June 10, 2025 • 45 mins
What if your greatest trauma became your greatest ministry tool? Brandan Thomas, President and CEO of Open Door Mission in Houston, shares how growing up with a father suffering from schizophrenia prepared him to walk with compassion and understanding alongside those facing homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. What began as a one-month volunteer role turned into a lifelong calling. From planting churches to sleeping in shelters across the country on a motorcycle journey, Brandan’s ministry path is anything but ordinary—and deeply rooted in empathy.
In this powerful conversation, Brandan challenges common assumptions about homelessness, emphasizing that it’s not just a housing issue, but a complex human struggle requiring individualized, Christ-centered care. He shares the heart behind Open Door’s transformative recovery program and reminds us that real change begins with relationship. “More than they need your money, they need your care,” he says. Whether you're leading a ministry or simply wondering how to help, Brandan’s story will inspire you to see people differently—and serve with greater purpose.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you, lord, for
this day and your blessings andyour provisions, god, we thank
you, Lord, just for the workthat you're doing, not just in
our community, lord, but acrossthe nation and across the globe.
Lord, you are active, you arepresent and we are thankful for
that.
Lord, I pray your blessing overthis time, this conversation,
and, lord, that each listenerthat would hear it would be
blessed and encouraged today.
Father, we love you and wepraise your name.
(00:20):
Amen.
We love you and we praise yourname, amen.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello everybody, thank you for joining us for our
community, our mission.
A podcast of the Topeka RescueMission here on Tuesday, june
10th 2025.
Lamanda, episode number 270.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I know, isn't that amazing?
That is amazing.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Now, you weren't around here when we started this
, and so you've been here fornow three plus years as the CEO.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
LaManda Cunningham.
And again I'm Barry Feaker,which I didn't mention that
before in case, this is thefirst time you've ever listened
to this, but I want to thankJosh for 270.
So 30 more, josh, and we'regoing to be at 300.
I know that's wild, isn't thatwild?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
That's crazy, it's hard to imagine.
Yeah, it is.
And you know, I just have tosay, barry, we just got back
from the CityGate annualconference and I told Josh I
lost track at 12 people 12, thatrandomly came up to me.
I would be walking and theywould say are you, amanda from
Topeka?
And I said, yes, we listen toyour podcast.
We listen to your podcast thereis a group right now that is
(01:29):
embarking on starting one andsaid that they have been
listening to these just to kindof help give ideas and all of
that, and asked if they couldcontact us for more information.
If they had it, you know asthey go and I said yes, like you
don't even have to beg to stealit, we'll just let you steal it
.
We got the easy part, josh gotthe hard part.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Make sure all the technology's working, but yeah,
we got the easy part.
Well, we're going to talk alittle bit about CityGate
Network today and we're going tohave again a guest here today
that we're trying to have once amonth from the CityGate Network
.
We'll talk a little bit aboutthat, but before that we want to
get into the research anddevelopment departments special
things about the importance ofthe day of June 10th across the
(02:07):
globe, or at least in the UnitedStates, or at least at the
Topeka Rescue Mission.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
But today is called.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
National Ice Tea Day.
National Ice Tea Day.
Okay, yeah, so you don't have aglass of ice tea today.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I am, but you know it has to be sweet tea I know,
you're from Arkansas, notunsweet, right?
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I was going to say the ultimate question is sweet
or unsweet?
That's right.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
And I think, unless I'm wrong, our guest, who also
has roots in Arkansas, mightlike his sweet tea too Well, you
keep loading up with.
Arkansas people around here, mygoodness gracious.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Okay, we'll make this a short one.
Today, y'all.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
So what was an essential component in 1904 that
had to be in place for this tobe National Ice Tea Day?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
I have no idea the sun.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
How about ice?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Oh, okay, the reason I say the sun is I never knew
this until my father, but hemakes sun tea.
Sun tea, yeah, and that's likehis favorite thing to do when we
go camping.
He gets up super early andthere is the pitcher over there
in the sun, making sun tea.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
My problem is I don't think of it till like later.
I'm like I really want some tea, so then I make it like boil
the water for it Right on thestove.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
So yeah, so there's a lot of different ways to make
the tea, but you can't have icedtea without ice.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Correct.
Yeah, okay, no brainer.
Sorry, barry, I know I'm sodepressed, I know, I know I'm
just trying to train her.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Okay, but there's something else and it's in your
hand right now it's National.
What day?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Pin Day.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Ballpoint.
Pin Day Ballpoint.
Oh, okay, yeah, it's amazingthat we still recognize that
because of all the technologytoday.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
And just, uh, we won't, we won't mention her name
out loud, but A-L-X-E-A andthen S-E-R-I, yes, so, because,
she'll start talking back to us,but anyway, we can just tell
her what to write, or him, orwhatever you've got your thing
set up, are you going to takethe time to tell people about
your struggle with yourballpoint pens?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
No.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
We might need to do an intervention.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
No, I'm talking to a therapist about it.
I'm sure at some pointlisteners have heard it.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
I know, just in case you're a listener and you think
Barry Feaker is perfect.
I just want you to know thatone of his imperfections is he
is a pen clicker nonstop, and soif you could see us probably
three times during this podcast,I'm going to be whacking his
hand or grabbing the pen lid outof his hand.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I think that you're all missing the rhythm by which
I close my pen.
I think, there's great artisticmusic, something or other.
There it's something.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Barry's actually doing Morse code for like SOS.
That's right, probably so.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
And when I stress him out more, it does get faster.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Actually I'm just talking to AI, trying to get
ready for the next meeting thisway.
So Morse code.
So anyway, one more thing.
Again, it's national ballpointpen day.
If you still have one of thosearound the house, you might just
recognize it and say thank you.
And so it's national.
And if you don't know how toclick, I can show you how to do
that in rhythm, so I don't justclick at a podcast.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I click all the time.
I click all the time.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
That's right I never use my pen anymore, but I click
my pen.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
So anyway, and when you're thinking or processing
deeper, you do it more, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
You do not want me to quit?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
No, well, that's true .
Speaker 1 (05:15):
That's true.
That's when you get concernedis that it's not clicking,
that's right.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
What's wrong with Barry?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Is he alive?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Is he okay?
Yeah, is he alive.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Is he okay?
Yeah, some people will chew gum, some people smoke cigarettes.
You're a clicker and somepeople click the pen.
Okay, all right.
So anyway, one more specialresearch and development
department.
This is a little more serious.
It's National Forklift SafetyDay.
Oh, that's important aroundhere.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
That's very important , isn't it?
Yes?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Shout out to our distribution center guys.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Practice that forklift safety and all of that
OSHA training.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
OSHA training.
You know there's 35,000 to62,000 injuries every year on
forklifts in the United States.
That's a lot.
I mean you don't want to getinjured by a forklift or injure
someone else.
Stub your toe on it is onething, but you know I'm in the
wrong place, wrong time.
But 70% of those werepreventable.
Topeka Rescue Mission andrescue mission does you use
forklifts and its distributionand moving stuff off of trucks
(06:05):
and around and lifting stuff wayup in the air and pushing it on
big mezzanines and every day,so that you have plenty of
supply and well-trainedpersonnel to do it.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
so so I have a question did you ever drive a
forklift?
I did, they will not let mewell, I wonder why I.
Has anybody ever ridden in acart with you?
Can we cancel that out?
Let's do a first time edit inthe 270 episodes and edit Barry
out for saying I can't start nowI click the pin and you tell
(06:35):
people to get out of the waywhen you're driving.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
So the same thing would apply with the forklift.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I know, for some reason they do all the OSHA
trainings and every year I'mlike, hey, you know, because I
feel like there's nothing herethat I shouldn't do, especially
if I'm asking someone else to doit, and everybody's like, nope,
boss, it's okay.
We're going to not do that andleave the forklift.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I know what they probably said to you we really
want to protect you, we do notwant you to get injured.
I have heard that, but we liketo have these fun moments to be
able just to kind of get us setup for just another part of what
we do here on our communitymission, which is very fun and
also very meaningful.
(07:12):
Today in relationship to theCityGate Network, we have
another leader in the CityGateNetwork by the name of Brandon
Thomas.
Brandon is president and CEO ofthe Open Door Mission in
Houston, Texas.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
Welcome Brandon.
Welcome Brandon.
Hey guys, thanks for having meAppreciate it.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah, so Brandon, citygate Network, as we've
talked about before on thepodcast, is an association of
rescue ministries that have cometogether.
Last I knew, there were about300 of them in North America,
that's the United States andCanada, I believe, and I think
at one time there were someoverseas as well, but I'm not
sure where that stands now.
It's been around for over 100years, and so, lamanda, you've
(07:54):
had the opportunity to beinvolved a lot with CityGate
leadership and with what we callemerging leaders, and so talk
to us about how you know Brandon, and I want to get into Brandon
and him tell his story.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Sure.
So Brandon is just a dear, dearfriend, someone that I also look
up to, and have learned a lotin the about two years of
knowing him.
Brandon has done a lot withmission work, which you're going
to hear about in just a minute,but one of his stops that he's
made on his journey is to bevice president of CityGate
(08:23):
Network before transitioning,and so I was able to kind of
partner with him on a couple ofdifferent projects that we were
doing, whether it was kind ofthis revamping of emerging
leaders.
