Brian Zimmer + Neighborhood Basketball

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Welcome to the Ask About My Faith Podcast, where our hope is to inspire everyday faith

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_03]: conversations. I'm Jess and I'm Abby. Today we're joined by Brian Zimmer, a passionate

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_03]: educator who has dedicated his life to creating environments of trust and open communication.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Growing up as the only black student in a private school in rural Minnesota and adopted

[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_03]: into a Caucasian family, Brian's unique experiences have shaped his mission to honor and uplift

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_03]: every student. In today's conversation, we'll delve into Brian's faith journey

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_03]: from growing up in the church to facing deep questions after witnessing a tragic car accident.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_03]: We'll explore the healing power of mentorship and the impact of youth with omission on his life

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_03]: and his experiences sharing his faith in his everyday interactions like

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_03]: playing basketball with the neighborhood kids and praying for a man who came to clean their carpets.

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Brian's story is one of prayer, surrender, and the journey to find home in faith.

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_03]: We can't wait to share it with you. Let's jump in.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Brian, welcome. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast.

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, thank you for having me. I'm excited.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_02]: So great. I want to first hear how you came to know the Lord. It sounds like it was quite

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: an incident. Yeah. So I grew up in a Christian household all my life. So I go to church,

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: you know, small group, youth group, you name it. So I had faith by Wednesday was actually

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_00]: in my faith until my best friend actually passed away. He was a senior in high school

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_00]: towards the end of my senior year. It was hard. He was one of those friendships where David

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Jonathan kind of friendship, he came in my ninth grade year became best friends,

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: stayed with my parents, worked for my family on the farm and so we came like brothers.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And then yeah, the accident happened and then saw the darkness with it. And so

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I would say for me, I went down by a year and a half is just trauma and just

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_00]: anger and frustrations and I actually get rock bottom. I remember forgetting my little sister at

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_00]: the time she called me and said, Hey, by the way, mom and dad are just frustrated. They all know how

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: it's like they want to love you but yet wasn't like to have tough love and grace. And we're just

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: seeing there and just weeping saying I lost, I lost my family right now. Like they love me

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_00]: but this place of I lost my little sister's respect who she was supposed to look up to.

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And that was hard. And then I realized like, Lord, like I want to come home

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and they're gonna forget when I said, Lord, I can't do this anymore. Like I'm hurting right?

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm realizing like I just want to hear his voice or I want to say, Hey, I'm not,

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: it wasn't your fault. I'm here for you. I can be your friend and I am a good father.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And so from there, just change my life just actually penting and realizing I can't do

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_00]: by myself. But it was tough.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Brian, was that accident and the loss of your breast front? Was that in senior year?

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Yep. Yeah. And so it was March 23. I'll never forget. We were supposed to go to a basketball

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: game for state basketball. And we're way at the school like, Hey, they're 10 minutes late.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's start calling right? So we call one number, the answer call a second person in the car

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_00]: and answer. So the third person didn't answer. And let's take this is this is kind of odd.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And then 15 minutes later, someone came to our school or friends like, Hey,

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_00]: there was an accident by your house, Brian, like 15 minutes that way. And we're like,

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, what are the chances? Right? So me and my friends get in the car. And also I felt

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_00]: like my heart just thumping as we're driving going by a hormone per hour, which I would not

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: recommend. And we get there. And also we see fire trucks and ambulance helicopter.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, this this this is a this isn't good. And remember seeing my friends in the ditch and

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_00]: that people were kind of tending to him and they brought the white body big thing. And I'm like,

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, where's my best friend, John? Where's john? And remember looking over to the left, and I see

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: lifeless body basically sticking out of a car. And that's him right there. And then remember,

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: they're like, Hey, you guys got to leave. We got to give him to send cloud. We got air left him.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And the whole way there I'm thinking this this this can't be it. This cannot be his his death. And so

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: that that wrecked me for a long time. Just the images. And also, I think just be the Christian

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: right? Like, you know, the verses, like, he's gonna heal. He's a healer. He's the comfort.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And all these things like you these Bible verses are coming to mind. And you're like,

