He Lived Homeless to Find His Friend | Will Cravens | 036

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I'm about to drop him off.
He says, you know, pastor, do

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you really want to find your
friend?

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I said, yeah, I I flew across
the country.

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I do.
And he said, well, I'm going to

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tell you how to find him.
I dare you to come back here and

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you live on the street for a
week, no money, no food.

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And I bet you find them.
And I just, I just thought in my

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gut, man, that's a Jesus sized
challenge.

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Welcome to When you Look where
ordinary people share their

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extraordinary experiences and
you get to decide was it

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coincidence?
Or God will welcome to when you.

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Look so great to have you on the
show, man.

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Thanks for having me Mick.
I'm a I'm excited to connect

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with you.
Enjoyed our conversation last

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week.
Looking forward to today.

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Yeah, man, really appreciate it
for sure.

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You have an amazing story to
share.

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We are looking forward to
hearing every bit of that.

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But before we do, tell us a
little bit about yourself.

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Let's see, I've got six children
that range between the ages of

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34 and age 9, so it's quite a
gap.

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And four are grown out of the
house, 4 are married, 33

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grandkids, 2 little girls at
home that are beautiful.

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My wife Sandra and I do full
time full time mission work

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around the globe.
Just got back from Peru leading

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a medical trip with 31 people in
Lima.

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Tombo was incredible.
Do different sorts of trips all

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year and I've been in full time
ministry for 35 years this

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September.
Yeah, awesome.

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Quite a full and active life.
That sounds like they're.

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It's usually not very dull here,
yes.

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Awesome.
Well, get us into the story here

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about Ed and give us a little
bit of back story and then walk

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us through things as.
They transpired all right.

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Well, I grew up in Northern
Virginia, a little town called

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Reston that was a planned
community.

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Moved there with my family in
1970, shortly after my father

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passed away.
My mom remarried quickly.

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I think she was overwhelmed with
four kids.

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I was the youngest and still AM.
And so we, we got there and just

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dove in And back then Reston was
lot of woods, lot of area to

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explore and made friends with a
guy named Ed Pelsner.

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And he and I had similar strange
interests.

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Like we like snakes.
So we would go snake hunting.

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We would, it was very normal for
us to, yeah, climb a tree, a

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build.
We build a Fort one time

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basically with with other trees,
made a log cabin in the woods,

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which you wouldn't see in Reston
nowadays.

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But back in the day, pretty
cool.

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Ed and I just really good
friends and one of those kind of

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friends.
I don't know if you have any of

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these that you stay in touch
with from the time they're

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younger and and you're, you're
growing up and you just keep up

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every year.
And so when I went off to

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college, Ed moved to San Diego,
CA and he got in job, he got

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involved woodworking, became a
just custom cabinet builder,

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you, you name it.
You want unique furniture, Ed

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could do it really skilled.
And so whenever I was in

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California, I'd look him up,
we'd go out, get dinner, grab a

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beer, do whatever, hang out, and
that was it.

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And so that's kind of that's
kind of it for the Ed story

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until later.
My wife and I were there, I want

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to say 2014.
We were there for a nonprofit

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trip scouting out some churches
we might we might have

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considered working with at the
time.

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Ed said, I want to get together
with you.

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So I said, well, look, dude, I'm
not in San Diego, I'm in

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Anaheim.
And he said, no, no, I need to

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see you.
So he caught the light rail and

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then biked to our hotel.
And we were staying at an

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embassy suite.
So it has that, like, extra

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room.
So I just said, why don't you

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crash for the nights because you
came so far.

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My wife Sandra, just gone to
bed.

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Ed and I caught up downstairs by
the bar.

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And he proceeded to tell me life
was not going well, that he was

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struggling.
He told me that he felt like

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he'd lived sort of a
narcissistic path and wanted to

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change that.
And he said, I've seen you on

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Facebook taking all these trips.
I'd like to take a trip.

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So I invited him to Ghana,
Africa.

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We were going to Africa with our
it was our first medical trip.

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And Ed said, you know, I just
don't have the money.

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And I said, well, you know,
God's not short of cash.

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If you will be willing to go get
a passport and send it to me.

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I'll get you a visa and I'll
find some folks to sponsor your

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ticket and you can go with me.
He was pretty jazzed.

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We hung up and the plan was he's
going with me and I heard from

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him again about a month or so
later.

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He was working on the passport.
We chatted a bit.

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He sent me a strange message on
Facebook, basically, hey, man, I

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love you.
Just out of the blue, I love

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you.
And when he was at the hotel, he

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was also acting different.
Like asked me he would have ever

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never previously asked me to
pray with him, but he said, will

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you pray with me?
I'm just not well now.

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I didn't understand it at the
time, but in hindsight kind of

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makes a little more sense.
So Fast forward the clock.

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Ed never got me his passport,
never sent it to me.

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He, he at some point ghosted me,
didn't hear back.

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So we went without him in May
that year.

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And then in September, I get a
phone call, kind of life

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changing phone call.
His mother calls me.

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I still knew his folks.
They had my number.

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And she says Ed's, Ed's living
homeless.

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Ed's decided to leave his
business.

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He's been evicted and he's
living on the streets of San

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Diego.
And it honestly was a bit of a

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shock.
I remember holding the phone

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like, wait, what?
This is just last year.

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I, I was with him less than a
year ago.

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He said he wanted to change his
life.

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So I feel a little bit of guilt.
Maybe I should have pursued him

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harder on that Africa trip.
I told his mom, I'll give him a

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call.
She said, no, no, he took his

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phone and threw it in a
dumpster.

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There's no calling him.
So this seems like a different

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level.
And she says, man, I don't know,

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maybe he's lost his mind.
I don't know what's up because I

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was, you know, interrogating her
with trying to make sense of it.

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And so that's about it for a few
months.

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I just figured, yeah, I don't
know, maybe it's a phase.

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I've never had a homeless phase,
but maybe it's something people,

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I don't know, like let's Chuck
it all, let's let's camp.

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I'm hoping it's something like
that.

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But three months go by, I don't
hear from him.

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And I'm really a basic faith
guy.

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I've been in ministry, but I'm
not, I'm, I'm, I'm not AI.

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Don't try to overthink
everything.

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Even though I got a seminary
degree, you know, I, I just

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think when Jesus was asked
what's most important, he said

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it boils down to two things.
Love God with your heart, soul,

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mind and strength and love your
neighbor the way you want to be

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loved.
You know, how would you want to

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be loved if the roles were
reversed with any other human?

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And so I try to live life that
way and think if Jesus thought

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that was the most important
thing, it's probably probably

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worth paying attention to.
Yeah, so he.

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Didn't He didn't say it was
church attendance, He didn't say

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it was tithing, He didn't say it
was a whole lot of other things.

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But he did say loving God and
loving people mattered.

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Relationships matter.
And so it's about now, month

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four, I can't shake it off.
And the question occurs to me

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one morning, if I were homeless,
how I want to be loved, if I'm

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Ed in San Diego on the streets.
And the first response that came

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to my gut was I wouldn't want
people to forget about me.

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Yeah, I wouldn't want to be just
written off as the homeless guy.

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I would hope it'd be really cool
if somebody came looking for me

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and I, I couldn't really shake
that thought.

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So I told my wife, hey, I got to
go look for Ed.

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And my wife knows I'm not a
person who does a lot of

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talking.
I'm more of a, if I get an idea

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in my head, I'm sort of a let's
do it today or tomorrow.

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Bought a plane ticket and had a
friend that was going to come

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with me who would previously
been a Fairfax County police

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officer.
Thought he'd be good to have

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with me, but he he cancelled the
last minute.

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I think his mother-in-law got
sick or his dog ate his dog ate

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his homework or something.
He had so much to use last

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night.
But apparently I think, I think

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he was rethinking like, wait,
we're going to the streets.

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And so I flew to California,
stayed at downtown at a in the

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Gaslamp district of San Diego.
And I took a photo of that and I

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showed it to everybody and I'm
talking to every homeless guy

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can find him to see my friend.
Unrealistically, I thought, I'm

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going to find the park where all
the homeless people hang out and

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I'm going to see ad there and
I'm going to talk some sense and

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bring them home.
I thought it was that easy.

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I did not know, which I do now,
that California is the homeless

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capital, not just of the country
but of the world.

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More homeless people there any
than any other state.

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LA is said to have 90,000
homeless, San Francisco about

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50,000, and San Diego at the
time was 13,000.

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So I'm not seeing homeless
people at one park.

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They're everywhere.
They're on the streets, they're

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in the parks.
I'm overwhelmed.

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And I'm showing Ed's photo.
I'm not really getting a lot of

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response.
I called my buddy Dustin, who's

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the cop that was going to come
with me, and he, he had some

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good insight.
He said, you know, Will, is the

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picture you're showing of Ed,
just of Ed.

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And I said, yeah, why?
He said, no, homeless people are

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protective of each other.
You need a picture.

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That's you and Ed to show you
guys are friends in the photo.

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So I licked.
I literally call my wife, honey,

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look on my computer, find a
picture of me and Ed texted to

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me.
I'm going to go to and I went to

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local Walgreens.
I did a one hour photo and I

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listen to my buddy Dustin.
I took the photo around with the

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two of us.
Look, we're friends and I'm all

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over it.
Did four days walk in the

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streets.
I centralized my look into Ocean

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Beach because there were more
people saying they had seen him

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there than the downtown area.
And I finally meet one guy by

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the name of Ted.
And I, I call him Crazy Ted only

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because he looked like the
Unabomber.

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He looked like Ted Kaczynski.
His hair, his hair is just

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frizzed out and he's got a
scruffy beard and he's wearing

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old military clothing and big
old jacket and sitting at a park

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bench.
And he said, you know, I don't,

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I don't know if I trust you,
man.

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You just flash in the picture.
I don't know.

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You're a pastor.
Like, what?

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How would you prove that, Nick?
So he challenges.

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I've never been challenged.
Maybe you're a lying factor.

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Like, yeah, maybe I'm a fake
pastor.

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I'm like, who?
If I was lying, who would I be?

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He's like, maybe you're a cop or
a bill collector, like, OK.

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And I just sat there.
And then I said, well, would you

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believe me if if I showed you a,
I don't know, a video online of

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me preaching in a church?
And the guy just goes, that'll

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do.
I'm like, OK, I'm literally on

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YouTube.
I find a church I had preached

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in recently.
I'd show him.

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And he goes, all right.
He said.

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Then he says, where's your car?
I'm like, excuse me?

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And I did have a rental car, but
I wasn't excited about giving

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Ted a ride.
But he's like, he's in Uptown.