He was really supportive of whatJordan and I felt like we
needed to do and would hear whatwe felt like needed to remain
the same but yet what needed tochange, and so he was helpful
(08:45):
with navigating that.
We also did some work togetherwith kind of this outreach that
CityGate was once involved inwith, called Hope in the Gate,
where we were working withmusicians out of Nashville to
really bless guests and stuff ofrescue missions that were
coming out for kind of thisretreat and this oasis, and so I
(09:06):
worked with Brandon on a coupleof focuses with that and you
know there's just sometimespeople that you connect with
that you just know we're goingto be friends and we're going to
be colleagues, regardless ofwhere it takes us in the world,
and Brandon is one of those.
And so I'm honored to know him.
He does love Arkansas so thathelps, you know, cover up some
(09:29):
of the flaws he has.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
So what is this?
The conspiracy of Arkansas topopulate rescue missions around
the country?
Because I've heard about thismore than.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Arkansas is God's country.
So I'm just saying but he is.
He's just a neat guy, and Ithink one of the things that I
value the most about him is howbalanced he is with logic,
professionalism and wisdom intoday's society.
But that doesn't trump what Godis asking him to do, and so you
(10:01):
see him at these DC forums, yousee him in boardrooms, you see
him advocating on state andnational levels, but that
doesn't trump the journey he'son with the Lord for ministry
and for his family, and so Iaspire to be that he's such a
great example of both myopportunity to visit with him
just briefly before we startedrecording here was very of both.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
My opportunity to visit with him just briefly
before we started recording herewas very, very good and he's a
really engaging guy, brandon.
Thank you for joining us againtoday, brandon.
We want to talk about Houstonwhat's going on there, but talk
about your journey out ofArkansas.
You escaped and what's yourjourney been to get where you
are today as the CEO of OpenDoor in Houston.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Sure, before I get into that journey, we do have to
point out the fact thatArkansas is planning to beat LSU
this weekend in Omaha on theirjourney to win the College World
Series.
So it's very important to pointthat out.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
So some of us would say so, because we're not even
close in Kansas.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Our Kansas, I'm told, is better than your Kansas.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Our Kansas may be getting the Kansas City Chiefs
here one of these days Can comeup with the $3 billion to buy
them.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
How about that?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Anyway, yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Well then, I might cheer for them, that's right.
So I'll tell you a little bitabout my journey, uh, cause I
think it's really what got mewhere I am, uh.
So, uh, part of my journey isreally recognizing where I grew
up and how I grew up.
Um, so I I again, as LaManasaid, grew up in Arkansas, uh,
and so typically I tell peoplethat's why I talk funny.
(11:44):
But now I live back down in thesouth where that's pretty
typical, so I talk likeeverybody else down here.
But we I actually grew up in ahome with a dad who was
schizophrenic, bipolar andreally did not realize the
effect that that had on me untillater in life, not realized the
(12:06):
effect that that had on meuntil later in life, and I just
really honestly thought my dadwas not a great person.
It turned out it was the mentalillness and the substance use
was connected to him medicatinghis mental illness.
So you fast forward.
After I graduated from seminary,I really felt the call, a deep
call, to be a church planter.
So I ended up in northernVirginia, about 60 miles west of
(12:29):
DC, in a town called WinchesterVirginia, where, in 2013,
started a church and really oneof the coolest experiences of my
life starting with 10 of myfriends in a basement and
watching God really grow thatministry in a big way.
But through that journey, wetruly had this desire.
(12:51):
In 2013, when church plantingwas happening, there was two
main questions that were askedof church planters, and the
question was do you want to be amissional church or an
attractional church?
Those were kind of the hotaspects.
Do you want to be a missionalchurch or an attractional church
?
Those were kind of the hotaspects and my response to that
question was yes, I want to beboth.
(13:13):
I think Sundays have to be at acertain level, but I also think
that the heart of your ministryhas to be based around being on
mission.
So we started serving at apretty high capacity at our
local rescue mission and throughthat journey, I was invited to
be on the board of directors andin 2016, january of 2016, our
(13:38):
CEO at the time stepped down andour board president asked me if
I would step in and be the CEOfor a month.
And I said sure I can do a monthbecause that's how they that's
how they get you.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Right, right, right Right.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
You're like I can do anything for a month, that's
easy.
And uh ended up being the thingthat really, uh was most
impactful in my life was gettingthe opportunity to step in and
be the CEO of Winchester rescuemission.
Uh, in that journey A I reallywatched God redeem my broken
(14:14):
childhood.
I began to realize why Godallowed me the opportunity to
grow up in the home that I grewup with and with the things that
I had experienced, because itgave me an empathy for the men
and women that we had theprivilege of serving in
Winchester.
And so what I watched was thesemen and women coming in who
(14:35):
were schizophrenic, bipolar andrealize, you know, my dad's
passed away and couldn't reallydo much to work on that
relationship.
But what I could do is theopportunity to serve these men
and women who, because theirfamily were exhausted because of
the illness and because ofcertain things, be able to step
in and love them and see how Godredeemed the brokenness that I
(14:59):
grew up in.
And so I don't think I don'tknow if anybody really sets out
to be the CEO of a rescuemission or get into this work.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I think God uses this work to redeem, not just those
that we get the privilege ofserving, but it even redeems the
broken parts of our life, andso Brenda, could you expound on
that just a little bit, BecauseI know that people who are
listening today they may have arelative, a loved one, who is
homeless, has mental healthproblems.
(15:36):
You grew up in that.
That was very impactful, to saythe least, I'm sure as you as a
young person, and then ended upin the ministry.
How did you see that God usedyou?
Obviously, you're seeing peoplethat may be reminded of your
own dad.
Obviously, you're seeing peoplethat may be reminded of your
own dad.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
But how did God bring healing to you through?
Maybe what could have been moreof a reinforcement of pain?
Yeah, so for me I you knowagain, when you walk through
what I walked through with mydad, I had a perception of my
dad that really wasn't true andit was just a misunderstanding
of the illness perception of mydad.
That really wasn't true and itwas just a misunderstanding of
the illness.
And so what God allowed me theopportunity to do is to become
(16:20):
face to face with people walkingthrough these same struggles
and recognizing that.
You know, something that Ididn't recognize as a young man
because I didn't have thecapacity to recognize it, was
that my dad actually, in his ownway, actually truly did love me
and he loved my sister and justdidn't have capacity to show it
because he was fighting his ownsickness.
(16:40):
You know, when you're facedwith hearing voices every single
day and you're faced with, youknow, a chemical imbalance in
your brain that causes you to gofrom depressed to angry, to
overly excited on the turn of adime, it's real tough to fit in
(17:02):
there how you actually show andgive love to kids.
So again, I didn't recognizethat as a young man, but as God
gave me the opportunity to workwith these men and women that he
gave me the opportunity to workwith, I began to realize their
capacity for love and theircapacity for care is probably
deeper than anybody I've evermet.
(17:22):
It's just a matter of them beinggiven the right tools to be
able to actually express that,given the right tools to be able
to actually express that, andso where I got to see healing in
that was for me.
I began to realize my dadwasn't who I thought he was Not
in a bad way.
He was actually somebody whowas just very sick, and had he
(17:43):
had the right tools given to him, he probably would have been
one of the best dads who everlived.
He just didn't have the toolsgiven to him to do that, and so
I watched God put me in asituation to help give men and
women the tools to become thedad, the mom, the person God
(18:04):
created them to be.
And as you get to know peoplewith schizophrenia bipolar, you
also realize that they're someof the most brilliant and
empathetic and caring peopleyou'll ever meet, when given the
right tools.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
But you, just by sharing what you share today.
And then something that we'veattempted to do here in Topeka
and elsewhere is put a real faceon this issue of who the
homeless people that don'tunderstand.
They come to their ownconclusion, write their own
story, but, just like your owndad, if he had had the tools, he
(18:38):
might have done thingsdifferently.
Here you are giving peopletools to do things, maybe
differently.
But also what you have talkedabout is oftentimes these are
very intelligent people with abig challenge in their life who
have a capacity to love, asmaybe a lot of people don't
understand, and I can onlyimagine what that's done in your
(19:00):
journey to help people in yourcommunity.
And then, of course, you workedat the government level, with
people in Washington DC and soforth to paint a picture that's
a true picture, so that's huge.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Because a big part of that, barry, is the fact that
you know our mental healthsystem and it's not a misknown
fact here.
But, like, our mental healthsystem is so broken, you know,
3% of people are experiencingmental like severe mental
illness, like schizophrenia,bipolar schizoaffective disorder
, mental like severe mentalillness, like schizophrenia,
bipolar schizoaffective disorder, and the resources available to
(19:34):
those individuals are almostnon-existent.
And I could give us, you know,I could talk for hours on this
of why it's non-existent, butwhat that ultimately leads to is
a number of individuals who areschizophrenic, bipolar
schizoaffective disorder, whoend up on the street or in jail.
And the truth is we would never, you know, if we treated people
(19:58):
with diabetes the way we treatpeople with schizophrenia,
people would lose their minds.
