1 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:06,800 The Kingdom of God is not something we advance. 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,520 It's not something we achieve. The Kingdom of God is something 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,040 we receive. The Kingdom of God is part of 4 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:14,360 the gospel. It's not a reward for living out 5 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,040 the gospel. It is the gospel that he brought 6 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,080 it here to us. We didn't make it there. 7 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:22,200 He brought it here and now we get to live in it. 8 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,760 You know, one of the greatest ways to be miserable is to 9 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,880 somehow have a version of Christianity where the best part 10 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:33,680 about it is you're waiting to get to heaven. 11 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,440 Welcome back to the Grace Members podcast. 12 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,320 I'm your host, Scott Mazingo, and today we're talking about an 13 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,920 amazing ministry that many of us have passed 100 times without 14 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:46,480 noticing. If you've traveled from downtown 15 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:49,720 Greenville towards the direction of Cherrydale, Furman University 16 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:52,760 or Traveler's Rest, you've driven by Griggs Memorial 17 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,400 Baptist Church on Poinsett Hwy. It's just down from the Sphinx 18 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,000 in the radio room on the right. Griggs has been one of our local 19 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,040 partners for five years now and serves as a host of our local 20 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,520 summer high school mission trips called Mission Upstate. 21 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,200 So it's a real privilege to interview my friend Mitch 22 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:11,720 Miller. Mitch serves as the pastor at 23 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,160 Griggs, but you may not know that Mitch was a Kairos intern 24 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:17,280 in the very beginning of the Kairos program. 25 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,320 He then worked on staff with our middle school students for 26 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:23,360 several years. Mitch served at Griggs during 27 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,360 college, so when they called him for help with teaching on Sunday 28 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,320 mornings, he was glad to jump in. 29 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,360 That eventually turned into a full time position as head 30 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,200 pastor in a church revitalization effort. 31 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,680 So Mitch, you're worthy of that long intro. 32 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:39,600 Thanks for being here with us and welcome. 33 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:44,120 Thank you so much, Scott and Grace Church, Really, really 34 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:45,800 glad to be with you on this podcast. 35 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:48,720 So Mitch Griggs is doing incredible work in the 36 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,200 neighborhood of PO Mill, and it has a fascinating history of 37 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,800 contribution both to the beauty and the benefits of our famous 38 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,960 downtown Greenville, even as it sits outside the city limits. 39 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:01,920 Mitch, can you tell us a little bit about the PO Mill 40 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,880 neighborhood, its history, and how it is connected to many of 41 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:06,440 us who enjoy living in the Upstate? 42 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:13,880 Yeah, so PO Mill was started by a guy, FW Poe was his name and 43 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,560 you could still see his name on some of the historical placards 44 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,000 that are around our neighbourhood. 45 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:24,320 And he essentially came to Greenville to buy a bunch of 46 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:30,080 land and on that land put a a massive textile mill. 47 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:36,280 And with the mill, not after it's built, but like with its 48 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:41,680 building, he builds a village called the Mill Village of PO 49 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:43,960 Mill. And he's building houses. 50 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:52,480 He built a school or two and a store and two church buildings 51 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:54,520 that are still in the middle of the neighborhood. 52 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:59,680 They share a yard because this is early 1900s and everybody 53 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,600 went to church. So he said, well, if there's 54 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,080 going to be hundreds of houses here, they're going to need 55 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,000 somewhere to go to church. They're not going to be able to 56 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,600 agree denominationally. So we'll build them two 57 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:10,840 buildings. What a visionary. 58 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:12,360 Yeah. He knew the drill. 59 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,000 And so there was a Baptist and a Methodist Church right there in 60 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,520 the mill village. And they, those structures are, 61 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:26,720 are still there. And it was really the place to 62 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,280 be. It was a powerhouse of, of, of 63 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:33,000 commerce, essentially. The history on it is that people 64 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,400 moved here from all over the place to work at the mill 65 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,240 because you were compensated with a house, with schooling, 66 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:44,680 with vouchers for the store and you were essentially compensated 67 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,200 with a life just sort of a kit that you would put together. 68 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,280 Now there was ups to that. There was some down stack 69 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,280 because you weren't compensated very much with other resources 70 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,600 like, you know, just money. There's dangerous work and it's 71 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:00,840 dangerous because if you lose your job, you lose your house, 72 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:02,440 your school, your store, you know. 73 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,640 So there, there was probably some issues, but that was the 74 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,240 idea back then. And there was a time even when 75 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:14,040 it was sort of like the busy side of Woodruff Road here in 76 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:19,079 Greenville, it was like, it was like a a place to be for middle 77 00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:22,680 class people doing business, shopping, living, doing life. 78 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:27,840 And it was a good life. It reaches its pinnacle. 79 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:33,840 What decade? It's a little muddy, but like 80 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,840 anytime between 1920 and 40, we're talking Pinnacle for sure. 81 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,480 But then there were definitely people having, you know, working 82 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:44,800 there. It was a little bit less, but 83 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,960 still many working there, getting a decent wage, a decent 84 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:54,680 life, decent compensation all the way up until the 60s. 85 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:58,880 And then the mill eventually did close in 1977. 86 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:04,960 OK. After the mill closes in 1977, a 87 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:06,840 lot of interesting things start happening. 88 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:16,120 One would be that a lot of the people who this was their skill 89 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:21,600 set, they moved here or their parents moved here for this job 90 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:26,720 and this was their line of work, are now out of work and kind of 91 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,280 hard to transition into a different kind of job, new job, 92 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,600 especially since all the other mills were also simultaneously 93 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:39,320 closing. And so they, many of them would 94 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,120 own the home that they were in by this point. 