Catholic Heart at Feed My Sheep

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Collage Podcast – "Catholic Heart at Feed My Sheep"

Date: July 1, 2026
Host: Feed My Sheep (Temple, TX)
Episode Theme:
Exploring youth-led service, faith, and community through the eyes of high schoolers attending Catholic Heart Work Camp, volunteering at Feed My Sheep in Temple, Texas.

---

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode showcases the voices and perspectives of high school girls from Memphis, Tennessee, and New Jersey, gathered in Temple, Texas, to perform service as part of Catholic Heart Work Camp. The discussion centers on their motivations for service, generational stereotypes, faith, the realities of homelessness, and the lasting impact of community and belonging—for those being served and those serving.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Is in the Room and Why? [02:19–04:44]

• Two youth groups (from New Jersey and Memphis, TN) explain their presence in Temple, TX as participants in Catholic Heart Work Camp (CHWC). The camp draws 140–150 teens and adults nationwide for a week of service.
• CHWC provides volunteers for local nonprofits, including Feed My Sheep, which serves the homeless and marginalized.
• Both groups raised money to take part, emphasizing intentional commitment and sacrifice.

Memorable Moment:
"Isn't that a bizarre concept?... You raised money so you could come and serve others?"
—Host [04:30]

2. Motivation for Service & Responding to Stereotypes [04:44–07:16]

• The teens challenge the notion that their generation is selfish, providing direct and heartfelt counterpoints.

• Quote:
  "Disagree with it… You're not selfish if you're here, you want to help others."
  —Memphis Group [06:59]

• Service is presented not as an obligation but as a joy and personal calling.

• High schoolers prioritize purpose and recognize their capacity to create positive change.

3. The Value of In-Person Connection [09:52–10:03]

• Despite being the most technologically connected generation, the girls value face-to-face relationships, especially in service.
• Volunteering offers a rare sense of “real connectedness,” positively impacting mental health and combating feelings of isolation.

Quote:
"Personal connections are so important to all of us. It helps our mental health and things."
—Memphis Group [09:52]

4. Worldview: Is the World Good or Bad? [12:42–13:37]

• The teens find themselves torn: the world contains both immense goodness (evident in service projects and caring communities) and hardship (violence, poverty, loneliness).
• The diversity of experience (safe vs. unsafe neighborhoods, privilege vs. hardship) is acknowledged openly.

Quotes:
"I feel like it's both in a way."
—New Jersey Group [12:42]
"It depends on your mindset of it."
—Memphis Group [12:46]

5. The Role of Faith in Action and Perspective [14:38–16:58]

• Faith in God is central to these teens’ worldview and actions.
• Service is viewed as a way to “give it up to Jesus”—a foundational aspect of their identity and motivation.
• Faith provides meaning, direction, and hope, especially when confronting life’s uncertainties.

Quotes: "It's like it's the groundwork of it all. Like God, he leads everything…we give it up to Jesus."
—New Jersey Group [14:38]
"It's very important…main importance of life."
—Both groups [15:23]

• Facing an unpredictable and often frightening world, they find hope not in having all the answers, but in trusting God does:
  "There's comfort in that. I don't have to understand everything, but there is a God that does."
  —Host [16:58]

6. Understanding and Addressing Homelessness [18:46–30:09]

• Teens reflect on their surprise at the scale and organization of Feed My Sheep.
• They perceive the #1 cause of homelessness locally as substance abuse, closely followed by lack of support, employment barriers, and societal treatment (“not seen” as people).
• Discuss challenges: the difficulty of reintegrating post-rehab, lack of transitional support, and generational poverty.

Quotes:
"They're just seen as an issue…they're not even seen."
—New Jersey Group [24:29]
"It's hard to get the help you need…if my only place is rehab, I'm not ready to go there."
—Memphis Group [20:49]

• Host insight: True change starts local—solve homelessness in Temple, then Bell County, then Texas, then wider.

7. Community, Belonging, and Hope [30:39–34:45]

• Feed My Sheep doesn’t just meet material needs; it offers community and dignity.
• Volunteers and guests are “served as people, not problems.”
• Teens feel welcomed, witnessing the difference made by personal attention and respect.

Quote:
"The number one thing we provide here at Feed My Sheep is community and belonging."
—Host [30:39]

• Stories of longtime volunteers working alongside clients, showing love through consistency and personal prayer.

8. The Catholic Faith: Universality and Belonging [35:01–39:28]

• Catholicism’s appeal: a sense of 'home' anywhere, consistent liturgy worldwide, open confession, deep-rooted tradition.
• The faith provides both structure and spiritual family—teens value the sense of universal belonging.

Quotes:
"You can go anywhere across the world, if you go to a Catholic church, it's the same everywhere…a sense of belonging and home."
—Memphis Group [36:50]

• The host shares moving experiences of Catholic liturgy and tradition, including Palm Sunday in Antigua, Guatemala—underscoring beauty, sacrifice, and belonging as lasting themes.

9. Larger Reflections: Hope, Service, and Sacrifice [39:28–47:19]

• Teens’ acts of service are likened to the creation of a beautiful (but impermanent) tapestry for Christ: meaningful whether or not recognized.
• Real change is about reflecting God’s love, fostering dignity, and extending community.
• The discussion closes with the assertion that people—especially those who serve from a place of faith and love—embody hope for a troubled world, in partnership with God’s greater plan.

