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Interview With Southwest Christian Care Executive Director
32 Plays1 month ago
Vernon sits down at the Golf For Grace tournament and interviews Paul Leslie, Executive Director at Southwest Christian Care. Learn more about Southwest Christian Care at https://www.swchristiancare.org. You can find out more about Grace Ministries International at https://gmint.org and download our free app at https://lifeuntangled.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Event Overview
00:00:02
Speaker
This is your host Vernon Terrell with Grace Ministries International and it's time for Walking Free!
00:00:21
Speaker
And we are live and Paul skewed in here a little bit closer. Let's see if we can get us both in here. Hi, this is Vernon Terrell and we are so, I'm so excited. We are actually at our golf event. You might see some of our volunteers behind us, but we just sent golfers out to golf and they're having a good time and we actually, this is our very first golf event and let me first introduce Paul Leslie. Paul Leslie is the executive director at Southwest Christian Care. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you very much. Glad to be had to be a part of the day. And he's come all the way from Union City, Georgia. That's south of Atlanta. Long haul up here to the north in Cumming, Georgia. And just to be with us, encourage us. In fact, we first, we never run a golf tournament. This is our inaugural golf tournament.
00:01:15
Speaker
very first. We don't know what we're doing, but if it wasn't for Paul and for Tammy, who she's back there, she don't want to be on camera.
Organizing the Golf Tournament
00:01:22
Speaker
Um, but it went for you guys. We would probably not have done this. So we're so grateful for the, uh, encouragement. We went down to, uh, they held a golf tournament in Noonan, Georgia, and we went down just a shadow and to learn trying to figure out, how do you do this? They make it look so effortless. How many have you had? How many golf tournaments? It's hard to say. it It preceded me becoming the executive director of Southwest Christian Care. ah Mike Sorrow was big into golf, and it's been going probably at least 25 years we've been doing the golf tournament. And it's taken a little bit in different shapes and sizes, but it's ah it's a good event. People enjoy playing golf. They like getting out on the greens. and
00:02:06
Speaker
you know We're just thrilled that you all came down and partnered and saw the efforts it does take behind the scenes to pull it off, but also the return on your investment. you know It's maybe not the dollars on the day, but the introduction to the ministry and what you guys are doing you know at Grace Ministry International. GMI is an amazing work.
00:02:27
Speaker
And, you know, great things, I think, start small. The seed is small in the ground planted, but it'll grow and prosper. I think, Vernon, one of the great things is the relationship y'all have already established with Windmere here. You know, we have with the Cannon Gate golf cor on on this Golf Course on the south side. And it takes those kind of relationships. And and that's what you guys are excellent at, building relationships, learning their people's stories, and encouraging one another. So, honored to be with you today. Oh, it's it's just, we're having such fun. And Windermere, I'm so glad you said that. They have, Windermere Golf Club in Cumming, Georgia has been fabulous.
00:03:03
Speaker
they've been They've worked with us and helped us in our very first one to figure things out. And we're very grateful for the staff, for the leadership here at Windermere. And and it's a little chilly, yes I'll say. Got my sweater on. now It's a little warmer inside. I was going to do this.