95 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:46,960 And so in the family, there starts some generational 96 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,640 poverty, but around a home that the family owns and it's getting 97 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,880 passed down to son and daughter. And then even now, even today in 98 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:59,520 2024, so much later, there are still some legacy families who 99 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:03,960 are living in mill houses that their grandparents or or even 100 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:09,880 further back owned and bought in those days from the mill or what 101 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,440 have you. And so there is a place to be, 102 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:18,920 but there's other parts of their life that didn't make as much 103 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,960 progress as they would have on a different side of town from that 104 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,920 economic downturn in the middle villages of the West side. 105 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:31,600 And it was, you know, speed up by crime waves, drug waves 106 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:36,040 especially, and other difficulties that come with just 107 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:40,440 low income life. And those things really started 108 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:43,680 moving and affecting people and still are to this day. 109 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,000 Like one of the things I did after I got to Greg's was talk 110 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:52,400 to not just the people of Poe Mill, but talk to even some of 111 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:54,960 the police that patrol back there and other community 112 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,440 leaders as well. But quickly you find out it's 113 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,320 it's it's at this interesting neighbourhood is not a violent 114 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:03,160 place. In fact, it's a friendly place. 115 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,320 There is like if you Google Poe Mill, you'll find some of the 116 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:08,920 crimes that have happened there. Most of them are one off 117 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:13,800 interpersonal conflicts, not so much the nature of the 118 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:17,120 neighborhood at play, just like in any literally any 119 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,760 neighborhood. So that but it because of the 120 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:21,720 difficulties of the neighborhood, it gets cast in a 121 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,120 certain light on the news. But it's a friendly place. 122 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,120 People know each other, people love each other. 123 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,680 There's community there, but it is essentially riddled with 124 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:35,160 addiction issues, alcoholism and then substance abuse. 125 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:39,440 And of course, with that comes difficulties with stable homes. 126 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:47,000 And then you have, you know, the generational issues of kids 127 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:51,120 growing up in that, you know, instability and what what they 128 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:55,720 begin to face because of it. And that is, that is the PO mill 129 00:07:55,720 --> 00:08:00,760 that I walked into in 2015. And so I would think income 130 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:05,520 status would be just an easy place to start really painting 131 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:07,640 the picture. I think I looked on your 132 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,040 website, it looks like most families are right around the 133 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:15,080 poverty line, like household income, $30,000 a year. 134 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:16,640 Does that sound right? Yeah. 135 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,800 Well, the individual income is about half that, 15,800. 136 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,320 Then we do have statistics. We have some research from 137 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,200 things like neighborhood scout.org and some other places 138 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,920 where you can get some pretty good insight that it is about 139 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,559 30,000 a year for a household. But here's something that there 140 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:35,840 is some notable interesting things about that. 141 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,360 Like one thing is we know of multiple households with more 142 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,000 than one family in them. So you might have mom and 143 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,280 grandma. So 2 generations working. 144 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,320 It's not just one family unit. It's actually a blend. 145 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:54,440 Now we also know of just sisters or cousins or other ways in 146 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,200 which multiple family units are in the same home reporting that 147 00:08:57,200 --> 00:08:59,680 income. And so it's, it's a little bit 148 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,560 more difficult of the picture than even that shows, but that 149 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:06,120 does show that what we basically have is 50% of our senior 150 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,880 adults, I think it's a little more are living under the 151 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,760 poverty line. And then 50% of our children are 152 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:20,440 living under the poverty line. 14% I believe it is of our 153 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,360 neighborhood is single parent households, mostly single moms. 154 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:29,480 Additionally, you got I think it's 7% are widows and some of 155 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,240 these numbers if you don't know the context are about are about 156 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:34,600 double of a regular neighbourhood its size. 157 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,040 So 7% widowed. And then one of the crazier ones 158 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,080 that keep people in facing some of these difficulties 159 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:46,240 financially and then in other ways is 21% do not have our 160 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,520 neighbourhood residents don't have access to a vehicle or 161 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:54,720 don't own a car or have a car. And man does that play a huge 162 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,840 role in your overall well-being in our world right now. 163 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:01,720 So in in Greenville it is not there is bus stops and they do 164 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,520 use the bus and it does get you down to Cherrydale, does get you 165 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,680 to downtown or a little bit further W over the Woodside, 166 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:11,360 what have you. But we're not we're we're doing 167 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,520 an OK job, but it's not it's not a real transit city. 168 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:17,640 It's not very conducive to public transportation all the 169 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:18,440 time. So. 170 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,040 So we're going to talk in just a minute about how you go about 171 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:24,680 kind of building a church in this community. 172 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:31,000 But some other mitigating factors kind of the downside of 173 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,800 Greenville becoming one of the best places in America to live 174 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,840 is you have some gentrification issues. 175 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,320 Once you talk a little bit about that and maybe even touch a 176 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,800 little bit on some some of the race issues that you're facing 177 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,280 in the PO Mill on the West side of town. 178 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:52,480 Well, starting with the race issues, those go deep and they 179 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:55,240 are historic. That's a, it's a really 180 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:59,720 complicated topic in a sense. In a sense, it's not complicated 181 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:05,440 that we have people who were intentionally ostracized and 182 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,720 marginalized about, I guess that would have been at least in our 183 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:10,000 community. I mean, I'm sure it's still 184 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,160 happening, but like systemically from a government position, it 185 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:15,240 would have been about 75 years ago roughly. 186 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:20,440 But there are still people for sure who remember not even being 187 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:29,320 able to live in the same part of the neighborhood as their 188 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,040 coworkers at the mill. And so for us at Pome Mill, 189 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:36,080 there was most of them. The people who worked at Pome 190 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:40,600 Mill were received a home or somehow or another begin to live 191 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,240 in Pome Mill proper, right by the mill. 192 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:49,440 But for example, African Americans, they were, they were 193 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:55,160 essentially made to live across the street and behind our church 194 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,760 to I guess that would be the north. 195 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,120 And that is a place called Bruton Town. 196 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,600 You can also see this a lot with, for example, I believe 197 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:08,160 it's Judson and Sterling. Those were two neighborhoods for 198 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:10,440 the essentially the same mill or the same area. 199 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:13,200 But historically those were racially divided. 200 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:19,680 And so because that was, it seems there's certain parts of 201 00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:23,400 town where that seems like that was a long, long time ago. 202 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,200 There are other parts of town, our part of town, you will have 203 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:32,280 particularly our, our seniors, our elderly, they will remember 204 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,680 some of the stuff you hear about in the history books. 