Quotes:
"We fix no one. We love everyone…Fixing implies broken, and broken implies that I am better. We're all broken, and we can love."
—Host [44:43]
"You are the hope of the world because you're people, okay? And people are the hope."
—Host [40:50]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You're not selfish if you're here, you want to help others." —Memphis Group, [07:04]
• "Personal connections are so important to all of us. It helps our mental health." —Memphis Group, [09:52]
• "God is just really like the beginning and end of everything we do." —New Jersey Group, [14:38]
• "If we ever doubt, you go, why is Catholicism growing? Because no matter where I am, I can feel part of a family." —Host, [39:28]
• "We fix no one. We love everyone." —Host, [44:43]

---

Segment Highlights & Timestamps

• Camp Purpose and Logistics: [02:19–04:44]
• Motivation & Generational Stereotypes: [06:59–07:16]
• Technology vs. True Connection: [09:52–10:03]
• Is the World Good or Bad?: [12:42–13:37]
• Faith as Guiding Principle: [14:38–16:58]
• Homelessness Challenges: [18:46–30:09]
• Community and Dignity at Feed My Sheep: [30:39–34:45]
• Catholicism’s Appeal to Youth: [35:01–39:28]
• Service as Sacrifice & Universal Hope: [39:28–44:43]

---

Tone and Style

The episode is warm, honest, sometimes humorous, and always compassionate. The host engages teens directly, invites real talk on tough subjects, and frames faith and love as the ultimate drivers of hope and change—within and beyond communities.

---

Final Reflections

The episode concludes with regional banter about Memphis barbecue vs. New Jersey pizza and bagels ([48:11–49:39]), showcasing the playful spirit and camaraderie among the youth. The lasting message is one of hope, dignity, connection, and the enduring, transformative power of love—rooted in faith and lived out in service.

---

For listeners, this episode provides an inspiring glimpse into youth service, dismantles generational stereotypes, and encourages an active, faith-filled approach to caring for society’s most vulnerable—reminding us all that true joy and meaning are found in community, sacrifice, and love.

Transcript

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Foreign.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Hey, we want to welcome you to another edition of the collage podcast. We're excited to be here and where here is. We're in a little town called Temple, Texas. So we're kind of right in the middle of Texas, a little town here. We're actually where we're at physically is a place called Feed My Sheep. And we're in Temple. And what Feed My Sheep is for anybody out there is we are a nonprofit that works with the word would be the marginalized in society. A lot of the people that we serve, they are homeless. A lot of the people that we serve, they have some addiction issues. They have a lot of stuff. These are the ones that are on the fringe of society. A lot of people don't have houses. If they do have houses, it's not adequate houses. And what we do is we provide basic needs here, food and laundry and all of that kind of stuff is what we do. Okay. So today we're kind of excited. This is a bit odd because you can't see this room. I can. So we happen to have a room full of young ladies today. Ok. And so they are in here. And I would like for them to explain again, we are in Temple, Texas, right in the middle of central Texas. Okay. We've got two different groups represented here by groups of young ladies. So there can be numerous people talking. That's all right. Okay. That's all right. And so the first question we're going to say is, how about tell us where the different. What in the world. Why are we in this podcast room in Temple, Texas? And where are you from? This is going to go bad. Hello? Okay. Yes, I'm ready.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Just.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, first group, if you are from New Jersey, please speak up.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Yes, we are from New Jersey, and we are here because we are all at Catholic Art Work camp, staying at St. Mary's right near us. And Catholic Art Work Camp is basically this camp where a lot of people from all different places come and we do service for a few days. And so we're all doing service here at Feed My Sheep. And then we're gonna go back to St. Mary's at the end of the day and do all kinds of activities.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay. And St. Mary's is the place you're staying. That is a church here in Temple that y' all are staying at. And y', all, this one group over here is from New Jersey.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

New Jersey.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

New Jersey. And another group is from.

[Memphis Group Representative]

We're from Tennessee.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Tennessee? What part of Tennessee?

[Memphis Group Representative]

We're from Memphis.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Memphis, Tennessee. Very. See how Hard was that. Did you see. That was pretty easy, wasn't it? No, you're good. Good. Okay, so Memphis, Tennessee, New Jersey. Okay. And y' all are here in Temple Texas. And let me just see, the youngest in this group is how old? What would you say? 15, 14, 13, 12. 14 or 15. So 14 or 15 up to maybe 18, possibly would be the oldest. Because that's high school age, people, correct?

[Memphis Group Representative]

Yes, sir.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

High school age happens to be young ladies in here, but there is guys that are in this camp as well. This camp is roughly. You're not the counter of the camp people, but roughly how many people came to this camp?

[Memphis Group Representative]

140.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

That's what I heard. I've heard 140. 150 camp kids and adults have come from Temple, Texas, from all over the country to help serve other people. And then let me ask you for y' all to do that because, like, to get from New Jersey, even from Memphis. Okay. It's not free. You're staying here. It costs money, right? So for y' all to come here, did you have to raise or you had to come up with money to come do this? Correct?

[Memphis Group Representative]

Yes.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Yes.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay. So out of this, you raised money so that you could come and serve others?

[Memphis Group Representative]

Yes.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Yes.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Yes.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay. Isn't that a bizarre concept?

[Memphis Group Representative]

I would say maybe, but this is my fifth year doing it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay.

