The Gentlemen Project Podcast
Podcast highlighting impactful stories of parents and what they do to be successful at home and at work. Helping you turn the time you have with your kids into time well spent helping them learn the most important lessons in life. The Gentlemen Project Podcast is hosted by Kirk Chugg and Cory Moore-friends who are passionate about fatherhood and raising the next generation of great kids.
The Gentlemen Project Podcast
God Knows Your Name--Heeding Divine Promptings with Kerry Owen (Part 2)
Kerry Owen returns to share more transformative stories about divine promptings, miracles, and the power of seeing others as God sees them. Building on our previous conversation, she reveals how listening to spiritual guidance has led her to save lives and create lasting change.
• Kerry shares the story of being visited by the spirit of a teenager's deceased father who revealed his daughter's plan to take her life
• Understanding promptings: Kerry explains how spiritual guidance typically comes to her three times before she acts
• The miraculous story of two youth named Joshua and Jericho who were divinely selected for an overseas program
• Details about Kerry's experience wearing a Maori cloak (karawai) and feeling the arms of love from ancestors
• How witnessing a homeless man being mistreated led to a six-year project creating transitional housing for youth
• Stories of helping refugees and recognizing the privilege of having access to medical treatment
• Insights from Alison Merrill Hong's story about missionaries bringing light to a Taiwanese slum
• Information about Kerry's upcoming book "The Gift of Charity: Embraced by Karawai of Love" releasing in July
If you feel inspired by this episode, act on the good thoughts you have. Connect with Kerry and support her work at www.reachouttodayorg.
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Today we have a very special guest who we adore, carrie Owen, and if you listened last time, this is the second edition. We loved her story so much and her spirit and we I mean at the end of the last podcast we were already planning this podcast and there's some stories that we didn't quite get to, that we wanted to get to and that Carrie wanted to get to. So here we are.
Speaker 2:It's been a very popular podcast episode. Many people have reached out and said that it impacted them and changed the way they thought about, the way they're prompted and taking action on thoughts that they have. It was there's. If you have not listened to episode one of Carrie Owen, turn this off. Go back one episode to Carrie Owen part one. Listen to that, because that is going to make this podcast even more incredible to listen to.
Speaker 2:Carrie is doing so many amazing things. She started internationally, came to America and she's just making a footprint wherever she goes. So we're not going to recap everything that Carrie's done. Otherwise, half of today's podcast would be recapping all of the really cool things that she has done and the honors that she's received. However, so go back and listen to episode one.
Speaker 2:There's a few things that we decided we needed to touch on a little bit more. The stories that she tells are incredible and there was just a couple of those lessons, the takeaways from last episode, that really felt like we needed to flesh out some of these surrounding stories, because I think I may be speaking for myself here, but I learn and remember conversations and lessons and things that I carry on through my life by stories, because I remember those stories, I remember the people, I remember the feelings that I feel when I hear the stories. So Carrie is a masterful storyteller. So today you're going to hear some of Carrie's stories that have built her faith, that have built the type of person that she is to take action and do the things that God wants us to do in our lives. We're going to touch on this throughout the podcast, but she's got a book out and a book coming out. We're going to touch on both of those things so that you can find Carrie in other places besides the Gentleman Project podcast. So we'll recap shortly here.
Speaker 2:There was a story that you told in episode one of a prominent leader in New Zealand that had asked you how do you know why you're here? What's your purpose in life? Been able to share with him some things that changed his outlook from less of an academic standpoint to understanding more that God knows each and every one of us. And we said in the last episode we've got to. We've got to hear some of these stories that you shared with him so that we can maybe hear some of those things and have that same effect in our lives. So would you mind Carrie now talking that we've I've blubbered enough. So would you mind? Carrie now talking that I've blubbered enough. It's time for the more beautiful voice in the room to take over and tell us some stories.
Speaker 3:So would you start with that one? Yeah, so this gentleman had asked me to prove God was real, and he kind of did it jokingly, with a wink. I thought, like you said, I thought I can't do it from a scriptorial point of view because I'm not very good at remembering scriptures, but I can share stories with him, and so I shared three, and I'm going to share one of those today. One night my sleep was disturbed by somebody standing next to the bed. Initially I thought it was one of the kids, but quickly realized that that once again I was receiving a visit from a soul who had passed on. I closed my eyes and prayed for the being to leave, but then a calm feeling came over me. This soul was the deceased father of a teenager I knew, although I did not know her very well. He told me that his daughter was planning to take her life. He explained in details the reasons she had come to that decision. By the time he finished, I was moved to tears, realizing how much this girl had been through. The father asked me to tell his daughter about his visit, including all the details that no one else knew, and to hug her and tell her he loved her. I promised I would, and then he was gone the next morning. I became nervous. I did not doubt the visit, but I did doubt my own ability to be the messenger.