205 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:39,080 They will remember separate pools, separate water fountain, 206 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:43,120 separate restaurants. And there has been some healing, 207 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:47,040 obviously over the decades. There isn't anything like that 208 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:51,120 going on now from that high level of, you know, those rules, 209 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:58,000 those regulations. But there is still race issues 210 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:03,320 at play that are tough. They're tough to watch and 211 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:08,960 they're tough to be around. And the root is still the same 212 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:14,120 and a really a misunderstanding of creation, God's image and the 213 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:17,880 gospel and the future, the gospel future we have where all 214 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:21,080 tribes and tongues and nations and kindreds are around the 215 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:25,160 throne with one voice praising Jesus because we're all the 216 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,040 people he made and we are the people he saves. 217 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:35,320 And I will say on a day-to-day ministry level there, there's 218 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:42,920 times where you don't notice it or that it's not prevalent or 219 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:46,840 that it's not affecting the way, for example, camp is going, 220 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:49,920 which is our kids kids program in the summer. 221 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,240 But then there are times here and there where it is, it's 222 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:59,480 quite an issue. And the best way that we know to 223 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:02,000 address that as a church, besides preaching the truth in 224 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:08,160 the gospel and the love of Christ is to make sure that we 225 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:14,400 never take over. We, we want to partner with all 226 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:17,040 the groups, whether we have a quite a diverse community, 227 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:22,280 particularly a rising demographic of Spanish speaking 228 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:27,280 families and other minorities as well. 229 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:32,240 And so we always want to come underneath and never try to host 230 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:35,280 something on our own for them, but rather we're hosting this 231 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:37,560 together as a community. And there's a certain techniques 232 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:43,440 that we use to ensure that we're communicating that we that we're 233 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:47,400 all created in the image of God. And, and if we're on team Jesus, 234 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:49,840 we're on the same team. And there's, there's no caveats. 235 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,480 But yeah, there there is, there is some difficulty there. 236 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:59,080 So how do you then go about building building a church given 237 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,080 this historical context? This is where we want to learn 238 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:05,120 really what church revitalization looks like. 239 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,720 So talk. Take us through either through 240 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,800 personal story illustrations. What does it look like to step 241 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:16,320 into this diverse context and begin to love your neighbor and 242 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:20,400 build a church? Well, here's how how it started 243 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:26,800 was I'm teaching to these, I'm teaching to the senior adults, 244 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:32,000 I'm teaching to the church. Roughly we had about 10 folks 245 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:35,720 and that was slated to go on six weeks. 246 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,400 And I find myself driving around the neighborhood of Pome Mill 247 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:41,280 just talking to people on their porches. 248 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:46,480 And I'm, I'm feeling all of this, this sense of calling duty 249 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:51,280 and really joy while I'm over there hanging out in Pome Mill, 250 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,720 even though I I'm on staff back here at Grace and really believe 251 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:56,920 and love the mission here as well. 252 00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:58,920 But this is all stirring up in me. 253 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:03,360 And after about six weeks, I remember I was on my porch. 254 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:07,760 I was reading the scriptures, one of the letters of Paul where 255 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:11,160 he talks about how much he loves the congregation he's writing to 256 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:15,000 is the Thessalonians. That and I'm reading the how 257 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,520 much he loved them. And this doesn't happen to me 258 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,200 all the time or anything, but in this particular moment, I felt 259 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,480 that I received a word from the Lord or a sense of direction 260 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:29,520 from the Spirit to do three things. 261 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:31,400 And it kind of came to be plain as day. 262 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:35,240 And it was worship Jesus, revitalize the church, reached 263 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:40,920 the neighborhood and it was just downloaded into my my soul in 264 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:44,520 that moment. And that's really when I decided 265 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:51,560 that that's what I needed to do. And so everyone at Grace was so 266 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:54,680 kind and helpful to help me transition off staff. 267 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:58,160 I took a regular job and I just started going to church at 268 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,680 Griggs with that in mind, worship Jesus, revitalize the 269 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:06,079 church, reach the neighborhood and didn't even know what all 270 00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:11,160 those things meant exactly. And had not studied concepts 271 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:15,599 like church revitalization, which especially in recent 272 00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:18,280 years, a ton of content has come out about. 273 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:22,119 This was actually a little before some there are 274 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,160 denominations who had sort of a, a resurgence of hey, let's 275 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,800 revitalize churches, bring them back to life and they they have 276 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:29,680 all this curriculum. This was a little before even 277 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:38,640 that, and so the folks at Griggs were kind enough to vote me in 278 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,800 as their senior pastor, and the pastor, however you want to say 279 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:43,840 it. And so. 280 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:45,400 The first How many votes did you get? 281 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:52,200 Well, I can't remember, but it was all of them. 2225. 282 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:54,160 I can't. It was probably less than 20. 283 00:17:54,920 --> 00:18:00,880 And so this was in 2015 and basically the goal was to make 284 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,440 it all about Jesus. And so here's what we did is 285 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,720 that we dedicated ourselves to Jesus. 286 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:12,280 You know, the second member of the Trinity, like you are the 287 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,440 the fullness of the Godhead bodily. 288 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,560 You are the one that God the Father has chosen to exalt like 289 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,040 name above all names that we're all going to bow down to. 290 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:30,280 The Spirit has chosen to illuminate your words and remind 291 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,200 us of what you taught us and to lead us really with the Spirit 292 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:35,640 is at work in us. What we become like is more and 293 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:41,280 more like Jesus. And of course, we're 100% on 294 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,600 board with the Trinity and Trinitarian, you know, we're, 295 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,640 we're right there with every other, you know, Christian. 296 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:50,680 But we just said, you know, we we really feel led to make much 297 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,520 of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and who we see in those pages 298 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,920 for this season and really for every season. 299 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:02,120 And I will say there are churches where that is obvious. 300 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,640 And that's kind of a no brainer. But when you're coming to church 301 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:09,080 revitalization, so many things have been forgotten that need to 302 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,040 be remembered. And it's really easy to make the 303 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:13,760 church about something other than Jesus. 