1.7 God at Work

In this episode of The Perry Center Podcast, Nate sits down with Pastor Randy Hahne of Harvest Valley Church for a meaningful conversation about the ministry of The Perry Center. Together, they share powerful God moments and stories of transformation from residents whose lives have been impacted through consistent support, community, and faith in Christ.

Throughout the episode, Nate reflects on what he has witnessed during his time at The Perry Center, sharing real-life stories of hope, growth, and restoration. These moments offer a glimpse into the everyday work happening inside the ministry as mothers and babies experience stability, encouragement, and new beginnings through relationships built over time.

Pastor Randy also shares what stands out to him about The Perry Center’s holistic approach to care—supporting not only babies, but mothers as well through spiritual encouragement, practical help, housing, and life skills. The conversation touches on stewardship and the importance of continuing a mission that faithfully serves families and points them toward lasting hope.

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🎙️ The Perry Center Podcast
A ministry sharing real stories of mothers, families, and faith in action.

🔗 Learn more about The Perry Center: www.perrycenter.org

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hey friends, my name is Nate Douglas. I'm the executive director for the Perry Center. And you're watching and listening to the Perry Center podcast where life meets life. I am joined by a great friend of mine, Pastor Randy Hani with Harvest Valley Church. Welcome to our podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Hey man, thank you. Like what a joy and honor it is to sit with you today and uh just discuss Perry Center.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Yeah, I I was thinking this one might be difficult to stay serious because we joke around a lot. We were probably doing that right before the camera turned on, just messing around. Um but uh yeah, so Pastor Randy uh is with Harvest Valley Church. It is a church that is four years old, located down in Horace, and uh they have a campus up in North Fargo as well, right on Broadway at the sanctuary. Sanctuary. And uh what I've really loved about Harvest Valley is just the way that you come alongside our ministry. I mean, day one as a church, you guys have said we want to partner with the Perry Center. Uh, we've had residents uh go to church there, uh, we've had several volunteers, yeah, board members, all of that uh come through Harvest Valley and just so grateful for your partnership. And I think it always starts at top, right? Yeah. Oh, sure, this is what we're gonna do as a church. Totally. Um, and so I mean, just jumping right into that for for your church, and you moved to Fargo to launch and plant uh Harvest Valley. Yeah, what was kind of your your process and thinking, you know, okay, we want to partner with the place. So why did Perry Center kind of stand out? What were those things that you're looking for as a church?

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Yeah, man, that's so good. Yeah, thanks. Yeah, so we moved here like in 2020, and um I think as soon as we we moved here, there was a couple things that we just knew as a church that we just knew that we needed to be a part of and um just needed to take a stance on and need to support, and Parish Center is one of them. And um, you know, so we just knew as a church, um, just even theologically, biblically, man, that God has a heart for for for babies, God has a heart for the unborn. We just know uh scripturally, man, that every every child, every person is born in the image of God. And we're saying, like, man, how do we not only as a church preach that, but how do we actually be hands and feet with that? And um, you just know, like, sometimes in in ministry that you don't have to reinvent the wheel, but you're like, who are the people who are boots on the ground who are doing that? And when we learned about the Parish Center, we're like, man, we need to we need to come behind them as much as possible to the best of our ability, uh, because they're doing it. I mean, you guys are are what you guys do, and I know we'll get into what the Parish Center does is just phenomenal. And uh, and so we just wanted to to make that known with leadership, with our staff, like we're we're committing energy, resources, and time because I do want it to be Harvest Valley thing. It's not just Pastor Andy has a heart for it, but I want everybody at Harvest Valley to have a heart for it of saying, let's let's get behind this and and let's let's let's move in this direction. And so, yeah, the cool thing is, yeah, we started exploring it, and since then we we've had a good relationship, and and uh I honestly I feel like we're just getting started because there's a lot that you want to do, and and you just know that okay, we're only four years old, right? And so, like, but we just know that like this was like really important, can't blitz them with everything, like we're going, everybody slow down uh step by step.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Yeah, and I think in today's world, and I'm I've shared this with even with uh Pastor John with Journey Church. Yeah, you know, in today's world, modern America, modern world, there are a lot of places that don't want to stand on anything. Yeah, for sure. There's a lot of people scared to speak up on life issues, on family issues, uh gender issues, all of those very uncomfortable conversations. And so for your church to stand and say, yes, we agree. Yeah, uh, we we agree biblically, we we agree um that the Bible is very clear on life, God's design. Um and so I I thank you for just saying yes to this. And I I I don't take it lightly, and I think a lot of churches are scared to step out. So as you guys have stepped out as a church, you know, how do you how do you encourage other churches? I I know it's like built in the DNA and all of those things, but um yeah, what would be some of those encouragements that you have for those churches?

