Stay tuned to meet two young guys who recognized the need 00:00:01.36\00:00:04.33 in the community and are doing something about it. 00:00:04.37\00:00:07.30 My name is Jason Bradley, and you are watching 00:00:07.34\00:00:09.50 Urban Report. 00:00:09.54\00:00:10.87 Hello and welcome to Urban Report, 00:00:35.53\00:00:37.10 my guests today are Lo-Ammi Richardson and Eric Camarillo. 00:00:37.13\00:00:41.10 Lo-Ammi is the Harvest Director for SALT, 00:00:41.14\00:00:44.07 and Eric is the Founder/ President. 00:00:44.11\00:00:46.07 Welcome to Urban Report Eric and Lo-Ammi. 00:00:46.11\00:00:49.61 Alright, so our viewers love stories, they love testimonies, 00:00:49.64\00:00:55.92 and we want to learn about your background before we 00:00:55.95\00:00:59.25 dive in to SALT and what it's all about. 00:00:59.29\00:01:02.32 Alright, so let's start with you Lo-Ammi. 00:01:02.36\00:01:05.13 Where are you from? Have you always been 00:01:05.16\00:01:08.56 Seventh-day Adventist? And I know that you have a testimony. 00:01:08.60\00:01:12.20 Yeah. And I know you have a testimony too Eric 00:01:12.23\00:01:14.67 and we want to get a little bit of that. 00:01:14.70\00:01:16.20 Well yeah, I grew up a Seventh- day Adventist, but as I go older 00:01:16.24\00:01:18.97 I eventually left the church. Um, my passion... 00:01:19.01\00:01:22.01 I had a background in basketball...I loved to play 00:01:22.04\00:01:25.08 the game of basketball and I was kind of pursuing a career 00:01:25.11\00:01:27.02 to play semi-professionally in Puerto Rico and uh, 00:01:27.05\00:01:30.25 was involved in hip-hop in the Rap culture and I got caught up 00:01:30.29\00:01:34.59 in smoking and drinking and just street violence 00:01:34.62\00:01:37.13 and all of those things and getting myself into trouble. 00:01:37.16\00:01:39.39 It wasn't until about six years ago, um, five, six years ago 00:01:39.43\00:01:43.03 that I went to the conference, it's called GYC in Louisville, 00:01:43.06\00:01:46.77 KY and there heard a powerful message by Mark Finley that 00:01:46.80\00:01:50.21 really changed my life man, and ever since then I have been 00:01:50.24\00:01:52.94 in the ministry and seeing how the Lord has kind of guided me 00:01:52.97\00:01:56.24 and nurtured me throughout the way, so that's kind of my... 00:01:56.28\00:01:59.85 Wow! GYC, that's where I met you guys. Yeah, yeah. 00:02:00.55\00:02:02.68 Laughing. That's right, that's right, GYC, not that GYC, 00:02:02.72\00:02:06.19 but I did meet you at a GYC. 00:02:06.22\00:02:08.29 And what about you Eric? 00:02:08.32\00:02:09.66 Well, I was raised...I wasn't raised Adventist. 00:02:09.69\00:02:12.99 I was raised culturally as a Catholic. 00:02:13.03\00:02:15.76 I didn't necessarily believe in all the doctrines or even 00:02:15.80\00:02:19.33 necessarily believe there was a God, sometimes I would, 00:02:19.37\00:02:21.47 but sometimes I wouldn't. Um, but a, yeah... 00:02:21.50\00:02:25.17 I mean, I grew up in Chicago... I was mixed up...I actually had 00:02:25.21\00:02:30.01 a break-dancing crew in High School. Wow! Yep! 00:02:30.05\00:02:33.15 A lot of people don't know that about me but yeah, 00:02:33.18\00:02:34.65 I had a break-dancing... Of course I was in the hip-hop 00:02:34.68\00:02:36.38 scene as well. Um, you know and, and you know a lot of those 00:02:36.42\00:02:40.82 things were temporary fulfillments. 00:02:40.86\00:02:44.49 It only filled me temporarily and then the feeling would go 00:02:44.53\00:02:48.16 and I would bounce on to the new thing you know and it would be 00:02:48.20\00:02:51.43 moving to a new thing, new thing, until I finally got off a 00:02:51.47\00:02:54.84 relationship that was a... Where that person was 00:02:54.87\00:02:58.57 my god, or filled that God hole, but that was only 00:02:58.61\00:03:01.71 temporary. That ended and I felt this gap, this vacuum 00:03:01.74\00:03:05.25 and I decided to pick up a Bible and start reading and 00:03:05.28\00:03:07.75 and the rest is history from there. 00:03:07.78\00:03:09.82 You know, I called up some people I knew were Christians, 00:03:09.85\00:03:12.72 started studying the Bible and now I'm here, so... 00:03:12.75\00:03:15.62 Praise the Lord. You know it's interesting because 00:03:15.66\00:03:20.43 Christ is the only one who can fill that void, and we have 00:03:20.46\00:03:25.37 access to Him but we search everywhere else for something 00:03:25.40\00:03:28.50 to fill that emptiness that only He can fill 00:03:28.54\00:03:31.51 and so we get to running around and trying to fill it with 00:03:31.54\00:03:33.91 everything else until we finally, eventually, hopefully, 00:03:33.94\00:03:38.41 Lord willing, um, come to realize that He was there 00:03:38.45\00:03:42.58 all along and that's what we were missing. 00:03:42.62\00:03:45.25 So, I am so excited to have you guys here because 00:03:45.29\00:03:49.82 I really, really am appreciative of what God is doing 00:03:49.86\00:03:53.90 through you guys and through your ministry. 00:03:53.93\00:03:55.96 Tell us a little bit about SALT, what does SALT stand for? 00:03:56.00\00:03:59.80 So, SALT is the acronym for "Service and Love Together." 