[Memphis Group Representative]

So I've really enjoyed it, and I've always wanted to come. It's never been like my parents forcing me to come. It's always been, I've really wanted to

[New Jersey Group Representative]

be a part of this.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, excellent. And then what is it? Like you said, I want to be part of this. This is my fifth year doing this. It. What is this?

[Memphis Group Representative]

Helping others, being a part of such a great community, that's really just like getting close to Christ and helping other communities around the country.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, excellent. And then what we may do, we may stay in that realm. Because your thought process here, the reason, like, I stuck in youth ministry, I'm not in youth ministry anymore. I'm, like, dealing with adults that act like kids, but was in youth ministry for a long time, loved high school youth ministry and went on so many mission trips all over the place. Okay. I like working with high school kids because if a high school kid sees a problem, they're going to say, well, that's not right. We need to do something about it. Adults picking on me and my age, they see a problem and they're going to go, ah, that's what happens. Too bad. So sad to be you. That's just life. Okay. What I love out of this is y' all came here to serve people that whether we like it or not, probably you're not going to see. If you don't come back to temple, you're probably not going to see any of the people that we serve here and you're going to leave and they're not even going to really know your name. So I would say many people look at Yalls generation, whatever y' all are X, Y or Z. I think y' all are Z or something like that. So it's. It's crazy. Whatever. Whatever generation they would say about Yalls generation right now, okay, not saying I agree with it, any of that, but they would say that your generation right now is one of the most selfish generations that the world has ever seen is what society and what all of the sociologists would say. They would say, looking at your generation right now, they would say all y' all care about is you. Okay, what do you say to that?

[Memphis Group Representative]

Disagree with it?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay. No, yeah, agreed. I would hope so. Why?

[Memphis Group Representative]

I've just seen the amount of people since I've been doing it for five years, I've seen the amount of people like so many different people that have come and done done it and like been a part of Catholic heart. You're not selfish if you're here, you want to help others.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, agreed. So you would go, no, we want to help others. Your generation does. I mean, I look and you could see sometimes it can. It young people, the help can look a little misguided. You know, we go to causes that maybe aren't worth taking on, but the heart there. Okay. And I would say in the Catholic faith, I had. So Ms. Nancy, okay. Ask her about this. I did. I don't understand all because it's not okay necessarily a faith that I grew up in. She went to the Vatican last year because I guess the Pope spoke in front of like a gajillion youth and it was like this big monster thing. And you spent the night out there because you were going to be able to hear the Pope speak in front of the youth. And there was like a million or something. It was some crazy number. I don't. I don't want to misspeak. There's a crazy number of youth that came there all over the world to see that. And then I'm looking here in Little Temple Texas and to go. People's out, selfish, only care about themselves. They don't care nothing about nothing. All they want to do is be on the Phone. All they want to do is just this and this, okay? But yet you're here. You're here, okay? And you will receive no compensate. You paid money to come here. You will receive no compensation for this. The hours that you're working, okay? You get nothing for it. Correct. So no physical compensation. So then what do you say to this world that would say to you all, you know, come on, stop thinking about you. So then they would say this, okay? That there is not ever been another generation as connected throughout the world as y'. All Technologically. There's not been anything that even remotely resembles Yalls generation yet. Meaning if I said, hey, do you have any friends in Istanbul? And you go, oh yeah, I have a friend on TikTok and we talk all the time or whatever, I have friends. But then they would also say there has not been a lonelier or more isolated generation that has come across in the history of generations. Okay? There's connectedness, but not real connectedness. So like these things, how do you think this is addressing that topic?

[Memphis Group Representative]

We're not actually going to have like a personal connection. You can't like look someone in the face if you're over a screen or something. Like personal connections are so important to all of us. It helps our mental health and things.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Agreed. Okay. This is a way to do business. Connection is speaking to somebody. Like we're interacting. 98% of communication is non verbal whether we know it or not. So that's why we lose stuff in text. We go, hey, I really wasn't mad. Look. So I put this happy space because if we don't see these other cues that let us know, then we misinterpret communication. So out of this. So we would say for y', all, you want to serve. Okay, so let me ask you this. No. And you're not the expert. If you looked at the world because like my world when I was your age, man, I'm getting old. When I was your age, there was no such a thing. There had never in the history of the United States. That's where we're at. There had never been a school shooting in my life. No such a thing had ever, ever occurred. And nor did it ever even cross your mind that that could even be a possibility. Never even knew the world that y' all had to grow up that somebody may come into your school and shoot. Never was it that churches that somebody may walk into a church and shoot you. Never. Okay, I still can remember. I'm old. Okay? Some of y' all weren't even born. But September 11th, I never would have thought that that would have occurred. Never would have thought that we would reach a time in our country, in our world, everything would be shut down and you couldn't leave your house. We're going to everybody. So the stuff that y' all have had to already see and that is just normal. Well, yeah, we go to school and they make us do the, you know, metal detectors because, yeah, somebody might come in. Oh, yeah, we know Bobby Joe because he was going to go blow up the school, but they caught him before he blew up the school. Normal. And then out of all this stuff in every day, there is some new great tragedy that could befall you. You look in that. So if you were describing. We're going to put the air. It's hot in here, isn't it? Okay, so ready? We're going to do that real quick.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Okay.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Now we'll just talk louder. So with that in mind, if you had to use a word to describe the world, is the world good right now or is the world bad right now? Is it a good place or is it a bad place? And is it a safe place? Is it a scary place? So let's start. Is it good or is it bad? Fair enough. Tell me somebody said bad. Anybody else?

