On today's episode, we'll be discussing the value of a marketplace chaplain. And we're joined by Jason Brown. Jason is the Chief Marketing Officer for Marketplace Chaplains USA. He became the Marketplace Chaplains in 2002 with 20 years of sales and marketing experience that includes Procter and Gamble. He was the national sales manager for Wrangler Outerwear and also computer resale technologies. And so there's a he's definitely an expert in that Wrangler market because he was the he was a professional athlete, won the 1991 World Champions Saddle Bronk Rider title, and also served as the rodeo's national spokesman coordinator. Jason, are you going to be uh saddling up for the Houston Rodeo coming up here in a couple months?
SPEAKER_00No. 1991 was my last year when I broke my leg for the fifth time in Mobile, Alabama, and my wife said uh that was my former life. So uh I I might watch it on TV every now and then, but that's about it, Darren.
SPEAKER_02Man, my that was my first rodeo, I think I mentioned to you. I went a year ago, and I was just amazed at what those bodies go through on the backs of those animals. My goodness. Uh well I'll just go ahead and let you know the website is mChapusa.com. Um, and I'll mention that again at the end of the interview, but excited to have you on. Welcome to the Christianity and Business Podcast, Jason.
SPEAKER_00Thank you, Darren. It's uh always a pleasure. We spoke several years ago, and uh a lot of things happening in the workplace. There's a the faith at work movement is uh growing exponentially with more speed. It seems like every week, coast to coast and border to border. So uh we're excited to just be a part of that.
SPEAKER_02Man, it's exciting. And you guys really are right in the epicenter of that. So, what is marketplace chaplains for those of our listeners who aren't familiar, and what's the role of a marketplace chaplain?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, good question. Um we started in '84. Um a simple model of chaplain. See people people in the listeners may be familiar with a chaplain in a hospital, maybe the military, you know, sports teams have chaplains, and even our U.S. Congress has a chaplain, and that they really need a chaplain. But um, chaplains in the workplace are simply frontline caregivers that company leaders bring in. Uh, they partner with us because the chaplains are our employees, but um, it's simply a way to tangibly say uh we care about you not only as an employee but as a person, and we value you, and we're providing this resource because so many people today, Darren, are are disconnected. Uh, not only from any local church, I think the stats now are near up 80% or not regularly um connected. Um, but we also are disconnected from uh community and groups and people. We have a lot more communication on all these uh personal devices and iPhones and text and all this stuff, but there's really no relationship. And uh we're just seeing more and more companies reach out to us because uh they want to bring back that human spirit and uh life into companies that's become so sterile and process-oriented, and you know, it's such a performance-based uh society that it's what can you do? You know, you're just an EIN number, but uh smarter companies um and and some we serve six public companies, um, so it doesn't matter what kind, just employees uh companies really only asset when you think about it, and they bring problems to work and they need help dealing with those, and then there's unfortunately a lot of crisis events in individual people's lives, but here recently, even some national events everyone's aware of, especially you in Houston with uh the hurricanes and the flooding and then the recent uh uh shootings in Vegas. Uh I'm seeing emails today from our chaplains in Las Vegas that are helping at the funeral homes, and some of our leaders have had to come in from Phoenix to provide some support. So it's just a frontline caregiver and we use the team out there to help employees and help businesses.