But unfortunately, becauseschizophrenia schizoaffective
disorder, bipolar is sodifficult sometimes to deal with
, or difficult sometimes to dealwith or understand how to deal
with, we just we end up puttingthese folks in jail or on the
street.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Well, I appreciate you allowing me to kind of
interject there with thequestion, because I think what
your journey that's a huge partof your journey and so, yeah,
carry us on from there and howthat maybe has continued to
affect and influence what you doand everything else.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Yeah, so while in Winchester honestly, winchester
at the time was a dream job andI had no idea that I had that
dream of a job.
I absolutely loved theopportunity God gave me to serve
in Winchester.
But through that journey Ibuilt several friendships around
the country with CityGateNetwork.
(20:56):
Back in 2019, I had this crazyidea to ride a motorcycle from
DC to LA and spend the night inshelters.
So I did that and that got me.
You know, that helped me buildrelationships with some of the
greatest people on the planetrunning shelters, which led to
an invitation two years ago tostep in at CityGate Network and
(21:20):
begin to work at CityGate withrescue missions all around the
country.
And again, probably one of thegreatest joys of my life is I've
been in a well over a hundred,maybe 150, missions to this
point and I've gotten to seesome of the greatest individuals
on the planet doing some of thebest work.
(21:40):
You know it's easy when youturn the news on to see all of
the things wrong with the world,but my job at CityGate gave me
an opportunity to see what'sright in the world.
And, you know, I'm not sure inmy lifetime we will see an end
to homelessness, but I doguarantee by the end of my life
we're going to see a real changein homelessness.
(22:01):
Men and women like LaManda andyou, barry, and other
individuals that I could spendan hour naming across the
country who are dedicating theirlife to serving those
experiencing homelessness.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
What kind of hope do you have that things will be
different and I assume that youmean improved from?
Speaker 4 (22:23):
where they are.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
What are some of those elements being in a
hundred rescue ministries acrossNorth America.
I think there's a book comingout of here someday with all
those stories that ought to bereally good to tell.
But what are you seeing that?
I mean, we've got a lot ofissues, economically,
post-pandemic, as you said, themental health system broken,
(22:53):
broken.
We have a number of indicatorsthat are talking about an
increase in homelessness andwhat they call the graying
homeless the 60 plus populationestimated to be the highest
percentage of homeless by 2030and some real uncertainties.
So here you come along.
I've seen it, I've been there,I do it, but I have hope that it
can improve.
What's your hope?
But I have hope that it canimprove.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
What's your hope?
Well, my hope is that thechurch will continue to do what
the church has done.
When things like this happen,the church mobilizes, and what
I'm watching happen is thechurch mobilized around
ministries, like you guys inTopeka and here Open Door in
Houston.
The church has mobilized aroundus to allow us to do the thing
(23:36):
that's prescribed for us to doin Scripture.
My journey into this, really,if I can tell a quick story,
I'll try to keep it quick, but abig part of my journey into
this.
I had the privilege of going toIsrael a couple of years ago and
while I was in Jerusalem I sawthis Donald Trump yarmulke and
(23:58):
it really bothered me.
It bothered me a whole lot I'mnot getting political, so don't
worry there but it bothered me.
And the reason it bothered mewas not so much the novelty of
the deal, but what I realizedwas people outside of our faith
think that we think that DonaldTrump is the face of our faith
(24:21):
and whether or not you agreewith him or happy he's president
or not, I think we candefinitely agree without a doubt
that he's not the face of ourfaith.
Jesus is the face of our faith.
Jesus is the face of our faith.
But the concern that I watchedhappen was this is that the
concern is that people outsideof our faith think that we in
the American church are seekingpolitical power more than we are
(24:44):
Holy Spirit power andunfortunately, I see some truth
in that and why they have thatperception.
And so when you look at churchhistory, every time in church
history that the church soughtpolitical power, it didn't go
well for the church.
That's for sure.
But if you look back at churchhistory, when the church grew,
(25:05):
when the church was at its bestpoint, was when we were serving
those that nobody else wouldserve.
And I think the work that God'scalled us to do is what God's
doing in the church of Americaand that we're going to get to
be a part of, which is callingus back to serve those that
nobody else is serving, and toserve in ways that most people
(25:30):
wouldn't serve.
And out of that, honestly, notonly do we get to see God's
power at work in a mighty way ashe transforms lives, but we
also get to reap the benefits inour personal life of God doing
amazing things in and through us, which is what I think that is
his desire and what he createdus to do, and so why I have hope
(25:52):
is I think we're watching arevival take place of the church
, but it's through rescueministries, probably more so
than it is your typical localchurch.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
No, I think that's well said, and I think we do
have to face things for they are.
And and look at how wesometimes look for an answer
outside of Christ and rescueministries are focused on Christ
.
There's no, no disguising that,no hiding that.
It's the.
The power.
(26:26):
Of the gospel is true, it setspeople free and we're all about
setting people free.
Gospel is true, it sets peoplefree and we're all about setting
people free.
Uh, that doesn't mean we don'twork with everybody else.
Um, in rescue ministry, um,there's a place for mental
health and law enforcement andand uh, and, and veterinarians,
and, and the list goes on and on, right and so, but, uh, there
is a uniqueness about rescueministries, that, um, that some
(26:47):
people, uh um, are not aware ofand some people are opposed to
that.
But the point, in fact, is thatyou've seen it, you've been on
the ground, you've seen how Godbrings healing through suffering
and the church.
I think you're right.
We've tried this war on povertynow for about 60 years.
It hasn't worked so well.
And so maybe it's time foranother group to step back up to
(27:11):
the plate and start swinging.
And so then the question is howdo they get trained, how do
they get prepared?
And I think that's where RescueMinistries said yeah, we can
show you.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Yeah, absolutely yeah .
Speaker 2 (27:25):
So from Colorado to now to Houston.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
And ultimately what happened is in Colorado.
My wife has an autoimmunedisease and actually got very
sick back in the fall andactually almost died due to the
complications from herautoimmune disease.
And we found out through thatjourney that living in the high
(27:48):
elevation was a contributingfactor to her illness.
And so God opened a doorliterally here in open for me to
come and be the CEO.
So we went from 7,000 feetabove sea level to seven feet
above seven feet and sometimesdown there.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
If you haven't experienced yet, it'll be a
little even below that.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
Yeah, well, that's what I'm told could happen later
today, as we're expected to getquite a bit of rain, so yeah,
so I'll get to experience maybesome of my first houston.
Flooding, as I'm told, is kindof a normal thing around here,
so I'm prepared.
I wore my boots today for asession.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
So, brandon, you you've had some adversity in
your life and you've seen God dosome things through that
adversity that has definitelyhelped other people, you know, I
think I think a point that Idon't want to miss here is that,
through a big adversity inColorado due to your wife's
health got you to the next placeOtherwise you wouldn't be down
(28:55):
where you are with your boots on.
And so when we look at thesedifficulties in life, we can be
very disoriented about them, wecan be very angry about them, we
can be hopeless about them orseek God in the midst of them.
And here you are as the CEOthere in Houston at Open Door.
(29:16):
So how long has Open Door beenaround?
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Seventy years.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Okay, all right.
So a long history there in thecommunity I think I shared with
you I'd been my first rescuemission with a different name
other than CityGate.
Back in the day it was calledthe International Union of
Gospel Missions, but it was Starof Hope there and that's still
a rescue ministry in Houston.
Houston can use more than onedue to the population size.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
We're the fourth largest city in the country, so
we've got plenty of room to stepin and help.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah, so talk about what does Open Door do in the
area there in Houston.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
So currently Open Door is a ministry that
primarily serves men and we hopeto open a women's shelter at
some point and move into morerobust services.
But over the last several yearshas really gotten known for its
recovery services.
So Open Door has a greatrecovery service.
(30:17):
In fact, that's how I gotconnected with Open Door was one
of my mentors, who has been inprobably well over 200 of City
Gates rescue missions, told meabout a ministry in Houston that
in his mind was the second bestrecovery program in all of
CityGate, and so he said you gotto check them out, you got to
(30:40):
know more about them, and then alittle did I know that soon
they'd be looking for a CEO andultimately I would end up here.
But I got to see firsthand whattheir recovery program was like
and the success that they'reexperiencing, and so now I get
to sit in this seat and be ableto be a part of it.
It's really exciting becausethe recovery program here is
(31:05):
pretty remarkable and well knownin the Houston area for success
.
In fact I was at the CityGateconference last week as well,
which I was sad I didn't get tosee you.
I was only there for a coupleof days.
I missed most of it because Iwas moving, but I even had some
of the other ministry leadersfrom here in Texas tell me that
(31:29):
they actually would sendindividuals to Open Door because
Open Door is so well known forits recovery program, and so
that's really where we excel themost is in our recovery program
, and my hope is to continue tobuild upon that while also
(31:49):
adding other services tocontinue to serve the community.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
For people who may not know exactly what you mean
by recovery program.
You know recovery from what andwhat do you?
Speaker 4 (31:59):
do there.
So we we focus a lot onsubstance abuse disorder and
recovery from that as well, aswe we do offer quite a few
mental health services, becausewe recognize that most people
who have substance abusedisorder actually is
co-occurring with some level ofmental illness, and so if we can
(32:20):
treat both of those whileintroducing them to a life
connected to Jesus, thateverything will change, and so I
think that's the secret saucefor all that we do is not just
our, you know abstinence-basedrecovery and giving folks the
tools to deal with their youknow childhood trauma and the
(32:41):
traumas they've experienced, butalso introducing them to Jesus,
who has the capacity and thecapability of changing
everything.
