Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), Wale Adepoju
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000058
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:04 may be too candid for younger children. 00:10 Welcome to the New Journey, 00:11 a program where you'll meet real life people, 00:13 with real life testimonies, 00:15 done real life ministry for Jesus Christ. 00:17 I'm your host Aaron Chancy. 00:19 Come join us on the New Journey. 00:52 We like to welcome you back to the New Journey. 00:54 On today's broadcast, 00:56 we have Wale of Frontline Ministries. 00:58 Wale, we like to thank you for being here. 01:00 Thank you so much for having me. 01:01 All right, just for the record, how old are you Wale, 01:04 as well as what let you to start this ministry? 01:07 Okay, I'm 28-years-old, and I'm from, 01:11 I'm originally from Maryland. 01:12 Okay. 01:13 And right now I reside in Huntsville, Alabama. 01:15 Frontline Ministry is just a ministry that, 01:18 me and another guy are the co-founders, 01:20 his name is Robert Mann, he came together. 01:23 And we were just thinking about the trails and the tribulations 01:26 that men go through. 01:28 Okay. 01:29 And how we don't have an outlet 01:30 and there's a lot of problems 01:32 there us men needs to really come together 01:34 and help other men to strengthen them. 01:36 So we can become the priests of the homes 01:37 like we're supposed to. 01:39 Okay, definitely, definitely. 01:40 We're gonna go deeper into Frontline Ministries, 01:42 but let's first talk about 01:43 where you are at now in terms of theology major 01:45 at Oakwood talk about that 01:47 and how you feel that God called you to that. 01:48 Okay, wonderful! 01:50 Well, currently I'm studying theology at Oakwood University, 01:53 right now I'm a junior. 01:55 Okay. 01:56 And I came back to school 01:58 after originally going to Oakwood in 2004. 02:01 The journey has been long. 02:03 I remember even my freshmen year in 2004. 02:05 God had called me through a minister 02:08 that came to Madison mission 02:09 in church down there in Huntsville. 02:11 Okay. 02:12 And he told me about how I was supposed to be doing ministry. 02:16 But back then, you know, I was chasing money, 02:18 I wanted to be an engineer, that's all that mattered to me. 02:21 So I ignored the call back then, 02:23 and it's been a seven year journey 02:25 before I finally answered the call. 02:27 The way that I actually answered the call, I remember, 02:29 I was selling credit cards 02:31 for a major credit card company. 02:33 Won't say the name, but, um. 02:36 And I remember, I had a young lady on the phone 02:40 and I just could tell from her information 02:41 that she was giving me, as I was collecting at that, 02:44 me helping her get this car 02:46 will probably be detrimental to her financial well-being 02:49 'cause she didn't really know anything about credit. 02:51 And I could just tell that 02:53 she really couldn't afford the car. 02:54 Yeah. Okay. 02:55 And because of that, I felt bad while I was signing at the car. 02:58 At the end, she got approved. Okay. 03:00 And she was thanking me. 03:01 You know, so happy that I helped her get the car. 03:03 And I was just feeling very bad 'cause I was like, 03:05 "You don't even know what I just did". 03:06 Okay. 03:08 But the feeling wasn't that bad 03:09 to the point that I quit the job. 03:11 So I kept working for about three more months. 03:12 Okay. And eventually, I got fired! 03:15 Okay. 03:16 What happened actually that morning, 03:18 I was just really realizing that I wasn't doing 03:20 what I really wanted to do with my life, I had no purpose, 03:22 I was just working a job, paying bills. 03:24 And I prayed that morning before I went to work. 03:26 I remember, I was in the shower, 03:28 and I said "God, 03:29 I need you to bring the drive back into my life, 03:32 help increase my drive." 03:33 Yeah. 03:35 As soon as I prayed that prayer, 03:36 got to work and got fired. 03:38 That's one way to increase the drive. 03:40 Exactly. Lose the job. 03:42 So I kind of just sat around and I didn't know what to do. 03:46 I was so low 03:47 I guess, I'm gonna read my Bible. 03:50 So I started reading my Bible. Wow! Okay. 03:52 And I start going to church regularly again, 03:54 'cause I had stop going for a while. 