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Yeah, honestly, I think that's a great question. And I think it for us, here's where it starts. It it starts with the motivation of our hearts, and it starts at the end of the day, like when we we take our last breath and we're accountable before God, we're gonna see God and we're not gonna see the people who have a hard time with it. And I think for us, like that's a motivating thing. It's like, why do we do what we do? Why do we say what we say? Is because ultimately, like, we're gonna stand before Him. And and the people who are maybe are naysayers or maybe don't agree, or maybe somebody will say, Well, we don't want to take a stand on that, we don't want to offend anybody. And you're like, Well, at the risk of offending perhaps God, right? You know, so you're just saying, like, you kind of have the choice of just saying, Are we really doing what we're doing for the glory of God or for the um approval of man? Yeah, and and I think honestly, with any decision any church makes, it starts with that of saying, Well, what is our motivation? Well, our motivation is to live biblically, to glorify God, and and we want to do that. And so for us, like, you know, supporting life, um, being pro-life, like that was like it's for the glory of God. And you just know like it's one of those things that people will have an issue with, but like the motivation matters, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

You know what I'm saying? And we see so many, you know, I'm not categorizing every church like this, but what I love about you and and some other churches is that you're willing to get your hands dirty, right? You're willing to show up, you're willing to come and pray, you're willing to um spend time in worship with us, uh teach classes, share testimonies, like you're you're you're getting your hands dirty. Yeah, yeah. And there's so many places, and this might offend somebody, I don't know. Um, but there's so many places that love the photo ops, you know, march for life and all that stuff. And there's a time and place for all of that. Totally, totally, but then they go back to their communities anywhere in the United States, and they don't do anything at these pro-life places, sure. These places that they're advocating for. Yeah. And they've never visited them. Yeah, they've never spoken to leadership there, they've never gone to an event or anything like that. And this isn't to call out any church, but it's the church has to wake up. Yeah. And it's more than just an appearance of Facebook posts or whatever. Yeah, for sure. And so what I love about leadership at Harvest Valley and other churches that the willingness to step out, yeah, and saying, like, we're gonna stand with you in the good, the bad, the ugly. Come on. And uh I think that's a big deal. And it starts at the top, yeah, too. If you didn't step out as a leader and say, hey, I I'm passionate about this place, I don't think other people would. Right. And so they see it, and so I'm grateful.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

Man, you know, I think I appreciate that. I think we live in such a day and age where um we're all making our opinions known on like Facebook or like Instagram takeaways. Like you're just like, where does everybody land or stand? I think I think it's easy to like maybe make a post or like even say something on a Sunday, but I think honestly, uh, what do your actions say? What are your what are your dollars say too as a church? Where you know, I think for us it's like we don't want to just like, hey, we're we're we're against this, we're for this, but then you're like, okay, but what what are you doing? Yeah, what's the follow-up? And I think for us, if like the parry center is like, man, honestly, man, I feel like everybody should know, like in the Fargo Moorhead region area and in the world, should know about what's happening at the Parry Center because man, you guys are boots on the ground living in. And and so I think Nick, if I could just even ask you a question, I'm just saying, somebody who's just like, man, what's the parish center? Like, and it's amazing, like, there's a lot of people who know about the parry center, but I feel like everybody should know about it. And I run into some even people in ministry or pastors in our city who are like, What's the parry center? I'm like, how do you not know what this life-giving ministry is? And so, like, how would you unpack that for the person who says, I have no idea. This is the first time I've heard about the party center.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Like, I want everybody to know about this place, and especially our ministry, we've been around so long, since 1986. And for those lifelong Fargonian people that are like, I've never heard of it. I'm like, You've got to be joking me. Like, we're trying. And so we continue to try. So the more people that can advocate for us, share posts, all that stuff, super helpful for us. Um, but for those maybe you're just catching a podcast for the first time, yes, just download it, somebody shared it. Perry Center, we're a maternity home. So we're serving women. Uh, they can be between the ages of 12 and 35, actually, 42 now is the highest that we we've served that are facing an unexpected pregnancy. And so we're providing shelter, education, just preparing them for motherhood in life. We're not this shelter. Yes, we house women, but shelter is very short term, 30 days, 60 days, you're off to the next program. And right, in my opinion, there's a place for them, but they can also be a bandage to a gaping wound. And so when we can say day one, your stay's indefinite, yeah, as long as you're moving towards your goals. We're we're saying we're standing for for your child, yeah, and we're standing for you. Yep. And we're gonna be in this for the long haul. And so we'll see women sometimes even stay a year after baby, whatever it takes for them to be successful. Our population, they're coming from really difficult things homelessness, rape, abuse, trafficking, moments of a parent dropping off a teenager and driving off. Right. And so we have that opportunity to say what you've experienced in life is not normal. And we can show you a new healthy way of living, yeah. If you're willing to put the time in. Yep. And we've seen some amazing successes come from here. People saying that they uh these women will never amount to anything. You you can't parent, you can't do this. And when we can come alongside them, build an army, a literal army around those women, yeah. Um, we've just seen God do amazing things. And of course, everything that we do, yeah, we do well, but we're not the ones that are changing the lives and changing the minds. Man, it's it's the gospel. And so without the gospel, we're nothing. Yeah. Uh and so we really press into God is the only one that can change this life. Yep. And we are gonna have them for a time, a season, a window, whatever you want to say. And so we want to share who Jesus is and what he's done for them and the promises that you and I are celebrating every single day, they can celebrate it too. Yeah, and so just spending time in that, we do a lot of discipleship, we do a lot of devotions, Bible studies, church on Sunday mornings. Um, and we've seen uh women just come to know Christ and be baptized, come on, serving the Lord, and and now we're looking at a generational thing. Wow, and so even seeing uh generations, uh children coming to know Jesus because mom coming to know Jesus, I think that's powerful. And I think that um in modern America, one of the things that blows my mind working here is the amount of people who have never encountered the gospel, yeah, who have never heard the name of Jesus. That we've worked with women who have never touched a Bible. Wow. And so when they can experience that for the first time, like it brings so much joy to our team and myself, where it's like, you've never heard the name of Jesus? Yeah, okay, well, hang on, here we go. Yeah, um, and and so some of the crazy YouTube videos you could watch of like Chinese missionaries receiving Bibles and they're like hugging them, and I've seen that happen here. Wow. Um I I've said this probably at every episode of the podcast, but the most profound thing that has ever been shared with me has come from a resident. Yeah, and she's from rural North Dakota, and we were talking about our program, and I was talking about church on Sunday, and she got so excited that she could go to church, and she said, I've always wanted to go to church, but I was waiting for someone to invite me. Wow. And so here's here's a woman that just needs an invitation. Yes, and so that's just something that I've held on to for so long. And the Perry Center creates that invitation, which is pretty great. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

