Speaker: 00:00:00

We have something called the social work

standards and ethics

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that we have to certain competencies

that we have to to go by.

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They're all wrapped up in Matthew

five six and seven.

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Conduct your life in a way of integrity,

in a way of love,

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in a way of looking at yourself

first and pouring out to others.

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There you have it.

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You're doing social work.

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All right.

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Well,

Elizabeth, welcome back to the podcast.

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So you're a social worker, in the city.

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And you also have a pretty fascinating

testimony and story,

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which we're doing that as a whole,

separate thing that will be released

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before this one.

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So, you know, people can check that out

if they want to get more of your context.

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So we're not going to get into that part,

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but I do want to get into another piece of

of your, well, your life story.

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And that is being a social worker.

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And focus in on that and exploring

what is your role there.

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So let's start with some basics.

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What is a social worker

and like what exactly do you do?

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I mean, I I've never interviewed

a social worker before.

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I, feel pretty clueless about this

and I feel like I have a lot to learn, so.

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Yeah, tell me.

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Yeah, it's of course it's a topic

of choice for me, a preferred topic.

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So, because I did come from a,

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a worldly society

or average American society.

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I had a couple of years of college and

before we came to the Anabaptist faith,

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then there came a point where I knew that

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I was going to have to take care of myself

financially,

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and that my body might not always be able

to be,

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able to take care of people.

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I worked in the field of disabilities,

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and so I wouldn't always be able

to physically take care of my folks.

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I needed a way to make a living

that I could do past age 65.

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So that's just some pieces

that fed into my pursuing social work.

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I got my four year

degree, bachelor's degree,

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which is four years of college,

in biblical studies

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and human Services was my minor,

but just got tagged on to that.

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And that's when I became interested

in the idea of how social work can

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serve the church.

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And that put me on fire.

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And I ended up going to graduate school.

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And in May I received my master's degree

in social work.

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So I am now working towards

full licensure.

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That takes a year of supervision.

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And then I will be a licensed

clinical social worker.

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So what what do you do exactly.

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Like like what does a social worker do?

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Currently

I work as a behavioral consultant.

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I work with children

that have intensive behavior issues.

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So I go into the homes and I

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look at what's going

on, and I come up with a

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I assess, I evaluate,

come up with a treatment plan, say,

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this is how we're going to go after this

bug, keep all the data.

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Teach people

what to do and how to work with this child

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and bring them to where they want to be.

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Best case scenario.

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The beauty

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of social work to me,

and what really attracted me is

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it is such a wide,

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wide variety of things you can do with it.

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At first, people hear social worker

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and they think of a lady with a clipboard,

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you know, taking children off

to foster care.

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You know, it's

got some real negative connotations.

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And in an urban area,

it has really negative connotations.

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where I live and serve in my church

is an urban setting.

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So it's like, you know,

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it it does look a little odd,

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and I realize that, and I just acknowledge

it and work through it.

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But a social worker can do that

can work for the

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the county or whatever,

and protect children in need.

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A social worker can do so many things,

work in a hospital,

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helping people to find the resources

they need.

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Get grandma into a facility.

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Get some. Find a rehab.

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Get finding services

for people in the disability area.

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I can manage group homes.

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I can help people find get the services

they need.

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What government programs

they can and cannot get.

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What?

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What programs are appropriate for them?

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You can work in a disaster

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situation helping people to figure out,

okay, a tornado took my house.

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Now what do I do?

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All right, well, let's get you this aid.

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Let's let's plug in to this.

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As well as the component of sitting

with the person.

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And processing the difficulty.

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You know, then my faith can come in if the

if they're open to that, you know, and.

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Well, why would God let you know a flood

take my entire house away?

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Why would God do that?

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You know, you can work at a hospital

with dying children.

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You can. It's just.

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It's huge.

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You can work in a academic setting,

teaching or school counselor.

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You can work with the police department

in a helping

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to get through their difficulties.

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You can.

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Come up with a mobile

shower for homeless people.

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It's what?

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Wherever God calls you. So that.

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That clinched it for me.

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That wide variety.

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I can do wherever the Lord sends me.

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I'm equipped.

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Okay. So. Wow.

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That that's really helpful for me

because it seems like

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there's a lot more variety here

than what I thought, you know.

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So that's. Yeah, that's really something.

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So so you already mentioned

some of the pieces,

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but if you want to add any more of like

why did you choose this career

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and then the, the piece

that I was really thinking about as like

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feels like this would be a pretty hard job

sometimes, right?

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There's

surely there's easier things to do. Yeah.

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So if you wanna speak into that.

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It is. It's messy.

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And and we're

walking into messy situations.

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But didn't Jesus do that

when he walked into this earth?

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He walked into a

messy, sin ruined situation.

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So, you know, that kind of helps me,

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to take that context

when I go into a house

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that might be culturally

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quite different

from what I'm accustomed to.

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That, you know, hey, Jesus visited a sin

sick world

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and lived there for 33 years and bought

all of that for an hour, hour and a half.

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I can sit here,

you know, with various situations.

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So, but a lot of it is the,

the component of is the Lord putting me.

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Here. Or have I put myself here?

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That's important.