[New Jersey Group Representative]

I feel like it's both in a way.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No fair.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Depends on your mindset of it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

What is that?

[Memphis Group Representative]

I mean, you look at here, so many people around the world serving. You have the good side, but then you have all the violent people. And there are just people who don't think the same way.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, agreed. So, like here, it would be difficult to look at this room and not believe there is goodness in the world. You go, man, there's good. There's hope in this world. Look around this room, okay? Not that y' all are the disciples. We're not equating to that, but last time I checked, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16. The world was changed by one guy in 11 people that really believe passionately what he said. I got 16 of them sitting in here. So don't tell me numerically that change cannot occur from a small number.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Definitely.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, so you look in here, go, oh, it's good. We can walk right outside the door and see some of the different stories. You got a Fiona who's 13 years old. She's living on the street because she has no place to go, man. It's a bad world. It's a bad world. Okay, so then out of this. So let me ask you. And you're going to now have to speak on a whole generation, which is terrible. Okay. It's not fair. Okay. In it, where does faith and your faith is. I would say out there, faith is disbelief in something greater than you. Okay. And then y' all would manifest that into that God. God is who says. Who says he is? And he is who he says he is. Okay. That you believe that there's something greater than you out there. How does God and your faith play into your life and your decision making and how you perceive the world?

[New Jersey Group Representative]

It's like it's the groundwork of it all. Like God, he leads everything. And like this service, we. We do it for Jesus. He served all of us. Like, we give it. We give it up to Jesus. And so God is just really like the beginning and end of everything we do.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

He's almost like the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. But no, Agreed. So like that. Okay. And let me ask you on that same deal. So, faith, how important is it for y' all to know that there is something bigger and more important than you that's in control of everything?

[New Jersey Group Representative]

It's very important.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Main. Important of life importance.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, Agree. Can you imagine trying to navigate this world? It's very difficult. I can't imagine being a teenager trying to navigate world right now. Trying to navigate the world and to believe and have this thought process that you're it. Nobody knows any better than you. You're the one who can understand everything that's right for you. That there's nothing greater than you out there, that this life really doesn't matter and there's not anything greater. Can you imagine how depressing and sad that would be?

[Memphis Group Representative]

What is there to live for?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

What is there to live for? Okay, and so then I would ask you all that. What is there to live for?

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Nothing.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Huh?

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Nothing.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

But for y', all, what is there? What is there to live for?

[Memphis Group Representative]

Be able to be in heaven with him.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, so then you would go, eternity is a little bit bigger than life. Okay, so then we go, ah, eternity, life. So then. But some people, they go, there ain't no such thing. We're not going down that debate. That's ludicrous. But that's their profounded opinion. But living day to day, how does this cornerstone truth, that God is who he says he is, how does that play a part into making life be enjoyable each day? Not a task. It's enjoyable. It is hopeful. How does that play into it?

[New Jersey Group Representative]

It's just helpful, I think, to know you're working towards something. Like you Have a goal at the end.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, agreed. Everybody. People like to have goals, so agreed. And then, like that, you don't have to have the answers to everything. You know where the answers are. Oh, sorry. The God is the answer. Okay, but you don't have to know everything. You're 16 years old. I'm 56 years old. I still don't know the answers. I'm not supposed to know the answers. If I know the answers to everything, then technically that could almost get into the definition of what God is. And I'm not God, okay? So I don't have all the answers. God does. So I'm like, there's comfort in that. There's comfort in that. I don't have to understand everything, but there is a God that does. Okay, so, like, in it to watch y' all come and serve and to put others before self in theory, okay? And to have fun, there's nothing. Y' all laughing and you're joking. You're having a good time. It's not like I have to serve others and I'm gonna be really horrible and be mean and ugly about. No, you can still have joy, because true joy comes by serving others. Okay? And so we have that experience going on here. Okay, Let me ask you here. You're coming. And maybe you've worked with homeless people before. I don't know. From what I see on the news, that's all New Jersey has is homeless people. Okay. And so I'm just picking on. I don't know. And then I've driven through Memphis, and it's rough with a capital R. Like, I ain't gonna lie. Like, I got off. I was taking my daughter to Tennessee, University of Tennessee, and we were in Knoxville. I mean, Memphis, man, we got off. And I'm like, I work in this world. And I'm like, caroline, stay in the car. We're going to get out of here. This is rough. Like, okay.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Yes.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Scary. What? Surprise? Anything surprised you about what you see here in Little Temple, Texas, the people that you run into, anything of that. That you're like, man, I didn't expect to see that.

[Memphis Group Representative]

I would say this whole experience, this place, we don't. We have obviously, a lot of homelessness in Memphis, and we only have only one that I know of, a mana house in Memphis.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Oh, yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

We got one in Waco.

[Memphis Group Representative]

That's, like, the only one that I know about in the whole, like, in all of Memphis. And this is just such a good place. And we need something like this where we are.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

It's Crazy, isn't it? Like, not anything about here. It shouldn't even work. Like this thing shouldn't even be.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

And that we got volunteers to do this and everything is volunteers. And one lady long time ago that just simply said, I want to feed people. And then out of that God has done even more. And so you look and you go, man, I wish other communities would provide for their own, just take care of their community. Like me. I'm pretty stupid. Okay. And I'm alright with that. Is I'm not really concerned with the homeless problem in the United States because I haven't figured out how to take care of it in temple. As soon as I can figure out how to solve it all in temple and we don't have any homeless people in temple, then the county we live in is Bell County. Okay, then we'll take it on in Bell County. We'll solve it all in Bell County. As soon as we got Bell county figured out, then we'll solve it in Texas. We don't have it figured out in temple. Why am I worried about anything else? So we look at that and you go, so let me ask you, here you go. What do you think the number one issue, the number one problem in the homeless people here in temple is? From the outside or in Memphis or in New Jersey, what do you think the number one struggle is?