You know, I makes me think about just like never taking anything for granted. The fact that, you know, a Bible, access to church, access to a faith community. And like if you don't have it, you're like, man, what a gift to have it. And I think those of people who are listening are just like never take those moments for granted. Like, what a gift, you know. I think for us, as we were as we think about the parish center, what we love is the mission and and how Christ-centered it is of that. Jesus is the answer, Jesus brings healing, Jesus brings restoration and life. And and you know, just being a part of it for the short number of years that we have, we've seen Jesus powerfully work in the lives of of all of these these women and their children. You know, um, as even would talk about faith, you know, somebody who's hearing over like, well, hey, there's more aspects to a young woman who than just faith. Absolutely. Yeah, you guys are very much like holistic, like in the sense of like spiritual, emotional, mental, like like fighting cleaning everything. You guys are like a one-stop place. And I think for people who don't know that, I think their eyes should be open to that reality. Yeah, like what does that look like to care for somebody at the parry center in a holistic way? I mean, you guys, it's just amazing what happens here.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

I think when we talk about like the pro-life view, yeah, there's the argument against it. Everyone's like, you just care about a baby. That's all you care about. Save the baby. What about the mom? Yeah, and I think for us as a maternity home, we say, we got it all covered. Yes. We do care about that life. Yes. And we want that, that, that life to be born. We think that life is is precious and designed by God.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

And uh, but we're also there for mom. Yeah. We're gonna coach her, we're gonna equip her. Yeah, she's gonna be prepared and ready. It's not gonna be perfect, but it's uh it's a long-term thing. I we had a resident that graduated the program and we kind of did a celebration with all of the people in her life, mentors, people of the church, and um different organizations. Yeah. And when we had everybody in that room, she had over 20 people just for her. And what I found was really interesting about that is those 20 people didn't cross over to any other resident. Wow. So it wasn't like this person is like taking care of these. These were over 20 individuals just for her. Come on. So when you're looking at her situation and saying, I'm dealing with addiction, I'm dealing with fear or anxiety, worry, or I just want someone to be around, yeah. She now has 20 contacts that she can call at any moment. Yeah. And I think that is that's really what we're trying to do, is create a new community around them. And for a lot of our residents, it's so foreign. Yeah, they've never had people championing them, they've never had people coaching, equipping, even speaking into their life and saying, Oh, that's that's not the way God has intended you to live. Um, the world says keep on going, do what you want to do, be who you want to be, feel whatever. And and when we can go opposite of culture and saying God has God has been very clear on how someone should live. Yes. Um, and to have that come from not just us, but from other people. Yeah, that's where we're seeing impact, that life on life ministry. Yes. And I think that's what makes us extremely unique. There's a lot of there's maternity homes all over the United States. Oh, for sure. But a lot of them are operating, and this isn't calling anybody out, but a lot of them are operating as a shelter. Like, here's your bed. And those those are important.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

Yeah, oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

But there are a lot like, hey, we're just not equipped to care for you beyond, baby. Yes. And and you know, there's there's a you know, I guess there's a philosophy with that. But I'm looking at what are the hurdles this woman is facing? How can we lower them? How can we make the greatest impact? Yeah, it's just I always find it fascinating that women when they graduate or program, a lot are choosing to live around the Perry Center. Wow. I mean, if you ever come visit, there's apartment buildings and condos around. There are women that are choosing to live close because they see us as a home, they see us as a family, they know what time dinner is, they know like, hey, my case worker is right there. Yeah, my my clinic is right there, my daycare is right there. Wow. And so covering all things for them, and when they see us, just like this is my family, this is who we have. That's that's a really big deal. Yeah, and I think that's where you start seeing decisions changing, yes, life changing. Yes. Um, I I told you at our meeting, we had lunch before this delicious, by the way. Uh but just we had a resident that graduated, and I just had a short window, and I said, Yeah, I I don't know exactly where you're at with Jesus. Yeah. And you're gonna walk out of these doors, and I might not see you again. And so sit down. We're gonna have a dad conversation.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