00:03:59.83\00:04:03.64 So SALT outreach, not to be confused with the one at 00:04:03.67\00:04:06.41 Southern. Uh hu. But SALT outreach and...so we are... 00:04:06.44\00:04:10.65 you can call us...you can think of us as an umbrella 00:04:10.68\00:04:12.61 organization that have three outreach projects 00:04:12.65\00:04:15.82 under the outreach section, that work that we have 00:04:15.85\00:04:19.35 and we six growth groups under our growth group network. 00:04:19.39\00:04:22.76 Um, so that's kind of...and we are just continuing to 00:04:22.79\00:04:25.36 build that network and build the outreaches and growth groups 00:04:25.39\00:04:28.03 that we have in that network. 00:04:28.06\00:04:30.00 That's kind of I guess the easy way to explain it. 00:04:30.03\00:04:33.34 Um, the umbrella we provide for our growth groups 00:04:33.37\00:04:37.31 and for our outreach we provide planning, voluntary management, 00:04:37.34\00:04:40.18 media relations, public relations... 00:04:40.21\00:04:42.88 So we have leaders in the umbrella portion that support 00:04:42.91\00:04:45.88 the outreaches, support the growth groups, and we continue 00:04:45.91\00:04:49.15 to add to that so... 00:04:49.18\00:04:50.52 Wow, so this is like a big time operation type of deal. 00:04:50.55\00:04:55.62 Well because none of us... It's all volunteer, 00:04:55.66\00:04:59.19 so none of us get paid, so something that we have to do 00:04:59.23\00:05:04.83 to make up for that is have a bunch of leaders 00:05:04.87\00:05:07.34 to separate the responsibilities so that way it can be feasible 00:05:07.37\00:05:11.67 for lay people to take on responsibilities and 00:05:11.71\00:05:14.51 do them well. Yes. We have about 25 to 30 leaders 00:05:14.54\00:05:17.65 right now that we are working within these different areas. 00:05:17.68\00:05:20.38 Nice. Describe the three out- reach sections. 00:05:20.42\00:05:25.69 Um, so we have our homeless outreach which we create 00:05:25.72\00:05:30.76 relationships with the homeless, provide their needs, 00:05:30.79\00:05:33.66 and eventually we want to lead them to Christ so 00:05:33.70\00:05:37.70 we're doing some projects with that. 00:05:37.73\00:05:40.00 That's probably our biggest outreach project right now, 00:05:40.04\00:05:41.90 which we can go into more detail later, 00:05:41.94\00:05:43.41 this program we are developing as well. 00:05:43.44\00:05:45.77 We have our kids outreach which will be in that Section 8 00:05:45.81\00:05:48.78 complex now for about four and a half years... 00:05:48.81\00:05:50.81 So created relations with the kids and the parents in 00:05:50.85\00:05:53.78 this Section 8 complex... 00:05:53.82\00:05:55.15 And then we also have our hospital outreach which is 00:05:55.18\00:05:58.45 geared towards singing and praying with patients 00:05:58.49\00:06:00.52 and creating relations with them if they choose, 00:06:00.56\00:06:02.86 because we can't ask them because of Hippa but 00:06:02.89\00:06:05.59 if they choose, they want to create a relationship with us 00:06:05.63\00:06:07.63 then we will do that with them. 00:06:07.66\00:06:10.83 Man, that is amazing. 00:06:10.87\00:06:13.07 Lo-Ammi, how did you get involved? 00:06:13.10\00:06:15.20 Well Eric and I kind of met maybe four years ago 00:06:15.24\00:06:18.61 actually at the church that I grew up in had an AY program 00:06:18.64\00:06:24.28 and they was inviting all the young people to kind of just 00:06:24.31\00:06:27.52 talk about the ministries that they are involved with 00:06:27.55\00:06:29.58 and so Eric was representing SALT and during that time 00:06:29.62\00:06:32.19 I was working for GYC as part of their Evangelism Committee 00:06:32.22\00:06:35.79 and more specifically, Service Projects. 00:06:35.82\00:06:37.43 So, he kind of mentioned about SALT and I kind of mentioned 00:06:37.46\00:06:40.30 about GYC and from there, we kind of developed a friendship 00:06:40.33\00:06:43.00 over the years, and we've always talked about 00:06:43.03\00:06:46.47 working together and it just so happened I was never in 00:06:46.50\00:06:48.97 Orlando, I was always traveling to Miss...I was working in 00:06:49.00\00:06:51.31 Mississippi and in Michigan, and all these different places. 00:06:51.34\00:06:53.41 So this past year I finally, the Lord impressed me to go back 00:06:53.44\00:06:57.51 home and that's where I was able to come back, 00:06:57.55\00:07:00.02 and we talked about incorporating and evangelism 00:07:00.05\00:07:03.08 compared to a Harvest Director so basically all of the programs 00:07:03.12\00:07:06.19 that through SALT is planting a seed and my job is to 00:07:06.22\00:07:09.22 harvest them and do an evangelistic series 00:07:09.26\00:07:11.56 so that's how our both strength's...ah, yeah. 00:07:11.59\00:07:15.13 Nice. It's a milestone for SALT is when he was with GYC 00:07:15.16\00:07:19.00 you know and so we partnered together to do service projects 00:07:19.03\00:07:23.34 at GYC. I believe it was 2013 in Orlando. 