SPEAKER_02Wow. And I it's something you said really struck a core with me when you were talking about how more more and more people are disconnected, they just don't have those supportive relationships in their life. I mean, when something like uh a hurt a disaster happens, such as a natural disaster, or you know, God forbid these shootings that just happen. I mean if if if that's you, what I mean what options do you have? Where do you turn? You're not connected, you don't know people in a church. I mean, uh people barely know their neighbors uh nowadays. I mean, yeah, it's uh it's not hard to see the the the role that a marketplace chaplain uh plays, and uh or at least the the need that that exists there. Um could you share maybe an example? So somebody maybe they have a certain uh uh view of what a chaplain is, like they you know they give out communion or or something like that. But what what does that actually look like? What is that role of a marketplace chaplain and maybe a real world story?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um I I think the f uh two quick things you said. You you might think of the need for a chaplain in the workplace for crisis and uh events and things, you know, uh uh a family member dies and you d don't know what to do, um, somebody gets the cancer diagnosis, oh my world's caved in, what I do. Um that's about fifteen percent of what we have nearly fifteen hundred chaplains, Darren, that are making thirty, eight hundred different work site visits this week to all kinds of companies. But mostly what they're doing is uh talking to and listening and helping people with personal problems, the rebellious teenager, the grandmother in the senior living home, financial problems, problems in their marriage, whatever it it may be. Um but some people may think when they think of chaplain, uh oh, it's a church at work or religious program, and it and it's really not. Um yes, we're faith-based, all of our chaplains are are Christians, but we really we've positioned this and why we're able to work in public companies and some municipalities and for a railroad and um in in all kinds of settings is uh we provide an employee care service. Um so companies partner with us to provide this level of care and support uh to their people. So um, you know, just looking at a story the other day, uh uh a a female employee, she's a single mom. The female chaplain had gone by every Tuesday and said hello, they kind of knew each other, and then uh one day the uh teenage daughter was rebelling, she was doing bad in school, uh, had gotten some tickets, was depressed, there was anger, and uh the the female employee said, Um, you know, chaplain, could you could you help me? I met my wits in with my daughter, and the chaplain said, Well sure, um what what can I do? Could we meet? And so they had some meetings at the employees' home, and then the chaplain made a teenage daughter, encouraged her, got her uh some baby steps and a little words of encouragement, some scriptures, some devotions, also helped the mom reinforce it. Uh, you know, as she met with her at the office and uh gave her more things to talk to her daughter about and where there was more communication and it was about an eight-month process, but now the relationships restored, the dog better, they're attending church, and you know, she's accepted Christ. So that's the long-term role of helping people with with problems. And that's a great uh uh spiritual ROI, but uh the other side too for business owners that are looking, you know, to how do I help my people, you know, I it yeah, we gotta do good as a company and it's not I'm doing this just so I get somebody to 100% productivity, which isn't realistic. But you know, if if um if somebody's coming in the door every morning and they're carrying those burdens with them from home and they they're it may be a sensitive issue, they're embarrassed to share with a coworker they don't want to tell HR. They're not gonna call a hotline and talk to a counselor or psychologist or psychiatrist. Um but if somebody's able to uh share that and get some coping mechanisms, some encouragement and see real positive wins in their life and maybe with a family member, uh it just makes sense that they are appreciative of their company for providing that, but also uh they're more productive and uh aren't carrying those burdens in the forefront of their daily work.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. And Jason, you mentioned that with situations like disasters and things like that, that might be about 15 percent of the of the work that these chaplains are and the needs of these chaplains are responding to. And and I know you've got the app and you're measuring a lot of these different things and the the reasons why people are reaching out to the chaplains. Are there other percentages that you have like uh for example, what percentage would workers who have issues with maybe waiver children or they're struggling with their um with their children that reach out to the chaplain for that, or they've got a conflict with another co-worker? Or yeah, is do you have that sort of a breakdown of why they're reaching out to the to the chaplains?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, a couple of fronts on that. Um in the HR uh benefit type world, you might consider that a usage rate. Um you know, most people are familiar with those 800 number EAP hotlines that kind of come with your healthcare package. Uh there in the national average usage rate of those is like two to nine percent. And you think about it, somebody's got to be in a pretty bad corner in life to call an 800 number to someone they don't know. Um thankfully they get used, but sometimes they're used at the last minute, last itch resource. Um but when you have that, you know, the um David Weekly Homes Care's chaplain team that's making those visits and building those relationships um of trust and confidence, uh, you know, people will be more apt to open up something when it's an issue or a problem before it turns into a crisis. And so our studies show after the first year um we see uh between 50 and 80 percent usage rates of employees, which is you know unbelievable. That's amazing. Um and we track all the issues that are talked with, of course, confidentially. There's no names or pictures or photos, but you know, company owners and HR departments, they're like, I wasn't really sure anybody was going to use this, and they see the reports like, you know, 80 work site visits were made, five hospital visits, they attended seven funerals, they uh did a funeral, they um visited a jail of a cousin of an employee, they visited a grandmother in a senior living community um out in St. Louis. Um they were engaged this many times. The there was you know, 140 discussions about marriage and family, 13 about parenting, 20 about stress. You know, they're just blown away by the by the usage um that occurs. Uh during about every four minutes of every workday an employee is reaching out to one of our chaplains. So it's increasing. Uh the usage is um really going through the roof, and especially during these crisis times as well, they they incite a lot of people to start, you know, thinking about what's important in life rather than just making more money in another house and another car and you know, all the material things in life.