304 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,280 You can make it about culture. You can make it about morality. 305 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,960 You can make it about the way the church used to be. 306 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,720 You could make it about the way you wish the church would be. 307 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,360 And So what we had to do was refocus literally everything on 308 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:28,760 is this like Jesus? Does it sound like Jesus? 309 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:30,920 Does it talk like Jesus? Does it walk like Jesus? 310 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:33,920 Does it act like Jesus? Does it glorify Jesus? 311 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:38,000 And so, yeah, we're teaching out of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John 312 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,160 every week. We're reading publicly like our 313 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,000 we had our Scripture reading time out of Matthew, Mark, Luke 314 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,880 and John or some other texts that was specifically about 315 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,320 following Jesus. We're singing songs that mention 316 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:50,040 Jesus. We're taking Communion way more 317 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:53,280 often than we used to. I think it was quarterly back 318 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,080 then, and we changed that to a much more frequent. 319 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:02,480 We are deciding on what we're going to do based on if it was 320 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:07,320 centered around Jesus. And this brings a lot of 321 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,520 vitality to me. This brings vitality to some 322 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,800 friends of mine that came to help and serve alongside me. 323 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:18,080 This brings vitality to those who were already at Greg's, 324 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:22,080 those 10 folks. And also to the kids who are 325 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:25,240 coming in, kids ministry from Paul Mill and the van, it all 326 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:31,800 just get centered around him. And then we start with this idea 327 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:33,520 of we're going to revitalize the church. 328 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:39,120 And so revitalizing the church is actually not starting over. 329 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:41,560 Believe it or not, it is. That's called replanting the 330 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,480 church. And that's a great way to go for 331 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,560 some churches. Revitalizing the churches, what 332 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:50,320 we did, which we're not casting out any, you know, most of the 333 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:56,160 traditions or the heritage or the story of the church, but 334 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:02,200 rather it's the simple idea of breathing new life into it and 335 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:06,160 basically bringing new energy to this body. 336 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:08,000 You're basically strengthening your core. 337 00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:13,200 You're being unified around this person of Christ and his work, 338 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:18,640 and then you're beginning to slowly go to work on the parts 339 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:20,600 of the church that were already in existence. 340 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,720 That's right. And so, like, you didn't 341 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:25,920 rebrand, didn't change the name. No, Tell us a little. 342 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:28,480 Just a quick aside about the name because I think it speaks 343 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,360 so well to the community. Yeah, so the name is a good 344 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:35,280 example of church revitalization is there is a temptation to come 345 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:39,800 in and and say, I don't know what this means, Greg's Memorial 346 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,200 Baptist Church. So let's change it to a name 347 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:46,160 that's, I don't know, some might consider more modern or, or 348 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,520 something that some might consider more flashy. 349 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,600 But instead, what we did was just, you know, fully embrace 350 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:56,920 the name and tell that story over and over again. 351 00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:58,680 Tell it a new tell it to new people. 352 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:03,920 And the story is our church. It's called Griggs because of a 353 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:09,440 man named David Griggs who was at our church for a long time, 354 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,560 decades. He was the volunteer music 355 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:15,960 leader at our church. And what he did for work is he 356 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,280 owned a grocery store right in the middle of Poe Mill in the 357 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:20,880 neighborhood. It was a small convenience store 358 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:24,040 and everybody loved him. I mean, especially during the 359 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:28,840 times where the the the economy of those neighborhoods on the 360 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:33,600 West Side were in a downturn. He would give food away. 361 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:38,960 He would let people pay later and he would always, you know, 362 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:43,320 tell them about Jesus and loved his neighbor as himself. 363 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:45,960 And so our church was actually, while he was alive, our church 364 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:47,600 was called Victory Baptist Church. 365 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:52,720 But when he passed away in the early 90's, the community was 366 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:58,360 moved and he was missed. And the church voted to rename 367 00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:02,760 all our ministry after him. Griggs Memorial Baptist Church 368 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:10,320 and for us in 2024, it's a great name because we want to carry on 369 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,200 that spirit of loving our neighbor as ourself and 370 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:17,520 providing for the needs of our neighborhood like he did. 371 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:21,800 Additionally, first of all, his daughter still goes to our 372 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:28,360 church and there are still members of the neighborhood who 373 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:33,880 remember going to Greg's Grocery receive like getting what they 374 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,520 needed, especially around Christmas time or things things 375 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,320 were tight. He would give it all the way he 376 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:42,040 would serve. And I have talked to dozens of 377 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:45,760 folks in the neighborhood that remember going to that store and 378 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:51,080 not one of them has anything but a glowing review of his story 379 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,240 and they all attribute it to his faith. 380 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:57,280 And so for us to embrace that legacy and try to not reach, 381 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:01,360 redo it, change it, rebrand, but to just continue it, maybe 382 00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:05,240 refocus it on what he was clearly focused on, which is 383 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:09,680 following Jesus, but to embrace it and run with it again or a 384 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,600 new that's church revitalization. 385 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:15,400 Yes, some folks from the neighborhood started coming and 386 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:24,000 we got to like we got from 10 to 20 and 30 and, and so far we've 387 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:28,600 baptized about 40 people total as far as baptism and we've had, 388 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:37,160 we've had services where with by God's grace with hundreds and 389 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,600 events in the neighbourhood where I felt like everybody was 390 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,160 there. Yeah, let's talk about some of 391 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:49,400 those because I, I think that that is just a really cool part 392 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,320 of how you guys have had these block parties and you have 393 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:58,920 weekly neighborhood meetups and like just fully present and 394 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:02,240 available. And then we'll, we'll talk about 395 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,520 Camp Griggs, but tell us just a little bit about what is what 396 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:07,240 does it look like to host these events and. 397 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,800 Well, one thing about Griggs that is unique is where a 398 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,840 neighborhood church and a big value for us is what we call 399 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:18,880 neighborhood missions. And, and what we mean by that is 400 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:25,000 pretty narrow is that we want everyone who wants to come to 401 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:26,920 come. So we have people in our church 402 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:28,760 from Simpsonville, we have people in our church from 403 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,000 Powdersville, Everybody's welcome to come. 404 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:36,000 But when our church pours out, we only ever pour out to one 405 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:37,960 place, and that's our neighborhood of Pome Mill. 406 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,720 We serve Pome Mill, we only serve Pome Mill, and we serve 407 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,880 Pome Mill all the time. And we only ever want to serve 408 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,120 Pome Mill. So like, if our church was to 409 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:55,600 grow, we would not in any way be tempted to buy a building out 410 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,720 in, I don't know, tailors and move out of the neighborhood. 