So what, uh, what I love is thatwe, um we, we really
holistically help somebody walkthrough our doors, uh, recover
from mostly, you know, substanceabuse disorder, but wrapped
(33:04):
within that is all the traumathey experienced as kids all the
, all the um, uh, other mentalhealth factors that led to the
substance abuse.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
When you hear the term and maybe you've read the
book homelessness is a housingproblem.
What comes to your mind?
Speaker 4 (33:21):
It is way more complicated than that.
I sure wish, if that was all itwas, we would have solved it by
now.
But every individual who walksthrough our doors and I'm sure
the same for you theirexperience of homelessness is
vastly different.
And one of the things we sayaround here all the time is our
(33:41):
program has to be a one sizefits one, because every person's
journey to homelessness isdifferent.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
I have not heard that expressed that way before.
I like that.
One size fits one.
That's right.
That's very good.
Well, yeah, it's verycomplicated and there's some
different aspects that differentrescue ministries can major in
around the country and then beable to share that information
with each other.
Amanda, I know that CityGatehas been very important to you,
(34:12):
as coming into this work andgoing to your first conference
probably blew you away with theconnectivity of people, getting
to meet people like Brandon andothers.
You've kind of mentioned itbefore, but knowing a guy like
Brandon and knowing his story,knowing his journey and forget
(34:34):
the Arkansas part but what is itthat really encourages you, as
CEO here in Topeka, Kansas, toknow a guy like Brandon in
Houston?
Speaker 3 (34:45):
You know, I think knowing people like Brandon and
continuing friendships andcamaraderie is one of the
biggest defenses we can haveagainst spiritual warfare.
And I know that might soundcliche a little bit, but the
enemy seeks to kill and destroy.
(35:06):
And you know, when we see thefirst issue right in Genesis, he
didn't come to Eve withsomething that would be so
appalling that she wasn'ttempted.
He came in the form of causingdoubt.
And if I could say anythingabout leaders whether it's
(35:27):
leaders that are associated withCityGate Network, leaders that
are in the secular world one ofthe things that can eat us alive
is doubt.
And then that doubt creeps intomaybe isolation or a loneliness
, or hey, you're not doing thiswell.
And then you know, then youdon't have a network around you.
And then you start comparisonis the thief of joy.
(35:51):
You start looking at otherministries or other leaderships
and then you're like, oh,they're excelling and all of
this is happening.
And the next thing you know,you're crumbling as a leader and
that is not at all what Godwants us to feel like, and so
being able to see a leader likeBrandon, but then get to know
(36:12):
him and realize that he too iswalking through, you know family
illness or things with his wifeand wanting to be a great
husband and still trying tojuggle work and all of these
things.
It allows you, as another leader, to realize we're all more
similar than not and that theLord made us for fellowship.
(36:35):
And just because you continueto get higher up in leadership
levels, that does not mean youhave to isolate more and more.
The other thing that I thinkhappens if we don't stay
connected to people like Brandonand I could say a whole long
list of people that I've been soblessed to meet, could say a
whole long list of people thatI've been so blessed to meet,
particularly through CityGateNetwork is you, then, are not
(36:58):
allowing yourself to be alifelong learner.
Because the other thing that'sa challenge for me is I would
love for somebody to track in a24-hour period how many answers
I have to give, right Fromlittle ones to big ones, to
whatever yes Answers, withdecisions and consequences
attached to them.
Correct, and that's somethingthat I don't take lightly.
(37:19):
And, yes, I do think I getdiscernment from the Lord and he
guides us.
But the next big thing, asidefrom the Lord and the truth and
scripture, is people you'resurrounding yourself with, and
so the enemy wants us to isolate.
One so that we crumble, but twoso that we're no longer
lifelong learners.
And whether it's me watchingBrandon's Facebook posts or the
(37:44):
CityGate network, they havelittle discussion forums that
you can use.
We did two posts from TRM lastweek on it to gather other
people's inputs, their thoughts,before we decide.
One of them was linked to a newpartnership, so before we're
deciding yes or no on that and Igot seven responses back, all
(38:06):
to which helped guide me andMiriam and Courtney and some
other ones that were, you know,in that discussion.
So I think connecting yourselfwith people like Brandon, people
like you and just other peoplethat you can learn from, allows
you to realize you're not inthis alone and allows you to
have a village around you.
And then two, I think it allowsus to continue to be sponges,
(38:29):
because, although I need to beable to answer 150 questions in
three hours, there are sometimes where I don't know what I
don't know, and I'm humbleenough to admit that that is not
an area that I struggle with.
I want to seek other wisdom andknowledge.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Because you can't not answer.
You have to have an answer, butyou want to have a wise answer.
And having these connections,different people, different
experiences, I know when I firstgot into this, one of my
closest friends was the head ofthe Denver rescue mission.
He was a former aerospaceengineer at NASA, yes, another
one was a former banker inLincoln, nebraska, and so forth,
(39:07):
and so everybody comes intothis work.
I think, brandon you said itnobody really asked to do this.
They get kind of pulled out inyour situation.
Hey, just do it for a month,you're going to be fine.
But at the same time, therichness of the different people
with different backgrounds, butyou're sharing a commonality,
(39:28):
even though things are vastlydifferent in the way you
approach things at Opendoor withthe recovery program than maybe
in Topeka.
Just having these things thatwe can learn from each other.
Brandon, you've got a crediblestory.
The commitment is there.
What gives you the greatest joyin what you're doing, in the
(39:48):
position that you're in now?
Speaker 4 (39:53):
I could probably take an hour to answer that Truly.
I think what gives me thegreatest joy is watching
somebody connect with Jesus in areal, tangible way that leads
to the life transformation.
We can give somebody all thetools in the world to succeed,
(40:16):
but, apart from having therelationship with Jesus, their
chances of success drasticallygo down.
You know, the opposite ofaddiction is community, is
community, and when we canconnect people to Jesus, not
(40:37):
only do you have the communitywith the creator of the universe
that comes into play with that,it also gives you a built-in
community with brothers andsisters.
I think the thing that Amandawas just really highlighting was
the fact that you know thebeauty of CityGate Network and
why I loved being a part ofCityGate Network, is it created
that exact thing.
It created community.
I had a community of otherpeople to journey on this
(41:01):
journey with, because it is avery difficult journey at times.
We deal with some of the mosttragic events on a daily basis,
right, whether it's actuallyhappening in our shelter or it's
happened to the people that weserve.
They've lived the most tragiclives of most people in your
(41:23):
community and we're walking withthat every day.
So it gives us community.
So for me short answer is whensomebody connects with Jesus and
community is formed because ofthat, it gives me joy because I
know that person now has thegreatest potential for success
because they now have community.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
That's well said.
And one more question for you,brandon, and what I've learned,
maybe the hard way over theyears, is that people really
like to hear the story, theylike to understand more.
Those are all very important,but they want to know what they
can do.
Oftentimes I have failed tooffer people how they can get in
(42:04):
the game.
So people are going to belistening to this in Kansas and
Topeka.
They're going to probably belistening to this in Houston and
the CityGate Network and others.
And so, as a sister ministry toTopeka Rescue Mission, what is
it that people can do whereverthey are?
And maybe it's prayer, maybeit's tangible helping you there
(42:27):
in Houston at Open Door Mission.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Yeah, I mean always.
You know we'll go today, becauseit's not small stuff but, like
you know, praying for us anddonating to us, whether it's
tangible goods or financiallyalways really helpful.
But I think one of the greatestways somebody can get involved
if they want to get involved is,uh, you know, I'm always asked
(42:51):
should I give money to theperson at the stoplight, right?
My answer is usually I'm notgoing to tell you not to do that
, but what I am going to tellyou more than they need your
money, they need your care, andso the more we can seek to learn
people's names, the more we canseek to learn their stories,
the more God can shape ourhearts and mold us to do what it
(43:14):
is he's calling us to do.
He's calling all of us to beinvolved in this in some way or
another.
But the quickest way to findout how God wants you to be
involved is to actually learnwho these individuals are that
he's asked us to serve, becausewhen we learn who they are, we
learn where it is God's askingus to be involved.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
That's so well said.
You know we missed that part.
We want to give it off to theexpert you being one of them,
Amanda being another one, theministries that you run Just
hand them off to them.
But what I heard is let's get alittle more involved in
people's lives, and when you getto know someone's name, that's
huge.
And a lot of our folks believethat they don't have a name
because nobody recognizes them.
(43:57):
I can just imagine on that daywhen we go to heaven and we're
standing before there and theLord comes up to us and goes
what's your name?
And so you really wanted toknow your name, and so people
right here on the earth want usto know their name, and that's
powerful.
Well, Brandon, thank you forjoining us today on our
community, our mission.
(44:17):
Is there anything else you'dlike to share?
Speaker 4 (44:19):
I just appreciate what you guys are doing.
I appreciate your leadership,amanda.
It's been awesome getting toknow you and watch the journey
God has you on, and I know thatgreat things are going to happen
in Topeka because he's placedyou there as the leader.
So keep up the great work andthanks for all you do to help
folks like me feel connected inCityGate.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
Yeah, you're very welcome for all that and we're
glad to be a part of this aswell.
