Rescue, Refuge, And Becoming featuring: Jeri Purdy & Rob Wallstrom with New Hope Girls

What if the moment that nearly broke you became the turning point that clarified your calling? We open our sixth season with a candid, hope-charged conversation about rescue, refuge, and the quiet courage it takes to be still long enough to hear God’s next step. Joined by New Hope Girls’ U.S. director, Jeri Purdy, and board member Rob Wallstrom, we trace a story that moves from personal surrender to national transformation in the Dominican Republic.

Jeri shares how stepping away from a beloved role led to a hard reset—complete with failed plans, forced stillness, and a rebuilt rhythm of prayer and Scripture. Rob adds the lens of Hesed, the Hebrew picture of covenant love, and shows how that theology becomes practice: immediate care for girls in crisis and the deeper work of restoration that rewrites identity.

 Together, we explore how New Hope Girls serves children as young as two, walks with them through education and adulthood, pays a living wage to women artisans, and keeps families close with on-site daycare. The mission reaches weekly into the barrio to serve 300 girls and, remarkably, now partners with the DR government to help reform national rescue and protection protocols with a Christ-centered, trauma-informed approach.

Along the way, we talk about discerning God’s will without needing the next 45 steps, why stillness is not weakness, and how closeness to a good God births patient, bold leadership. If your heart beats for justice, adoption, anti-trafficking, or faith that actually changes lives, this story will stay with you.

Be part of the movement: pray for caregivers and girls, support artisans by shopping their work, or become a monthly hope champion. If something stirred you, rewind, write it down, and ask, “Lord, what are you saying to me?” Then subscribe, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the hope.

Transcript

Rock Bottom And Learning Stillness

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Um, I've learned that when the Lord says you need to do something, you do it because the two by four moment that comes after that, if you don't listen, not real great. So um I expected the Lord to be like, oh, and this is what you're going to do. And that was not the case. I mean, I did try to make my way with what I thought I was gonna do next, and it ended miserably. It was horrible. I mean, I've said it on other podcasts that I've I've done for people. It was the thing that almost broke me. And I needed that rock bottom moment to be still and for the Lord to actually be able to talk to me.

Welcome And Guest Introductions

SPEAKER_05 0:51

Welcome everybody to the latest episode of the Love Fort Wayne podcast. We're excited to be back. New Year 2026, airing here in February. I'm excited. We have we have a couple friends that are joining us today. So this is gonna be an awesome conversation. Jerry Purdy from New Hope Girls and Rob Wallstrom, a board member of New Hope Girls, and we're excited to talk about New Hope Girls, but also it's just a lot of stuff. You know, God's calling over our life, the way that He leads us in the places that we are. So it's gonna be a great time of conversation. I'm joined as always here in season six with my good friend Mitch Cruz. Mitch, how are we doing? Wonderful. How about you? Yeah, I'm doing so good.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

You know, I have so much backstory with these guests today that uh it'll be a miracle of God if I don't derail us at some point.

SPEAKER_05 1:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you've got permission. Thank you. Yeah, and and I'll give you some guardrail if we need it. So well, good. It's let's just let's start off. Let's talk, tell a little bit about who you are, introduce yourselves, a little bit about your stories, and even what led you to the point that you are. So, Jerry, if you don't mind, can you kick us off? Tell us a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Yeah, well, it's a little surreal sitting on the stage again as a guest. I've been in your seats before. So uh my name is Jerry Purdy. I'm the U.S. director of New Hope Girls. And how I got there was this guy right there.

Calling, Adoption, And Identity

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Um, he was so kind and gracious to bring me in to the mission of New Hope. I was able to go to the DR with Rob and just visit and see it, be boots on the ground. Um, I have four amazing, beautiful daughters. And so you know this. Things hit a little bit different when you're a girl mom and a girl dad. And when you walk into a home um at New Hope and you see your daughter's age um girls standing there, it hits a little bit different. Um, you see your own children standing there.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

When you go in and you meet the artisans and you realize, you know, this is a big world, but at the core, we're all human. We're all moms, we're dads, you know, we're believers, and we're just trying to do the best we can. It becomes really personal. So working with New Hope is a personal um journey because I see my girls in the faces. It's also um, you know, a great journey. I've worked with Rob through Love Fort Wayne um in my previous role and just know his leadership and trust him so much. So it's been a fun last two years at New Hope Girls.

