#12 Prepared, Not Fearful: Faith and Readiness with Forrest Garvin

Most Christian dads overlook the vital link between faith and resilience but Forrest Garvin reveals how biblical preparedness can transform your family's future.

What if trusting God and taking practical steps go hand in hand? Forrest shares a powerful, biblical view on emergency readiness that husbands and fathers can't afford to ignore.

In this heartfelt episode, Forrest Garvin takes us on a journey from a dramatic gospel awakening to a lifetime of leading youth and building Christian-based businesses. He uncovers how God's warnings in scripture, like Noah building the ark or Joseph preparing during Egypt’s famine, are timeless lessons for today’s fathers committed to safeguarding their families—not just spiritually but physically and financially. You’ll discover:

• How biblical principles of obedience and trust shape real-world preparedness 
• The top three steps every family can take today to build resilience without feeling overwhelmed
• Why Christian entrepreneurship isn’t just about making a living, but about creating legacy and kingdom impact
• Practical ways to integrate faith into your business and community service
• Insights into family-led businesses as a means of biblical legacy, and how to pass down skills rooted in faith and stewardship

This episode is essential for Christian dads who want to live intentionally—balancing unwavering trust in God with wise, biblical preparation. Ignoring the call to be ready could leave your family vulnerable when crisis hits, but embracing these principles opens the door to peace, provision, and purpose.

With decades of experience in business, ministry, and Christian teaching, Forrest Garvin brings compelling authority and authenticity. His story of transformation and practical advice makes this a must-listen for anyone seeking to deepen their walk of faith while actively caring for their loved ones.

Whether you're feeling disoriented in your career, overwhelmed with responsibilities, or simply seeking biblical guidance on how to prepare for life's uncertainties, Forrest’s insights will empower and inspire.

Tune in to align your faith with your family’s safety and legacy—because true preparedness begins not just with supplies, but with a heart grounded in Christ.

You can find Forrest and his businesses below:

https://forrestgarvin.com/

https://preppernet.com/

https://prepperfinds.com/

https://mysolaroven.com/

For books mentioned in this episode, visit https://churchdads.org/resources?podcast=1

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

The pastor's preaching. And he said, he stopped mid-sentence and said, There's a young man here tonight that the Lord has been seeking. He hasn't been seeking the Lord, but the Lord's going to grab him tonight. And you know, I'm like with everybody else, like, who's this going to? Who's he talking about? And I'm looking around.

SPEAKER_02 0:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 0:18

And and he said, Rise up. If you can imagine, my entire body went to an instant sweat. And I was like, what? And I grabbed the pew in front of me, holding it with a death grip. And my leg stood me up in the church. I'm standing there holding on to the pew. I mean, I if there's fake, there's probably finger marts in the wood. And a man behind me, about 78 years old, barely can walk. He got up and literally lifted my arms from the pew and pushed me down the front of the aisle. The Lord has been calling you and you haven't been listening. And he's been looking for you. I'm stoned because I knew everything he was saying was true. And I just put my hands up, went down to my knees.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Forrest Garvin, known as the Prepper's Prepper, is the founder of PrepperNet and a nationally recognized leader in preparedness, self-reliance, and security. With a background spanning the U.S. Air Force, technology leadership, and entrepreneurship, Forrest has spent more than 25 years equipping individuals and families with practical real-world skills. He's the author of several books on preparedness and faith, host of multiple podcasts, and a passionate advocate for helping families lead with wisdom, strength, and readiness. Hey guys, welcome back to the Church Dads podcast. This is going to be a good one. I'm excited about this one because today, as you heard on the intro, we've got a very special guest, but um my friend Forrest Garvin. And I've known him for eight months, maybe, but I feel like I've known him for a lifetime. Um, a brother in Christ. So it was always that immediate kind of bond that we were um family, you know, and um he's been an encouragement to me just working, uh we work out of the same co-work spot um and just the encouragement he's been to me and the not only a brother in Christ, but just his entrepreneurship, um, his drive to create and build um has been just uh amazing to do that. So we we thank you, Forrest, for being here on the show. And uh we're super excited about this. So what we like to do at the beginning of our shows when we have guests on is um this is about hearing your story, right? We want 90% of this to be about you, Forrest. And I know you love that. Um so we'll we'll start there now, just messing. But uh, yeah, let's start with Forrest. We're glad to have you here. And obviously, you you know our story and our mission around church dads. And this is a very important topic that you're gonna be bringing to the table here around preparedness. Um, and then other stories too about just your background, your testimony, how you um came to faith in the Lord, how that integrates with your business. But before we dive into all these questions, we just want to hear from you. Kind of take us back, not to the beginning, because that that's gonna be a long story, right? Tell us back to like how did you get into all this, your drive, your career, how you met the Lord. Just tell us who you are.