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He's over in Gaslamp District.
I said, is he?

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And we were in Ocean Beach.
It's a long walk.

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So I said OK, so I decide I'm
going to drive Ted.

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00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:07,280
I'm on day four.
I haven't found him.

223
00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:08,600
I've only got a day and a half
left.

224
00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,920
So Ted gets in my car and puts
all his, you know, the homeless

225
00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:15,280
crap.
He's got this little thing, he's

226
00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,320
totin along.
So he puts all that in my trunk

227
00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:21,320
and he's driving.
And as I said, he looks a little

228
00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:23,840
nuts and his first homeless guy
I've ever driven somewhere.

229
00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:26,400
So I literally one hand on the
wheel, one hand just kind of in

230
00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:32,200
case I need to bless him.
But I drove, you know, we drove

231
00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,400
downtown.
He's giving me instructions.

232
00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,520
I'm a little on edge.
And we parked near some

233
00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,880
Starbucks.
He insists this is where he and

234
00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,240
Ed hang out.
So we go in, No sign of Ed.

235
00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,520
I'm looking everywhere.
He quickly gets in line for a

236
00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:49,720
coffee, like, hey, pastor, you
might give me a coffee.

237
00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,520
I'm like, and I'm thinking at
the moment where I'm not seeing

238
00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,280
Ed, Surely there was a closer
Starbucks if you just needed a

239
00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:57,960
coffee.
Like is this all?

240
00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,800
And and I said, Hey, Ted.
And by the way, the barista

241
00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:03,600
totally knew who Ted was.
Like, hey, Ted.

242
00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,880
So I'm like, why don't you ask
about Ed if they've seen him?

243
00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:10,920
So he asked the barista, Hey,
have you seen Ed?

244
00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:16,640
And and the lady goes, who's Ed?
I'm like, this is this is how

245
00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,840
it's going to be.
Anyway, we both get a coffee.

246
00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:21,320
Then he asked me.
We don't see Ed.

247
00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:22,880
He asked me to drive back to
Ocean Beach.

248
00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,280
Of course.
But I'll tell you what it was

249
00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,680
that conversation on the way
back was worth the price because

250
00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:30,440
we're driving back.
And after he asked me if he

251
00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:32,760
could smoke weed in my car, and
I said, no, it's a rental.

252
00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:37,480
And no, thank you.
I just said, hey, man, you know,

253
00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:41,480
this has been fun and all, but
I'm about to drop him off.

254
00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:43,480
He says, you know, Pastor, do
you really want to find your

255
00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:45,960
friend?
I said, yeah, I flew across the

256
00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:47,240
country.
I do.

257
00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:49,480
And he said, well, I'm going to
tell you how to find him.

258
00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:52,000
I dare you to live on the
street.

259
00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:56,560
He said you come over here, you
got your nice clothes on, you're

260
00:13:56,560 --> 00:13:59,240
staying at a nice hotel.
We don't trust you.

261
00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,560
We being the homeless community.
You don't have St. cred you you

262
00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:06,520
don't you don't know my world.
You don't even know Ed's world.

263
00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,680
You have no idea.
I dare you to come back here and

264
00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:14,080
you live on the street for a
week, no money, no food, and I

265
00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,560
bet you find them.
I bet you'd learn a lot.

266
00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,720
And I just I just thought in my
gut, man, that's a Jesus size

267
00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,320
challenge.
That's legit.

268
00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,000
I, I, I couldn't shake it, you
know, I didn't find Ed.

269
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,000
I flew home.
I did not want to go alone.

270
00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,040
And I do a lot of speaking in
churches.

271
00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:34,600
So I was sharing at Christian
Fellowship Church in Ashburn,

272
00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:37,600
VA.
And while I was preaching, I

273
00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:39,760
just said, hey, man, who wants
to do the cheapest mission trip

274
00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:40,880
ever?
I thought, I'm going to use this

275
00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,960
as a recruiting op and, and who
wants to cheapest mission trip

276
00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:46,160
ever?
Who likes camping?

277
00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,200
You know, who wants to go to
California?

278
00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:49,880
It's going to be so much fun,
man.

279
00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:52,800
It's going to be good times.
Keep this mission trip ever.

280
00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:54,120
We're going to live on the
streets.

281
00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,120
You don't even need to.
You just need a sleeping bag and

282
00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:59,800
a backpack.
And literally 2 guys approached

283
00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,400
me after the service.
One guy I knew and one guy I'd

284
00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:07,840
never met before, Steve Bowman,
who ran a heating and air

285
00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:11,480
conditioning company there, and
another guy by the name of Bryan

286
00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:16,000
Carruthers.
And we literally decided we're

287
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:17,720
going to do this.
And they flew with me to

288
00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,440
California.
They bought their own tickets.

289
00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:24,120
We stayed at a night downtown in
the hotel and then left all our

290
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,720
valuables.
We said we decided they, they

291
00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:30,200
were like, what's the game plan?
I don't know what we wouldn't

292
00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,560
say let's be homeless.
I just said don't shave for like

293
00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:34,960
2 weeks.
Let's look rough.

294
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,560
Don't wear anything valuable
they can steal.

295
00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:42,280
And we're doing no money because
in Luke 9 when Jesus sends out

296
00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:46,400
12 disciples and in Luke 10 when
he sends out 72 disciples, he

297
00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:48,840
tells them don't bring anything
of value for your journey.

298
00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,040
It don't bring food.
So I said we're going to follow

299
00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:53,480
the Jesus plan.
There's no food.

300
00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:59,360
It just a sleeping bag, backpack
and then a battery to charge

301
00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:01,280
your phone because we can't plug
in, you know?

302
00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,960
And that was it.
I, I honestly not knowing

303
00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:09,680
anything, these guys decide to
do it with me.

304
00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:12,280
We hit the streets Monday
morning and we walk from

305
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:17,320
downtown San Diego to Ocean
Beach and just I, I thought I

306
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:18,720
should probably get to know
these guys.

307
00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,560
I'm like, what's your story?
What's your life story?

308
00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,560
We had a lot of time walking and
then we just stop and talk to

309
00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:29,000
homeless people along the way.
And we decided we, we were

310
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,640
getting hungry.
I, I realized I was with two

311
00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:34,200
total introverts.
And they were like I said, we

312
00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,240
got a Panhandle, man.
We got to get some money.

313
00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:37,440
I'm hungry.
And they're like, yeah, we're

314
00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:38,920
hungry, but we're both
introverts.

315
00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:43,360
Can you Panhandle for us?
What these guys like stand

316
00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:45,840
behind me on the street like you
go, you go.

317
00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,720
They're like my backup support
and I'm on the curb in Ocean

318
00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:54,120
Beach like, hey, I'm homeless.
We're trying to get some money

319
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:55,600
for food.
I remember some people stop and

320
00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:59,560
going you don't you guys don't
look that homeless like we are

321
00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:03,920
like we're just we're just
homeless this week.

322
00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,240
Like we chose the pre and I
remember two women stopped and

323
00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,640
said you chose to be.
What's that mean?

324
00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:11,760
I said, well, my best friend's
homeless and I'm living on the

325
00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,240
street to find him.
And when they heard that, they

326
00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:17,760
said that's actually really cool
if it's true.

327
00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:20,319
Like what do you think?
I'm lying?

328
00:17:20,319 --> 00:17:23,640
They go, well, if it's lying, if
you're lying is pretty messed

329
00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:24,880
up.
I'm like, well, look at my

330
00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:26,760
Facebook page, man, I'm not, I'm
not lying.

331
00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:28,480
We have a bunch of people
praying for us.

332
00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:32,320
Our wives are concerned about 3
homeless men out here.

333
00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,440
And sure enough, one lady said,
you know, I don't have any

334
00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:38,120
money.
And I said I don't worry about

335
00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:39,600
it.
And then she called me.

336
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:41,280
Of course, she said, because
I've said that to many homeless

337
00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:42,760
people, sorry, man, don't have
any money.

338
00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,720
Who carries cash?
And she said, but let me go to

339
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:49,360
the ATM and get you some money.
As she pulls, she goes across

340
00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:53,640
the street, pulls out 20 bucks
and hands me money and and I

341
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:55,000
told the guys, you know, I got
20.

342
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:56,480
How much you guys have?
I'm excited.

343
00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:04,040
And now we I did share with my
introverted friends and you

344
00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:05,240
know, they were like, how much
do we need?

345
00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:07,600
I'm like, well, let's go across
the Taco stand and see how much

346
00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:11,720
we need for two tacos and a beer
times 3, which is what we did.

347
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,840
And first night out on the
street, we slept out at Ocean

348
00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:17,840
Cliffs, if you're familiar with
San Diego.

349
00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,840
And about 1:30 in the morning,
where our first wake up was, the

350
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,600
police officer with a flashlight
in the face gave roll, gave a

351
00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,960
little nudge to my shoulder with
his foot and said, I remember

352
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,080
his question was when I woke up
with the light in my face.

353
00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,160
Do you read my I thought it was
a weird question.

354
00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:42,000
I said, I do, you know, is there
a bedtime story?

355
00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:43,920
I don't understand the question
right.

356
00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,000
And and then, you know, the cop,
the cop was like, what are you a

357
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:48,800
smart aleck?
I'm like, you know, sometimes

358
00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:53,960
yes, but what's your point?
He said the sign over here says

359
00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,640
no sleeping on the beach.
And I said, well, we came from

360
00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,240
that direction.
We didn't come from that direct.

361
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,720
I don't see the sign.
And he said, you know, what's

362
00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:04,480
your problem?
What are you?

363
00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,600
What are you all doing here?
And I said, I'm living homeless

364
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:08,960
to find a friend.
He goes, where are you from?

365
00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:13,600
And I said Ashburn, VA and he
said, really, I'm going to,

366
00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,600
well, I'm going to quiz you and
find out if you're lying.

367
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,000
So I've never had an aspirin
quiz.

368
00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,440
He said, what county?
He said, what county is Ashburn

369
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:23,600
in?
I said Loudon County.

370
00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,040
He goes, no way.
My brother's a cop in Loudon

371
00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,120
County.
I'm like, what are the odds?

372
00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:31,840
The guy goes, that's so cool.
He lets his guard down.

373
00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:33,360
He's totally cool.
Let us sleep there for the

374
00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:36,040
knife.
And that was that was our

375
00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,080
introduction.
Lot of rain that week.

376
00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:41,440
We actually, we actually went
back out.

377
00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:45,160
We did not pack tarps.
That became a tire later, but we

378
00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:51,920
ended up, we ended up begging
for more money to buy 3 tarps

379
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,600
because we learned at at night
you need a tarp if it's raining.