SPEAKER_04 3:20

Yeah, amazing. Yeah. Rap. Well, I think, you know, two things. I've I started, uh I got connected with New Hope Girls when I was at Farrell Bradley. And it was at the GLN. So it was the Global Leadership Broadcast, and a voice screams from across the hallway, Rob, get over here. And I look and I'm like, okay. I go walking back against across the convention center, and a gentleman by the name of Tom Hinton said, Hey, I work with this charity down in the Dominican Republic, and they've been praying and feel that God's leading them to do something with the national handbag brand, would very bradly want to do that. And that's how the story began. But my personal story is both of our kids are adopted and um both adopted from Russia. And during that time, I was reading a book by Capassion, and the gentleman was talking about that, you know, over 95% of the kids that grow up in the orphanage in Russia would end up back on the street. Wow. But they did an interview with one of the girls who was not part of the 95, and they asked her why, what happened? She said, When I was a little girl, a missionary came and gave me a pair of shoes. It's the first time in my life that I thought I had value. And you hear that story, and you go, the identity of these girls that are in this situation, that they just need to know that they are loved and they have value. And everything can change. And God is doing extraordinary things through New Hope. It's just it's miracle after miracle. We talk a lot about how we call um Joy, who's executive director, our Moses. And God speaks to her and leads her, and he parts the Red Seas and does things that should not be happening, um, but only by his hands. So that that's kind of how I started. Wow, what a story.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

When I read Franklin Graham's book when it came out, Revel with a Cause, uh, he talked about Samaritan's purse and how these ladies would pray for exactly what they needed, and they would get a check for like $98.27, which is exactly what they asked for. Things like that. He said it was just mind-boggling. And that's what captured him and captivated his interest in that. And it's it just sounds like uh New Hope is a lot like that. Uh, Jerry, how would you say the New Hope

Rescue, Refuge, And God’s Tapestry

SPEAKER_03 5:58

mission, if you want to share it, aligns with God's work in your story?

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Well, I think, you know, rescue and refuge is a part of everyone's story, right? It's that redemption of knowing who you were before Christ and who you are in Christ. And being able to share that mission with these young girls. Some of our girls are as young as two, up to our artisans that are in the workshop caring for their family. You know, that's our everyday story as humans, right? Of knowing who's we are and that we are created for more and that we do have value and worth beyond what our job is or what our plight is here on earth, right? So New Hope just checked all the boxes for me. It it hit those most important points of that intersection of being mom and using my professional gifts for what could be possible in the kingdom. Um, you know, it's it's the best kingdom job you can have is when those align and God is so kind and gracious and opens the door for you to be able to walk through it. And everything led me to this, right? When I when I think about my time at Love Fort Wayne, I think, oh my goodness, yes, I learned about community development and made friends and worked with pastors and worked with leaders so that I could do that on an international scale now, right? I met Rob Wallstrom so that I could walk into this next chapter that God has for me. So lots of times we look at our journey and we're like, what was that for? And many times if you pause and you listen and you're silent, God will show you the threads and you know, his hand and the outline of what he had planned for you, even if even if you don't see it immediately.

SPEAKER_04 7:46

Yeah, no kidding. I says the one advantage of getting older. Yeah, right. Yeah. You see God's tapestry that he's been weaving in your life that as you're going through it, you have no idea. But you wake up one day and you go, Wow, he's been busy. You start thinking about how he's been doing that in the world, you know. Yeah, so good and balloon.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

He's been busy, and sometimes we're his biggest barrier, right? Like because we don't see the full picture. And I am a hundred percent that's me sometimes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:18

Yeah, yeah. You know, Jerry, I I just admire you. I mean, I sit in the seat that you sat in and you paved the way for me to lead well in the seat, and I just appreciate that. And I know a part of your story in between transitioning from Left Fort Wayne to where you are, is if I if I can, I'm already talking about is just like this beautiful example of stillness for a uh for a long amount of time. And you kind of hit on that just a little bit. If we would just be a little silent and we're kind of this barrier, but can you just share even with the audience, like how that moment of stillness, because I just feel like it'd be an encouragement to so many folks that are listening, taking those extended moments just to I'm gonna use my own lexicon chill and chill in the Lord and sabbatical and and rest with him, what that did for you and what that means to you.