SPEAKER_04 3:35

Well, well, thank you for having me. And as my um daughter says, Dad, you're going back to the 1900s again. And um, so yes, so in 1986, I was in the United States Air Force um, and I ran into a young lady at a restaurant in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and I really thought she was pretty. Always starts with a lady. And um, and I wanted to go out with her, and she wouldn't go out with me because she asked me right out and straight to my face, are you a Christian? Do you go to church? And I said, No, on both of them. And she goes, Well, I can't date you, but we're gonna play volleyball at the church. And I'm like, Okay, I can manage this, I can, I can still make this work. We're after about four weeks of playing volleyball at the church, not going to any church. Anytime they mentioned church, I stayed away from it. So one night she says, Forrest, after um volleyball, we're all going out to eat at Shoney's. And would you come? And I said, sure. And I'm thinking, we're getting close. Shoney's Shoney's is serious, Forrest. That's old school right there. And um, so we went out, and at the at the table, they said, they literally invited me to a church service on Friday night. And I said, Forrest, this isn't a church, it's like a concert. And to be honest with you, I don't even know her name. And I think God wanted it that way. I I mean, I forgot it. And they said, you know, so-and-so singing like two solos. And I'm like, Well, I I want to support her, I'm gonna go to that. And so I ended up going on Friday night, and they didn't tell me as what a revival was. But that's what I went to was a revival at a church in Fayetteville, North Carolina. And as I'm sitting there and the pastor's preaching, and he said, he stopped mid-sentence and said, There's a young man here tonight that the Lord has been seeking. He hasn't been seeking the Lord, but the Lord's gonna grab him tonight. And you know, I'm like what everybody else, like, who's this gonna be? Who's he talking about? And I'm looking around, yeah, and and he said, Rise up. And I just, if you can imagine, my entire body went to an instant sweat, and I was like, What? And I grabbed the pew in front of me, holding it with a death grip, and my leg, leg stood me up in the church. I'm standing there holding on to the pew. I mean, I if there's fake, there's probably finger marts in the wood, and I'm holding, and a man behind me, about 78 years old, barely can walk. He got up and literally lifted my arms from the pew and pushed me down the front of the aisle to go down front. I am walking at this point, going, What is going on? I wasn't walking, I really wasn't. And I went down front and he said, You young man, the Lord has been calling you and you haven't been listening, and he's been looking for you. And I'm like, I'm stunned because I knew everything he was saying was true. And I just put my hands up, went down to my knees. I didn't know what to do. I've never seen church, I've never seen people do anything like that. And he put his hands over me on my head and prophesied literally that I would send, I would help many young folks to go to the kingdom. I had no idea what that meant. No idea. And um, I would I'm crying, bawling. The whole church is around me at this point. And uh a man took me in the back room and started praying more over me, and then more people came in. They took about one o'clock in the morning, and I couldn't cry anymore. And it was just it was so unbelievable. I felt the Spirit of God literally come through my head into my body, and it's like I had no control. So when people always say, Hey, you know, God seeks you, man, he's you know, I wasn't looking for God, but God was looking for me and He found he he knew exactly where I was going to be and hit me. And and the the crazy spin to that is that gentleman that led me down to the front, um, his name is a guy named Russ Lee that sings with a group called New Song. He's one of the most famous, you know, they do winter jam and all that. And so um, that next day he said, I need you here tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. And I'm like, it's two now. And they had a Christian music day. So I'm around all these crazy Christians. I mean, and I had no idea what I did. And that's when I started working. That was a the youth that his church was putting on this Christian music day. All the big artists were there, you know, Petra, Stryper, all these, and I hung out with them, didn't know who they were. But that's my first day of working with the youth. And God kind of just planned it. And so for three years, I was going to that church working with youth, and I worked, ended up working with youth for 37 years.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Yeah. Man. Yeah, because force you you like you uh you worked with youth, but you also like built out like college groups for churches, right? Yes, yes. And that he prophesied that over you, right? When you became a Christian, he said, Hey, you're gonna lead or you know, a lot of young people to Christ. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 9:08

So my biggest fear during my ministry of 37 years, the my biggest fear was I would screw something up. That was my biggest fear because I knew what God called me to do, and I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize it. That's looking at a girl wrong. That is like um speaking to girls, you know, privately, um, and I guess young men as well. And so for 37 years, my greatest fear was screwing up my blessing and what God called me to do. And literally, when I um stepped away from that, yeah, I'm very old by the way. When I stepped away from that like two and a half years ago, it it really did, there was a burden kind of taken off of me in in a good way. And I think God worked it that way. And uh, and it came off of me that I don't have to watch my I still have to watch my step, but I'm not being judged every time I'm with someone that I could lose what God's called me to do.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Yeah. Wow. What a story, what a testimony. That's that's that's awesome. I mean, there's no doubt about it that God drew you to him in that story, and God gets all the glory for that. That's awesome. Um, credible ministry with uh young folks from youth all the way up to college. You said 37 years in total. That's amazing. So what what brought you? Obviously, you had some career stuff during that time, but tell us a little bit about also how that um kind of impacted your career. Cause I know you you had some, you know, banking experience, technology experience, but now you're like in you're an author. You got like I got like two or three of your books right in front of me. You've probably authored 10 or 15 or 20. You got podcasts, you're doing things on um, you know, prepping and stuff. I want to start getting over to that later in the show too. But tell us a little bit about how your faith and your career kind of collided too along the way.