Paul Leslie's Background and Calling
00:03:23
Speaker
outside to give you the backdrop of the lake and it's like you know what now we're just gonna we're gonna be warm that's right we got the good view though we got a great view that you can see it but we got a good yeah that's right so this is good would you I want to just to introduce folks to you and the Southwest Christian care Could you tell us just a ah little bit about your story first, how you grew up and when did you come to faith and what was important in that journey of faith? Sure, sure. So I'm a native Atlantan born in in Georgia Baptist Hospital right in the heart of Atlanta and grew up in Southeast Atlanta, graduated from Southwest DeKalb High School out in DeKalb County and when we moved from Southeast Atlanta out to DeKalb County,
00:04:10
Speaker
We were looking for the right church to be in. and you know Vern and I, we were talking earlier about our walk with Christ. and I was blessed to have generational faith. Grandparents that were godly people and involved in the church, served in the church. Mom and dad, we were at church all the time. and Uncle who's a minister, but so church was just what we did. But it was a teenager when I felt you know a need to, when I understood fully the gospel, and not fully, but understood the love of Christ and wanted to be
00:04:49
Speaker
you know right with God and not that I can do that but what he's done for me and to receive that and to accept the incredible salvation and so at a young age as a teenager I also felt called to ministry. and just felt like it was something I was supposed to do. I was wired that way. How old were you as a teenager? I think I was 12 years old. Church camp, back row of vespers, and I felt called to ministry. Now, I didn't always live and act like I was going to be prepared for ministry. And even since then, I'm thankful for grace. So yeah, I graduated, went to Bible college, and
00:05:26
Speaker
I had an incredible associate ministry under a great man of God. And then 26 years as senior pastor. So 32 years in the local church. And then the door opened and I felt like I'd led the congregation, you know, as far as I could take them. And it was time for the the church and for me to a different chapter. right And there was a there was a kind of ah a desire when I was young to be an undertaker. I know that sounds crazy.
00:05:54
Speaker
um Guy worked with Mathis near he said one time he said I know what your business cards could say brother Paul does it all marries them and buries them But anyway, so ministry Serving has always been a part of my family Grandparents my mom and dad just incredible, you know teaching leading senior ministries working on on the grounds of the church my dad was church treasurer at two different churches that he was involved in and and so um I've always had that connection, and then Southwest Christian Care, God opened the door, and it just seemed like the right fit. And here's what's amazing, Vernon. I get to serve families and individuals in hospice, and so I get to know their story.
00:06:41
Speaker
And it's so different than being an undertaker. yeah you know But loving on that family and being there for that family and allowing ah a husband to be a husband you know or a wife to to be a wife instead of having to give that care that yeah that's so demanding.
Impact of Hospice and Mental Health Discussion
00:06:57
Speaker
And so I was introduced, got open the door and a little over five years now I've been the executive director there. wow And you've had some pretty famous people come through Southwest Christian Care.
00:07:09
Speaker
Yeah, at our gala in particular. you know It's a big event. We didn't do it this year. Costs had gone up 39% to put that on, but we've had Vince Williams. Zach. Zach Williams, thank you. Vince Gill, Barbara Bush, Charlie Daniels, Cece Winans. She was incredible. Oh, man. Met with our kids, met with our senior adults. What a blessing, and is she really I mean, she just, she's so gifted. and It was such a blessing for our people. And it's a big event. It really is, you know, 1200 people gathering together.
00:07:49
Speaker
It has been larger than that. but um And it takes a lot. Yes. you know and where This is our first one. We're starting small. Paul said you got to take a first step. Just take a step. And that's what we're doing. And you guys have done 1,200, 1,500 big, big dollar events.
00:08:10
Speaker
Yeah, and and it does take a lot of money to bring that off. And you have to look at, is it a way to make money or to introduce people to the ministry? You want it to be both. You want to do both, but you know you've got to get your story out. And when you're a nonprofit, GMI, Southwest,
00:08:27
Speaker
you're You're not throwing money at advertising because you don't have that kind of money. You're right. You know, so it takes word word of mouth and people like GMI has served and people that Southwest Christian Care has served to help tell the story because it's a great story. It really is. And that's what we, you know, we've been around 40 years and with counseling, counseling by definition is number one, private. That's right. Confidential and it's one on one.