00:07:23.37\00:07:27.44 So we took ten of the buses and we were able to take them... 00:07:27.48\00:07:30.75 I mean GYC I don't think had ever done anything like that... 00:07:30.78\00:07:33.15 The year prior, in Seattle we had service projects and 00:07:33.18\00:07:36.79 when we came to Orlando, that was kind of the emphasis of GYC 00:07:36.82\00:07:41.06 was evangelism. That's why I was able to share my testimony, 00:07:41.09\00:07:43.59 that's when I was able to work with SALT... 00:07:43.63\00:07:46.23 and we did the service project's component and it really added 00:07:46.26\00:07:49.26 an element to GYC that was very exciting because it wasn't just 00:07:49.30\00:07:52.33 knocking on doors and giving survey's and passing out 00:07:52.37\00:07:54.87 flyers, but actually, impacked in the community by giving out 00:07:54.90\00:07:58.07 food and you know taking care of the sick and shut-in 00:07:58.11\00:08:01.98 and so forth. So that was something kind of put SALT 00:08:02.01\00:08:05.05 in the forefront and continue the vision that we see now. 00:08:05.08\00:08:08.85 See, that's one of the things that I love about what you guys 00:08:08.88\00:08:11.89 are doing, is because you are meeting people's needs 00:08:11.92\00:08:15.16 and it's Christ's method. 00:08:15.19\00:08:17.09 I remember in the Sabbath School Lesson, 00:08:17.13\00:08:18.99 I forgot which one, but it was outlining Christ's method, 00:08:19.03\00:08:23.93 and you are carrying out practical Christianity 00:08:23.97\00:08:28.14 cultivating relationships, getting to know the people, 00:08:28.17\00:08:32.14 finding out what their needs are, meeting those needs, 00:08:32.17\00:08:36.34 and then, hitting them with the evangelism component 00:08:36.38\00:08:40.85 and leading them to Christ. Follow me. 00:08:40.88\00:08:44.12 I mean that is amazing. So I want to know more. 00:08:44.15\00:08:48.72 We have some graphics, some pictures. 00:08:48.76\00:08:52.33 We want to take a look at some of those pictures, 00:08:52.36\00:08:54.83 and then as we are looking at those pictures, 00:08:54.86\00:08:57.33 just give us a brief description of what's in each one of those. 00:08:57.37\00:09:02.67 Ok, sounds good. 00:09:02.70\00:09:04.14 So this picture right here, kind of outlines how SALT 00:09:04.17\00:09:10.28 is structured. 00:09:10.31\00:09:11.65 So you see, we have our growth groups and our outreach projects 00:09:11.68\00:09:14.38 there on the bottom. We have a table salt 00:09:14.42\00:09:16.89 and we have socials. 00:09:16.92\00:09:18.25 The table salt events are geared toward having a real 00:09:18.29\00:09:22.09 conversation with people. We rent out a secular venue 00:09:22.12\00:09:24.16 and we have people come and we talk about things like 00:09:24.19\00:09:28.10 human trafficking, homosexuality, in the church. 00:09:28.13\00:09:30.80 Things that the church doesn't typically talk about 00:09:30.83\00:09:33.13 but attracts a young adult crowd. 00:09:33.17\00:09:35.44 Then we have the socials obviously to gather everyone 00:09:35.47\00:09:37.84 involved in our growth groups, all of our volunteers 00:09:37.87\00:09:39.81 in the outreach projects. 00:09:39.84\00:09:41.18 Everyone that comes to our table salts, altogether to do... 00:09:41.21\00:09:43.85 to really create a community. 00:09:43.88\00:09:45.91 One thing that's really important for SALT, 00:09:45.95\00:09:49.22 the reasons we started was to emphasize unity. 00:09:49.25\00:09:52.79 In Orlando and in churches around the world 00:09:52.82\00:09:56.12 young adults are dwindling in the church. 00:09:56.16\00:09:58.03 There might be two here, three here, four here, 00:09:58.06\00:10:00.70 five here, but if there is something neutral 00:10:00.73\00:10:03.06 that can bring the two here, three, the five together, 00:10:03.10\00:10:06.53 now you have a young adult community that can draw 00:10:06.57\00:10:08.60 other young adults. 00:10:08.64\00:10:09.97 And it's not just hanging out, we are actually doing 00:10:10.01\00:10:12.54 outreach and making a difference. 00:10:12.57\00:10:14.24 And in the middle there you saw the evangelistic series 00:10:14.28\00:10:17.38 of being at the center, because all of that 00:10:17.41\00:10:20.42 is planting the seeds necessary so that every year 00:10:20.45\00:10:23.79 we can have the series and be able to harvest those seeds 00:10:23.82\00:10:27.02 that were planted. 00:10:27.06\00:10:28.49 Man. Ok, so, what inspired... like where did...when did you 00:10:28.52\00:10:37.60 come up with this idea like oh, I want to start SALT? 00:10:37.63\00:10:40.77 What led to that? 00:10:40.80\00:10:42.77 Ok, well, to briefly describe it, um, you know when I 00:10:42.80\00:10:48.18 first came into the church... It was about a year or so 00:10:48.21\00:10:50.01 after I became Adventist, there were some 00:10:50.05\00:10:53.11 things I was noticing. A lot of division in the sense of 00:10:53.15\00:10:56.38 the church divided by culture, um, we had also 00:10:56.42\00:11:00.96 further division with the two conferences, right, 00:11:00.99\00:11:03.46 one conference will have one event, another conference 00:11:03.49\00:11:05.26 will have another event. But rarely things would happen 00:11:05.29\00:11:07.83 together. Nothing consistently on a regular basis together 00:11:07.86\00:11:11.27 so we wanted to bring unity... The other thing is we saw 00:11:11.30\00:11:16.07 lack of community outreach, practical Christianity being 00:11:16.10\00:11:18.71 done in the community, so we wanted to include that. 00:11:18.74\00:11:22.04 The other thing was Relational Evangelism, 00:11:22.08\00:11:24.21 not just having a homeless outreach giving them food 00:11:24.25\00:11:26.95 saying, getting our Jesus points for that day 00:11:26.98\00:11:29.32 and see you later, but no, but actually giving food 00:11:29.35\00:11:32.55 and having a conversation with them and learning their needs 00:11:32.59\00:11:35.19 and going. So those were the three things that really 00:11:35.22\00:11:37.23 sparked the idea to have something like that in the area. 00:11:37.26\00:11:40.83 So planting the seed, nurturing it all the way through 00:11:40.86\00:11:45.67 and then developing that relationship and evangelize. 