SPEAKER_02Wow. That usage is incredible. So in addition to the usage, what are maybe some of the findings that you present to uh a typical CEO of maybe a mid, large-sized company uh that really surprises them b besides the usage itself?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, what that translates into um are the intangible factors that cause things like turnover, uh tardiness, abteism, uh theft and fraud, lack of teamwork, safety compromises. Um if you really dig into the root causes of those problems, those are just the manifestations and stuff. The root of the problem is what you got to look at. And um when you trace those back, a lot of it's down to you know personal issues and problems that people have that they don't know how to how to cope with. So we have companies that you know have noticed we've cut their turnover in half, which is huge because it costs so much to identify and recruit and train and hire and get somebody else up to the productivity level of the person that left voluntarily. Um even, you know, like Department of Labor and Sherm Studies, you know, half the people that leave voluntarily, they leave um just because they didn't feel it's not money or salary or benefits. Those are usually, I think, seven or eight on the list. Um you know, it's number one is the employees' relation with their direct supervisor. Number two, do they feel valued and cared for as a person, as an individual? Um, and so we help on both those fronts. Uh we had a large food company uh out of the Midwest and a distribution company do a study on presenteeism, and they've seen a dramatic decrease in that. Um, you know, basically saying, you know, that aspect alone uh pays for the program itself as service. Um, you know, presenteeism people come into work, but they're really disengaged. They're not thinking about work, they're thinking about this problem at home, that rebellious teenage daughter, my finances, uh, the world situation, what's you know, should I go to the public event next week after what happened in Vegas? You know, they're just they're just not engaged. So a myriad of a myriad of things. Um most CEOs and HR people, when they call each other for a reference, they'll say, you know, don't try to pencil it out like a another program and do an Excel spreadsheet. It it's the right thing to do, and it'll it'll bring back more returns than you ever ever thought of. Um and most HR departments are happy to have the the support and the relief. You know, they have so many details to carry out and compliance issues and all that, you know, as much as they would love to help employees with personal problems, but you know, as the companies grow from five people to 50 to 250 in eight locations across the country, it's just physically and logistically impossible to do.
SPEAKER_02Sure. And uh I mean it might not be a hurricane, they might not have had their house flooded out and lost everything. I mean, obviously if that something like that happens as it has with uh many thousands of people here in Houston and and really all over the country in this uh coastal uh southeast uh Gulf Coast area. Uh I mean that that people are having these uh maybe it might seem insignificant to somebody else, but it's a hurricane in their life. Exactly, exactly. And when when a hurricane happens in your life, metaphorically speaking, or literally speaking, you're not thinking about a whole lot else. So I mean, just from a productivity standpoint, it it's just so clear that if you don't help people uh resolve some of those uh or or at least feel heard and valued in those things. I mean, they're bringing those things into the workplace and you know, to have that chaplain, which I think I remember in the military anyway, for me, I think we had one chaplain probably for about maybe every goodness, maybe 400 people, something like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. We had a I was in uh in a squadron, we had one chaplain, and I think we had five, we had one of the larger squadrons on the base, but it was a little over 500 people. I mean, how's one chaplain gonna care for 500 people? I mean, what is that ideal ratio for chaplains to employees?