00:08:52
Speaker
And yes, we have group you know we have group in experiences with the encounter and those who want to be trained to be counselors as Christian counselors in our exchange life model. I can go through our equipping the discipleship counselors another seven months. So total, it's about a year and a half, two years of training. But again, it's not it's it's by definition intimate one on one. And so getting the word out, but let me tell you right now, the word is out. There's a mental health crisis that's right going on, it's and it's been around. It's just getting more publicity, more more more market, if you will, marketing through social media and all the crazy stuff going on in this country with i mean the tragedies of school shootings. And folks, did you know that one in four adults are diagnosed with some type of mental disorder and that it's the impact in the workplace. It's one trillion dollars of lost productivity just because of two issues, anxiety and depression. We see that all the time. When you're working
00:10:11
Speaker
and loving on folks at Southwest Christian Care, do you experience or see this anxiety in other folks who are just struggling emotionally? Yeah, and you know, the uniqueness of hospice in particular. We have several different ah ministries under the umbrella of Southwest Christian Care, but but in the hospice, you know, oftentimes you have denial.
00:10:36
Speaker
You have a family member not accepting where their loved one is, not believing that the diagnosis is true, that my dad doesn't need hospice. And so then you have another one who's been the caregiver, who has seen and their eyes are open and they're relieved to be there. So a lot of what we do is counseling to a degree because we're We're educating people and preparing them for for the reality. You know, we're all in the process of dying. Absolutely. and And so people don't come to us to die. They come to live until they die.
00:11:08
Speaker
you know And so we want to facilitate their life and give opportunities for maybe some healing to take place in that family, some reconciliation to take place, um some conversations that, you see that in counseling, it's so easy not to speak truth, but when truth is spoken in love and you're vulnerable, that's when the healing becomes so real. And sometimes it takes these life altering events to get us to a place where we are ready to receive, and we have to go, we're human, we go through the anger and the denial and the, I can't believe it, but it takes, sometimes it just takes those events to get us to a point where we can receive help, we can receive God's love.
Southwest Christian Care's Services
00:11:58
Speaker
It just, I think AA says it right. It takes what it takes.
00:12:02
Speaker
yeah And so tell us, you just said at Southwest Christian Care, hospice is just one. Yeah. Other things that you've got going on over there. What else? Yes. So all the ministries of Southwest were birthed out of a need. And so the ministry began 41 years ago, preacher Jim Dyer, who was the pastor of Southwest Christian Church, raised in Southeast Atlanta, saw the ladies of our perpetual help.
00:12:27
Speaker
the nuns taking care of individuals who had a terminal cancer treatment and didn't have insurance. And so they started taking care of those those individuals. And preacher Dyer saw that as a child, and and God just etched it on his heart. Fast forward, he goes to his board and says, guys want to do a hospice. And they said, what's that? There were no hospices. you know So they actually flew to London to see hospice in action, brought it back. And the first question was, well,
00:12:55
Speaker
How much are we going to charge? and Preacher Dyer's vision was, we're going to provide a service and we're never going to charge. and so Everything we do, there's no charge to the individuals. Of course, there's cost to everything, as you well know. yeah and so That's a whole different avenue of trying to raise that support. but um So we have the hospice, we have an inpatient 12 bed, 8 room hospice. But we do respite care for medically fragile kids every weekend. And that is a whole different degree of counseling and needs because we don't say disabilities, we like to say different abilities. Because as you said, 1 and 4, we all have different abilities, we all have different things we deal with.
00:13:36
Speaker
But those parents, first we have to establish trust, just like counseling. You know, you have to build those relationships. It takes time because nobody's going to care for my fragile child the way I do. You understand that? As ah as a parent of a, quote, special needs or a different ability child, now adult, 26, autism,
00:14:01
Speaker
you You are very careful who you let in that inner circle. That's right, and rightly so. Rightly so, because you know your child, you know your son, you know the needs you want to protect and provide. And so we build that trust, but also we realize Under our hope house, we have the the respite care, but we also have Miss Gussie's place, which is an educational opportunity. And it's structured different because the respite, the kids stay with us, the parents, the caregiver, they don't stay the weekend. But during the week, the caregiver has to be present because we want them to reinforce the learning that's taking on. That's smart.