SPEAKER_04 11:08

So I had a mentor early. Well, I come from a family of entrepreneurs. And I had a mentor early on, he and he he told me the words that I hate saying, but he goes, First, in the business world, you need to fake it till you make it. And I ended up somehow stumbling, becoming the first webmaster at Nations Bank. I was the first web guy they ever hired in 1992. I um then we became Bank of America, but I had I hired a team of like 50 people and we're doing the internet, online banking, you know, credit card application, all this stuff. And it was, I I literally I was learning it as I went. And when I and then I tried to um I resigned to start my own business. And the CEO of the company, a Bank of America, you know, took me to lunch and said, Hey man, I don't want you to leave. How can I keep you? And I said, Well, listen, I'm I'm starting a new company. Um, and he's what is it? And I showed him the business plan. He said, Give me two weeks. And I'm like, What is what's that mean? And so about a week and a half later, his assistant called me and says, You know, Mr. McCall would like to have lunch with you at the city club. And I I met him there and he goes, Hey, I got the $4.7 million you want to raise for your company. Do you know how you're gonna bring that in? And I'm like, What? So I had a business plan and he it and in there I won it $4.7 million, and he gave he literally raised it for me in a week and a half. And so I started uh a business, and since then I've been creating businesses, selling businesses. I've even created, I went in and restructured a business, left it, it failed, and I'm now recreating it from scratch again because it was not the business, it was the people running it. But I've been an entrepreneur and I love creating things and building things. And in everything I do, you know, people say, Hey, you're a businessman, you're an entrepreneur. I'm like, no, I'm a Christian that are that I and I'm doing these other things. Don't label me as an entrepreneur because that is so I I don't want to be defined as that. I want to be defined as making a difference in the world and everything I do, no matter if that's getting coffee, eating at a restaurant, or being an entrepreneur. Right. And I and and also I don't want to take credit for that. Trust me, this is nothing I have childlike faith. I don't wrestle like a lot of people do, like, well, you know, did this happen in the Bible or how was it? I just read it and believe it. Kind of like blind faith, but that's the way I do it. And so with that, that's helped me just because God said it. I read it. I may interpret it differently, but I believe it a hundred percent. And that's been that's been the biggest help for my faith and my walk because I I'm not one that struggles and have to understand every single thing. Sometimes I I believe it and it's not in the right context, in context until someone tells me. But that but you know, it works for for a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

I love it. I love it. That's awesome. Um, there's kind of two things I wanted to uh hit on today is you know, you got into this world of preppers, preparedness, right? Um, you know, being self-reliant. Um and so I want to talk about that too. And I want to talk about a little bit later about just business in general when it comes to um, you know, family structure. But, you know, with with church dads, we talk about, you know, the seven pillars of a biblical fatherhood a lot that we they're very they're they're based on scripture, right? We're not recreating anything at all. We're just labeling them kind of um in easy ways to digest it. But one of those areas is includes providing for your family, right? As the man, as the leader of your family. And there's there's woo, there's a lot of ways to provide for your family, right? Financially, physically, emotionally, mentally. But this was a very interesting topic. And this is why I always want to have it on because you're in this world of preparedness, preparing for the future, um, which could be tomorrow. And I want to kind of talk to that in the role of a Christian dad and being prepared. Because sometimes preppers get a bad name, right? So I want to first kind of let's let's define what prepping means and doesn't mean first. Can kind of take us through that in your world and what you do as, you know, uh leading this community of preppers. And then I want to kind of transition to how does that look like with faith, right? Because, you know, reading your book too, like a lot of a lot, some Christians might just be like, hey, listen, we just got to trust in God. Like we shouldn't have to worry about tomorrow. You know, that's the that's the thing. Let's just have faith, let's trust and whatnot. And that could create a little, you know, being a little passive, right? So uh take us through how that um correlates with your faith in Christ and what the scripture tells us to do. But first explain what what is prepping? Like we hear it all the time, but is it doomsday people? What is what is it exactly?

