Participants:
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR190008A
00:01 Stay tuned to meet two guys that are making
00:03 a huge difference in their community. 00:06 My name is Jason Bradley, 00:07 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:31 Hello, and welcome to Urban Report. 00:33 My guests today are Eric Camarillo, 00:35 president of Salt Outreach, and Lo-Ammi Richardson, 00:38 evangelist and harvest director for Salt Outreach. 00:42 Welcome back to the program. 00:44 You guys have been here on Urban Report before. 00:47 It's been a little while. 00:49 I think it's been about two years. 00:52 Yeah, it's been a minute. 00:53 We also had what we did? 00:55 We did a ministry update at ASI. 01:00 And, you know, the interesting thing 01:02 is to see the development of the ministry overtime, 01:07 you know, you've come on the program, 01:09 you've talked about things that you needed, 01:11 and God's just been fulfilling those things. 01:14 Yeah. 01:16 But since it has been a while, 01:18 I want to reintroduce you to our viewers. 01:22 Eric, tell me a little bit about your background? 01:24 My background, okay. 01:26 Well, I, as you mentioned, president of Salt, 01:29 I just got my masters in non-profit management. 01:32 Okay. 01:33 And certification 01:34 as a certified non-profit professional. 01:38 I grew up in Chicago, you know, 01:41 so I kind of in that city element, 01:44 you know, moved to Orlando and Salt started 01:47 about a year after I became a Christian. 01:50 It was probably, it was 2011, September. 01:53 Nice. And what is Salt stand for? 01:54 So Salt, an acronym for Service and Love Together. 01:58 So the whole concept was, 02:01 you know, there's so many churches in Orlando, 02:04 we wanted to create a vehicle for the churches, 02:07 especially the young people to get together 02:10 to make an impact in the community, 02:12 kind of combine all of that together. 02:14 You know, a lot of young people are leaving the church. 02:16 But we wanted to create a community you know, 02:18 there might be two young adults at this church, 02:20 three at this church, five at this church, 02:22 but when you have a vehicle to give, 02:23 bring them all together. 02:25 Now it becomes a community 02:26 that fosters growth for young adults. 02:29 So that's kind of, you know, why it started so. 02:32 Got you. 02:33 And, Lo-Ammi, tell us a little bit 02:35 about your background, 02:36 and what a harvest director is? 02:41 Predominantly evangelist and harvest director 02:42 for the ministry, Service And Love Together for Salt 02:45 and my upbringing, I kind of grew up 02:47 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church 02:49 or, you know, family, both mom and dad 02:51 were both Adventist. 02:52 So I understood what it meant to be an Adventist 02:54 and go to church 02:55 and participate in all the church programs 02:57 and eventually I left the church 02:59 and, you know, pursued the things of the world, 03:01 and maybe about, so it's about nine years ago 03:03 that God called me back into the fold 03:05 and been in full time ministry ever since. 03:07 And about three years ago, 03:08 I moved back to Orlando and Eric and I met 03:11 and he kind of shared the vision of Salt 03:13 and to component my strengths of evangelism 03:16 and his idea of wanting to do street ministry 03:18 kind of blended together. 03:19 And so I've been with Salt for the last three years now 03:21 kind of being there, 03:23 you know, promoter, evangelist, and speaking for them 03:26 on behalf of their, of the ministry 03:28 and the harvest director, simply, 03:31 we plant the seeds throughout the year, 03:32 and then my job is to kind of harvest them into the church, 03:35 harvest them into the fold of God. 03:37 And so that's kind of a summary of what I'm, 03:40 my current responsibilities in my background. 03:41 Nice. 03:43 Now there's a cycle, if you will, what is this? 03:46 What is this cycle? 03:47 Are there four steps in the cycle? 03:49 Are there five steps? 03:50 I know, it ends in evangelism, but what is the cycle? 