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not seeing a match up. So next day we're actually in the hospital. I remember,

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a hey mom, dad, he's gonna make it. We're gonna lay hands on the sick to recover people

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_00]: are in the prayer room. And remember there, we're both to go see him and also like, Hey,

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: we're sorry your friend didn't make it. And that's when I lost it, you know, that was hard.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, so things kind of went downward, a downward trajectory for you for a little while.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_02]: And what was it that I mean, your sister you said kind of reached out and said, Hey,

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Brian, mom and dad don't know what to do. What I don't how did that happen? How did that turn

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_02]: around happen? Was it just that feeling of I gotta, I gotta figure this out or yeah.

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that was it. I think it was that but also a backstory. So Bethel freshman year,

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: not the greatest year working through a lot sophomore year, not the greatest year.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember losing friends one by one, but also having fun at the same time in the worldly

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: way eyes. And I remember like going home, my parents, they kind of knew but it wasn't like

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_00]: we're close, right? And I started feeling more and more empty. And I'm realizing like the people

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00]: who I ran with as far as friendships are like nowhere to be found. And we're going a few

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: vespers about Bethel, but then actually my best friend his father and me connected.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_00]: He recommended, Hey, you know what, I've been hearing your story, something you're kind

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: of a dark spot. And actually I called someone who didn't even know me, but his my mentor,

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: this is best friend. So I'm with Matt Perkins. He's like, Hey, tell me your story. I'm like,

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_00]: well, you know, you know, John, you know, passed away, you're all kind of family friends.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: He's like, Yeah, you're here. I think the Lord has something for you. Yeah. And he's

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: like, close your eyes. We're seeing Perkins. And he's like, I think the Holy Spirit wants

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00]: to heal you. Like, okay, well, what does that mean? And he's like, Well, let's ask

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Holy Spirit. And I'm like, Sure. And so I'm seeing Perkins right thinking this guy,

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_00]: what's what's he talking about? And he starts asking Holy Spirit what's going on in

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: man's life. And he hits a spirit rejection. And I just lose it. And I'm like, I'm in

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Perkins. I'm in college. I have no clue what's happening. And he, the Holy Spirit

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: comes down and just washes me out. And this guy with the Holy Spirit was able to pinpoint

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: all the things in my life that were hurting me. And the root was rejection from being

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00]: adopted. I remember just like, like, how'd you do that? Well, Holy Spirit, he wants to

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: go after he knows you better than anyone else. And so I repented, renounced. And I

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_00]: just felt this release. And I remember calling my family and just saying, Hey guys,

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_00]: can I talk to you and just watching the Lord just do something in my life or

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: watching him break everything that was broken, become new. And I'm going back

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: to that verse, vengeance is mine, we pay says the Lord, I'm realizing maybe

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_00]: that vengeance wasn't like, I'm attacking everyone and hurt you. I'm not gonna

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: like make you feel bad. Like a warm of the dirt. It's actually, I'm going to go after

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_00]: the things I've been hurting you. And when we pay that and bring justice and healing.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember when I was done calling my sister and say, Hey, guess what?

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Um, your brother wants to come home and just calling her and call my parents and

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_00]: then actually call my friends and say, Hey, look, I don't know what just happened.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: The Holy Spirit did but like, I know something changed. And that was a turning

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: point was at college when I was just like, I want more. And so yeah,

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_02]: Wow. If you were here for no reason other than to share your testimony with our listeners,

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_02]: I think we would have, this would have been a successful time together. That's incredible.

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_03]: I know I was just thinking like what a word for anyone that's listening right now where

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_03]: it's like maybe the root is rejection, maybe it's something else, but Holy Spirit,

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_03]: God, Jesus, they want to heal you for whoever's listening right now. And yeah,

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_03]: having like a mentor or somebody where you can sit down and have an honest conversation,

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_03]: how, how beautiful what a great, yeah, what a great even just piece of advice is we're

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_03]: digging in here. Thank you so much for sharing that too.

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Right. A great teaching actually too. So wow.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_00]: That guy's good.

