Faith in Action—Agape Community Services, August 10, 2026

Tune into Faith in Action at 9 a.m., Monday, August 10 on Channel 88.1 FM, Siouxland Catholic Radio. Host Joanne Fox talks with Agape Community Services.

Faith in Action is brought to you by Mary's Choice, a Sioux City Pregnancy Resource Center. Previous Faith in Action programs can be found at siouxlandcatholicradio.com, on YouTube, and on several other podcasting platforms. Programming is subject to change.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Hello, listeners of Channel 88.1 FM, KFHC Poncassoo City, and K O I A Storm Lake. I want to welcome you again to this edition of Faith in Action. I'm your host, Joanne Fox, and if you're tuning in on a Monday at 9 a.m., well, thank you so very much. But maybe you're tuning in on a Saturday at 7 p.m. and uh just relaxing and and listening to us, and I appreciate that as well. Or maybe at your convenience, you went to our website, Siouxland CatholicRadio.com and clicked on local programs and clicked on Faith in Action, and you are listening at your convenience. And again, we are very thankful for that. But we are also on Spotify, YouTube, and a number of other podcasting platforms, and that's all due to the generosity of Mary's Choice, a Sioux City Pregnancy Resource Center, which is the exclusive underwriter for this show. Well, listeners, as you know, this show is pretty much about me and my friends, and I just keep bringing people on at my leisure because I enjoy them. So today I've got some very special guests, and it was brought to my attention because I saw it all over the media that we have a relatively new agency in Sioux City. It is Agape Community Services. Did I pronounce that correctly? You did. Oh, Rochelle, thank you so much. And it is a Christ-centered long-term addiction recovery and counseling ministry. It's here in Sioux City, and it uh primarily helps men. And they just recently broke ground on an extensive uh nine to twelve month residential facility. And it was so exciting, and so I reached out um to uh my my new best friends, uh Rochelle Rosson and Stormy Poss and invited them to come on the show and talk to the listeners a little bit about this ministry and maybe what's on the forefront for the future. So, ladies, welcome so much to the studio. It's great to see you both. Thank you. It's delighted to be here. We're delighted to be here.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Oh, it's good to see you, Joanne.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Thank you. Well, Rochelle, since you're kind of the driving force behind this, why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 2:09

I'm so glad you asked. So Woodbury County is the second highest for kids born out of wedlock. We are the fifth highest for addiction, we are the fifth highest for single parent rates, we are the sixth highest for foster care, and the second highest to send people to prison county in all of Iowa. And so our mission is to take individuals, starting with men, and put them into households as husbands, fathers, and leaders and end absenteeism and to restore the gospel into the center of families. Oh, fabulous. Now, are you a native of this area, Rochelle?

SPEAKER_02 2:49

I am, Serge Sergeant Bluff. Sergeant Bluff is. That's close enough. Yeah, that's Sioux land. Yeah, yes. So I guess I would have to ask the the burning question: what does the word agape mean? And how did you or your board or whoever come up with you could have called it many things, like healing here, or you know, so many things, but maybe listen tell the listeners about the word agape.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Well, God is love, right? And uh, you know, I agape means love. It's a it's a choice, it's not a feeling, and it's the love that comes from God. When everybody else is burnt out and um says, throw them away, uh, God says, you know what, welcome back every time I'm I'm here. All that the Israelites had to do is cry out and repent, and the Lord would say, Here I am. And that's just equally as true for us today. And uh so it is called agape because of it's God's love, community services because we believe we're better together, and the Lord made us for community. And uh my favorite thing to say is team Jesus. Okay. And uh additionally, uh, you know, I have been a sponge of good and bad leadership and have worked for places or been around places where the leadership um was unhealthy and ended up hurting the employees, which ended up hurting the people they serve. And so I I always say, I don't care if you're the Amazon delivery truck driver or uh the post office man or a volunteer that is dropping off of a clothing donation that we don't need, you are gonna, if you walk onto the lands of agape, I want you to experience and feel the love of Christ.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Okay, excellent. Well, Stormy, tell the listeners a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Well, I've been around obviously the Catholic world for quite some time, and I used to run the um Rachel's Vineyard retreats uh that are still around, and as a matter of fact, this last weekend I was part of the prayer team for the one in Minnesota. Um they are up and running, so anybody that ever needs anything like that, um they're running a retreat about once every three months, so just put a plug in for that. Um after I was having a difficult time in Iowa getting our participants, I was just praying one day and said, Lord, what is it that you want me to do? I know that there's something else that you have me called to. And I was at a coffee shop um with a politician, actually. I I also go down to the legislature and try to do criminal justice reform with the legislature. And as I'm having coffee, um, I see this gal out of the corner of my eye, and I can tell that she wants to talk to that politician because if there's ever if they're ever in the room, by gosh, you're on edge seeing if you can get a few minutes with them. Anyway, we stood up and she started to walk that direction, and he he saw Rochelle and he said, You know what? You two need to talk. And that was how we actually met was in that coffee shop, and so then we met together, and Rochelle told me about agape, and it sounded absolutely wonderful. I did some prayer on it, and the Lord just kept crossing me in paths, um, different people, different things like that. And so, long story short, Rochelle asked me to uh join their board, which I am doing I did last month, and now we'll start going and working with her and trying to make a difference, and that's the beautiful thing is being difference makers in the world, and right now God is calling me to this, and so I can't wait. It's very exciting.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