03:54 Yeah, so there's different components 03:56 in which we plant seeds, 03:58 you know, we have the outreaches 03:59 which are kind of the more obvious ways 04:01 that we plant seeds, you know, 04:03 creating those relationships with them, 04:06 then we have our growth groups or small groups, 04:08 to kind of bring young adults and even people that we meet, 04:11 just, you know, even co-workers, 04:13 whoever, you know, classmates, to small groups 04:16 to kind of study the Bible together. 04:19 And then after that, we also have our events, 04:23 where we kind of invite people to come, 04:26 some of those are harvest events. 04:28 You know, we'll talk a little bit about that later. 04:31 And, you know, those are kind of the key ways 04:34 that we really engage people and plant seeds. 04:37 And it all ends with our evangelism 04:39 because at the end of the day, you know, 04:41 we want to win souls for Christ, 04:42 you know, there's different avenues 04:44 in which we want to get there. 04:47 You know, but that's the bottom line, so. 04:51 Nice. 04:52 So like, ever since I met you guys, 04:55 I think it was actually at an ASI where I met you, 04:58 either ASI or GYC or something like that. 05:00 I was just blown away by what I saw, 05:03 like the cycle and how it ended in evangelism, 05:06 and how it's really practical Christianity 05:09 and Christ method that you guys are implementing. 05:15 And it was just amazing to see that 05:17 and then to see young people 05:20 so heavily involved in that. 05:23 What are some of the challenges that you guys have faced? 05:28 So challenges in just, in running the organization? 05:31 Just in running the organization. 05:32 So, you know, we primarily, you know, 05:35 when we're dealing with people on the street, 05:36 I mean, there's always a challenge, you know, 05:38 I mean, we're dealing with, you know, homeless individuals, 05:41 for example, they come from all different backgrounds, 05:43 I mean like all different experiences. 05:46 So it's always a challenge to kind of adapt 05:48 to each personality, each person, 05:52 you know, to show them that we care, 05:54 you know, what Paul says, you know, I became, 05:56 you know, all things to all people, 05:57 if it would further the gospel, right? 05:59 So that's kind of one aspect of it. 06:02 I think another challenge, as well is, is young adults, 06:07 you know, comprise our leadership, 06:08 I think our average age is 26, 06:11 or some around that range right there, 26-27. 06:14 And so, you know, young adults, they get married, 06:17 you know, or they go off to school, 06:20 or, you know, they move off somewhere 06:22 or something like that and when that happens, 06:25 now, we have a hole that we have to fill. 06:27 So we're constantly recruiting young adults 06:29 to take on leadership positions. 06:31 So that's another challenge 06:32 to any of that you may be challenged. 06:33 Yeah, it does kind of, you know, life happens, 06:35 and people, you know, 06:37 kind of had to transition out of that, 06:38 you know, out of that specific responsibility that they had. 06:44 And so for us to try to plug 06:45 that in is always been one of the hardest volunteers, 06:48 to try to get volunteers to come out and, 06:50 you know, take ownership 06:52 with some of the responsibilities 06:54 that we have at hand, so. 06:56 Yeah. 06:57 So what's new with Salt? 07:00 Well, there's a lot new. 07:03 Well, last time we were here on this show, 07:06 we were talking about the idea of a shower trailer 07:10 for the homeless. 07:11 We realized that was the next step 07:13 in meeting the needs for the homeless. 07:15 You were at ASI, and some of the viewers 07:19 probably saw as well, the shower trailer, 07:21 we were able to display there, 07:22 we had just gotten it a few days before. 07:25 There's videos we have on social media bus like, 07:28 trying to push that thing in there, 07:30 into the convention center and all that 'cause there was, 07:32 you know, it's difficult, but yeah, we since August, 07:37 we've been operating it, alongside we have our showers. 