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_02]: We're getting more than we bargained for today. I love it.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Love it.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_03]: It reminds me too about, you know, the Bible verse that says raise a child in the way they

[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_03]: should go when they're old, they won't depart from it. And it's yeah, there was a season where

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_03]: hard things happened and you stepped away from, from like righteousness and God called you back.

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, he put the right people in your path and hopefully, you know,

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_03]: now we get to be the right people in the path and help those who are hurting.

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Wow. Right.

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Jump back in. Yeah. Into their face story too. So

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_02]: yeah. Now college you went to Bethel, sounded like were there all four years?

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Yep. I was there all four years. Yeah.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay. And then you went to YWAM. Is that right?

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I went to YWAM.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. It went just fine.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm sure most people listening know what YWAM is, but can you just give a brief synopsis?

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_00]: It's essentially youth with a mission. Essentially it's places all the world,

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_00]: even locally where basically you want to come together and you want to go

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_00]: to the gospel and spread it. Yeah.

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And in discipleship groups, there's outreach groups. And so for me, after that whole transition

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_00]: to like the Lord healing me, I'm like, well, see America. I'm going to go on to the mission.

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And actually I went to Tijuana, Mexico of all places. Oh really?

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And I had no idea about Tijuana, what to expect. And when I got there, I was, I was in.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_00]: It was, it was good. It was intense and humbling at the same time.

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. Cause you do three months of discipleship and then three months of like mission,

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_03]: where is your mission in Tijuana as well? Yes. And then Mexico city and then Guadalajara.

[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_00]: So we were kind of all over places of work. Okay.

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And you even know existed until I was there, which was a really fascinating experience.

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And once again challenging too.

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. And so then coming home, how did that translate back to life in America,

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_03]: life in Minnesota?

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_00]: That was tough. I'm being honest. It was so good being with like minded people where you are in

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_00]: situations where, Hey, we're pouring into you now go and do right? Come home, go and do.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And coming back to the States, I'm not saying everyone's like it, but I was excited,

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_00]: passionate. My friends like, Hey, you can calm down now because it wasn't this place

[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_00]: where I was preaching like, Hey, you're bad. I'm better. It's actually a place of

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_00]: let's go and do life. Let's go. Yeah.

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure how I'm going to do this, but then realized people have jobs. They have life.

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_00]: They have school. I found this tension of am I too radical or am I actually just like what

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_00]: normal Christianity should look like, but we just have kind of made people look crazy.

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And so I found myself actually almost coexisting because it was just like,

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_00]: how do you run hard with people when life is still like happening? And so for me,

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I think if I could look back at it, it'd be nice to have like some mentors who like,

[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_00]: who been YWAM, who have come back and get plugged in. But also I was also younger, right? I was

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_00]: naive to the fact that yes, people love Jesus. It just looks a little different when

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_00]: life gets a little stressful. And so yeah.

[00:11:54] [SPEAKER_03]: What would you share a story we don't usually spend a lot of time on missions

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_03]: because it's a little different than like our main topic. But what was the like crazy as

[00:12:04] [SPEAKER_03]: evangelistic kind of moment that you had while you were in YWAM?

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I would say we were in the downtown TMI, which I would not recommend. Let's see,

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_00]: you know what you're doing. It was like district. And I was like 10 o'clock at night.

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_00]: It was dark and I was like, Oh my goodness, like you're seeing like everything, you know,

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_00]: people who are on the ground string up with drugs. You see your prostitution.

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_00]: You're seeing like, like everything that you think of that's horrible in this world.

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_00]: It's right there. And we were actually walking in groups and they said, Hey, by the way,

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_00]: are certain areas if you have to speak Spanish or know someone who does. And we were walking

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_00]: this one block and we're praying with people who are doing drugs. Some people who are prostituting

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_00]: asking for prayer. And I remember we were about to pray for a group of people who were kind of

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_00]: selling and willing and dealing had prostitutes with them. And one of our friends like, Hey,

[00:12:55] [SPEAKER_00]: can we just share a little bit Jesus to this one woman? And I remember this guy came by with

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_00]: his assault rifle was like, Hey, you can't be here. And this guy wasn't like, Hey,

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_00]: you can't be here. He's like, he wanted to do something you could tell and us being naive or

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_00]: like we are way over our heads and this is not going to end well. And all of a sudden he starts,

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_00]: you know, getting a little worked up things like, wait a minute, are you guys Christians?

