This week on The Ministry Growth Show we’re joined by Lonnie Sawyer and Merideth Depriest from Care Center Ministries as we discuss Christ-centered programs for underserved communities. In this episode, Lonnie and Merideth share their insights for disciple-making with at-risk youth, and men and women coming out of traumatic or addictive pasts. We also spend time discussing the power of storytelling and Lonnie makes one of the most profound statements I’ve ever heard on the subject.
”Your level of freedom is directly connected to your ability to talk about it. When you can testify, when you can say what God did, then you’re free!” – Lonnie Sawyer
Relevant Resources:
Care Center Ministries
Transcription:
SPEAKERS: Zachary Leighton, Merideth DePriest, and Lonnie Sawyer
Zachary Leighton
Welcome back to the Ministry Growth Show today on the show, I’m going to be talking with Meredith the priest, and Lonnie Sawyer. Meredith is the Director of Operations and Lonnie is the lead pastor at Care Center ministries. Guys, thanks for being on the show.
Lonnie Sawyer
Thank you for having us. Thanks
Merideth DePriest
for having us.
Yeah, what is the mission and purpose of Care Center Ministries?
Lonnie Sawyer
Care Center Ministries wants to strengthen the hand of the poor. Through Christ-centered programs, such as men’s and women’s homes, Community Center for at risk youth and really feeding pantry, food pantry, different things that we do. The idea is to is to strengthen the hand of the poor and underserved communities.
Okay. And where are you guys located? How far-reaching is your work?
Lonnie Sawyer
So we are we are in Dallas, which is the home base where Care Center started. But we’re currently in six other states as well.
Okay. And specifically, what states are you in and locations
Lonnie Sawyer
we’re in? We’re in Mountain Home, Arkansas. We’re in Memphis, Tennessee, we’re in Jackson, Mississippi. We’re in Eva, Missouri, and we’re in springtown, Oklahoma.
Okay, so you guys are all over the place? Yes, sir. Yeah. Wow. And how long has it been the organization been around?
Lonnie Sawyer
Started in 1986?
Okay, and if I’m not mistaken, I think we talked about this offline. But was it started by your father?
Lonnie Sawyer
Yes, sir. My dad was actually our dad were brother and sister. Our dad was the was one of the first recipients of care center ministries. He was okay. He was a drug addict was on heroin was bouncing from place to place. He had me and her with him. She was six, I was four. And he was on the verge of losing us to CPS or mom was in prison. And, and he just got to a place where he knew that he had to do something different. And so he reached out to the only Christian that he knew, who knew another guy who had a heart to open his home and to help people by letting them come stay with him, and to disciple them, just getting back to grassroots discipleship. And so me, my dad, and my sister showed up at this guy’s house in 1986, and my dad and this guy really were joined together at the heart and began the process of discipleship. And through that relationship Care Center ministries was birth. And then, shortly after the guy that invited us into his house, transitioned out and turn the ministry over to my dad.
Zachary Leighton
Okay, wow, that’s quite the testimony. Yes, sir. Wow. So can you can you describe some of the programs and services you guys offer within the Ministry and and how you help those in need?
Lonnie Sawyer
Yeah. So the backbone of everything we do is the men’s home, men’s and women’s home. They’re called the race program and the Tree of Life, the race program is a man’s home and the Tree of Life is the women’s home. And what it is, is it’s a one year faith based discipleship program. It we don’t focus on recovery and dealing with addiction, we focus on regeneration of the spirit and the old man going away and the new man being birthed live in life in Christ. And so that’s that’s the basis of everything that we do. And so we deal with addiction, not as like a chemical issue, but as a sin issue. And how, how whenever we’re made new in Christ, all the old identities and all the old stuff is gone. And everything’s made new in Christ. And so that’s that until the program’s a year long. At the six month mark, they have a choice to go to work and join the workforce. Or they we have a school for for leadership in ministry, that they have an option that they can be involved in. That’s the Same for the men and the women, the programs for the men and the women really focus a lot on primarily, you know, making Jesus Lord of your life. And then And then beyond that, developing character and integrity, and work ethic and discipline. And so the those are kind of some of the foundational things that we build on. And then beyond that, there’s the food pantry, that we have this open twice a week here in Dallas. And we feed people, how many people do feed,
Merideth DePriest
we feed on a typical week, we feed twice a week, and we feed between 110 and 120. Families, we usually distribute about 5000 pounds a week of food twice a week.