That's an important piece.

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I'm not just here because I want to go

and help these people.

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It's the Lord sending me there.

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It feels like motive.

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Or the intention behind

it is a is a really important piece

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that I keep hearing coming out with this.

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Right.

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I think it is.

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And it is for me as a Christian.

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And it's very much an outpouring

of my faith for other social workers.

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It might be just that, that thing in them,

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that altruistic, I want to do good.

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You know, I want to make a impact

on this injustice or that unjustice.

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You know, for me,

my motivation is what would Jesus do?

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Well you can get into that a bit more.

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Go a little deeper with that.

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How does your faith inform the work

that you're doing?

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Which I'm

sure there's many areas of intersection,

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but but again, I think there's, there is

kind of a stigma around the social worker,

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like you said, the person with the,

you know, stern and the,

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you know, the clipboard and things.

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So there's all these stigmas.

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And so when I heard,

oh, you're a social worker.

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Oh, that now that is interesting.

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You know, I want to drill into that a bit

because how does what you believe,

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how does that inform

what you do on a daily basis. Yeah.

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It does have an impact

because of the outward testimony.

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You know I obviously look different

than the people

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in the inner city

or the people that I serve.

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And so I get some real,

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real blunt questions.

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You know, I work with kiddos right now,

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or I work with adults

that have intellectual disabilities.

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And their questions are real blunt.

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What's in your head? Yeah.

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Okay.

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You know, we've got to go here right now.

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You know,

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so, you know, I kind of have some answers

and I just say, oh, there's a Bible verse

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I really like

that makes me want to wear it.

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That's enough for them.

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If mom wants to ask me later

that's her thing.

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So you're working with fairly

young people.

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You said.

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At this time?

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Most of my kiddos are like age 4 to 12.

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Okay.

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Most of my experience is with adults

with intellectual disabilities.

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So then I've got a greater range.

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And I still do that.

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Like on a ministry level with those folks.

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So that kind of

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lays my foundation, like, okay,

I go with the Bible.

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That's my measuring stick.

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That's where I go.

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And then if they want to speak into that,

fine.

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If they want to ignore that, fine.

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Then we go on to the next thing.

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Something that really impacts

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how my faith informs

my social work practice.

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Could.

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Probably be summed up in Matthew

five six and seven.

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We have something called the social work

standards and ethics

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that we have to certain competencies

that we have to to go by.

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They're all wrapped up in Matthew

five six and seven.

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Conduct your life in a way of integrity,

in a way of love,

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in a way of looking at yourself

first and pouring out to others.

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There you have it.

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You're doing social work.

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so let's pivot slightly

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and say

do you have challenges of balancing

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what you believe your convictions

with the responsibilities of your job.

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Like do those ever misalign.

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And you have to kind of wrestle

through that?

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Yeah.

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And that that would be what we call

in the social work field ethical dilemmas.

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Okay.

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And but it happens to everybody.

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It doesn't just happen to a conservative

Anabaptist out there.

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It also will happen to maybe somebody

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who's part of the LGBTQ community

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that needs to serve somebody

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who is got Trump signs

all over their yard.

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You know.

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Yeah. You know. Okay.

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So if you're a social worker, you

you're going to have to deal with that.

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And the answer is the same as the answers

we see in the Bible

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and in the sermon on the Mount.

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Look in at yourself.

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Know what you are.

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Know where you are

before you be pouring out on other people.

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So that's how we're taught.

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You need to be aware if you have racial

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racial blind spots

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in either direction, whether you're

a white person who has racial things there

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or whether you're a, social worker

who is African American,

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who feels really ripped off

and has had it with the system well,

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she can't be getting in the face

of the white principal she's working with.

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You know about this. So.

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So we have to temper that.

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That's that's biblical.

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Okay.

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This is all the consider

the beam in your own eye.

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You know

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so a lot of the concepts

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very much tie in to my faith.

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And then the outpouring

very much. Service.

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I mean, that's that's

just plain a gospel fact.

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There have there been times

when there was a real tension there that,

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that if you're able to give like say

a specific

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example like okay, wow, here's

one of those ethical dilemmas.

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And you had to walk through that

and try to find the

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I'm not even sure what you would say the,

the middle ground or some.

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I almost don't like that word.

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It feels like there's

that's not quite the right thing

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I'm going for,

but I think you get what I'm saying.

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Common ground. Yeah. There you go.

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If I am sitting with somebody

that is from the LGTBQ community,

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some might not

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all, but some might come at me

as like, you're against me.

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You think I'm a sinner?

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You know, it's like, technically,

ain't we all?

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You know,

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I can relate to that person.

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And part of it is

because I've had an education.

255

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It might give me a little bit more of a

the liberal viewpoint

256

00:12:47,641 --> 00:12:49,143

on some of that stuff.

257

00:12:49,143 --> 00:12:54,732

But it's like, yeah,

but if somebody is in adultery

258

00:12:54,732 --> 00:12:57,777

or drunkard or whatever,

I mean, it's all the same.

259

00:12:58,778 --> 00:13:03,449

It doesn't matter whether it's the

if you're waving a rainbow flag

260

00:13:03,741 --> 00:13:06,744

or whether you're going to the bar

or whether you're beating up your wife.

