Pastor Hubert Nolen: Co-Founding Executive Director Shares The Vision

Pastor Hubert Nolen: Co-Founding Executive Director

How does a pastor leave 33 years of ministry to launch an anti-trafficking mission with no building and no funding? One step of faith at a time.

In 2015, Pastor Hubert Nolen saw a video from the Dream Center in Los Angeles and felt God's call to create a place where trafficking survivors could find hope. By October 2016, he and his son David moved into a 25-acre campus that needed everything. The saying became: "Let's wait till Monday and see what God does."

In this season finale, Pastor Hubert reflects on Hope Center's transformation and shares what inspires him most—hearing residents pray with deep faith. He talks about the newest giving engine assembling life-saving medical devices that will create career opportunities for residents. And he opens up about losing David while watching God continue to provide.

This is about faith, perseverance, and hope. If you've walked through this season, this episode ties it all together.

Learn more: hopecenterindy.org
Read "Hope for a Lifetime" Click Here to buy on Amazon. To Listen to the audiobook Click Here.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Pastor Hubert Nolan, thank you for the opportunity to sit down and for us to have this conversation and just give a good solid overview of this thing called the Hope Center, Hope Center Indy. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

It's been a couple years, I think, since we did Hope for a Lifetime and been able to look back now and realize how God used that book and many people's lives and some of the great stories that have come back from that. So that's been a real encouragement and a a blessing. So but always grateful for your time and your willingness to do this for not only myself, but others that are part of the Hope Center family. And so we're just thanking the Lord for you and what God's doing through you to help us with the expertise of doing a podcast. So thanks.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Well each and every one of us have have some different roles and uh tools, talents, and treasures, and and this mission it means so much to me and my family. We live a mile away. Beautiful. And it was a God thing too, right? So but uh so grateful for that. The the Lord is used to use a vehicle to help us become neighbors. Yeah, that's right. So let's talk about where we are with the Hope Center. We have other episodes and a lot of great conversations and uh and you and David, you had some visions to be able to create this years ago, and it's been moving and and seeing what the the Lord is doing on a daily basis is just beautiful. It's a testimony to how great our Lord is. Amen. Yes, for sure. And in so many different ways.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Yeah, as I think back now, you know, 2016 when we first stepped out to Create Hope Center Indy, with very little thought about exactly what we were going to do, and that's the truth. But we were just trying to obey the prompting, you know, the leading of the Holy Spirit to say, hey, we can do something for the least of these, and then realizing that we would end up doing residential care for human trafficking was just another big challenge for us. And um, I don't think any of us probably understood maybe the depths of that challenge in the very beginning, because it's impossible. It's kind of like each lady who comes to the Hope Center has their own emotional needs and depths of their hurt and pain. So to be able to try to minister to one like another is difficult because they're all not the same. But trying to create the Hope Center, yeah, I I've looked back now over these nine years and thought about Ephesians 3.20, where it says that God will do the immeasurable things beyond what we could ever imagine or ask or even think possible by the power that is at work in us, you know. So when I think about the things that God has done over the last nine years, as we just kind of come to nine years, to think about all the things we have gone through and overcome, and it's been remarkable, really. As we first started the Hope Center, of course, trying to get it up and going. And then in the very beginning, we ended up having David's death from open heart surgery and complications from that. And uh man, just as a family, we w kind of went into the pit of despair trying to climb out of that grief and loss, realizing that this was his heart as well and his passion, and he was going to be my succession plan. So for that to be taken completely away, it was really a difficult thing for us to kind of navigate as a family. And but um and then, you know, at the same time, COVID and all the things that we kind of had to navigate through at those moments, trying to figure out how that all worked together. And then 2020, believe it or not, we had the search warrant served on our campus.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

And man, just trying to navigate through just the difficulty of that, the um I I would say just the challenges of trying to overcome that, you know, and uh seeing how God worked behind the scenes to continue to help us with credibility and and for people to continue to believe in the Hope Center that we are actually doing what we said we were doing, and that is we're trying to bring healing to the hearts and lives of these ladies. So working through that that and so just thinking about that. And then really when it comes to our programming, you know, we we just get better and better. And that's just a great testimony to our residents and there's our staff upstairs and all that we're doing, you know. So trying to get there, I mean, it's been a challenge, but it's been a rewarding challenge. It's been life-changing for not just the residents, I think, but also our staff and people who got to serve and work with them. As I think now we have served over 300 women since we opened our doors. And if you would have said that to me, you know, a few years ago, I would have thought, w that's probably not possible.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