00:11:45.70\00:11:52.07 That is absolutely wonderful. 00:11:52.11\00:11:54.38 We have another picture. 00:11:54.41\00:11:55.74 What is going on in this? 00:11:55.78\00:11:58.28 What is being described in here Lo-Ammi? 00:11:58.31\00:12:00.38 So here are our Growth Groups, so our small groups that we 00:12:00.42\00:12:03.39 have, right now we have six ongoing small groups and we have 00:12:03.42\00:12:06.99 one specific Bible Study each day of the week 00:12:07.02\00:12:09.86 so from Monday through Friday we have one Bible Study... 00:12:09.89\00:12:12.36 The ones that we do Friday night is that we've been 00:12:12.39\00:12:15.33 covering the book of Leviticus and it generates 00:12:15.36\00:12:19.90 anywhere from seven to the last Bible Study we had 00:12:19.93\00:12:22.34 maybe about twenty people coming out to this Bible Study. 00:12:22.37\00:12:25.81 So we have the small groups are really the... 00:12:25.84\00:12:28.94 or the growth groups are really the driving force behind SALT. 00:12:28.98\00:12:33.08 Because what we have realized at least when we are planting, 00:12:33.11\00:12:35.58 we do this evangelistic series here during the summer. 00:12:35.62\00:12:37.89 Um, we always rely on the Bible Worker and the Pastor 00:12:37.92\00:12:42.49 to kind of...alright, we need to follow up with these members. 00:12:42.52\00:12:46.09 Well with the small groups it is easier to plug in 00:12:46.13\00:12:48.23 young adults into a group in which they are interested in. 00:12:48.26\00:12:51.80 So if they like running, we have a small group for running. 00:12:51.83\00:12:54.04 If they like to study more about practical Christianity, 00:12:54.07\00:12:56.47 we have a small group for that. If they want to know more about 00:12:56.50\00:12:58.77 Bible Prophecy, we have a small group for that. 00:12:58.81\00:13:00.21 So really creating small groups to pique the interest 00:13:00.24\00:13:03.18 of where I would like to fit in and from there they could 00:13:03.21\00:13:06.05 build that community and then plugging those small groups 00:13:06.08\00:13:08.95 into the churches because now it is easier for someone 00:13:08.98\00:13:11.65 to say, we're having an event in our church... 00:13:11.69\00:13:13.76 Well, it's easier for me to invite someone who I have been 00:13:13.79\00:13:16.49 having a relationship with in a small intimate setting, 00:13:16.52\00:13:19.13 than it is having a random Bible Worker coming in 00:13:19.16\00:13:21.83 and knocking on a door and inviting you to a church where 00:13:21.86\00:13:24.23 there's no relationship from the beginning. 00:13:24.27\00:13:25.70 Absolutely. I want to add really quick too. 00:13:25.73\00:13:28.74 One thing I really like about the small group... 00:13:28.77\00:13:31.34 This is a new initiative, we just started it the last quarter 00:13:31.37\00:13:34.61 of last year. But the cool thing about it is when we look 00:13:34.64\00:13:37.48 at the other church started, it was still small groups. 00:13:37.51\00:13:40.22 And so, Orlando has tons of churches, 00:13:40.25\00:13:42.42 there are tons of small groups going on but there is no 00:13:42.45\00:13:44.89 network connecting them together. 00:13:44.92\00:13:46.52 So we have six...the graphic that was shown, showed four. 00:13:46.55\00:13:51.23 We just came out with the new one this quarter 00:13:51.26\00:13:52.89 that has six now and so we are hoping to continue to 00:13:52.93\00:13:55.56 grow that number and we are creating things like 00:13:55.60\00:13:57.93 an Agape fund. So if anyone has need of those groups 00:13:57.97\00:14:01.10 then people from those groups will give to that person 00:14:01.14\00:14:03.74 to help them with any need that they need. 00:14:03.77\00:14:06.21 We had someone, a couple that was struggling and they 00:14:06.24\00:14:09.01 didn't have a job...Someone gave $10 from this small group, 00:14:09.04\00:14:14.02 another gave $15 from this small group, someone gave groceries 00:14:14.05\00:14:16.32 from this small group, and at the end, that person had $250 00:14:16.35\00:14:20.06 and groceries to help them get through that hard time. 00:14:20.09\00:14:22.86 And so, in Acts it says if anyone had need, 00:14:22.89\00:14:26.39 they were provided because they were working together 00:14:26.43\00:14:30.17 and so that's what I really see driving, you know, 00:14:30.20\00:14:33.27 the evangelistic series is going to drive our volunteers 00:14:33.30\00:14:35.60 for our outreach...It's going to be really an important aspect 00:14:35.64\00:14:39.84 of SALT. That's it man, how we need that in the world today, 00:14:39.87\00:14:44.05 I mean, like across the country. 