261

00:13:07,620 --> 00:13:10,289

It's all the same, sin is sin is sin.

262

00:13:10,289 --> 00:13:13,083

I want to go

with what's common between you and me.

263

00:13:14,210 --> 00:13:16,253

And let's focus on that.

264

00:13:16,253 --> 00:13:18,631

What do you need from me?

I need you to understand me.

265

00:13:18,631 --> 00:13:19,799

I understand you're human.

266

00:13:19,799 --> 00:13:22,301

We're good. Let's go.

267

00:13:22,301 --> 00:13:23,010

Okay. So.

268

00:13:23,010 --> 00:13:24,720

So that's the.

269

00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,389

Would that be one of the fundamental

principles that you end up using.

270

00:13:27,389 --> 00:13:29,433

Then this concept of common ground? Yeah.

271

00:13:29,433 --> 00:13:32,520

You know, somebody, say

I would be a school counselor,

272

00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:35,189

and I have a teenager coming in,

and she's like,

273

00:13:35,189 --> 00:13:38,192

I want an abortion,

and I need you to help me get an abortion.

274

00:13:39,068 --> 00:13:41,362

I can't, you know, I can't do that.

275

00:13:41,362 --> 00:13:44,365

You know, so I can refer her to somebody.

276

00:13:44,657 --> 00:13:44,990

Okay.

277

00:13:44,990 --> 00:13:48,744

Well I know of a place that shows

you all your options.

278

00:13:49,620 --> 00:13:50,454

Check that place out.

279

00:13:50,454 --> 00:13:52,790

Okay. See.

280

00:13:52,790 --> 00:13:57,586

So that that gets a little more down

into like a real tangible situation.

281

00:13:57,586 --> 00:14:00,381

Right. That,

that could get messy really quick.

282

00:14:00,381 --> 00:14:01,632

We’re quizzed on that stuff.

283

00:14:01,632 --> 00:14:04,760

So what I wasn't sure

if there are certain limitations

284

00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:06,428

on what you're allowed to do.

285

00:14:06,428 --> 00:14:09,014

Like like why I'm sure there are

certain there's parameters.

286

00:14:10,349 --> 00:14:11,392

The way you just described it.

287

00:14:11,392 --> 00:14:13,394

Oh, okay. I can see that.

That makes sense.

288

00:14:13,394 --> 00:14:14,687

You know.

289

00:14:14,687 --> 00:14:15,104

Yeah.

290

00:14:15,104 --> 00:14:18,941

If a same sex couple comes to me

and says I need marriage counseling.

291

00:14:19,900 --> 00:14:23,821

You know, I can assess

what their issues are in general

292

00:14:24,154 --> 00:14:28,158

and then I can say, hey,

you know Sally over there,

293

00:14:28,409 --> 00:14:32,413

she really understands your community

and your context.

294

00:14:32,413 --> 00:14:35,332

I think she's a better choice for you.

295

00:14:35,457 --> 00:14:37,668

That does make a lot of sense

296

00:14:37,668 --> 00:14:40,671

because wow I can still imagine

297

00:14:40,838 --> 00:14:43,841

tension being a possible thing.

298

00:14:44,341 --> 00:14:47,011

Well actually probably quite a lot

in a lot of different ways.

299

00:14:47,011 --> 00:14:47,887

Right.

300

00:14:47,887 --> 00:14:51,223

But then again, perhaps I'm

looking at this

301

00:14:51,223 --> 00:14:55,561

a bit wrong, when in reality

we all face this to one extent or another.

302

00:14:55,561 --> 00:14:58,105

Anytime you interact with society.

303

00:14:58,105 --> 00:14:59,315

You know, obviously you experienced it

304

00:14:59,315 --> 00:15:01,984

in one way as a social worker,

but maybe all of us do.

305

00:15:01,984 --> 00:15:03,193

I we interviewed.

306

00:15:03,193 --> 00:15:06,196

I'm just thinking, off the top of my head

interviewed my dad, actually, about,

307

00:15:07,031 --> 00:15:10,784

his business stories and things like that

and how standing up for,

308

00:15:11,410 --> 00:15:13,287

you know, what was ethical, what was right

309

00:15:13,287 --> 00:15:13,871

and how was like

310

00:15:13,871 --> 00:15:16,874

sometimes that really cost, you know,

and it was trying to find, again,

311

00:15:16,874 --> 00:15:19,919

you know, kind of common ground like, wow,

I can't really do that because that's

312

00:15:19,919 --> 00:15:20,920

that's not right, you know,

313

00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,006

and sometimes that the stories don't

always end amazing.

314

00:15:24,048 --> 00:15:27,760

You know, sometimes there's a real cost

to standing up for something, right? But,

315

00:15:28,761 --> 00:15:30,679

and so maybe

316

00:15:30,679 --> 00:15:32,765

some of what you're facing

in these scenarios

317

00:15:32,765 --> 00:15:36,185

that we're talking through is actually,

something all of us face

318

00:15:36,393 --> 00:15:39,980

in one way or another is that you think,

you know, respond to that.

319

00:15:40,064 --> 00:15:43,067

And just our view of of humankind.