But um, every year you just kind of build on those numbers and realize that God's changing the lives of these ladies. And so I one of my great blessings each week is to be able to go to prayer meeting on Wednesdays and hear these people, hear these ladies pray. And uh a couple of weeks ago I I just said to them, I said, ladies, I just want you to know, hearing you guys pray makes me want to stay the course. And it just makes me want to keep doing what we're doing because of what God's doing in your lives. And and when I told them that, they said, Please don't stop doing it. I thought maybe I was gonna stop. I would just, no, I just meant it just causes my heart to rejoice because I I still want to keep doing this because of what you guys are experiencing through Christ and the program and the transformation, you know, of their lives. So but yeah, the immeasurable things beyond asking and beyond what I could imagine. I think that's what the Hope Center is, way beyond anything I could have thought early on.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

So well, the the inner workings of each and every volunteer, staff member, even people coming in from time to time, you know, to spend time on campus or go to the boutique, and each and every individual is affected in such a positive way by what's going on here. And everyone is is touched. It's interesting just to see how all of these individuals in this community come together. You know, I've mentioned this before, but we're all we're all broken. We all have hurts and pains and and we're all on our own journey, yet when coming together with with a mission that's just so beautiful here. It's beautiful to see what God does.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Yeah, I think sometimes, you know, when I walk through the hallways or even back to the cafeteria, to realize how many people volunteer and serve here on a weekly basis is it's uh it's God honoring, but it's also kind of humbling, you know, when I think about all these people giving up their time and to be here. And then for some of them to say to me, I'm called here.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

I mean, the Hope Center is a ministry where people literally feel called to be part of what we're doing. And sometimes we always ask ourselves, why do these people stay? And so we began to ask them, Why are you here? You've been here four, five, six, seven years. You know, you're giving yourself weekly and doing so much. And their response is, we're called here.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

You know, it's not something that we've asked them to do. They feel called by God to do something here. And uh just last week I was talking with one of our volunteers and he just said, Pastor, thank you for letting me serve. Yeah. And I thought, what an incredible heart, what an incredible attitude. It's like I'm letting him serve. You know, he he gets to do this. That's kind of his his attitude. I get to come to the Hope Center, I get to do this with my life, I get to make an eternal difference in the in the ways that I'm serving here. So and uh man, when it comes to volunteerism at the Hope Center, uh, I wrote in that first chapter or one of the first chapters of the book there, an army showed up and they really did an army of volunteers to help us to do what we do, and they continue to to come and volunteer and help us to do that. And so we're well over 400,000 volunteer hours now. And to think about that, you know, is just amazing to think about how many people have been able to give up their time.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Aaron Powell Yeah, you you have to stop and and and go over that 400,000 volunteer hours. That's I know. That's hard to fathom, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Yeah. So when we think about that, I've often said this. Let's say that we paid them ten dollars an hour, right? Which would be four million dollars if volunteers have saved the Hope Center, but they're worth a lot more than ten dollars an hour. I mean, we've had skilled labor from electricians to plumbers to carpenters to carpet to floor people, you name it, we've had them all um coming here to help us, uh roofing our building. I mean, you just name it. I mean, it's been um when I sometimes we stop and just give thanks like on a quarter, you know, every quarterly in our facility team we're giving thanks for this, and we can have twenty-five or thirty things we're thanking the Lord for. And that's just in the quarter. Yes. So ninety days of of God miracles and God movement, his hand of provision through his people, you know, which is beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

Yeah, and I've I've laughed and told this story before, but you know, there may be a week between the time that I was here last or two weeks or wherever, but there's a time period that you come back and something's changed, something's new. There's there's a new project, and and there's just I it's like a lot of busy bees just coming together. But the organization and and everything that needs to take place in order for this mission to function at the capacity that it that it does is a lot. And it's just such a blessing, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Yeah. I I just want to say, you know, we operate off of EOS, which is an entrepreneur operating system. And I probably haven't used this very often, but I'm gonna say this. Hope Center Indy is a well-oiled machine. We have about 10 or 11 L10 meetings, which are like staff meetings every week going down through all of our different divisions and people working on goals and and trying to get everything accomplished, you know, every quarter. It's amazing how many goals are being accomplished and people moving the kingdom of God forward through organizational structure. And uh so man, we've got some great people in positions and they are leading well, and it's really an honor to watch them, to be able to see them, you know, in their gift set, using their leadership ability and and just being able to lead well, you know. Sometimes people say, Hey Pastor, when are you gonna step aside? And I often say to them, I could do it right now. Honestly, we have such a great team of people. Um they they might disagree with me, but uh they they have it and they have everything they need to be able to move forward and to continue this ministry for years and years and years. And so, uh, but it's really good to be able to look around and see that kind of teamwork and family, and we are just getting there, you know, when it comes to culture and just how positive how we're trying to accomplish a Christ-like setting every day, and people love it, they love being part of it.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