Speaker 3:Later that day I invited the girl to go into town with me. On the drive there she seemed happy. She openly shared her hopes of traveling the world, teaching English in foreign lands and singing on stage. I was confused and decided not to say a word about her father's visit. On the way back to her house I felt as though someone gently pushed me. I knew at that moment that it was her father, giving me the nudge I needed. I blurted out about her father's visit and she stared at me in disbelief.
Speaker 3:When I pulled into the driveway, I recounted everything her father had told me in detail. She burst into tears and turned away from me, occasionally turning back at me exclaiming no one knows any of those things. After some time she reached over and hugged me tightly, crying. She then sat back in a seat and let out a huge sigh and said I know that my dad visited you because no one knows any of these things. There is so much more to this story which I'm not at liberty to disclose, but I'm happy to report that the father's visit was life-changing for his daughter. She did go on to travel the world and teach English in foreign lands. So that was one of the three stories that I shared with this gentleman, and he became emotional because he felt like he couldn't. He had a scientific mind and he couldn't make sense of it, and so I think it was really that story, that kind of softened him and then he asked so what do you think my life's calling is?
Speaker 1:what advice would you give to people as it relates to listening to those promptings and then acting on them? You You've done a good job of that and, granted, I think God gives you more because you've listened over many years now. But what advice would you give others to be in tune, to listen, to act on promptings, because that's special.
Speaker 3:You know, I've thought, I've given it a lot of thought. You know how, do you know where promptings are prompting? And I can only speak for myself, but they tend to come in threes, I don't know why. Um, so generally I'll have this thought come to my mind and pretty much 100% I'll dismiss it, and then I'll have this thought again and then I'll try and make sense of it and then I'll have the thought again and it's almost like screaming out to me. And that's when I know, okay, I can't ignore this, and so I'm hoping one of these days I will just react to the first prompting. I don't know why it has to take three for me to act, but that's how it rolls with me.
Speaker 2:And I learned something from someone one time I respect a lot, and she said sometimes it doesn't come again, it doesn't come again.
Speaker 2:And she's taught herself that if that feeling to do something comes to mind, that that might be the only chance you have to act on it, because it might be something, like you just shared, where someone's life depends on it. And so she, she didn't want to miss out on that opportunity to act, and so she had taught herself just, if you have that feeling, you just act on it, almost without questioning it, because if it's a good thing, the worst thing that could happen is you do something good for someone else, so run it through the filter of it. Is this wise? Is this wise? Is this safe? Right, uh, but if, if it meets the qualifications of service or helping someone else, the worst that could happen is you end up helping someone else. Um, the best thing that could happen is, um, you, you become a tool to help them in their life and, uh, like you did with this girl where no one knew except her and God.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, we had another story that we wanted you to tell, which was the two youth.
Speaker 3:Okay, yes.
Speaker 1:That we talked about, yes, earlier. Yes, can you tell us that story? The two youth and the tabernacle choir? I believe it is.
Speaker 3:Yes story, the two youth and the tabernacle choir. I believe it is yes. So I feel like the last story that I just shared, you know, for me, really, um strengthened my belief that our loved ones, once they pass on and they stay close, um, but this next story, really, for me, um reinforced, um my belief that god knows us, and even by our names. I found an opportunity for two youths to be sponsored to participate in a four-day camp in the united states. When we advertised this opportunity, many youths applied, applied. Two friends began interviewing these candidates. At the end of each day, these people wondered how will we decide on the final two? Each one of them deserved to go. Most of them had never left New Zealand.
Speaker 3:One night, after four days of interviews, I had a dream. I saw a young man with a long braid and then heard the name Jericho three times. When I woke up, I phoned my friend asking if we would be interviewing anyone named Jericho that day and told her about my dream. My friend looked at a list of names and excitedly exclaimed that there was someone named Jericho scheduled for an interview that day. Jericho is an uncommon name in New Zealand. I had never met someone by that name. As we entered the building where we would be conducting the interviews, my friend took a quick peek into the room where the applicants were waiting. Then, with a big smile, she said there is a young man with a long braid in the waiting room. We concluded that he must be Jericho. When the young man with a long braid walked into the room, I was in awe, as he was the same young man I had seen in my dream the night before. I looked at my friend and nodded to confirm that he was the one. However, there was a twist His name was not Jericho, it was Joshua. So who was Jericho? When it came time for Jericho's interview, a young woman walked in. We knew we had the two who were meant to go.