00:14:41
Speaker
the different ways you can teach a child and re-establish pathways that have been broken between the brain and the body. But those parents, Miss Jackie realized a couple years ago, they have a special set of needs.
00:14:57
Speaker
And they think things that the world might say, how could they think that? Well, you've never walked in their shoes. And those parents needed a safe place, just like your counseling, where they can be honest and they're not going to be judged. yeah They're going to be given good, clear direction and help and realize that,
Identity and Counseling
00:15:18
Speaker
you know what? Our identity is in Christ.
00:15:20
Speaker
and And one thing at at the ministry, we don't we see the child, we don't see the chair. I'm gonna say it again, we see the child, we don't see the chair. beautiful Because within everybody, there is potential to learn and to grow and to become fully what Christ has called us to be. I think that and i wish you could ah wish folks you could see the the facility. It is beautiful.
00:15:48
Speaker
folks have just come around and loved them and donated, and it is a wonderful environment for those in hospice and for those who are in coming through for respite care and the other ministries, for the kids and adults coming in who need that help, those fragile ones that often society kind of doesn't even look at. that Society minimizes people. Yeah. But you know what? We all have value in Christ.
00:16:19
Speaker
That's the heartbeat of our ministry, is our identity in Christ. If we put our identity in our own performance, or if we put our identity in our job, what happens when you lose your job? that's right Your identity is gone. What happens when you lose that scholarship? yeah you're You're cracked. It's like you go into this, but if your identity is founded in Jesus Christ as your life. He has remade you. You're a new creation in Jesus Christ. You are forgiven, loved, accepted, all of that and complete in Him. If that's your core identity, the world in the world is going to throw things at you. Life is going to hit you. As long as you are on this planet, it just comes. It is no respecter or a person, believer, non-believer. It doesn't matter.
00:17:04
Speaker
And it takes time to retool because sometimes that identity comes from what mama told me or what daddy told me. Yes. Or that teenage relationship. And so it was performance based or my identity is I make somebody happy physically. And it it confuses us. and And then that's our baseline. And until that is addressed and we really understand that doesn't determine who I am.
00:17:34
Speaker
it's That's not my worth. absolutely Christ has determined my worth. I'm a child of the King. absolutely yes And I'm not identified by yesterday. Here's what I love, and I wish it was original, but it's not. God knows our sin, but He calls us by our name. thank you and so and But it takes time through counseling and and intentionality and just ah to pause and and to look inward and understand all of those things who have created me to think and respond the way I do. That's that's not of God. God says, you're a child. yeah I love you no matter what. And we have learned these things. You think, oh, my mom and dad didn't teach me anything. Yeah, they did. Oh, yes. Wherever you grew up, you learned stuff. and I like, again, this is not original, but that children are the best observers, but the worst interpreters.
00:18:33
Speaker
Okay. You can have, you can have twin and I'm a twin and you can have twins in the same environment, see observing the same thing. One's going to see it one way. Another's going to see it another way. And then you develop these belief systems about yourself, about God, about life. And these are like assumptions and they're in there. And part of the counseling journey is yes, we do a history and we kind of look at your past, not to blame mommy and daddy. That's not the reason.
00:19:03
Speaker
but it's to uncover what events, trauma that's happened, and belief systems that you've come to accept as true. That's right. And they're not. And they can both be good and bad. Absolutely. you know But they they do, they guide us, and we don't realize how they're guiding our decisions, our communication, the way we treat others, the way we see ourself, the way we see other people. um And we get into these patterns, that's right these patterns of behaving And part of the counseling journey or the mentoring journey is understanding those beliefs, understanding the patterns that we're in, and learning what I like to say is that part of our vision is that we want folks to uncover the lies, and that's a lifelong journey. yes Uncover the lies so you can release them and you can receive and believe the truth. And that's just a journey. God just doesn't open up and say, here's everything wrong, you're believing, it will overwhelm us. that's right
00:20:03
Speaker
But as we're ready, God reveals, we can see the light, if we're willing to, and we can see it as what it is, we can let go of it, maybe through forgiveness, through just or through just just letting it go, pushing a aside and saying, Lord, this is the truth. I receive your truth. It's renewing the mind and setting the mind in Jesus Christ. So tell me. And well let me just say, in understanding truth,
00:20:28
Speaker
Because in this world we're living in, it's so hard to determine what is true. yeah Because there's so many mixed messages. and And with modern communication, you can find something that's going to affirm your belief if you look long enough.