07:42 So just to give you kind of an idea 07:44 of how the homeless outreach works right now 07:46 is we have the homeless come, 07:50 they go to our clothing trailer, 07:53 which we have a picture of our clothing trailer. 07:56 And once they go to the clothing trailer, 07:58 they get their clothes, they get the towel, 08:00 their hygiene product. 08:02 Then after that, they go over to get a haircut. 08:08 So we also have a picture of you know, 08:10 some of our homeless friends getting haircuts as well. 08:13 And then after that's a change trailer there 08:15 in the background. 08:16 After the shot... 08:17 after that, the haircut, 08:19 they go and they take a shower. 08:21 We have a picture of some of the home, 08:22 our homeless friends lined up sitting down, 08:25 about to go into the shower trailer there. 08:28 And it's, you know, 08:30 the shower trailer has four showers, 08:31 so we're able to really get in a lot of showers there. 08:35 You know, and as a result, 08:37 we've been getting a lot of notice 08:38 from the community, you know, before then, 08:40 you know, we were kind of known more 08:42 in the kind of the Adventist circles and churches. 08:46 But now we have, I kind of have a picture 08:49 to some news stories on Channel 9 08:53 in August of 2018 covered a story on us. 08:57 That's the Orlando Sentinel, 08:58 local newspaper did a story on us as well. 09:01 Channel 13 did a story on us. 09:04 We had the University of Central Florida 09:06 do an article and a story on us they got out there. 09:09 And we're getting more and more volunteers 09:11 that come from that aren't just Adventist volunteers. 09:14 Yes. 09:16 We're getting more and more people 09:17 that maybe even don't even 09:19 have like a religious background, 09:21 but they're wanting to volunteer, 09:23 which is another avenue, 09:24 you know, that we can kind of reach people as well. 09:27 One of the cool things is that 09:28 when they actually connect with young adults, 09:30 having the same purpose and mission, 09:32 and they realize that we're Christian, 09:33 they're like, oh, man, you guys are so chilled 09:35 and easy to talk to. 09:36 And it kind of gives them a fresh perspective 09:38 of what they think Christianity is 09:40 that we're actually wanting to make an impact 09:41 and trying to change lives 09:43 and not necessarily push religion down people's throat, 09:45 like we want to serve the needs of the community. 09:47 And as we do that, they can see, 09:49 man, you guys really care. 09:50 So whatever we share outside of that, 09:52 they're more inclined to listen. 09:53 And so that's been one 09:54 of the huge blessings of actually, 09:56 you know, having volunteers 09:57 from outside of our denomination 09:59 and our faith, to actually see 10:00 that we're wanting to put our faith into action. 10:03 So that's been an actually big blessing. 10:04 Yeah. 10:05 I mean, one thing I just want to mention too is, 10:08 you know, 10:09 the Adventist Church is so populated in that area, 10:12 there's so many people in that area. 10:14 And so, for Adventist to be in the news, 10:17 you know what I'm saying? 10:18 That's, I mean, you know, you don't see that every day. 10:22 You know, may be Florida Hospital, 10:24 you know, maybe there are, you know, advent out now. 10:27 But when you have Seventh-day Adventists 10:30 on all these news stations and all that, 10:31 it really puts us on the map. 10:35 You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. 10:37 So yeah, that's, that's an exciting part too. 10:39 Yeah, that's huge. 10:40 And I can only imagine that, you know, 10:42 how many lives are being transformed, 10:45 not even just, you know, 10:47 the homeless individuals that you guys are helping, 10:50 but the people that are helping them 10:53 that don't go to the church, because like you said, 10:55 they're, you know, they're volunteering, 10:57 and they see that you guys genuinely 11:00 care about other people 11:02 and you're doing something, you see a need, 11:04 and you're doing something about it. 11:06 You're not just saying, okay, I'll pray for you. 11:08 Yeah. 11:09 You know, which prayer is excellent. 11:12 Don't get me wrong. Prayer is powerful. 