SPEAKER_00We we try to not assign any chaplain more than about 200 employees, and that's why we use the team approach. Um, and always a male and a female. You know, female chaplains work with um uh females and male chaplains work with male chaplains and and couples. Um but it's also not only the the gender, um, you know, we look at the ethnicity, you know, like um Pilgrim's Pride, the chicken processing company, uh, you know, 60% of their employees are Hispanic. So 60% of our 320 chaplains that serve all those complexes are Hispanic, not only for the language um uh barriers, uh Darren, but also just for culture because for can' uh the family members and many times when the chaplains asked to come help in a family situation, the the other family members may not be bilingual, but also that chaplain would understand that culture and can make a much deeper connection uh quicker.
SPEAKER_02And I would think that this app has really enhanced the the usage of the chaplain services. I mean, thinking back to the military, I mean, like how do you reach out to a chaplain? I mean, yeah, you literally have to get in your car and drive down to see the chaplain because uh you know because it wasn't just that they were the chaplain for our typically it was a group chaplain. So they were not only responsible for our squadron of five uh 500, but we're talking more that I I want to say there might have been 12 other squadrons that they were responsible for in a group, in an Air Force group, which you know it is just massive. So so with the app, they can just download it on their phone and that as a company benefit, you know. I would think when they they kind of get hired on, that's part of the in-processing. Is that right? They get the app on their phone. And then hey, if you ever have an issue, Joe or Susan or Hector, you know, whoever it is, just reach out to the chaplain through this app. I mean, is that it seems sounds pretty simple.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, you know, to two things like you had to get in your car and go see the chaplain. The first thing is we're making those work site visits so your company's chaplain care team are going to the people proactively. So there's a chance to use it. But then to supplement that, rather than having to find the business card or call them on the cell phone, at each location, uh every employee can download for free from the App Store, the MyChap app. And then so let's look at that um uh you know, that auto dealer with 150 uh employees, there's maybe three or four chaplains assigned to there. Those employees put in a code one time, and then from the back end, we load those four um chaplains uh onto that app, and so you know, every time an employee turns on their phone, there's the icon there for the app, and they can choose one of their chaplains and they can text them, they can call them, they can email them, just a ref resource, or schedule an appointment. And that's every employee. And then where the other benefit is, Darren, um, you know, more and more people are able to work from home, uh, they're remote, uh, they're over the road, uh, they're field employees, uh, where we can't just go and meet and see them every week. So we're able to deploy this uh to those employees and then proactively push messages and words of encouragement and things to field employees to let them know they're connected and valued. And then it's real easy for them to pop back and say, Hey, would you would you pray for uh me today, my wife's going in for a biopsy or those type of things. So, yeah, technology is is good, it's bad, but we use it for the good to make connections uh easier in this fast paced society. So we're actually seeing a lot of good ministry and and back and forth, um, especially. Especially with the younger generation who's used to communicate in that way. And a lot of our senior chaplains have really enjoyed enjoyed that because they're not, you know, just getting the chance to listen and share and provide care and hope. Um when they're at the work site, it's it's happening at happening at all times of of day now and over you know, over text and email. So that's kind of exciting.
SPEAKER_02And so are the chaplains, I mean, are they providing things like m marriage counseling and things like that? And and how qualified are these chaplains that are working for the company?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, w you know, we're only as good as our chaplains. Um most of our chaplains have advanced degrees, uh, many theological degrees, some come out of the military, others hospitals. They have a they have to have a calling, you know, they've got to love people and understand the workplace uh to be a workplace chaplain. Um but what we do, we don't technically call it counseling. That gets you into a whole nother uh area. Um even though some of our people have those degrees, but we stay in that frontline role of a chaplain, kind of like triage and and frontline support, um, you know, not the long-term six-month of counseling. But what we're able to do is for those companies that have those benefits already there, we help connect employees to things the company already has and then encourage people to take advantage of them, uh, help them through that process, uh, etc. But yeah, we do a lot of premarital discussions. We one of the number one issues that employees talk to the chaplains about is uh marriage and family. So um you can call it counseling in an esoteric general sense, but not technically like from a uh you know a marriage, a licensed marriage counselor per se.
SPEAKER_02Gotcha. And so certainly the one of the main objections that a a business owner might have is well, you know, we don't have a budget for it, or something like that. But once you get past the the money issue, what what are the most frequent objections you have to overcome to help these company leaders bring a marketplace chaplain in?