00:14:44.08\00:14:45.95 We need that everywhere across the country. 00:14:45.98\00:14:48.85 You know a lot of people think that they have to go to some 00:14:48.88\00:14:51.95 far off place to be a missionary, but we have enough 00:14:51.99\00:14:56.56 things that we need help with right here in America. 00:14:56.59\00:14:59.09 You know, mission work starts in the home. 00:14:59.13\00:15:02.40 So, don't neglect the home, take care of your home first 00:15:02.43\00:15:07.70 and then take care of your neighbors and 00:15:07.74\00:15:09.84 everybody right here in America and the people abroad. 00:15:09.87\00:15:12.81 You know, get out, get active in the community, 00:15:12.84\00:15:16.44 that is absolutely wonderful. 00:15:16.48\00:15:18.61 Lo-Ammi, what are some powerful stories that you can 00:15:18.65\00:15:23.79 share, where you've seen people's lives touched? 00:15:23.82\00:15:28.32 Yeah, just the impact that we have seen so far, 00:15:28.36\00:15:31.26 at least with our homeless ministry, coming back home 00:15:31.29\00:15:34.43 being intentional in going out to our outreaches 00:15:34.46\00:15:38.17 just to see, actually we went to a game, to an event 00:15:38.20\00:15:42.44 and after the game we went... and this was downtown Orlando, 00:15:42.47\00:15:46.37 and one of the guys that we minister to noticed Eric 00:15:46.41\00:15:51.61 and he said what's up Eric, how are you doing and 00:15:51.65\00:15:53.92 here we are, we're having a conversation and everyone is 00:15:53.95\00:15:56.28 kind of walking around... kind of like who, why are you 00:15:56.32\00:15:57.92 talking to this homeless guy... And you know he was just 00:15:57.95\00:16:00.89 expressing how much... how he missed us and 00:16:00.92\00:16:03.76 man, how you guys are doing... I will see you guys on Saturday. 00:16:03.79\00:16:05.96 and then we concluded that conversation and I love you guys 00:16:07.50\00:16:10.20 and he walked off and everyone was kind of wondering like, 00:16:10.23\00:16:12.90 you actually took time to talk to this person and... 00:16:12.93\00:16:15.14 How do you know him? It was because of the outreaches 00:16:15.17\00:16:17.91 that we've had that when people see us walking 00:16:17.94\00:16:20.81 across the street, they recognize us because we've 00:16:20.84\00:16:23.08 created this relationship with them and um, 00:16:23.11\00:16:26.08 it's crazy and amazing to see that when we just go down town 00:16:26.11\00:16:29.78 Orlando, how many of us... how many of those people 00:16:29.82\00:16:32.02 remember Salt and remember the volunteers who came out 00:16:32.05\00:16:36.22 to help them and service their needs. Right. 00:16:36.26\00:16:38.83 Yeah, some other stories, I mean we... 00:16:38.86\00:16:41.86 The homeless outreach, is like I mentioned, is our biggest 00:16:41.90\00:16:44.63 outreach right now. So we've seen stories like 00:16:44.67\00:16:46.67 um, there was a woman who was... who had a mental disability, 00:16:46.70\00:16:51.07 right, and she was homeless and as you know, she, she, 00:16:51.11\00:16:55.38 didn't really know what was going on...It was a guy that 00:16:55.41\00:16:57.81 kind of tricked her or manipulated her to coming out, 00:16:57.85\00:17:01.82 and now she's homeless, the guy got rid of her 00:17:01.85\00:17:04.35 and now she doesn't know what to do, she didn't know how to 00:17:04.39\00:17:06.69 reconnect with her family. 00:17:06.72\00:17:08.06 So two of our volunteers kind of took her on as a project. 00:17:08.09\00:17:11.39 They are like ok, let's go on Facebook and let's see if we 00:17:11.43\00:17:14.50 can find her family on social media. Found her dad, 00:17:14.53\00:17:17.47 her dad's like, thank God you found her, 00:17:17.50\00:17:19.37 he drove over to down town, picked her up and took her 00:17:19.40\00:17:22.54 back home and we took a picture with her right before 00:17:22.57\00:17:25.07 she left, and it was a blessing. That's a big thing, it's 00:17:25.11\00:17:29.68 reconnecting, we've seen a young homeless guy 00:17:29.71\00:17:33.88 had a pregnant girlfriend who was 21, he was 28. 00:17:33.92\00:17:37.22 We were able to help him, he need showers and he needed 00:17:37.25\00:17:41.09 clothing and we were able to help with that, 00:17:41.12\00:17:44.09 we even got them a membership to YMCA. 00:17:44.13\00:17:46.33 so we are run by the principle of empowerment. 00:17:46.36\00:17:49.96 So, YMCA charges $50 for membership, so I'm like okay, 00:17:50.00\00:17:53.80 there is a little thing you can fill out, 00:17:53.84\00:17:55.80 if you fill this out and you turn this in to YMCA, 00:17:55.84\00:17:58.07 they will cut your membership in half and we'll cover 00:17:58.11\00:17:59.97 the other half. So we empowered him to do that, once he did that 00:18:00.01\00:18:03.65 we covered the other half. 00:18:03.68\00:18:05.18 So he was able to take a shower, he could put his stuff in a 00:18:05.21\00:18:07.68 locker during the day so he can go do what he needs to 00:18:07.72\00:18:09.88 look for a job, and he was able to find a place 00:18:09.92\00:18:12.59 and get off the street and it was good. 00:18:12.62\00:18:16.09 It was good for him, he transitioned back into 00:18:16.12\00:18:18.89 a normal like, he had his baby, so that was good. 00:18:18.93\00:18:23.00 Wow! That is such a blessing, I mean, people need help 00:18:23.03\00:18:28.10 finding a job and here was a guy that was on the streets, 00:18:28.14\00:18:32.91 and you help them get re- habilitated and get out there 00:18:32.94\00:18:37.18 and get gainfully employed. 