So over the course of the last nine years, a lot of changes, a lot of developments, there always is. Where are we at in the stage now? What what are we seeing taking place? You don't have to give specifics per se, but you know, moving forward to year ten and beyond, what are you seeing happening, Pastor? Wow.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

So if you would have said to me, hey Pastor, uh, do you think that you guys would ever have a canine division on your on your campus where you're training dogs to be part of search warrants for child exploitation, I would have said, uh Josh, I could have never dreamed that up, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

And to see what Todd's doing, and I think, you know, one of his your episodes will be with Todd Jordan and the canine division, but man, just see what their guys are doing now. They've trained about 250 dogs or something close to that. And to have them in 48 states, seven or eight different countries, and rescuing children every single day in America and making two or three arrests a day is just beyond anything I could have ever imagined or hoped for, but so grateful to be part of because it's kind of the frontline stuff that uh maybe residential care, you know, isn't frontline, but it is out there when we're working with these different ministries. And another one with Light and Darkness with Dr. Carolyn that goes to the strip clubs. We've got Sweet Aroma, a new ministry now that does uh texting over the web, trying to reach out to girls. There's like 11,000 girls being bought in Indianapolis every single night. And so they're reaching out, texting these girls, just saying, Hey, how can we help you? What's going on in your life? Can we do something to help you get out of the life? Is that something we can do to help you? So some of these ministries that are connecting with us is absolutely wonderful. And uh so we're just really grateful to see how God's kind of broadening our base and that foundation of being able to do some outreach in some of those different areas. Uh some other areas, I if you would have said to me, What do you think that you'll have manufacturing assembly uh manufacturing on your campus, you know, and and uh you guys will be putting together a compact medical device, uh CPR device that will save lives, I would have said, Josh, I I could have never dreamed of anything like that, you know, and and yet we are now uh FDA approved for manufacturing upstairs for assembly, and we're now starting to assemble the CPR valve, the bag valve for Compact Medical. And if we just in the last six weeks or so, we've heard of two lives that have been saved right here in the Indianapolis area by this valve. And so if you would have said to me in the beginning, hey pastor, you think you guys will be having a a CPR device on your campus being a symbol that's gonna save lives? And I always said, Josh, I'm a pastor. I'm I'm about saving souls. You know, I I would have never dreamed about saving the physical life, but we are just so grateful that God's using us in that way as well. And to see what might happen in the future with manufacturing is just another kind of beyond something I could have ever imagined or hoped or thought possible, that we might have some foundations coming on board to help build some buildings for us when it comes to um kind of a career center, uh the food pantry. We've got to expand our there to be able to have loading docks, same way with the manufacturing and shipping and handling and all that. So just seeing some of that kind of come to fruition would be fantastic as we move forward into the future and and then to continue partnerships with these different ministries, even like our rescue and what they're doing with the canine division with Todd and just really partnering here with the residential care. So um man, just some neat things I think in the offering there as we kind of move forward. But the impact on our local community.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