411 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,720 We would just the strategy would be to plant another church or 412 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,880 revitalize another church in another mill village on the West 413 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,480 side. That is, we're not in danger of 414 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:14,200 that right now of overgrowing, but we are. 415 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:17,200 We're in pole mill for the long haul. 416 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,520 That's it. That's all I'm feeling led to 417 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:23,280 do. And so how that ends up playing 418 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:28,600 out is a few a few things. One is that basically if 419 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:31,840 something's going on in Poe Mill, we're coming. 420 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:35,760 So all the nonprofits that surround Poe Mill, we get to 421 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,120 partner with and partner with on a regular basis. 422 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:40,320 And there are a few, there's a few. 423 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,320 And so we do everything we can to serve them. 424 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:47,120 So first, we're connecting to all the nonprofits in Pome Mill 425 00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:50,760 or around Pome Mill and. What are what are some of those? 426 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,280 So Pome Mill Achievement Center, so Terrier Community Development 427 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:59,000 Center, Mountain Goat. There are some connections with 428 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:01,480 Miracle Hill that we have that do actually direct. 429 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,680 They impact all of Greenville or the Upstate, but also play out 430 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:08,880 in Pome Mill. Additionally, there's other 431 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,800 churches, so Park Place Church of God is actually in Pome Mill 432 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:18,000 and we do at least a few things with them every single year. 433 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,280 Then there's a church right in the neighborhood over San Souci 434 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:25,160 Church and we do things with them that impact the 435 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,640 neighborhood, as well as a food ministry just called Mana 436 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:34,760 Ministry that is stocked in by Loaves and Fishes. 437 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:37,400 And so we have done a lot with that food ministry. 438 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:40,680 So 1 is connecting to all that's already going on in the Kingdom 439 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,160 of Pome Mill. Because believe it or not, God 440 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,880 was walking the streets of Pome Mill every day long before. 441 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:47,760 How? Before you got that. 442 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:49,800 Yeah, believe it or not, yeah, I didn't. 443 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,280 I didn't start the the fire. It's always been burning. 444 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:59,000 And so we're connecting to God's Kingdom because he is in no way 445 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:01,440 been shortchanged in Pomel. He's got it. 446 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:04,640 But then the second thing is we're leveraging the 447 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,720 relationships we have through our PO Mill members of which we 448 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:09,800 are been blessed with quite a few. 449 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:14,440 And so we're how that plays out is our neighborhood network 450 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,920 program, which is every Sunday at 4 in the fall, in the spring. 451 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:21,480 And it is a pretty classic kids program. 452 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:22,960 We have not reinvented the wheel. 453 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:27,760 It is a game and songs and teaching and small group and 454 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:32,360 dinner. And the dinner has for the last 455 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:35,280 couple years been hosted by different community groups at 456 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,520 Grace downtown. And that's been a really big 457 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:43,240 help just time wise because these are, you know, even though 458 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,440 we're bringing in 25 kids, let's say, but that's still a lot of 459 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:49,160 dinner to figure out on a weekly basis. 460 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,960 But for a community group once a quarter or something, it's 461 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:54,880 pretty manageable. So we have various community 462 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:56,280 groups from downtown helping with that. 463 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,360 But so that's Neighborhood network and we're we're 464 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:02,680 ministering to roughly 25 children and youth on a regular 465 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:07,080 basis on Sunday nights. Furthermore, we have connected 466 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,800 with what is called the Pomil Neighborhood Association and I 467 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:15,840 get to play a big part in that. Most of the time we just do 468 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:20,880 several events a year with them. These are events like last year 469 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,560 we did a housing fair where we had all the nonprofits. 470 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,600 We even had Front Porch there, but nonprofits that do 471 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,840 affordable housing and then the government side, affordable 472 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:35,200 housing from the South Carolina side come in and we inform the 473 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:37,360 whole neighborhood. You know, if you need help with 474 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:41,160 the housing, come to this event. We do that through Flyers and 475 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,160 Facebook ads and we have a fit. We have a Facebook group for the 476 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:48,320 neighborhood, things like that. And so we also did a job fair 477 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:50,280 where we had kind of the same thing. 478 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:55,000 It was in the all these events are in a gym owned by Park Place 479 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,440 Church of God, which is a fellow church in the neighborhood. 480 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:00,760 They have a big old gym. And so we just use that and the 481 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:05,800 Neighborhood Association with help from Griggs and Park Place 482 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:10,480 and others, we host a job fair where people who are hiring both 483 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,600 people outside the neighborhood. So like BMW came and some 484 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:17,440 others, but if you don't have a car, there was some Cherrydale 485 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:21,520 businesses that came and then there was the job application 486 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,920 help like SC Works was there and some other organizations that 487 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:30,520 just help you get placed. So this year we did a tree 488 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,680 planting event with the Neighborhood Association where 489 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,560 people from the community but also people outside came and 490 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:42,160 volunteered just to plant trees. Then we have our own events that 491 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:47,240 Greg's churches just taken on and so we do block parties in 492 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:51,000 particularly the spring, the fall, and then at Christmas we 493 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,560 do the Pomo Christmas parade and then we take all of. 494 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:55,600 You have your own Christmas parade. 495 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,160 Yep, we do the Pomo Christmas parade. 496 00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:58,640 Are you? Are you Santa? 497 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:03,720 I never get to be Santa, but I'm glad for the guy who does. 498 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:07,440 And I usually, actually, I believe they call it the Grand 499 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:09,200 Marshall. It's not as grand as it sounds, 500 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:11,680 but I I lead the parade in a golf cart. 501 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,840 Yeah. And it's it's pretty fun 502 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:18,040 actually. I'm going to put it on the 503 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:20,040 calendar for this year for sure. Dude, you got to come. 504 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:21,680 There's lots of hot chocolate, lots of candy. 