Speaker 3:Later my friend informed Joshua and Jericho that they had been selected and they were ecstatic. Neither had a passport. So we helped them apply and organise the travel arrangements, and my friend would also accompany them on their travels and attend the four-day event. My husband and I had family in that part of the United States, utah, so we decided to pay for our own trip and spend a day with my friend, joshua and Jericho before their event began. Day with my friend, joshua and Jericho.
Speaker 3:Before their event began, we gave Joshua and Jericho a list of tourist activities to choose from. Surprisingly, one of the things they chose was to attend a choir rehearsal in the city. It was a world-renowned choir called the Tabernacle Choir. Because it was religious in nature, I had wrongly assumed that this might not appeal to them. Now I would like to just clarify that these youth that we had interviewed were in a second chance schooling situation. They had been either kicked out, they were part of gangs, they were in trouble with the law. So, yeah, I really didn't think they were going to want to listen to the choir.
Speaker 3:My husband and I planned to meet them at the choir rehearsal after they had checked into their hotel. While we were waiting for them to arrive, my husband asked what their names were. I said Joshua and Jericho. He then looked up something on his phone and said there's a song with both those names and its title. It's called Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho. And I was like huh, what a coincidence.
Speaker 3:Just moments later, the choir stood up and began to sing that same hymn Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, joshua, jericho. And my friend arrived as the choir was still singing the first verse, and they said it didn't take them long to notice that this choir sang a hymn that included both of their names. They were thrilled. Joshua commented that I must have arranged for the choir to sing this song for them. No, I told him. He gave me a look as if he didn't believe me. So I added honestly, I couldn't have organized this.
Speaker 3:Even if I'd wanted to, I had no connections with this choir or its conductor. If I'd wanted to, I had no connections with this choir or its conductor. Joshua and Jericho asked my friend if she could take them to see the live broadcast. A few days later, after the live broadcast had ended, the conductor spoke to the audience saying that the choir had been asked to sing the song. Joshua fit the battle at Jericho again and implied that this was unusual. Joshua and Jericho turned to one another with the biggest smiles. I'm convinced that this experience from the dream about Joshua and Jericho to the song which included both of their names in a place far from home was no coincidence. It added to my belief that we are all God's children and that he knows each of us by name.
Speaker 1:You went through that so efficiently. It's kind of like I'm still making it sink in. I had a dream I saw these people Jericho name. They come here, they hear that song.
Speaker 2:When you said Joshua and Jericho, I was like I know that song. I've heard that song. It's amazing when sung by that choir. It blows you away.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and just the timing of it and the fact that on the Sunday the conductor said this is highly unusual, but we've been asked to sing it again. And then, just to add to this story, two days later my husband and I were in a store and he said there's the conductor from the Tabernacle Choir and he said I'm going to go and tell him. And he walked up to him. They had this conversation and the conductor was quite moved and he said yeah, we all were wondering why we had to sing it again. And he said and now we know why Do I have permission to go back to the Tabernacle Choir and tell them? And we were like, yes, Of course.
Speaker 3:They need to know. So it was a really special experience and, you know, going from the dreams to the end, meeting the conductor just randomly in a store.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that doesn't happen. It doesn't happen.
Speaker 3:It's like the coincidence of it, and you know, my husband was saying the other day like we've been living here now almost eight years. We've never seen him again, you know. But the fact that it was just two days after this highly unusual situation, yeah, so it really did. Um, yeah, add to my testimony that he knows each of us individually add to my testimony that he knows each of us individually.
Speaker 2:So you've got an upcoming book. So you've got one uh, that's already out and it's the not so secret lives of real Mormon wives, which is kind of a play on words with the whole Hulu series of um that's that's come out this last year. Um, but it's about women who women of faith that have done amazing things with their lives, and Carrie is one of them. Um, but she's also got a new book, uh, coming up, called the gift of charity embraced by Karawai of love, and I probably mispronounced that. It's a Maori word.
Speaker 3:It is.
Speaker 2:I am assuming. It is, and it will be on the bookshelves in July. What is a karawai?
Speaker 3:Yes, so a karawai.
Speaker 2:Oh, I did say it wrong. You were even close, not even close.
Speaker 3:Tone was way off.
Speaker 3:So a karawai is a Maori cloak worn on significant occasions. Um, this particular cloak actually belonged to our daughter's biological family and when they heard about me receiving this royal honor, they extended the invite for me to wear this cloak. And at first I wasn't 100% sure if I should accept, because I wasn't Maori and I kind of wanted to respect them and their culture and you know, I was white Pakeha and so yeah, so basically I actually prayed about it and this feeling came yes, this is a privilege, accept. And so I did. I actually found out later when I was talking to Abby's biological grandmother that I was telling her about this little dilemma that I had, that I didn't know if I should accept, and she said, oh, you'd have offended them if you didn't accept. So I'm like, oh, I'm glad that I did.