SPEAKER_04 16:18

Sure it is. So uh let me back up just for about 15 seconds. So I was at the bank during Y2K, and I knew that the bank was, we were gonna make through the, you know, through Y2K, we had all the tests, but my friend was this chief technology officer at the largest energy company in the Charlotte area. And he was telling me a month and a half before Y2K that they're having issues. And that's what kind of scared me. That's where I thought I was gonna prepare to, you know, the end of the world when Y2K with I had salsa and chips and you know, formula for my kids and water, and that was it. I didn't know how to prepare. So that kind of got me started down this road. Um, and then I did um some research on if I do this, am I not trusting, am I, is that lack of trust in the Lord? And what I what I found for myself is God wants us to trust him 100%, but he also wants us to obey him. A lot of people just go with the trust, you gotta trust God, you gotta trust with God. Well, if if bad times come, you got to trust God. Well, you know, you do have to trust God. But if God warns you and tells you things are coming in the future, you can still trust God and be in disobedience. And that's what I figured out, especially if you read in like Matthew, where it tells you before the end comes, before the end comes, it tells us there's gonna be famine, there's gonna be earthquakes, there's gonna be, you know, prosecution, you know, prosecution of the saints, there's gonna be um persecution of the saints, sorry. Um, and all these bad things are gonna happen before the end even comes, whenever you think that end day is, and that's gonna be what we're gonna live through that. And the in the uh New Testament says the man that can't um take care of his family is worse than the unbeliever. So I started studying, and my first book I wrote called The Case from Case for Christian Preparedness, I go through the Old Testament where we look at people that God warned them what was gonna happen. And there's always there's either good consequences or bad consequences. So those that obeyed, there was it turned out great. Those that disobeyed, it didn't turn out well at all. And so I compared them through all throughout the um the old testament, and I said, hmm, we have a New Testament and we got things that are God's telling us to be ready for. Now, I I'm not predicting the rapture, I'm not predicting the entire when it's going to happen. I'm just saying that God tells us that we need to take care of our family during a job loss, during a tornado, during a hurricane, during anything that comes our way, we need to be ready to take care of our family. And to me, I take that to a level of if a gunman comes into a restaurant, I need skills to protect my family. That's my role and my job. And if I if I'm lacking the skills to do what God's called me to do, I'm in disobedience. Now, is that taking it to a new level? Yeah, and some of you got some some people go, wow, wow, I'm gonna trust God. But there's it's called trust and obey. You got to do both. So that kind of got me down the path of being prepared. I took um hand-to-hand combat, I took gun classes, I learned everything I could about preparedness. I went to survival school, um, became an instructor in all these different um areas and ham radio. And I became um, and I was doing this all in secret. Like when I went to England to get trained by bear girls at his school to become an instructor, ever all my friends thought I went to a business conference.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

That's pretty sweet.

SPEAKER_04 20:13

Because I didn't want them to know, I didn't want anybody to know. And um, because you know, because preppers are crazy, they're weird, they don't trust God. And actually, come to find out, I would say 80, 80 plus percent of preppers are Christians following the same path I did to be ready for whatever God throws our way and to protect others. We just we don't most, I would say of the 80% that are believers, I would say 80% of them don't do this just for them and themselves. They do it for their community as well. The doomsday preppers that go and hide and stuff, they're that's not us. But we believe that the church needs to be strong, we need to um rely on each other, and we need to be ready so when people, my neighbors down the street, have a tough time, I can physically and help them, I can help them with monetarily, I can help them with food, whatever they need. I should be in that role to do that. Because I am the church.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:23

We are the church.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Yeah. I love that. Um and you know, I think when we talk about prepping, sometimes it can get very overwhelming, right? Of the things you need to build up, the money it takes, what do I need? What should I be doing? And that's what I like about you know the case for Christian preparedness, the book that you wrote, because you start off with, hey, let's get the basics down. Like I think you had a quote in here that the majority of people can't even start a fire without a lighter fluid or gasoline to help them. And it's so true. It's like, where's my matches? Where's my you know, lighter? And like what happens when, you know, crap. Hits the fan. Like, are we able to do the basics? And I think you lay out the basics to get started. So, what would be like just like top three things that a family can do like right now to prepare and just kind of feel it, get that momentum because it couldn't be overwhelming.

SPEAKER_04 22:14

This is the simplest thing, and it will make the most sense. You have a pantry of food at your house, triple it. The things you eat every week, make it so you could actually go for three weeks without going to the grocery store. That means if you're if your kids eat noodles, don't buy three boxes of noodles. Go ahead and get 12 or 15. Everything you already eat, just triple it. I mean, wouldn't that have been great during a pandemic or a storm and you have food or the power goes out? You have all the food you need. Because food for most people is that's the biggest thing that they need. Not everyone needs going to need to, you know, know how to light a fire. And we do have lighters and stuff, but food is the most important in the in water. So that's the that's what I would focus on. Um is just doubling, tripling your pantry.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Yeah. Luke, you've started that. You got your little prepping station going on, right? Easy, Mark.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

We don't want to sit too much on here. No, Mark, I don't. Yeah, no. When Mark said you were coming on, I was I was ex looking forward to it just because I'm not crazy. But I I agree. I think we should prepare. And I often I'm glad you said you talked about, you know, going through the scriptures and looking. I always bring up Noah. He built the ark, he knew it was gonna rain. And that's not me not trusting the Lord. That's like you said, I'm I'm heeding the warning. So, you know, taking care of my family is so important. And I'm like, what can I do, you know, to to look after them and to make sure they're okay, and even your neighbors and things like that. So yeah, you're speaking my language.