320

00:15:43,817 --> 00:15:46,445

How do we minister

and how do we relate to people.

321

00:15:46,445 --> 00:15:47,863

Now like I said, I'm in an urban

322

00:15:47,863 --> 00:15:52,076

setting in my church

and our focus is serving that community,

323

00:15:52,284 --> 00:15:55,579

almost that neighborhood in the,

in a city.

324

00:15:55,621 --> 00:15:59,208

You know, your neighborhood is like about

about the block

325

00:15:59,208 --> 00:16:02,211

around you, you know,

and of course, everything's upward.

326

00:16:02,252 --> 00:16:05,381

So there's, you know, 3

or 4 stories of families.

327

00:16:06,256 --> 00:16:09,093

But that's your little community.

328

00:16:09,093 --> 00:16:13,764

And you come across all kinds.

329

00:16:15,015 --> 00:16:16,809

But we need to

330

00:16:16,809 --> 00:16:19,812

just do that on a community basis

331

00:16:20,187 --> 00:16:22,690

and then it just gets bigger. Okay.

332

00:16:22,690 --> 00:16:25,693

So then we look at the whole city

and how our church will then

333

00:16:25,734 --> 00:16:28,070

hopefully impact the city which will

334

00:16:28,070 --> 00:16:31,740

hopefully impact society

which hopefully will impact eternity.

335

00:16:32,825 --> 00:16:33,909

You know so we're kind of

336

00:16:33,909 --> 00:16:37,121

starting with the neighborhood

and making a spiral around.

337

00:16:38,330 --> 00:16:41,875

And that's one of the beauties of,

of being in the city.

338

00:16:43,085 --> 00:16:44,878

Is that we are coming

339

00:16:44,878 --> 00:16:48,882

across folks

that are fresh out of jail and homeless.

340

00:16:48,882 --> 00:16:51,010

And I mean that's who we serve.

341

00:16:51,010 --> 00:16:53,637

That's our concentration

for our congregation.

342

00:16:53,637 --> 00:16:57,850

That's where the Lord has called

our congregation is with the homeless and,

343

00:16:58,350 --> 00:17:01,812

and those who don't have the services

that they need.

344

00:17:02,396 --> 00:17:07,568

So my social work has been really working

hand in hand with

345

00:17:08,277 --> 00:17:11,280

with my church's vision.

346

00:17:12,281 --> 00:17:15,951

I think that's another part

but and maybe you can speak to that

347

00:17:15,951 --> 00:17:20,247

as well as how, what your work is doing,

how that interfaces with say

348

00:17:20,247 --> 00:17:25,210

the different ministries that a church

may do in this environment, say.

349

00:17:25,294 --> 00:17:25,669

Yeah.

350

00:17:25,669 --> 00:17:29,423

Well our church,

the building itself was given to us

351

00:17:30,174 --> 00:17:34,303

by a congregation that had money and age

352

00:17:34,303 --> 00:17:38,807

but did not have the membership to sustain

what they had gotten going.

353

00:17:39,349 --> 00:17:40,851

It's a huge building.

354

00:17:40,851 --> 00:17:44,813

Old fashioned stained glass windows,

the church bell, the whole nine yards.

355

00:17:45,355 --> 00:17:47,191

They gave us the building, plus,

356

00:17:48,275 --> 00:17:50,235

plus plus.

357

00:17:50,235 --> 00:17:53,655

But one of the conditions

was that we continue their homeless meal.

358

00:17:54,114 --> 00:17:55,407

It's what they called it.

359

00:17:55,407 --> 00:17:56,992

We call it a community meal.

360

00:17:56,992 --> 00:17:58,535

So you don't have to be homeless to be

there.

361

00:17:58,535 --> 00:18:00,162

It's just anybody.

362

00:18:00,162 --> 00:18:04,875

And so we serve I think at this point

it's has been pre-COVID.

363

00:18:05,167 --> 00:18:06,835

We are nearly 100.

364

00:18:06,835 --> 00:18:09,838

Now it's probably up to about 40 folks

365

00:18:10,047 --> 00:18:13,300

that come in and we get

we feed them, but we don't.

366

00:18:13,717 --> 00:18:15,969

We sit down and eat with them.

367

00:18:15,969 --> 00:18:18,972

They don't go through a line with a

a tray.

368

00:18:19,807 --> 00:18:22,601

You know,

we sit down, our families sit down,

369

00:18:22,601 --> 00:18:25,646

they get to experience us

and we get to experience them.

370

00:18:26,063 --> 00:18:29,900

And that's our vision

of impacting the community.

371

00:18:30,651 --> 00:18:33,654

Wow. And we've had people

that come to church.

372

00:18:33,946 --> 00:18:37,950

I think almost all of our community,

people that have attended our church

373

00:18:38,158 --> 00:18:41,912

came first to the community meal,

to check these people out.

374

00:18:42,162 --> 00:18:43,872

You know, hey, I get it.

375

00:18:43,872 --> 00:18:45,082

You know, I totally get it.

376

00:18:46,083 --> 00:18:49,503

So, you

know, that is kind of our way of serving.