11:13 We're connecting to God, 11:16 you know, we're communing with God. 11:18 But prayer without works, it's like faith without works. 11:21 Right. 11:23 It's there, you know, it's like, you have a coat 11:25 and somebody's cold, you have an extra coat 11:27 and you're just like, 11:28 I'll pray for you that you warm up. 11:31 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 11:32 You know, and you're able to provide these things. 11:36 And so that is absolutely amazing. 11:40 To me, the shower trailer, 11:42 the change trailer, the haircuts, 11:45 you also help with people preparing resumes, correct? 11:48 Yeah. 11:49 So, you know, 11:50 there's one individual in particular right now 11:53 that we're working with that, 11:56 yeah, I mean, if they need help with resumes, 11:58 we're there to help, you know, we, right now 12:01 we're operating, 12:03 we don't have the funds to operate regularly 12:05 throughout the week. 12:07 That would be our goal. 12:08 If we can operate regularly throughout the week, 12:10 we can really implement a strong program. 12:13 But as we're working on building capacity for that, 12:16 we're providing needs to our friends to the community 12:20 and then once when we're providing those needs, 12:22 we find people that have that need help further 12:25 than what we're offering. 12:27 And then that's when, you know, leadership, maybe volunteers, 12:30 we go and we kind of go that extra mile with them. 12:33 You know, one guy in particular just got a job 12:35 six months ago, saved up $3,000. 12:37 Now we're helping them find a place to move into, 12:40 you know, so there's cases like that little, 12:43 you know, that that we're working with. 12:44 One of the things we actually did was partner up 12:46 with another organization, a lot of our homeless friends, 12:48 they didn't have IDs, identifications. 12:50 Yeah. So we help them to get IDs. 12:52 And so, yeah, everything is usually on a case 12:54 to case basis, we offer a general help, like, 12:57 if you want to closet showers, 12:58 we're able to provide that, but anything outside of that, 13:01 you know, if they need extra, 13:02 then we're willing to try to put them 13:04 with the right people 13:05 who have those strengths that we can help them, 13:07 you know, provide that supply that need 13:09 that they're desiring to have. 13:10 Right and, you know, ultimately, the whole program 13:13 what is gonna be designed to do is to help a homeless 13:16 individual that wants to work. 13:18 Yes. Obtain employment. 13:20 You know, and so things like the IDs, the showers, 13:23 I mean, there was a homeless friend of ours 13:24 before the shower trailer. 13:26 I don't know if I mentioned in last show or not, 13:27 but he had been looking for a job. 13:30 But he hadn't showered in three months. 13:32 You know, I'd see him, he'd be like, "Eric, 13:33 I got another job, job interview." 13:35 I'm like, "Okay, great," you know, 13:37 but I know he wasn't able to shower. 13:41 How is he going to get that job? 13:44 You know, so, you know, ultimately, that's, 13:47 that's what we're driving to 13:49 'cause there's a lot of programs 13:50 in Orlando right now. 13:51 They're helping the chronic homeless, 13:53 they target the worst homeless of the homeless population. 13:56 But there are those that don't have to enter 13:58 chronic homelessness, 13:59 though they're right in the verge 14:01 of entering homelessness, 14:02 that we can help kind of get out. 14:04 And that's the target that we're really shooting for. 14:06 Got you. Got you. 14:09 That's a crucial component too because a lot of times people 14:13 just simply lack resources, they don't know where to go. 14:17 So even by you guys facilitating that connection. 14:21 That's powerful, too. 14:22 I'd like to shift gears and transition a little bit 14:26 into the evangelism aspect of it. 14:28 You know, what does that look? 14:31 How do you prepare your sermons? 14:33 Yeah, so one of my major responsibilities, as you know, 14:37 my home base is in Orlando, Florida, 14:38 but I get a lot of speaking appointments to travel, 14:40 you know, across the country and around the world. 