00:18:37.21\00:18:39.15 What are some of your needs? What are some of SALT's needs? 00:18:39.18\00:18:43.65 You guys are a non-profit organization correct? Right. 00:18:43.69\00:18:46.86 So tax-deductible donations. Yes. What are some things 00:18:46.89\00:18:51.89 that you currently need? 00:18:51.93\00:18:53.43 So, we just finished fund raising for our 00:18:53.46\00:18:56.56 clothing trailer, so now we are the only non-profit 00:18:56.60\00:18:58.57 providing dress clothing in downtown Orlando. 00:18:58.60\00:19:01.37 We figured out that was a need through survey's and 00:19:01.40\00:19:04.01 talking with them. So now that that is fund raised for, 00:19:04.04\00:19:08.18 that's being worked on, we are also going to be working 00:19:08.21\00:19:10.81 on a shower trailer. It is illegal for the homeless 00:19:10.85\00:19:13.65 to use the bathroom...Yes, it's the graphic right there. 00:19:13.68\00:19:16.08 They can't use the bathroom for anything other than 00:19:16.12\00:19:19.82 washing their hands. If they are shaving in there, 00:19:19.85\00:19:22.59 or doing anything else in there, then they can get 00:19:22.62\00:19:24.73 arrested and get kicked out, that's the way that they treat 00:19:24.76\00:19:27.63 the homeless in downtown. 00:19:27.66\00:19:29.10 So, if we had a show trailer, they could get cleaned up, 00:19:29.13\00:19:31.87 get shaved, get whatever, they could go to the change trailer, 00:19:31.90\00:19:35.07 calling it the change trailer, and they can get dressed, 00:19:35.10\00:19:38.67 and then we can provide trans- portation to a job interview, 00:19:38.71\00:19:41.31 or to somewhere they have to go where they have to look nice, 00:19:41.34\00:19:44.15 to be ready. Yeah. Um, so that's kind of a big project, 00:19:44.18\00:19:47.48 the shower trailer, it's $35,000, 00:19:47.52\00:19:49.58 but we have a location where we are going to set it up. 00:19:49.62\00:19:53.32 I mean everything is planned, we just need the funds for that, 00:19:53.36\00:19:56.73 and the evangelistic series is another thing we are 00:19:56.76\00:19:59.33 fundraising for as well. Right. So one of the that um, 00:19:59.36\00:20:01.56 that I'm involved with in my job is to... 00:20:01.60\00:20:03.93 we are going to do an evangelistic series 00:20:03.97\00:20:05.47 once every summer. So that graph that we saw before 00:20:05.50\00:20:09.17 with the four arrows, the center of it all is the 00:20:09.20\00:20:11.94 evangelistic series. So from our small groups, 00:20:11.97\00:20:13.81 our outreaches, as well as our table talks 00:20:13.84\00:20:17.68 and everything else that we do is centered around this 00:20:17.71\00:20:20.18 Evangelistic Series. So obviously we need money for our 00:20:20.22\00:20:23.45 venue, right, and um, so finding a location, 00:20:23.49\00:20:27.06 a venue as well as providing the necessary funds 00:20:27.09\00:20:30.96 to support the Evangelistic Series, 00:20:30.99\00:20:33.16 um, so when we do the Evangelistic Series... 00:20:33.19\00:20:35.96 What's going to make this series unique is going to be 00:20:36.00\00:20:39.37 a typical three week Evangelistic Series, 00:20:39.40\00:20:41.20 but we are incorporating the small groups into it as well 00:20:41.24\00:20:44.24 as the service projects. 00:20:44.27\00:20:45.61 So when you come to an Evangelistic Series, 00:20:45.64\00:20:47.18 the night's that you are off, we'll be focusing on 00:20:47.21\00:20:50.61 having those small groups meet up. 00:20:50.65\00:20:52.38 So on Wednesday night's we'll have a Healthy Cooking Class, 00:20:52.41\00:20:54.58 Thursday's those small groups, that they sign up when they 00:20:54.62\00:20:56.99 register for the series, they'll be able to meet those 00:20:57.02\00:20:59.32 Thursday night's. Friday night's when we do our presentations, 00:20:59.35\00:21:01.72 we'll be able to invite the community and say hey, 00:21:01.76\00:21:03.53 we want you to come out and feed the homeless with us. 00:21:03.56\00:21:06.56 We want you to come out and support, and minister 00:21:06.59\00:21:09.36 to these kids. So now the Evangelistic Series 00:21:09.40\00:21:11.70 isn't just a place you come and hear the word, 00:21:11.73\00:21:13.57 but they can actually practice the word. 00:21:13.60\00:21:15.40 And one of the major things we want to do 00:21:15.44\00:21:17.67 we eventually want to raise money for is a food truck. 