And I I want to share the gospel with you again. This is this is who Jesus is, this is what he's done for you. It's not Jesus and Jesus or this, it's Jesus. That's it. And you know, we had that conversation, and she goes, Well, you know, I'm still gonna come to church. I'd like to come to church. And and I hear it here sometimes. I'm like, Oh, well, will I see them in church? Yes. And she's been in church every Sunday, yeah. On her own. She doesn't have to be, she's not forced by the program or anything like that. Yes, she will sometimes take an Uber to go to church. Wow. Um and so I'm just so proud of her. But also that just you know, that just speaks for what we do, is we care about them. We deeply love them, we deeply care for them and their child, and it's not one or the other. And um, we create this home environment for them to be successful, yes, for them to say, I haven't had a great life. If I could rewrite my life, this is kind of what I would like it to be. We'll get pictures sometimes with residents like sitting around the dinner table, like I'm I'm eating around the dinner table. And and because that's something that we instill, like there's power with the dinner table. It's huge. We've had women say, I shut my phone off at nine o'clock because there's nothing good after nine o'clock on my phone. Come on. So I think just when we can slow them down, provide everything that they would ever need, yeah, their worries, their fears, their frustrations start slipping away. Yeah. Um, the physical items, the diapers, the wipes, the clothing, all of those things. There's no barriers. Right. I've had women go through a store and say, wow, a onesie costs $20. I could never bring a child into this world because that's so expensive. Yeah. And so I might as well get an abortion for seven, eight hundred dollars. And you're like, okay, hold on a second.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

So there's no barriers at the Perry Center. And so creating a place for them to choose life, for us to say, We're happy that you've chosen life, and we are gonna walk with you your entire life, all of your days, as as much as you'll let us. Yep. And I think that's really special.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

I love what you said. Something really stuck out to me of like when it comes to like the pro life argument, it's it's like you just want to save the baby's life. What about the mom? If you get to know the Paris Center. You're about both. And like you're just saying, like, literally, like saving mom's life, like physically, but also like spiritually. And like, and I love that. And I just think that when you think about what what you guys do with like education and discipleship and like helping with jobs, you're just like you do all of it. Yeah. And like that's a beautiful thing I feel like everybody should know about, you know, and and I think sometimes if if we're honest, you know, I can only speak to the church world. I think sometimes we get in these bubbles and and we're not aware of the needs that are really in our community, where we get caught up in like arguments or posts or all these things. But like I don't think we're really like connecting with real life. And and I think um maybe somebody who goes like on a mission trip or you know, somebody who maybe served at like a food bank, like I had no idea the need. And and when and and I think for some time, I think the eyes of like the church need to be open to the need. Yeah. And and can you just like share a story, maybe without a name, but like share a story of just saying, can I just share a moment of here's the real need. Here's a real story of where somebody first was a part of the parish center to where they're at now. I think that's eye-opening, you know, because I had the chance for just uh a season to be on the parish center board. Yeah, I love that. And I my mind was just like and eyes and heart were just constantly like blown open of like, wow, yeah, these stories and these moments are really happening.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