Lonnie Sawyer
And so the food pantry is a is a is obviously a place for for, for for giving people food. But beyond that, we want to strengthen the hand of the poor. And if there’s not a strengthening aspect to the programs that we offer them, we realize that we’re off of our mission, because that’s at the core of who we are offering people an opportunity to not only have have a handout, but also be involved in the process. So we asked him to volunteer, we asked him to take classes and he asked them to, you know, be participate in the process. Sometimes they end up going to church and all that, but not all the time. But but as long as they we asked them to be a participant and be to be a part of that was not just a handout, and we’re not overlaying an entitlement mentality. So
so there’s a participatory element to
Lonnie Sawyer
that process. Yes, sir. Yeah. Interesting.
That’s really cool. So that that faith based discipleship mentality is really what would separate you guys and distinguish you guys from other care centers or rehabilitation programs?
Lonnie Sawyer
Yeah, yeah, everything we do is geared towards taking people forward. We don’t ever want to just tend to people where they’re at, there are ministries in Dallas that do a great job of that. And we love them, we partner with them. And it’s awesome. I love what they do. It’s just not what God’s called us to do. So we are resource one of your questions was other, you know, how do we partner with other agencies, and there are agencies that are out, you know, taking care of the homeless and doing those types of things, and we partner with them, we’re a resource for them. If they get somebody that’s ready to do something different, then they give us a call, and we take them in that day.
Okay. So is that kind of a prerequisite to coming into, into your program is there’s a desire, there’s a spiritual element to their, to the growth that they’d like to see in their own life?
Lonnie Sawyer
Yeah, absolutely. We, we asked them in the interview process, do you have a problem? Do you need help? And do you realize that Jesus is the only way to fix that problem? And as long as they can answer those questions, and we take them in? And so sometimes their answers are not just a straightforward, yes. And so we got to weed through it. But as long as they we have that base understanding coming in, because we’re not gonna, I’m not a psychologist, we don’t have any psychologists on staff. We got the Bible, and we got the Holy Spirit. And, and God just leads us into doing what I mean. Jesus said, Go ye therefore make disciples. So we’re just just trying to do that the best we can. And been doing it since, you know, since we were kids, so
that’s really cool. Yeah. So your, your dad as he started down this road and process with the guy was the guy was the guy’s name that he met early on.
Lonnie Sawyer
His name was Leonard.
Leonard. Okay. So him and Leonard were was Leonard discipling. Your father were vice versa.
Lonnie Sawyer
Okay. Yeah. Yeah, him and there was a few other guys that were around the idea of what we were doing. You know, this was back before social media. So you couldn’t just get the word out. So a small group of people that were that were gathered around, and then, whenever Leonard transitioned, it was a unanimous decision to turn it over to my dad, of course, back then there wasn’t much to turn our turn over there was there was no money, there was no support. There was no you know, there was there wasn’t much to have there, but but the decision was made by him and by everybody else. And that’s that’s where it was. That’s where the transfer of power if you will, was
Zachary Leighton
Yeah. So, so you to have grown up in this disciplemaking ecosystem. Been around it your whole lives? Yep. Yep. Interesting. So what is what does discipleship look like or disciple making look like within within the Ministry?