SPEAKER_04 24:03

Let's look at another guy in the Bible, Joseph. So Joseph interpreted a dream. That dream wasn't for him. He interpreted the dream, and and then God didn't say, Um, take heed of the dream, what should you do? Joseph used his own knowledge, his human knowledge is breaking thinking, going, wait a second, if there's gonna be seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine, maybe we should do something. So he God didn't tell him to be a prepper or prepared. He he he used what God shared and he goes, hmm, we need to be ready. And so that's what I think in my in the case for Christian preparedness and um stand firm to the end, is we we read these things in the Bible. We need to go, hmm, maybe we need to do something about it. We can still trust God, trust you know, in everything, but we also need to obey him, and that is the entire thing. So that the two books were written really for church people sitting on the pew saying, hey guys, there's the trusting God is it's not all we need. We need to obey him as well.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

Because even, you know, when when COVID happened, I hate even talking about it, but if it was what they said it was gonna what it was, and ended up not obviously being like that, I was like, I'm so unprepared. And I told my wife Carly, I said, this is never gonna happen to me again. I will be ready the next time something happens. Because even if it's like, you know, it could just be a natural disaster. You know, what are the shelves on the in the grocery store? Where do they have like three days worth of food?

SPEAKER_04 25:46

Right. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

That's assuming everybody buys normal, which they don't. So it's like, well, I don't want to starve to death. So kind of like you said, it's just a little bit out of time. Hey, put some stuff down in the in the in the storage room and you know, have something for a rainy day and just do it systematically. I I love that approach.

SPEAKER_04 26:04

I always tell prep um Christians that, hey, being a prepper is not panic. It is good stewardship of what the Lord has given us.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

Yeah. It really is. That's real good. And speaking of that, so um Forrest, you have, I mean, tens and tens of thousands of folks in your community around prepping. I want to talk now and kind of encourage not only me and Luke here, but the listeners too, of how you integrate your faith with your business and how how your businesses are not just, you know, preparing people, but how you're also sharing the light of Christ in all you do. And ever since I've known you for us too, it's just been uh like how you said earlier, it's not like you're a Christian or you're an entrepreneur. You're like your identity is Christ and you happen to be doing these things. These are your assignments that God has given you as a Christ follower. And it's evident that, you know, you're not like preachy in your business, but it's evident that people know you and see you do business. They know you're a believer, right? Because so could can you encourage us? Because a lot of times, and this has been something I've, you know, I've I've talked to you before too, but like living our lives as Christian dads in the career, the workforce or wherever, like almost living these two separate lives. Like, okay, that stays at work, and then I got my faith, personal life. No, that needs to be integrated. And like we need to be evident, hey, we're Christ's follower, and we happen to be an accountant. We happen to be teaching preppers. We have, you know, no, so teach us, encourage us, like just the people listening, like, how do you integrate that into all you do in your business too? And like, how do you share the light of Christ through your business?

SPEAKER_04 27:42

Yeah. So if we believe that God owns everything and created everything, He also created my skills and gave me my skills and my knowledge. Now, I, you know, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I am the most persistent and probably I and I trust the Lord a lot. And so in my in every day of my walk, it is, you know, I'm a Christian, and then I have many businesses, and I can I can literally throw in a a hat at any time and do that business. And um that's a skill that I didn't know I had, but I'm really good at you know, multitasking and thinking different different things. But the the I the idea of the spreading the gospel and standing for Christ has to in your mind be the number one uh thing that you do and you are. And and that doesn't really for a lot of people that didn't come natural. And when I used to teach um teenagers kind of how to do this, and if if you like this, you can you can do this as well. I would have teenagers, the first year I would uh they're assigned to me at the youth, that we would write down all the attributes of Christ on a three by five card. Every one you can think of. Use AI, just all the attributes of Christ, write them down, and at any time you're not trying to better each one of them attributes, or your friends say you don't have these attributes, you're not walking and growing with the Lord. That is your job is to take his attributes and put them on you and and and hone them um with with with with his help. And so um and but but yeah, so I I can't I I've never been able to separate my work and my Christianity. I just haven't. I don't know. I think that's a blessing. And I and I and I I I I know that other people don't have that, and I'm sorry. But it's just been natural for me, and um, and I think that's because the the childlike faith I have and and the way the Lord literally pulled me out of the pits of hell and he chose me that day, that night, said it was time for you to come. And a lot of people say that um, you know, you know, I'm saved by grace, and that's totally it, because I couldn't have saved myself. I wasn't even looking for God. Yeah. And he he found me. That's crazy. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

That's so good. Um there there's one more thing I want to kind of before we kind of wrap this up here in a little bit, but one more thing I want to talk to you about because I love this idea, and this is actually an idea that Luke has been talking about some and both of us actually. But so you've got your business, and you're obviously you're using it for the Lord, right? Your skill sets that he's given you, um, incredible things you've been doing. But also I want to talk a little bit about, and I think you actually have a you have a book on this as well, but uh family business. Like we are like all created in this society to be an employee, um, you know, through the education system, et cetera. Not really taught the entrepreneur stuff early on, right? And how to start your own business. I know you got a lot of material on that, but the the really cool thing is the family business. And you're taking um my solar oven, right? And revamping that business. And it's a family business, right? You've been talking to me a little bit about that. Tell me about the benefits of the family business and how you can use that as kind of a legacy thing to pass something on. Cause I know Luke, Luke was talking about that too. Like, I mean, his kids got ideas at a young age, and he's like, how can we turn this into a business and like something self-sustaining and be like, hey, yeah, maybe you're gonna go to college one day, maybe you're not. Maybe you're starting your business, you're creative, you got these skill sets, like you don't have to take the same path as everybody else. Tell us a little bit about the benefits of family business um and what what's that meant to you personally with your family?