[Memphis Group Representative]

I would say drug abuse.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay. Could be. Yeah. So for sure. Substance abuse. You could not deny much of that, I think.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Yeah, like substance abuse. And then even if you're done with that, it's hard to get the help you need or even just be like, I mean, I'm here, like, no one's gonna help me or I don't have the places. And if my only place is rehab, I'm not ready to go there. Like, you have to have little steps and I think a lot of places you have to just jump and that's too much.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I mean, honestly, like, think it's huge. Okay. So rehab is, you need help. Okay. But the way to get there is, hey, Susie Smith, I noticed you have a drug problem. We need to get that tackled. I know a nice rehab, they're really good. In a town that you don't know and it's a year out of your life, trust me, it's good. You're going to go over there and you're going to go for a year. Well, yeah, you can't talk to anybody on your phone for the first two months and yeah, you're not going to be able to leave the facility for this long and. Yep. But for a year. And then you come out of that, you get a whole new life. That's a big step. Yes, big step.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Or even coming out of there like you didn't have a place in the beginning. It's a whole new picture. You're coming out of there with nothing. So I think a lot of people will come out and they can end up right back there. Like they don't have the resources they need to build a new life. And even at their age, they could be older and you got to restart your whole life. It's hard.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, brilliant on that. Okay, so let me point this out. We've sent a lot of people to rehab, okay. From here, okay. A lot of people down at the Sunrise center. And they go. Let's say they're successful and they are. They spend their 12 months in rehab. No offense to rehab or anything like that. You know where they get brought back to. You've gone 12 months, okay. You're clean and sober. Okay. Your hand motion just showed me exactly here. They drop you right back off at Feed my Sheep here on Avenue G. Because this is all you know. And you come back here and you're back on the street. You have no place to stay with the same people in the same environment. What do you think the probability of success, long term success and sobriety is there?

[Memphis Group Representative]

Not high.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Very, very low.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Yeah, I would think zero to negative. It can be. That doesn't give anybody an excuse. So I'm not. It can. It can occur horribly difficult.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Horrible. And then like you said, okay, you're asking somebody who. This is what they've known and we're looking on this realm, okay. So drug abuse and like you did this. All the friends that they had were probably associated in that world. Okay? So you come back here and you're clean. All those friends, can't do anything with them. New friends, can't do anything with them. Okay. Can't stay with this group. Can't do this. You're all alone, okay? All alone. So we're going to remember that. All alone, okay. Because we're going to tie that in something. So then you go, here, man, I just want to hang out with somebody. Yeah. They're going to do bad stuff, but I'm not going to. And after day two or three, I'm not going to do as much as them and I'm not going to do as much as them anymore. And I'm not going to keep. And you're right back there, okay? It is their fault, but it's not their fault. It's difficult. Okay, another one. Okay, if you would say. What is the number one? Like to say? Number one, y' all would say drug abuse. Okay. And like this. Okay, Substance abuse. What's another issue that you've seen?

[New Jersey Group Representative]

I also think other people, like, everybody around them, they don't even get treated as people. They're just seen as an issue as just like, they're not even seen. They're not seen.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Not seen.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

And then, like, like she was saying, they can't get a job. Like, there's nowhere to start for them. They're trying to get a job. Person will just be like, oh, here's this person with experience who has nice clothes, lives in a house. We'll take them. So they. It's just everybody around them makes it

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

more difficult for them, for sure. Not that. Because, like, if somebody who's not familiar with this, we're not making excuses for anybody. If they see a homeless person out here. Oh, man, go get a job. There's plenty of jobs out there. Go get a job. They don't have to be that. Okay, maybe there's truth to that. I don't know. I just don't see it that way. You just mentioned a lot of obstacles. A lot of obstacles even in that. Okay, like in temple, let's pretend that you go get a job and you work. A lot of the. Obviously, like a lot of my people, this is an offense to them, okay? They're probably not going to go become doctors at Scott and White, but they're going to work in an industrial type work very good. You can support a family, and you could live well on that for the rest of your life. You know, like FedEx is in Memphis. Okay, FedEx. You can go and work hard, and if you do what you're going to do and do your well, you're set for life. Like, they will take care of you and you will work. You have to work. Okay? So here in temple, to get a job like that, you would have to work. They put all the businesses like that in a place called the industrial park. So that means they put all the plants and such outside of town. We don't have any kind of public transportation that could drive somebody to where the plants are. So somebody's homeless over here to work in the industrial park. It's about five miles from here. There's no transportation to it. So you got to walk five miles to work. Okay. And then five miles home each day. Can't do it. There's no jobs over here. So you go, okay out of that. It's not so easy on that. What other. Some other topics that you've seen that you go, man, this is big in the homeless world. And it's Memphis, it's New Jersey, it's Temple. I'm seeing the common denominator.