Lonnie Sawyer
Two verses that you that come to really one primary one, when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of it, Luke 1610, he you can be faithful with that which is small, can also be entrusted with that which is large. And so we take a guy that’s, you know, strung out and you know, can’t, can’t tie his shoes and we give him one very small thing to do. And then as he’s faithful with that, we give him more. And then as he’s faithful with that would give him more. And as his responsibilities, expand, his authority expands. And before you know it over a process of time and the work of the Holy Spirit, he’s able to manage not only his life, but able to, to, you know, lead his family be a pillar in the community, and really take up a God ordained position of authority in the earth has got great. So, and a
Merideth DePriest
prime example of that is all of our other locations. Yeah. So as Lonnie mentioned, at six months, they have, you know, they have a choice. They can go into the workforce, or they can join our aim Academy. And so once someone graduates our aim Academy, then they’re in a position, somewhere in there to, you know, then start a ministry somewhere else. And that’s where all of our other locations have been birthed from, is somebody who has graduated the program, graduated the AME Academy, and taken what they’ve learned and then gone and planted it somewhere else, and started the whole process over with new disciples.
Interesting. Okay, cool. And then, Lonnie, you you mentioned a second verse, what would be that second verse,
Lonnie Sawyer
the second verse now, not that I forgot what I’m saying. It has, it has to do with diligence. I don’t remember what the what the passage is. But faithfulness and diligence are the two things that we build on a fullness, you know, doing what’s doing what’s been given to you and staying faithful with that. And then being diligent, which is going above and beyond, and, you know, being consistent. And so starting with the small things, like a guy, you know, your only job is to is to make sure your beds made. And if you can, if you can get that done, then we’ll we’ll expand you. Beyond that. Like, like I said, Before, I think I said it was just that our ministry is very personal. We have a guy and a girl that live in the homes with the, with the residents that has been through the home, and is, you know, has a personal, you know, family like relationship with the leadership of the ministry. And so it’s we try to cultivate a family environment where, you know, my dad’s kind of dad of the Ministry of by causing pops. And so he’s, he’s, he’s given direction and speaking into people’s life, not just organizationally, but also personally. He’s, he’s calling people up, you know, giving them a word and what he feels like the Lord saying, praying for people can tell me he’s doing it all day, every day. And so, and so that and then, and then you got kind of brother and sister here. We treat the people like, like there are, you know, like their family, and some people adapt to it. And some people don’t, you know, our success is measured by our obedience. And so as long as we’re doing what God’s told us to do, then then we feel like we’re successful. We don’t we know of course, we’re doing numbers, because donors want to know how many people would serve but But internally, we’re, we’re not trying to shoot for the stars, as far as numbers of people served. We want we want impact in people’s lives, and God can decide what that number is going to be.
Zachary Leighton
That’s cool. So is there a, a pursuit of like this, here in the disciple making world this idea behind multiplicative, or reproducing disciples going long term was somebody’s building relationship over an extended period of time, to the point where they’re ready to go out and make disciples themselves this reproducing multiplicative model? Is that kind of what you guys are pursuing?
Lonnie Sawyer
Yeah, that’s, that’s the that’s the driving factor. If we don’t do that, then we’re not. There’s a saying around here that says, if you’re making disciples that can’t make disciples, then you’re not making disciples. Yeah. So that’s kind of the it’s kind of the idea. Be fruitful and multiply. I mean, the parable of the steward that gave the talent he gave one, you know, gave all three of them a certain amount, and the one written buried it, he didn’t use it to, you know, to advance the kingdom. And so we don’t want to be the guy that goes and buries it and we don’t want to raise up disciples that are burying what God’s given them. So
that’s cool. So what is what is partnership with other organizations and churches and the greater community look like for you guys?