380
00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,160
So we, we got better at being
homeless man.

381
00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:01,800
We, we built a little St. bread.
We learned our way and talked to

382
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:06,000
a ton of homeless people.
And listen, Crazy Ted was right

383
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:08,320
when we were living on the
street.

384
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:11,840
We would tell people, hey, we're
living out here to find my

385
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,320
friend.
You would if I had a dollar for

386
00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:20,480
everybody that said, I wish I
was, I wish somebody was looking

387
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:26,040
for me.
We we kind of developed a rhythm

388
00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,120
where we would ask people, have
you seen my friend?

389
00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:32,320
I'd show a photo.
And then second question was

390
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,600
always where should we look?
But if you know, if you have,

391
00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:38,080
whether you've seen them or not,
where do you recommend we look?

392
00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:39,520
We did.
We'd always do what they said.

393
00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:42,680
And then #3 because I didn't
want to use people.

394
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:44,800
We would say, hey, what's your
story?

395
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:47,760
How'd you, how'd you get stuck
on the street?

396
00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,720
Like what, what land did you
hear and how long have you been

397
00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,200
here?
We would just sit and listen to

398
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:58,960
story after story.
I mean, you got five days from

399
00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:03,480
Monday to Friday night on the
street and we would just listen

400
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:08,520
and I'm telling you what I could
never be a full time counselor

401
00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:12,520
as to listen to shipwreck life
after shipwreck life.

402
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:17,600
It is a downer and really heavy
and we didn't bring money or

403
00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,240
anything to give them.
So and we would didn't want to

404
00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:22,160
be come across as preachy
either.

405
00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,640
So when we finish listening, you
know, we usually ask you

406
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:29,840
questions and along the way and
then just say, man, what would

407
00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:33,640
you love God to do in your life?
Is there anything we can pray

408
00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,400
for?
And I want to say 99 out of 100

409
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:40,680
would, if you listen well, would
say, would you please?

410
00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,240
And we had people, man almost
got just men and women weep with

411
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,360
us after sharing their story.
You know, when you listen to

412
00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:50,960
somebody's story and you really
take time and don't rush them,

413
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,720
it's one way to give them
dignity.

414
00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:58,800
You dignify a human by showing
them they matter and they have

415
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:03,440
value and purpose just just to
listen.

416
00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:07,800
I mean it's easy to give 5 bucks
to a homeless guy and move on.

417
00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,080
Number one question is always a
man, should I give him money?

418
00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,520
You give it, it's transaction.
They might just go buy drugs or

419
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,640
alcohol like you're thinking
they might not but they probably

420
00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:21,640
will.
But it tell you what, you take

421
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:23,080
the time to ask somebody their
story.

422
00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:26,600
You really got time and say I'm
not going to pay for your food,

423
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,400
but let's go get a meal together
and sit across the table and

424
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:34,480
I'll treat you like an equal.
So there was a lot of that that

425
00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,480
week.
Just so happened that in Ocean

426
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,520
Beach while we were talking to
our homeless friends, I think it

427
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:47,320
was day 2 that we noticed that
there were new condos that went

428
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,800
up on the beach that hadn't
somebody thought it was a great

429
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,320
idea to have an underground
garage by the beach and they all

430
00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:56,840
flooded and so was apparently
not the best design.

431
00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:01,160
And so ABC News was there doing
a story on these multi

432
00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:04,160
$1,000,000 condos that had
flooded and really angry car

433
00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:08,400
owners out there.
And so one of the homeless guys

434
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,560
got by the name of Clay said,
hey, man, we should tell your,

435
00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:14,360
your story's awesome.
We should tell it the ABC News

436
00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:16,840
correspondent.
So he runs over, let's go.

437
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,440
And he's excited.
He runs up, approaches the news

438
00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,320
lady and said, these guys, these
guys are living homeless from

439
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:28,160
Virginia to find their friend.
And the lady, Bree Steffen, ABC

440
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,480
News San Diego, perks up and
goes, what?

441
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:36,000
Like, no way, really.
And so she turned and asked us a

442
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,600
few questions, said, I'm going
to ask my boss, I want this

443
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:41,160
story.
Sure enough, I gave her my

444
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,080
number.
About 20 minutes later, she

445
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:44,720
calls me, said we're in, we're
coming.

446
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:49,880
You guys are the 6:00 story.
So we got bumped in front of the

447
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,520
flooded, flooded garage, as
exciting as that would have

448
00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,640
been.
And so they interviewed us

449
00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:58,520
instead of this whole 6 O clock
spot, interviewed us in a couple

450
00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,600
different places with the with
the homeless and walked with us.

451
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:07,400
And what was amazing was they
let us put Ed's photo up and

452
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:11,440
share my story.
And then they, they made a way

453
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,920
for people to call into ABC News
and say if they had an Ed

454
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:19,080
sighting.
So wow, Brian and Steve, myself,

455
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:22,160
we would, Brie would message me
and say, there's a sighting over

456
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,160
here.
So while we were homeless, we

457
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,000
did, we, we agreed to not carry
money, but I did have Uber on my

458
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,080
phone.
So when we heard there was a

459
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,080
sighting, we would jump in an
Uber and take it to wherever

460
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:33,480
they said they saw.
And we would search.

461
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:41,480
And it was at that time I met a
gal named Russo over on Arena

462
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:46,600
Blvd. who's which was near where
Ed's wood shop had been on

463
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:51,080
Hancock.
And she said, I know Eddie, you

464
00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:54,080
know, I partied with him last
night and like partied, you

465
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:55,120
know, what do you, what do you
mean?

466
00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:57,120
You drinking weed?
What do you mean?

467
00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:01,120
And she said, no, no, no meth.
And I remember I said to her,

468
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,200
Ed's a Mather.
And she laughed at me.

469
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,240
She's like, Mather's not a word.
It's a tweak.

470
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,120
And I hadn't seen Breaking Bad
yet, so I didn't know the terms.

471
00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:16,720
And she, she then asked she
could borrow my phone to call

472
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,000
her dealer.
And I give her my phone and a, a

473
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:24,600
buddy of mine snapped a photo.
And I remember I, I, I've seen

474
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:28,520
the photo of myself and in my
face is total shock.

475
00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,120
Like Ed is a tweaker.
He's a Dick.

476
00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:35,440
Well, maybe this makes sense.
That explains why he hit the

477
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:39,280
street.
That explains bit of his story.

478
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:44,440
So, so do you keep looking for a
guy to find out he's a drug

479
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:49,720
addict or did you write him off?
Well, the question would be if

480
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:51,480
you're a drug addict, how would
you want to be loved?

481
00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,800
You know?
So we kept we kept going back,

482
00:25:55,800 --> 00:26:00,120
man, I would tell you what, this
is sort of funny.

483
00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:02,600
It was Tuesday night was not
funny at the time.

484
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:06,080
Me and Steve and Brian are
sitting at Denny's because we, a

485
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,280
number of the waitresses said
that Ed would come in late at

486
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:09,920
night.
So like, let's do a stake out at

487
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:11,920
Denny's open all night.
Ed's coming in the middle of the

488
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:13,160
night.
Let's just camp out here.

489
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:18,560
And so we're sitting there and
then Brian, one of the guys with

490
00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:23,000
us says, you know, I realize
this might not be for me and I

491
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,160
think I'm going to have to go
home early.

492
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:26,000
I got work to do and other
stuff.

493
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,400
And, and Steve and I are just
processing his, what he's

494
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:31,680
saying.
He goes like, when are you

495
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:33,920
leaving?
And he goes, oh gosh, my Uber's

496
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:35,160
here.
Got to go.

497
00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,880
He literally walks out and he's
gone.

498
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:41,960
Tuesday night is just then there
were two.

499
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:44,800
Then it's me and Steve for the
rest of the week.

500
00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:47,720
And a guy's a great guy.
I mean, he gave us, you know,

501
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:52,240
Sunday to Tuesday, but it was
still like, oh, wow, that's if

502
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:56,320
you felt a little safer with
three men than two, you know,

503
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,560
But man, it was it was a real
adventure.

504
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,400
And I would say I the pivot on
there.

505
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,400
There's two things I would say
about the pivot.

506
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,080
In other words, the journey that
shifted.

507
00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:13,960
I came looking for Ed.
I look, we look for Ed all week,

508
00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:17,720
but we would, as I said, Nick,
we interviewed other people, but

509
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:21,200
God used a kid by the name of
Kyle.

510
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:26,200
That really grabbed my heart.
We met Kyle early in the week,

511
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,120
but it was Thursday afternoon.
We ran into Kyle again at Ocean

512
00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:34,240
Beach and he looked rough.
And Steve and I had not been

513
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,400
sleeping man, at night.
And what we found out was the

514
00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:39,960
cops will come at night and they
make you move along.

515
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:44,360
But during the day, you could
sleep anywhere and it's legal.

516
00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:48,000
You could crash out, sleep on a
park and nobody's going to give

517
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:49,800
you grief.
That's why you see a lot of

518
00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:51,360
homeless guys sleeping during
the day.

519
00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:55,600
I believe.
So I we're exhausted.

520
00:27:55,600 --> 00:28:00,800
We're sitting on the grass at
Ocean Beach and we see Kyle and

521
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:05,680
Kyle's partying with some kids
and then he walks our direction

522
00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:08,520
and he's probably 10 feet in
front of us.

523
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:13,760
And then Kyle starts vomiting
and pretty nasty.

524
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,880
And it was what he did next that
really threw me.

525
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:22,880
I've never seen a human do he.
He's, he's standing over his

526
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:24,880
vomit with his hands on his
knees.

527
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:27,760
And then he's staring into the
vomit.

528
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:32,160
And then he reaches into the
vomit and he grabs some vomit

529
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,360
and puts it in his mouth and he
eats it.

530
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,760
Oh, wow.
And Steve and I are speechless.

531
00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,160
We're both just focused and
drilled in on him.

532
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:46,200
And then he vomits again.
And I said to Steve and that

533
00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:50,200
that kid's got to be hungry.
And two people at there, there

534
00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,920
was a guy handing out
sandwiches, couple guys walking

535
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:54,520
around the park to homeless
people.

536
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:58,040
And they'd given us both a
Bologna sandwich.

537
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,280
And I'm like, this kid needs
something to eat.

538
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:02,600
And I said to Steve, he, he's
hungry.

539
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,800
And Steve said, no, no, Steve
caught what happened.

540
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,080
I didn't get it.
He said when he was partying

541
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:14,480
with those people, he took pills
and he vomited the pills that he

542
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,600
took.
And so he so badly wanted to be

543
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:21,560
high that he was ingesting the
pills out of his vomit to get

544
00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:23,960
high, but his stomach wouldn't
let him keep them.