[Memphis Group Representative]

What do you see for Memphis? There's a lot of, like, really good neighborhoods and then really close by or really, really run down, very sad neighborhoods. And if you're raised in something like that and you're not really, if you're like, you're raising your family instead of having to go to school, or you're going to school and having to come home and raise your family, that's so hard. Especially like trying to go to college or get a job. Like, you can't do that if you're trying to raise, like, your family as well.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Agreed. Yeah. So here a lot of the bigger words I would say, like generational poverty.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

In that your. The grandmother over here was below the poverty level, was barely able to support this one. Who is even less able to support this one? Zev. And it's this generational deal that spirals down and they just are. College, I ain't going to college. Ain't got time. I got to go work, got to go to McDonald's and I can make 14 bucks an hour. And I do that and things take care of itself. Generational poverty. It generation after generation here in our line, there is so many people. I knew their grandmother, I knew their mom, I know them. Generational, don't know any different. It's difficult to get out of that. Difficult. Okay, what else? Anything on that, like, homeless topic? So we're looking all these good generational stuff and then the haves and the have nots in this world, like, it's absurd to me. Absurd. That we are trying to figure out and it's fixing to occur is whether you like Elon or not, whatever. Not getting down that road doesn't matter to me. He fixing to be a trillionaire.

[Memphis Group Representative]

I think he got it.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I think he did.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

With the stock stuff and the SpaceX trillionaire.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

That's crazy.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Crazy, crazy. Okay. And I understand we live in a capitalist society. I'm not so sure there ever should be a point in time that somebody has trillions of dollars and others have none.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Yes.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay. And I'm not going. We should be socialist or whatever. But that seems absurd to me. They have so much. Our world now is have and have not. And we're getting Less and less the in between. Okay? So, like, economic disparity is huge. Okay? You start looking like if it was just a money issue, Bill Gates and Elon and Zuckerberg or whatever, you put those three and you got their income, you solved about all the issues we have in the world. You'd have free drinking water, clean drinking water for everybody in the entire world, okay? All the homeless topics in the United States could be taken care of, all of these things. Four people could sacrifice financially, and it's done money wise. It's absurd. It's. And I'm not. I'm not picking on them or whatever. And so if Elon's listening to this on AI or whatever, you don't need to sue me or whatever, okay? I'm nothing negative on you, but sure wouldn't lie. I'd love to be on one of your rockets someday. So put that in there. That'd be kind of cool to grow up in the space. Okay, let me ask you on this. Here's what I believe here. Number one topic that we are addressing here, and we touched upon it a little bit in the homeless world is I think we are addressing lack of community and belonging and no dignity or respect. You touched right there on it. The number one thing that we provide here at Feed My Sheep is community and belonging to. We say it over and over. We, you know, homelessness, addiction, mental illness, abuse, those are problems. But we say what we serve here is we don't serve problems, we serve people.

[Memphis Group Representative]

I could tell by the first, like, hour I was here. Not even the first hour we pulled up on the bus, they were all just, like, outside waving to us. They were so excited to see us, like, come and join them and help provide for them and stuff.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Except for the two leaders that see the big butts were like, oh, crud, we got a bus full of people.

[Memphis Group Representative]

No agree.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So it's. We're addressing community. A byproduct of what we do is we provide food. Like, you look, y' all just met Ms. Sharon. Ms. Sharon, okay? I ain't gonna. She retired from a very big business. She's very successful professionally. Okay. In her world. She comes here by choice to love on these people. And she does a great job. That Ms. Pope, okay, that was in there. Okay, I will go on record. I. Well, Temple's a small little town. Her nephew was my best friend growing up. Like, I've known her forever and ever and ever. Okay? First time she showed up here, if you look at her, okay, you'd look and go, oh, that lady's going to get ate up here in this world. Because she dresses very nicely. She's an older lady. And so the first time she was here, I called the mission pastor at her church. He was a buddy of mine. I'm like, josh, you can't send her anymore. They're going to kill her. Not literally, but she's going to get ate up in this world. And then that was about six years ago. He's like, trust me, just let her be. Let her be. She has a book. I love this. I'm not going to embarrass her. She doesn't listen to podcasts, so I can say she's got a book that she writes down on the book, Everybody's prayer request. And she knows, like Taytay, who was sitting outside of the door, she knows what she's prayed for, Tay Tay, for all these years, every one after another. And she writes down if God has answered yes or no. Like, different stuff. She knows. And she keeps track of the people and identifies them by name. Tay Tay, what are we praying for? How did this work out? How did this, you know, magnificent Ms. Sharon, her world and this world were two totally different things. And then now she can drive down the road and she can tell you every homeless lady and what's going on and what they need. It's good. It's not good that we have homeless people, okay? But it's good. And then for y', all, it is encouraging. I would say anybody. Anybody out there who's listening to this that's going, man, our world is in trouble because this generation ain't going to do nothing. I would say there is much hope in your generation. Our world is in trouble because of people my age that are doing nothing, that are allowing it to be. I think there is a fire and a passion inside of y'.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

All.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

The younger ones, they want change. You are not satisfied with the world as it is. It is a confusing world, I will give you that. I'm 56, trying to understand all the different things that y' all are supposed to make heads or tails of. At 15, I don't get it, but there is hope in it. And let me ask you this, okay? This is. This intrigues me to know when. Because I'm okay on the faith side, and you're not going to answer for the Catholic Church. I believe this is what I've been understanding and I have studied, okay? Because I'm into looking at the Christian faith. And why is it sort of dwindling in the United States, population wise, it seems to be on the decline a little bit. Okay. And mainline religions are having a difficult time. You go to Europe, it's like, what, 3% of the population or something minuscule like that goes to church anymore. And that's where so much of the stuff came from. And so out of that right now, they would say, statistically, the fastest growing denomination in the Christian faith in the United States is. If you were going to guess, what would it be?