That's one area that I've just seen over the years has just grown. And it's it's so it's a lot more than just you know what we do here on campus. It's impacting so much in our local community and beyond. With the food pantry, you know, all sorts of different services that are allowing wonderful things to take place right here for the community. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Of course, you know, the David Nolan Pantry of Hope uh really was created by Kroger in the very beginning. But I mean, we have some really great partners in those areas. And to think that we're serving 250 families a week, over a thousand people now. In the month of November, just during the government shutdown, we leaped clear to 369 families on one week. And we had them clear out backed off our campus onto Brookville Road and onto Marion County on Carroll Road. And the Sheriff's Department called me from Hancock County and say, What's going on at the Hope Center? We got all these cars backed up trying to get into your campus. And I said, It's the food pantry. We're sorry, but the government shutdown has caused all these people to come out, right? So, um, but we would have never really dreamed, honestly, that we could have served that many people in our community and be working with them and helping them. Our goal is in the future to be able to create a career center where we could bring them in and talk to them and see if there's other things that we could actually help them with when it comes to maybe resume building or just educational opportunities or job opportunities, whatever might be there. But and then maybe even financial literacy, something in those areas that would be helpful to help them in those different areas. But uh so I think thinking about that opportunity. Today we, you know, when we first started, Dave and I were praying for a hundred churches, we have two hundred and twenty-four, so now we're praying for three hundred to come on board, you know, to help us because our budget grows, everything's growing, you know, and so you just need so much more involvement when it comes to those kind of things. Impacting the community is is wonderful. You know, when we think about people still come here to the Hope Center and they said, we have no idea how big, how amazing this place is, you know, and so when they come and do a tour or they come into the boutiques or the coffee shop, see the prayer center, all the different things that's going on, it's kind of like, wow, you know, we just had no idea. So it's really kind of amazing how God has continued to kind of do one thing after another. And we've had a good pace, I think. You know, every once in a while we might have felt like we were out of breath a little bit, but the tr truth of the matter is I think the pace has been healthy and it's been good. It's been challenging. But the thing that I've learned, I think, in my life is I I work best when there's challenges and I work best when I feel just a little uncomfortable with the pressure. So we can accomplish a little bit more in those times.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Aaron Powell Yeah, it gives us an opportunity to make certain that we're surrendering to God. That's perfect.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Yes, Lord. I I need you so much today, Lord. That's right. Help me to make sure I've stayed on on track, right? So but yeah. Hey, another wonderful thing, you know, and when we did the book on um hope for a lifetime, and if they haven't read it, they need to pick it up. Oh definitely we had the chapter on ten thousand reasons to praise the Lord. I remember that. Oh yeah. So Dave had been praying for uh a hundred ten thousand dollar gifts in his time, and I told him at the time, I said, Man, I like your faith, Dave. I I just want to join you in that process of praying for ten thousand dollar gifts. And so um we started keeping track of all those ten thousand dollar gifts because we wanted to make sure that if someone ever asked us about it, we could actually say, Well, here they are. You know, we written we wrote them all down in our prayer journals, you know, we have track of them. And I think when I wrote the book, Hope for a Lifetime, we were at eighty-eight. And Dave had been, you know, he was praying for a hundred. So basically what he was saying was, Dad, I'm gonna pray for a million dollars.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Ten thousand dollars at a time. Which is kind of nice. Break it down into smaller steps and kind of think about that. And so then we continue to pray about that. I remember writing in my journal, Lord, keep them coming. And so we were at a hundred and thirty-two ten thousand dollar gifts today. Beautiful. Which is absolutely amazing. And I've been keeping track of those in my prayer journal just in case someone was to call me out on it. Right. So but it's really been miraculous, you know, and we couldn't do what we do today without all those kind of people that are giving gifts, and it um and it every time one of those gifts come in, it's kind of like, yay, God, it's like thank you so much, you know, because of how you have provided for the Hope Center, helped us to meet our needs and to see kind of what God's doing firsthand, you know. It's it really is remarkable. It's it's divine, it's immeasurable, it's miraculous, is what that is. And I think anybody that reads that chapter and now gets the update that there's a hundred and thirty-two thousand and thirty-two ten thousand dollar gifts is kind of an amazing story. And and we just have to uh stand in awe of what God's doing. Let me just say this we need another hundred and thirty-two ten thousand dollar gifts, but you know how it is, because it's not like we're hoarding the money around here. We're trying to use it for the kingdom of God and and it kind of comes in and goes out about as fast as it comes in. But just shows us how God works, you know, and and what he's doing. So you know, and I just keep writing in my journal and keep them coming, Lord, because without that, you know, the Hope Center couldn't exist.