545
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,520
So I said, I remember his name.
He said, hey, Kyle, come here.

546
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,680
I've got, I've got 6 kids and
two are sons.

547
00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,640
And he's looks like he's one of
my son's age.

548
00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:37,640
So I said, come here.
And he plopped down and couple

549
00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:42,560
feet in front of us and I just
said, hey, Kyle, what's going

550
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,160
on, man?
And he said I just vomited.

551
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:47,080
I said, yeah, we saw it was
pretty disgusting.

552
00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,280
And I said, you hungry?
Here's a sandwich, man.

553
00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:52,840
I got a sandwich for you and he
took it.

554
00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:54,440
I'll never forget.
He took a bite and goes, this

555
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:58,760
sandwich is disgusting.
Like said the guy that said the

556
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,960
guy that just ate vomit.
So I don't know.

557
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:09,000
So he he's sitting there and I
said, you know, my friend Steve

558
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,760
and I were looking for my friend
and he's a tweaker.

559
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,320
He's a meth addict.
And then Kyle, like it was a

560
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:16,480
badge of honor, says I'm a
tweaker.

561
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:18,880
Mike, are you?
I said, what's your story, man?

562
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:21,360
How old are you?
He said, I'm 21, so where are

563
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:24,120
you from?
He said, I'm from Irvine, CA And

564
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,840
I said, well, what do you, you
know, what do you do?

565
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,520
You play sports, What do you do?
What, what's your story that you

566
00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:32,720
got out here?
He said, well, I I played

567
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:38,480
lacrosse and rugby.
So rugby I said, that's more of

568
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:40,440
a private school.
He goes, yeah, it's a private

569
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:44,280
school sport.
I said, so wealthy family.

570
00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:47,920
So yeah, I said, let me, let me
ask you a question, Kyle.

571
00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:50,320
If my boys were out here, I'd be
looking for them.

572
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:51,960
Do you got anybody looking for
you?

573
00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:55,160
It's not.
It's like, come on, man.

574
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:56,920
You got a mom or dad looking for
you.

575
00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,960
And then he says I don't have a
mom or dad.

576
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,160
Like, I don't understand your
answer.

577
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:06,040
What do you mean?
Yeah.

578
00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:10,920
And he said I was raised in a
foster system as a foster home

579
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:12,840
kid, so.
OK.

580
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:15,840
And I said, how about your
foster parents?

581
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:17,760
They looking for you?
And he shook his head.

582
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,760
And I did youth ministry for a
lot of years.

583
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,160
I just had a sense and I was a
psych major for my undergrad

584
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:26,920
degree.
And I just said, were you

585
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:31,120
abused, Kyle?
And he nodded yes, said

586
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:34,400
physically, sexually.
You said both.

587
00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:39,200
And then I, we're all sitting
there silent.

588
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:45,640
And I said, would you rather be
high than think about your past?

589
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:50,000
And he said, yes, Sir, what do
you say to that kid?

590
00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:55,360
I, you guys, wow.
I was trying to think, what can

591
00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:57,640
I do to bless this kid?
I got no money.

592
00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:00,360
But then on the corner, I looked
over and I realized there's a

593
00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:03,040
Starbucks.
And I quickly realized I have

594
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:06,360
the Starbucks app and it's got a
credit card attached.

595
00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:09,600
So I said, Kyle, how would you
like a Starbucks?

596
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:11,320
He goes, I would love a
Starbucks.

597
00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:15,640
Like, let's go, man, let's go.
You need to clean that gullet of

598
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:16,960
yours.
That's vomit.

599
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:20,720
Baloney filled, man Let's go.
And so we walk over to the

600
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:23,640
Starbucks and we get in line.
And by the way, one thing you

601
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:25,280
don't think about when you're
homeless is where you going to

602
00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,880
the bathroom.
You need bathrooms.

603
00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:32,000
And because there's so many
homeless in in California, most

604
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,720
of the city bathrooms put a
combination lock on the door

605
00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:37,840
because they don't want homeless
and they're trashing it.

606
00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:40,520
And if you're not a paying
customer, you don't get the

607
00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:45,560
combo.
So I'm I'm just excited we're

608
00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:47,360
going to be a paying customer.
I get to use bathrooms.

609
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,840
So I go to use bathroom.
Kyle and Steve are in line.

610
00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:53,440
I come back out of the bathroom
and there's some dude standing

611
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:57,360
behind us and he goes, hey, man,
you can't cut in line.

612
00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:01,920
I'm like, who is this guy?
You know what, what is this

613
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:05,440
Disney?
I just said what I said, bro, I

614
00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:07,520
I was using the bathroom.
I was in line.

615
00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:09,280
I went to the bathroom.
These are my friends.

616
00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:11,960
He goes, no, you then like he's
the line cop.

617
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:14,080
He goes, you can't like leave
and come back.

618
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:19,040
Mike, is that a rule?
You know, I don't Wow, you know,

619
00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:21,440
I'm I'm really annoyed.
I'm I really want to tell this

620
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,480
guy something else.
And I but I had a moment.

621
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,480
I remembered, you know, in
reflection, here's why I'm here

622
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,800
to bless people.
So I said, hey, buddy, looks

623
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,840
like you've had a bad day.
Why don't I treat you to coffee?

624
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:36,960
I'll get your drink.
And then he totally changes his

625
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:38,280
demeanor.
I don't know.

626
00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:40,240
Hey, don't worry about it.
Don't worry, you're good, you're

627
00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:41,480
good.
I'm like, let me buy you a

628
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:43,840
drink.
You you clearly have something

629
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:45,440
going.
You have something going on.

630
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:48,320
Let me get you a drink.
And then he says, oh, it's an

631
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:50,400
expensive one.
I'm like, dude, order your fruit

632
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:51,920
for a drink.
I don't care.

633
00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:56,520
And and he did.
It was like a some kind of

634
00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:01,000
something twist frap thing.
And then Kyle gets up in orders.

635
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:03,720
And most of my homeless friends
that week all got like, strong

636
00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:07,080
coffee with 12 sugars.
But Kyle orders, you know, his

637
00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:11,440
little mocha frappuccino Venti.
He knows how to order.

638
00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:13,920
He's definitely grew up wealthy
kid because he knew.

639
00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:16,520
So he orders his drink.
We all get our drinks.

640
00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:20,800
We wait.
And after Kyle's getting antsy

641
00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:22,679
and he's like, I got to go.
I got to go.

642
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,000
Well, yeah, I don't know where
he's got to go, but I just said,

643
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:26,800
OK.
Well, Kyle, tell me this.

644
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:28,520
Do you need, what else do you
need?

645
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:31,199
Do you need anything else from
us?

646
00:34:31,639 --> 00:34:32,719
I don't know.
I don't know what I'm going to

647
00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:34,360
give him, maybe a Starbucks
card.

648
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:36,199
I mean I can get him a gift card
at Starbucks.

649
00:34:36,199 --> 00:34:40,000
But he said, and I'm not
prepared for his answer.

650
00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:42,280
He said yes, I do.
So what?

651
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,040
What's that?
I just want a hug.

652
00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:49,719
And now keep mind that is when
we met him.

653
00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:52,600
He has a winter coat on.
He has no shirt on.

654
00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:54,719
So we gave him a shirt out of
our bag because he had no

655
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,640
T-shirt.
He had bare feet, which

656
00:34:57,640 --> 00:34:59,960
Starbucks didn't notice, so they
probably would have chucked him

657
00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:05,800
and jeans on.
And I, he still got vomit on his

658
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:09,640
jacket, but he asked for a hug.
We're in the middle of Starbucks

659
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:11,280
next to the line with our
drinks.

660
00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:16,400
And I hugged that kid, man.
I hugged him like he was one of

661
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,600
my sons.
And I was thinking when I I was,

662
00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:24,480
I was thinking when I hugged him
that I'm going to hug him the

663
00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,040
way this kid deserved to be
hugged by a dad that he didn't

664
00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:31,440
have.
And you know, when some people

665
00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:32,960
just like, hold the hug a
minute.

666
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:35,520
He held it.
And it's how dude, Starbucks

667
00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:37,840
line people are watching us now.
Like, what's this?

668
00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:42,360
What's going on over here?
You know, and two homeless men

669
00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:44,160
hugging.
And I didn't give a crap.

670
00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:48,480
I was so moved.
And he left thank me again.

671
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:55,600
And it was right after that the
the the line Nazi says, hey, you

672
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,040
know, hey, I'm watching you
guys.

673
00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:00,160
I'm watching you guys.
What's this all about?

674
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:02,840
Like he saw me hug.
He saw us hug Kyle.

675
00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:05,120
And I said, well, we tell him
the story, what we're doing,

676
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:08,640
looking for Ed.
And he says, no way, man, my son

677
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:11,440
is homeless.
He says he's been on the street.

678
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:13,520
I paid.
I paid for him to get his

679
00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:16,000
master's degree.
And now he and his girlfriend

680
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:17,360
have decided to live on the
streets.

681
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:19,960
He said his street name is Fire
Walker.

682
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:23,680
Have you met him?
And I said, I have not met him.

683
00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:27,000
And then, of course, he's like,
would you guys pray with me

684
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,320
about my son because you guys
are looking for homeless.

685
00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:36,760
And then literally while we're
talking to that guy over his

686
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:39,600
shoulder, over his shoulder and
Steve's shoulder, I see these

687
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:43,640
two women.
It is now we bumped out onto the

688
00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:46,240
street in front of Starbucks in
Ocean Beach.

689
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:50,000
And these two women just start
making out, which I thought was

690
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:51,800
not something you see in Fairfax
all the time.

691
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:55,200
And I kind of looked over for a
minute, caught my eye, and then

692
00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:58,280
the lady looked back at me and
she stares.

693
00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:01,360
Then she stops kissing the other
lady and she goes, Hey, I saw

694
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:02,600
you.
I'm like, oh, gosh.

695
00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:06,560
And I quickly look away like,
this is just getting weirder,

696
00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:10,400
man to Get Me Out of here.
And I'm a little emotional about

697
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:12,720
the and I hear her.
I, you know, when you look away,

698
00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:16,280
I'm pretending like now I, I
don't even see her, but I can

699
00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:18,920
see in the corner of my eyes,
she's headed our way like, hey.

700
00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:22,600
And I hear I saw you.
I saw you like oh, geez, oh,

701
00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:24,560
geez.
And she gets right up to us.

702
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,240
She goes, I saw you like, did
you?