That's a great question. I don't get asked that much of uh stories. I mean, I'll share stuff, but um yeah, honestly, I think one story that that always sticks out, and you're probably pretty familiar with it, is um, and I can share her name because we've done it, shared her name a million times, but Kirsten's story of just coming from a life of addiction. Um and I I don't know, I'm really sensitive to this now, but yeah, seeing people say, well, just tell people not to do drugs. You know, like that's it's really simple. That was that easy, right? Yeah, and but I think we have to understand too with people with addiction issues that sometimes they didn't always choose addiction. And and I don't mean mean it like you know, addiction chose them, like sometimes it's generational and parents being like, this is what we do. And I mean, I've shared some very horrific stories with women that parents, once they got to a certain age, said, Hey, we do drugs here, so you're gonna do drugs with us. And they're like, No, I that's not who I want to be. Yeah, and they have done some horrific things for them to become addicts. Wow. And so I have a lot of sensitivity towards uh people in that situation that not everyone has chose, chosen addiction. Yeah, and you know, this her in particular, same thing. She had uh, I mean, we did an episode with her, her 11th Christmas at 11 years old. Um, her parents wrapped up drug puriphenilia for a Christmas present. Wild. And she opened the present and thought that was normal. All 11-year-olds are getting drugs for Christmas. And so that's kind of how it it started for her. Wow. And so she has lived a life of addiction, uh, criminal background, because that has that's all she's been taught. For sure. And all she has known. And um her her son, he lived in uh my house for for a time. Yeah, and uh he he wasn't supposed to be here. He uh he had an uh abortion scheduled and she couldn't get there. Um and she ended up getting arrested and coming to the Perry Center and and seeing someone come in in the world would say, she's not gonna she's too far gone. She's lived a long life doing the same thing over and over and over again. And to see her come in and have a desire to change, yeah, learning all the things that we're teaching her, being a sponge, you know, being moldable, and um obtaining all the things that she set out to do. Ultimately, like I want to parent my son and I want to do a great job, teach me to be a great mom, and for us to come alongside her and teach her those things, yeah. Um to see her grow to know Jesus, um, be baptized, and yeah, just all of the the things. And I know it's it's I'm slightly vague, but I mean, this is like two years that we've worked with her, two plus years that we've worked with her. Yeah. And so to see her where she's at now, wow, being she's married. Yeah, she is raising her son to know Jesus. Yeah, I mean, it's so powerful, yeah. Um, where the world would look at her and just give up. Right. And to say, we're gonna step into your mess. Yeah, we're gonna figure this out. Yeah, it's gonna be ugly for her for a time. There are gonna be times that you don't agree with us, yeah. Um, and but for her to say, I'm all in, yeah, and to see where her life is now. I I you look at pictures of day one when she came in to where she's at now, she looks different, just looks healthy, looks happy. Yeah, um, and uh, and I think it's just powerful. And there's so many other stories like that. You know, I remember this kind of shifts gears, but I remember a resident coming in, and it was probably one of the most challenging residents that I've worked with. Um, I've never had um a woman come here, all of their needs being taken care of, and still want to have an abortion. And I worked with this this young lady, and she was always, you know, the the abortion clinic does them on Wednesdays. And she's like, I just I just want to ride. Can you drive me there? And I'm like, we are not doing that, yeah. Uh and in fact, like we actually manage their schedule, so I made her so busy on Wednesdays. I remember her coming in and be like, Man, my Wednesdays are so packed. I'm like, Yeah, that's weird, that's super strange. Um, but doing everything that we could do to help her and save her child. Yes. And I remember sitting at the dinner table in our old building, and she was crying and she was upset that nobody was gonna take her to get an abortion. And I remember looking at my hands, and I'm like, I've said all of the things that people say to save a child and help a mom, and uh, and nothing is resonating. I don't know. Lord, would you help me? And I'm like, Lord, would you just help me? And I looked down at my hands, and it was instant where the Lord's like, I got a word. And I remember asking her to look at her hands, and I said, Tell me what you see. And she's looking, like, I see my fingers, I see my hands, and I say, No, really look at your hands. What do you see? And she said, I see fingerprints. I said, Yes, you see fingerprints, and your fingerprints are so unique to you. There's nobody in the world that has the same fingerprints as you. Yeah, that's it. You go to a crime scene, they could find you, you know, all of those things. Yeah, and so you have a unique identity. Yeah, and they're there are twins that don't have the same fingerprints, and and think of how many millions of people are in our country and yeah, all of that, and nobody has the same fingerprint. Wild. And she was like, Okay, what's your point? I said, the baby that you are carrying has its own identity. Yeah, your baby has fingerprints that are not your fingerprints. Yeah, and for some reason, that was the one thing that she sat and she goes, So my baby is real. Yes, your baby's real. And my baby has an identity. Yes, your baby has an identity, and it's separate from mine, yes. Yeah, she's like, Well, if you say that, I'm gonna have to have this baby. Yeah, yeah, and if you say that you're gonna walk with me, yeah, are you really gonna walk with me? Yeah, and I remember like, yes, here we go. And she still stops by, still like picks up diapers, still, you know, come on, hangs out. And that was several years ago. And uh I've been here long enough now where we're getting I get photos of families that are, you know, kids are 10, 12 years old, and wow, and and I look at those kids and I say, You weren't supposed to be here. Yeah, praise the Lord for the Perry Center to speak life into these women, yes, to speak life over them. Yes, and I think that's where um that's just what that's what separates us from a lot of places that we're gonna just we're gonna be in it for the long haul. Yeah. And so we've seen a lot of success and we've seen women do amazing things, things that they were told they could never do. You know, just asking the question, what do you want to do with your life? Yeah. We've had women become attorneys and welders, and um, but also like the most important thing is that they're they're doing it with Jesus. Come on. And I think that's just um the impact for the Parry Center doing this since 1986 is just we've helped thousands of people, yeah, and have seen thousands of babies that weren't supposed to be here. Wow. And um, I think it's just when you sit and sit in that, it's like, man, the work that's happening here is is a big deal. Yeah, it's really special.

SPEAKER_02 32:18

I yeah, I would even add on the fact that like it's a sacred work, it's a spiritual work. And and I think what you are always facing is like spiritual warfare because it's not only is there a war over this mom's life, but there's a war over this this baby's life because God forms us in the womb and he knows us by name and he and he knits us together, and and uh God has a purpose and plan for that little little baby, not only the baby, but for the mom too. And so, you know, I I think people would be also interested in just knowing, like, you know, with the parish center, what are the obstacles that you face uh in this? Because like, you know, for me, I'm just like as a church and as a pastor and and very much like uh want to be in the fight with you. It's like you're like, man, come on, everybody should be behind this. There should be no lack, there should be just it should be, yeah. But you know, you and I know this is not just a physical work, it's a spiritual work. And and the enemy completely hates everything that's happening in this house. Yes. And so, like, what are the obstacles that you tend to face or staff or just the prayer center in general? Like, what are what do you face on a channel?