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And we're like, yeah, we believe in Jesus. And he started backing up and he just turned

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_00]: around went the other way. And I'm, and when I think about that, there was honestly

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_00]: an angel there because this guy was not happy, right? When you, I'm realizing when you just

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_00]: drop business, like you could have problems and we had no idea what was going on. But he

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_00]: started threatening us. And all of a sudden he just paused and he turned back around with

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_00]: his gun and his men with them. These are like, we are just, we were spared from that.

[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm realizing two of those moments where if you're on mission with the Lord and you

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_00]: put him in places and you're actually walking his favor, you can't be touched.

[00:13:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Now there are times I feel like we walk off alignment, like, well, I'm gonna do this.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna do that before the Lord. But he actually hasn't called you to do those things.

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_00]: But we were praying that day for like, hey, Lord show us your heart for the people.

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And when we were there, obviously we were in this place where we were praying for these people.

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And so when that guy started threatening us and all of a sudden he would just stop.

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like the angel of the Lord was like, no, these are my people.

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just, I'm just even getting emotional thinking about all the times where

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_00]: those moments were like, I should be in trouble or I should be getting hurt or I should be

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_00]: in a car accident. And the Lord is just like, it's not your time, right? And it's just

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_00]: places you actually pause like, oh wait, the Lord's protect me in this.

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Like there's favor on us when we actually are doing life according to his will.

[00:14:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Like no harm can come near us, near our tent. And it's actually when I'm thinking about the

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_00]: stories, like, wow, how many times has he actually just, you know what, not today's

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Satan when you're trying to do his work? So yeah.

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Right. And what a like faith builder too, when you come home to the States and it's like,

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_03]: man, people aren't walking around with rifles threatening your life as often as maybe in Tijuana.

[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_03]: So yeah, definitely builds, builds faith for sharing.

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_02]: For sure.

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Were there stories, interactions of sharing your faith that actually seem pretty translatable,

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_02]: if that's a word, translatable to life back here in the US? Were there any

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_02]: situations that you look back and you're like, you know, yeah, it's just like that here at home?

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I would say some people want prayer, right? It was like, hey, pray for us.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And some people were like, Hey, we don't care. Like why would why would you even

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_00]: waste our time? Right. I'm thinking here too, some people want prayer, right?

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_00]: As opposed to like, yep, move on. I'm realizing too, like,

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_00]: people are broken there and here, it just looks different. Like you're right.

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Like, like there's sex trafficking in Minneapolis, right? There's drugs all over.

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, it's weird how like we have to, you think you have to go somewhere

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and then come back reality is like, yeah, just do it here. But also in realizing that

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_00]: everyone's hungry nor willing. But yeah, it's interesting how you can go to YWAM

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_00]: or some mission strip and you're on fire and then like, why is it not translating?

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Like what's the breakdown? I think sometimes you overthink it

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_00]: or just become so in-day with your own life's problems or just busyness.

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Do you remember the first time you shared your faith after getting home from YWAM

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_03]: and how that, how the interaction went? Yep. I was staying at my parents' like home,

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_00]: talking to my friends from down south. They were visiting us and I was just,

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_00]: hey, Jesus loves you and just being excited. And they're like, whoa, what's going on here?

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_00]: He's a little, he's a little hot. He's a little, you know, on Jesus a little bit. I'm like,

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_00]: is he mocking me or am I just, you know, I couldn't figure it out. But I would say it was kind of

[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_00]: that weird reception of, hey, that's so awesome. But you know,

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it's great for you. Yeah.

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. Like calm down, put the brakes on. So I almost felt like I was talking to my wife

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Hillary about this years later when I was kind of not being complacent. We know life happens

[00:16:45] [SPEAKER_00]: and I realized I think some of those moments actually did cause some soul breakage, right? Where

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_00]: it's like, oh, that woman actually hurt where I felt like I was being too much when I'm like

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_00]: looking back at, I was excited for what the Lord has done in my life. And so I want to share it.