703
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:31,960
I just started to say, did you?
He goes on the 6:00 news.

704
00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:36,520
I saw you.
You're looking for your homeless

705
00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:38,760
friend Ed.
I said, yes, ma'am, I am.

706
00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:42,680
She said I'm I'm Sharon.
I said, hey, Sharon, nice to

707
00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:44,960
meet you.
Feel like I know you now.

708
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:49,880
This is wonderful.
And then she says to me, can I

709
00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:53,120
tell you what?
My son was homeless and I look

710
00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:57,640
for him everywhere.
And yeah, two parents now in a

711
00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:00,240
row.
So I look for him everywhere.

712
00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:02,760
Can I give you some advice how I
found him?

713
00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,840
I'm like, sure, sure.
What's what's your advice?

714
00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:08,400
She said.
I got frustrated looking.

715
00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:11,720
I went down to the beach one
night and I lit a candle and I

716
00:38:11,720 --> 00:38:13,880
asked, Jesus, will you help me
find my son?

717
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:16,880
Did you know I found him within
24 hours?

718
00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:20,760
Have you tried that, Mike?
I haven't asked Jesus, but I

719
00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:22,640
haven't lit the candle yet, you
know?

720
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:26,000
But she's like, well, let's pray
and say I were praying with

721
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,760
Sharon and her girlfriend and
this other dude.

722
00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:34,000
And it was God used those
experiences just to get my heart

723
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:35,920
because then it became bigger
than Ed.

724
00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:40,000
And then we just kept going
back.

725
00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:47,440
And so everybody always asked,
did you find Ed and kept kept

726
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:50,120
flying across the country.
We'd go twice a year to look for

727
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:53,320
Ed.
Trip 6, I was discouraged.

728
00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:58,240
And trip 7, we found Ed and we
got a tip off.

729
00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:03,040
He was in a different city.
But the payoff was correct.

730
00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:05,520
We did find him there.
But then then the question was,

731
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:06,920
should we keep going to San
Diego?

732
00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:10,480
But we had met so many people
there that would always ask when

733
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:14,560
are you guys coming back?
So we felt like we were leaving

734
00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:16,480
them hanging up.
We didn't go back, so we kept

735
00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:18,880
going back to San Diego, even
though Ed was in a different

736
00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:22,880
city.
And to this day, we keep going

737
00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:26,840
and we make trips every year we
live on the street for the week.

738
00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:32,720
It's life changing for me.
I've had two of my grown adult

739
00:39:32,720 --> 00:39:35,800
daughters do the trip with me.
My wife has done a homeless trip

740
00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:37,600
with me.
A lot of my friends have done

741
00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:40,960
it.
And we probably had about 50

742
00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:42,360
people live on the street with
us.

743
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:46,720
But our, our goal is not to up
the street population with

744
00:39:46,720 --> 00:39:51,320
living out there.
The goal is, and I think what

745
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:56,240
changed in me was, you know,
when Jesus said God has a heart

746
00:39:56,240 --> 00:39:59,080
for the least of these the
people that society looks down

747
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:04,600
on and social programs won't
change them, but loving people

748
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:07,560
will.
I believe we, we, we have a

749
00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:11,120
phrase, a slogan we use now.
It's be relational, not

750
00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:14,200
transactional.
The transaction, I can give you

751
00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:18,880
5 bucks, I can give you a plate
of food, but if I sit down and

752
00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:21,920
know your name and get to know
your story and care about you,

753
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:25,480
it's a little different.
So that idea of being

754
00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:28,360
relational, not transactional,
then that changes my heart.

755
00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:32,120
I can't tell you, Steve, by the
way, Steve Bowman's a superhero.

756
00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:35,920
He did so many trips with me.
I, I, I lost count how many he's

757
00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:39,200
done.
I've done 29 trips to the

758
00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,280
streets.
We've done 13 different cities

759
00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:45,800
now around the US And every trip
I come back a little bit

760
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:50,320
different.
And there were a number of trips

761
00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:54,360
where Steve and I would be
flying home and on the plane, he

762
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:55,880
and I would both have a
breakdown.

763
00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:59,320
Like, I'm never just crying
because it was like the, the

764
00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:03,280
release of five days of life
stories that you feel like

765
00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:09,840
you're caring and then you just,
you know, your heart breaks for

766
00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:14,240
the Kyles and the Eds.
And so, yeah, that's, that's the

767
00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:16,680
gist of it.
And we, my wife and I, like I

768
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,920
said, we do other mission trips
that are all kind of geared

769
00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:22,640
towards our medical trip is
let's take medical care to

770
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:25,960
people that can't afford it and
just love them, serve them

771
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:28,080
rather than whine about the
government should have more

772
00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:29,600
healthcare.
What how about do something

773
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:33,240
about it, You know, take people
to them, serve them, love them.

774
00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:38,200
We get, we go and we, we invite
doctors, nurses, we take

775
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:42,480
medicines, free medicines.
And then we also have a little

776
00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,120
station for prayer.
People go, you know, I, I just

777
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:48,120
like somebody to pray with me.
And we do that in the medical

778
00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:51,600
trips.
And we do another trip called

779
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:54,960
Serve the Servants where we go
out to Uruguay and we invite all

780
00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:57,280
these people 'cause it's the
most secular country in all of

781
00:41:57,280 --> 00:42:00,000
Latin America.
So we get all people that run

782
00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:03,760
nonprofits and churches and
stuff and we serve them like,

783
00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:06,760
let's take care of the people
that take care of the least so

784
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:08,360
that they don't quit and throw
in the towel.

785
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:13,200
So we bring them counseling,
encouragement, marriage

786
00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:15,480
counseling.
We brought a masseuse for them.

787
00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:19,360
Get a break, get time, build in
free time with their spouses and

788
00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:21,000
just say, why don't you guys go
home?

789
00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:23,600
Our dream is send them back
refreshed so that they keep

790
00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:27,160
serving.
So anyway, so that's kind of

791
00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:31,440
our, what we feel like our call
is our our place on the planet.

792
00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:34,240
Let's serve and help people.
And it's really, I appreciate

793
00:42:34,240 --> 00:42:37,880
you inviting me on the podcast,
Mick, because it's my hope that

794
00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:40,480
enough people hear the story,
that the story changes you.

795
00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:43,720
I have a lot of people.
If you're if you're a pessimist

796
00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:46,160
and you're going to half empty,
you're like, you ain't going to

797
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:48,600
change the homeless population
in the world.

798
00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:51,520
You're not going to.
Yeah, yeah, probably not.

799
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:55,040
But if I change the way, but if
I change the way you see them,

800
00:42:56,240 --> 00:43:00,160
it changes it because then we
enlist another person that's

801
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:02,320
actually going to treat them
differently, love them

802
00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:04,280
differently.
And loving a person might change

803
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:06,640
them.
We have had, we have had a

804
00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:09,720
number of them change and get
help.

805
00:43:10,720 --> 00:43:13,760
But you can't help anybody,
doesn't want help, doesn't want

806
00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:16,640
to help themselves.
You, you waste your time trying

807
00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:18,400
to pull a guy off the street who
doesn't want to get off the

808
00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:21,240
street or doesn't want to kick a
habit or doesn't want to

809
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:23,840
forgive.
And a person they're angry with,

810
00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:28,360
that the bitterness keeps them
on the street, you know, so.

811
00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:33,480
Yeah, and you encountered some
of that with finding Ed, isn't

812
00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:35,320
that right?
This is true.

813
00:43:35,400 --> 00:43:40,360
Yeah.
So Trip 7, we found Ed.

814
00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:45,800
He was in Maui, Hawaii.
I got a tip off from a social

815
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:53,040
worker who found Ed and she, she
looked him up on the Internet

816
00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:55,440
and found the ABC News story and
then got a hold of me.

817
00:43:56,480 --> 00:43:58,440
So she tells Sandra and I, hey,
Ed's.

818
00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:02,680
It was 2017.
Ed's in Maui and we verify and

819
00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:07,120
sure enough, he is.
So we fly to Maui, hunt for him.

820
00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:12,160
I find him on day 2, which was
kind of miraculous, small island

821
00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:17,200
and then and he's living in the
woods, but he works part time at

822
00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:19,520
a bike shop.
He he cleans up their their

823
00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:22,680
trail bikes, 5 bucks a bike
cash.

824
00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:26,760
So he does that on the side.
And sure enough, I see him and

825
00:44:26,760 --> 00:44:30,200
he's friendly, but he has the
side effects of meth.

826
00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:32,440
He's very paranoid.
He asked me if I work for the

827
00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:35,280
government, like Ed dude, we
grew up together, Stop yourself

828
00:44:36,240 --> 00:44:40,200
and Ed.
But we, we offered to take him

829
00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:42,680
to lunch, dinner, whatever.
He didn't want anything.

830
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:43,880
I said, dude, let's just get a
beer.

831
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:46,160
He wouldn't.
He, it was unlike Ed to not take

832
00:44:46,160 --> 00:44:47,800
a freebie and he wouldn't take
any.

833
00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:54,480
So then Ed takes off.
We snap a photo, Ed takes off,

834
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:56,680
and as quickly as I found him,
he's gone.

835
00:44:56,680 --> 00:45:00,440
And then I'm rethinking all the
things I wish I'd said to him.

836
00:45:00,440 --> 00:45:04,560
This is trip 7.
I've lived homeless 7 times to

837
00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:09,360
find Ed finally found him and
I'm not imagine I had really

838
00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:11,280
thought through what's my game
plan when I find him.

839
00:45:12,040 --> 00:45:14,080
I just thought I have a great
conversation.

840
00:45:14,520 --> 00:45:16,680
I didn't picture it's going to
be 5 minutes he's going to take

841
00:45:16,680 --> 00:45:22,320
off.
So now I'm I don't know.

842
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:25,920
I'm just like rethinking what I
wish I said and I'm we got a lot

843
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:28,600
of people at home praying let's
find him one more time because

844
00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:29,720
now I know what I'm going to
say.

845
00:45:30,200 --> 00:45:31,800
So Sandra and I spent the next
three days.

846
00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:33,920
It was not a vacation.
We haunted everywhere we could

847
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:37,840
in Maui for him.
And on the last day we find him

848
00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:45,880
and downtown paella and Sandra
elbows man sees him coming.

849
00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:48,240
And I said, hey, man, let's
talk.

850
00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:51,280
He's carrying a bike tire.
Let's looks like it's flat.

851
00:45:52,520 --> 00:45:55,840
And he said, no, Will he gives
me a breakup line like it's not

852
00:45:55,840 --> 00:45:57,960
you, it's me.
You know, I'm like what he's

853
00:45:57,960 --> 00:45:58,880
like.
I can't hang out.