[Memphis Group Representative]

Catholicism.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Catholicism for people 25 and below, the fastest growing denomination in the United States is Catholicism. If you looked at what they would say in church growth and such, and you would say, shouldn't be. Because all the other mainline Protestant type churches try to make church more like Starbucks and a little more. It's a little bit easier. Catholicism is Catholicism. It's what it has been and what it's always been. It was before. And so why do you think that has. Okay, it hasn't appealed to y', all, or maybe it hasn't appealed to your family, but it hasn't appealed to y' all because you're young. Why does it appeal to y'? All? What does the Catholic faith bring to you that helps you commune the best with God?

[Memphis Group Representative]

I mean, I think just a home, like, you can go. I mean, I know there's all these churches that are like mega churches where it's like a big concert. And I think it's kind of hard to, like, really connect one on one with God when that's all you're doing. But when you can sit down or kneel or anything at mass and you're looking at, even if, like, you're thinking, this is what it's supposed to be, I'm looking at God, but you just think that way and you pray like you're praying to him. And then you can also do all that worship stuff. Like, I think it's just really a home and you belong. Like, that's just what keeps you going back. And then it's, you can come, you cannot. You can go to confession anytime. You can say, haven't been in confession 10 years and no priest is gonna, they're gonna be like, great. I think it's just the sense of belonging at home.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay? Belonging and home.

[Memphis Group Representative]

And along with that, if you go anywhere across the world, if you go to a Catholic church, it's the same everywhere.

Yes, you're gonna have such, like, the same. Reading gospels, you can look up today's gospel, you're going to find everywhere. Today's gospel.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Agreed. I, I one of the most beautiful things several times. So, like, I've gone on mission trips throughout the world, different places, okay? So in Africa, okay, they have some Protestant churches, but Catholicism is pretty big. You go to a Catholic church, different language, don't understand the language, okay? But hey, that's the same thing they do in temple. That's just like St. Mary's I've seen this before. There's an interesting feeling of I belong to something bigger than even this Guatemala I went to. Now, mark this. You got to do this in Catholicism. Just put this on your bucket list. Antigua, Guatemala, Okay? I don't really. Antigua, Guatemala on Palm Sunday, okay? So I did not know this was occurring. I was in that place for a medical mission trip. We were there, okay? Most amazing thing I've ever seen. And it's a Catholic. I don't want to misquote. I think there's a pilgrimage that occurs in Antigua because something occurred in the South American sect, okay? So there is a reason a lot of people come. And then everybody comes to Antigua on Palm Sunday and they are all dressed in purple, okay? So purple because of the royalty and all this and that. And they are going to do the stations of the cross, ok? But all of that to say, you got to see it. It is amazing. Just put this in your book. So when I say all, I don't know, 50,000, 60,000, 70,000, far as you can see, people in purple, okay? Everywhere you can see just people in purple. And then the most amazing thing ever seen. I don't even know what we're talking about, but then you're Catholic, Just put us down, okay? Everybody in the town, because it's a decent sized town, but it's an old town. And they're all going to the church, which is the center of the downtown, okay? Everybody in front of their house the week prior to Palm Sunday, they decorate the street in front of their house with sand. All kind of different colored sands. And they make these beautiful pieces of art out in front of their house out of sand.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Wow.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, so it's just sand. And they're beautiful. Beautiful. The whole roads, the whole thing from the church all the way through is these amazing tapestries made of sand that lead to the church. Now, at the church, everybody who has come to this pilgrimage, they have brought fresh fruit. And so the whole courtyard and the whole church from floor to ceiling and everywhere is all this fresh fruit that they are bringing for this. So the smells and the flowers and the amazing part is all these people sacrificed and did this. They Spend weak. They spend tons of time. They design this stuff. Terribly difficult. All the people that come on the pilgrimage, the first one, obviously, they carry in Christ, and he's going to come through. He's the first one that steps through on the sand. They trample every single one of the pieces of work, and they're gone. But they do it is to pay homage to Christ in this pilgrimage, so that when he walks across, it's just beautiful, beautiful tapestry that he walks all the way in. Amazing. And they're doing the seven stations of the cross. So you stop at each different place and then they do it. It's amazing, okay? And so you look and you go, sacrifice. You go, what in the world? Why would somebody do that? Okay? Why would they do that for Christ? And it's gone. When the whole thing comes through, you can't even. It's just a dirty mess where the sand was. It's a faint memory. What a beautiful picture was created there. Okay? So like, I would say to y', all, hey, you got to go to. You got to go to Antigua. Like, you just got to go and see it. And at once in your life, because in your faith, because everything is. It's Catholicism, and to see the churches and all. But that, okay, I would say what you all have done here, similar, similar. You have created a beautiful tapestry and a beautiful, beautiful thing, and you are still in the process of creating that, that Christ himself can walk across and go, this is beautiful. And it goes. It goes. And so, like, out of that, you don't remember who did what or what the picture were anymore. You just remember what an amazing thing that Christ did and what a blessing it was to be part of that. So for y', all, you're still at the camp, this is really good. And for out there, for people to see, okay, y' all aren't the hope of the world. You're just people. But I would say you are the hope of the world because you're people, okay? And people are the hope. And that we are not the hope solely, we are the hope because God allows us to be part of his greater plan. And then you just said it. So if we ever doubt, okay, you go, why is Catholicism growing? He said, because no matter where I am, I can feel part of a family. I understand what goes on. I walk into Catholic Church, I know what it is, okay? You walk in the Catholic Church, you know what's going on. And at least no matter where I am, I feel connected. I would say that is still the same point of what's going on in this line? There is no connection. So many of my people, okay, they know this truth, and it is absurd that nobody knows that they exist. Their family doesn't care about them anymore. Then maybe they've made decisions that have cost them. Family doesn't care about them anymore, even know that they exist. They will live and nobody knows they're alive. They will go through today. Nobody will acknowledge that they were even here. Their name will not get spoken, and they will die, and nobody will know they even died. That is not a way to live. Say, community and belonging, what we can do here, what y' all can do here. We are not changing the world. We're not. That's not our job. Our job is to reflect God's love. He is the God of change. He is the changer. We are not, okay? So we got a big sign that either people understand it or they don't understand it. We say we fix no one. We love everyone. I don't fix anybody. Not in the fixing business, okay? Is because fixing implies broken, and broken implies that I am better. We're all broken, and we can love. But out of this, what you have done is, for a moment, you've expanded what community looks like to you, okay? And then maybe you take a little bit back to Memphis. Maybe you leave a little bit here. Maybe you take a little bit back to New Jersey, and maybe you leave a little bit here. But our communities are forever changed, okay? And it is cool. And there is hope in this world. And I do. I do believe it must. We can't keep going as a world at the pace that we're going in the direction that we seem to be going. It has to. I say that. But then Christ himself lived in a pretty bad world, and they didn't really appreciate him a whole lot for what he was doing then. No, that's not why you do it. And so he still did even that. You know, man, what did, like, best prayer. Not best prayer, because you're not rating prayers, because Christ had all good prayers, okay? But I love the one at the garden. Said, man, Father, take this cup of suffering from me. But then he said, no, but I ask for your will to be done and not mine. So hopefully, out of what we have done here today and at your group, and we can kind of see it's absurd. You think about the absurdity. We got a group from New Jersey and from Tennessee here doing a podcast in Temple, talking about homeless and talking about Antigua and talking about Guatemala and Africa and all these things. Because the thing that draws all of these together, the reason that we are here, the reason that we even do any of this stuff, is because God is who he says he is. And then, while we were yet sinners, he died and he sacrificed for us. So mine the verse, because I can't memorize a whole lot of verses, but first John 3:16, roughly, not John 3:16, because we all know that one, and we all know 1st John 3:16. This is how we know what love is. Christ laid down his life for us, and we should lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. And then one of the only words that ever God defines himself outside of I am who I am. Okay, Is he defines Himself as love. So then you go, hey, how do you know what love is? This is how you know what love is. You sacrifice your life for others. Almost like what Christ did.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Okay?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