03:55 And I remember about a month later, 03:57 I had read something previously, 04:00 and a month later I heard in a morning devotion, 04:03 one of the elders was talking about the scripture 04:05 where Jesus talking to Peter and said, "Pray for you, 04:08 the devil is desired you to sift you" as we, you know, 04:12 but when you are converting strength in your brethren 04:15 and that just strength in your brethren 04:17 just stood out to me. 04:18 And I had no idea why at the time, 04:20 so I got into, you know, like I said, 04:22 I was searching for where my niche was. 04:23 Okay. 04:25 I went to helping kids with a great organization, 04:27 now they're called Village of Promise. 04:28 They have a lot of things. 04:30 I was doing Bible classes, 04:31 a Bible teacher in the morning in a public school... 04:33 Okay. Elementary school. Wow! 04:35 And during that time, 04:37 because she liked me from what I was doing as volunteer, 04:40 she asked me to be hired on to a program 04:43 that was going on during the summer. 04:44 It was the summer reading program. 04:46 And because of that summer reading program, 04:48 that's how I submit Robert Mann, 04:51 the co-founder of Frontline. 04:52 And we just talked, we just had a talk session 04:54 'cause this is actually his girlfriend at the time 04:57 was working there and helping me, 04:59 and we got connected that way, 05:00 and we just came with the idea "Let's do something." 05:03 Okay, okay. 05:05 So then you started at Oakwood as a, 05:07 as a theology major you answered the call finally, 05:10 and what tract are you're taking? 05:12 Because there are different concentrations, 05:14 what tract are you're taking? 05:15 And what do you plan on doing with it when you finish? 05:18 That is correct. 05:20 Well, I'm actually trying to go through the chaplaincy track. 05:22 Okay. 05:23 So just to clarify, you know, 05:24 there's you can major in biblical languages... 05:27 Yes, you have ministerial theology. 05:29 And I'm doing the chaplaincy track 05:31 because I really want to have a base in prison ministry. 05:34 Okay, okay. 05:35 The reason why? 05:36 There's a lot of different reasons. 05:38 I know I would be in prison 05:39 if it wasn't for actually a girl. 05:42 I followed a girl down to Huntsville, Alabama. 05:44 Okay. 05:45 And that's the only thing that it took me out the setting 05:47 where actually all my close friends 05:49 have been locked up in and out of jail. 05:50 And I would be running, I know, 05:52 I would be running with them had I stayed in Maryland. 05:53 Wow, okay. 05:55 So that gave you a motivation for wanting to do 05:57 prison ministries and things, correct? 05:58 Yes sir. Okay, okay. 06:00 So you eventually you and now mister Mann 06:02 you started Frontline Ministries, 06:04 how many people are involved in the ministry? 06:06 As well as what are some of the key things 06:08 that y'all do in the community? 06:10 Okay, wonderful. 06:11 Actually, right now we have above 14 active members, 06:14 and we have a lot of volunteers, 06:15 a lot of support from the church, 06:17 local church and community. 06:18 Okay. 06:19 And basically, some of the things that we do 06:21 the main thing that we have right now, 06:22 we have a program at a community center 06:24 it's in a housing development called a Norwood Project. 06:27 Okay. 06:29 And it's in Huntsville, Alabama once again 06:30 and we do a Calvary Hill Community Center Program 06:33 where basically we invite the high school aged young men 06:37 to come in and we feed them, 06:39 and we give them real life lessons, 06:41 life courses, but... 06:44 The foundation of it is spiritual. 06:46 We use the Bible as the foundation. 06:48 So basically one of the things that we've done recently is, 06:52 I remember, we had this one program 06:54 where we're just teaching them something simple, 06:55 a simple skill like tying a tie. 06:57 Okay. 06:59 The thing about is 07:00 we take for granted these little simple things 07:02 that we know how to do. 07:03 Not realizing that a lot of people 07:04 don't actually know how to tie a tie. 07:06 That's correct. Yeah. 07:07 So they were so excited just to learn how to tie a tie. 07:10 And it was just to see the joy and the excitement 07:13 in their faces was just extra motivation 07:15 to see that even the little things that we do, 07:18 you know, no matter how big or small, 07:19 you know, has an effect on people 07:21 in ways you couldn't even imagine. 07:22 Definitely, definitely, so being with 14, or 14 people, 07:25 above 14 people in the ministry, 07:28 did everybody have something different to do? 07:30 Or what are some of the responsibilities 07:32 of the various group members in the group? 