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think sometimes too, I wonder how many people out there actually have a faith story

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_00]: or why I have a lot of stories, but they just don't feel comfortable because they've been

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_00]: told or it's like, Hey, cool, like it's not how it works here. Or maybe it's like,

[00:17:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I have a story. I didn't get the same result. And so why should I try to jump into this

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Christianity thing? So, yeah.

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Now in your day to day today, it sounds like you're able to have faith conversations quite

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_02]: often. And either there are probably so many that you could share with us.

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Are there any from recently that stand out to you as being especially

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_02]: notable that you'd be able to kind of tell the story of how it went down? What that was like?

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. One thing I love to do is play basketball. So I used to live in Richfield as a park right

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_00]: across the street and my wife and Hillary and I were moving and we're like, Hey, Lord,

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_00]: we want divine appointments. Like we want to see our neighbors see Jesus before we leave,

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_00]: which has kind of been our prayer. And there's actually this one boy kind of tough

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_00]: home life. My heart was like, you saw him and it's like, okay, what's going on? We met him like

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_00]: two weeks before we were going to move. And as we were praying the next day here, he comes down

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_00]: and like, the kids are like, Hey, you want to come over and play? And so you started playing

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_00]: football with us and playing catch. And when I saw this boy, I felt this place of he used to

[00:18:22] [SPEAKER_00]: come home right? He needs to understand that he's loved as an eight year old kid.

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And we started playing football and I started to say, Hey, kind of kind of

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_00]: like, do you know Jesus? Yeah, yeah, he's, you know, he's this, he's that.

[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, but do you know him? Like, do you actually know he loves you and you actually

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_00]: have purpose? It's like, what do you mean? And we started praying for him. And my son,

[00:18:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Dar, kind of went on both sides of him. I say, kind of lay my hands on you. And I said,

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_00]: if you guys Jesus anything, what would you ask him? He was like, well,

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_00]: that my parents and I wouldn't be broke that we actually could have money. And I said,

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like just a vulnerability and justice tenderness. I heard my hands on his heart

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_00]: and I just started blessing him, right? It wasn't like, Hey, even though Jesus or

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_00]: casting stuff out was just honestly blessing him. And I felt the Lord was saying who he really is.

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And he was smiling. And then actually in the next couple of days, he was our house,

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_00]: my wife, Hillary was kind of saying like, we're trying to pack up, right? And she

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_00]: needed Eli and Abia to help with say, Lajuzha young. And it was kind of inconvenient

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_00]: time as he would come over. But like, we pray for this, we pray that this kid

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_00]: would be divine appointments. And he was in our house, he was eating with us actually one day,

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_00]: our kids are gone. Hillary also think it gets a knock and this kid shows up, Hey,

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_00]: where's you on? We're like, well, they're guys like, well, can I help? And he started just

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_00]: helping out around the house. I'm realizing as when she gets to the little children come to

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_00]: me, that's what he's saying, right? When it's like, I want to pray. I want, I want to bring

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_00]: the hungry ones in. There's countless times I found the best time to do it is you go where

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_00]: the action is, right? So if you see kids in the park, you go play basketball or football with them.

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And then actually one story is kids are swearing quite a bit. I say, I have a question for you,

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_00]: like, why do you use that language? Like, you know, I can use a lot of different language,

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_00]: but I'm noticing you're saying this, they kind of share, they don't have a reason.

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And I said, well, can I give you a better reason? And so, and I start praying with them,

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_00]: right? And it's like, you don't have to shame them. You just actually give them

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_00]: better language. And you actually tell who they really can be versus who they think they are.

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And I just love making it so natural. It's not like lay hands, holy ghost and come after them.

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_00]: It's actually just you go where they are, you make them feel comfortable, and then you ask them

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_00]: questions. And then they start sharing. And some kids don't let me care, but they'll take prayer.

[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And so you just pray. And then I always try to bring a Bible to them too after.

[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. Oh, sure. Yeah.