854
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:01,440
And then he just tries to take
off like no, no, no, we're

855
00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:03,120
leaving him.
We're leaving in the morning.

856
00:46:03,320 --> 00:46:04,720
We got to talk.
He says no.

857
00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:07,920
And then he starts to run.
And I proceeded to chase him.

858
00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:10,600
So I chased him across the
street.

859
00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:13,400
We ran through traffic.
We run through a parking lot.

860
00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:16,680
He's yelling stop following me
and I'm chasing.

861
00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:19,400
I tried to lighten it up by
like, this is like middle school

862
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:21,960
tag, you know, And I'm trying to
make it, trying to make it

863
00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:24,040
funny, but he doesn't find the
humor in it.

864
00:46:24,040 --> 00:46:27,200
And then he starts running up a
street Baldwin.

865
00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:32,720
And what bothered me was I try
to stay in shape, but he's

866
00:46:32,720 --> 00:46:35,680
outrunning me and I'm like, how
is the drug addict outrunning

867
00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:37,920
me?
This is pissing me off.

868
00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:40,280
And I prayed a prayer.
I prayed a prayer.

869
00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:42,440
I've never prayed.
I was like, God make me fast,

870
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:45,400
you know, make me.
I think Elijah prayed that and

871
00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:48,960
he he outran A chariot and I'm
just like, make me fast.

872
00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:50,920
And it it didn't work.
I was waiting for the gears to

873
00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:54,640
kick in and I said the margins
getting wider.

874
00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:58,760
He turns right at the top of the
hill and he's out of sight now.

875
00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:05,200
And I do remember that my, my
thought process, it was God.

876
00:47:05,200 --> 00:47:07,560
Why, why would you bring me this
far to not get him?

877
00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:15,680
Why would you really 7 trips.
I, I couldn't find him, you

878
00:47:15,680 --> 00:47:18,800
know, and I get to the top of
the hill and I looked right in

879
00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:21,560
front of me was our rental car
and I had the keys in my pocket.

880
00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:24,800
So like no way.
So God made me fast because I

881
00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:27,640
got in the car and I start
driving up the street.

882
00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:30,680
I get I get another block or two
up and Ed's hitch hiking with

883
00:47:30,680 --> 00:47:33,120
the tire in his hand.
So I pull over.

884
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:34,840
He's never thinking it's will in
the car.

885
00:47:34,840 --> 00:47:37,080
So I pull over and open a door
and he like goes to get in.

886
00:47:37,080 --> 00:47:39,920
It's like, what the you know,
what do you, what do you do?

887
00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:44,720
How do you how do you get here?
And he starts to curse me and I

888
00:47:44,720 --> 00:47:50,160
said, Ed, just can you just give
me a minute like that?

889
00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:52,840
Did I?
I promise you I'll leave you

890
00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:58,520
alone.
I just said I, I love you man.

891
00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:01,200
Your, your mom and dad love you,
your sister, your brother.

892
00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:07,040
Everybody's worried about you.
I, I said I know about the

893
00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:09,680
drugs, I know about your meth
habit.

894
00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:11,800
I love you anyway, man.
I don't care.

895
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:15,360
I just, I'm here to help.
I've, I've lived on the street

896
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:19,320
to find you.
And he said I can't do it

897
00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:21,080
anymore.
And I said you can't do what?

898
00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:23,360
And he said I can't do
friendship.

899
00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:29,960
There's just so much shame,
shame attached to his story that

900
00:48:30,160 --> 00:48:32,840
he just didn't want everybody to
know.

901
00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:40,280
So I what I didn't share was at
one point when I was in San

902
00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:42,360
Diego, I met a friend of his by
the name of Stephanie.

903
00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:45,000
And Stephanie said I have a box
of his stuff.

904
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:48,480
And in the in the box she shows
me was his passport.

905
00:48:48,720 --> 00:48:52,160
So when I told Ed to get the
passport originally, she had it

906
00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:54,040
and, and I convinced her to give
it to me.

907
00:48:54,040 --> 00:48:56,040
I said, I got a better chance to
find them than you do.

908
00:48:56,720 --> 00:48:58,920
So I said, Ed, when you're ready
to get, do it.

909
00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:01,400
At that mission trip with me, I
got your passport.

910
00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:05,080
Stephanie gave it to me.
He said, all right.

911
00:49:05,720 --> 00:49:07,720
I said, anyway, I love you.
And then I drove away and that

912
00:49:07,720 --> 00:49:10,320
was it.
And Sandra and I, Sandra and I

913
00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:15,760
decided at that time that we
would go back every year to both

914
00:49:15,760 --> 00:49:19,240
San Diego and then once to Maui
and just wait on Ed say we love

915
00:49:19,240 --> 00:49:20,160
you.
When Are you ready?

916
00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:25,560
So we did that for three years
straight to let him know we

917
00:49:25,560 --> 00:49:27,520
loved him and try to bring him
home.

918
00:49:27,520 --> 00:49:34,400
And the real miracle occurred in
right when the pandemic hit.

919
00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:39,760
I'd actually prayed with an old
dude look like Gandalf, big old

920
00:49:39,760 --> 00:49:44,200
white bearded guy in Peru.
And and he says Gand and Gandalf

921
00:49:44,440 --> 00:49:49,600
Gordon says to me really great
connection with God when he

922
00:49:49,600 --> 00:49:52,040
prays and hears with great
clarity.

923
00:49:52,040 --> 00:49:56,040
And he just said, you know, the
Lord said to me that stop

924
00:49:56,040 --> 00:49:58,560
praying that Ed will get clean
and pray that God will move him

925
00:49:58,560 --> 00:50:00,680
off the island.
Like that's an interesting

926
00:50:00,680 --> 00:50:02,360
prayer.
So we had our church fast and

927
00:50:02,360 --> 00:50:05,400
pray for Ed and sure enough,
during the pandemic, he had a

928
00:50:05,400 --> 00:50:10,560
bike accident.
And Donnie, who owns a bike shop

929
00:50:10,560 --> 00:50:15,160
in Paella, would give give me
regular updates and he said I

930
00:50:15,160 --> 00:50:19,800
found Ed's bike, it's trashed,
there's blood in the street.

931
00:50:20,040 --> 00:50:24,120
I don't even know if he's alive.
And so he tells me he'll do some

932
00:50:24,120 --> 00:50:26,400
checking around.
Sure enough, he gets back to me.

933
00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:32,080
So they the police told me that
Ed was medevacced that during

934
00:50:32,080 --> 00:50:34,440
the pandemic they don't want
homeless in at the Maui

935
00:50:34,440 --> 00:50:37,560
hospital, it's too small.
So they've been medevacking him

936
00:50:37,560 --> 00:50:41,000
to Queens Memorial in Oahu.
So he changes the island.

937
00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:45,360
Yeah.
And I gave Ed's mom the

938
00:50:45,360 --> 00:50:48,400
information.
She called and Ed honestly, just

939
00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:51,560
like Gordon said, like he's in
his right mind just says, hey

940
00:50:51,560 --> 00:50:53,840
mom, I'm done.
I'm ready to come home.

941
00:50:54,800 --> 00:50:56,800
I want to come home.
And I didn't believe it.

942
00:50:56,800 --> 00:50:59,480
Ed's mom called me and told me
I'm like, get out of here.

943
00:50:59,760 --> 00:51:01,440
Ed did not say that.
She said no, he did.

944
00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:03,240
He wants to talk to you.
Like he wants to talk to me

945
00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:05,960
because he was always a little
obnoxious.

946
00:51:05,960 --> 00:51:08,200
When I would find him, he was
friendly and then would take

947
00:51:08,200 --> 00:51:10,800
off.
And I call him he's and I call

948
00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:12,760
him on the phone.
He's like, Will, I love you,

949
00:51:13,120 --> 00:51:14,960
thank you for coming to look for
me.

950
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:18,960
I'm like, who is this?
And he said, we got one problem.

951
00:51:18,960 --> 00:51:21,120
My parents said they'd buy a
plane ticket, but we don't have

952
00:51:21,120 --> 00:51:23,280
ID.
I'm like, oh, contraire, my

953
00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:27,640
friend, I have that passport.
And so I overnighted the

954
00:51:27,640 --> 00:51:33,800
passport to a guy I met in Oahu
and he picked up Ed at the

955
00:51:33,800 --> 00:51:36,160
hospital, drove him to the
airport and got him on a plane.

956
00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:40,200
And then we, my wife and I were
there with Ed's parents to pick

957
00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:45,560
him up at Dulles Airport when he
came back and there's pictures

958
00:51:45,560 --> 00:51:48,840
in the book that show him coming
in and he was in a wheelchair.

959
00:51:48,840 --> 00:51:52,600
He's pretty banged up.
And our church, my favorite, my

960
00:51:52,600 --> 00:51:56,880
favorite church service my whole
life was that church service.

961
00:51:56,880 --> 00:51:59,280
We, it was during the pandemic,
you couldn't meet the building.

962
00:51:59,280 --> 00:52:03,400
So we asked a local Baptist
Church, Mount Hope, can we use

963
00:52:03,400 --> 00:52:06,640
your pavilion outside?
And they said yes.

964
00:52:07,720 --> 00:52:09,760
And so we threw this service for
him.

965
00:52:09,800 --> 00:52:13,240
And I invited everybody that had
ever lived homeless to find Ed.

966
00:52:14,280 --> 00:52:18,320
And we sang songs.
And we, Ed came and Ed's sister

967
00:52:18,320 --> 00:52:22,080
and her husband drove across
country from Colorado to not

968
00:52:22,080 --> 00:52:25,880
miss it.
And we celebrated his return.

969
00:52:25,880 --> 00:52:31,360
And we, I said, I remember
saying, stand up if you ever

970
00:52:31,360 --> 00:52:34,320
lived homeless, to find Ed.
And Ed saw all these men and

971
00:52:34,320 --> 00:52:36,720
women he'd never met that lived
on the street to find him.

972
00:52:38,040 --> 00:52:41,280
And then I said, stand up if you
ever prayed for Ed.

973
00:52:41,320 --> 00:52:42,840
And almost the whole place stood
up.

974
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:47,920
And I said to Ed, would you look
at this room?

975
00:52:47,960 --> 00:52:53,320
Do you see how loved you are?
And he, he teared up, and I

976
00:52:53,320 --> 00:52:58,000
invited him up front, and I gave
him sandals for his feet and a

977
00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:00,640
jacket and a ring for his
finger.