377

00:18:49,670 --> 00:18:53,632

So we're coming it up

against people who just got out of jail

378

00:18:54,133 --> 00:18:56,677

or have significant mental health

379

00:18:56,677 --> 00:19:00,806

diagnosis and can't maintain an apartment,

and they're homeless

380

00:19:00,806 --> 00:19:04,852

and living under the bridge

or don't want to because they believe

381

00:19:04,852 --> 00:19:07,855

the whole world's corrupt, who know,

you know, all kinds of scenarios.

382

00:19:08,105 --> 00:19:10,315

We see all kinds of stuff.

383

00:19:10,315 --> 00:19:14,444

And so my,

my social work practice has been able

384

00:19:14,444 --> 00:19:17,698

to inform the other people in the church.

385

00:19:18,198 --> 00:19:21,451

We have had people under various

386

00:19:22,202 --> 00:19:25,789

mental conditions, or sobriety conditions

387

00:19:26,165 --> 00:19:31,086

that want to come to a church service,

and they might be disruptive.

388

00:19:31,086 --> 00:19:33,505

How do we handle this? You know?

389

00:19:33,505 --> 00:19:35,215

They're just kind of like Elizabeth.

390

00:19:35,215 --> 00:19:40,220

Now, all the guys in my church have the

crisis intervention number on their phone.

391

00:19:40,888 --> 00:19:42,472

Now they know the drill.

392

00:19:42,472 --> 00:19:43,599

Somebody is out of hand.

393

00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:46,435

You know, this is the number I call.

394

00:19:46,435 --> 00:19:51,565

Now, We've had it happen where they've

had to come in and escort the person out.

395

00:19:52,941 --> 00:19:55,319

We now have

396

00:19:55,319 --> 00:19:56,778

different

397

00:19:56,778 --> 00:19:59,781

plans in place for people that.

398

00:19:59,781 --> 00:20:02,034

Really, all they want is our bathroom.

399

00:20:02,034 --> 00:20:03,076

They're homeless.

400

00:20:03,076 --> 00:20:04,286

They want to clean up.

401

00:20:04,286 --> 00:20:05,871

They want to use our bathroom.

402

00:20:05,871 --> 00:20:08,874

They have to sleep through church

so that they can use our bathroom.

403

00:20:10,125 --> 00:20:11,210

Yeah. How do you handle that?

404

00:20:11,210 --> 00:20:14,379

How do you handle your children

seeing that?

405

00:20:16,256 --> 00:20:19,259

How much do you want

your children interacting with them?

406

00:20:19,343 --> 00:20:22,346

You don't want them

to be pulling away from it.

407

00:20:23,222 --> 00:20:25,140

But is that person safe?

408

00:20:25,140 --> 00:20:27,559

You know, all that stuff comes up.

409

00:20:27,559 --> 00:20:28,101

And so I'm.

410

00:20:28,101 --> 00:20:31,939

I'm really grateful for my social work

training that I can,

411

00:20:32,814 --> 00:20:36,568

you know, kind of stand in that gap

a little bit, if that makes any sense.

412

00:20:37,444 --> 00:20:39,029

So it's been a real blessing.

413

00:20:39,029 --> 00:20:42,699

The Lord has just blessed it

from all kinds of angles and made it

414

00:20:42,699 --> 00:20:44,076

clear to me that's the path

415

00:20:45,035 --> 00:20:48,038

that he wants me to serve him in.

416

00:20:48,288 --> 00:20:48,664

Okay.

417

00:20:48,664 --> 00:20:50,999

So I can imagine

418

00:20:50,999 --> 00:20:53,210

that you have a number of stories

419

00:20:53,210 --> 00:20:56,964

and experiences and things you know,

from this type of work.

420

00:20:57,089 --> 00:21:00,717

Is there one story in particular,

perhaps, that you'd like to share with us

421

00:21:00,717 --> 00:21:03,345

that kind of captures what you're doing

and why you do it?

422

00:21:03,345 --> 00:21:06,014

There's actually two hopefully I won't.

423

00:21:06,014 --> 00:21:07,516

Sure.

424

00:21:07,516 --> 00:21:10,477

The one story that has touched me

425

00:21:10,477 --> 00:21:14,690

the most is from our own groups.

426

00:21:15,190 --> 00:21:20,237

A group of church

people came together to say to each other,

427

00:21:20,487 --> 00:21:24,741

we have a brother in our congregation

who is a quadriplegic.

428

00:21:25,075 --> 00:21:29,162

He's 60 years old

and his parents are getting old.

429

00:21:29,746 --> 00:21:33,834

What are we going to do

when they cannot manage his care anymore?

430

00:21:34,876 --> 00:21:36,586

What they ended up doing was coming up

431

00:21:36,586 --> 00:21:40,549

with a multi church board,

because we are in a larger area

432

00:21:41,508 --> 00:21:42,509

and they came up with a

433

00:21:42,509 --> 00:21:47,306

multi church board and built a house

well, added on to a house

434

00:21:47,848 --> 00:21:50,851

and put up a group home for

435

00:21:51,476 --> 00:21:56,565

conservative anabaptists with disabilities

that cannot be taken care of at home.