The Practice Of Stillness And Discernment

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Yeah, I I think sometimes we look at people that do that and go, oh, that was easy for them. Or, oh yeah, that's that's so nice that you got to do that. But and I get that, that was a luxury to be still for a long period of time. Um, but it doesn't mean that it wasn't hard and it doesn't mean that there wasn't a lot of wrestling. So I would just encourage anybody that's going through that season, man, I've been there. And I don't think I'm out of it, right? I don't think we're ever out of it this side of heaven. I think we wrestle with Lord, what's my purpose? Use me today. How are you going to use me? Am I being effective? And just that human pride that we hold and how we see ourselves. But it was, it was a long rest. I think people thought I was crazy walking away from Love Fort Wayne. I knew it was time to walk away. I knew it was time for me to to let somebody local be in the space so that Love Fort Wayne could flourish. Um, I've learned that when the Lord says you need to do something, you do it because the two by four moment that comes after that, if you don't listen, not real great. So um I expected the Lord to be like, oh, and this is what you're going to do. And that was not the case. I mean, I did try to make my way with what I thought I was gonna do next, and it ended miserably. It was horrible. It I mean, I've said it on other podcasts that I've I've done for people. It was the thing that almost broke me. And I needed that rock bottom moment to be still and for the Lord to actually be able to talk to me. I mean, I tried to take up running to get a mental relief and broke my pelvis in two spots. So the Lord was like, even stop running.

SPEAKER_02 10:48

I want you to be physically still.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

So there's so much to learn in that. And it's it's heartbreaking sometimes and it's hard, but it's so worth it. And it's such a beautiful example for my kids. I don't want to teach my girls that all you do is run around and are busy and ineffective.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

I want you to live out the God-given purpose that God gave you and only you on this earth. You get one chance at it. So learn to be still. And hopefully I've taught them that.

SPEAKER_03 11:19

Can you describe um how that happens best in your life? How do you discover God's uh purpose for your life? Um, I know be still and know that I'm God, that if you're never still, Denny Howard says, how will you ever know? Um, but what happens in that stillness to understand what he might have for you?

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Yeah, I think it's prayer reflection and being in the word, right? So that's not negotiable for me. That's how I start my day or I end my day. It has to be a part of my rhythm of the day. Um, but I don't think that prayer is like something you just check off of the box. To me, it's a continual conversation with the Lord of, hey, I'm walking into this podcast. Okay, don't let me say anything stupid. Right. It's a continual conversation.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Um, but I think that there has to be the intentional conversation, just like when we dated our spouses, right? We didn't know, hey, first date, we're gonna marry that person. Maybe you did. Maybe the Lord gave you that clarity. He didn't give me that clarity. But it was the intentional conversations, coming back, pursuing the Lord, pursuing him in the word, asking him, what are you trying to teach me in the word today? What are you trying to teach me this year? I mean, I always pick it word of the year as my yearly focus. And that really helps my ADHD brain stay focused for the year and bring it back to what the Lord has for me.

SPEAKER_03 12:46

What's your word?

SPEAKER_00 12:48

This year is becoming.

SPEAKER_03 12:51

That's deep.

SPEAKER_05 12:52

Mine's catalyst. Mine's the way. Since you looked at me, it's a compound word. That's a compound word.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

There you go.

ER Help And Lasting Change

SPEAKER_00 13:06

Rob, do you pick a word of the year?

SPEAKER_03 13:08

Better now. I don't.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

It's January.

SPEAKER_03 13:12

I always like to be the rebel, you know?

SPEAKER_05 13:16

So it's good. You know, Rob, you shared about that call, and literally a call of your name to the yeah, to the richness of being involved with New Hope. Like, what keeps you, what keeps you involved with New Hope Girls, uh, beyond even just that initial inkling of your spirit and your soul?

SPEAKER_04 13:33

You know, I I think two things. I think one, just feeling God calling me to be there. You know, everything I try to do in life, it's always trying to be in a place of prayer and say, is this the time? Because you never know when it's not. God calls you away quite often from things. Um, so on one hand, it's his calling. On the second hand, though, it's to see the work that's happening there. And I and I just can't explain enough to me. There's two things. One, when there's suffering in the world, right, that breaks God's heart. There's two ways of addressing it. And neither one's wrong, but one is what I call the the ER version. Right? In other words, somebody's hungry, feed them. Like that's the ER version, right? There's there's an emergency here, let's address it. The second, though, is fix the problem. So they're never hungry again. And what I love about New Hope is they're doing both.

SPEAKER_05 14:38

That's good.