And we've heard from BrandonThomas, president and CEO of
Open Door Mission in HoustonTexas, another what we would
call warrior on the battlefield,leading other people through
the opportunities and thechallenges of life to help
people to know that they matter,and so thank you for listening
(45:01):
today.
If you would like moreinformation about the Topeka
Rescue Mission, you can go totrmonlineorg that's trmonlineorg
and continue listening to ourcommunity, our mission, as we
interview local people and then,once a month, visit with people
like Brandon who are out therein the world doing great things.
Thanks for listening.
Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you, lord, for
this day and your blessings andyour provisions, god, we thank
you, Lord, just for the workthat you're doing, not just in
our community, lord, but acrossthe nation and across the globe.
Lord, you are active, you arepresent and we are thankful for
that.
Lord, I pray your blessing overthis time, this conversation,
and, lord, that each listenerthat would hear it would be
blessed and encouraged today.
Father, we love you and wepraise your name.
(00:20):
Amen.
We love you and we praise yourname, amen.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello everybody, thank you for joining us for our
community, our mission.
A podcast of the Topeka RescueMission here on Tuesday, june
10th 2025.
Lamanda, episode number 270.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I know, isn't that amazing?
That is amazing.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Now, you weren't around here when we started this
, and so you've been here fornow three plus years as the CEO.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
LaManda Cunningham.
And again I'm Barry Feaker,which I didn't mention that
before in case, this is thefirst time you've ever listened
to this, but I want to thankJosh for 270.
So 30 more, josh, and we'regoing to be at 300.
I know that's wild, isn't thatwild?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
That's crazy, it's hard to imagine.
Yeah, it is.
And you know, I just have tosay, barry, we just got back
from the CityGate annualconference and I told Josh I
lost track at 12 people 12, thatrandomly came up to me.
I would be walking and theywould say are you, amanda from
Topeka?
And I said, yes, we listen toyour podcast.
We listen to your podcast thereis a group right now that is
(01:29):
embarking on starting one andsaid that they have been
listening to these just to kindof help give ideas and all of
that, and asked if they couldcontact us for more information.
If they had it, you know asthey go and I said yes, like you
don't even have to beg to stealit, we'll just let you steal it
.
We got the easy part, josh gotthe hard part.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Make sure all the technology's working, but yeah,
we got the easy part.
Well, we're going to talk alittle bit about CityGate
Network today and we're going tohave again a guest here today
that we're trying to have once amonth from the CityGate Network
.
We'll talk a little bit aboutthat, but before that we want to
get into the research anddevelopment departments special
things about the importance ofthe day of June 10th across the
(02:07):
globe, or at least in the UnitedStates, or at least at the
Topeka Rescue Mission.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
But today is called.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
National Ice Tea Day.
National Ice Tea Day.
Okay, yeah, so you don't have aglass of ice tea today.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I am, but you know it has to be sweet tea I know,
you're from Arkansas, notunsweet, right?
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I was going to say the ultimate question is sweet
or unsweet?
That's right.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
And I think, unless I'm wrong, our guest, who also
has roots in Arkansas, mightlike his sweet tea too Well, you
keep loading up with.
Arkansas people around here, mygoodness gracious.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Okay, we'll make this a short one.
Today, y'all.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
So what was an essential component in 1904 that
had to be in place for this tobe National Ice Tea Day?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
I have no idea the sun.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
How about ice?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Oh, okay, the reason I say the sun is I never knew
this until my father, but hemakes sun tea.
Sun tea, yeah, and that's likehis favorite thing to do when we
go camping.
He gets up super early andthere is the pitcher over there
in the sun, making sun tea.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
My problem is I don't think of it till like later.
I'm like I really want some tea, so then I make it like boil
the water for it Right on thestove.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
So yeah, so there's a lot of different ways to make
the tea, but you can't have icedtea without ice.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Correct.
Yeah, okay, no brainer.
Sorry, barry, I know I'm sodepressed, I know, I know I'm
just trying to train her.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Okay, but there's something else and it's in your
hand right now it's National.
What day?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Pin Day.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Ballpoint.
Pin Day Ballpoint.
Oh, okay, yeah, it's amazingthat we still recognize that
because of all the technologytoday.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
And just, uh, we won't, we won't mention her name
out loud, but A-L-X-E-A andthen S-E-R-I, yes, so, because,
she'll start talking back to us,but anyway, we can just tell
her what to write, or him, orwhatever you've got your thing
set up, are you going to takethe time to tell people about
your struggle with yourballpoint pens?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
No.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
We might need to do an intervention.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
No, I'm talking to a therapist about it.
I'm sure at some pointlisteners have heard it.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
I know, just in case you're a listener and you think
Barry Feaker is perfect.
I just want you to know thatone of his imperfections is he
is a pen clicker nonstop, and soif you could see us probably
three times during this podcast,I'm going to be whacking his
hand or grabbing the pen lid outof his hand.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I think that you're all missing the rhythm by which
I close my pen.
I think, there's great artisticmusic, something or other.
There it's something.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Barry's actually doing Morse code for like SOS.
That's right, probably so.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
And when I stress him out more, it does get faster.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Actually I'm just talking to AI, trying to get
ready for the next meeting thisway.
So Morse code.
So anyway, one more thing.
Again, it's national ballpointpen day.
If you still have one of thosearound the house, you might just
recognize it and say thank you.
And so it's national.
And if you don't know how toclick, I can show you how to do
that in rhythm, so I don't justclick at a podcast.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I click all the time.
I click all the time.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
That's right I never use my pen anymore, but I click
my pen.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
So anyway, and when you're thinking or processing
deeper, you do it more, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
You do not want me to quit?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
No, well, that's true .
Speaker 1 (05:15):
That's true.
That's when you get concernedis that it's not clicking,
that's right.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
What's wrong with Barry?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Is he alive?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Is he okay?
Yeah, is he alive.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Is he okay?
Yeah, some people will chew gum, some people smoke cigarettes.
You're a clicker and somepeople click the pen.
Okay, all right.
So anyway, one more specialresearch and development
department.
This is a little more serious.
It's National Forklift SafetyDay.
Oh, that's important aroundhere.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
That's very important , isn't it?
Yes?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Shout out to our distribution center guys.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Practice that forklift safety and all of that
OSHA training.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
OSHA training.
You know there's 35,000 to62,000 injuries every year on
forklifts in the United States.
That's a lot.
I mean you don't want to getinjured by a forklift or injure
someone else.
Stub your toe on it is onething, but you know I'm in the
wrong place, wrong time.
But 70% of those werepreventable.
Topeka Rescue Mission andrescue mission does you use
forklifts and its distributionand moving stuff off of trucks
(06:05):
and around and lifting stuff wayup in the air and pushing it on
big mezzanines and every day,so that you have plenty of
supply and well-trainedpersonnel to do it.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
so so I have a question did you ever drive a
forklift?
I did, they will not let mewell, I wonder why I.
Has anybody ever ridden in acart with you?
Can we cancel that out?
Let's do a first time edit inthe 270 episodes and edit Barry
out for saying I can't start nowI click the pin and you tell
(06:35):
people to get out of the waywhen you're driving.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
So the same thing would apply with the forklift.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I know, for some reason they do all the OSHA
trainings and every year I'mlike, hey, you know, because I
feel like there's nothing herethat I shouldn't do, especially
if I'm asking someone else to doit, and everybody's like, nope,
boss, it's okay.
We're going to not do that andleave the forklift.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I know what they probably said to you we really
want to protect you, we do notwant you to get injured.
I have heard that, but we liketo have these fun moments to be
able just to kind of get us setup for just another part of what
we do here on our communitymission, which is very fun and
also very meaningful.
(07:12):
Today in relationship to theCityGate Network, we have
another leader in the CityGateNetwork by the name of Brandon
Thomas.
Brandon is president and CEO ofthe Open Door Mission in
Houston, Texas.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
Welcome Brandon.
Welcome Brandon.
Hey guys, thanks for having meAppreciate it.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah, so Brandon, citygate Network, as we've
talked about before on thepodcast, is an association of
rescue ministries that have cometogether.
Last I knew, there were about300 of them in North America,
that's the United States andCanada, I believe, and I think
at one time there were someoverseas as well, but I'm not
sure where that stands now.
It's been around for over 100years, and so, lamanda, you've
(07:54):
had the opportunity to beinvolved a lot with CityGate
leadership and with what we callemerging leaders, and so talk
to us about how you know Brandon, and I want to get into Brandon
and him tell his story.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Sure.
So Brandon is just a dear, dearfriend, someone that I also look
up to, and have learned a lotin the about two years of
knowing him.
Brandon has done a lot withmission work, which you're going
to hear about in just a minute,but one of his stops that he's
made on his journey is to bevice president of CityGate
(08:23):
Network before transitioning,and so I was able to kind of
partner with him on a couple ofdifferent projects that we were
doing, whether it was kind ofthis revamping of emerging
leaders.
He was really supportive of whatJordan and I felt like we
needed to do and would hear whatwe felt like needed to remain
the same but yet what needed tochange, and so he was helpful
(08:45):
with navigating that.
We also did some work togetherwith kind of this outreach that
CityGate was once involved inwith, called Hope in the Gate,
where we were working withmusicians out of Nashville to
really bless guests and stuff ofrescue missions that were
coming out for kind of thisretreat and this oasis, and so I
(09:06):
worked with Brandon on a coupleof focuses with that and you
know there's just sometimespeople that you connect with
that you just know we're goingto be friends and we're going to
be colleagues, regardless ofwhere it takes us in the world,
and Brandon is one of those.