436

00:21:56,898 --> 00:21:59,401

But a nursing home isn’t inappropriate.

437

00:21:59,401 --> 00:22:05,324

They built this home

that is awesome and I was very privileged.

438

00:22:05,324 --> 00:22:09,619

And again, it was a total God thing that

he landed me there to manage that home.

439

00:22:10,287 --> 00:22:13,915

First, the Lord took me through

some training at a place,

440

00:22:14,458 --> 00:22:17,085

a very large ministry.

441

00:22:17,085 --> 00:22:19,338

So I learned how to run a group home

442

00:22:19,338 --> 00:22:22,341

and really went through some stuff,

learning that.

443

00:22:22,424 --> 00:22:26,094

And then it's like, that's why you had me

go through that, Lord.

444

00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,723

And so I had the privilege of managing

that group home for seven years,

445

00:22:30,015 --> 00:22:34,227

watching the church interact

with with our residents.

446

00:22:34,227 --> 00:22:38,190

We had three residents

interacting as a church body.

447

00:22:38,523 --> 00:22:42,569

I mean, you know, as conservative

anabaptists, we do that really well.

448

00:22:42,903 --> 00:22:45,280

And they did. Oh, they did.

449

00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:48,075

So that it was just

450

00:22:48,075 --> 00:22:52,746

the church was working

well and and it just wow, I loved

451

00:22:53,121 --> 00:22:57,084

I loved it, and I'm

still very involved with the house,

452

00:22:58,043 --> 00:22:58,543

but my

453

00:22:58,543 --> 00:23:01,505

full time job is working

as the behavior consultant.

454

00:23:01,630 --> 00:23:04,633

I go over to the group home,

work weekends, or just hang out

455

00:23:05,008 --> 00:23:06,676

with my dear ones. But I lived there.

456

00:23:06,676 --> 00:23:11,765

I lived in an apartment above the house

for seven years and managed the home.

457

00:23:12,224 --> 00:23:12,432

Yeah.

458

00:23:12,432 --> 00:23:16,478

That's, that seems like such a snapshot

of the body of Christ

459

00:23:16,478 --> 00:23:19,398

coming together

to, to to care for those in need, like.

460

00:23:19,398 --> 00:23:20,315

Wow. Yeah.

461

00:23:20,315 --> 00:23:20,982

That's amazing.

462

00:23:20,982 --> 00:23:23,985

It was, it was is a God thing, you know?

463

00:23:24,569 --> 00:23:27,030

So so it was just.

464

00:23:27,030 --> 00:23:28,865

It just blessed my heart.

465

00:23:28,865 --> 00:23:32,702

And because that was a basically

like a church mission.

466

00:23:33,995 --> 00:23:36,581

We weren't a licensed,

and we only had three.

467

00:23:36,581 --> 00:23:39,876

If you have four or more residents,

you need to be a licensed facility.

468

00:23:40,710 --> 00:23:43,338

So now as a social worker

and as a licensed

469

00:23:43,338 --> 00:23:46,758

social worker,

I could have a licensed facility.

470

00:23:47,551 --> 00:23:49,928

Oh. Which could be

471

00:23:49,928 --> 00:23:52,556

I mean, it was much nicer

to not have to deal

472

00:23:52,556 --> 00:23:57,436

with all the paperwork, regulations

and licensure, but I knew the rules.

473

00:23:57,436 --> 00:24:03,150

I could keep standard that House,

you know, would have passed an inspection.

474

00:24:03,150 --> 00:24:05,193

I knew what the regulations were.

475

00:24:05,193 --> 00:24:06,361

I could keep that.

476

00:24:07,612 --> 00:24:09,656

It was all, you know, absolutely.

477

00:24:09,656 --> 00:24:11,700

You know, legal and on the up and up.

478

00:24:11,700 --> 00:24:15,495

But if other groups, other states,

I would know how

479

00:24:16,663 --> 00:24:19,791

now, how to do that

and help other groups do that.

480

00:24:19,791 --> 00:24:21,668

And I do work with,

481

00:24:21,668 --> 00:24:26,006

Anabaptist Disabilities Network

and some different places

482

00:24:26,006 --> 00:24:30,260

who have interest in that,

this sort of, church outreach.

483

00:24:31,261 --> 00:24:34,806

So that's,

that's my probably my favorite story.

484

00:24:36,558 --> 00:24:39,227

My other one, is what I see

485

00:24:39,227 --> 00:24:42,230

in my congregation.

486

00:24:43,273 --> 00:24:46,276

I just when I see

487

00:24:46,485 --> 00:24:50,155

the men for lack of a better

I mean, the women do it too.

488

00:24:50,155 --> 00:24:54,367

But you know, men

lead out in relating to these folks

489

00:24:55,035 --> 00:24:59,164

that are from the community

and dealing with these situations,

490

00:25:00,123 --> 00:25:03,126

just from what they know in the Bible

491

00:25:03,126 --> 00:25:06,129

and just what the Holy Spirit

is doing in their hearts,

492

00:25:06,630 --> 00:25:09,591

and the answers and responses

that they are

493

00:25:09,591 --> 00:25:14,012

giving to these people

are the same things that we're learning.