SPEAKER_00 20:38

Yeah. It's an intricate part. The tools, talents, and treasures is real, isn't it? Yeah, it really is. And and each of us have ways that we can contribute. But you're so right though, Pastor. Being able to to tell someone about the Hope Center and actually like coming here with them and and seeing them see this for the first time, everyone is blown away. Everyone is inspired, everyone is curious. And the comment I get a lot is I had no idea that this place existed. Yeah. And there's still as many people that have contributed and and are here and part of the mission. There are so many others that have never even heard of it. And that's part of our mission is to be able to help broadcast that. Come visit, yeah. Come get inspired by the hope that is taking place here daily that our Lord gives us.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Yeah, one of the core values is faith builders, you know, and when we do tours and just tell the stories about what God has done here, I've had people say to me on the way out, man, I just feel like my faith grew today. There's just something about these stories that if God can do it here or at the center, you know. And I was talking to a a pastor uh just last week and he said to me, You know, I'd leave the hope center. I just feel like if God can do it there, he can do it at my church as well. You know, and that's so true. If God can do it here, he can do it anywhere. Yes. And he can do it in our lives. When we think about these ladies and their transformation and uh their healing process, if he can do it for them, he can do it for anyone. I mean, we often say that we work with and serve some of the most traumatized people on the face of the earth, and that is so true, because of what they've gone through. And if God can reach down into the depths of their hurt and pain, he can surely do it for all of us.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

He most certainly can, and he does. Yes. One of the areas that when I'm sharing the Hope Center to others, uh the topic of giving engines comes up. And there are a lot of intricate ways that over the course of the last nine years that these giving engines have sprung up, what started at as an idea, it has turned into a way that that just contributes so much to the overall mission. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

So when I think about sustainability and I think about the Hope Center, our heart is to do what we can to make sure that we're doing everything we possibly can for the Hope Center to be here in years and years to come. And so in the very beginning, we were thinking about what can we do really because we have such a large campus. Surely there's things that we could do where we could have some social enterprises, some small businesses that would actually be giving engines back into the center. And so we kind of started out, you know, first and foremost with uh a thrift store is what it was going to be. Uh the boutique was going to be thrift more than anything. And then uh it began to grow and it just kind of outgrew itself into what it is today when we think about uh the redefined uh boutique and to realize that today we have three locations, we have two coffee shops, and they serve well when it comes to people coming to the Hope Center and being part of that. I think when I give the tour and I say to people, part of the what we're trying to do here is to provide life skills for our ladies, to provide employment and opportunity for them to kind of ease back into society where they can begin to work, gain some confidence, and learn what it's like to get up and go to work every day. You know what I mean? And so, and then to say to them, we actually pay them. You know, one of the things that we do here at the center is the boutiques on their scorecard, they score all the hours that we pay our residents every single week because it's us giving back to them. It's kind of an amazing thing. And so anywhere from 150 to 200 hours of uh hours of paid back to our residents, and we can only do that because we have these businesses. And the other thing is these businesses help us to be able to say, not one lady has ever paid anything to be at the Hope Center since we opened our doors in 2017, you know, and but uh and we often say not only do they not pay us, but we can actually pay them to be here. And um, we're not a clinical and we don't claim to be, but on the other hand, we function like a clinical, which means that it costs thousands of dollars a month per girl to be here, you know, because of all the care, all the things that we are actually doing for them. So these giving engines really are big to us. And as I think about it today, let me see if I can just rattle them off for you, right? So we have three boutiques, we have two coffee shops, we have the beauty salon, uh, we have a bookstore, uh, what we call a used bookstore of about 30,000 different books. We have three wedding venues from formal ballroom to Freedom Barn to the outside wedding venues. We have the greenhouses, and uh so and then we also have Solin Reed Farms where we are able to sell some of the vegetables that come off the two acres out there. We use that for the food pantry as well as um the giving it through our kitchen and making sure that we're using some of the vegetables there. So it's been pretty amazing. And then uh manufacturing, you know, that we're just kicking off right now in the last uh year or so, getting that up and going. And it's gonna be a big thing, I think, uh, when it comes to manufacturing and what we'll be able to do, the assembly of different devices, medical devices that um these ladies will be able to learn and do and and hopefully provide some really good paying jobs for them. That's our goal. And then once they graduate our programs, they can stay and live in the community, they can come back to the Hope Center and work. And that's kind of our goal that would give us long-term opportunity to continue to speak into their life and invest in them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

And the sustainability aspect of it allows for it to be, you know, like this beautiful ecosystem that just allows for continued growth, maintenance and continued growth, which is so vital and so important. Yeah, it does.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

And I I think, you know, one of the things that when businessmen come through, they see how hard that we're working. I mean, you know, we're we're not slackers. We're doing the work here at the Hope Center. I'm telling you, people are working and they're trying to do everything they possibly can to make this place not just a ministry, but a model.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