Lonnie Sawyer
So a couple of different things. One I’ve mentioned already, which was, you know, we’ve got other organizations that, you know, their mission doesn’t do the things that our mission does. And so we, we reach across the lines, and we help people out as far as providing our resources to them. And then, you know, being an avenue for those people in Dallas, there’s a lot of homeless ministries, there’s a lot of churches that are out feeding the homeless, and having been in the, in the, in the house to say, having been in the game for so long. A lot of people know who we are. And they know that we’re resources, they know that, you know, we’re probably the hardest program in Dallas, but they so if they find somebody that’s really serious about getting change and doing something different than they, they give us a call. Beyond that, we offer volunteer opportunities to partner churches, if they’ve got, you know, a group of people that want to come out and volunteer, we’ve got several different avenues to do that. One of the other things that we do that I didn’t mention in the beginning was we have a community center, that we have spring break and summer camps for at risk youth in the community. And then during the year, during the year, we have a after school program for at risk kids here in the community. And so those are volunteer opportunities for people that want to do that. And then obviously, we we, we have financial partners that are churches and ministries and businesses across the board that that support us. Okay, just a few of the main ways.
Yeah. You mentioned as you were sharing, that, that care center Ministries is the hardest program in Dallas, is there. A and you mentioned, I think someone one of you mentioned earlier, the six month mark, is there a period of time that somebody is with the organization or is that just completely dependent on that in any one individual and the Holy Spirit in the work that that the Holy Spirit is doing in that person.
Lonnie Sawyer
So we give, we give it we give the the timeframes as handlebars is what I call it, okay, training wheels, you can’t control when God’s going to, you know, work in your life, you know, you can wet it, and you can let God work. But, but he, he’s the one that controls the clock. And so, because we’re very interpersonal, and are in our development and discipleship, we’re praying through, you know, as a leadership team, when each individual’s going to be ready, and we don’t want to send somebody ahead of time. And we don’t want to hold people back. If they’re ready to go, we want to, you know, send them on. And so, so every individual is different. But usually around six months, somebody’s you know, really, you know, they’ve been through the, been through the transition. And they’re, they’re able to, you know, maintain a healthy prayer life, they’re able to get in the Word and know what they’re reading, they’re able to handle responsibility of work, they’re able to communicate with coworkers and with bosses, they’re able to recognize what, you know, just basic life stuff, you know, they’re the place where they’re ready for that. And so, so usually, it’s, it’s around that time. So
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Zachary Leighton
Can you guys describe the role of mentorship and support groups and maybe go in a little bit more detail around this disciple making stuff that you guys are doing, the models or strategies that you’re using?
And how that impacts people that men and women are they’re coming into your programs, with life controlling issues
Lonnie Sawyer
I would say that it’s, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s extremely important, we would call it discipleship as opposed to mentorship, but I guess it kind of have the same connotation. And so from the very beginning, the guy or the girl that’s running the the ministry is bringing people in to their life and, and doing life with them in the, in the practical work that they do throughout the day, it’s not just here’s your job, go do it, it’s, it’s your job. Let me show you how to do it. It’s, you know, now you try it. Now I’m with you, helping you work through any complications you might have. And so, as far as one on one mentorship goes, that is extremely important. And as at the base of everything that we do. And then, as far as group, mentorship goes, and group support, we use a program called overcomers, which is a 12 step program that is much like na or AAA, but it’s Christ centered. And in these groups, you got people, they’re obviously going through the program and working the steps, but they’re also getting vulnerable with one another in a group and sharing experiences and sharing stories. And, you know, just finding that, that healing together, you know, as a group, I know, you know, my personal walk, you know, just having that, that group support is is huge, you know, so,
yeah, so accountability plays a crucial role in all this process. Yes, sir.
Merideth DePriest
And all of the leaders or mentors or disciple makers that you would call are people that have gone through the program. So there’s, there’s not really any, like outside help or anything like that. So every leader in the home that is pouring into somebody else has gone through it themselves, you know, been proven been faithful, like Lonnie said, faith would the small given more given more given more, and that’s, that’s how they get to the point where then they’re, you know, discipling other people. And so it’s a constant.
Lonnie Sawyer
And yeah, that
that training and equipping mentality that is, seems to be baked into a lot of disciple making models.