07:34 Definitely, actually, yes, 07:35 we all have different responsibilities. 07:36 For instance, we have a guy 07:38 who takes care of all the media. 07:41 You know, he's usually, he's there 07:43 but he's not really in the front, 07:44 you know, the forefront a lot of times. 07:46 We have guys who use their skills 07:49 in other areas like PR guys. 07:51 We have guys who have different trades. 07:54 As a matter of fact, 07:55 one of our guys owns his own company. 07:56 Okay. 07:58 He actually was incarcerated for a while and now he got out. 08:01 He started his own business. Okay. 08:02 And one of the great things he does, 08:04 he employs some of the youth that are in our program. 08:06 So, you know, so they have a way to do other things them, 08:10 you know, the stress and sell drugs 08:11 and different things like that. 08:12 Definitely, definitely, amen. 08:14 what impact have you seen 08:15 from working with the young people 08:16 which I think is great, number one, 08:18 how you stated about you have a gentleman 08:20 that's been incarcerated that has his own business now 08:23 and he's able to go out and help others 08:25 because it gives young people 08:26 the opportunity to learn how to do something, 08:29 learn how to work to get those traits within them. 08:32 But what impact have you seen with the various young people 08:35 that y'all have worked with upon the young people? 08:38 Okay, that's a great question. 08:39 Actually, the impact that we see is 08:42 they see that there's a different route. 08:43 Okay. 08:45 A lot of things that happens with these young people 08:47 that grow up in these communities 08:49 is that they don't know anybody personally, 08:52 or they haven't really seen another route, 08:54 then what maybe their brother is doing, or their pops, 08:57 or their role model 08:58 which might be a drug dealer in a neighborhood. 09:01 So they don't know anything outside of their world, 09:03 so they're boxed in really 09:04 until it takes us to really gun down and really talk, 09:09 you know, talk to them. 09:10 And not to talk to them from elevated level 09:12 but to really just get to know them personally 09:15 and from doing that, 09:16 you know, they start to get interested. 09:17 At first you get backlash, you know, 09:19 at first they weren't really welcoming at first, you know, 09:21 we weren't, you know, we're just outsiders, 09:23 another organization coming in trying to get pictures. 09:26 Yeah, yeah. 09:27 You know, that's what they thought of this as. 09:29 But as we actually came 09:30 and we not only came on those days 09:32 but we came to those neighborhoods 09:34 and we actually saw them... 09:35 Okay. 09:37 And we met them on regular days. 09:38 You know And talked to them 09:40 and just seen how life was going. 09:41 Yeah. 09:42 They started to open up 09:44 and from that we built that relationship 09:45 and now we're seeing that they even though they're still, 09:47 some of them, you know, 09:49 still mixed in it's the process. 09:50 Yeah, definitely. 09:51 But now you see that they're open, 09:53 their eyes are opening to different things. 09:54 For instance, like we say tying a tie, 09:56 or, you know, business, casual clothes. 09:57 Yeah. 09:58 A lot of people condemn the young people 10:00 for not dressing right on interviews. 10:01 Yeah. A lot of them just don't know about it. 10:02 They don't know. 10:04 You know, so they don't know 10:05 how and then for different things like, 10:06 even starting a bank account is a big thing to them. 10:08 Okay. 10:09 So we have to understand these small things. 10:11 It's not that they don't want to do it 10:12 they just don't know how to do it. 10:13 Yeah, definitely, definitely. 10:15 So coming from Maryland and, you know, 10:18 seeing whatever you saw in Maryland, 10:19 how was it for you growing up 10:21 in relation toward number of the young people 10:22 that you deal with? 10:24 Well, for me growing up I was actually raised 10:26 in a nice Christian Adventist background. 10:29 Okay. 10:31 So, I had a good a good home, but the thing about me, 10:33 I was always a sneaky kid. 10:35 Yeah. 10:37 So I could, you know, I play... 10:39 I was two-face, I played one role, you know, at home. 10:42 I played another role outside. Okay. 10:45 It came to the point 10:46 where I was actually just doing all sorts of things 10:50 smoking, drinking, partying, you know, 10:52 fornicating, doing all those the things like. 10:54 Okay. 10:55 And I was just, you know, 10:56 hanging around with different guys. 10:58 One of my best friends actually been in my house. 