Speaker 2:They're not worried about cultural appropriation.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but the one thing that so people have these kowtow eyes made and they have a meaning to them, and the meaning for this cloak was the arms of love from ancestors who have passed on the family, who are present and even the future generations who are yet to be born. So, when this cloak is placed upon you, that is what they believed, that I would have the arms of previous ancestors and people and, you know, future generations, which is beautiful, especially because I do have a testimony that we have ancestors that are still, you know, looking out for us.
Speaker 2:You might even speak to us in a dream. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3:And so, yeah, so when I went to this investiture ceremony and Abby's biological grandmother put this kauri over my shoulders, I did not expect to feel the arms of love of ancestors past, you know, present and future, but I had this overwhelming feeling of love come across me and it took me by surprise and as I was processing this, I just thought it can't be, it's just a cloak. But yeah, I literally did feel this overwhelming, beautiful feeling of love and although I'm not Maori and although, um, this is not my biological, I really felt that their arms were around me. That's cool, yeah.
Speaker 2:It was beautiful. Your adopted daughters? Tell us a little bit more about that. Did you feel like it was her family?
Speaker 3:I did, yeah, which was super beautiful and unexpected, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but that took a little while the process. Like this family is grateful for us adopting their family member into our own home.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they always call her our beautiful Abby. Her name's Abby, so you know it was. I feel like they gave us a gift and trusted us and and in return, I feel like our lives have been blessed by having Abby, but also because we have this beautiful relationship with her biological family, and I think it also reminds me that actually, we are all brothers and sisters. You know, we are actually all family. I think we forget that, and maybe that was one of the things that I felt in that moment. Um, and I looked at Abby's grandmother as she tied the bow and her eyes were filled with tears, and mine, so I feel like she felt that too. Yeah, so it was beautiful that is beautiful.
Speaker 2:So your book is titled after this experience the gift of charity. Uh, tell us a little bit more about the book yeah.
Speaker 3:so the book, um, you know, just goes in a little bit of background, um, for the reader to get to know a little bit about me, where I was born, my family and so forth, how I ended up in New Zealand and then how I ended up, you know, starting up the charity Feed, the Need which we talked about last time, you know, was inspired by dreams.
Speaker 3:Go back and listen to episode one if you haven't back and listen to episode one if you haven't, um, and so yeah. So I just talk about all those experiences the highs, the lows, the miracles, the many miracles um, one of the lessons being that I learned that charity work was actually all about love. It's that simple. It's all about love and um, yeah, just amazing experience. The experience with joshua and jericho was in there. Um, so yeah, just uh, just lessons learned and some incredible stories and, hopefully, um people will feel inspired and motivated to get out and serve yeah, go buy the book.
Speaker 2:It's hitting shelves in July. How do you feel about that?
Speaker 3:excited you know, it's funny because, like I think I mentioned it last night last time, I I never went to college um, I wouldn't, I'm not academic at all and so I felt inspired to write and I really didn't want to because that would take a lot of work, and I felt like it was almost like stopping me getting out doing the hands-on work and why would I do that instead of being out actually doing the hands-on work?
Speaker 3:But I had an experience where I realized that actually by sharing experiences in a book, on a podcast, actually creates this domino effect that people will listen, people will read and will be inspired to get out and serve and, like we touched on last time, you know, I feel like we all have a calling, we all have good that we can do wherever we are in the world and, um, and so, yeah, there's still good that can be done and hopefully even more like, if there's this domino effect, then maybe even more good can happen than if I focus just on doing the hands-on work. And so I began a long time ago with a friend.
Speaker 1:Lisa.
Speaker 3:Knowlton and we just started you know, putting a compilation of my stories together, and it's taken years. We began at the end of 2019. But yeah, good things take time.
Speaker 2:So, since you've been on the podcast part one, go back and listen to part one. Has anything happened? Like has some of those dominoes started to fall?
Speaker 3:yes, yes, so I've had different groups approach me. We've had I've been asked to to a keynote speaker at a couple of events. I've had others wanting to interview and do videos and all sorts. It's just been awesome just to see this domino effect. And you kind of think about the numbers, like you know, imagine at an event you're talking, let's say, to a thousand people how many of them are gonna go on and do good. You know, that's kind of cool when you think about it.
Speaker 3:I think I said in the last podcast that, um, they did a tv story in New Zealand on the charity feed, the need and a little bit about my story, and then just to hear of people being inspired by that and going out and doing amazing things. You know it's really exciting just to kind of hear those stories and then they'll be inspiring other people and it's like this awesome domino effect and with all the you know the troubles in the world, I feel like more than ever we need that goodness in the world. So if we can create this domino effect, like if this podcast can reach an audience and one of the listeners will go out and do some good, well, then it's worth it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, agreed. In your last podcast you talked to us about how kind of the story of what brought you to Utah on the first plates.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But I don't think we got into the Reach Out Today story, did we?