14:42 And so, I want to share this vision 14:44 to as many churches as possible, 14:45 because I've seen that this vision works, 14:47 it's actually jumpstarted 14:49 a lot of our volunteers and our leaders 14:51 who didn't have a relationship with God. 14:52 It jumpstarted for them to have a deeper relationship with God. 14:55 And so, you know, we're talking about 14:57 to why are the youth leaving, they're leaving it 14:59 because they don't have a sense of purpose. 15:01 They don't have a vision or mission to be a part of. 15:03 And so, when they see that there's young people 15:05 in our community that says, "Okay, let's stop complaining, 15:07 let's actually do something." 15:10 They get inspired, they want to actually do something. 15:11 And so for me, a lot of the main responsibilities 15:15 is to try to coordinate harvest events, week of prayers, 15:17 evangelistic series, that all of the connections, 15:20 we just purchased a 15 passenger van. 15:22 So the idea is that, 15:23 you know, we can transport them to these churches, 15:26 where we're having these meetings, 15:27 where they see, you know, 15:29 just the last event that we had, 15:32 you know, they realized I was a preacher, 15:34 they're like, man, I'd like to hear 15:35 you preach the Word. 15:37 And so, you know, those kind of type of connections 15:38 where now they're seeing me serving them, 15:40 or they're seeing 15:42 our volunteers serving and helping, 15:44 that they're willing to allow, listen to a Word because, 15:47 you know, the words are going to have 15:48 far more impact than what we're doing. 15:50 And so, earlier this year 15:51 we actually did a week of prayer, 15:53 entitled, "The Struggle is Real." 15:54 We kind of just walked on practical godliness. 15:56 My intention wasn't to dress up in a suit and tie. 15:59 I was gonna wear a hat and just, you know, 16:01 and let people feel comfortable coming in, 16:03 but they were hearing the message. 16:04 We had a couple of people of interest 16:06 who want to continue on Bible studies, 16:08 there's a picture there, "Not Today Satan." 16:10 So actually, it was an interesting story, 16:12 one of the friends of mine who I connected with, 16:14 he hasn't been in church in years. 16:15 And he said, "Man, what do I need to wear." 16:17 I was like, "Bro, I'm wearing a fitted hat." 16:19 He was like, "Bad, I'm coming in my jeans." 16:20 So he, he showed up, he sat in the back, 16:23 he said, there's a message I needed to hear. 16:24 And we've been, you know, connecting ever since 16:26 and doing Bible studies on the side and so... 16:30 I like that shirt too by the way. 16:32 It's just a theme of life, you know. 16:34 But those type of events that we're coordinating, 16:36 we had one with college pack live in February, 16:38 another harvest event 16:39 that we wanna be able to bring in guest speakers. 16:42 And a lot of people are volunteers 16:43 and people that we ministered, had an opportunity now 16:46 to come and plug into the local churches. 16:48 That's the vision of Salt that we want to create. 16:50 Every month, we're doing some sort of harvest event, 16:53 at least on a Friday night or week of prayer 16:55 or an evangelistic series that everyone 16:57 that we're helping serve, 16:59 they can plug into the local churches, 17:01 and then make that connection 17:02 that if they want to have Bible studies, 17:04 and they want to get baptized, 17:05 they have a church that they're plugged into. 17:07 And so, that's what's very unique 17:09 about our organization, 17:10 we're all different volunteers from different churches. 17:12 So, you know, he goes to the one church, 17:14 I go to another and so, 17:15 I'm very strategic to try to plan, 17:18 you know, events at the churches 17:20 that we attend, and plug in the people 17:22 that we ministered to, 17:23 and hopefully allow the church to grow 17:27 based on the efforts that we're putting in. 17:28 So that's kind of in summary what we're doing, 17:30 all of the service that we're doing 17:32 within the community of Orlando. 