11:00 I know my parents if they see this, 11:02 they won't be surprised, 11:03 I'm not gonna name his name 11:04 but he was actually a big drug deal around our way. 11:07 Okay. 11:08 And so, you know, I hung with him all the time. 11:10 You know, I sold not really for money 11:13 but just to help him out kind of thing. 11:14 And, you know, get free weed, smoke every once in a while. 11:17 So, you know, things like that, you know, so I was really, 11:20 I really wasn't, I was turned off by Adventist. 11:23 Okay, okay. 11:24 I was turned off and I just really thought 11:26 that people in the world were more real. 11:29 Okay. That was the mindset that I was in. 11:31 Okay, now define then what you mean by 11:33 "You thought people in the world 11:34 more real than Adventist". 11:36 I thought my, my faulty thinking logic back man 11:39 was that, you know, there were no Adventists like me. 11:42 Okay. 11:43 You know, the people that I encountered, 11:46 I felt a lot of them. 11:47 And I was, I'm looking at it 11:49 just from I was just making generalization 11:51 of a certain select people. 11:52 I thought, some people thought they were better, 11:54 I went to church, you know, 11:56 sometimes I actually didn't want to go to church 11:57 when I was a teenager. 11:59 Yeah. And I went to church. 12:00 I get dirty looks because of the way I dressed 12:01 and different things like that. 12:03 So I'm like, "Why would I go here 12:04 to a supposed house of God 12:06 when I get love out here in the streets?" 12:08 So because of that I was more drawn in 12:12 and catered toward the street, 12:13 I also actually because of my grades dropping 12:17 and my parents seeing the change in me, 12:18 they sent me to an Adventist school 12:20 halfway through high school. 12:21 Okay. 12:22 And it's there that, 12:24 I actually experienced racism... 12:26 Okay. For the first time ever. 12:27 So the whole time that I'm in public school, 12:30 you know, I have all the support and all the love 12:32 but when soon I go to a Christian academy, 12:35 I get teachers that judge me based on the way that I look. 12:39 So because of that, 12:40 I was really done with Adventism 12:42 when I was in high school. 12:43 Okay. 12:45 Now you mentioned, you got involved 12:46 in using a little bit of drugs, drinking, and alcohol. 12:48 What do you think 12:49 was the underlying cause of that being 12:51 that you came from a pretty good home? 12:52 Because generally we sometimes think, okay, 12:56 they come from a good home, father, mother in the home 12:58 as well as you know good Christian morals 13:01 going to church different things like that. 13:03 But then still the child ends up drinking, smoking, 13:07 and, you know, some people look back and like, 13:09 "I didn't raise this child this way". 13:10 You know, I didn't raise them to be around 13:12 these type of people. 13:13 What do you think was the underlying factor 13:15 that led you to there? 13:16 The underlying factor was definitely anger. Okay. 13:19 See, the thing is I never really had 13:22 a good way of expressing anger. 13:24 I never really had the way that, you know, 13:27 a good way of showing or expressing the way I felt 13:30 so a lot of times they would just come out, you know, 13:32 with backlash and I would just be very angry 13:34 and very adamant, 13:36 so because of that what those things did, 13:38 they not even necessarily the alcohol 13:40 but like I smoked black 13:42 and mild's a lot and I smoke weed. 13:43 But it kind of calmed me down. Okay. 13:45 It kind of made me not as belligerent as I usually was 13:49 'cause I have it in me to really be very reactionary. 13:52 Okay. 13:53 And because of that, you know, 13:55 I just started taking these things 13:56 in order to calm, calm ease those, 13:58 those troubles that I was having. 14:00 Okay, definitely. 14:01 Now, between yourself 14:03 as well as working with the young people 14:06 in Huntsville, 14:07 what have you noticed some of the deficiencies 14:09 that a lot of young people are facing today 14:11 a lot of the problems that they're facing in the home, 14:13 in the streets with friends, things like that? 14:15 That's a great question. 