And so I'm honored to know him.
He does love Arkansas so thathelps, you know, cover up some
(09:29):
of the flaws he has.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
So what is this?
The conspiracy of Arkansas topopulate rescue missions around
the country?
Because I've heard about thismore than.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Arkansas is God's country.
So I'm just saying but he is.
He's just a neat guy, and Ithink one of the things that I
value the most about him is howbalanced he is with logic,
professionalism and wisdom intoday's society.
But that doesn't trump what Godis asking him to do, and so you
(10:01):
see him at these DC forums, yousee him in boardrooms, you see
him advocating on state andnational levels, but that
doesn't trump the journey he'son with the Lord for ministry
and for his family, and so Iaspire to be that he's such a
great example of both myopportunity to visit with him
just briefly before we startedrecording here was very of both.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
My opportunity to visit with him just briefly
before we started recording herewas very, very good and he's a
really engaging guy, brandon.
Thank you for joining us againtoday, brandon.
We want to talk about Houstonwhat's going on there, but talk
about your journey out ofArkansas.
You escaped and what's yourjourney been to get where you
are today as the CEO of OpenDoor in Houston.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Sure, before I get into that journey, we do have to
point out the fact thatArkansas is planning to beat LSU
this weekend in Omaha on theirjourney to win the College World
Series.
So it's very important to pointthat out.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
So some of us would say so, because we're not even
close in Kansas.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Our Kansas, I'm told, is better than your Kansas.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Our Kansas may be getting the Kansas City Chiefs
here one of these days Can comeup with the $3 billion to buy
them.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
How about that?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Anyway, yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Well then, I might cheer for them, that's right.
So I'll tell you a little bitabout my journey, uh, cause I
think it's really what got mewhere I am, uh.
So, uh, part of my journey isreally recognizing where I grew
up and how I grew up.
Um, so I I again, as LaManasaid, grew up in Arkansas, uh,
and so typically I tell peoplethat's why I talk funny.
(11:44):
But now I live back down in thesouth where that's pretty
typical, so I talk likeeverybody else down here.
But we I actually grew up in ahome with a dad who was
schizophrenic, bipolar andreally did not realize the
effect that that had on me untillater in life, not realized the
(12:06):
effect that that had on meuntil later in life, and I just
really honestly thought my dadwas not a great person.
It turned out it was the mentalillness and the substance use
was connected to him medicatinghis mental illness.
So you fast forward.
After I graduated from seminary,I really felt the call, a deep
call, to be a church planter.
So I ended up in northernVirginia, about 60 miles west of
(12:29):
DC, in a town called WinchesterVirginia, where, in 2013,
started a church and really oneof the coolest experiences of my
life starting with 10 of myfriends in a basement and
watching God really grow thatministry in a big way.
But through that journey, wetruly had this desire.
(12:51):
In 2013, when church plantingwas happening, there was two
main questions that were askedof church planters, and the
question was do you want to be amissional church or an
attractional church?
Those were kind of the hotaspects.
Do you want to be a missionalchurch or an attractional church
?
Those were kind of the hotaspects and my response to that
question was yes, I want to beboth.
(13:13):
I think Sundays have to be at acertain level, but I also think
that the heart of your ministryhas to be based around being on
mission.
So we started serving at apretty high capacity at our
local rescue mission and throughthat journey, I was invited to
be on the board of directors andin 2016, january of 2016, our
(13:38):
CEO at the time stepped down andour board president asked me if
I would step in and be the CEOfor a month.
And I said sure I can do a monthbecause that's how they that's
how they get you.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Right, right, right Right.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
You're like I can do anything for a month, that's
easy.
And uh ended up being the thingthat really, uh was most
impactful in my life was gettingthe opportunity to step in and
be the CEO of Winchester rescuemission.
Uh, in that journey A I reallywatched God redeem my broken
(14:14):
childhood.
I began to realize why Godallowed me the opportunity to
grow up in the home that I grewup with and with the things that
I had experienced, because itgave me an empathy for the men
and women that we had theprivilege of serving in
Winchester.
And so what I watched was thesemen and women coming in who
(14:35):
were schizophrenic, bipolar andrealize, you know, my dad's
passed away and couldn't reallydo much to work on that
relationship.
But what I could do is theopportunity to serve these men
and women who, because theirfamily were exhausted because of
the illness and because ofcertain things, be able to step
in and love them and see how Godredeemed the brokenness that I
(14:59):
grew up in.
And so I don't think I don'tknow if anybody really sets out
to be the CEO of a rescuemission or get into this work.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I think God uses this work to redeem, not just those
that we get the privilege ofserving, but it even redeems the
broken parts of our life, andso Brenda, could you expound on
that just a little bit, BecauseI know that people who are
listening today they may have arelative, a loved one, who is
homeless, has mental healthproblems.
(15:36):
You grew up in that.
That was very impactful, to saythe least, I'm sure as you as a
young person, and then ended upin the ministry.
How did you see that God usedyou?
Obviously, you're seeing peoplethat may be reminded of your
own dad.
Obviously, you're seeing peoplethat may be reminded of your
own dad.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
But how did God bring healing to you through?
Maybe what could have been moreof a reinforcement of pain?
Yeah, so for me I you knowagain, when you walk through
what I walked through with mydad, I had a perception of my
dad that really wasn't true andit was just a misunderstanding
of the illness perception of mydad.
That really wasn't true and itwas just a misunderstanding of
the illness.
And so what God allowed me theopportunity to do is to become
(16:20):
face to face with people walkingthrough these same struggles
and recognizing that.
You know, something that Ididn't recognize as a young man
because I didn't have thecapacity to recognize it, was
that my dad actually, in his ownway, actually truly did love me
and he loved my sister and justdidn't have capacity to show it
because he was fighting his ownsickness.
(16:40):
You know, when you're facedwith hearing voices every single
day and you're faced with, youknow, a chemical imbalance in
your brain that causes you to gofrom depressed to angry, to
overly excited on the turn of adime, it's real tough to fit in
(17:02):
there how you actually show andgive love to kids.
So again, I didn't recognizethat as a young man, but as God
gave me the opportunity to workwith these men and women that he
gave me the opportunity to workwith, I began to realize their
capacity for love and theircapacity for care is probably
deeper than anybody I've evermet.
(17:22):
It's just a matter of them beinggiven the right tools to be
able to actually express that,given the right tools to be able
to actually express that, andso where I got to see healing in
that was for me.
I began to realize my dadwasn't who I thought he was Not
in a bad way.
He was actually somebody whowas just very sick, and had he
(17:43):
had the right tools given to him, he probably would have been
one of the best dads who everlived.
He just didn't have the toolsgiven to him to do that, and so
I watched God put me in asituation to help give men and
women the tools to become thedad, the mom, the person God
(18:04):
created them to be.
And as you get to know peoplewith schizophrenia bipolar, you
also realize that they're someof the most brilliant and
empathetic and caring peopleyou'll ever meet, when given the
right tools.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
But you, just by sharing what you share today.
And then something that we'veattempted to do here in Topeka
and elsewhere is put a real faceon this issue of who the
homeless people that don'tunderstand.
They come to their ownconclusion, write their own
story, but, just like your owndad, if he had had the tools, he
(18:38):
might have done thingsdifferently.
Here you are giving peopletools to do things, maybe
differently.
But also what you have talkedabout is oftentimes these are
very intelligent people with abig challenge in their life who
have a capacity to love, asmaybe a lot of people don't
understand, and I can onlyimagine what that's done in your
(19:00):
journey to help people in yourcommunity.
And then, of course, you workedat the government level, with
people in Washington DC and soforth to paint a picture that's
a true picture, so that's huge.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Because a big part of that, barry, is the fact that
you know our mental healthsystem and it's not a misknown
fact here.
But, like, our mental healthsystem is so broken, you know,
3% of people are experiencingmental like severe mental
illness, like schizophrenia,bipolar schizoaffective disorder
, mental like severe mentalillness, like schizophrenia,
bipolar schizoaffective disorder, and the resources available to
(19:34):
those individuals are almostnon-existent.
And I could give us, you know,I could talk for hours on this
of why it's non-existent, butwhat that ultimately leads to is
a number of individuals who areschizophrenic, bipolar
schizoaffective disorder, whoend up on the street or in jail.
And the truth is we would never, you know, if we treated people
(19:58):
with diabetes the way we treatpeople with schizophrenia,
people would lose their minds.
But unfortunately, becauseschizophrenia schizoaffective
disorder, bipolar is sodifficult sometimes to deal with
, or difficult sometimes to dealwith or understand how to deal
with, we just we end up puttingthese folks in jail or on the
street.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Well, I appreciate you allowing me to kind of
interject there with thequestion, because I think what
your journey that's a huge partof your journey and so, yeah,
carry us on from there and howthat maybe has continued to
affect and influence what you doand everything else.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Yeah, so while in Winchester honestly, winchester
at the time was a dream job andI had no idea that I had that
dream of a job.
I absolutely loved theopportunity God gave me to serve
in Winchester.
But through that journey Ibuilt several friendships around
the country with CityGateNetwork.