17:34 We're trying to connect them with the local churches 17:36 and show them that, 17:38 you know, at the end of the day, 17:39 we're practicing a message that we're, you know, 17:41 not just preaching the message, 17:43 we're actually practicing the message 17:45 that we're preaching, so. 17:46 That is awesome. 17:47 How do you prepare your sermons for that? 17:49 Man, you know, it all depends, I've realized that 17:51 all of the issues that we deal with the issues of the heart, 17:53 and once you can connect with people, 17:56 you know, dealing with people 17:57 with anxiety and depression and, 17:59 and just hope, you know, all of my sermons 18:01 are kind of geared towards that. 18:02 So I realized that I've kind of, 18:05 haven't really got outside of the message 18:07 of dealing with the issues of the heart 18:08 and how we can have victory over our sins 18:10 and how we can have me complete in Jesus 18:12 and I spoke this in, you know, doesn't matter where, 18:16 what aspect of your Christian life is, 18:19 that message resonates with everyone whether, 18:21 you know, the labels that you use, 18:22 whether you're a liberal, or conservative, 18:25 or you're, you know, non-Christian. 18:27 Yep. 18:28 When you speak about the heart, and that you can see 18:29 that there's actually hope in Jesus, 18:31 and that there's, there's something better 18:33 than what I'm experiencing. 18:35 All of my sermons have kind of been geared towards that. 18:37 And then always, at the appeal, 18:39 or at least in one of my presentations, 18:40 I always kind of talk about 18:43 what we're doing is actually a part of the Great Commission. 18:47 It's not just about a relationship with Christ, 18:49 but what do you do with that connection 18:50 with Christ in that relationship 18:52 is to actually go and actually serve other people. 18:54 Yes. 18:55 So by the time that we, you know, 18:56 done with the week of prayer, or that, 18:58 that harvest event, they understand, man, 19:01 God spoke to me, but now He wants me 19:03 to go out and do something, 19:04 because as I'm serving somebody else, 19:06 is actually beneficial for my Christian experience, 19:08 it's not about what I received this, 19:10 what I, what I'm receiving, 19:11 and how I can give to the other people around me. 19:13 So that's kind of how I kind of geared 19:15 all of my sermons and been intentional in, 19:18 in delivering that message. 19:19 Amen. 19:20 Eric, what stories 19:23 or testimonies do you have of lives 19:25 that have been transformed as a result of Salt? 19:27 Yeah. 19:28 So, you know, one of the kind of one 19:31 that we're living right now, that is, 19:34 we have a homeless friend that we took in. 19:38 And, you know, he was, you know, 19:41 he's actually sleeping on our couch. 19:43 You know, in the apartment, me and him are roommates. 19:45 But he became homeless 19:47 because he was diagnosed with cancer. 19:50 Once he was diagnosed with cancer, 19:52 girlfriend left him. 19:53 He couldn't continue his job as an MMA fighter 19:56 because of, he physically just couldn't do it anymore. 19:59 So he started living in the car. 20:01 That's when one of our other roommates, 20:03 you know, had a discussion with him. 20:05 And we decided to take him in. 20:06 And since then, he's going to his treatments, 20:10 he obtained the job, and he's getting paid 20:13 some pretty good money. 20:14 And in IT, that was another background of his. 20:18 And so, soon he's going to be moving out. 20:20 I anticipate, we anticipate like another few weeks, 20:22 he'll be out of there. 20:23 But the craziest, I'm sorry to cut you off. 20:25 The crazy story about that is that he was a former atheist, 20:27 so he never believed in God or anything. 20:30 And so, now he's actually studying to be baptized 20:32 with one of the local pastors. 20:34 Yes. 20:35 And so, seeing it's a difference 20:37 from being outside and serving people. 20:38 But now he actually lives with us. 20:40 He sees how we talk, he see how we eat, 20:42 what we watch, what we do, our conversations. 20:44 Yeah. Right. 20:45 And it's how to start, you know, is it easy? 20:47 Absolutely not, you know, 20:49 'cause you're living with somebody 20:50 you don't really know. 20:52 So there's kind of rules and guidelines. 