Speaker 3:Well a little bit. But when it comes to the transitional housing project that you were involved in Corey you know we're involved in Corey I don't think you've actually heard of the actual story that began the process of learning about homelessness and why this project came about, and so I hope today that I can share that story.
Speaker 1:That'd be great.
Speaker 3:Okay, awesome. While waiting at the traffic light of a busy four-way intersection, I noticed a disheveled man hobbling awkwardly along the sidewalk. His tattered clothing and unclean appearance, along with a half-filled trash bag hanging over his hunchback, suggested he was homeless. His face had a grey pallor with deep wrinkles and his eyes remained fixed on the ground. With every step he took he grimaced. His right leg was limp and heavy and twisted. My mind flooded with questions. What could have caused the injury? What had led to his current sad state? Did he need help? As the questions swirled around my mind, I was struck by an image of him as a precious newborn baby. No longer was I seeing an unkempt homeless man on the sidewalk, but rather a beautiful child of God. Pure love filled my soul. This image made me wonder whether he had been loved and nurtured in his formative years. Had he ever been told that he was of great worth?
Speaker 3:The light turned green for the vehicles coming from my left as the cars passed this homeless man on the sidewalk. A black pickup truck slowed down and rolled down its windows. The young male occupants threw their open soda cans at the man, while shouting obscenities as he pulled his arms up to protect his face and head from the heavy blows. His trash can, felt trash bag, fell to the ground. This young man, these young men laughed hysterically at each blow. I gasped at this cruel injustice and cried out no, no, no. But my window was closed and no one could hear my cries. I tried to catch the truck's plate number, but it sped off too quickly. The traffic light for my lane turned green. I desperately wanted to abandon my car, run to this man, comfort him and see what I could do to help, but there was nowhere for me to legally pull over. Honking sounds from multiple impatient and angry drivers behind me made me hit the accelerator. I had no choice but to drive on. I got one more. Look at the homeless man who was now crying out to the heavens with his arms outstretched. I burst into uncontrollable sobs as I left the scene. God, I cried why did you show me him as a baby, only to see him be hurt, ridiculed and demeaned when there was nothing I could do to help? Ridiculed and demeaned when there was nothing I could do to help? I knew that this image of that man as a newborn baby was inspired. I had been given a glimpse into how Jesus saw this man that night, I prayed about what he would have me do.
Speaker 3:A burning desire to learn about homelessness in America, which I now called home, kept me up late that night. Bleak statistics surrounding youth aging out of foster care and ending up homeless was disheartening. In the subsequent weeks and months, I visited local homeless shelters and safe houses, asking youth and adults if they would be willing to speak with me about how they ended up homeless Sorry, sorry, sorry. Thankfully, my British accent with a New Zealand twang seemed to intrigue them and they agreed. Time and time again they told me about being exposed to trauma, suffering neglect and being placed in and out of foster care. As children, they desperately wanted stability, safety, a place to call home and a family who would love them and meet their physical and emotional needs. My heart broke listening to their stories. Often my emotions got the better of me, like today, and these individuals would reach over and comfort me.
Speaker 3:Soon more images entered my mind through dreams, confirming that I was on the right track. I felt inspired to begin a project to advocate for more transitional housing for youth who were aging out of foster care or experiencing homelessness. If someone would have told me that it would take six years to start to finish, to get this project done. You know, how you said in the last podcast, we've known each other two years. I'm like. No, I think I may have been deterred, but as the saying goes, good things take time. The beautiful apartment complex that we talked about is in Mill Creek now, and it's super exciting to know that these youth have got a place to go, a safe place to go, and that we can prevent homelessness.
Speaker 3:After the ribbon had been cut, the beautiful apartment complex was now officially open for those youth who needed a home. Inexplicable joy filled my soul and, you probably guessed, my tears began to flow. Before leaving the apartment complex on the day of the opening, I reflected on that homeless man from the roadside. Oh, how I wished he could be here to see this building. Then I would embrace him, tell him about the image of him. I'd seen the love I felt, his great worth and how God had led me on a journey to alleviate and prevent homelessness for generations of youth. Something good, even amazing, had come from the injustice he had endured that day on the sidewalk. So, corey, now you know.
Speaker 1:That's incredible.
Speaker 2:It is a beautiful building. I went over yes, you did, and I was not prepared for how nice it was and what a beautiful area it is in's. It's not out in the middle of nowhere where you've you feel like if you lived there. That would be a really nice neighborhood right across the street from quote-unquote normal housing and maybe even nicer and it's got mountain views.