(20:56):
Back in 2019, I had this crazyidea to ride a motorcycle from
DC to LA and spend the night inshelters.
So I did that and that got me.
You know, that helped me buildrelationships with some of the
greatest people on the planetrunning shelters, which led to
an invitation two years ago tostep in at CityGate Network and
(21:20):
begin to work at CityGate withrescue missions all around the
country.
And again, probably one of thegreatest joys of my life is I've
been in a well over a hundred,maybe 150, missions to this
point and I've gotten to seesome of the greatest individuals
on the planet doing some of thebest work.
(21:40):
You know it's easy when youturn the news on to see all of
the things wrong with the world,but my job at CityGate gave me
an opportunity to see what'sright in the world.
And, you know, I'm not sure inmy lifetime we will see an end
to homelessness, but I doguarantee by the end of my life
we're going to see a real changein homelessness.
(22:01):
Men and women like LaManda andyou, barry, and other
individuals that I could spendan hour naming across the
country who are dedicating theirlife to serving those
experiencing homelessness.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
What kind of hope do you have that things will be
different and I assume that youmean improved from?
Speaker 4 (22:23):
where they are.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
What are some of those elements being in a
hundred rescue ministries acrossNorth America.
I think there's a book comingout of here someday with all
those stories that ought to bereally good to tell.
But what are you seeing that?
I mean, we've got a lot ofissues, economically,
post-pandemic, as you said, themental health system broken,
(22:53):
broken.
We have a number of indicatorsthat are talking about an
increase in homelessness andwhat they call the graying
homeless the 60 plus populationestimated to be the highest
percentage of homeless by 2030and some real uncertainties.
So here you come along.
I've seen it, I've been there,I do it, but I have hope that it
can improve.
What's your hope?
But I have hope that it canimprove.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
What's your hope?
Well, my hope is that thechurch will continue to do what
the church has done.
When things like this happen,the church mobilizes, and what
I'm watching happen is thechurch mobilized around
ministries, like you guys inTopeka and here Open Door in
Houston.
The church has mobilized aroundus to allow us to do the thing
(23:36):
that's prescribed for us to doin Scripture.
My journey into this, really,if I can tell a quick story,
I'll try to keep it quick, but abig part of my journey into
this.
I had the privilege of going toIsrael a couple of years ago and
while I was in Jerusalem I sawthis Donald Trump yarmulke and
(23:58):
it really bothered me.
It bothered me a whole lot I'mnot getting political, so don't
worry there but it bothered me.
And the reason it bothered mewas not so much the novelty of
the deal, but what I realizedwas people outside of our faith
think that we think that DonaldTrump is the face of our faith
(24:21):
and whether or not you agreewith him or happy he's president
or not, I think we candefinitely agree without a doubt
that he's not the face of ourfaith.
Jesus is the face of our faith.
Jesus is the face of our faith.
But the concern that I watchedhappen was this is that the
concern is that people outsideof our faith think that we in
the American church are seekingpolitical power more than we are
(24:44):
Holy Spirit power andunfortunately, I see some truth
in that and why they have thatperception.
And so when you look at churchhistory, every time in church
history that the church soughtpolitical power, it didn't go
well for the church.
That's for sure.
But if you look back at churchhistory, when the church grew,
(25:05):
when the church was at its bestpoint, was when we were serving
those that nobody else wouldserve.
And I think the work that God'scalled us to do is what God's
doing in the church of Americaand that we're going to get to
be a part of, which is callingus back to serve those that
nobody else is serving, and toserve in ways that most people
(25:30):
wouldn't serve.
And out of that, honestly, notonly do we get to see God's
power at work in a mighty way ashe transforms lives, but we
also get to reap the benefits inour personal life of God doing
amazing things in and through us, which is what I think that is
his desire and what he createdus to do, and so why I have hope
(25:52):
is I think we're watching arevival take place of the church
, but it's through rescueministries, probably more so
than it is your typical localchurch.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
No, I think that's well said, and I think we do
have to face things for they are.
And and look at how wesometimes look for an answer
outside of Christ and rescueministries are focused on Christ
.
There's no, no disguising that,no hiding that.
It's the.
The power.
(26:26):
Of the gospel is true, it setspeople free and we're all about
setting people free.
Gospel is true, it sets peoplefree and we're all about setting
people free.
Uh, that doesn't mean we don'twork with everybody else.
Um, in rescue ministry, um,there's a place for mental
health and law enforcement andand uh, and, and veterinarians,
and, and the list goes on and on, right and so, but, uh, there
is a uniqueness about rescueministries, that, um, that some
(26:47):
people, uh um, are not aware ofand some people are opposed to
that.
But the point, in fact, is thatyou've seen it, you've been on
the ground, you've seen how Godbrings healing through suffering
and the church.
I think you're right.
We've tried this war on povertynow for about 60 years.
It hasn't worked so well.
And so maybe it's time foranother group to step back up to
(27:11):
the plate and start swinging.
And so then the question is howdo they get trained, how do
they get prepared?
And I think that's where RescueMinistries said yeah, we can
show you.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Yeah, absolutely yeah .
Speaker 2 (27:25):
So from Colorado to now to Houston.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
And ultimately what happened is in Colorado.
My wife has an autoimmunedisease and actually got very
sick back in the fall andactually almost died due to the
complications from herautoimmune disease.
And we found out through thatjourney that living in the high
(27:48):
elevation was a contributingfactor to her illness.
And so God opened a doorliterally here in open for me to
come and be the CEO.
So we went from 7,000 feetabove sea level to seven feet
above seven feet and sometimesdown there.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
If you haven't experienced yet, it'll be a
little even below that.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
Yeah, well, that's what I'm told could happen later
today, as we're expected to getquite a bit of rain, so yeah,
so I'll get to experience maybesome of my first houston.
Flooding, as I'm told, is kindof a normal thing around here,
so I'm prepared.
I wore my boots today for asession.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
So, brandon, you you've had some adversity in
your life and you've seen God dosome things through that
adversity that has definitelyhelped other people, you know, I
think I think a point that Idon't want to miss here is that,
through a big adversity inColorado due to your wife's
health got you to the next placeOtherwise you wouldn't be down
(28:55):
where you are with your boots on.
And so when we look at thesedifficulties in life, we can be
very disoriented about them, wecan be very angry about them, we
can be hopeless about them orseek God in the midst of them.
And here you are as the CEOthere in Houston at Open Door.
(29:16):
So how long has Open Door beenaround?
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Seventy years.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Okay, all right.
So a long history there in thecommunity I think I shared with
you I'd been my first rescuemission with a different name
other than CityGate.
Back in the day it was calledthe International Union of
Gospel Missions, but it was Starof Hope there and that's still
a rescue ministry in Houston.
Houston can use more than onedue to the population size.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
We're the fourth largest city in the country, so
we've got plenty of room to stepin and help.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah, so talk about what does Open Door do in the
area there in Houston.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
So currently Open Door is a ministry that
primarily serves men and we hopeto open a women's shelter at
some point and move into morerobust services.
But over the last several yearshas really gotten known for its
recovery services.
So Open Door has a greatrecovery service.
(30:17):
In fact, that's how I gotconnected with Open Door was one
of my mentors, who has been inprobably well over 200 of City
Gates rescue missions, told meabout a ministry in Houston that
in his mind was the second bestrecovery program in all of
CityGate, and so he said you gotto check them out, you got to
(30:40):
know more about them, and then alittle did I know that soon
they'd be looking for a CEO andultimately I would end up here.
But I got to see firsthand whattheir recovery program was like
and the success that they'reexperiencing, and so now I get
to sit in this seat and be ableto be a part of it.
It's really exciting becausethe recovery program here is
(31:05):
pretty remarkable and well knownin the Houston area for success
.
In fact I was at the CityGateconference last week as well,
which I was sad I didn't get tosee you.
I was only there for a coupleof days.
I missed most of it because Iwas moving, but I even had some
of the other ministry leadersfrom here in Texas tell me that
(31:29):
they actually would sendindividuals to Open Door because
Open Door is so well known forits recovery program, and so
that's really where we excel themost is in our recovery program
, and my hope is to continue tobuild upon that while also
(31:49):
adding other services tocontinue to serve the community.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
For people who may not know exactly what you mean
by recovery program.
You know recovery from what andwhat do you?
Speaker 4 (31:59):
do there.
So we we focus a lot onsubstance abuse disorder and
recovery from that as well, aswe we do offer quite a few
mental health services, becausewe recognize that most people
who have substance abusedisorder actually is
co-occurring with some level ofmental illness, and so if we can
(32:20):
treat both of those whileintroducing them to a life
connected to Jesus, thateverything will change, and so I
think that's the secret saucefor all that we do is not just
our, you know abstinence-basedrecovery and giving folks the
tools to deal with their youknow childhood trauma and the
(32:41):
traumas they've experienced, butalso introducing them to Jesus,
who has the capacity and thecapability of changing
everything.
So what, uh, what I love is thatwe, um we, we really
holistically help somebody walkthrough our doors, uh, recover
from mostly, you know, substanceabuse disorder, but wrapped
(33:04):
within that is all the traumathey experienced as kids all the
, all the um, uh, other mentalhealth factors that led to the
substance abuse.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
When you hear the term and maybe you've read the
book homelessness is a housingproblem.
What comes to your mind?