SPEAKER_04 14:39

They're bringing the girls in as they're brought in and loving them and transforming them and sitting with them. I know Joy talking about like holding a girl who's just hitting her as you know, because she's going through so much trauma, just like until she finally calms down, right? So those little things. But the same time, new hope has been chosen by God through the government to work to rewrite all the laws and protocols for the entire nation because the government, led by Christian leaders who are passionate about following what God's calling them to, have a vision to take the DR, which has been one of the big trafficking countries, and do rescue and restore all these girls through Christ. They know that what's happening is the gospel is changing these girls. All the other stuff is important too, and they're gonna replicate all the other stuff. But they know doing it the right way without Christ, they will not get the results. Because it all goes back to identity and forgiveness and things that only come through the power of the spirit. Yeah. And so to see both the the temporary, the the immediate healing and the transformational healing, I mean, that's that's that's Jesus. Yeah. You know, he both heals the person who's in front of him and he changes the world at the same time, right? And I think that's what we're called to. And it any any opportunity to be a small part of that is can't say no.

SPEAKER_05 16:24

Yeah, there's two things that come

What New Hope Girls Does Daily

SPEAKER_05 16:26

to mind as you share, Rob, is that um I've been trying the Lord has placed this this phrase in my my heart that just is simply God's not content with brokenness because it's so easy for us in in our fallen nature to just we see it like you mentioned, and just like, oh, somebody else will kind of get it. Right. And it's like, well, God's not content with that brokenness. There's no merit, right? We just walk right by, you know. It's like yeah, there's no place where he's going, and he's passive towards it. He's never content with it. And that second part of just like the wholeness, it reminds me of the story of Jose and Gomer, where, you know, hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna redeem this brokenness with with silver that is was a slave's wages. I'm take you out of this this bondage, and then I'm gonna give you fruit with grain. And uh there was a writer that said those two gifts to to receive Gomer back that Hosea gave, that is God's example of this complete healing. It was on both sides of I'm gonna give you the payment, I'm gonna pay it, and then I'm also gonna give of myself 500 pounds of grain. It's just this complete, it's it's both, as you mentioned, that new hope is connected to it's in the immediate plus something that'll sustain you forever. Um, and I I appreciate that. The the mission in that, the mission that's being lived out through New Hope, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:44

Rob, you've led at the highest levels of public corporations and you walked away to enroll in seminary, and you don't have to get very far in the Bible to see God's heart for the broken and the vulnerable. How would you describe that heart of God? And then how does New Hope apply that and live that out in practical ways?

SPEAKER_04 18:03

You know, it's it's been interesting because, as you said, as I've been going to seminary, the one word that I did not know well before, but I know now is the Hebrew word Hesed. And you hear it over and over, and it's how God describes himself. Covenantal love. He loves period. There is nothing we can do to change his love. I mean, you know, Hosea's the perfect example, right? But God pursues and redeems his creation, regardless of what we do. And I think that's what New Hope's doing. I think that when we see his body working in the world, we need to look like covenantal love. Has nothing to do with what they do, nothing to do with quote unquote what somebody deserves. It has to do with that you love because all you want is the restoration.

Stories Of Transformation And Reach

SPEAKER_04 19:12

Everything should be the way it was intended to be. And God's doing it. And and there's a verse in Esther again, which I had never noticed, right? We all know the story of Esther. But that verse in Esther where it says, God will redeem his people. The only question, will he redeem you in your house? Wow. Right? Yeah. I mean, I think sometimes we think that he's like if we make the wrong decision, somehow God's work is not God's work's happening. The only question is, do you want to be part of it? Yeah. And I think that's a change, right? Sometimes we we put too much of on our shoulders. God's working. It's just do you want to be part of this or not?

SPEAKER_05 20:05

Yeah, that's right. That's right. Jerry, we've talked a lot about beautifully, like God's heart for the exploited and the vulnerable and his redeeming character of who he is. And but folks are maybe new to New Hope Girls and even understanding what it is. Can you share about some of the practical things that New Hope is doing? I know there's some groundbreaking things that are happening as well.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Yeah, Rob shared a little bit about the groundbreaking that's happening, the historic D um the historic um agreement that we have with the DR government that we signed last October. But practically at our core is we care and serve for the broken in the DR. Um, primarily the girls that we intake are between the ages of eight and 12. Um, that's our core um competency in serving and caring for girls. But like we've said, we take girls as young as two that need rescue and refuge. Um and we have a university house where we walk with our girls till they don't need us anymore, till they can really fly on their own. So we make a commitment outside of um just rescuing them that we're gonna walk with them, that we're gonna serve them, that we're gonna make sure that their basic needs are met for, but they are gonna dream God-sized dreams for themselves and learn how to dream. Um, every year, Joy does vision boards with the girls. They're doing that this weekend.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