Speaker 3:It's just a lovely building like um. It's just amazing how that all came out to be and you know, corey, you were part of that and I appreciate Kirk, you reaching out to me and saying, hey, I've got clothing that I'd like to take over. You know, these youth have, you know, gone through a lot and you know, I feel like it's our responsibility to wrap our arms around them and, you know, believe in them and believe that they have a bright future and that, as a community, we can, you know, show that love to them.
Speaker 2:I think it builds people well, I didn't tell you this yet, okay, but today I made plans with our city club and we're doing a suit and sport jacket clothing drive for you.
Speaker 3:Oh.
Speaker 2:And so we'll have many sizes and we're going to do a clothing drive for a whole week a whole week and hopefully be able to get some clothes for these, these folks that are there and going out and doing job interviews and looking their best.
Speaker 3:Yeah, awesome, can I high five you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure, that just happened today. So, yeah, we're, we're excited to support you some more.
Speaker 1:I think for those listening, it's good to know that there's all these needs in our backyard that I don't think people are aware of. I, humbly, am sitting here going, man, I should do more like right here in our backyard Because you just don't know, I don't. I think we, we could know, right, I'm, I'm being introspective, like I see the homeless around my office and we do things with the four street clinic and the all, all. We do tons of charity stuff. You know, I did air quotes.
Speaker 1:I said that I think we're giving back and we're you, we're um, donating time and materials and whatever, but I don't think I know where the true, how much there's truly a need, and I think, for all of us listening, we kind of need to roll up our sleeves, probably a little bit more at least I do and get more involved in and I think more involved being meaning more aware. I need to be more aware of where the needs are, because sometimes it's easy to justify. Well, I did this with the church I belong to and I did as in my, my company, and we've given back. But you know, I feel like I wasn't even aware of the need, this need that you've talked to us about now for six years, but I wasn't aware until you came in and talked to us, right.
Speaker 3:So I think we all need to work on our awareness and our humility and our anyway being introspective I think you know for you, like during the last podcast, you know, afterwards you wrote a generous check because you understood the situation for children entering foster care and wanted to do something about it. And then children entering domestic shelters domestic violence shelters and so thanks to we've got a year's worth of good things coming to those children. So thank you.
Speaker 2:I think you're right, Corey, and as you were talking, I thought I just had this feeling the other day.
Speaker 2:Last week, I attended the Kindness Summit that Curtis Bennett our beautiful friend from One Kind Act Today, Curtis Bennett, our beautiful friend from One Kind Act Today does an amazing summit up at the University of Utah and brings people of influence and impact into the same room, and it's just like an IV shot of goodness to make you just want to go out and do good in the world. And I sat next to, uh, someone who received an award which I didn't even think about. This Um, it's called the in-between and it's you've probably, you probably know them, um, but they received an award for what they do is. They take people who, uh, cannot access benefits, access benefits through Medicaid or otherwise, that are terminally ill, who need to be on hospice but don't have an address, and they've turned this into a beautiful facility where they have, on average, 55 people a year come in and they pass with dignity and respect. And I turned to him and I said I didn't even know you guys existed. How did you, how did you get this? How did you get this award?
Speaker 2:And she said I think someone just told the right person. And I said but you guys have been doing this for years under the radar, with absolutely no fanfare, no news stories. But it's a need that obviously is there, but I hadn't ever even thought about it. And what more of a beautiful experience than to be with people as they pass with dignity who are, at that time, without housing. So I think there's opportunities for us to open our eyes and think wider than we do and, carrie, you're an amazing example of doing this with all of the programs that you work with. I mean, the list is long, but you have Feed the Gap, clothe the Gap, the Hygiene Gap, the Transition Gap. List is long, but you have feed the gap, clothe the gap, the hygiene gap, the transition gap. You work with dcfs, school districts, counselors, other organizations, like you're everywhere, and I don't say this to like toot your horn, but it is. It is amazing how wide you have cast your net and it inspires me to do the same.
Speaker 1:We talked last time after the podcast about the refugees. Maybe we could. I mean, nobody has more stories than Carrie like about listening to promptings and making miracles happen. But it was a cool story when you told us after the podcast last time and maybe we could get in a little bit into that, if you're okay with that.
Speaker 3:Okay, yeah so.
Speaker 1:Kind of like the refugees part one, I think, was what we were referring to.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so not long after I'd moved here, like within weeks, I actually broke my leg and so, with my leg up elevated, I was really praying to know what Heavenly Father wanted me to do here in Utah, and I think I mentioned last time that, you know, I kind of felt like there was probably no need here, which now I've had my eyes open. But I ended up having a dream.
Speaker 2:If I'm okay sharing that dream, Every dream story you've shared with us has been A plus. So, yes, okay, well, in this dream, every dream story you've shared with us has been A+.