SPEAKER_01 33:31

I think the most, the greatest need is prayer, yeah. And even just encouraging people to physically be here and pray over this building. It's good, pray over the moms, uh, pray over the children. We did a night of prayer here a couple weeks ago, and uh my friend Derek Parsons uh was uh on the second floor, and they're singing and we're doing worship and just taking moments to pray, and he just prayed over our building. And it was like, Lord, we pray that heat would be here, we pray that air conditioners would work, we pray that refrigerators and dishwashers, all of those things would work, and it is such a spiritual battle. Things break all the time here, right? Yes, they get heavy use, but we've had brand new things come in and they break. And it's so discouraging, yeah, costs a lot of money, right? And uh, so I mean, people stepping in and praying with our ministry, um, praying for our ministry, sharing it with people like, hey, let's go to the parry center. Like, I've always say our doors are open. We want people to come. Come on. Um, we pray for safety and security. The world is crazy that we live in. We have women coming from really difficult situations, yeah, and we've had some not nice people show up. Yeah, you know, we've had uh just last spring, we had a guy here that was wanted for human trafficking. Wow. Trying to get into the buildings. Um, I mean, what we do is safe, but we are praying for safety for us, for our team, for the women. Wow. Um, and so I I know like that is that is such a big piece for us. I always challenge the church too. Like, church, we need mentors. Yeah, we need mentors to step up. And it's not like if it was any other season, the season is now. Yeah, we need people now. Come on, yeah. We have women that don't have mentors. Wow, and so it's not just this woman thing. Like, we want mentor families, we want husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, not perfect people, but people that are doing life differently and saying, I want to come alongside this resident. Yeah, I want to just have coffee with them, sit and eat with them, get to know them. When we have a Christmas, we want it over for Christmas. Yeah, so building these long-lasting relationships, the women that have mentors, we've seen them grow so much. Yeah. Uh, we have a podcast episode coming up of sitting down with uh some mentor families from our church. Oh, yeah. Um, but uh that's another need to have people come alongside us to say, yeah, we're gonna step into this with you. Yeah, it's good. Uh it's it's it can get ugly, it can get frustrating and discouraging, but we're gonna stand with you. That's good. And I think that uh that's always helpful to know that we have an army of people ready to go at all times. Uh that has been my my sermon lately of just we need people. That's we need lots of people. That's great. Um and even, I mean, financially sustaining this ministry, we're growing. We just went through this big expansion. Um the space is beautiful. It's amazing. Uh we're creating a house with 33 rooms. Wow. Uh our old place had nine rooms. Wow. And uh, and so creating a space for um the women to spread out um to to grow and to have a place for their children. We have moms with multiple children. We have space for that now, but it takes dollars to make it happen. You know, we're a hundred percent donor funded. Wow. Uh, so we exist because people invest in us. And that's uh like I say we're a hundred percent faith ministry, and that includes our finances. Yes. I don't I don't know what's gonna come in tomorrow. Yes. Um, but I do know, and I shared this with you, that whatever God's gonna build and what he's built here, he's gonna sustain. But it takes people ten dollars a month, a hundred dollars a month, big gifts, whatever it is, to keep it going. Yeah, you know, I don't know. Does that answer your question? I feel like I kind of wait.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

Yeah, no, I I again I just feel like you know, in my world, I'm like, man, this should be like flourishing, they should have no lack, and you're just like, no, they're they're obstacles. Constant needs obstacles and needs and all those types of things.

SPEAKER_01 38:10

You mentioned physical items, diapers, wipes, all that stuff comes from the community. It's like we we use everything that you use in your house just times 33. Oh, yeah, and so it's just there's a constant need, there's a constant spiritual battle.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

Um, you know, especially in the season that we're in now, we have a lot of new residents coming in.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:33

So just preparing them for like we want to create a space where you can encounter Jesus. Yeah. And we know where you're coming from is against that. We know that uh the culture or situation or whatever that you're coming out of isn't promoting that. Yeah. And uh we've we've fought parents, not physically, but we've had parents that like there's days that I'm like, oh, come on, uh it's gonna go down. There's there's there's a battle of young ladies that want to choose life and come to the parry center, and parents are saying, no, you need to have an abortion, and we're we're battling that, yeah. And we're stepping into that and fighting for that life, fighting for that that um that teen as well. For sure. And so it it it is it is a battle every day, and I don't think a lot of people understand that. I think I talk to a lot of people that want to start maternity homes or have the idea of a maternity home. Yeah, and and I think they often associate their own pregnancy on uh like oh, it was beautiful. It was this my husband was there, I had this whole like group, and yeah, yeah, and it's and I say that's wonderful, but be prepared for the other half. Totally. And and it's gonna be hard. It's 24-7. Yeah. Um, we've had dealt with possession, we've dealt with um drug culture gangs. Are you prepared for that? Yeah, and then their face goes white, like, oh, that sounds hard. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it is hard, it is hard. Because we are battling for life, yes, and we are battling for the gospel, yeah. And honestly, we're at the front lines of it. You are, and and so, yeah, just for churches to come alongside us in prayer, yeah, it's good and encouragement, and we have, and it doesn't even have to be local. We've have we have churches that travel an hour and a half in to do things here, come on. Um, and mentors that drive a couple hours to to mentor, so there's no reason not to get involved. Yeah. I I think we could come up with excuses all day long of why we can't. Yeah. No, the call is now. Yep. We can't wait 20 years from now for you to be in a different season. Oh man. Uh so I don't know if you're gonna press into that a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 41:01