And for some of our new girls that come in, it's very hard to think and dream. And it's it they have to start small. They have to start with a small dream, see it realized, and then they can go to larger dreams. So with our girls, um, just as Rob said, we provide safe care. That may be for a week until they go somewhere else, or they're transferred to a different home, or they're reunited with a family member, and it may be for 10 years. And then on the other side, we do preventative care in the community. We have About 300 girls that we serve on a weekly basis through our Ministry of Light. And it's kind of an after-school program where we meet with them. It's making sure that they're fed

How To Help And Pray

SPEAKER_00 22:12

and cared for, hearing about Jesus all the way up to our artisans. We have 34 artisans in our workshop, and we are providing, you know, a living wage for them. We have 15 kiddos in our daycare where our women can come to work and their children are literally 10 feet away from them. They can eat lunch with them. So we're all the way from early learning to graduation.

SPEAKER_05 22:38

It's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 22:39

Do you have a particular story or two that you are at liberty to share of some of a young lady whose life was changed and where she is today?

SPEAKER_00 22:51

Oh man. So I sit on a call every week with a girl named Sabrina. She's been in New Hope's care for the existence of New Hope. So almost 15 years. She was one of our first girls. And she came to us and has gone through our program, is a graduate, is working at New Hope in business administration, uh, finishing up her college degree, and literally has transformed what her future is going to look like. And so every week when I see Sabrina's face pop up and I see her name pop up, you know, it's really easy to get into the minutia of your work and the getting your bubble and budgets and numbers and all of the things. But I think this is this is what we're here for, right? We're here for more Sabrina's.

SPEAKER_04 23:41

Yeah. It's amazing because the the story of New Hope is Joy responding to whatever God puts in front of her.

unknown 23:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:52

And New Hope started because she saw girls that were being abused and she had to do something. And the first thing they did is they built a home out

Leadership Lessons And Final Encouragement

SPEAKER_04 24:03

of like scrap on the hill. And it's still there. In the middle of the barrio, in the middle of the porest, in the middle of all the abuse. And then they dreamed and saw this vision of this bigger house, which was out and where they could raise the girls in a transformative environment, and they did that. But the barrio home is still in that community. The 300 girls that we serve, the leaders who are leading that ministry are the girls that have grown up under the ministry.

SPEAKER_05 24:36

Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:38

And their passion to free these 300 girls from the oppression that they're facing and teaching them how to avoid it and how to have self-value and how to do more. It's just it's beyond transformative. And at least when I joined New Hope, all of my mind was on the 20 girls that were in the home. And now what we've seen is those 20 become 40, but there's those 40, there's those 300, there's the women in the workshop, there's the the women and people around the country who hear the stories whose lives are transformed. And one of the visions we had at one of our New Hope meetings was the vision that you see in Revelation about the streams of living water flowing out of the temple and redeeming the land. And that's part of what we see happening with New Hope. It's not just the work with the girls, which in and of itself is extraordinary, but it's everything else you've heard, and it's all the other people who hear it who then go and are lifted up to do their own work of redemption and to tell the good news of what Christ is doing. And so it's to see these young girls' lives change and to reach all over the country. We had uh Wanda who came and was able to speak in a church in New York. Uh I think it's mostly Dominicans in the church, right? You know, so it's a great connection, but to see her even come here and and and getting God to change lives in the U.S. So the ministry's reach is just incredible.

SPEAKER_05 26:26

Yeah. Speaking about US and even reach, like, what are the ways that folks as they're listening? Like, how can they help in somebody stateside going, man? All right, Holy Spirit, you're saying something to me, or they might not even know it's the Holy Spirit tugging at them. Something's just tugging at them. How can folks, you know, get connected?

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Well, they can get connected by going to newhopegirls.com. You can go there and buy everything that you want from our artisans, or you can learn more about the organization. But I would say the number one thing that we need is prayer. Um when we think about that, and when we think about rescuing girls and we think about our caregivers and the staff that are walking alongside our girls, that is an immense job. It is a hard job. And it is one that I'm sure the devil wants to get in and deter people from caring for those girls well. So praying for our caregivers, if the Lord is leading you to do more, um, we would love for you to become a hope champion. Yeah on our website, you can go there, you can click the donate page, and you can learn how to be a hope champion. Everything from helping us um with back to school and backpacks to giving Christmas meals or, you know, coming into our hope circle and helping us as we transform a country because that's what we're doing.