SPEAKER_00Sure. Uh real quick, first, money's really an issue. It's very inexpensive compared to other benefits and other things the company offers. Um and once we share, and if they're really looking at there, there's sunk costs that are going out because of that absenteeism and retention and safety and all those things, um it's um you know, it's less than the coffee service a month that they provide employees. So, you know, they kind of get get past that. So your next thing is, well, you know, I can see the value of this and I believe in what you're doing, but you know what, Jason, we're a multicultural diverse workforce, and we have people from all grounds, and I'm just not sure they'll use it, or you know, I I don't know about this. And that's probably the next uh common thing that they want to know about or have to think through. And so um, you know, the the truth is is it's an employee care service, and the four tenets of it are, Darren, is we're neutral from company operations, so your chaplains aren't under the HR department. Uh the employees get to choose if they want to engage the chaplains, what they want to talk about when and where and how long. Um it's strictly confidential. We don't report conversations to HR, their supervisor, or a family member or a coworker, and it's available to everyone. So, you know, society wants to always look at the differences, um, and you know that we're um real diverse and everybody's different. Well, we look at the commonalities, we focus on the human being, and I don't care if you're atheist, Methodist, or Muslim. Uh you're worried about do I have a job? Can I provide for my family? Uh are my kids gonna make it through school? Um can me and my wife get along better? Um, boy, I need some help with stress management. Work is really getting tougher. It's you know, 18 hours a day I'm getting texts and emails. Uh I I just need some help. And then those unexpected crises of life come up, and then you know, I need I need some extra help or some direction or somebody just to walk through crises with me. And and I tell companies there, you know, we're not the silver bullet, we're not gonna fix every problem, and we're not really there to do that. And most people really need someone that's will listen empathetically and listen to understand, not listen to solve or judge or provide criticism, etc. Um, people just want to know, you really care about me unconditionally. And that's what we're able to bring, that's becoming more and more unique um in this in this workplace society. So when the company chaplain says, Hey Darren, how are you today? My time is your time. How can I serve you today? What do you need? And there's an open book, Darren, and and there's no quid pro quo, there's no judgment, there's no um sense of what I share could be told to someone else, and and that's a that's a rare commodity in today's society.
SPEAKER_02Aaron Powell Yeah. And you know, even if the leader of that company wanted to take the time to do all of those things, which I would I would hope that they do, uh, the They typically are are not gifted in that area because you really have to be gifted with a pastor's heart to really sit there and listen to somebody's you know what they're going through. And I remember three years ago, Jason, when I interviewed you, you described it as a ministry of presence. You know, this is not this is not like a transactional thing where I'm trying to get you back on track so you can work harder or something like that. Like it's just being there for people because it's the right thing to do and to and to hear them out. And you know, at the same time, I I know that companies like David Weekly Homes and others, like they get they get heralded as you know the best companies to work for. Yeah, interviewing uh Al Lopez from the the uh Best Christian Workplaces Institute and on the previous episode and um and marketplace chaplains and and having somebody providing that pastoral care is one of those things that these companies do that really want to attract top talent and they want to retain uh not you know not just like technology companies or something like that, but you just want to you want to keep uh you want to keep your people and cut down on that turnover and having this service is just one of those things that really makes people want to be a part.
SPEAKER_00Well well, it's a differentiator. I was speaking of David Weekly, I remember uh a long time ago um somebody had wrote David and said, you know, I was considering a couple of companies, and she was out on the East Coast, but she said on your website, when I saw that you had a David Weekly Care's chaplain team, uh it set the tone for the level of integrity and morals expected from you know your employees, and it was one of the items that attracted me to your company because it showed me uh you had a vested interest in my overall well-being, not just in what I could do for the company. And then going back to um, you know, if the company owner, the HR person wanted to do that, well, uh a lot do. We can only extend, enhance, and broaden the level of care to that heartbeat of leadership. Uh, but there's still a glass ceiling, you know, as great of a leader as uh people are in the HR department as much as they care, there's just certain things employees are not going to bring to you because you're their boss or supervisor. Um and so that there's that issue. The other issue is is your role is to, you know, make payroll and keep the company going and and do things. So it's really a role. And when the the chaplains come to the parking lot, you know, they're really uh praying and looking for that divine appointment. Who is who is somebody that needs a positive, encouraging touch today? Um, and then maybe somebody um needs some extra help after work or in another state for the family member. You know, the HR person or the the CEO can't do that, but we can. And so we're just extending that heart of care. We're not displacing or replacing company care leadership or other employees that are helping others, but we just um undergird that and fill in some gaps and then encourage even even believers to live out their faith at work and and not try to, you know, I don't gotta be different here at work than I do at home. So uh a couple of different fronts there.