SPEAKER_04 31:58

So I'm gonna back up just a little bit. I love when you back up that. I'm sorry. So at Prepper Net, which is our national organization of preppers, we have over 120,000 members. We we have meetings in over 140 cities in the United States.

SPEAKER_00 32:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:15

Every month there's a meeting in 140 cities, free, free teaching. You can look yours up and and go. But as I am kind of been the leader of this group for over 10 years now, actually 12 years, and um I'm I've been a business person. I was the banker that went to prepping. And people are like, oh, what? And I wasn't you know like a homesteader, but I was um so in that I was like, how can I encourage preppers? Because that's really kind of the people it was kind of written to, but then I I took some of that out, but because a lot of preppers are blue-collar um and you know, country. And I wanted them to have hope instead of just working for the man. And so I'm like, well, I'm I've been an entrepreneur, you know, I was raised in the business family. My dad had hardware stores, uh, my grandfather had hardware stores, helped co-found, you know, a large chain. And um how can I help people have hope than their hope was in prepping. And I wanted to bring Christ in there, and I wanted to bring hope where they could actually have a job in the future. So the actual title of the book is Entrepreneurship for Survival, meaning become an entrepreneur so you can survive. And it's literally taking starting with a home-based business and you know, you know, getting your family involved. You already, maybe you already have a homestead or or do a podcast. I've taught, I've literally created three businesses to show them how to do this. Literally from start to you know, from the very start, I showed them how to create three businesses because I wanted them to go, I can do that. I just watched Force do that. And so now um I was the from 2019, um, I bought a company called Um Sunovens International, and um it was $700,000 in debt. And within 15 months, I turned it around so we were net 30 on all our bills. And so complete turnaround, and then we started saving money, saving money, and then issues happened. I left the company in 2022 and had no no ownership, no nothing, just left the company. And since then, it didn't do well. It was it just for reasons it didn't work, and so I went to my family and it went out of business last year. I knew what the problems were, and so I got my family, went, we uh had a cookout, and I said, guys, I'm thinking about starting a company, and I want you guys to be involved. I want to teach what I've learned in business and in my and my walk as a business leader to you. And they go, and they and shocking. I was they're like, yeah. And I'm like, really? I was somewhat surprised because they are all professionals making doing very well, very high. They're way smarter than I've ever even dreamed of being. And they um they have great jobs. I mean, their first job, I mean, it's just they're very successful, and they're like, Dad, we would love that. So we created a company called My Solar Oven. It is a uh device that works right into the preparedness industry. Um, you put it in the sun and it cooks food. And in North Carolina, it gets up to about 380, 390 in like 20 minutes. And you can cook food just like you can in your oven. So, so we all we um one son was putting together the website, the other son was doing the accounting, doing the business stuff, and I'm teaching them and coaching them. And like today we had a a little some issues, and I was teaching them what was going on, and and my one son about email, because you know, I've I've managed email. Um, I I forgot more than he will ever know, but um, but I was teaching him uh how to do it and how the email and propagation worked with DNS and and and why it was important. And the other son was doing some accounting stuff, and I'm just managing them and they're running the business. And oh my goodness, probably more fulfilling than anything I've ever done is when your kids look at you and go, Wow, dad, I didn't know I didn't know you knew this stuff. Because you don't ever relate to your kids and your family like you know, the day the day things that you do and you've been doing for years, and like you know, a profit loss statement and you know what an EBITDA is and all this. And they're learning this, and then they're looking at me going, dang, I didn't know you knew all this, because you're just you know dumb dead to us. No, but so it's been awesome. And um, right before we got on tonight, um I we actually had a sale, and I I um for uh someone purchased a sun oven or solar oven, sorry, and um and I text my the whole family saying, Look, another sale. And everyone's like, Yeah, you know, so that's so fun.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

I mean, what we're gonna do this, Mark. We're gonna do this. What? Solar oven the family business. No, no, not on the competition. No, the family business. I love that idea. You got it. And it's great.

SPEAKER_04 38:04

It's a cool and it's so cool because we have a cookout. We had a cookout here at my house. Um, I told you, Mark, just the other day, the other night. I cook jalapeno poppers and some chicken on the grill. And as we're standing there cooking, you know, my son's like, hey, this is what I did today on the accounting. I I learned how to do this. And my other son's say, Hey, you know that one image we did? I I tweaked it. I mean, and we're talking like business around a fire, and you're like, and it's just awesome.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

It's another way to bond and also, you know, leaving that legacy behind, teaching them around business skills that we've just don't learn growing up, right? So it's a cool way of doing that. Um no, I I I love that um so much.