We love God moments here at the station. I can't tell you how many times we've had people on, and it's been uh well, I call it the Holy Spirit working in mysterious ways because you were both in the coffee shop at the same time and there was a politician. Again, it's and I have another friend who calls it a God wink, which I'm I'm I'm pleased with that too. But let's backpedal just a little because um I'm curious about how agape came into being, and I bet Rochelle, you can kind of explain to the listeners how that happened.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Well, if you're if you're ready for a Jesus story, that's what I call him. I I I I I would be willing to tell it today. Okay. Okay, so um I have a a really big story myself. Although agape is not about me, it is only about the Lord. When it is open, you will not say, Oh, that's my friend Rochelle or Shelly. You'll be like, Yeah, that has to be God. Uh, but um, you know, I I I grew up your typical trauma child, uh, loved the Lord as a little girl, and um, although fell away for a time, ended up in some abusive relationships and an addiction, which ended me up in federal prison. And I'm so glad I went. Uh, they were holy ground moments. I had stepped away from that life for a year before I even got indicted to go to federal prison. And um, I would wake up every day and I would say, How bad can this day be? I get to spend it with Jesus. And while I was in there, I went through this program called RDAP. It's such a good program. It gave people a year and a half off of their prison sentence if they could complete it. And um, like I said, I knew I knew Jesus. Um, and I when I was even in jail, I would spend probably about 12 uh hours a day in the Word because I recognized there was a problem and it was with me, and that I needed to get deep roots, and like even though I knew Jesus, clearly I believed some lies and had some holes in my heart that ended me up in prison in the first place. And uh um I wanted to really figure out who he was so I could figure out who I was. And while I was in this program in prison, I said, God, this is such a good program. You should really open this in Sioux City. And I felt like he said, You should do it. And I said, God, you got the wrong girl. Um, you know how the story goes. I said, God, you got the wrong girl. And I'm in prison, I don't have any money, I don't have a business degree. And then he reminded me of every Bible character ever: Moses, Nehemiah, David, Gideon. And um, so I prayed and fasted for 40 days. I gave up sugar and starch. And if you know prison, that's really all that you get. And uh gave up sugar and starch, and my prayer was God, if this is what you want me to do, soften hearts, prepare paths, and open doors and make it clear. And on I I prayed circles over that every day. And um, and on the day that I broke my fast, you know how in Isaiah 58 it says, if when you fast and pray, if you're not like, hey, look at me, I'm fasting, and if you're if you're kind, and all the things it says that um you will cry out, and that when you break your fast, you will cry out, and the Lord will say, Here I am, and the glory of the Lord will go before you, and his righteousness will be your rear guard, meaning he will answer you, he will get glory, and he will have your back. And so on the day that I broke my fast, this Spanish-speaking girl invited me to her church. Within prison, people can come in different churches, can come and visit, and I don't speak Spanish, uh, at least nothing appropriate at the time. And um I I ended up going and it was in Spanish as I had anticipated, but halfway through in English, he may have said it in Spanish first. I don't know. He said, I I don't normally do this, but I have a message for someone and it is so intense. Let me lay hands on you. And I took that as an altar call. I knew Jesus, I wasn't gonna go forward, but um one of my bonitas pushed me forward. I ended up going and he ended up laying hands on me, and tears started streaming from his face, and he said, It is you, daughter, it is you I have the message for. God wants me to tell you that he is softening hearts, he is preparing past, and he is opening doors. Um, and and you will preach the good news. And he ended up repeating my same prayer back word for word, verbatim to me, other than the good news part that was not in my vocabulary. Um, and it was one of those moments where I I looked at my neighbors like, did I just make this up? Did this just happen? And so I said, Okay, God, and uh I've just been that was 12 years, about 12 years now, and so I've been praying for this for over 12 years, and I knew it would start with a conversation and a piece of land. And now today we own 40 acres of land, have uh raised 4.2 million dollars for the building, and have 750,000 pledged towards first year's budget, and we're about to begin our outpatient services here in the fall. Our building will be completed June of 27. And um, in the meantime, I have gone to school and um I we did end up raising some money, and God put some really wise people in our path, and everything we're doing, which I'll tell you about if you want to know, is evidence-based and um very well thought out and planned.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