494

00:25:14,012 --> 00:25:15,931

That's thus and thus model.

495

00:25:15,931 --> 00:25:17,849

Oh, that's this such a technique.

496

00:25:17,849 --> 00:25:19,100

Oh, that was, you know.

497

00:25:20,101 --> 00:25:20,810

But this is

498

00:25:20,810 --> 00:25:23,813

just coming out of Christ in them.

499

00:25:23,897 --> 00:25:26,900

And it's like, wow,

500

00:25:26,983 --> 00:25:29,986

you know,

they didn't have to be taught to do that.

501

00:25:30,445 --> 00:25:33,448

You know,

because they're open to learning.

502

00:25:34,074 --> 00:25:35,617

You know,

503

00:25:35,617 --> 00:25:38,119

I mean, yeah, none of them probably knew

504

00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,248

what crisis intervention was

before we started our church.

505

00:25:41,706 --> 00:25:43,625

You know, they're learning.

506

00:25:43,625 --> 00:25:48,213

But yeah, it's just really touching

to see the church.

507

00:25:48,797 --> 00:25:50,423

Work and.

508

00:25:50,423 --> 00:25:53,635

We hear a lot of complaints about

the church this the church that, you know,

509

00:25:54,719 --> 00:25:57,180

but I think it does us well to concentrate

510

00:25:57,180 --> 00:26:00,183

on when the church is working well.

511

00:26:00,267 --> 00:26:03,270

I think our ministers

and our leaders deserve that.

512

00:26:04,771 --> 00:26:07,941

Yeah I was just going to say

there are so many examples of that.

513

00:26:08,191 --> 00:26:12,487

You know where you do see,

you look around, you're like oh whoa.

514

00:26:12,487 --> 00:26:15,407

That, that church

did something really incredible there.

515

00:26:15,407 --> 00:26:20,161

Really served its community and like made

a difference in the local environment.

516

00:26:20,161 --> 00:26:23,748

And people look at them like, wow,

that's that's amazing.

517

00:26:23,790 --> 00:26:24,040

You know.

518

00:26:25,083 --> 00:26:27,669

And that feels like we're on such solid

519

00:26:27,669 --> 00:26:31,756

historical footing, like, you know, the

the church's has has always done that.

520

00:26:31,798 --> 00:26:32,215

You can

521

00:26:32,215 --> 00:26:35,677

trace that thread, you know, all back back

all the way to Jesus and the apostles.

522

00:26:35,969 --> 00:26:37,596

And that's a beautiful legacy.

523

00:26:37,596 --> 00:26:40,849

You know, and anyways,

so that story you told about the

524

00:26:41,516 --> 00:26:42,892

the home that you were involved in.

525

00:26:42,892 --> 00:26:46,438

That's

that's pretty spectacular, actually.

526

00:26:46,438 --> 00:26:51,026

And, maybe there's someone listening,

been like, like, hey, we should.

527

00:26:51,026 --> 00:26:52,736

Yeah, we should think about doing

something like that. Like,

528

00:26:52,736 --> 00:26:56,489

how can we care for the people in the

in these types of situations, you know.

529

00:26:56,781 --> 00:27:00,118

And it can be switched into any situation,

530

00:27:00,410 --> 00:27:03,413

you know, here in our area and,

and other areas, there are,

531

00:27:04,706 --> 00:27:06,625

kind of settings for people struggling

532

00:27:06,625 --> 00:27:11,671

with crisises in their life

or mental health issues

533

00:27:11,671 --> 00:27:16,134

or family issues or,

you know, things like that,

534

00:27:16,676 --> 00:27:21,765

or they if they if the church

feels led to have a homeless shelter.

535

00:27:22,932 --> 00:27:25,310

How would they start doing that?

536

00:27:25,310 --> 00:27:28,313

If our churches had more social workers?

537

00:27:29,397 --> 00:27:30,732

We can help with that, you know?

538

00:27:30,732 --> 00:27:33,026

So that was kind of something

that inspired me.

539

00:27:33,026 --> 00:27:35,278

I feel like the church needs social

workers,

540

00:27:35,278 --> 00:27:38,281

and I think social work needs the church.

541

00:27:38,990 --> 00:27:39,574

Yeah. Yeah.

542

00:27:39,574 --> 00:27:41,284

And I think that is

a pretty important piece

543

00:27:41,284 --> 00:27:44,621

that this isn't something

that's happening in isolation.

544

00:27:44,621 --> 00:27:44,829

Right.

545

00:27:44,829 --> 00:27:47,832

Like this is interfacing close

or should be I guess you're saying,

546

00:27:48,083 --> 00:27:50,669

interfacing very closely

with the local churches, you know?

547

00:27:50,669 --> 00:27:51,586

Yeah.

548

00:27:51,586 --> 00:27:54,964

as we bring this episode to a close,

what's a piece of advice

549

00:27:54,964 --> 00:27:57,967

or something

you'd like to leave the listeners?

550

00:27:58,635 --> 00:28:02,639

Like I said, I, I feel that

the church needs more social workers,

551

00:28:02,639 --> 00:28:08,144

and I feel like, as general society

declines and becomes more complicated,

552

00:28:09,479 --> 00:28:11,106

we plain people aren't going

553

00:28:11,106 --> 00:28:14,109

to enjoy the wide margins that we have

from the government.