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Brian, can I ask you because I can imagine a lot of people that have found themselves in

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_02]: that situation thinking, wow, they got some sailors mouths on them and just pass by.

[00:20:54] [SPEAKER_02]: But for you, that was an invitation. That was an invitation to step in and be curious and

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_02]: ask and start the conversation. Do you recall how that conversation went a little more about it?

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Because I'm curious, I feel like this could be helpful for so many of us.

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_00]: It actually really well because once again, I aren't them. Right? I just ask a question.

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Why do you use that language? And a lot of times when my mom and dad say it or we just just say it

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm like, okay, but do you know why you say it? And then you start asking them. They're like,

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_00]: well, no, or, or you hear about their hearts. Like, yeah, life's hard or I'm angry or I'm trying to

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_00]: fit in. And that's where I'm like, Hey, I have a better place to go fit in. His name is Jesus.

[00:21:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you want to talk to you about him? And here's the thing kids actually are more open than you

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_00]: think about it. They just got to give them an invitation to actually be invited, right? And once

[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_00]: again, I have a few kids who don't have any faith background who are Muslim, which are amazing

[00:21:51] [SPEAKER_00]: people. And like, well, we'll leave them Muhammad and I'll ask them, okay, can you tell me a

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_00]: difference? Like, tell me about him, right? And so instead of me saying here, so Jesus is

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_00]: his guy, his Holy Spirit, which I will get to, I want to know what they believe. And

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_00]: there's similarities and where the differences are. And then I'm realizing, oh, that helps

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_00]: me have more conversations. And so we just start unpacking it. And the end of the day,

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00]: my goal isn't to convert them. It's actually they've experienced something different when

[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm with them. And actually changes me because actually the story recently is my father-in-law

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_00]: and I met a kid about four or five years ago in Richfield playing basketball.

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember I was going home depot and I saw this kid and we started talking against

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_00]: him. And he said, yeah, you were that guy who started preaching at me. I'm like, if I

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_00]: liked it, I'm like, please do remember the fact that I shared something and I took time

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER_00]: to invest in him. Like I said, it could be a five second conversation. It's just looking

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_00]: him in the eyes. And when you actually are trying to experience with them what joy feels like,

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_00]: there's something that marks them because my goal is, like I said, to convert them.

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_00]: It's actually that Lord today in this moment, will they experience more peace than they

[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_00]: did before I was here? And then you kind of walk away because now it's on the Lord to do the rest.

[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_02]: You make a really good point because I mean, I think about who is it? Maybe NF and one of his

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_02]: songs, right? Or some awesome Christian rapper. But the gist that I remember from this song

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_02]: was the idea that people are speaking into him and they believe in them but for bad things,

[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_02]: like, you know, they're speaking the wrong type of life. They're speaking death essentially into

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_02]: their lives and it's like just the importance of us speaking life even if that is just a quick comment,

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_02]: one minute conversation, whatever it is because that stands out when all your hearing

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_02]: is negativity, you'll never live up to XYZ, you'll never make it and they hear that one

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_02]: person, wow that sits with people. So even if it's nothing other than that quick mention,

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_03]: how much of an impact it could make? Right and showing like the father's heart,

[00:24:03] [SPEAKER_03]: like God's heart as a loving father just to get like a glimpse of a man that's like, oh man,

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_03]: he loved on me really well for that. They probably don't think that but you know,

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_03]: having someone speak over them, yeah that's really beautiful. I'm curious to your girls go,

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_00]: you have two girls, three girls? I have two girls, six and one and a half and then one boy.