978
00:53:00,640 --> 00:53:02,960
And I said, you are the
prodigal, my friend, and you are

979
00:53:02,960 --> 00:53:06,600
home and we love you.
And would you know that people

980
00:53:06,600 --> 00:53:11,680
at our church stood with Ed and
would take him out every day?

981
00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:15,440
We'd have people a sign up list
love on Ed because there was no

982
00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:19,200
Narcotics Anonymous at the time.
There was no during the

983
00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:22,720
pandemic, if you wanted NA, you
had to get online and stare at a

984
00:53:22,720 --> 00:53:25,040
video screen.
Imagine telling an attic you'll

985
00:53:25,040 --> 00:53:27,840
find support on your computer.
Just sit.

986
00:53:27,840 --> 00:53:29,880
Sit there and talk to strangers.
Get out of here.

987
00:53:30,320 --> 00:53:32,560
We had people at our church
literally every day.

988
00:53:32,560 --> 00:53:34,080
I'll have him to my house for
dinner.

989
00:53:34,080 --> 00:53:36,480
I'll have him over to do some
yard work and we'll pay him.

990
00:53:36,480 --> 00:53:38,880
I'll do.
People just adopted him, loved

991
00:53:38,880 --> 00:53:40,480
him.
He lived with his mom and dad.

992
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:43,680
But then we would we would take
AD for a sleepover one night a

993
00:53:43,680 --> 00:53:45,840
week just to give his parents a
break because they're in their

994
00:53:45,840 --> 00:53:47,480
90s.
So.

995
00:53:47,480 --> 00:53:51,400
Wow.
Yeah, his dad's a World War 2

996
00:53:51,400 --> 00:53:54,240
then.
So anyway, it just was

997
00:53:54,240 --> 00:53:55,920
incredible.
So Ed is now.

998
00:53:55,920 --> 00:54:00,520
He messaged me June 5th and
said, hey, Will, who turned 5,

999
00:54:00,800 --> 00:54:03,720
who celebrates five years off
the street today?

1000
00:54:03,720 --> 00:54:09,880
I do like, no way.
So it's a it's a miracle and

1001
00:54:09,880 --> 00:54:11,680
amazing.
Yeah.

1002
00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:17,680
We continue to go back and
there's, you know, it's, it's

1003
00:54:17,680 --> 00:54:21,200
incredible that just the
journey, but it, it changes you,

1004
00:54:21,200 --> 00:54:22,480
man.
When you love people, get

1005
00:54:22,480 --> 00:54:25,400
outside your comfort zone and
love the way you would want to

1006
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:26,680
be loved if you were in their
place.

1007
00:54:26,680 --> 00:54:30,680
It's, it's a game changer.
I'll say one last thing in, in

1008
00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:32,680
this was an eye opening thing
for me.

1009
00:54:32,680 --> 00:54:35,800
We, our church used to do these
meals in DC.

1010
00:54:35,800 --> 00:54:37,840
We go to Franklin Park,
Washington, DC, would feed the

1011
00:54:37,840 --> 00:54:41,000
homeless and we did a shoe drive
and a coat drive and all sorts

1012
00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:45,280
of stuff.
And but the first time I was

1013
00:54:45,280 --> 00:54:51,160
homeless, it's midweek.
It's just Steve and I Brian went

1014
00:54:51,160 --> 00:54:56,080
home and we are we found out you
don't have to beg for every

1015
00:54:56,080 --> 00:54:57,800
meal.
There was enough places that fed

1016
00:54:57,800 --> 00:54:59,640
you.
So we would go to where the

1017
00:54:59,640 --> 00:55:01,240
feedings were and get meals
were.

1018
00:55:01,240 --> 00:55:04,400
Excuse me, Feedings happen at
zoo, meals happen for humans.

1019
00:55:05,080 --> 00:55:09,040
So we went to where the meals
were and we're at a meal at

1020
00:55:09,200 --> 00:55:15,680
Mariners Point between Pacific
Beach and Ocean Beach, and I'm

1021
00:55:15,680 --> 00:55:18,200
waiting with all my homeless
friends in line with my plate

1022
00:55:18,200 --> 00:55:20,120
and we look rough, Dude.
We haven't slept well.

1023
00:55:20,120 --> 00:55:24,800
Hairs all jacked up, sunburn.
And I get up to line and the

1024
00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:28,320
lady serving the beans says, you
know, you want baked beans.

1025
00:55:28,320 --> 00:55:30,040
I'm like, yeah.
And I said, hey, what church you

1026
00:55:30,040 --> 00:55:31,040
with?
Who you serving with?

1027
00:55:31,040 --> 00:55:33,960
And she said, oh, you know, La
Jolla Community Church.

1028
00:55:33,960 --> 00:55:36,120
Like, that's so cool.
That's so cool that you guys are

1029
00:55:36,120 --> 00:55:37,520
out here.
This is great.

1030
00:55:37,960 --> 00:55:40,040
And I said, you know, I'm a
pastor in Virginia.

1031
00:55:40,880 --> 00:55:44,720
And she I'll never forget she
stopped and stared at me and did

1032
00:55:44,720 --> 00:55:47,120
me a once over like down to my
feet, up to my head.

1033
00:55:47,120 --> 00:55:50,360
And then she shook her head like
I was full of crap and said, you

1034
00:55:50,360 --> 00:55:52,120
want more beans, buddy?
Keep moving.

1035
00:55:52,120 --> 00:55:55,880
I went, oh, really?
You didn't just do that, did

1036
00:55:55,880 --> 00:55:59,040
you?
And I moved down the line and I

1037
00:55:59,040 --> 00:56:02,640
thought then you you lose
dignity right away.

1038
00:56:04,400 --> 00:56:09,640
You lose, you know, you a
homeless guy tells you I was a

1039
00:56:09,640 --> 00:56:13,800
lawyer.
Sure you were sure, but to be

1040
00:56:13,800 --> 00:56:21,240
treated as guilty first, you
know, prove your instance later.

1041
00:56:21,240 --> 00:56:25,400
And then I take my plate and I
plopped down at the table with

1042
00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:27,840
other homeless guys.
And I picture, you know, in the

1043
00:56:28,600 --> 00:56:32,520
beginning of Luke 15, the
prodigal son chapter, it says

1044
00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:36,840
Jesus was at a table with a
bunch of jacked up people.

1045
00:56:36,920 --> 00:56:40,600
He called the the Bible calls
sinners and he's just loving

1046
00:56:40,600 --> 00:56:46,240
them and eating with them.
And it it says he was accused of

1047
00:56:46,240 --> 00:56:49,280
being a friend of sinners.
And I wonder, are we accused of

1048
00:56:49,280 --> 00:56:51,120
this?
Could we be accused of the same?

1049
00:56:52,120 --> 00:56:56,400
Because even the lady serving
the beans is in a power.

1050
00:56:56,400 --> 00:57:01,360
She's in a power position.
It wasn't until I till I took my

1051
00:57:01,360 --> 00:57:06,000
plate and AT and sat down with
the homeless and ate alongside

1052
00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:09,640
them across the table and we
were equal that it changed.

1053
00:57:11,040 --> 00:57:12,480
Otherwise they see me
differently.

1054
00:57:12,720 --> 00:57:17,760
So serving is great, but when we
can reduce ourselves to their

1055
00:57:17,760 --> 00:57:21,280
level, ironically, that's was
God's plan to save the world.

1056
00:57:21,760 --> 00:57:26,040
I will become.
I will become one of them.

1057
00:57:26,040 --> 00:57:30,920
I will leave the comfort of
heaven and be mistreated by

1058
00:57:30,920 --> 00:57:37,120
mankind and knowing you're going
to spit on me, beat me, crucify

1059
00:57:37,120 --> 00:57:40,400
me and accuse me.
I will love you that much.

1060
00:57:41,560 --> 00:57:45,880
And so I feel like that the big
spiritual word for that in

1061
00:57:45,880 --> 00:57:50,080
theology is incarnation.
And God calls us, Be with them,

1062
00:57:50,080 --> 00:57:53,000
man, be with them.
Get your hands dirty.

1063
00:57:54,000 --> 00:57:57,200
Don't you know it's it's nice to
work in a soup kitchen, but when

1064
00:57:57,200 --> 00:58:00,120
you're done serving, take a
plate and go sit down with them.

1065
00:58:00,360 --> 00:58:04,560
Ask them about their family,
about their kids, about their

1066
00:58:04,560 --> 00:58:08,000
story.
Anyway, that's all I got.

1067
00:58:08,960 --> 00:58:13,960
Wow.
Will thank you.

1068
00:58:15,680 --> 00:58:18,760
Thank you.
Thanks for asking man.

1069
00:58:19,640 --> 00:58:26,800
We we round these conversations
out with two questions, and the

1070
00:58:26,800 --> 00:58:33,640
first of which is was it
coincidence or God?

1071
00:58:38,720 --> 00:58:43,240
You know, obviously it's God,
but I but I would say this

1072
00:58:45,080 --> 00:58:47,960
sometimes you and I pray stuff
like God, will you do this in my

1073
00:58:47,960 --> 00:58:51,200
life, XY or Z, right.
I want this.

1074
00:58:51,200 --> 00:58:54,840
Will you do this and God does
not answer the way we want them

1075
00:58:54,840 --> 00:58:59,920
to or in the time frame we would
expect or appreciate.

1076
00:58:59,920 --> 00:59:06,040
Correct.
My prayer, my prayer to God on

1077
00:59:06,040 --> 00:59:10,680
that very first trip was help me
find Ed and bring him home.

1078
00:59:12,400 --> 00:59:16,360
Very first trip.
God did not grant my request,

1079
00:59:18,280 --> 00:59:20,160
not on that trip.
Right.

1080
00:59:21,920 --> 00:59:27,240
I mean the journey of meeting
Crazy Ted and having him tell me

1081
00:59:27,240 --> 00:59:29,040
and I by the way, part of the
part of the reason I call him

1082
00:59:29,040 --> 00:59:31,600
Crazy Ted, when I offered to
pray for Crazy Ted, he said you

1083
00:59:31,600 --> 00:59:32,760
can't pray for me.
I'm like, why?

1084
00:59:32,760 --> 00:59:39,800
He said because I am the Lord.
Like, are you and I, I, I kind

1085
00:59:39,800 --> 00:59:43,040
of gave him a hard time like,
well, you know, I kind of Ted, I

1086
00:59:43,040 --> 00:59:45,640
kind of got to doubt your
credentials because you also

1087
00:59:45,640 --> 00:59:47,800
told me you knew where Ed was
and you were wrong.

1088
00:59:47,800 --> 00:59:51,520
So what kind of God doesn't know
where people are?