554

00:28:15,276 --> 00:28:18,279

You know, right now

they leave us school our own. Or.

555

00:28:18,613 --> 00:28:20,198

Have births at home or whatever.

556

00:28:20,198 --> 00:28:23,535

They kinda, you know,

we get a lot of awful lot of privilege.

557

00:28:24,035 --> 00:28:27,330

Actually, I think we're probably,

as a Mennonite woman, I think

558

00:28:27,330 --> 00:28:30,333

I'm probably about the most privileged,

559

00:28:30,667 --> 00:28:32,877

you know, segment of society

that there is.

560

00:28:32,877 --> 00:28:37,590

There's people open doors

and hand me their babies and walk away.

561

00:28:37,590 --> 00:28:40,468

You know, it's just like,

you know, It's awesome.

562

00:28:40,468 --> 00:28:43,471

But, you know,

I can see how that could decline.

563

00:28:44,305 --> 00:28:46,057

Very rapidly.

564

00:28:46,057 --> 00:28:48,560

And, you know, so now I'm getting

a little intellectual here, but

565

00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,563

I just feel like as a church,

566

00:28:52,355 --> 00:28:54,691

we need to be able to handle that.

567

00:28:56,109 --> 00:28:58,486

And I so I think

568

00:28:58,486 --> 00:29:02,157

my part of being a social worker

could help that.

569

00:29:02,407 --> 00:29:06,703

And all those who are out there

who are paramedics or doctors.

570

00:29:07,328 --> 00:29:12,876

Or. Mamas raising their babies,

I mean we all are doing, you know,

571

00:29:12,876 --> 00:29:15,879

like we can all contribute to that

if we're wise,

572

00:29:16,671 --> 00:29:21,843

you know, and think about the church

and how we as a church can impact,

573

00:29:23,011 --> 00:29:24,971

you know, like I was saying before about,

574

00:29:24,971 --> 00:29:27,932

you know, community go wider,

575

00:29:27,932 --> 00:29:30,935

you know, society go wider,

576

00:29:31,144 --> 00:29:35,440

eternity,

you know, just keep opening up that lens

577

00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:38,443

and letting letting your impact

or letting Christ,

578

00:29:38,860 --> 00:29:41,821

Christ, in you, impact.

579

00:29:42,739 --> 00:29:44,449

This has been fascinating.

580

00:29:44,449 --> 00:29:49,037

I, I hope this episode has encouraged

people to have a better understanding

581

00:29:49,037 --> 00:29:51,706

of this type of work

and also encourage people to say, oh,

582

00:29:51,706 --> 00:29:52,874

you know, let's think creatively.

583

00:29:52,874 --> 00:29:57,796

Like how, how could our church, you know,

get involved in, in society around us.

584

00:29:57,796 --> 00:30:00,965

You know, like you said, start a homeless

shelter or, you know, help

585

00:30:00,965 --> 00:30:04,093

this person in this particular situation,

whatever that might be.

586

00:30:04,093 --> 00:30:05,970

There's lots and lots of options. Yeah.

587

00:30:05,970 --> 00:30:07,555

We do community well. Yeah.

588

00:30:07,555 --> 00:30:10,391

You know like you said historically

I mean that's what we do.

589

00:30:10,391 --> 00:30:13,937

Well. So let's give Christ

590

00:30:15,355 --> 00:30:16,523

while we're doing that.

591

00:30:16,523 --> 00:30:18,775

Let's make sure people

are taking Christ with them.

592

00:30:18,775 --> 00:30:23,404

Not shoo fly pie you know

and yeah barn raising.

593

00:30:23,446 --> 00:30:24,656

So you know those are great things.

594

00:30:24,656 --> 00:30:26,074

Those are valid things.

595

00:30:26,074 --> 00:30:29,077

But let's give them Christ.

596

00:30:29,285 --> 00:30:30,495

Yeah.

597

00:30:30,495 --> 00:30:30,870

That's it.

598

00:30:30,870 --> 00:30:33,665

That's that's

some powerful pieces to leave us with.

599

00:30:33,665 --> 00:30:37,126

Well Elizabeth, thanks for taking the time

to come on and share with us today.

600

00:30:37,126 --> 00:30:38,878

I really appreciate this.

601

00:30:39,921 --> 00:30:42,173

Thanks for listening to this episode

with Elizabeth.

602

00:30:42,173 --> 00:30:45,093

There's much more to her story

that we weren't able to cover, but you can

603

00:30:45,093 --> 00:30:49,347

find that whole story of how she went

from being Roman Catholic to the Amish

604

00:30:49,347 --> 00:30:53,059

and then on to the Mennonites

in the episode linked down below.

605

00:30:53,518 --> 00:30:56,729

If you appreciate what we're doing here

at Anabaptist Perspectives, consider

606

00:30:56,729 --> 00:31:00,692

joining our exclusive Partner podcast,

which is available to monthly supporters

607

00:31:00,692 --> 00:31:01,442

of any amount.

608

00:31:01,442 --> 00:31:04,946

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