00:21:17.71\00:21:20.48 Um, we've got the funds for it, and this food truck 00:21:20.51\00:21:23.58 is going to be able not only provide foods for the community 00:21:23.61\00:21:26.95 but as people come to this Evangelistic Series, 00:21:26.98\00:21:29.12 they will be able to taste the food, 00:21:29.15\00:21:30.52 and when they taste the food, they come in to get the 00:21:30.55\00:21:33.25 free food right before the Evangelistic Series 00:21:33.29\00:21:35.22 now they are fed physically, and they are now going to be 00:21:35.26\00:21:37.86 fed spiritually and now they can go work out 00:21:37.89\00:21:40.23 the food that they ate... out and serve the community 00:21:40.26\00:21:42.56 so I think this Evangelistic Series we're going to do 00:21:42.60\00:21:44.43 this summer is going to be... it's going to, I believe, 00:21:44.47\00:21:47.07 revolutionize the way we have done Evangelistic Series 00:21:47.10\00:21:49.34 because of the model that still have implemented. 00:21:49.37\00:21:51.44 so that is some of the things that we do need 00:21:51.47\00:21:53.31 funds for the venues and our projects. 00:21:53.34\00:21:56.95 Absolutely, you guys got me excited, I hope our viewers 00:21:56.98\00:21:59.78 are getting excited and will support the cause. 00:21:59.81\00:22:03.28 Now, the next question is how do they support, 00:22:03.32\00:22:07.22 where do they go to help you with some funds? 00:22:07.26\00:22:11.03 So, the easiest way is to go to our website. 00:22:11.06\00:22:16.80 When you go to that website, there will be a donate button 00:22:16.83\00:22:19.63 on the top right, just click Donate and you can donate 00:22:19.67\00:22:22.60 on there. Um, we are definitely, you know a lot of this work... 00:22:22.64\00:22:27.74 The difference it will make in the community is going to 00:22:27.78\00:22:29.88 require some funds. You know, no one is full time like 00:22:29.91\00:22:34.58 I mentioned, so all the money donated is going to you know, 00:22:34.62\00:22:37.49 you can be assured it is going straight to the community. 00:22:37.52\00:22:39.49 Uh, we are going to try to figure out a way to implement 00:22:39.52\00:22:42.29 that we can create these programs and make a 00:22:42.32\00:22:44.23 measurable difference. Absolutely. 00:22:44.26\00:22:45.83 And one of the things we say is the gospel is free, but the 00:22:45.86\00:22:49.53 delivery method is not. 00:22:49.56\00:22:51.03 Ok, the delivery method costs. 00:22:51.07\00:22:54.60 Um, so that will be wonderful when people start pouring 00:22:54.64\00:22:58.87 in some funds to reach all these people in the community 00:22:58.91\00:23:02.81 and have a positive impact for Christ. 00:23:02.84\00:23:04.45 You were getting ready to say something earlier before. 00:23:04.48\00:23:07.52 Oh, I was just going to mention, we actually did have an 00:23:07.55\00:23:09.55 Evangelistic Series about two years ago uh and uh, it was 00:23:09.58\00:23:14.19 before Lo-Ammi was on board, but we had a... 00:23:14.22\00:23:17.09 It was at the Section 8 complex, it was actually 00:23:17.13\00:23:19.13 for GYC you know. Lo-Ammi helped us get those funds 00:23:19.16\00:23:21.80 and the sense of getting the partnership together. 00:23:21.83\00:23:23.70 But the GYC went house to house fund-raising for SALT, 00:23:23.73\00:23:27.34 to have an Evangelistic Series. So we have some experience 00:23:27.37\00:23:30.54 in that realm as far as you know, we've used that money... 00:23:30.57\00:23:33.98 we had a Bible Worker at that time, and this one we are not 00:23:34.01\00:23:37.38 planning to have Bible Worker, but we had a Bible Worker 00:23:37.41\00:23:39.68 at that time that we hired... Five people were baptized 00:23:39.71\00:23:42.35 from that community that we work in the section 8 and 00:23:42.38\00:23:45.29 complex, and then two more were baptized later on. 00:23:45.32\00:23:47.99 Um, and we reached out to the contacts that GYC 00:23:48.02\00:23:51.49 also generated. Um, but you also have some experience 00:23:51.53\00:23:54.86 working I think. Yeah, when I first got him into ministry, 00:23:54.90\00:23:58.43 one of the things that I did was I was a Bible Worker 00:23:58.47\00:24:00.94 Coordinator, so I had to coordinate the 00:24:00.97\00:24:02.40 Evangelistic Series, so I was always behind the scenes. 00:24:02.44\00:24:04.77 This past summer I was able to intern with Taj Pacleb 00:24:04.81\00:24:07.81 with Revelation of Hope and really see, ok, what's the 00:24:07.84\00:24:10.31 in's and out's of preaching... I've been blessed to do 00:24:10.35\00:24:12.38 seminars and Week of Prayer but I've never done an 00:24:12.41\00:24:14.58 Evangelistic Series, you know. Of course I've taught 00:24:14.62\00:24:17.09 Bible studies, but there is a difference between 00:24:17.12\00:24:19.15 making the right appeals, and after that summer 00:24:19.19\00:24:21.52 after the internship, I felt impressed of what they did 00:24:21.56\00:24:24.93 and just incorporating their model and implementing what 00:24:24.96\00:24:28.96 SALT did and combining the thing together and do this 00:24:29.00\00:24:31.93 Evangelistic Series, so we are excited, but most importantly 00:24:31.97\00:24:34.90 we know that this is what the Lord is leading us to do. 00:24:34.94\00:24:37.81 Cause just the way that He has intervened to allow us 00:24:37.84\00:24:40.54 to mesh together has been... We are seeing the benefits, 00:24:40.58\00:24:43.11 we are seeing the blessings. 00:24:43.14\00:24:44.78 We tell people about SALT and instantaneously 00:24:44.81\00:24:46.98 they don't want to be a part of it, they want to donate, 00:24:47.02\00:24:48.95 they want to be involved as early before... 