Lonnie Sawyer
Yeah. And it’s, it’s hard to, for us, the struggle is, you know, the guy that’s speaking into your life, or the girl that speaking into a lady’s life is might not have all our ducks in a row, you know, she might just be three steps ahead of you. So, so that’s a complicated space to be in, is, when you’re when you’re close. And you’re seeing, you know, you’re trying to tell me to live like this, but I see you live in like that, you know, and so there’s a, there’s some iron sharpening iron that happens there. And obviously, there’s, there’s also, you know, levels of, of leadership. And so there’s accountability and oversight in those relationships, to avoid, you know, abuse and those types of things. And so it’s, it’s an interesting, dynamic, when you have when you have people coming out of destruction and addiction and poverty, coming into accountability and faithfulness and diligence, and, you know, it’s the mentor ship, as you would call it is definitely, definitely there.
Do you find that? Are you guys familiar with like David Watson or Curtis Sargent? Or I got a book on my desk here called replicate by Robert Galletti. These are all guys that Greg Ogden all use DMM or disciplemaking movement models or T four T or CPM? Have you? Are you recognizing any of those?
Lonnie Sawyer
There’s two of them. You said there at the end I’ve heard of before, but none of the other ones.
Okay, because it sounds a lot like what you guys are doing is very similar to a lot of those strategies and models that have that have been taught by some of those guys that I mentioned. So I just wondered if you guys were incorporating any any of that into into your process? Because it kind of sounds very similar.
Lonnie Sawyer
Y’all have to check it out. Looks interesting. Looks very similar.
In in the same way, what one of the things that you mentioned that kind of sparked that question was a lot of those models. Many times the church looking in from the outside sees somebody who’s just slightly ahead of the person that they might be discipling becomes a red flag almost for a lot of the church. But I think that you see that all throughout the disciples work, right? Like these are guys that are just slightly ahead of the person that they’re discipling and not necessarily every single person in elite Worship role is seminary trained or educated or, you know that much further along than the person that they might be guiding or leading or discipling. So
Lonnie Sawyer
it kind of hinders it, it gives a very clinical field to the church. Like you come, yeah. And, you know, you have marital problems. So you, you, obviously, you call up the marriage counselor, and you have the professional marriage counselor, come in, diagnose your marriage give you the prescription, you follow the prescription, and everything’s fixed. And just like, if you got a head cold, you go to the doctor, you head cold doctor, they give you a pill, you know, and it’s, it’s kind of a very clinical way of doing ministry that we we try to avoid, you know, I’ve got, I mean, I’ve been to school and got got my degree and everything, but, but it’s, it’s virtually useless in the sense of on the ground ministry, because I’m wanting to, I want to, I want to be led by the Spirit, I want to be, you know, I want to be in touch with people, according to what God’s saying in their lives and what they’re going through, you know, I don’t ever want to rely on you know, what The Book says. So, yeah, we get a deal. It’s very complicated.
Well, and, and the model that you guys are following similar to a lot of these others that I mentioned, there’s so much more relational. Yeah, right. And, and relationship is just always messy. It just always is, right. And so that, that’s interesting hearing that from a pastor like yourself, who recognizes that and that’s cool. How does storytelling and testimony plays a role in, in either your disciple making programs or your communication efforts, or anything else that you guys are doing?
Lonnie Sawyer
It’s, it’s twofold. Number one, always tell the the guys and the girls in the ministry, you know, your level of freedom is directly connected to your ability to talk about it. And so when you can testify, and you can say what God did, then you’re free. And so we’re trying to lead people to this place where they can boldly say what happened and that they have victory over it, and that it no longer defines them and controls them. And so and so the the first element of storytelling is the benefit that it does for the people we’re working with. That’s number one. And then number can
you sorry, to cut you off? Can you say that one more time, because that statement that you just said, like, I want to write that down and blast it out to the church as a whole.
Lonnie Sawyer
The the level of your freedom is directly connected to your ability to talk about it. I love that. I’m
sorry to cut you off. That’s beautiful.