And I'm just so shocked because um, you know, Stormy and I have been involved in a lot of projects in our lives and you know, putting things together and you know, cultivating friendships and relationships, and you know, trying to accomplish events or um uh or whatever, you know, to try and build up, because we're all trying to, you know, be brothers and sisters in Christ and build up the family of God. So I've gotta ask you, Rochelle, even though you've been talking a lot, it is just so remarkable. How do you go from yes, God, I'm going to do this, to the i the implementation, because the devil's in the details. Yes, we want to do this, but then how did you cultivate people to get on board? I think it's another God moment. That's what I'm thinking. You should read my prayer journals. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

Uh yeah, um, I just can everywhere I went, I would talk about it. I would continue to pray about it. And um in 2020, we formed our I I in the very beginning, I I literally would just everywhere I went have a conversation. And um, a lawyer ended up putting together a 501c3 pro bono, an accountant did it pro bono. We developed a board. Uh, we wanted to bring um multiple churches together, a body of believers, and developed our board. And then it was just really do we start small, do we start big? In the meantime, I um went to school through Colorado Christian University uh for nonprofit management, and uh I was just praying about God for God to bring the money, and um I called somebody originally for a reference on someone, and and and I also personally like started giving financially to this. Like, I mean, even even in the very beginning, I would go and have coffee with somebody and I would say, Hey, I'm supposed to open this treatment center, and I don't even know what I'm doing. And the next day they would be like, Pierce $10,000. And um, yeah, no, it's it's really and I would and I can remember even the first $10,000. Um, it was a business owner in our community that had some auction items they sold and they had cash and they had a big wad of cash and they didn't even know how much it was, and they're like, Hey, God told me I was supposed to give this to you. And my kids and I were counting it like at my house, like it felt like so much money, you know, and then put it into our bank at the time. And um, and he's just like been refining it, but even our lead gift that came in, I was not calling to ask for money, I was calling for a reference on someone, and they said, Hey, uh, tell me about this treatment center you're opening. Well, why don't you come and present to our team? And I went and presented and they said, Let's buy the lands, build brand new. Um, and then they pledged a $2 million lead gift for us, and they put um half a million towards the lands. The city gave us a $210,000 forgivable loan because we bought the land from the city, uh, which was $710,000 based on people that we serve. And then um they put $750 in the bank for the building, and then $750 pledged towards first year's budget. We got a two million dollar check from um legislation that I didn't ask for and I didn't apply for. I had one meeting with Director Garcia and Director Marissa, which is head of health and human services and mental health. And um then before you know it, I got a and I was praying and fasting for it, got a two million dollar check that I didn't even know was coming. And um, and yeah, Zagog just keeps doing. We got the things we we've gotten some other grants and and all community donors, um, Empirical Foods is going to do their golf tournament for us coming up. I and and in the middle of this, I've had a second cancer journey, and um, I'm so grateful because uh that the Lord would even trust me with the cancer and agape because I'm not kidding you, in my time of sickness, I would pray about it and God would do it. The enemy would come for me and say things like, How are you gonna raise the rest of this money? And I would wake up in the morning and say, God, can you drop a box of money on our lap today? And somebody would call me and say, Hey, that I was not expecting. Hey, I we want to give the biggest donation we've ever been able to give. We have $40,000, a box of money. Um, just time after time. It's I I literally can take no credit. But the programming is the exciting thing and the difference. It's not just about the the financial uh sustainability that we have received, but um more about the evidence-based quality programming that we're going to give. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