14:16 The deficiencies that a lot of these young guys 14:18 are facing is lack of motivation, 14:21 lack of vision, lack of purpose. 14:24 Okay. 14:25 These things come because a lot of our households don't have, 14:30 you know, especially, in lower income families, 14:33 you know, there's usually just one parent, 14:35 or, you know, if it's just a mom, 14:37 she's working all the time to provide for her kids. 14:39 Okay. 14:40 So there is nobody there in order to, you know, 14:44 as far as a father figure in order to lay structure, 14:46 a lot of these moms, you know, 14:48 sometimes it is hard raising a young man as a woman. 14:51 So, you know, they're kids, you know, 14:53 kind of run around and do what they have to do. 14:56 And the thing about it is, 14:58 even I've talked to a kid the other time in church... 15:00 Okay. 15:02 The other day, and he was just telling me how... 15:04 I was just talking to him 'cause I saw him. 15:05 I was actually sitting downstairs in church. 15:07 Okay. 15:08 And suddenly the Holy Spirit just told me look up. 15:09 So I looked up, I see this kid that I've talked to, 15:11 we've had conversations before. Okay. 15:13 I go all the way up to where he is 15:15 'cause he's in the balcony, 15:16 I just sit down and talk to him. 15:17 And I'm just trying to see how you doing in the school 15:19 and all of the stuff and he just has this, you know, 15:21 really "I don't really care" attitude. 15:22 Yeah. 15:23 So, you know, so we started going back and forth 15:25 into questions and he was like... 15:26 I was asking him, 15:28 "Do you even care if you live or die?" 15:29 He's like, "No". 15:30 Wow! 15:32 I was like, "so why, you know, why you just felt, 15:33 why don't you care?" 15:34 He's like because, I mean, it really doesn't matter 15:36 if I'm here today, I'm here. 15:37 If I'm not, I'm not. 15:39 So the fact of the matter is that 15:40 we have to understand it's not even just the kids, 15:43 a lot of times we look outside of the church 15:45 and say, "Oh, we need to help these kids". 15:46 They're kids inside that church 15:48 that right now that are dying inside 15:50 because they lack vision, they lack purpose, 15:52 and it's our job as the church family, 15:54 especially as church men, 15:56 to reach out and to make sure 15:58 that we help guide these young guys. 15:59 Yeah. 16:00 'Cause the only other choice, 16:02 if you don't have a reason for live, 16:03 then you're capable of doing anything. 16:04 Yeah, definitely, definitely. 16:06 So Frontline Ministry tends to work with a lot of young men 16:09 to lead them 16:10 in the right direction, correct? 16:12 That is correct. 16:13 So Frontline Ministry it works with a lot of young men 16:15 but not just that, 16:16 we actually also have done work with a sober living community, 16:21 in fact there's a sober livering, 16:23 sober living, excuse me, company called Restoring every, 16:28 sorry, Restoring Every at Risk Clients Hope or Reach. 16:32 It's actually ran by Miss Chilanta Shrodd 16:36 and the great thing about that 16:38 is it's a avenue for after 16:41 someone has gone through incarceration, 16:43 for them to come into a sober living environment 16:46 because a lot of things that that help deter recidivism 16:50 is having a sober environment where they have structure. 16:53 Definitely. 16:54 We go in there sometimes we have talks with those guys. 16:57 Okay. We do different things like that. 16:59 So we help out with that 17:01 in order to really try to get these guys 17:04 back up on their feet. 17:05 'Cause I would think about is, you know, 17:07 I call them not just them 17:09 but a lot of people on the margins 17:10 The Invisible 17:12 because we walk by them every day. 17:14 Yeah. We act like they're not there. 17:16 You know, no matter whether it's a homeless person, 17:19 orphanages, foster homes, people incarcerated 17:23 because they're not ready, 17:25 they're out of sight out of mind type of thing. 17:26 Yeah, basically. Yeah! Wow! 17:28 So because of that we have to make sure 17:29 that we are not forgetting them 17:32 because as far as Matthew 25 goes 17:36 where it talks about we are supposed to visit and yield 17:39 the sick in the shutting. 17:41 We're supposed to go, 17:42 and we're supposed to go to the prisons 17:44 and different things like that. 17:45 It's just a passion of mine because, you know, 17:47 we usually go and we focus on one area... 17:50 Okay. As a church I see. 17:51 I mean, there's different ministries 17:53 but a lot of the focus is the same thing. 