Speaker 3:Okay, yes, okay. Well, in this dream I could hear wailing and crying coming from a dark tunnel. As I looked into this tunnel, refugees streamed out of the entrance, worn out women were holding their crying babies, and men were carrying children and their family's belongings on their backs. They were cold, tired and sad and they seemed like they had lost all hope. Their clothing was torn and their shoes had holes in them. They must be hungry. I thought I am a feeder. I ran over the road to a local restaurant and tried to order food for them. The owner of the restaurant refused my order and said we don't want to encourage the refugees here. I was stunned and asked him can you not hear their cries? He turned around and walked away from me. I was dismayed that another human being could turn their back on those who are suffering. It was beyond my comprehension. The next thing I remember was my husband waking me up. He'd heard me crying in my sleep.
Speaker 3:One time we helped a refugee family move into an apartment. I wondered how they would move without our help. They often had no means of transporting their items and families. As we moved the items, we couldn't help but think that it would be easier to throw away these things and buy new ones for them. However, it was evident that the few belongings they had were far more than just objects. To them, these items were all they had left of their former lives, and to them they were priceless. Each item held memories, hopes and a sense of identity that the chaos of displacement threatened to erase. Once we had moved everything into their new apartment, the father let out a huge sigh and said something in his own language to his wife and children. His children excitedly hugged their father and cried, with happy tears Smiling. I asked what did you say? He replied I told them we are safe now.
Speaker 3:As I drove home, I wept, knowing that Jesus, having once been a refugee himself, would have wanted this family to feel safe, have their treasured belongings with them and have their needs met. This is just one of many stories. I've got so many stories and I feel like every single experience that I have, whether it's a refugee, whether it's a homeless youth, whether it's a child entering foster care, whether it's somebody entering a domestic violence shelter, I kind of feel like they're all refugees, they're all being displaced and I really felt that day, with this family that this is what Jesus would have me do. There are families that arrive here with literally just the clothes on their back, and I actually ended up once helping a family who had actually walked from Afghanistan taking boats, then walked again. It had been five months that they'd walked. They had a five-year-old boy who had His shoes were just like being held together with threads, blisters on his feet, and there was a baby who wouldn't stop crying and the mother was trying to show me me and she pulled off the baby's diaper and it was just all blood and, um, skin that peeled off and, amazingly, a walmart girl came over and she spoke their language and I'm like, okay, what's the chance of this? And so this woman interpreted for us that the mother said she didn't have access to water and to soap and things and diapers and so on, and so this baby had been very uncomfortable and so we went and spoke to the pharmacist.
Speaker 3:All these experiences and just kind of but all these experiences just kind of reinforce you know that these are my brothers and sisters. These are, and I know that this is what Jesus would have me do and have all of us do To buy the menu, buy the five-year-old-old pair of shoes to get cream to help the baby. The mother asked. She held up a pack of hair ties and said you know, like basically she was pointing, can I have these? And I said, oh yes. She burst into tears about hair ties and I just thought it also reminds me of the things that we've been blessed with, our privileges. I wouldn't think anything of going to Walmart and getting myself a pack of hair ties, but here is a woman crying about hair ties and so it's, it's. It's just. All these experiences just remind me how, remind me how privileged I am and and I don't know if I mentioned it in the last podcast, but um, I require plasma infusions every two weeks. Did I mention that?
Speaker 2:You didn't. I knew that about you, but I thought I'd let you bring it up if you wanted to. But it's incredible that you you shared a little bit with us after the podcast last time, but you should, you should tell us that.
Speaker 3:Well, so I have a chronic health condition and the immunologist calls it life-threatening. I kind of try not to, you know, spend time thinking about that, um, but I have plasma infusions every two weeks and one of the nurses told me. She said, you know, they call this liquid gold and I was like, oh, why is that? And she said because it's so expensive. And she said did you know that this plasma in these bottles they're three little bottles, she said comes from around a thousand donors, and I had no idea. So these 1,000 donors, wherever they are, thank you. And so I feel, like you know, I'm having 1,000 people preserve my life, and so I'm so fortunate, I'm so privileged, I have health insurance that covers it. So when I see and meet these people, I can't help but think that I'm being sustained, my life's being prolonged, I have a responsibility, I have a work to do, and that I'm so privileged, even with my health challenges. I'm very privileged, yeah.
Speaker 2:You give me great perspective. I do, and I'm sure, if you're listening to this, you're jealous that I get to be in the same room as Carrie and Corey. Um, you, you carry a spirit with you and, and I think, anywhere you go, I think you bless Uh, and I think you know. I'm not going to ask you to define what a lady or a gentleman is again, because you already did that once, but I think that that is a quality of someone who is a lady or a gentleman that they inspire those around them wherever they go, and one of the first things that I taught my children when I was creating the Gentleman Project curriculum was a gentleman takes care of those who can't take care of themselves, and you have exemplified that in your life's work, so I commend you for that.