Yeah, very exciting. So, Stormy, what did you know about this agape thing before you were in the coffee shop?

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Did you know anything? I knew nothing about it at all. But um obviously a lot of people know that I've been um dealing with prison ministry, different things like that throughout the years. And as Rochelle and I were talking, one of the things that we were discussing is one of the bills that I was working on is people that um have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and looking at you know possibly getting out of prison if they had family or if they had different things like that. And so as we were talking, because that bill that I was looking at doing went through human health and human services, because it is not really a judiciary thing, but it is more of a um health issue. And also um, you know, I've worked with our bishop and different people that have been along and asked anybody, it's kind of like with Shelley you you you go in, you talk to somebody and they give you just a nugget, but then they know somebody else that knows something else, and all of a sudden a door opens up, and when God wants you to do something, he's the one that opens up those doors. And I my main prayer that I always say, because I don't want to waste my time, their time, and most especially God's time of what he wants me to do, is Lord, if you want me to do this, open up the door. And if you don't want me to do this, close that door. Because obviously, if people know my personality, I can be very persistent and um sometimes get off on my own, and I have to pull myself back and rein myself in to know that I need to do what God wants me to do. So that's the beautiful part of this is that I believe with all my heart that God has placed us path crossed our paths because there's certain things that she and I will be working on together, um, only to better the kingdom of God and for those that are uh marginalized that people tend to forget about. Um and so that's just kind of I what it kind of came to me one night at three o'clock in the morning, because that's usually what happens when I can't sleep, um, you know, was that um my role in this was the Catholic bridge. Um, you know, she has 15 churches, and of course they want all these churches to be involved. They do not want one church to come and just minister to these people. They want the people to be ministered to what they're familiar with, what they have been familiar with in the past. And so we started just talking about where does the Catholic Church fall into this? Where where can we serve as this? Obviously, we know we we serve more people, more poor, more than any other religion. However, um in the community sometimes um we kind of tend to get inside of our box. And so I feel like my role in this, in addition to just being part of Agape, because everything that I hear about it is so beautiful, and I I I wanna know Rochelle's gonna get into that in just a minute, but um not only did I want myself to be part of it, but I wanted my church to be part of it. I wanted the leaders in our church, um, and and they've have been very generous donors on on the from the Catholic Church, but even more importantly than that, what we need is leaders, men especially, because we're starting with the men, because obviously the men, if they're the leaders in the household, uh, you know, that a lot of the women are going to follow. And so because of all that, um I wanted to get our men, our Knights of Columbus, our prayer groups, our men's prayer groups involved that they could be some kind of mentors. But in order to do that, you have to know about agape. And so that could lead us right into what I'd love for Michelle to talk about, and that is the men's conference that is coming up. That we would like to invite all of our um men that are our listeners to this Catholic radio station to pray about this and consider whether God is calling you to this conference.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