SPEAKER_02As well as you know, you're bringing in another skill set that typically you yourself don't have. I mean, I know that this is not one of my skill sets, at least not one of my dominant ones. And and and so we need people around us that that's what they do. I mean, I have fortunately close friends that are like that, that are pastors, you know, they have those pastors' hearts. And you know, that's why this company was founded by a a military chaplain, you know, somebody that had that gift. It wasn't like somebody said, you know, let's figure out how we can start a business and make some money. But this was a a chaplain with a pastor's heart that was just you know drawn to help people in this in this sort of a way, which has attracted all these other uh chaplains that have that same gift that they can serve people that way. You know, you've got to hire, you're not gonna hire uh, you know, uh IT, you're not gonna hire maybe somebody that does HR to go do your um you know mechanical work or something like that. Correct. You know, you're gonna hire the right person for the right job.
SPEAKER_00Uh exactly. It goes back to that role and specialty skill set gifting training. You know, our training is so huge these days. We have a a large academy with over a hundred continuing education modules because the workplace is changing so differently and rapidly with things the chaplains are going to be faced with. So trying to keep them sharp and encouraged and uh you know having resource tools to use. Uh it's a lot to do it right, especially in the workplace, because we're invited guests. You know, the uh it's not like that employee came person's church or group or counseling office. We're we're on, you know, their workplace space, and so we have to be very uh respectful. But again, it goes back to role. I don't I don't think there's a company we work for out of the over 800 companies we serve there and that doesn't have that vision match. That's where it starts. That hey, at the end of the day, it's about people. I want to show uh care about them, we love them, help them. If it helps the business and you know they're they have a better family life, I I'm just glad, you know, we can be a small part of that. That's really the heartbeat of the the the leaders we partner with.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, and uh having studied what's going on, what God is doing in the marketplace over the last couple years, uh having a marketplace chaplain has been one of those things that I've noticed is just it's it's almost one of those, uh not to trivialize it, but almost one of those checklist items that it's one of those kind of low-hanging fruit opportunities. If you want to use your company to bring glory to God, I mean to bring in a marketplace chaplain is just such a such a practical, effective way to do that.
SPEAKER_00Greg Greg Leif, the CEO at Convene, says it's the biggest no-brainer in business. And it's especially if you're a business leader that's a believer or something is. Give me one reason why you wouldn't do this. I mean, it it's and and that's what I share with people. You know, when I can solve every problem, but you know what? Everybody's had the consultants and they've got great mission and vision statements and they got core values on posters, but I always say, okay, what are you doing with that? What's the investment, what's the translation down to the front lines to the your people? What are you really doing? Well, we do a picnic and a Christmas party, and they we allow them to do a Bible study if we want. I'm saying, no, what are you really doing? So, um, you know, we're so stressed in employee care. We're not trying to do coaching or leadership or um, you know, uh setting up church or discipling. We're doing one thing really well, and it's just it is a checkbox deal, like it's just a spoke in the wheel of tangible things companies can say, Hey, this we really do care about people. We even provide this service for not only uh the employees but their family members nationwide and and all the way through Mexico and Canada. So that's the positioning of it, and you know, I I'm just dumbfounded why people uh uh you asked some earlier about some of the objections, and I tell you one of the not strange but uh unfortunate ones is like, well, I'm I'm the CEO and the owner, but I'm also the chaplain. You know, I I'm I'm gonna chaplain my people and I've got an open door and you know I'm an elder at the church and know this, so um I I'm gonna do that role. And you know, I I guess kind of shake my head at that point, but um, you know, great they want to and uh hope successful, but you know, still you're still the boss.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and there's that idea that I that I hear, you know, I'm gonna be the CEO, so I'm gonna I'm gonna be the pastor of my business. And I think that's where we've kind of lost the meaning of what a pastor, pastor shepherd is when we look at, you know, like megachurches and that kind of thing. And the idea of a pastor has been equated with an executive when really when you look at what a pastor does is it takes care of the sheep.