1089
00:59:51,760 --> 00:59:55,360
It's tricky.
So, but I mean, God, God puts

1090
00:59:55,360 --> 00:59:59,240
crazy Ted in my pack.
And you know, in a way, when he

1091
00:59:59,240 --> 01:00:02,000
said he was a Lord, I feel like
God did speak through him.

1092
01:00:02,000 --> 01:00:05,560
God used him in my life.
To say you're not going to find

1093
01:00:05,560 --> 01:00:08,280
Ed now, but I want you to come
back and live like them.

1094
01:00:09,160 --> 01:00:10,880
I want you to come back and get
your hands dirty.

1095
01:00:10,880 --> 01:00:15,560
And I'm so grateful that God
didn't grant my request.

1096
01:00:16,040 --> 01:00:19,240
I would have missed this whole
journey, wouldn't have met Kyle,

1097
01:00:20,040 --> 01:00:22,200
wouldn't have had a gal named
Candace come home and get off

1098
01:00:22,200 --> 01:00:25,160
the street.
Wouldn't have had Ed come home,

1099
01:00:25,240 --> 01:00:27,160
wouldn't have had all these
other people that went with me

1100
01:00:27,160 --> 01:00:29,200
that whose lives were
transformed.

1101
01:00:30,160 --> 01:00:33,760
I've had business people do this
trip with me and say this

1102
01:00:33,760 --> 01:00:38,200
changed my entire life how I see
people and you can apply it

1103
01:00:38,200 --> 01:00:41,160
everywhere.
So 100% not only not a

1104
01:00:41,160 --> 01:00:46,960
coincidence, it was God even not
answering my prayers on purpose

1105
01:00:46,960 --> 01:00:48,920
because he's God always sees
bigger.

1106
01:00:48,920 --> 01:00:51,600
He zooms out, we see this, he's
like, Nope, Nope.

1107
01:00:51,680 --> 01:00:53,880
I got a bigger plan.
Trust me.

1108
01:00:55,160 --> 01:00:59,440
His ways certainly are higher.
So that would be my my response

1109
01:00:59,440 --> 01:01:04,560
is not only was God in it, but
thank God he didn't answer my

1110
01:01:04,800 --> 01:01:08,320
requests that he knew better
because he knew I needed to

1111
01:01:08,320 --> 01:01:12,000
change.
Yeah, Amen.

1112
01:01:13,200 --> 01:01:15,040
All right.
Well, final question for you,

1113
01:01:15,040 --> 01:01:18,000
man.
How has your life changed as a

1114
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:25,640
result of all of this?
I think my my heart is bigger.

1115
01:01:33,200 --> 01:01:37,320
Grace, man, Grace.
We all want grace.

1116
01:01:37,880 --> 01:01:41,840
People on the street want grace.
Not everybody wants to give

1117
01:01:41,840 --> 01:01:46,720
grace, but everybody wants it.
If you want it, you got to give

1118
01:01:46,720 --> 01:01:48,840
it.
You can't hoard it.

1119
01:01:50,880 --> 01:01:54,320
You got to, you know, it's
funny, the whole prodigal son,

1120
01:01:54,320 --> 01:01:56,800
everybody knows that story.
But I think we, a lot of us

1121
01:01:56,800 --> 01:01:59,760
forget the story was not even
about this, the lost son.

1122
01:01:59,760 --> 01:02:03,680
It was about the older brother
who was so arrogant.

1123
01:02:04,520 --> 01:02:07,880
Jesus was delivering the story
to the religious leaders who

1124
01:02:07,880 --> 01:02:09,480
judged him for eating with
sinners.

1125
01:02:11,560 --> 01:02:13,960
And he was saying at the very
end of the story, there was a

1126
01:02:13,960 --> 01:02:16,600
pissed off older brother.
That's like, why don't I get a

1127
01:02:16,600 --> 01:02:21,400
party when you know, and the
Lord's like, you're my son,

1128
01:02:21,400 --> 01:02:23,760
you're always with me.
And they didn't.

1129
01:02:23,760 --> 01:02:26,160
The older brother doesn't want
the younger brother to get

1130
01:02:26,160 --> 01:02:28,880
grace.
And what the older brother

1131
01:02:28,880 --> 01:02:32,920
doesn't see is he needs Grace
just as badly, but he's so

1132
01:02:32,920 --> 01:02:38,640
arrogant he doesn't even see it.
So for me, Grace, man, we all

1133
01:02:38,640 --> 01:02:40,120
need it.
We want it.

1134
01:02:40,840 --> 01:02:48,120
You got to give it to everybody.
People that piss you off, your

1135
01:02:48,120 --> 01:02:55,200
neighbor guy on the street, your
marriage, your kids, it changes

1136
01:02:55,200 --> 01:02:59,440
you, right?
So be it.

1137
01:02:59,440 --> 01:03:10,240
Yeah, Will, thank you.
There's so much depth here and

1138
01:03:10,240 --> 01:03:11,880
there's so much more that we
could cover.

1139
01:03:11,880 --> 01:03:17,040
And yet we prayed about this
before we hit record, and I know

1140
01:03:17,040 --> 01:03:21,200
we've covered the right ground.
Thank you so much for sharing

1141
01:03:21,200 --> 01:03:23,400
all of this.
Thanks for having me.

1142
01:03:24,160 --> 01:03:29,640
It's been truly a pleasure.
I want people though, to be able

1143
01:03:29,640 --> 01:03:37,960
to hear more of your stories,
more of your experiences because

1144
01:03:38,120 --> 01:03:42,560
the thing that we often times
talk about on the show is that

1145
01:03:42,560 --> 01:03:47,440
they can be both inspired and
have aspirations.

1146
01:03:47,680 --> 01:03:50,240
So both inspirational and
aspirational.

1147
01:03:51,120 --> 01:03:56,400
So tell us how we can find out a
little bit more about some of

1148
01:03:56,400 --> 01:04:00,680
your books or the missional work
that you guys are doing in real

1149
01:04:00,680 --> 01:04:03,400
time.
Yeah, thank you.

1150
01:04:03,920 --> 01:04:07,120
Yeah, My my wider story, I wrote
a book called Along the Way,

1151
01:04:07,120 --> 01:04:10,200
Don't forget to remember, that's
more my story story, my life

1152
01:04:10,200 --> 01:04:12,280
story.
And and I weave in some of the

1153
01:04:12,280 --> 01:04:16,840
Ed's story that's on Amazon.
I wrote another book called 99

1154
01:04:16,840 --> 01:04:20,640
for One, that idea when Jesus
says, you know, a Good Shepherd

1155
01:04:20,640 --> 01:04:23,160
leaves the safety of the 99 for
the one that's lost.

1156
01:04:23,160 --> 01:04:27,080
And that was my picture with Ed.
That's a tattoo on my arm as

1157
01:04:27,080 --> 01:04:29,840
well.
That's the street signs from San

1158
01:04:29,840 --> 01:04:34,880
Diego and California.
But honestly, I'm about to yank

1159
01:04:34,880 --> 01:04:38,520
that off the shelf and we're
doing a rewrite to tighten it up

1160
01:04:38,520 --> 01:04:42,600
and and working on a potential
TV script.

1161
01:04:42,600 --> 01:04:49,760
So open that, that open the
story gets out and, but

1162
01:04:49,760 --> 01:04:52,640
honestly, website
andenduranceleadership.org is

1163
01:04:52,640 --> 01:04:54,520
where our main trips are.
If you want to join us on a

1164
01:04:54,520 --> 01:04:58,600
trip, if you want to support our
journey, we're 100% faith-based.

1165
01:04:58,600 --> 01:05:03,640
So we, we live off people to
feel like God wants them to

1166
01:05:03,640 --> 01:05:06,440
partner with us.
And a lot of people do that

1167
01:05:06,440 --> 01:05:08,120
monthly and that's how we make
it.

1168
01:05:08,120 --> 01:05:10,480
My wife and I've never like had
a ton of extra come in.

1169
01:05:10,480 --> 01:05:13,360
It's always just enough, which
is good because it keeps us

1170
01:05:13,360 --> 01:05:16,280
praying and keeps us going.
OK, God, are we going to be OK

1171
01:05:16,280 --> 01:05:18,920
next month?
But it's hey, man, we, we felt

1172
01:05:18,920 --> 01:05:25,240
like God called us on this
journey in March of 2000, 13 and

1173
01:05:25,240 --> 01:05:30,200
it's God's never missed a beat,
man, 12 years later, I'm not

1174
01:05:30,200 --> 01:05:32,200
hungry.
God's hooked us up.

1175
01:05:32,200 --> 01:05:35,720
So hey, join us on the journey.
You can sign up, e-mail me at

1176
01:05:35,720 --> 01:05:41,960
will at 99 for one will at 99
forone.org and I can add you to

1177
01:05:41,960 --> 01:05:43,960
our newsletter.
If you want to get a newsletter,

1178
01:05:44,800 --> 01:05:50,520
join our trips, join our support
team or yeah, grab a book.

1179
01:05:50,520 --> 01:05:55,200
But you know, you could also do
is just go today, get your hands

1180
01:05:55,200 --> 01:06:01,880
dirty and love somebody that
needs grace and I guarantee

1181
01:06:01,880 --> 01:06:05,080
you'll be blessed for it.
So there you go.

1182
01:06:05,080 --> 01:06:08,440
Praise God, praise God and Amen
man.

1183
01:06:09,200 --> 01:06:10,520
I appreciate you.
Thanks, Mick.

1184
01:06:10,880 --> 01:06:13,120
Will Cravens been a pleasure
man.

1185
01:06:13,640 --> 01:06:15,120
Thanks so much for coming on the
show.

1186
01:06:15,520 --> 01:06:18,160
Thanks, appreciate it 100%.
We'll talk soon.

1187
01:06:18,200 --> 01:06:26,240
Yeah.
Was it coincidence or God?

1188
01:06:26,760 --> 01:06:31,480
You decide for yourself, but I
believe you just heard a story

1189
01:06:31,480 --> 01:06:35,480
for His glory.
When You Look is powered by

1190
01:06:35,480 --> 01:06:39,000
stories just like this, and
yours could be next.

1191
01:06:39,360 --> 01:06:43,600
Go to whenyoulook.com/be a Guest
or use the link in the

1192
01:06:43,600 --> 01:06:47,560
description below.
Drop us a comment and share this

1193
01:06:47,560 --> 01:06:49,680
episode with somebody that needs
it.

1194
01:06:50,240 --> 01:06:54,440
Until next time, thanks a bunch
for listening and watching, and

1195
01:06:54,440 --> 01:06:55,280
God bless.