Yeah, I know one thing I appreciate what you said is like, you know, I think sometimes when you think about a mentor family, you're just like, man, my life's still a hot mess, and and there's no way. But I think I think you're also looking for real people, right? And and you're just like, and ultimately it's the relationship that matters in the showing up for them. But I think one thing I appreciate about the Parry Center too is like there's engagement at every single level. And and uh even if you you're saying maybe you're listening and you're just like, man, I don't really have much, all I can afford is a box of diapers. That box of diapers will mean the world for that mom who needs it in that moment. But there are some other people who God has blessed them tremendously and just say, Man, God has blessed us. I want to help fund vision and direction into where the pericenter is going. Um, and I think that's just a question that I have for you, Nate, is like when you think about the vision or the future of the next five or ten years. I mean, when I first was, you know, just connected to Perry Center, I said there was nine rooms. Yeah, now it's like 33 rooms, and I just know like the need is out there, and so the vision just gets bigger. Where do you see things going in the next five or ten years? Especially for somebody who's like, man, I really feel like I need to partner with that. What you say might stir in their hearts to say, I want to be a part of that. Yeah, like what is that?

SPEAKER_01 42:16

That's a great question. Actually, so there's some things I've never shared that I've kept internally for a while. And uh you heard it here first. This is this is an exclusive. Yeah. So where I feel is um where the Paris Center needs to go. Yeah. Um, I I believe that we're entering a season of building an endowment.

SPEAKER_00 42:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 42:42

And so when we look at this endowment, I don't know what the number is. If it was $10 million in this endowment, and the state of North Dakota actually has some great tax advantages to uh an endowment. Talk to your tax guy. I'm not gonna throw numbers out there. Yeah, I I have an idea of what they are, but my goal is to make the Perry Center self-sustainable. So when you have an endowment, you can live off the interest. Yeah. Uh so our needs are being taken care of. And I I think people would say, okay, so what? You know, good for you. Uh but there's there's a greater purpose for this. Yeah. So my goal with this is if we could become self-sustainable, those dollars that are faithfully coming in, you know, the $10 a month, the $100 a month, whatever those dollars are. And they they grow because it's an army of people. Yep. Uh and and so my desire with that is those dollars coming in will build the next peri center. Wow. And I believe God has placed us here to create a model that we can um that we can bring to other communities. Communities. Yeah. And I women are coming from all over the United States to Fargo, North Dakota. Wow. So that tells us that there's a big gap. Yeah. You know, there's there's a need. They're coming to Fargo. Right. Nobody. Yeah. Why are we here? You know, it's negative 10 out. We're called. We're called here. Um for such a time as this. Totally. But but honestly, what if we could close that gap? Yeah. Because not every woman is finding us. Right. Not every woman knows about us. Yeah. And so when we can close that gap and say, what does it look like to have a peri center? I'm just going to throw out a city. It doesn't, it doesn't mean it's happening. But Sioux Falls. Sure. Perry Center Omaha. Yeah. Um what would it look like for us to have the Pericenter in these communities? I'm an impatient person. I'm not going to sit and wait for women to find us. Yeah. Come on. We're going to create an opportunity to stand for life, to stand for the gospel. Yeah. And um and and so I do see us going in that direction. There are a lot of things that I would say you'd ask me five years ago, like 10 years from now, I would love to see these things. We've already hit those things. Oh man. Quickly. Yeah. Clinic uh we have a medical clinic in here that is uh partnered with Sanford Health. We have a pro-life Christian doctor that is managing it. We have an ultrasound machine as of yesterday or two days ago. Yeah. Two days ago. Blows my mind. Terrifying. It's like a little car. Yeah. Uh cost of a nice car. Um amazing. But we we are we have our child care kind of settled. And and so we have there's no place that you could go 50 feet from your bedroom to a clinic. Yeah. 50 feet to your casework or 50 feet to your daycare. Uh, where we're going, we're also creating job opportunities. So the Perry Center is looking at creating a print shop, yeah, a t-shirt printing company. Uh we're gonna be launching that hopefully soon. I've been saying that a long time, but hopefully soon. So now their their housing, child care, occupation are gonna be taken care of. Yeah. And so when we talk about the life issue, we're covering everything. Wow, everything. Amazing. And and so I do see us moving into a season of other pericenters. I don't know exactly what that looks like. I need more time to think. Um and and if I pray that God allows me to see it in my lifetime, and I think my goal is to continue to get people excited about what God is doing here, and they can decide how they want to come alongside us. But I've seen God do crazy things in this ministry, big things. Um, this $2.4 million building paid in cash. Wow, come on. Um, and I you and I sat many times in this conversation of I don't know how this is gonna work. But when God we can fully rely on God when we don't know, that's it. And so I I believe that the next season that we would be going into is that, you know, what if we could just close those gaps for those women? And it, you know, it might be just a four-room place to start or wherever it is. Yeah, come on. But the need is great.