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay, he's nine. He's nine, got it. So do they go play basketball with you or is that something

[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_00]: that you do on your own? Absolutely, they come. I would say the girl kind of watches and there's

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_00]: my son kind of plays but it's kind of like nervous but it's fun too because he'll play

[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_00]: with us but when I do pray it's not just me, hey kids go away, it's actually my kids are

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_00]: they don't always pray but they're always there and so they see us as a family unit, right? Because

[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_00]: we're two or three at the gather. There he is. But I can actually give you another story though

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_00]: where Laura's just bringing divine appointments, we've been praying Laura like bring the hungry ones

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_00]: and we're getting our carpet cleaned right which we never do right behind new house was

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Garrett carpet clean and the guy was at our house, I came home from work and I felt the

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Laura's just like hey talk to him and when someone comes and serves us we try and

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_00]: bless them with a prayer whether it's a two minute or a word of knowledge and no one really says no

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_00]: and I said hey can I pray for you? And he kind of paused to get out on the believer,

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_00]: you know I'm going through some rough time start sharing some of his story

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_00]: and I thought the Lord just saying just tell him when he actually surrenders this to me

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I can set the heal places that he feels all in control and just start sharing it. He starts

[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_00]: you know just kind of tearing up and he act my kids were there, Hillary was there and we're

[00:25:42] [SPEAKER_00]: sharing my little girl's sailor story and he was assuming that she's not there I'm like actually

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_00]: sorry my friend she's actually right here this is my daughter and he's like what and he perks up

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_00]: and then we start blessing him some more and then he said you know what I've been a lot of homes

[00:25:55] [SPEAKER_00]: where I sense darkness but when I came to this house I sense peace and I'm realizing too it's

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_00]: like if we when I actually realize what I carry game over right but a lot of times forget like

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm God's son right so of course I carry the fragrance of heaven and so we started

[00:26:11] [SPEAKER_00]: praying for this guy once again we don't make it awkward we don't try to extend time if it's not

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_00]: needed um but he was moved because of a simple head can I pray for you right and once again

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_00]: I think we overthink prayer it's just hey is there anything I can pray for I ask him so he gave

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_00]: me some and then the Holy Spirit is like hey you asked him I'm gonna send some information

[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_00]: to you now you do it and so we do our kids just watch are they stare but uh will they lay

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_00]: hands it's just more of that's what we kind of do we we pray for those who serve us yeah wow

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_02]: that's so cool I think about um you know this is a this is a guy that came into your home to

[00:26:48] [SPEAKER_02]: provide a service yeah and you know some people love to host and so they naturally have a ton of

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_02]: people in their homes some people don't and that's fine but whoever it is who steps into your

[00:26:58] [SPEAKER_02]: home or comes to your door we have the opportunity to speak life into them yeah and that's so

[00:27:04] [SPEAKER_02]: cool that's just what an incredible story I know um so without sharing your story yet

[00:27:11] [SPEAKER_02]: that your your daughter's story is amazing it sounds like I actually don't even know the story

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_02]: do you get to share her story to encourage others quite often or is that just kind of a select

[00:27:25] [SPEAKER_02]: select few occasional times that that the Lord kind of brings that opportunity

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_00]: um I will say I've shared the whole story probably like quite a few times but usually it's just tidbits

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_00]: it's just things we learn in that trial that pertains to that person's story yesterday I was sharing

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_00]: with someone right on I kind of walked past at my school didn't know that person they didn't know me

[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_00]: but his person was going through some stuff and I feel like the Lord was saying whatever the

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_00]: person the doctor spoke over this person um you tell her you want to identify with that

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and so we kind of pray and bless you and this person's like he had no idea in the hospital like

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_00]: when I heard that it wrecked me and the reason why was I share a little bit because we had the same

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_00]: situation right so I always have to share the whole story um I can just take tidbits of gold

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_00]: that we learned through the Holy Spirit and just be in process because once again um it's not my

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_00]: story it's God's right and so if I can share and just give someone hope um but we didn't have hope

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_00]: um I'll share it I know what it's like and we all do right when yeah it could be a big problem

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_00]: or a small problem but to that person it could be the biggest problem in their life and so

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I just try to share what makes sense to that person if they have time I love that that's so good

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean wisdom right yeah listening to Holy Spirit what does this person actually need right now

[00:28:42] [SPEAKER_02]: well Brian I'm so excited um I'm hoping that you'll share the story with us and our listeners

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_02]: would you be open to that or at least some part of it um in part two yeah absolutely I would love to

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_03]: you got it thank you for listening to the Ask But My Faith podcast we love your support and

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[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_03]: God bless you this week as you go out and share your faith