505 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,440 And so we do the pot mill Christmas parade and then 506 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,760 whoever's in our kids ministry, we always, we take them to 507 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,080 Walmart couple weeks before Christmas. 508 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,600 There's a couple people who help us fund it. 509 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:38,080 We give with with some guidance and with some direction. 510 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:42,160 We give about 40 kids because everybody brings their cousin or 511 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,640 their friend at the last minute and it's a great thing. 512 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,320 We're glad they're there. We give about 40 kids $100.00 513 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,920 gift card and our volunteers walk them around Walmart so that 514 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:53,640 they can do their Christmas shopping. 515 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:57,280 They do get if they want to pick something out for themselves, 516 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:00,760 but you'd be teary eyed at how many times they spend the whole 517 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:04,960 thing on sisters and aunts and uncles and food for the family 518 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,920 for Christmas. And so that's a big party for us 519 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:10,840 as well. And so spring block party, the 520 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:13,560 fall block party and then Christmas, those are our own 521 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:15,120 events. And we do find that there's a 522 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,840 lot of neighbourhood engagement there, where we're building more 523 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:20,800 and more on the relationships we have and getting new ones too. 524 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,480 And so is that where the opportunity with Camp Griggs 525 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:27,160 started five years ago. You have some momentum, you have 526 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:32,440 a number of youth, part of the church obviously within arm's 527 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:36,080 reach of the church. So that's where it was a very 528 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:42,360 strategic and very just easy awesome opportunity for students 529 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:45,880 from Grace Church to be able to just go to the West side of 530 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:50,160 town, often where they have never even been before and plug 531 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:53,680 in and and serve what we call Mission Upstate. 532 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,480 But really is Camp Griggs just kind of tell us what Camp Griggs 533 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:01,160 looks like. And then we're, you know, some 534 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,760 of the kids from Grace, how they have been able to to serve and 535 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:09,840 really get a wonderful education on what it looks like to serve 536 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:10,360 the Kingdom. A. 537 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:15,800 Little over five years ago, you know, Grace Church was kind 538 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:21,800 enough to partner with us at Griggs and, you know, sort of 539 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:25,160 formalize the relationship. And one of the things came up 540 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:28,320 like, well, what do you need? And I just sort of tell them 541 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,720 about our ministries, just just all the stuff I told you. 542 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:35,360 And one of the things that kept coming up was our opportunity 543 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:39,640 with kids in particular and youth more on the kids side, 544 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:43,920 children of the neighbourhood. And one of the things that kept 545 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,720 coming up was in the summers they face some unique challenges 546 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:52,800 from not being in school. And one of those challenges is 547 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:55,480 that they don't have much to go and do. 548 00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,800 There's a lot of kids who are just at the house and could use 549 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:02,200 some something constructive just to do. 550 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:06,560 And through a conversation with some staff here that first 551 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:09,920 summer, it was what we're going to do, some sort of in town 552 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,320 mission trip. Is there anything we can do to 553 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:16,000 partner with you and these kids? And the idea just came up. 554 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:20,400 Well, there's this gym that I have access to in the middle of 555 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:22,040 the neighborhood, part of an old church. 556 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,360 If I get all the kids to show up to that, we could just play 557 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:28,000 basketball. And so we had basketball camp 558 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:32,320 for one week. Students from Grace forged, Kids 559 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:38,120 from Grace came to this gym and played basketball with children 560 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:40,960 from the neighborhood for about 3 hours. 561 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:43,960 And it ended up, you know, being a little more than basketball. 562 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,080 They would, you know, pair off and some kids were playing 563 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,120 volleyball or, or some other game. 564 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:53,600 So it ended up being just kind of an open gym and after about 3 565 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:56,719 hours they would sit him down with that right there. 566 00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:58,960 Takes about 25 minutes to sit him down. 567 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:02,400 That was about half the end. So they got him sat down and one 568 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,040 of the students or the interns or someone would get up and 569 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,640 teach and we would pray and go home. 570 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:13,680 And that was the first week. The second year it was noted 571 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:15,520 that that went pretty, that went OK. 572 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:18,560 There was a lot of teenagers saying, hey, I could do that 573 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:19,840 more often. I can do that. 574 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:22,680 You know, I actually, you know, really felt like I felt the 575 00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:24,000 presence of God. I'm serving. 576 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,160 I'm in my city. I didn't even know this was in 577 00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:29,120 my city here on the West side, these kids. 578 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,360 And, you know, it just ended up being something that people are 579 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:33,960 sharing stories about life changing. 580 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:38,640 So the next year we did it for two weeks and just added a 581 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:41,280 couple of new elements. So we did a more formalized 582 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:46,360 lesson, we did a snack, we did still some open gym and then 583 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:51,120 some crafts here and there. We did it for two weeks and it 584 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:53,600 was interesting because it went really well. 585 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:57,600 Though one thing that I think Grace students benefited from is 586 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:01,240 it was not easy. Yeah, so when I say it went 587 00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:05,320 well, I mean, the mission was complete, that kids heard about 588 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:09,320 Jesus and that other students, older students got to be the 589 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:13,120 ones delivering the message in the way they lived and and what 590 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:17,520 they shared verbally. But yeah, I mean, it was, you 591 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:21,240 know, kids trying to run away, like, not literally, but like, 592 00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:23,760 yeah, they're trying to trying to leave, trying to leave, get 593 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:28,200 out of the out of the organized event, you know, and do their 594 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:31,720 own thing. You know, there, there was times 595 00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:35,360 where the language was rough or the experience just in some way 596 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:39,880 was rough, could you know? And but at the end of the day, 597 00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:43,520 what was odd is though there was all this, there was some tension 598 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:47,480 to be sure, and some difficulties that, you know, the 599 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:49,600 kids are like, you're picking me up tomorrow, right? 