of thing is good, no-transcript,all led by native leaders and
(30:37):
that hopefully will bring aboutchanges, because the very things
that they that well, that manyof the people that you work with
, they experience unbelievabletrauma in the home unbelievable
deprivation.
So something's got to make adifference, and so I suppose
that that's parallel to whatBecca's trying to hear locally
(30:57):
is help engage with really goodorganizations that are making a
difference yeah, that's greatthat that display integrity.
Rebecca D'Emic (31:04):
you know that's one of the things that attracted
me so much to place of hope waseverything I've been a part of
with Place of Hope is done withtransparency, with integrity.
They use their resources to thebest potential they possibly
can and it's an organization I'mreally proud to be associated
with because of what they'redoing, with what they've been
given, to really change lives.
Lisa McDulin (31:27):
We strive to.
You know, and I'm thinking asI'm sitting here, listening to
you talk to and and knowing theimpact you've made on your kids'
lives, your grandparent, yourgrandkids' lives, it'd be great
to have you come and speak toour kids sometime.
At Place of Hope, we doleadership and career days.
I mean one of the things that'spart of our program at Villages
(31:49):
of Hope, which is the post-18,we're dealing with kids who have
aged out of the foster caresystem, who otherwise might be
homeless, single moms and, likesome of the people that you just
mentioned, I mean they've hadunimaginable trauma happen in
their lives and so some of thevery basic, fundamental things
that we take for granted, thatwe got from our parents, these,
(32:10):
these kids don't.
They've never experienced that,and so when we do these
leadership and career days, it'san opportunity for people like
yourself.
So I'm going to call you feel.
Feel free to do so, come in andand just speak some life into
them and and to you know, sharetheir life experiences, and in
some cases I mean that that caninvolve, I mean you know, some
(32:35):
area of business or expertisethat you have that you know just
might plant the seed in them tohave an interest in taking a
look at doing somethingdifferent.
Because I think too, I mean alot of these kids lack direction
.
They don't really know whatthey want to do.
They haven't grown up in a homewhere they saw a mom or a dad
(32:57):
basically set a good example.
And I mean Rebecca watched youdo what you did for such a long
time, and she may not beplanting churches, but she's
planting good seeds in hercommunity and she's making an
impact on other people aroundher, not only just for the kids
at Place of Hope, but in thelives of these other women, I
(33:18):
mean, and I've seen how you'vedone that too, and that's really
remarkable.
I think it's been a great way.
One of my goals has always beento try to give women basically a
platform and a place where theycan come and they can use their
God-given gifts and theirabilities.
That I think so oftentimes asmoms we put them up on a shelf.
(33:39):
We forget about them becausewe're so busy with our lives and
our kids and our husbands andother priorities that we forget.
You know to use them, so I justwent like all around, You're
the gift finder.
Well try to be.
Try to be Okay.
So I know that you worked withTim Keller and I know he
(34:02):
recently passed away and Rebeccasends me podcasts and different
sermons to listen to that shethinks that I would enjoy.
But tell me what that was likeworking with him.
Al Barth (34:16):
I first met Tim when he was quite young and nobody
knew who he was.
I suppose he was probably 30s,but there were a group of us
kind of young Turks, so to speak.
You know, we were going to setout to change the world.
We were all late 20s, early 30sor something like that, and one
of my buddies had heard Timgive a presentation on mercy
(34:39):
ministry.
This was long before he goes toNew York and he comes out away
from this and he said you know,this guy is really interesting.
He's got a really interestingperspective on things.
We need to start following him.
So Tim ends up becoming afriend of a number of us and
(34:59):
then he would go to New York in1989, he and Kathy Honestly most
of us who were his friendsthought he will fail.
You know, new York is a placethat breaks ministers in half.
So we'd already tried to planta church at one point of the
nomination and it failed utterly.
So Tim's going to walk intoManhattan, one of the most dense
(35:21):
, powerful, arrogant places inthe world.
And how in the world do youstart a church in the middle of
a place like that?
So, even though we loved himand we thought he was really
smart.
That kind of thing with thethought was man better you than
me?
I can't imagine, you know.
So let's watch.
And then what was crazy was theresult of both his primary work
(35:45):
he and Kathy really trying tofigure out how to contextualize
ministry for the particularManhattan situation and I think
there was a special outpouringof the Spirit in the first three
years.
They saw about a thousandpeople come to Christ very, very
quickly, you know, people thatwere coming from really
non-Christian backgrounds.
So then, a few years later, timasked me if I would come up and
(36:07):
plant a daughter church of thatchurch, and this is 1995.
And so that's the one Becca wasreferring to.
When we moved to New York webegan meeting together with
three guys that were startingthe first three churches.
We would meet with either Timor one of the other pastors on
staff there just trying tofigure out how to do work in the
city and what took place,because even at that time Tim
(36:28):
really didn't know how to planta church in a city.
So even though he was six yearsinto it, it had been just this
incredible ride and they'retrying different things and you
know.
So that actually gave him theopportunity to begin to think
through and articulate well,what had they done that had
really worked?
We're sharing them together.
So I'm just, I think, I guesstwo years younger than Tim,
(36:52):
something like that.