SPEAKER_02 27:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

And it's kind of hard to say that sometimes because that's the door that the Lord has opened up and that's a big responsibility.

SPEAKER_05 27:54

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. It's powerful though, man. Like you you think about it, a God of all nations, He's He's doing something that is transforming a nation. I mean, how beautiful is that? It's it's beautiful. Yeah. Would we definitely will put some info down in the show notes so that people can be praying for the ways that they might be able to support or that the way that the Lord is inviting them to come alongside is really good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:22

I think two things that every organization needs to do, and they're often overlooked, uh, are alignment and multiplication. And when I hear you speak, it's just like it reverberates, man. It echoes alignment. How do we make everything tie into what we were called to do? And then the multiplication that girls who came in are now leading it. I mean, that's making disciples who make disciples is incredible. Absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_05 28:48

Definitely disciple making. Man, this is one of the ones where we can probably talk for another 30 minutes. Absolutely. Production crew will go, uh no, no, no, no, no. But yeah, I I I do want to. We've talked a little bit about the journey to now and a lot about New Hope Girls. And I'm glad that we had the, excuse me, I'm glad we had the opportunity to do so. But you guys are great leaders. You love your community, you love your family, you love the work that God's called you to. So let's let's rewind that journey and go back to your younger selves and say, what would I tell Rob? What would I tell Jerry? You know, 10 years, 25 years ago, whatever it may be, your younger self now. What leadership nugget, leadership gem, word of encouragement would you give yourself? Jerry, you invented the question. I know you did.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

It's coming back around. I knew it was coming. No, I think my um advice would be you don't have to do it all right now. Right. I think sometimes we just feel this pressure that we have to have it all together. We have to do it right now. But I think the beautiful thing that you said when we started this podcast is as you gain years and wisdom, you learn that the Lord opens spaces and seasons for just right now, right? And he's just asking you to be present and take that first step. So you don't need to know the 45 steps in front of it.

SPEAKER_05 30:08

Just do the first step, be faithful with it. So good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:12

It's timely. I think for me it's really understanding God is good. You know, for me, when I was young and I first became a Christian, I felt like I needed to learn so that I could become what God wanted me to become, and like there was a set of things I needed to do and all that kind of good stuff. And as I've grown up, it's like God's just good. He just wants the best for us. Just get close. I think sometimes people feel getting close to God is like I have to give something up that I want. The closer you get to God, you realize you never wanted that other thing. That other thing was the very prison that was causing you to suffer. You just didn't know it. Just draw close to God. He is good. It brings patience. Yeah, yeah. It brings there's only one thing you need. Just get close.

SPEAKER_05 31:16

Yeah. Together, what it reminds me of, Mitch, and is that, you know, um the word tells us that, you know, he'll whisper left or right, you know what I mean? So the without closeness and recognizing that he's good enough, then I'll try to take big old steps and and and but I he's gonna, he's good to me. So he's gonna speak to me and say, one step at a time, to your point, Jerry, either left or right. This is the way that you should go. You know, what beautiful reminders for us, you know, to take away at the end of our episode. What you got, Mitch?

SPEAKER_03 31:53

I just feel like we should pass the offering plate and get baptized because it's this has been church, man. This has been phenomenal.

SPEAKER_05 32:01

Yeah, phenomenal. It's been so good. Yeah. Thank you guys for this. It's a great way for us to kick off our sixth season of the the podcast, man, and to start a brand new year. And um, yeah, it's just encouragement for me for all of us, I think, just to be together. And so uh we always say, man, if this this episode touched you, there's a a gem, uh, if there's a nugget, if there's a kairos moment in this episode, go back, rewind it, write it down, and even ask the Lord, hey, what are you saying to me in it? And then also I want to encourage you to visit the show notes. We would love for you to get connected with New Hope Girls. I know these folks would as well. God is doing something beautiful down in the DR. He's doing something beautiful in the lives of the these girls that are being served through the Ministry of New Hope. And so check that out uh as well. Man, it's been a joy to be with you. Uh, we pray that you would come back next month. We've got some great episodes lined up throughout the winter and the spring. And so until then, be well, and we will talk to you next time on the Love Fort Wayne podcast.