600 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,800 And then the students are leaving on Friday with tears in 601 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:57,720 their eyes after not having a phone or any of their normal 602 00:36:57,720 --> 00:37:00,680 life for a week and they're hanging out with kids who kind 603 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:03,880 of are acting like, why am I even here? 604 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:06,640 Those kids are showing up in the students from Forge are missing 605 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:09,480 them afterwards, even though it was, it was hot and it was 606 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:12,760 tough. So the third summer we did it 607 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:17,240 three weeks and Grace came up with a great idea like, you 608 00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:20,280 know, why don't you have some of your regular leaders join us? 609 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:22,760 Because back then, those first 2 summers, it was really just me 610 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:25,040 and then a few, few of our volunteers would come when they 611 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:29,000 could, but they were working, you know, And so we hired some 612 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:33,160 interns with the help of Grace. And then the last two summers, 613 00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:37,760 all the Ford students have come. We've had three weeks in a row. 614 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:43,520 We have a full program that's mapped out to the minute and 615 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,640 it's incredibly successful. Like it's a much they're still, 616 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:49,080 you know, you're still doing ministry, it's still hard work. 617 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:52,280 There's still definitely you're putting, you're putting your 618 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:54,800 back into it. It's tough, but we have a 619 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:56,320 reason. We're doing everything. 620 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,360 It's all adding up to kids receiving the gospel message. 621 00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:02,760 And we have actually now, the last two summers not only 622 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:07,960 brought on someone in like an intern range, but even some 623 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:12,000 summer staff, particularly teachers from our congregations 624 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:16,520 who are available in the summers and are working with these kids 625 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,880 as a serving opportunity. All year, members of our church 626 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:21,840 were engaged. Yeah. 627 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:23,920 All year round. Yeah, that's awesome. 628 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:27,320 Just wrapping up, Mitch, I got 2 questions for you. 629 00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:31,960 One's personal and one I want you to really speak just in 630 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,360 summary to everybody who's listening. 631 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:39,120 First question for you personal. How has the last, let's just 632 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:41,560 call it, a decade of ministry at PO Mill? 633 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:45,080 How's it changed you? I really feel like. 634 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:47,440 I'm. In tune. 635 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:55,120 With what Jesus meant when he walked into cities and 636 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:57,880 proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was here. 637 00:38:59,240 --> 00:39:02,800 It is coming. In a certain sense, and it's 638 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:07,760 here in that there is good news for the poor. 639 00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:12,520 That they are actually not. Left out they might be on the 640 00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:16,080 edge of society for a SEC like right now and that is 641 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:18,800 uncomfortable. We we can we've been called by 642 00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:25,400 Jesus in a very sort of, you know, priority one type way to 643 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:31,240 rectify that as Christians, but they are. 644 00:39:31,240 --> 00:39:33,400 Not they might. Be on the edge of society. 645 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:36,800 They might feel a little left out, but they are not left out. 646 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:42,760 Of God's. Purposes in the world and God's 647 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:45,360 coming. Kingdom what I'm. 648 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:47,200 Referring to is the new heavens and the new Earth. 649 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:52,120 I know some homeless people right now, probably asleep 650 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:57,680 behind a gas station on Old Buncombe Rd. that will be at 651 00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:00,440 home with the Father forever and ever. 652 00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:04,280 And. Blood washed linens. 653 00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:10,120 Roof over their head. I don't really know exactly what 654 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:13,200 this means, but at whatever Revelation is talking about when 655 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:17,080 it says there is a great marriage feast with the lamb 656 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:21,640 eating all they can. And. 657 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:27,800 Jesus came and lived. This perfect and. 658 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:31,880 Sinless life, you know. Took on. 659 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:35,960 Their suffering and their the suffering that has been caused 660 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:38,680 by others, and the suffering they've produced through their 661 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:42,160 own sin. And rose again from death. 662 00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:47,360 To ensure that they are included forever and that poverty will 663 00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:51,600 not have the final word. As much as we allow. 664 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:54,840 Poverty to be our final word over them. 665 00:40:56,120 --> 00:41:01,080 I have learned why you have to be poor to become Christian at 666 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:03,600 all. And maybe it's not financially 667 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:06,120 poor, but Jesus called it being poor in spirit. 668 00:41:07,240 --> 00:41:16,640 And that poverty is this great catalyst to realizing that you 669 00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:20,280 have no ability to ensure a better future. 670 00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:26,560 You have no ability to overcome the generation and the sins that 671 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:29,360 it brought to you as you were born and that the things you 672 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:32,680 grew up with there's there's just so much powerlessness in 673 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:37,560 poverty that you are very open and very quickly to the idea of 674 00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:43,080 being saved and being. Not just. 675 00:41:43,120 --> 00:41:46,760 Saved as a part of your identity. 676 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:49,600 Like I'm a pretty good guy, but I definitely need a little 677 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:54,120 redemption. But no, I need, I need someone 678 00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:59,440 to totally reverse this. I can't help you do it, but 679 00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:02,280 there's a guy who's willing to do it for me and went the 680 00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:03,840 ultimate length to make it happen. 681 00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:09,080 I think I've seen the true suffering of poverty. 682 00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:11,520 Most of the time is found in the people who have everything. 683 00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:17,480 Their souls are so impoverished and they keep piling up thinking 684 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,800 one of these objects, one of these homes, one of these 685 00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:24,040 accounts is going to do it. I'm finally going to have an 686 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:26,560 identity, a validation for my existence. 687 00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:31,760 And they never get it. Until they turn to Christ. 688 00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:36,280 And yet I've seen how powerful Christ's idea his his message of 689 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:41,120 identity is. Because I know people who have 690 00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:43,440 been given. Basically no. 691 00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:46,240 Identity by their peers or people around them or the rest 692 00:42:46,240 --> 00:42:50,400 of their city who can't stop smiling because they know they 693 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:54,560 are a son or a daughter of of God and. 694 00:42:56,080 --> 00:43:02,680 They actually don't want. In a certain sense, they don't 695 00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:04,440 even want all the wealth you can give them. 696 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:07,000 In a certain sense, I mean, they definitely want. 697 00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:10,480 There's times where they need, we all need physical help. 698 00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:16,480 But oddly, what they want is to share their faith in Jesus with 699 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:18,880 you. So how I think I've been 700 00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:22,000 transformed over the last nine years? 701 00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:26,480 Is that I get to see the. I know the Kingdom of God is 702 00:43:26,480 --> 00:43:30,080 here. I see how he is especially and 703 00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:34,960 uniquely with the sick he is especially he is uniquely with. 704 00:43:36,600 --> 00:43:40,320 Those who suffer. And those who are? 705 00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:45,840 Who are broken? And those who have been abused 706 00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:50,640 and and marginalized or outcasts, those who are just, 707 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:56,720 they know like I'm I'm a Sinner. That's who I am without without 708 00:43:57,080 --> 00:44:03,960 help, without Jesus. And those people, they may not 709 00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:07,800 be getting. They should be, perhaps, but 710 00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:11,040 they may not be getting affordable housing. 