20:53 But overall, they see that there's a tensionality like, 20:55 listen, we want to help you. 20:57 Yes. 20:58 And sometimes it's tough love, sometimes is, you know, 20:59 grace extended however that relationship calls for, 21:02 but at the end of the day, he said, man, 21:04 I have a relationship with God like 21:06 he labels himself as a Christian now, 21:09 which is kind of crazy. 21:10 If you were to talk to him six months ago, 21:11 he would be like, yeah, I am a complete atheist. 21:14 Now it's like, oh, bro, I'm a Christian. 21:15 Yeah, yeah. 21:17 And so he's studying, he's taking his treatments, 21:18 he's studying to be baptized and so, 21:20 we don't know how severe this cancer is going, you know. 21:24 Yeah, we don't know. 21:26 It's brain cancer. 21:27 Yeah. So it could be. 21:30 We don't know what the outcome will be. 21:31 But he's, you know, 21:34 he's growing in his relationship... 21:35 And he has peace about 21:37 whether I die or not, I got God. 21:38 And that's like has been his emphasis. 21:40 That's what we've been trying to emphasize. 21:41 It has been up and downs with him. 21:43 But that's been the testimony. 21:44 So I tell people, it is not. 21:46 God doesn't call us to say, 21:47 go serve for the sake of serving. 21:49 He's actually teaching us stuff 21:51 about ourselves that we didn't know. 21:52 Because trust me, in this situation, 21:54 I learned so much about myself that I'm like, 21:56 man, Lord, I'm really selfish. 21:57 I'm really self-centered. Yeah. 21:59 Like I got to give when I don't want to give. 22:01 But then when you do and you obey 22:03 what God asks you to do, you see, man, 22:06 somebody is actually being impacted, 22:07 somebody is actually seeing the character of God 22:09 and His love for them. 22:11 And I removed myself, my inconvenience 22:15 out of the way for a moment 22:16 to see how the Lord blessed him. 22:18 And so that's been the testimony where... 22:19 Yeah. This is not ideal. 22:21 We don't have much space or money or anything. 22:23 But this was a situation that is to say, 22:25 hey, let's try to help our brother out, 22:27 he was homeless, living in the car, 22:28 and now went from atheist to now being a Christian, 22:31 from not having a job 22:33 to now getting paid very good money, 22:35 you know, now, you know, on the process of, you know, 22:37 getting back on his feet in the next week or so. 22:40 That is huge. Yeah It's crazy. 22:42 God really was orchestrating all that. 22:44 I remember it, 22:46 because he also struggles with depression, 22:47 obviously, with everything going on. 22:49 I mean, and I remember looking up some, 22:52 some counseling things. 22:54 I'm like, maybe we can find some free counseling for you 22:57 and I thought, I saw free counseling. 23:00 I'm like, "Hey, I think I found some, call him." 23:01 He said, "Okay, I'll call him." 23:03 He called and he started going. 23:05 The person actually charges, I think, it's 200 an hour 23:09 or something like that, something crazy like that. 23:12 And the thing is though, as he sat there with her, 23:15 supposed to be an hour session, three hours, and said, 23:19 "Don't worry about paying me. 23:21 I like you. 23:22 Keep coming. Just keep coming." 23:24 The next session next week, he tried to counsel with her. 23:27 He's feeling depressed. I can't do this anymore. 23:29 Sorry. 23:30 She called him over and over and over again 23:31 until he picked up. 23:33 She said, "I'm not giving up on you, come in." 23:34 He came in, three more hours. 23:36 Like, it's only God, you know, it's only God 23:40 that's really helping to meet all of his needs. 23:42 And there's a level of sacrifice involved. 23:44 You know, there always is. 23:46 And like he said, it's not easy. 23:47 But we're all called to this work. 23:50 We don't have the capacity as an organization 23:52 as a whole to start housing homeless individuals, 23:55 but once we do, we have this prototype we're building. 23:58 You know what I'm saying? 24:00 And that's exciting. 