I mean, you know, honestly, we have people coming from all over to do tours here that are looking at ministries and they're wanting to know, how'd you guys do this? You know, how did you get this accomplished? How did you start all these businesses? What are you doing? How do you do this? You know, and so uh our prayer in the very beginning was could we be a model for America? And I think we really are. We're starting to be a model for America. We're only one of two, I think, that have three residential programs on the same campus with short-term and then long-term and then our transitional housing. So if you think about short term, that's 60 days. So a girl could come on our campus and stay 60 days. Then our heart's desire was she would move into long-term care, which is another 15 months, and then if she graduates from long-term care, she could go into a transitional program, which is another 18 months hope community. So a lady can be on our campus for three and a half years, and many of them are. So it's kind of a a great thing to see that and to have that here on one location. Like I said, I think there's only one other one in Alabama. Uh for that to be happening is is really big.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Aaron Powell Yeah. And the friendships that are gained from the residents being here are lifelong friendships uh within the community, with the ch within the churches, and of course here with with Hope Center Indy. Aaron Powell Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

I think, you know, I probably didn't think about that in the very beginning, how the Hope Center would become this incredible family of God of people who call this their Hope to Center family, because uh I just didn't think about it. I I guess I was thinking more about just doing residential program, but for these ladies, man, we are their family. And it's a beautiful thing to realize that uh they consider us their family. Yes, that we uh have been grafted in as Christ took us in to be part of God's family. We've been grafted in to be part of their family, and it's a beautiful thing. And so, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Pastor, if you were to think of some of the things like just right in present time that we as the Hope Center are in need of, what would some of those things be?

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Yeah, when I think about Hope Center, uh I don't want it to sound like a cliche, but prayer, honestly. Yeah. You know, today we have over 3,000 people praying for the Hope Center every day and and prayer partners, prayer warriors, people who have come alongside. I mean, they've literally prayed this place into existence and they have prayed in these um ministries, they've prayed it all together and and all that's been accomplished really is through the power of prayer and what we've been able to do. And so that's been good. I would love to see our prayer ministry continue to grow to the point where people are coming and going all the time on campus into their prayer center, spending time in worship and prayer out there. Uh just making 24-7 worship and prayer would be wonderful to see something like that. Um when I think about volunteerism, and I I I just would hope and pray that other individuals can find us because there's a lot of people out there that are just looking for a place that they could uh be part of and feel like they're valued and what they're doing is worthwhile. Right. And so just trying to connect with those volunteers that are out there, other churches maybe that's looking for a local partner that they can partner with would be really big in some of those different areas. Um when I think about um some of our needs is man, just praying for our staff too, because some of the things that they experience daily is heavy, and um the burden for them to carry that around is hard because they see and hear things that that's happened, and so that's difficult when they're working with these women to try to help them, these ladies. And so just praying for just uh me and all of them to be able to cast that on the Lord because sometimes it's easy to hear things and we want to take up take up on an offense, really, because man, we think that person hurt them so bad, how can that happen when they're a child or whatever it might be? So being able to let go of those kind of things and casting it upon the Lord is a is a wonderful thing, and keeping their hearts tender and and uh sensitive to doing what he's asked them to do, and that is to love and to help these ladies to find their pathway.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

It's beautiful. Well, Pastor, thank you so much for taking the time and and sharing and the how we've loved spending time with you.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Thank you. I mean, it's been an honor and a blessing, and it seems like every time we are able to do something like this, it's wonderful, just as a kind of a walking down memories lane, you know, it's we forget sometimes uh how much God's doing, and yeah, it's good to stop and remember. That's why I guess in the Old Testament he says remember, right? Remember, keep remembering, because it's easy to forget where we've come from to where we are today. And thinking about just Dave and I being in this big building all alone by the two of us, and to think back and thinking to ourselves, what in the world have we got ourselves into? This is so crazy thinking. Why would we do something like this? Are you sure, Lord? That's right. Why would you call us to step out and do this? But uh to look back now and to see all this that's happening is is pretty amazing. So that's rewarding, and uh it gives us a sense of purpose and fulfillment. So we're grateful for that. But yeah, thanks for having me. And uh for all those who here, uh man, come out and visit the Hope Center. Love to give you guys a tour every Saturday, 10 30. And uh hopefully there's new things that you've never seen at Hope Center Indy because there's always something changing. Thank you. Thank you.