711 00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:14,920 They may not be getting bigger. Paychecks they may not. 712 00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:18,560 Be getting more security or retirement accounts or whatever 713 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:21,800 but. They're in the Kingdom of God 714 00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:23,480 and they. Are receiving the Holy Spirit 715 00:44:24,240 --> 00:44:30,400 and walking with Jesus and so the Kingdom of God is here and 716 00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:33,760 we do not have to go create it the. 717 00:44:33,760 --> 00:44:36,080 Kingdom of God one. Thing I've been transformed. 718 00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:38,520 The Kingdom of God is not something we advance. 719 00:44:38,720 --> 00:44:41,240 It's not something we achieve. The Kingdom of God is something 720 00:44:41,240 --> 00:44:44,600 we receive, the Kingdom. Of God is part of the. 721 00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:47,240 Gospel. It's not a reward for living out 722 00:44:47,240 --> 00:44:49,920 the gospel. It is the gospel that he brought 723 00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:52,960 it here to us. We didn't make it there. 724 00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:55,160 He brought it here and now we get to live in it. 725 00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:57,400 You know one. Of the greatest. 726 00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:00,720 Ways to be miserable is to. Somehow have a. 727 00:45:00,720 --> 00:45:05,240 Version of Christianity. Where the best part? 728 00:45:05,240 --> 00:45:07,040 About it is you're waiting to get to heaven. 729 00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:14,800 It's like no that that is true. I'm I'm down to go. 730 00:45:16,240 --> 00:45:17,280 That's. But. 731 00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:21,800 Heaven has come to earth. There's been an end breaking and 732 00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:24,680 that's what Jesus came to do and that's what the really the 733 00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:26,160 church. I mean, there's some more 734 00:45:26,160 --> 00:45:29,240 theology to it, but the church is the is that it is that 735 00:45:29,240 --> 00:45:32,880 vehicle by which the. Upside down Kingdom is. 736 00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:35,240 Making its way to the uttermost parts of the earth. 737 00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:38,840 Well, and you answered my. Second question, which is really 738 00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:43,120 how can people grow in their empathy? 739 00:45:43,720 --> 00:45:47,840 How can they grow to be blessed? And part of it is just leaning 740 00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:51,320 in to to to all the complexities that they're experiencing. 741 00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:55,000 But then you have. An invitation for. 742 00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:58,600 People an open invitation at Greg's for people to just come 743 00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:00,680 and see, come and see, come and see. 744 00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:02,240 Well, let me just tell you. I'll close. 745 00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:04,560 You know, I know we wanted to kind of hit this. 746 00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:08,080 What I would tell people who do not live on the West Side that 747 00:46:08,080 --> 00:46:10,760 are, are living in Greenville. Perhaps they're living in one of 748 00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:13,560 the the parts. Of Greenville that have. 749 00:46:13,560 --> 00:46:17,040 Made us the number four place to live in the US according to the 750 00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:22,200 US World Report. I guess it's called U.S. news 751 00:46:22,200 --> 00:46:24,720 and World Report. You know, we were named the 4th 752 00:46:24,720 --> 00:46:28,440 best place to live in all of America because we have big city 753 00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:36,800 amenities without the common unpleasant trees of big cities. 754 00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:39,320 That's a direct quote from that article. 755 00:46:40,720 --> 00:46:42,800 One thing to realize is that is. Not true. 756 00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:45,800 Where are these common unpleasantries? 757 00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:47,320 I think is how they phrase it exactly. 758 00:46:47,320 --> 00:46:53,000 Or they are with us right outside the city line in the 759 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:55,560 county. That's where they they are not 760 00:46:55,640 --> 00:46:59,360 far. We did not we did not create a 761 00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:02,920 patch of heaven in South Carolina with no brokenness. 762 00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:09,400 We have moved them out to the county line and they are over on 763 00:47:09,400 --> 00:47:13,400 White Horse Road living in a totally separate world than 764 00:47:13,400 --> 00:47:18,640 someone living on Augusta Road. And I think it's good to realize 765 00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:22,040 that that so many of them are our brothers and sisters in 766 00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:25,440 Christ. Not unpleasant trees that would 767 00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:27,400 take away from big city amenities. 768 00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:33,720 Additionally, my goal for people on, for example, the east side 769 00:47:33,720 --> 00:47:36,760 of Greenville. Would be to. 770 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:41,480 Learn the gospel in such a way to become poor in spirit and yet 771 00:47:41,480 --> 00:47:45,160 filled with imputed righteousness and total gift. 772 00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:49,440 Righteousness not of their own, but just something someone died 773 00:47:49,440 --> 00:47:52,560 to give them 2000 years ago. We'd be filled with the gospel 774 00:47:52,560 --> 00:48:00,720 in such a way that they would move through being willing. 775 00:48:00,720 --> 00:48:03,640 To give. To the ministries on the West 776 00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:07,040 side. Moved past being. 777 00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:10,840 Willing to lead a ministry on the West side. 778 00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:15,080 And I think the ultimate journey's end is that they are 779 00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:21,760 willing to simply drive across town and sit and participate as 780 00:48:21,840 --> 00:48:29,240 a fellow worshipper on the West side, listening and learning 781 00:48:29,240 --> 00:48:34,040 from and just engaging in normal everyday Christian Church 782 00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:38,320 worship with a church on the West side. 783 00:48:38,360 --> 00:48:42,600 You got many to choose from. To that we can shout out would 784 00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:46,920 be at Griggs Memorial Baptist Church, Woodside Baptist Church, 785 00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:51,480 or Reconcile Community Church with my, my hero Will brought us 786 00:48:51,480 --> 00:48:54,680 and good friend, any of those churches. 787 00:48:54,680 --> 00:48:56,520 But there's others we can't go on to name. 788 00:48:56,680 --> 00:49:00,240 But I think, I think an East Sider, an East side 789 00:49:00,240 --> 00:49:02,480 Greenvillian, however you want to say it, they've really 790 00:49:02,480 --> 00:49:06,400 understood the gospel when it's not, I'm going to give to it or 791 00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:09,400 I'm going to go help it. But they're, but they start to 792 00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:12,920 see that's just my church, that there's no, there's no 793 00:49:12,920 --> 00:49:17,160 difference, that there's no, there's no need to have any 794 00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:20,440 power in this. There, there, they're just 795 00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:23,600 there's. No belief that I'm somehow 796 00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:27,600 automatically a contributor because of the hand I've been 797 00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:31,960 dealt or the place I've lived, that there's just brothers and 798 00:49:31,960 --> 00:49:35,720 sisters in Christ. And when they can go and sit and 799 00:49:35,720 --> 00:49:41,560 receive and just be in small group and be served, my dream 800 00:49:41,560 --> 00:49:44,040 for them has been fulfilled because I think that's when they 801 00:49:44,040 --> 00:49:46,920 have most clearly and fully understood the gospel for them. 802 00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:49,080 That's my opinion on it. Yeah. 803 00:49:49,160 --> 00:49:51,080 No, that's a good. That's a good challenge and 804 00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:55,000 you've got a a story of being able to do that in some unique 805 00:49:55,000 --> 00:49:58,480 ways. And now a voice to lead us and 806 00:49:59,120 --> 00:50:00,480 have us think some deep thoughts. 807 00:50:00,480 --> 00:50:05,560 And so worship Jesus, revitalize the church, love and serve the 808 00:50:05,560 --> 00:50:07,640 neighborhood. Those are those are great 809 00:50:08,320 --> 00:50:12,400 talking points, learning points. And ultimately may we be doers 810 00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:13,720 and not just hearers of the word. 811 00:50:13,720 --> 00:50:15,640 And so Mitch, this has been great. 812 00:50:15,640 --> 00:50:17,800 Man. I awake and sit for hours. 813 00:50:17,800 --> 00:50:20,640 I'd love to hear stories. You could you could tell great 814 00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:22,720 stories of individuals that you've been able to love and 815 00:50:22,720 --> 00:50:25,520 serve and care for and that have built into you. 816 00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:28,200 And we're just going to have to take it by faith and ask people 817 00:50:28,200 --> 00:50:32,480 to come and see for themselves. And we're grateful for our 818 00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:34,280 friendship, grateful for our partnership. 819 00:50:34,880 --> 00:50:39,320 We'll have plenty of show notes, but we encourage you just to go 820 00:50:39,640 --> 00:50:41,440 online. Where can they find you online? 821 00:50:41,720 --> 00:50:44,480 It's Greeks church.com. Greekschurch.com It's a. 822 00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:45,840 Wonderful thing called the Internet. 823 00:50:46,200 --> 00:50:50,320 We encourage you to type it in now and get a little bit more of 824 00:50:50,320 --> 00:50:54,040 their story and see where guys is taking this church. 825 00:50:54,560 --> 00:50:58,680 Loving the 320 households. That's right of PO Mill. 826 00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:00,280 Yep. Great, great. 827 00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:01,560 Mitch, thanks so much for your time. 828 00:51:01,680 --> 00:51:02,560 Yeah, thanks for having me on.