24:01 Yeah. 24:03 The beautiful thing about that story 24:05 and that testimony too 24:06 is the fact that it really shows 24:08 how bad God wants to reach 24:11 everyone that He can possibly reach. 24:13 I mean, the fact that he went to a counselor 24:16 that charges $200 an hour, 24:20 this counselor spent three hours with him 24:23 and said don't worry, don't worry about it. 24:25 And then wanted to see him again, 24:27 and wanted to see him again, like God is so merciful. 24:30 God is amazing. Yes. 24:32 And it's awesome to see that you guys took him 24:36 in to your home. 24:40 You know, it allowed him to live with you 24:42 and get back on his feet like that. 24:45 That's huge in and of itself too. 24:47 You know, you guys are so busy helping everybody else. 24:51 How can people help you? 24:53 How can people help the organization of Salt? 24:55 What do you need? 24:57 Yeah, so a major need right now is a truck, 25:01 we need an F250 or equivalent truck 25:04 to pull our shower trailer. 25:06 We've had to rent shower trailer, 25:08 I'm sorry, rent trucks. 25:10 And it's been costing us money. 25:12 You know, there's some volunteers 25:13 that can pull once in a while, 25:14 but it's not always guaranteed. 25:16 Sometimes they cancel. So a truck is a huge need. 25:19 Our next project is also... 25:21 Does it need be four wheel drive or...? 25:24 As long as it can tow up to 12,000 pounds minimum, 25:29 we're good. 25:30 And then also, we're working on a kind of like a storage, 25:35 a mobile storage. 25:36 So when a homeless individual has an interview, 25:40 or a job to go to, 25:41 they can store their belongings in a truck 25:43 that we put lockers in 25:45 and that they can go off and do that. 25:47 So that's, like, kind of like a moving truck. 25:48 Yeah. 25:50 So that's kind of, those are kind of 25:51 our two major needs right now. 25:53 The wild card is we, you know, a lot of us, 25:56 all of us is actually volunteering our time. 25:58 What ideally what would like to do is 26:01 hire on full time workers, 26:03 you know, at least one or two positions 26:05 that they can focus all of their energy on Salt, 26:07 because at least this past, 26:09 you know, year, Eric, full time job, 26:11 full time relationship, 26:12 master's degree, everything, and so and full time Salt. 26:16 So you know... 26:17 And he still manages 26:19 to look like he got a good rest or something. 26:23 I graduated on Friday, so I'm sleeping good, you know. 26:26 But essentially, we want to be able to play employers 26:29 to focus all of their energy on so and so that's, 26:32 you know, because once we exert all of our energy, 26:33 and then that we can, 26:35 everything will kind of wanting to be. 26:36 We need to build capacity, and the only way we can do that 26:39 is through funds, you know, and so. 26:42 Absolutely Yeah. 26:44 I want to put your contact information up. 26:46 And then, Eric, if you want to tell us. 26:49 Yeah. 26:50 Oh, that's a testimony itself. 26:52 I'm not going to go into that how we got that office. 26:54 But that office is 100 East Pine Street, Suite 110. 26:58 Orlando 32801, 27:01 and our number is 866-237-2589. 27:07 And that's 866 B Salty 27:11 and our website saltoutreach.org. 27:14 Nice. 27:15 And it's Orlando, Florida? 27:16 Orlando, Florida. Yes, yes. 27:18 There's lot of Orlandos, so it's in Florida. 27:20 Orlando, Florida. That's right. 27:21 And make sure that it arrived to you. 27:23 Yes. 27:25 I can't believe our time is almost up. 27:28 I mean, this interview went by so fast. 27:30 You guys can't stay away for too long again. 27:34 I mean, it seems like so much has been going on with Salt. 27:37 And God has just been using you guys to do amazing, 27:41 amazing things. 27:42 I'm inspired. 27:44 I hope our viewers at home are inspired. 27:46 I want to thank you for joining us today. 27:49 Thank you for having us. Thank you. 27:50 Always. Yeah, always love coming here. 27:52 Yes. 27:53 It's always great to have you and thank you for joining us. 27:56 Get involved in your community, make a difference, 27:59 exude practical Christianity and remember, 28:02 tune in next time 28:04 because it just wouldn't be the same without you. |
Revised 2019-07-22