SPEAKER_00Pastoral care and yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, pastoral care, exactly. And and so I mean, if you don't have that skill set, even if you did have the skill set, you don't have the time, and you don't there's just with the the way the roles are defined in the company, there just is a lot of awkwardness and and issues that come into play there. So uh but I love that quote about it being the biggest no-brainer in business.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's well said it's a good guy on that. Uh hey, I was just uh pulling out your book off my shelf here, Marketing Like Jesus, that you sent me and signed uh a couple of years ago. So you remember that one?
SPEAKER_02Awesome. Yeah, that's actually how we got connected. I think uh uh our mutual friend Dr. Jim Harris an article and then you responded to that article and said you had forwarded it over to your to your to your team.
SPEAKER_00So appreciate that. Yeah, Jim's a great guy.
SPEAKER_02Indeed. So MCHAP mcap U S A dot com is the website. Is that the best place for it people to go uh to take next steps?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, then and on both sides. Um not only if you're a company leader and want to explore more, there's some good videos on there and testimonials, and there's a place, hey, I'm interested in what what would a chaplain cure team look like at my business? And we're into customization. We work with all kinds of companies. But uh equally as important, Darren, right now we have over 80 openings of chaplains across the nation with companies that have signed up or locations out in Moab, Utah, with you know, 30 employees, and we need a chaplain to serve um you know those employees. So we're always looking for people across the country that's like, wow, I've got I've never known about this. This would be perfect. I've I can do this. So we're uh if you're interested in being a chaplain or having chaplain care for your employees, that's the best place to start.
SPEAKER_02Excellent. Jason, would you leave us with a parting piece of advice?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, the world is uh getting darker, it's tougher, challenges face all of us. Um believers, non-believers, everyone. And um, you know, there's only one one true hope in the world, and um it all goes back to Jesus at the end of the day. And um, you know, your your faith determines your beliefs, determines your values and actions. So they're not uh mutually exclusive, they're not independent, it all works together. And I would just encourage people to uh take a bold step and and you know, light dispels darkness, and God's given, especially business leaders, a huge platform to influence the world. The you know, if you're into the seven mountains of culture and looking at it, um the workplace is pretty wide open now, and there's a lot of religious freedoms and a lot of momentum in the faith at work movement, and it's time to uh to capitalize on that. You know, it's pretty tough in media and news and um you know other areas that are are tough. Education, it's tough to get a get a foothold for the kingdom. But if you're in the marketplace, um God's moving in that in mighty ways. And I just encourage everybody to uh not be different uh in your personal private life than you are at work.
SPEAKER_02Well said. Jason, thanks so much for being so generous with your time and uh your expertise about what is happening among the needs of the people and in our in our workplaces and just for the solution that you guys have been providing since 1984 right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, 1984. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02And uh it's just incredible love. It just every time I think about what marketplace chaplains are doing, uh I just get so excited about it. And uh and definitely would encourage your our listeners to go and you know, maybe you're not the head of the company, but you have influence on that company, talk to your HR department, you know, be that uh be that person God uses to bring start bringing chaplains into into your company, you know, because you need to you need to focus on your IT work, you know, you need to focus on the job that you have to do, and certainly be a light to your coworkers. Um there are people that can come into that company, into your company, and and that's gonna be what they do is care for the needs of your coworkers. So uh thanks again, may God continue to bless you, your family, and Marketplace Chaplains.
SPEAKER_00I receive. Thank you so much, Darren. It's a privilege to be uh on your program again and uh uh keep up the good fight. You do a great job out there.
SPEAKER_01Greatly appreciate it.