SPEAKER_00 47:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 47:34

Um, unplanned pregnancies are never gonna go away. That's the reality of it until Jesus comes back. Yep, yeah, and so we need to be ready, we need to be prepared, and the way the world is going, be prepared. Yeah, we can't we can't sit and say, Oh, I hope they find us. For sure. What if we just created more opportunities for them to see it? Oh man, what if we go? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that. So it's it's exciting and terrifying. Um, but I I think how cool is it too when you're looking at um when you're talking to people that have been so faithful with our ministry. Yeah, you know, I think of the people that have been given ten dollars a month since 1986. Oh man, come on. And and and I've seen we have a woman that gives a dollar a month. Yeah, come on. Widows might, you know, that's like what she has, and that's so big. What if we can look at those people and say, now a hundred percent of your donations fund the next parry center. Yeah, it builds the next party center. And so those ten dollars a month are like, I'm building the next parry center. Like the we're not taking care of operation, we're not taking care of the the day-to-day. We get to build an actual building and create the next parry center uh with our generosity. And I think that creates like all hands-on-deck army mode of let's let's make this happen, let's do this together. We get to do this, yeah. And uh, so I I think that would be a cool thing. I know there's lots of other ideas. We talk about cleaning companies and just yeah, creating opportunities, meeting these women where they're at. Yeah. Um, you know, I I've thought about trauma counseling, and there aren't a lot of places that are equipped for that. Uh, but that is a whole nother animal. And uh, but I know that um we'll continue to press in in prayer, and I think God will reveal those things, um, the direction that we're supposed to go.

SPEAKER_02 49:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:37

Um I this isn't a we're in a season that is so exciting for our ministry, and we're just kind of at the starting line. Yeah. Even though we've been doing it a long time, but I feel like we've stretched, you know, we've gotten ready for the the marathon and whatever it is, and we're standing at the line waiting for the beep for us to go. Yeah. And I I think um, yeah, we're just we're in a season. It blows my mind every time we do something here. You know, I think of Mike that was coming through, and he's like, Well, tell me about this place. And we did a tour through here. Yeah, a night of worship. We had several people that have never been here before. Yeah. And so just creating opportunities for people to hear, come and see, see what's in your neighborhood and see what's in your community. Let's go beyond just like, I stand for this. Yeah, okay. Well, do the research. Where where are these places that you can stand with? Yes. And I think that's really important. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 50:36

I love that. Man, I appreciate you, Nate. I appreciate your whole team. It's really a team effort. Everybody works so hard behind the scenes, and and I think that would just be an encouragement. Just come check it out and uh just make the investment. Anytime you make an investment, you want to make sure that it's fertile soil. Man, um, man, just the parish center is just it's ripe and there's it's it's huge. And so I just encourage people to get invested, be part of it.

SPEAKER_01 51:00

Yeah, yeah, I appreciate that. I I think again to go back, I I love how your church is involved. You know, when I got into this, I was like, every church is like we're gonna have churches everywhere. Yeah, and that's not true. And and and again, I'm not calling anybody out for sure, but there are few churches. Yeah, I think people have made it a deno denomination issue or whatever else. It's like life is not a denomination issue. Get involved, yeah. Step out, um, you know, talk to your leadership, and and uh as people, don't wait for your leadership to move. Like go.

SPEAKER_00 51:38

Yeah, like you would probably appreciate it as a pastor too. Like, yeah, guys, you can do this, get out of here, go make it happen.

SPEAKER_01 51:44

Yeah, um, and so I love that just even your church is is so involved, and um our women always feel welcome when they're there. I know that um just the way that they're engaged, yeah, the greeted smile, yeah, it goes such a long way. And even the other churches that our residents attend and go to, it's it's they're being engaged. I love it. Um, so we have Harvest Valley, which is a decent sized church to a small almost home church of like 30 people. Yeah, like we have women that are hearing the gospel, yeah, and we're not just crazy people that are sharing it here, and they're like, oh, this is like yeah, there are other people. Yes. Um and so it's just we don't take it lightly. And so just grateful for your partnership and uh all that you guys do for for our ministry. I'm excited for the next five, 10 years, so where we're gonna be. So well, friends, I appreciate you all taking the time to listen to this podcast. Uh thank you, Randy, for for joining us. And uh you can find all things PerryCenter at Pericenter.org. You can always come alongside us financially, support us. Again, we're 100% donor funded. So uh we always appreciate people um uh supporting us financially, but even just physical items. We have people showing up at the door every day with diapers, white scopes, clothes, all of those things. Most importantly, just continue to keep us in your prayers for um the work that uh God is doing here and for us just stepping into that uh boldly. And um and so we just appreciate all uh all of the listeners here and uh thank you for watching. So I'll catch you next time.