Lonnie Sawyer
You’re good. The Lord, the Lord told me that one day, and and had me talk about things publicly that I mean, clinical psychologists would probably say, I’m not ready to talk about. But I’m telling you right now that when I spoke the words, the chains fell off, and I saw the light and I’m delivered, and I can talk about it to anybody and everybody, it’s over. It’s dead. It’s in the grave. So it’s the power of God. So
have you ever heard of a guy named Dr. Kurt Thompson,
Lonnie Sawyer
and never have?
He is, he is a clinical psychologist, a Christian psychologist, and he talks about the power of story and testimony, and how it can physically like physically, there’s science to support this, that it physically heals us. And so I think that what you just said, speaks directly to that when we can testify if this is what Jesus has done, this is what I have, what I was and where I am now, this is the transformation that has taken place. And now that I can testify to that. It’s done. It’s over. It’s complete, and now we can move on. That’s beautiful. So all right, before we went on that tangent, you’re about to say something else.
Lonnie Sawyer
The second part is, is the the way I look at it is accountability. When we when we share someone’s story on our testimonies on Facebook, or one of our publication is obviously to let people know you know, hey, God’s moving and the testimony of what God’s doing glorify God and to glorify God but but on the other side of that it’s letting people aren’t letting our sponsors and our donors and people that are partnering with with us in prayer and volunteering, letting them know that we are, you know, doing what God’s called us to do. That we are actively, you know, we’re not over here taking vacations and going to Maui and, you know, just fly First off, like, like, there are people being changed, I could go right now and go grab you somebody that doesn’t have a clean UA, that, you know, is fresh off the streets and is loving Jesus and being transformed by the power of the gospel. And that that’s important for us to have that connection to the newest person. And, and, you know, continuing to bring that out. And so, so telling story telling the stories to the public is is is, you know, really about countability portion, partially about kind of interesting.
Merideth DePriest
For the next person, you know, one person’s story brings so much strength and hope to the next person that they might not have
is testimony a part of the process within your groups and like your kind of group building groups or your disciple making groups as a part of that program is, hey, let’s, let’s teach you and train you how to share your testimony. Because what we find is that a lot of people say, Yeah, I know that Jesus has transformed my life, but I don’t really know what to say, or how to talk about that.
Lonnie Sawyer
Yeah, we do. We, it’s not in the curriculum, per se. But whenever we see somebody that’s, you know, advancing and doing good, you know, we see that there may be a day where this guy’s going to need to share his story, then we’ll pull them over to the side, you know, teach them I’ve got a simple method, if you will, that you can share in an elevator ride. It’s, it’s called Keep it in the bag. It’s where you been, where you’re at, and where you’re going. And you just share, you know, I was, I was a hopeless dope fiend. I lived on the streets for 10 years. And Jesus saved me brought me to care center, I’m being discipled. And one day I plan to go do XYZ. Just real simple.
Yeah, that’s really cool. I took a look at your guys’s website and some of your social platforms and found a handful of stories. And so obviously, that is important aspect of what you guys do. So it’s good to see because oftentimes, what we see in the Christian nonprofit space, or the church space is everybody’s talking about the organization and and their strategies and, and how great their organization is, and come see our stuff. And there’s little not that those things are bad, but there’s little testimony and storytelling of what God is doing. Yeah. And so it’s encouraging to see that you guys are putting some of that content out there. And making sure like one of the things that you said that stuck out to me in that last answer was, you’re recognizing you’re looking at your, the, the men or women going through your programs and recognizing, alright, this guy, or this gal might be getting close to being in a place where they’re ready to share their story. So can you talk about that a little bit like when recognizing when somebody’s ready and prepared to share their story, versus maybe sharing a story that’s not quite finished yet? And talking about what sharing that story before it might be ready?
Lonnie Sawyer
Yeah, I’m, I’m a firm believer, and don’t share the story till it’s till it’s ready. And so what we do is, a lot of times, we’ll have them share it, you know, if we feel like they’ve, they’re reaching some freedom, and they’re getting some, some deliverance and one on one, and they can talk one on one, then we’ll, you know, have a setting maybe in a group of guys, you know, share the story that we were talking about, you know, and, and have them do it, do it on a small platform. And then, and then having them do it on a on a bigger platform is just all about, you know, really, it’s the Holy Spirit. Number one, you know, really having that, that sense of, you know, the, the Holy Spirit’s leading in this direction. And then number two, is, you know, just having that personal connection with that person, and just knowing Alright, I know this person, and I know they’re ready. You know, once again, it goes back to personal connection.