Speaker 4 (33:21):
It is way more complicated than that.
I sure wish, if that was all itwas, we would have solved it by
now.
But every individual who walksthrough our doors and I'm sure
the same for you theirexperience of homelessness is
vastly different.
And one of the things we sayaround here all the time is our
(33:41):
program has to be a one sizefits one, because every person's
journey to homelessness isdifferent.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
I have not heard that expressed that way before.
I like that.
One size fits one.
That's right.
That's very good.
Well, yeah, it's verycomplicated and there's some
different aspects that differentrescue ministries can major in
around the country and then beable to share that information
with each other.
Amanda, I know that CityGatehas been very important to you,
(34:12):
as coming into this work andgoing to your first conference
probably blew you away with theconnectivity of people, getting
to meet people like Brandon andothers.
You've kind of mentioned itbefore, but knowing a guy like
Brandon and knowing his story,knowing his journey and forget
(34:34):
the Arkansas part but what is itthat really encourages you, as
CEO here in Topeka, Kansas, toknow a guy like Brandon in
Houston?
Speaker 3 (34:45):
You know, I think knowing people like Brandon and
continuing friendships andcamaraderie is one of the
biggest defenses we can haveagainst spiritual warfare.
And I know that might soundcliche a little bit, but the
enemy seeks to kill and destroy.
(35:06):
And you know, when we see thefirst issue right in Genesis, he
didn't come to Eve withsomething that would be so
appalling that she wasn'ttempted.
He came in the form of causingdoubt.
And if I could say anythingabout leaders whether it's
(35:27):
leaders that are associated withCityGate Network, leaders that
are in the secular world one ofthe things that can eat us alive
is doubt.
And then that doubt creeps intomaybe isolation or a loneliness
, or hey, you're not doing thiswell.
And then you know, then youdon't have a network around you.
And then you start comparisonis the thief of joy.
(35:51):
You start looking at otherministries or other leaderships
and then you're like, oh,they're excelling and all of
this is happening.
And the next thing you know,you're crumbling as a leader and
that is not at all what Godwants us to feel like, and so
being able to see a leader likeBrandon, but then get to know
(36:12):
him and realize that he too iswalking through, you know family
illness or things with his wifeand wanting to be a great
husband and still trying tojuggle work and all of these
things.
It allows you, as another leader, to realize we're all more
similar than not and that theLord made us for fellowship.
(36:35):
And just because you continueto get higher up in leadership
levels, that does not mean youhave to isolate more and more.
The other thing that I thinkhappens if we don't stay
connected to people like Brandonand I could say a whole long
list of people that I've been soblessed to meet, could say a
whole long list of people thatI've been so blessed to meet,
particularly through CityGateNetwork is you, then, are not
(36:58):
allowing yourself to be alifelong learner.
Because the other thing that'sa challenge for me is I would
love for somebody to track in a24-hour period how many answers
I have to give, right Fromlittle ones to big ones, to
whatever yes Answers, withdecisions and consequences
attached to them.
Correct, and that's somethingthat I don't take lightly.
(37:19):
And, yes, I do think I getdiscernment from the Lord and he
guides us.
But the next big thing, asidefrom the Lord and the truth and
scripture, is people you'resurrounding yourself with, and
so the enemy wants us to isolate.
One so that we crumble, but twoso that we're no longer
lifelong learners.
And whether it's me watchingBrandon's Facebook posts or the
(37:44):
CityGate network, they havelittle discussion forums that
you can use.
We did two posts from TRM lastweek on it to gather other
people's inputs, their thoughts,before we decide.
One of them was linked to a newpartnership, so before we're
deciding yes or no on that and Igot seven responses back, all
(38:06):
to which helped guide me andMiriam and Courtney and some
other ones that were, you know,in that discussion.
So I think connecting yourselfwith people like Brandon, people
like you and just other peoplethat you can learn from, allows
you to realize you're not inthis alone and allows you to
have a village around you.
And then two, I think it allowsus to continue to be sponges,
(38:29):
because, although I need to beable to answer 150 questions in
three hours, there are sometimes where I don't know what I
don't know, and I'm humbleenough to admit that that is not
an area that I struggle with.
I want to seek other wisdom andknowledge.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Because you can't not answer.
You have to have an answer, butyou want to have a wise answer.
And having these connections,different people, different
experiences, I know when I firstgot into this, one of my
closest friends was the head ofthe Denver rescue mission.
He was a former aerospaceengineer at NASA, yes, another
one was a former banker inLincoln, nebraska, and so forth,
(39:07):
and so everybody comes intothis work.
I think, brandon you said itnobody really asked to do this.
They get kind of pulled out inyour situation.
Hey, just do it for a month,you're going to be fine.
But at the same time, therichness of the different people
with different backgrounds, butyou're sharing a commonality,
(39:28):
even though things are vastlydifferent in the way you
approach things at Opendoor withthe recovery program than maybe
in Topeka.
Just having these things thatwe can learn from each other.
Brandon, you've got a crediblestory.
The commitment is there.
What gives you the greatest joyin what you're doing, in the
(39:48):
position that you're in now?
Speaker 4 (39:53):
I could probably take an hour to answer that Truly.
I think what gives me thegreatest joy is watching
somebody connect with Jesus in areal, tangible way that leads
to the life transformation.
We can give somebody all thetools in the world to succeed,
(40:16):
but, apart from having therelationship with Jesus, their
chances of success drasticallygo down.
You know, the opposite ofaddiction is community, is
community, and when we canconnect people to Jesus, not
(40:37):
only do you have the communitywith the creator of the universe
that comes into play with that,it also gives you a built-in
community with brothers andsisters.
I think the thing that Amandawas just really highlighting was
the fact that you know thebeauty of CityGate Network and
why I loved being a part ofCityGate Network, is it created
that exact thing.
It created community.
I had a community of otherpeople to journey on this
(41:01):
journey with, because it is avery difficult journey at times.
We deal with some of the mosttragic events on a daily basis,
right, whether it's actuallyhappening in our shelter or it's
happened to the people that weserve.
They've lived the most tragiclives of most people in your
(41:23):
community and we're walking withthat every day.
So it gives us community.
So for me short answer is whensomebody connects with Jesus and
community is formed because ofthat, it gives me joy because I
know that person now has thegreatest potential for success
because they now have community.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
That's well said.
And one more question for you,brandon, and what I've learned,
maybe the hard way over theyears, is that people really
like to hear the story, theylike to understand more.
Those are all very important,but they want to know what they
can do.
Oftentimes I have failed tooffer people how they can get in
(42:04):
the game.
So people are going to belistening to this in Kansas and
Topeka.
They're going to probably belistening to this in Houston and
the CityGate Network and others.
And so, as a sister ministry toTopeka Rescue Mission, what is
it that people can do whereverthey are?
And maybe it's prayer, maybeit's tangible helping you there
(42:27):
in Houston at Open Door Mission.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Yeah, I mean always.
You know we'll go today, becauseit's not small stuff but, like
you know, praying for us anddonating to us, whether it's
tangible goods or financiallyalways really helpful.
But I think one of the greatestways somebody can get involved
if they want to get involved is,uh, you know, I'm always asked
(42:51):
should I give money to theperson at the stoplight, right?
My answer is usually I'm notgoing to tell you not to do that
, but what I am going to tellyou more than they need your
money, they need your care, andso the more we can seek to learn
people's names, the more we canseek to learn their stories,
the more God can shape ourhearts and mold us to do what it
(43:14):
is he's calling us to do.
He's calling all of us to beinvolved in this in some way or
another.
But the quickest way to findout how God wants you to be
involved is to actually learnwho these individuals are that
he's asked us to serve, becausewhen we learn who they are, we
learn where it is God's askingus to be involved.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
That's so well said.
You know we missed that part.
We want to give it off to theexpert you being one of them,
Amanda being another one, theministries that you run Just
hand them off to them.
But what I heard is let's get alittle more involved in
people's lives, and when you getto know someone's name, that's
huge.
And a lot of our folks believethat they don't have a name
because nobody recognizes them.
(43:57):
I can just imagine on that daywhen we go to heaven and we're
standing before there and theLord comes up to us and goes
what's your name?
And so you really wanted toknow your name, and so people
right here on the earth want usto know their name, and that's
powerful.
Well, Brandon, thank you forjoining us today on our
community, our mission.
(44:17):
Is there anything else you'dlike to share?
Speaker 4 (44:19):
I just appreciate what you guys are doing.
I appreciate your leadership,amanda.
It's been awesome getting toknow you and watch the journey
God has you on, and I know thatgreat things are going to happen
in Topeka because he's placedyou there as the leader.
So keep up the great work andthanks for all you do to help
folks like me feel connected inCityGate.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
Yeah, you're very welcome for all that and we're
glad to be a part of this aswell.
And we've heard from BrandonThomas, president and CEO of
Open Door Mission in HoustonTexas, another what we would
call warrior on the battlefield,leading other people through
the opportunities and thechallenges of life to help
people to know that they matter,and so thank you for listening
(45:01):
today.
If you would like moreinformation about the Topeka
Rescue Mission, you can go totrmonlineorg that's trmonlineorg
and continue listening to ourcommunity, our mission, as we
interview local people and then,once a month, visit with people
like Brandon who are out therein the world doing great things.
Thanks for listening.
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