Yeah, absolutely, and I was aware of it too because um, well, I just follow everything on social media, you know, I stalk Facebook and Twitter and all those good Instagram. And so I saw it. So, listeners, this might be a good time to get a piece of paper and a pen. The men's conference, it's called Battle Ready. I just love that that title, Battle Ready Men's Conference, Saturday, August 15th, Feast of Our Lady of the Assumption, for those of us Catholics, and it's going to be from 10 until 2, so 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. And lunch is going to be provided. It is going to be at Elevate Community Church. That's here in Sioux City. So um again, we'll talk a little bit more about that. But it is really it's a fundraiser because there's a cost to attend, $80. So you're gonna hear from speakers and how to put on the spiritual armor of God and and really look at the purpose that God has for us in our life. Now, this is for men, but you know, as we pray about uh the success for this, it's us women too. So, Rochelle, why don't you address it a little more? Because, you know, it it's always a challenge. How do you bring people together? Because you don't have the facility yet. So how do you bring them together? And and in what dynamic do you bring them together? Do you do a breakfast, do you do a lunch, do you do a few speakers? So maybe explain to the listeners how this battle ready men's conference came about.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Yeah, so it occurred to me that God's funny, and I'm a female trying to uh open a men's treatment center. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks, Jesus. Uh when he told me a long time ago that I was supposed to open this, I didn't know that we would be starting with men. The reason we're starting with men is because we do believe the Bible that the man should. Be the leader in the household, and there's actually a scientist science evidence based that if the man knows the Lord and um is stable, that 93 to 85 percent of women and children will follow, and so that's why we're starting with the men eventually because we have 40 acres of land, we will have teens and women, but financially we have to start somewhere. We also didn't want to repeat services in our community. We have women's and children's here. Um, we're not coming in to say that we are better than anybody else. We believe we're better together. But uh yeah, you know, I used to work at Safe Place and I would do all these wraparound services with the women, and they would always want the man to know. I worked in the juvenile justice system with kids and get them mentors and all the wraparound services, and they would go back to households without fathers. And so that's why we're starting with the men. But um, because I'm a female, uh the Lord, you know, woke me up in the middle of the night and was like, Hey, you need the men to step up for the men. And so we have all these, you know, sisterhood events and uh Eden and Ember and all of these women events, and us women, we like to drag it out, and so we'll do a good Friday night, a Saturday. Um, but men, they like it to be in and out, right? They want the meet and they want to go. So we planned a date August 15th, which is before football season. Uh-huh. After the end of summer and right before school starts. And uh it's 10 to 2. It is meet. There's Dr. Raoul Sanchez, which owns Renewing the Minds Clinic. Uh, he's a uh a clinical psychologist for I I like 28 years or or more. He has a lot of experience. He does a lot of coaching and he really believes in helping raise up men as leaders. Uh Morningside coach Steve Ryan is one of our speakers. And then, yep, and then um a pastor uh Chris Versteg, who really believes in fatherhood from Elevate Church. We're using Elevate's facility because uh Chris is on our board and it can house 450 people. And we want all the men from all of the communities, it doesn't matter your um status, right? Like you can from from all different types, men to bring their sons to come together as Team Jesus, and or maybe it would be a great opportunity to bring somebody that doesn't know the Lord for this conference. Um, and you know, you don't know what God's gonna do in that either. So come together and to step up as husbands, fathers, and leaders and go out and be battle ready. There are will be some breakout sessions. Coach Steve Ryan is really passionate about fatherhood programs, and um, I am gonna get to talk about agape and what it is we're doing so that every the men can hear about it. It is $80 a ticket. Um, Chick-fil-A is donating lunch, which is super cool. A hundred percent of the money is gonna go towards the road that is paved that comes into agape. We're gonna have a sign um when you walk into agape's land that says welcome to the road of freedom and redemption. And we wanted the men to pay for the actual foundation. The goal is sixty-eight thousand dollars. Uh, and then I'm gonna take a picture of everybody at the men's conference and hang it on our donor wall. Um, but I I don't want somebody who's listening who maybe doesn't have the money to not come. So I do have um somebody and I'm looking for more people if you would be interested in scholarshipping tickets, so that way we can, I mean, because we want everyone to kind of like the first mission is the men coming together and helping to leave um with an action plan. The second is of course we need the money for agape.

SPEAKER_02 25:35

So, and I'm so glad you said that because yes, we understand we have listeners, you know, who might not have the the means to attend something like that. And of course, on the other hand, we do have listeners who like to donate because they would like to see someone else attend. So you have a website.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

We have a website, I have an email, and my phone number is also listed on there. You could send me a text. Okay. No problem. And and we'll get it, we'll get it taken care of. So the the the website is um agape a g A P E Su Land S I O U X L A N D dot com. Okay, pretty simple. Or 712-899-0920.