SPEAKER_04 38:47

Um and one thing I told him before you go, Mark. Sorry, I told him one of my sons said, Dad, when do we get paid? And I said, I said, you don't ever get paid. He goes, What do you mean? I said, You're gonna work that job until you know, until this company's at a certain point, then maybe you might get paid.

SPEAKER_00 39:08

Well, even but but force, even all that stuff, like the stuff that, you know, that that stuff really matters and it's meaningful. But and we won't get on to in this show because Force does some great uh free webinars around it, but there are a lot of benefits from legal standpoint, tax standpoint, write-offs from having a family business. And there's some smart techniques, creative techniques that are all legal, all legal by the tax code that you can start leveraging to really put more money in your family's uh pocket. And we go back to preparedness and like providing for your family. That that can be a piece of it. So check out those free webinars he's got. We'll um get some links up to that. Um but I want to know, I kind of want to kind of as we wrap up here, Forrest, you've got a lot of experience. And I'm not saying you're old, but you are. But no, you've you've gone before Luke and I. And you've gone before a lot of these dads that are listening in right now. So I just what kind of encouragement would you give these dads around, you know, career, maybe just examples, getting out of the career, maybe want to do their own things, feeling like they're just, you know, golden handcuffs, um, you know, stuck. Looking, so yeah, stuck, meaning, looking for meaning, even though they're providing for the family, kind of feeling isolated. Um, because that's the big thing here. We want to try like a lot of men nowadays and fathers are a lot of pressure on them and they feel isolated. They feel like they're, like Luke said, stuck. What are some just words of like encouragement and wisdom you want to leave them with? And then I got one last question after that, but go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 40:43

I would say the most important thing is find a accountability partner, a brother that can help you push you along that you can share everything with, and know that that individual is not gonna just rag you, tell you you're a loser, they're gonna encourage you no matter what. And I've had a couple of them in my life, still to this day. And that's been the number one thing because one of them keep one guy, he's he's passed away, he mentored me for like 14 years. His name is Roger, and Roger said, Forrest, you can always do what God wants you to do. And I'm like, that doesn't make any sense. But so if you're in the will of God and you're walking with the Lord and God and God has provided a path for you, He's gonna give you the skills and the knowledge. Because I've always been concerned that I've never been good enough or smart enough to do anything. And the people in my life goes, they tell me, Forrest, you're smart, man, you know business. And I'm like, Yeah, but and I always made excuses for myself, and it was other people that were pumping me up to push me and to push me. And that was probably the greatest uh asset I've ever had in my pocket was the people around me. The second thing is is it's your kids and your families number one. But just know that you God's gonna take care of your family, He wants you to provide for them. But you know, as soon as you go, okay, Lord, I'm yours, I'm gonna do what I can to the best of my ability. Open doors. If I need more money, open doors for me. I'm gonna do everything I can and I'm gonna move forward, and I'm gonna trust you, but I'm gonna obey you by doing. And then I, you know, I told you this today is that one of the greatest things I ever did with my kids was we started geocaching. Yeah, I think that's the most funnest thing I've ever my kids to this day. We talk about that. We traveled the world um looking for little prizes and little things hidden. And it was just we still we can name off times and everything. It's great, even to this day, you know, five, 10, 15 years later. But and then I would encourage you to maybe look for a side hustle. Look for keep your job, look for a side hustle where you can make a little extra money, maybe get your kids involved or your wife involved, and do that side hustle. And you know, everyone's kids go to bed at eight, nine, right? Get over the fact that you have to go to bed because you're so tired you need eight hours of sleep. I'm not one of them people. I have no compassion for people like that. Get, I mean, I do most of my work, and I tell you this, Mark, all the time. Yeah, when I get home and you know, kids are in bed, well, my kids are gone now, that's when I do most of my work. And, you know, just Suck it up. Do it.

SPEAKER_00 44:03

Yeah. No. That's good. Um, Forrest. I I appreciate you coming on here. Um, because a lot of the stuff we've talked about, sometimes in this world, like you people might say, well, that's not faith. That's not the Christian side of it. All this stuff is.

SPEAKER_04 44:16

It is.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

Everything, business, our whole life, everything is created by God. Like you said, your skill sets. So this is all applicable stuff of being a biblical father. Um, so I really appreciate you coming on and um, you know, spending your time here. You've always been an encouragement to me, you know, sitting next to you, the co-work spot. Um, so I really just appreciate you and the all the kind of like advice and knowledge and joke a lot and make you laugh and pray. He does joke a lot.

SPEAKER_01 44:42

But no, Mark mentions you ever when I talk to him every day. He says forced, forced. I was like, I gotta meet this guy.