17:55 We have to start branching out and going out to other places 17:59 in our community where people are being passed over freely. 18:01 Definitely, definitely. 18:03 Now you mentioned something a little bit ago 18:04 about our young men seem to lack motivation. 18:08 How do we, how do we help young people 18:11 to get that motivation? 18:13 What can we do? 18:14 Because there's a lot of mothers and fathers 18:16 that see their children 18:17 and they don't want to do anything 18:19 not interested in working, 18:20 all they're interested in is fast money, drugs, 18:22 different things like that. 18:23 But how do we get them motivated even, 18:26 even when young people go to church? 18:27 It's almost like they don't wanna do anything. 18:30 Like you said, what a young man looked mad, 18:32 he was sitting in church, 18:33 and a lot of times the young people just look mad, 18:36 don't wanna be here, 18:38 and they have like this don't, 18:39 "Don't talk to me" look on their face. 18:41 How do you go about motivating them 18:44 in the right direction? 18:45 That's basically kind of a simple answer, 18:48 but it's more complex. 18:49 Okay. 18:50 You really just have to pouring time into them. 18:52 Yeah. 18:53 Yet the pouring time energy a lot of times, 18:55 it's easier to pouring money. 18:57 And money is needed 18:58 but at the same time we have to make sure 19:00 that we are pouring in all of our energy, 19:02 all of our time into these kids. 19:04 The Bible goes, and I always say this, it from, 19:07 Genesis to Revelation, 19:08 one of the repeated things is that we're supposed to, 19:10 as a church, take care of the fatherless 19:12 and the widow. 19:13 Yeah. 19:14 So that taking care is not just, you know, 19:16 every once a while stopping and dropping money. 19:17 It's really being actively involved with Jesus, 19:19 did he built relationships with the people, 19:21 he sat down and he talked with them, 19:23 he ate with them. 19:24 So it's gonna take a lot of time for us as adults 19:27 and especially as men. 19:29 One thing that I did do that I remember every time when I, 19:31 when I before I even started Frontline, 19:34 I went around and people were just, 19:36 I volunteered here and there 19:37 when I was looking for my niche. 19:39 Okay. 19:40 And one of the repeated things 19:41 was we need more black men to help out in our communities. 19:45 We need more people like you. 19:46 You know, where are they, you know, 19:48 so it's like we're missing. 19:49 Yeah. 19:50 We're missing in our communities 19:52 we're missing in action and were so am I. 19:55 And the thing about is we need to make sure 19:56 that we are spending most of our time 19:59 making sacrifice. 20:00 That's what ministry is. 20:01 If you're only doing ministry, when it's convenient, 20:03 that is not ministry. 20:04 Yeah, definitely. 20:06 Because you definitely have to make sacrifices in order 20:07 for these kids to see that you're serious. 20:09 'Cause too many people come in to their neighborhoods 20:12 and just, like I said, throw an event and leave 20:14 and never see them again... 20:15 Yeah, you know, you said something important 20:17 where you said time. 20:18 Time is very important 20:19 because I know with my own children. 20:21 Yeah, getting money is nice, getting things is nice. 20:24 But nothing is more important than that time. 20:26 The kids seem to always remember this person 20:29 took time out of their day. 20:31 And what I've seen, though, is a lot of older folks, 20:35 it's just, a lot just don't have the time. 20:37 And, you know, you give the money 20:39 and different things like that, 20:40 but that's not what the kids need. 20:41 Because I recognize in respect 20:43 what you said in terms of children needing time. 20:46 And when they see that you're coming here, 20:47 not just for a one time event, 20:49 but you're coming repeatedly 20:50 and you're actually getting to know these people, 20:52 and not just pouring money on them and leaving. 20:54 They respect that. 20:56 And I think that's a good thing, 20:57 so that's an encouragement for people to... 20:59 When you get involved in ministry, 21:00 you have to spend time with folks. 21:02 And that's what Jesus did. 21:03 That's exactly what Jesus did and He want people to them. 21:06 Let me ask you another question in terms of, 21:08 you mentioned Matthew chapter 25. 