Speaker 3:Thank you. I was wondering if I can just talk about one story from this book.
Speaker 2:Sure.
Speaker 3:Not so Secret Lives of Real Mormon Wives. So there was eight women, including myself, that were asked to write a section, a 10,000 000 word manuscript, within just a few weeks, and so I told you earlier it took me like years to write this book that's going to be coming out in July, but, um, amazingly I was able to do it. But as I read one of the other women's stories, it was of her name's, alison Merrill Hong, and she was actually raised in a in Taiwan, in a slum, and she talks about how she had a very difficult childhood and she talks about these two LDS missionaries that came and knocked on the door and ended up coming in and teaching them, and they really looked forward to every time these missionaries came, because they brought this light and love with them. Have I got time just to read her story?
Speaker 2:You bet.
Speaker 3:My two-year-old sister, dee, wailed, her face distorted. She rubbed her little eyes with her filthy hands, mixing dirt with the tears on her tiny cheeks. Saliva dangled from her lips, swollen from marathon crying, and soiled the front of her cotton shirt. She trailed behind me everywhere in the house, wobbling with great difficulty. Her thin white cotton pants were bulging and had turned brown. She stank of sweat, urine and poop. Flies followed her the way she followed me and one of them landed on her eye, making a scream Mama. Perhaps she thought I could be her substitute mum for just a brief moment, cleaning her, feeding her, holding her, but I was only four at the time and couldn't be anything other than my helpless self.
Speaker 3:She answered the door one night and was shocked to find two Caucasian young men standing outside in a torrential downpour next to their bikes. In my 13, she was at the 13th time in my 13 years of life I had never seen anyone as tall as them. Their faces above the awning Adult ankle-length raincoats reached only their calves. Is Mr Hong here, one of the masked in Chinese? I stepped aside, dashed toward the back of the house, waving my arms in the air and hollering Americans, americans, americans. My father seemed surprised, but he didn't look alarmed. Turns out that a year earlier he had met the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a city park seven hours away, but had since forgotten about it. That night he gestured for the missionaries to sit in our living room. The missionaries had a message that God is our father in heaven who loves us and answers our prayers.
Speaker 3:I didn't know what. I didn't know For one. I never knew peace and love until the missionaries brought them to us For our weekly visit. They braved the bone-chilling wintry rains and biked miles to the dark slum, always carrying something. One of them hauled a projector and a case of slides to share a movie with my family, while the other balanced in one hand the banana bread he had baked in a rice cooker.
Speaker 3:They carried a distinctive kind of warmth with them, as if the sun was behind them wherever they went and whenever they left our house, the light left with them, as if the sun was behind them wherever they went and whenever they left our house, the light left with them. This was just an impoverished village in a dilapidated house, and she saw them as being the sun. And I was saying earlier, before this podcast, um, that I feel like each of us can. We don't have to wear a missionary badge, we don't have to be a member of this church or any church, but we can bring light and love and serve people, because, for this story of Alison, this was the only time that she felt that warmth, felt that sun, felt that light, and so my hope today from this podcast is that we can bring that into our communities.
Speaker 1:That is a beautiful way to end the podcast. Thank you, wonderful story and I couldn't be more appreciative of the time that you spent with us and the inspiration that you've given me and likely, my family and all the listeners. So thank you so much. Thanks for living the life that you live, thanks for being the person who listens and acts, and I'm not sure I know anyone who's done as much as Carrie Owen has. It's pretty awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a privilege to know you and a privilege to have you on the podcast twice. It's a privilege to know you and a privilege to have you on the podcast twice. We hope that we can continue to to talk about you, to talk about things you know, if you need, if you need something and we can help, even if it's mentioning it on the podcast. We might just talk about Carrie Owen on future podcasts, just like we talked about Curtis Bennett today. And you know the work that you're doing is inspiring.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you for what you do, amazing.
Speaker 2:If you want to connect with Carrie, the best way to get a hold of her or to help if you feel so inspired to make a donation, there's a Venmo on the website. Will you tell us the website one more time?
Speaker 2:Yep wwwreachouttodayorg and if you didn't listen to part one, go do it. Thanks everybody, we appreciate you spending your time with us. If again, if you felt inspired by this podcast and someone's name popped into your head as you were listening to it, or an idea popped into your head that you thought this is my mark, that I can leave on the world, the dent in the universe that I can make. Act on it. Act on each good thought. I'm Kirk Chug.
Speaker 1:I'm Corey Moore, thank you.