SPEAKER_00 44:50

Well, you gotta get around to your point, Force, you gotta get around like-minded individuals that are gonna pump you up, encourage you, motivate you, and have the same purpose in the kingdom of God, right? We've got different ways that we're vessels, different ways that we do things that God's called us to, but we have the common mission of what we're doing, but you got those people like you you mentioned accountability. Like I think you need that guy in your life that you can be completely open with and go um do life with, but you also need that bigger community of brotherhood or people around you that are like-minded and are gonna, you know, pull you ahead, right? And encourage you. Um, so if you're not getting that, you're feeling stuck somewhere, get move, change your environment, get around new people, get around people that you want like to be in five, 10, 15 years, right? And get around them and encourage each other.

SPEAKER_04 45:42

And and try to figure out what the Lord wants you to do in life. I know God has given me a talent to teenagers and college age. And so where we co-work, um, I'm out looking at the young lady um at her brand new car. She's so excited, she's telling me the story of how she got her car and she starts crying. That was just today. Yeah, I told you that, didn't I, Mark? Yeah, because she's telling me this story and she felt comfortable. That's because I and um because that's kind of my my purpose. Then I also know that my purpose is not with other individuals, and we have a young uh young man that's struggling at work, and I'm like, Mark, that's you. That's not that's not me. That's me. You've got to work, you know. You got to, you know, yeah, maybe you should um, you know, invite them to church. And and you did. And um, so I know where I am useful to the Lord and where I'm probably not. I'm the kind of guy when it, if it came to like marriage counseling, I'm like, dude, get over it. Love's a decision. That's all you need to get that in your head, you're done. So I'm not I'm not that kind of a person. So yeah, but and teenagers and they like that. And young and call, they're like, just tell me the truth. I'm tired of people lying to me. Just tell me the truth. Yeah, I guess that's but anyway, that's been yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_00 47:12

It's uh it's all relationships, building those relationships, building that trust up. Um, you talk about the people around co-work. You like it's not you you don't come out the gate like going full blaze. You're like, you're building those relationships, seeing how you can help and support them and show Christ. So it's been good. Um, well, before we last thing, well, two last things. One is where can people find you for us? Because you've got a lot of good information out there. You're doing a lot of good stuff. Where's the best spot? And we'll link stuff in our our podcast, but where can they find you and what you have to offer? Because you got a lot of good stuff out there.

SPEAKER_04 47:46

Probably the yellow pages. Um about for our younger audience because you mentioned uh Petra.

SPEAKER_01 47:53

I do know who they are.

SPEAKER_04 47:56

So probably my personal website, it yeah, it's um forrestgarvin.com. That's f-o-r-e-st-a-r-v-in, forrestgarvan.com. Yeah. And I just redid it, and Mark was telling me all the problems I need changed like last week on it.

SPEAKER_00 48:15

Well, we don't have time for it now, but Forrest and I have to get into vibe coding. So if you want to prepare for your family, get into vibe coding. No, but seriously, no. We'll link to all that stuff. Um, we appreciate you being on here. And I did ask you ahead of time, and we normally do this for us and ask ahead of time, and I apologize, but would you mind kind of closing out here just in a word of prayer for um just the Christian men, fathers, or whoever's listening in on this podcast, that the Holy Spirit will just do something in their lives.

SPEAKER_04 48:44

Absolutely. Lord Father, we just come to you, Lord. Lord, I want to lift up every man that's listening right now, Lord. I want you to encourage them, let them know that they are loved no matter what their faults are, no matter what decisions they made today, no matter what their relationship is with their kids and their and their spouses, or even those that aren't married, Lord. You know every situation, Lord. Lord, I pray that you will encourage them that they need to look to you, that they need to trust you, they need to open their Bible and read who you are, find out who you are and how you love them, Lord. That's the most encouraging thing we can do is just is learn the love that and grace that you've given us, Lord. And all these other things, Lord, when we focus on that and we focus on your word and we pray to you and we have that relationship, Lord, everything else will fall in line in time. Lord, and I have hope and I firmly believe that, Lord. If we keep our eye on you, all these other things will work out, Lord. Lord, I pray that every man here listening would find that mentor or that that um elderly person that can literally um you know mentor and put into their life. And if they can't find an accountability partner, Lord, that should be priority number top five, Lord, for for men. Lord, we love you. We we appreciate and just adore everything you've given to us, Lord. We deserve nothing, and yet you gave us everything, Lord. Um, we love you. I thank you for uh for Mark and Luke and their ministry, Lord. I ask you to bless it one hundredfold, Lord. Just bless it so men around the world can be encouraged, can be uh a light within their family and their community, Lord, and their church, Lord. And we just thank you for everything you've given us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 50:55

Amen. Thank you, Forrest. Um, and everybody listening, we've got, you know, our podcast is everywhere available. So make sure to follow along. And just if you if you think of one person that this show, this episode could really benefit and bless, just just share it. It only takes two two seconds to do. So if you could share that, that'd help us out. But uh we're not on all platforms. And thank you, guys. Thank you for the good discussion. Um, we'll see you next time on the Church Dads podcast.