21:09 How do you think your ministry is working 21:12 to fulfill that of Matthew chapter 25 21:14 where Jesus separates the sheep from the goats 21:17 as well as the Great Commission? 21:18 How do you think your ministry Frontline 21:20 is fulfilling that? 21:21 I think we're fulfilling that by simply just making sure 21:24 that we're seeing in a community of the Mary, 21:27 Mary is why we chose Frontline is because, you know, 21:30 a lot of times there's organizations 21:32 that do thing in the background. 21:34 We want to be out there, we want to be, you know, 21:36 seen talking to the drug dealers, 21:38 seen talking to the molesters, seen talking to the abusers, 21:41 seen talking to these people 21:42 because we have to build these relationships 21:44 with these people. 21:46 And you cannot do that from, you know, from a pew. 21:47 Yeah. 21:49 So we, we have to... 21:50 It just came to me and as a matter of fact 21:52 a lot of things. 21:54 God always sends ideas in my mind 21:55 and different things to do. 21:57 And I'm just, I remember for a longest time 21:59 I was thinking, I was like somebody should do that. 22:00 Okay. 22:01 Somebody should do that, somebody should do that. 22:04 And then one day I was saying that and God was like, 22:07 "You're old to know, why don't you do it?" 22:09 Yeah. 22:10 And I was like, "I am old enough now. 22:12 You know, I could do something". 22:14 So, you know, it's something that is not hard 22:16 to start you just, I mean, you just have to start. 22:18 And the thing about it is once you start, 22:20 once you get up out of that pew, 22:21 once you go and talk to people, one thing that you understand 22:24 is that these people are real people 22:26 and they each have their own story. 22:28 And once you start to learn their story, 22:30 you start to see their struggle, 22:31 you start to see their pain, 22:33 you start to see these different things their lives 22:35 from talking to them. 22:37 You have much more of a greater passion 22:39 to being of assistance. 22:41 And that's why, you know, we're so passionate now 22:43 is because, you know, there's nothing like serving 22:45 and that's why I know Jesus took 22:47 all his disciples out to serve 22:49 because that's how faith grows by actually serving 22:51 and being a part of the community 22:53 in order to assist, 22:55 hence the Great Commission. 22:56 Definitely, definitely. 22:57 What are some of the future plans 22:59 and future goals for Frontline Ministry? 23:00 Okay. 23:01 Well, one of the future goals for Frontline Ministry is that 23:04 we are trying to vamp up our after incarceration 23:10 so when they get out, we want to make sure 23:12 that we have not only ways to get them out 23:16 and get them a stable place to stay. 23:18 But we want them to get reacclimatize into society. 23:20 We want to start having especially, 23:23 especially the older guys at church 23:24 and different people from around the community 23:27 who have trades, who have skills, 23:30 we want to make sure that we start these programs 23:32 in order for these guys 'cause, you know, 23:34 especially a lot of people have a hard time finding a job. 23:36 Yeah, definitely. 23:37 So we want them to become their own job makers. 23:39 We want them not so necessarily, 23:41 well, if possible to get a job, 23:43 we want them to get in the mindset 23:44 of let me create my own income. 23:46 You can have your own trade, you can have your own business, 23:47 different things. 23:49 That is correct. 23:50 So let me create my own trade, my own income 23:51 so that I can support myself and my family. 23:53 And then also I we wanted to be discipleship 23:56 so we want to make sure 23:57 that they are able to help other people as well. 24:01 So it's not just we help you, and then you know that's it. 24:04 No, no, we want to make sure that they are able to go ahead 24:08 and return the favor to the next person 24:10 that's coming after them. 24:11 Okay. 24:12 Now, how do you, how do you go about 24:15 or how can the laity go about the church laity 24:18 to go about getting involved in something. 24:20 Because you've mentioned several times 24:21 about people sitting on the church pew 24:23 and, you know, looking around different things like that. 24:26 But how do you get the church, 24:27 the church at large to get motivated 24:29 to do some work with the Lord? 24:32 That's a great question. 