00:20:46
Speaker
but Satan is the father of lies and deception. And so what what GMI is doing is awesome. It's just unwinding and I love the, you know, just the life untangled. life untangled because we ask we We we've tangled webs and sometimes we're caught in a web that we didn't craft
Adapting to COVID and Facility Improvements
00:21:08
Speaker
our own. Yeah yeah yeah and this and that's ah again this we do have some if you want to see some of our free resources we've got an app it's not the prettiest app but it's a it's an app on android and and um apple
00:21:24
Speaker
It's called Life Untangled. You can find it and you download it when you register with your email. It just opens up, unlocks all of the free resources that are there for you to get started in your journey. And for counseling, if you want to if you want to consider counseling, you can go to our website at gmin.gmin.org and you can see some of the resources there and you can request counseling, fill out the little form. And we have counselors. What I love, in fact, when COVID hit, when COVID hit, we had a nice building in Marietta and, you know, building was closed. And we went to Zoom at that time. It was all Zoom or or Google Meet for counseling.
00:22:12
Speaker
And after COVID, about a year, but we said we'd kind of send email out and and messages out, say, hey, we're back open for business. And everybody except three said, we like this virtual counseling. And so we only had three people come to the building, so we sold the building. And we're we're we've been doing virtual counseling. We have over 100 clients around the country. And we've got actually counselors in multiple states.
00:22:41
Speaker
and When we do need to meet up, we meet at a Christian facility, at a church, or sometimes even at ah another facility that is allows us to meet. And we'll meet those who want to meet one-on-one in person where that counselor is available. But it's been virtual counseling. And we're not doing Zoom anymore. We've got a HIPAA compliant, even though we're not under those regulations, a HIPAA compliant system. And that's how we do it. But it has been ah and just a huge success And folks have been loving it, and we're very grateful for those who are in the counseling journey. When it comes to Southwest for and Christian Care, I know you've always got something going on with projects. What's the next project? What's happening? now You just built the the big the boardwalk. yeah boardd wall yeah And that's what, 600 feet? 600 feet, just kind of, we have several creeks that come together on our property.
00:23:39
Speaker
And it it's just a beautiful journey across the wetlands. And you know when you have someone in hospice care, you need to step out and catch your breath. yeah When our kids are there on the weekends for respite care.
00:23:53
Speaker
to roll that wheelchair down on the boardwalk and let those kids be in nature. You know, Ms. Gus used to do a ah teaching out there looking down at the creek with the men of swimming in it. But we do, we have several things going on. And and one thing, let me back up about the the yeah COVID. You know, Ms. Jackie, what she did, because the kids couldn't come to class. right So she went viral or virtual and created teachings And those have been seen in multiple countries around the world now. And that would have never happened if COVID hadn't shut us down for a season. But I will say I'm thankful to the governor that he kept hospice open. yeah And it was restricted restricted visitation, but we were able to, for the most part, have loved ones with their individual who was going through the hospice program there.