SPEAKER_02 26:14

Okay, and that is listed on the website as well. And listeners, you know, if you weren't fast enough to write that down, all you gotta do is Google Agape Sioux City, and boom, it'll come up and you'll see everything there.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Now the registration is spelled A-G-A-P-E, just in case.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Yes, there you go, listeners. So let me ask you this. Um uh I'm I know of someone who I think would benefit from attending, so I'm gonna kind of cultivate that and encourage him. And then does he have to register ahead of time?

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Yeah, yeah. So here's the deal. I do need at least a week ahead of time since Chick-fil-A has been so generous. Both of them are coming together to do this. Uh, because I really am praying that God brings 450 men together. Um, but you know what? If God wants to do a small thing also more intimate and only a hundred men come together, like we'll be delighted for that because we I trust God and you know, whatever he's doing, he's doing. We just say yes. But we do need to know at least a week or um, you know, as much before time as possible because we do need to get them the meals counted. However, I think I'm going to order maybe some over um just for those last minute men. I don't want you to be like, oh, I can't go, or you know, I'll run to Chick-fil-A myself and get the extra meals if I need to. There's there's no roadblock that's gonna stop someone from coming. So that's right.

SPEAKER_02 27:35

And uh, you know, we've been involved, all of us, in um events in which sometimes that happens is you are running down to the grocery store to the restaurant because we understand people's lives change, and all of a sudden you can't go, you can't go, oh my gosh, I can go. And then you show up and so do five of your close personal friends, which you're going, yay! And then you're going, but I'm counting, you know, the Chick-fil-A stuff.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

Or even if you can't go, you could just get a ticket anyway. This because I mean, you know, pay for a ticket if you feel like maybe it's a maybe just because you want to donate um 80, or you could do more, or what at to the to the event.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Absolutely. And again, listeners, that's all on the website agape suit, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:19

You it's Sue Land's dot com, but you can just put it Agape Su City and it'll come up in Google. And it'll come up in Google.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

Okay. So that kind of segues us over to Stormy again because I know how much you're involved with all kinds of things like I am too. And um you are on the board and you didn't necessarily have to be on the board. This is not one of the Ten Commandments, you know, they shall be on the agape board. But you chose two after you were invited. And so maybe you could tell the listeners what went into that decision.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

Quite honestly, it is just um God. Plain and simple, it is just God. He was directing my heart to do that. Um, everything that I heard, I don't care what it was, it doesn't matter whether whatever you were talking about, how she was talking about the beds, and I want I'd love for Rochelle to talk about the beds um that are gonna have a name attached to it. But I'm a relationship person, and so everything that was being said was all about relationship. It was all about love, it was all about um people that a lot of people forget about. Um so what did I do? Obviously, again, God having a sense of humor, being a female going into this, what do I do? I wrote my husband in and start saying, okay, I need you to go to the KCs, and I need you to go to this, and I need you to go to that. Um, because those were men's groups and he had his um men's prayer groups and things like that. And obviously, there's women behind that, yes, saying, Well, honey, I really think that you need to go to this. Um, and so of course, any listeners that are out there that are those kind of women like me, if you could certainly give a little prompting to your husband, I would really appreciate it. But um, so that's kind of what it was. Honestly, there is no part of this organization where God, God, God is not in charge of every single thing. Whether it's a yes, whether it's a no, it doesn't matter. It is just simply, okay, God, then you have if you know it's either a yes, I want you to do this, no, I don't want you to do this because I have something better planned, or not at this time. And that is the wonderful thing about this agape, is just simply how much is just directed through prayer. And so that's just right up my alley is uh like I said, I tend to just jump in and start to try to do things that gets me in trouble. So, what I love about this organization, it is, you know, yes, go time, it's always go time with Shelly. But um, what I love about it is take a step back and ask God what he wants you to do and follow what he wants you to do. So that's that's basically where my role is in this. And anytime I can bring my husband along, I will do so.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

Absolutely. And and the thing I love about Stormy is she really is a research person, too. Don't don't you think that she didn't like start researching our curriculum that we're gonna use or going on their website or researching our website or asking people about it, like, hey, what do you know about this? And I mean, it really I feel like it's been a couple years since we've been quilting our relationship. And um, the Lord put it on her heart to to be on the board. Of course, I wanted her from like the moment I met her, uh, but you know, it's not until Jesus said, Hey, like, I think this is this is what I have for you.