24:33 Actually we're still figuring that out now. 24:36 But, you know, some things that do work is 24:39 what I realized is really showing them 24:43 that it's not anything can be in ministry, 24:45 for instance, I go to a great church, 24:48 you know, a brief shout out to first church in Huntsville. 24:53 But one of the pastors there is Pastor Hill, 24:57 Pastor Alfred Hill and one of the things 24:58 he does is so simple he makes homemade popcorn. 25:01 Okay. 25:03 And he just pops homemade popcorn 25:04 and he passes out to people as they go. 25:06 Yeah. 25:07 And through that popcorn, you don't even though 25:09 how many relationships he builds. 25:11 It's because every time he use the same trick... 25:12 Sounds that simple. 25:14 ..he puts a bag of popcorn in your hand. 25:15 Yeah. 25:16 And it's really about the whole point of Ministry 25:18 is to, to really not just first spread the gospel 25:21 is to build that relationship 'cause people have to trust you 25:23 before they can trust Jesus. 25:25 Wow! 25:26 So if they don't trust you, 25:28 then all the Jesus you bring to them means nothing. 25:29 Yeah. 25:30 So we have to make sure that 25:32 we just really do get our feet wet. 25:33 So whatever it is skill that you have, 25:34 one first and foremost let me say this, pray about it. 25:36 Yeah. 25:38 What we don't do, we don't pray about how we can, you know, 25:41 start ministries, or how what ministry we should get it. 25:43 We just kind of jump in and jump around. 25:45 And when we pray for an opportunity to minister, 25:48 God will open the door and you'll start seeing ways 25:51 that you never saw before. 25:52 You start seeing needs that you never saw before 25:54 that you never realized and the invisible starts 25:56 to become the visible to you. 25:58 So it's as simple as just really going in there, 26:01 maybe even going to your church, 26:02 or going to looking around the organization's 26:04 different places, 26:05 see how you can help out and just starting there 26:07 and seeing what the need is in your community 26:09 and how you can help to assist with that need. 26:11 Wow, well. 26:12 Real brief, I want you to talk about 26:14 how you getting involved in ministry 26:17 has helped your spirituality for yourself. 26:19 Oh, that's wonderful! 26:20 Oh, me getting involved in ministry 26:23 actually just elevated my spirituality 26:25 to another level. 26:27 Okay. 26:28 The thing about it is, you know, 26:29 even reading the Bible is nice. 26:31 Yeah. It's good. And it's words. 26:33 But then when you actually go out there 26:34 and you see the things in the Bible in real life, 26:37 it just builds that much more meat to it. 26:40 So when I'm going out and I see and I read the Bible, 26:42 I see how Jesus looked upon the multitude 26:44 he was moved with compassion. 26:46 Okay. 26:47 I didn't know what compassion was 26:48 until I was out in the community serving. 26:50 When I see the suffering, the tears, the cry, 26:53 I mean, I got kids now calling me dad. 26:55 Why? You know, like, I wish you were my dad. 26:56 you want to be my dad. 26:58 You know, and to hear little kids say things like that, 27:01 it's really heartbreaking 27:02 because it just shows that this is something 27:04 that they have been searching for, 27:05 this is something they have been longing for 27:06 and this is what we're supposed to be doing. 27:08 So we must be taking care of the fatherless 27:09 and the widow once again. 27:10 So it really just makes me even that much more motivated 27:13 to do God's work. 27:15 And it's really dig deep into his word 27:16 because I don't wanna mislead anybody using my own personal, 27:20 my own personal self. 27:22 I wanna make sure that I keep everything, you know, 27:23 in Christ. 27:25 So because of that that makes me 27:26 even want to study more, 27:27 make sure that I'm giving all the correct information. 27:29 Yeah. 27:30 You know, I make sure that I'm giving the love 27:32 that Christ is giving nothing love 27:33 that Wale wants to give. 27:34 Wow, I want you to take a couple of seconds, Wale, 27:37 and speak into the camera and talk to that young man 27:39 that's struggling with things. 27:41 I just wanted to tell 27:42 whatever young man is out there struggling with things, 27:44 just hold on, hold on the Christ, 27:46 stick in it, and just remember 27:48 that somebody cares about you and they're on their way. 27:50 Amen, amen. 27:52 Wale, I wanna thank you for being on the program 27:55 and Frontline Ministry. 27:56 We like to thank you for tuning in. 27:57 Join us next time on the New Journey. |
Revised 2017-05-25