00:24:45
Speaker
And a shout out to my clinical staff, they do a phenomenal job. You've got a great staff. They do a great job. Top to bottom, and you know, we're 24-7, so it takes a special person to be in the hospice environment. So we have our main facility, which is our hospice and our hope house, and we have Byron and Jim's, and that's where we do our senior adult program two days a week for those who have you know dementia and we're able to to socialize and encourage those folks and give them a physical exercise and stimulation and they dance and they sing and they celebrate there's a devotion and that's a great gathering as well. And all of that is
00:25:31
Speaker
covered through counseling. We have horse cutters, our chaplain, we have volunteer chaplains every day, and we're there for the people that we're able to serve. ah But the Boardwalk was a big thing. It had been a long time in coming. Thankfully, we're able, ah through generous people, to complete a project debt-free. And and I'm thankful that you know Southwest Christian Care, we don't have any debt.
00:25:55
Speaker
And that that prepared us going into COVID, you know, when it really would have been tough and it was tough.
Community Support and Call to Action
00:26:01
Speaker
But, you know, next thing our our our building, our physical building is aging. Yeah. And we've got some work to do on the exterior. How long have you been in that building now?
00:26:11
Speaker
ah
00:26:14
Speaker
I believe it was 1987. Wow. Yeah, yeah. The hospice and then the hope house and in I should have my dates better memorized but hey early 2000s. Early 2000s. So we we've got to do some exterior work and also our our our hope house. It's time to to give it a facelift, you know, to to look at, make sure it's it's set up best for teaching and for the respite.
00:26:42
Speaker
and And when you get hospital gear and gear for those who are fragile, that's expensive. Yes, yes. that That's it it. It is not cheap. I've seen some of the some of the very cool things that you have in your building. And if it wasn't for folks, generous folks, um you wouldn't be able to administer these. That's right. That's right. Well, one piece is like our we have a large whirlpool tub yeah in our Hope House.
00:27:09
Speaker
You know, if if you have a child that spends their life in a wheelchair, and you know, there's so many times that dollars are tight, and and we're able to bless that family, bring that child in and get them in the Whirlpool. Well, the Whirlpool tub was 20 years old, yeah and it got to where we could not get replacement parts. Just learned last week that we received a grant to replace that tub.
00:27:30
Speaker
Love it. Yeah. and And that's just God showing up and showing out in big ways through individuals, families, companies who believe in the ministry and the mission of Southwest Christian care. And it all started burning. But when you ask preacher Dyer when he was alive, he'd say, you know what? Christ called us to serve. And he couldn't think of any greater way than to serve people right where they are. And that's what we get to do. Every day. Every day. Every day. every I will tell you that um just to wrap up what we're doing, if you're interested in learning more about Southwest Christian Care, I've got their website in the description, and you can go there and learn more, and if you feel led to donate, they could really use it. They love meeting new folks and meeting new donors, and they would love to have you on board.
00:28:29
Speaker
And likewise for Grace Ministries, if you're really touched in the mental health crisis and you want to help us, 75% of our folks come through GMI, have some level of financial support. If you want to support us so we can help them, and that's our ministry, our our mission is simple, helping people walk free. that's That's what it's about. And the mental health crisis is real. You probably know somebody who's been impacted in the area of mental health. If you want to help us, we would appreciate that as well. So I just want to say thank you for spending the time coming out here all the way up north.
00:29:09
Speaker
North Georgia to help us out and for training us and ah helping us get our feet wet wet with the golf tournament. Well, we're all learning together and to partner with with Grace Ministries International to see the work you all are doing, you and Michelle and your team. And it says a lot when the former director shows up today to volunteer. Scott Britton is here, folks. If you don't know, Scott's in the back.
00:29:32
Speaker
And I may get him on later on, but Scott says he's great. Yeah, but you guys are doing a great work and I appreciate you partnering with us and coming just to see what we're doing because we're all learning together and encouraging one another. And God bless your your work, your ministry.
00:29:50
Speaker
and just be encouraged today. What a great day. Just for golf and the guys who are here, the ladies who are here, you put together a great event today. So God bless you all, Vernon. Thank you. And as I always say, whatever the the Lord might be leading you to do, stop talking about it and let's start walking. That's right.
00:30:10
Speaker
You've been listening to Walking Free, a production of Grace Ministries