SPEAKER_02 31:26

Yeah, and we should clarify for the listeners, although we mentioned, you know, right out of the get-go that uh agape um its services are kind of directed toward men who have addiction issues, and you know, you're going to help them. However, this event, you don't have to have addiction issues. You just gotta have a yearning and a love that you want to have a relationship with God. So we want to make sure listeners understand that.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

The event is, I mean, husband, father, leader, or or community member, or whatever it is. It's it the topics are really like um Dr. Royal Sanchez is gonna help people lock in their purpose or their objective, essentially. And if you go to our website, you you can see his video about what he's gonna talk about. Chris Chris is will be on there soon, and Coach Steve Ryan is recording his on Friday, but you'll get to know some of their topics, and they're like pack the punch, let's go. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

Yeah, absolutely. So, really, it's just about making sure your relationship with God is is good, and so that's why, you know, uh any do you have an age limit?

SPEAKER_00 32:31

Yeah, and I even teenage sons are coming. So, I mean, I would say 14 could come.

SPEAKER_02 32:38

Yeah. Okay, we have to watch the 14-year-olds because they love the Chick-fil-A. Yep. And you gotta make sure that they don't take two Chick-fil-A. They'll need two. They'll need two.

SPEAKER_00 32:47

I have some teenage boys or some, yeah, they'll need two.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

So if um listeners, and especially we know that most of our listeners are female and that's okay, um, are thinking this might be something my in my my husband, my my son, my nephew, my uncle, you know, my my grandpa, whoever might be interested in, what might you say to kind of give them the little nudge where they go, yeah, you know what? I think I'm going to really, or maybe it's a it's a guy that's listening today. Get him to get off the couch and attend.

SPEAKER_00 33:20

Well, we know that us women are the coordinators. We're the ones that put the things on the calendar, at least in my households, uh, and the guys are, you know, like, what are we doing today? And so I would say, you know, you can just um sign sign up, right? Step step into that. And for the men, it is time to rise up as the leader and to take to do it. Like I we you God has a really big purpose for you, and us women want you to be the husband's fathers and leaders. When my husband steps up and does, I'm like, oh, you are so good looking right now. And uh yeah, my husband, Brad the dad, let me just tell you, and it is his leadership, and and and um my you know, us women are called to respect the the men, and um when they feel respected, you know, they do that. But guys, you step up and do it, and women, um, as we're called to be the helper, uh additionally, uh it's just it's trust me, it's it even though you don't know me, um, you will. And it and it's it's it is for everyone. And I would love to tell you about our actual programming too, if we have time through agape that we're gonna do and what makes us different from other we may have to have you return. That's okay. I I'm I I would love to return to tell you why our programming is so unique and so different in all of the holistic components that we are going to have that um are different than other places. Yeah, I'd love I would love to return to you can look on our website, but um, it is so cool. Like it is it is cooler than anything I've even already told you.

SPEAKER_02 34:53

So excellent. Yeah, I think absolutely. In the broadcasting business, time is a thief, and we only have so much time. It's perfect. I'd love to come back. Okay, this is good to know. So, Stormy, any final thoughts to encourage someone to attend or or go to the website and learn more about agape?

SPEAKER_01 35:12

You know, I guess I'm I'm just gonna say the same thing to anybody out there, men or women, take it to prayer. Take it to prayer, see if God's putting it on your heart. Um He constant he just kept nudging and nudging and nudging me. And it was not something that I was looking for, um, but it's something that he put right in front of me. So I'm gonna say the same thing to you as as women, take it to prayer. If it's something that God's putting on your heart, take some time and pray with your husbands or your significant others or whoever that is, and ask them to pray about it as well. Because quite honestly, yes, you can make the decision to come, but if God's the one that puts it on your heart and wants you to be there, then it's gonna be a yearning more than just somebody suggesting it. So again, just take it to prayer. And if that's what he's calling you to do, please answer. Say yes. When the Holy Spirit asks you to do something, we're always better off if we do it right away instead of putting it off. Um it's always better for everybody if we do that. So that I guess that's my encouragement is you've if you've heard about it, there's a reason you've heard about it, and take it to prayer and see if this is something that you're called to do.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