00:24:48.98\00:24:51.49 Um, so, we are just blessed to be in this opportunity to 00:24:51.52\00:24:54.26 share this vision with others and hopefully inspire them too 00:24:54.29\00:24:56.83 to go out in the community too. Praise the Lord! 00:24:56.86\00:24:58.89 Now there are people at home who will have the question 00:24:58.93\00:25:01.90 how did you know what was God's calling on your life? 00:25:01.93\00:25:05.27 What would you say to them? 00:25:05.30\00:25:06.74 You know what, um, and I think Lo-Ammi can speak for this 00:25:06.77\00:25:12.37 as well but really it's the Word in action. 00:25:12.41\00:25:16.85 You know, I knew, in knew deep down that 00:25:16.88\00:25:21.95 we need to be the leaders in doing things in the 00:25:21.98\00:25:26.62 community. We need to be the ones that are leading that so 00:25:26.65\00:25:30.66 creating something like SALT and implementing that 00:25:30.69\00:25:33.96 and getting and encouraging other people to get involved 00:25:34.00\00:25:36.36 in it is something that the Bible teaches, 00:25:36.40\00:25:39.80 you know the Bible teaches us, that yes, we can pray, 00:25:39.83\00:25:42.74 we can study the Word, but we need to practice what we learn 00:25:42.77\00:25:44.64 so that's, like you said, practical Christianity you know, 00:25:44.67\00:25:47.81 so. You know for me it was always trying to find 00:25:47.84\00:25:51.11 what my calling was in life. You try to find that 00:25:51.15\00:25:54.35 out in the world, is it through basketball, is it through 00:25:54.38\00:25:56.42 partying, is it through drinking, and when 00:25:56.45\00:25:58.52 I gave my heart to God, He says He will give you the 00:25:58.55\00:26:00.62 desires of your heart, and for me, I didn't know what that 00:26:00.66\00:26:03.22 meant, and I really didn't you know, so throughout my 00:26:03.26\00:26:05.66 years of ministry for the first time, I can honestly say 00:26:05.69\00:26:08.46 this is exactly what the Lord wants me to do, 00:26:08.50\00:26:10.50 this is something that I am passionate about 00:26:10.53\00:26:12.10 and He has just opened up so many doors that I couldn't even 00:26:12.13\00:26:15.07 imagine Him opening. 00:26:15.10\00:26:16.91 So I know for a fact that this is what God has called me to do 00:26:16.94\00:26:19.57 because one, I'm passionate about it, 00:26:19.61\00:26:21.44 two, I've seen the results, but most importantly, 00:26:21.48\00:26:24.25 I'm seeing how it is impacting my life and transforming me 00:26:24.28\00:26:26.72 into loving people the way that Christ intended 00:26:26.75\00:26:30.09 people to be loved you know. 00:26:30.12\00:26:31.45 So that's why I know this is what God has called me to do 00:26:31.49\00:26:33.89 most definitely. Praise the Lord. 00:26:33.92\00:26:35.69 And what advice would you have for the young person 00:26:35.72\00:26:38.09 that's at home that wants to get involved in some kind of 00:26:38.13\00:26:41.06 a ministry? 00:26:41.10\00:26:42.43 We only have like a minute and some change left. Yeah. 00:26:42.46\00:26:45.03 That they want to get involved in the ministry... 00:26:45.07\00:26:47.40 Into ministry period, Help and Helping other people. 00:26:47.44\00:26:52.31 Yeah, um, my advice would be you know... 00:26:52.34\00:26:56.04 Your church might not have any...when I was in the church 00:26:56.08\00:27:00.12 when I was first converted, it was nothing really 00:27:00.15\00:27:02.42 I felt like I could get involved in that was 00:27:02.45\00:27:04.09 community service oriented, and so somebody had to start. 00:27:04.12\00:27:07.76 You know, instead of sitting there and complaining 00:27:07.79\00:27:09.86 we have to start something. I would encourage you 00:27:09.89\00:27:13.09 if you are at home, you are looking for something 00:27:13.13\00:27:14.93 to get involved in, you can't find it, then pray. 00:27:14.96\00:27:17.73 Study the Word and ask God to send His spirit to guide you 00:27:17.77\00:27:21.57 on how to start something in your community. 00:27:21.60\00:27:23.20 We are going to be offering a program called Pinch of SALT 00:27:23.24\00:27:25.87 where a church can fly us out even, and we can help develop 00:27:25.91\00:27:29.68 something at their church, so that is an option as well. 00:27:29.71\00:27:32.08 Praise the Lord. 00:27:32.11\00:27:33.45 Thank you guys so much for joining us today. 00:27:33.48\00:27:35.02 Thank you for joining us as well. 00:27:35.05\00:27:38.62 The Bible says in Matthew 5:13, You are the salt of the earth, 00:27:38.65\00:27:42.69 but if the salt loses it's saltiness, 00:27:42.72\00:27:44.46 how can it be made salty again. 00:27:44.49\00:27:46.39 It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out 00:27:46.43\00:27:49.40 and trampled underfoot. 00:27:49.43\00:27:50.80 How are you reflecting Christ in your community? 00:27:50.83\00:27:53.74 It is my prayer that everyone will take an active roll 00:27:53.77\00:27:56.84 in their community and let the light of Christ shine 00:27:56.87\00:27:59.27 through them. 00:27:59.31\00:28:00.64 Well, we've reached the end of another program. 00:28:00.68\00:28:02.01 Join us next time, and remember, it just wouldn't be the same 00:28:02.04\00:28:04.95 without you. 00:28:04.98\00:28:06.75