Zachary Leighton
Yeah. On maybe can you share a little bit about that storytelling process for you guys, where a lot of the stories, it seems like you’re probably dealing with a lot of prayer prior or pre existing trauma. And so that’s maybe what you’re talking about is some of these stories are just not ready to be told yet? Because we’ve got to deal with some of that stuff before we can testify. Yeah. Yeah, sorry. And some of that old stuff that can cause more damage than then good.
Lonnie Sawyer
Yeah, absolutely. The the the root of the root word of testimony is test. And so we’re, it’s it’s been tested, and it’s been proven that that’s exactly what God did. So I want to make sure that when somebody is telling their story that they have victory, and that God has given them healing, and that God has given them victory in that area. And in the event that he has, then let’s testify. But if you’re still in the middle of it, and it’s not ready yet, then absolutely regard that regard that voraciously is that a word?
Merideth DePriest
Well, any personal relationship, because anybody that’s in any sort of authority level here is going to have constant day to day contact with these people. And so the fruit is there, if there’s like one, he said, If there’s victory, if there’s freedom, we’ll see. I mean, it’s evident, anybody would be able to see it. And if it’s not, then we see that as well.
Zachary Leighton
That’s cool. The revelation 19, comes 1910 comes to mind, the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, what, what God has done in my life he can do in your life, too.
Lonnie Sawyer
And that’s a that’s a big part of storytelling here, too, is, you know, I tell the guys, you know, I grew up in the ministry and then went to prison and acted in idiot for about 10 or 15 years. And I share that story with the guys not because I want to blow my horn of hey, I’m a bad guy. You know,
I can relate to you too.
Lonnie Sawyer
But because because God set me free. And he can. Do you know, and so, you know, that’s, it’s part of the story.
That’s cool. So Well, on that note, if people want to learn more about what you guys are doing if churches in your area want to get on board and partner with you guys, how can they get a hold of you and learn more
Lonnie Sawyer
care center ministries dot o RG is our website. And that’d be the best way just click on the Connect button. And it’ll send an email to one of us. And we’ll, we’ll respond and get you plugged in.
Awesome. Can I pray for you guys as we wrap up? Absolutely. Absolutely.
Lonnie Sawyer
Thank you. Yeah, Father,
I just lift up Lonnie, and Meredith and the care center ministries team, I pray that you will just continue to bless and use this organization for your Glory for Your kingdom. Father, it’s obvious that you’re doing some really cool stuff. Thank you for their obedience to make disciples who make disciples, Lord, that primary mission that you gave before you ascended Lord, thank You for their willingness to answer that call. And it’s cool to see the the generational impact going on in this ministry to like, that’s, that’s really exciting. Father, we just ask that you would give Lonnie and Meredith the guidance as they lead the team and that it would be a blessing to the men and women in these programs, that we love you and thank you that we get to be a part of what you’re doing. And we pray these things in your name. Amen. Amen. Thanks for coming on the show, guys. We appreciate it.
Lonnie Sawyer
Thank you. Thank you for having us. Yeah. Yeah. I need to pray over your ministry as well. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that. Have a good one. You too.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the ministry gross show. If you enjoyed it, we’d appreciate it if you rate and review us on the iTunes Store, and make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode. If you have a story to share with other ministry directors and pastors, or know someone who would be an incredible guests on the ministry growth show, let us know we love connecting with ministry executives and sharing their wisdom and insight with our audience. Just send us an email at info at reliant creative.org And lastly, if you need help telling your ministry story, we would love to share how we can help in that process. Check out for Lion creative relying creative dot we’ll see you next time.