It was a group of us that weretalking together.
So it became a friendship thatwas very fruitful in a lot of
ways.
And then when we created whatwas called the Church Planting
Center in 2000, I left thechurch that I planted and came
on board with that, and so wehad a very, we had a very close
relationship, not necessarilyintimate, you know, tim, tim.
(37:12):
Tim was more intimate in hispreaching than actually in
relationships.
You know, he's actually veryintroverted.
So it it, it was.
It was great, you know, havingthis, this good relationship,
good working relationship.
It was always profitable, youknow, I think, and it worked, uh
, worked, worked both ways.
But, uh, it was incredibleprivilege to actually take what
(37:35):
he had been learning in New Yorkand to be able to help others
across the world grab ahold ofthose principles and then
literally affect the world forChrist.
Lisa McDulin (37:45):
Amazing.
And you said that, that thatthat was a difficult market to
to break into what?
Maya Elias (37:49):
but.
Lisa McDulin (37:49):
I would imagine that some of the cities that you
might have gone to in europemight have been even more
spiritually deprived oh, yes,very definitely.
Al Barth (37:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah it's.
You know it's a weird dynamicand I don't know how much you
want to hear about this kind ofthing, but one of the things
that we discovered I suspect isthe way to put it is people
living in these large citiesglobalized cities are actually
more like each other than theyare like people in the
countryside.
So if you take somebody fromManhattan and somebody from Hong
(38:21):
Kong, they're going to have allkinds of commonalities.
But if you take somebody from100 miles west of New York, in
Pennsylvania, and, and somebodythat's a hundred miles inland
from Hong Kong, there's almostno shared, you know similarities
.
But Hong Kong, paris, london,singapore, all these different
places, they all speak the samelanguage.
(38:41):
They're all financial centersyou know all those kinds of
things and and for the most part, they've been the most
resistant places to the gospel.
And, of course, they're wildly,you know multi-ethnic, all
kinds of cultures, you knowthey're coming together.
So it was interesting havingthat opportunity.
(39:01):
I think it was a moment in timewhere the whole world was
becoming globalized and so thekinds of things that we were
learning actually would work inother places.
Lisa McDulin (39:10):
It's really fascinating how it's.
You know, literally you canwatch the things that the Bible
said would happen coming to lifeand you know the whole world
kind of just being exposed toall of this and you can see it
now because of all of thetechnology and everything that's
in front of us, which is prettyincredible.
But I think we have anopportunity in our own backyard
(39:34):
to make a difference.
Yes, we need to go into all theearth, but I think for those of
us who can't do that, we canmake a difference right where we
live and we work and we playand we raise our families, and I
think that your family hascertainly demonstrated that in
Booker Tone in South Florida.
You've been just instrumentalin creating such incredible
(39:57):
awareness in your church family,in the community, in the work
you've done for Place of Hope,and we appreciate the impact
that you've made on Rebecca'slife, because she's making a
difference in the lives of somany other women and families
that are around us and, in turn,because of the work that she
does and the impact that you'vemade on her as a father, that's
(40:20):
making a difference for the kidsthat are living in a place of
hope, and I just, I really justwanted you all to know that
Thank you Good, absolutely,absolutely.
So I just, I really just wantedyou all to know that Thank you
Good, it's a privilegeAbsolutely.
Al Barth (40:31):
So I just turned 70.
Lisa McDulin (40:33):
Happy birthday Late happy birthday.
It was a month ago, Okay.
Well, that's still.
Al Barth (40:38):
But you know, so in my mind and this may be a weird,
weird way to think but I thinkI've got 12 or 15 years left to
actually do a number of things.
And so, even with this NativeAmerican thing that I'm working
on, you know, this is all fun,but there is tremendous
(41:01):
potential in these communitiesof people that are 60, 62, 65,
68.
Of people that are 60, 62, 65,68, and to use a lot of the
wisdom and the knowledge and theexperience and their power both
financial as well as in termsof learning that kind of thing
(41:22):
to impact people's lives.
And even though I like to playgolf I really don't play much
golf anymore, but I love to playgolf I really don't play much
golf anymore, but I love to playgolf I can't imagine playing
golf three times a week and thensitting around and reading
novels and just what.
No?
So the very thing that Becca wastalking about as people get
involved, making a difference inother people's lives, what they
(41:45):
do is they form really goodfriendships with other people,
which are life-giving, and youmake a difference.
So I would want to challengepeople to say, hey, listen, if
you're going to retire early, oreven if you're retiring late,
you know.
Think about using the years youhave to to serve humanity.
It's actually much morelife-giving than just kind of
(42:08):
taking a vacation to this placeor that place.
Nothing wrong with those things, you know, we have the, we have
the right to do those things.
But we ought to be trying tofigure out how, how can we
fulfill God's ultimate purposefor us, no matter what faith
you're, you're, you're comingfrom?
Lisa McDulin (42:21):
Yeah, no, I would agree with that.
That's a great, that's a greatnote to end on.
Thank you for that.
Appreciate it.
Thank you both.
Thanks for having us Absolutely.
We appreciate all your wisdom.
Charles Bender (42:34):
Thank you for listening.
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