And for this battle rhetoric conference, you don't have to get involved with Agape. Um like you can cut like you don't have to support our ministry or get involved. Like it it is for everybody. The the first mission is for all the men to come together and to step up and be like refined, iron sharpens iron. It's I mean, it's it's gonna it's a conference, right? For men where you can um leave with an action plan to um just be closer to God and to step into his calling, his will, and to just you know get a little re refination.

SPEAKER_02 36:51

Yeah, absolutely. So that is um our pro action at the moment, you know. We want people to respond. So um I want to remind you, listeners, this uh program has all been about um Agape Community Services, and it is a Christ-centered long-term addiction recovery and counseling ministry, and it is in Sioux City, and they are right in the middle of building, and next year they'll have a facility. And Rochelle Rosson is the executive director, she is one of my guests, and Stormy Poss is on the board of Agape, and I can't thank you both enough for taking time out of your very busy schedules to come on the show and share all of your insights about this this wonderful opportunity. And then, of course, by now, listeners, you should have gotten a piece of paper and a pen. And the Battle Ready Men's Conference, Saturday, August 15th, starts at 10 a.m., concludes at 2 p.m. Lunch is provided, Elevate Community Church here in Sioux City. There is a cost, uh, it is $80. And you can find out all about that if you go to the website, which is agape souland.com. A-G-A-P-E Soo land.com. So again, ladies, thank you so much for coming out of the show. This has just been a treat to talk to both of you.

SPEAKER_00 38:17

Well, I it is I am delighted and I'm so I'm so glad. This is so fun. You're such a joy, and you definitely have a light exuding out of you, my friends.

SPEAKER_02 38:26

Oh, thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 38:27

Did you hear that, Ann? Yeah, do you do you care? Do you care if I close this in prayer? Not at all. Let's do it. Okay, okay, dear Jesus, we just thank you for all of these difference makers on the other end of this, of this radio, of this mic, Lord. Uh, we just pray that if there are any lies they believe from the enemy, that you would take them out. Any holes in their heart, you would fill them up, Lord, and that uh they would just be more in love with you today than they were yesterday. And whatever is on their shoulders, whatever they feel is heavy, that you would remind them that your yoke is light and easy, that you would wrap your arms around them and you would hold them, Lord, and you would restore them. I pray just a blessing over our hosts here, that uh you would put a hedge of protection around them and that you would continue to put your joy in them like you are, so bright and so deep that it is contagious on the other end. We just thank you, Lord, for using us, even though you don't need us. You're a big good God in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

So, listeners, that wraps up another edition of Faith in Action. Um, if you tuned in late or you would like to listen to the show again, all you have to do is go to our website, Siouxland CatholicRadio.com, click on local programs, click on Faith in Action, and you can listen at your convenience. We're also on Spotify, New YouTube, and a number of other podcasting platforms. That's all due to the generosity of Mary's Choice, a Sioux City Pregnancy Resource Center, which is the exclusive underwriter for this show. And you know what, listeners, we have so many other wonderful shows, local programming. We are so proud of the local programming we do here. Every day at 3 p.m. we have the Divine Mercy Chaplet, which is introduced by Bishop John Keener. And then every Sunday, Mass is celebrated from Modern Day at 9 a.m. Life Plan airs Sundays at 8 p.m. Uh Catholic Ministry Professionals with John and Ty is Tuesdays at 4 p.m. Draw Near with Fred and Kara, Wednesdays at 4 p.m. And Father Knows Best is every Wednesday with Father Mark Stoll at 9 p.m. So, like I said, that wraps up another edition of Faith in Action. I'm your host, Joanne Fox, and on behalf of myself and my executive producer Ann Reed, I want to remind you faithful reaction is always good, but faith in action, uh, it's so much better. Thanks for listening and God bless.