So appreciate y' all being here. Y' all don't know, okay? Even in y', all, y' all are a hope for others. Like, this whole next week, I promise you, this week, people are going to say, now, why did those girls come down here from Tennessee? Why did they come here from New Jersey? Oh, God sent them down here to come help y'.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

All.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Why? Because he did. I don't know why he did, but he chose for them to be here, and he knew that you were here, and he knew that they were the ones that could come and show you his love. You don't know what you're reflecting, but you are reflecting God's love, and it's really cool. So, hey, we did a podcast, sort of, kind of. Yeah, not too bad. And we'll go serve lunch down there, and we'll do. We're doing a lot of work, but the work that we're doing is the people don't let the jobs get in the way of the real task, which is to show love to others. So appreciate it. Yeah. Any last words? Like a shout out from New Jersey.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Shout out from New Jersey.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, Ready just for the last word, y'.

[Memphis Group Representative]

All.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I've got to hear the New Jersey people say, y'. All.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Y', all.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Y'.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

All. Memphis. That's nothing. Okay, so the Memphis barbecue is what, the best. Y' all don't have brisket? Hello. Y' all just do pork.

[Memphis Group Representative]

You don't get better than Memphis, I'll give you that.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

I. I went and I did not know this phenomenon of dry versus wet.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Oh, yeah, okay.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

We don't have that here.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Pizza and bagels. Pizza and bagels.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Best.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

What are you talking about? Never heard that in my life.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Just never had them.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Pizza and bagels.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Best bagels. Yeah.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

What do you.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

You got, what, biscuits and gravy?

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Oh, yeah. Okay, then what is the chicken one like they have in Tennessee as well? Okay, so, yeah, Knoxville, we always go, oh, it was some kind of chicken dip. Mama Hatties. Hattie B's.

[Memphis Group Representative]

Salad.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

No, no, no, no, no. That's.

[Memphis Group Representative]

I've heard of that, but I don't know.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Okay, I'll give you a shirt from Hattie B. You can take it back. It's all so. But Hattie B's. It's like a fried chicken, but it's not fried chicken. Okay, so we're gonna close on that. We got to go. Work to do. So let's get back at it. Go have lunch.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Yes.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Everybody out there, we thank you all for being there.

[New Jersey Group Representative]

Shout out Jesse Petri.

[Podcast Host / Interviewer]

Later. Sa.