Ministry updates and Stories from our last 4 Prison Trips!

Chaplain Otto Ministries' second podcast provides an update on the ministry's activities over the last 10 days. These include a TV interview, a rehab class, four prison visits, and the start of a veteran anger management class. The host expresses gratitude to listeners and supporters who have helped with finances. The podcast also discusses recent events, such as a TV interview, spiritual classes at a rehab center, and volunteer events at prisons. These events have had a positive impact on inmates and highlight the importance of volunteers in their lives. The podcast concludes with an invitation to a Veterans Coalition Family Day event. Overall, the podcast shares stories of encouragement and highlights the ministry's ongoing work. Hello, and welcome to Chaplain Otto Ministries' second podcast. My name is Otto, and I will be your host. In today's episode, I will be giving an update on the activities for the ministry over the last 10 days or so, to include updates on the TV interview, the rehab class that we host on Wednesday nights, four prison visits with over 500 miles of travel, and I will be including some special stories from our adventures behind bars, big news starting our veteran anger management class. This will be in two prisons, and I'll be wrapping up today's episode with a recent testimony of knowing that God hears me. I'd like to give a special thank you to everyone who listened to the first episode of Chaplain Otto Ministries. That was launched on October 27th. A special thanks to my CVMA brother, Munchie. He is the XO of 12-3 here in Ohio, and brother, I just want to say thank you so much for personally reaching out. Love you, man. In the previous episode, I gave a brief overview of the ministry and myself, so if you haven't heard that yet and want to know more, please go and give that a listen. I do say um a lot in the first episode, so I'm being very mindful of that today. If you are a veteran listening, happy Veterans Day, and happy belated birthday to the Marines. I wanted to give a special thanks to those that answered the call. To ensure that we made all events by helping out with gas money. You know, last month we had a lot of activities and things going on, and the start of November was busier than really any month that I've had with travel, and I really have like struggled asking for help with things at times, especially like financially. So you know, I just had to remember that, you know, a closed mouth doesn't get fed, and I put something out there, I asked for a little bit of help, and I got it. So thank you to Tim Heilman, Brian Jordan, Dave Watts. These are all Ohio supporters, and each of these men have played a very significant role in my life. I am extremely thankful for not only encouraging me, but putting your money where your mouth is, and you know, even though I've moved around or changed churches, our friendship hasn't changed and the support has remained, and it's really increased. So thank you so much for continuing to believe in what I'm doing and also helping me get there. And last but surely not least, I have to give a shout out to my CVMA brothers who also supported this gas fund, Joker from Kentucky, CVMA 1-4, and he is the sergeant at arms. Also Preacher Man from Texas, CVMA 23-5, and he is the state chaplain. So thank you everybody who got involved, who answered the call, who helped out just to make sure that we could hit all of these events. Thank you and God bless. The last week was just full of so many activities and new experiences, and we kicked it off October 31st with a TV interview with WOCB, and that is TV39, the Central Ohio Association of Christian Broadcasters in Marion, Ohio. My interview was with John Peterson, and it will broadcast Friday, November 17th at 7 p.m. This was a public affairs interview, and I was able to give a brief description on the ministry that I started, how it got started, a little bit more in-depth stuff on me to really relate to a viewer that might be watching it that maybe wants to start doing something in the ministry or possibly thinks that they have done too much wrong to ever be effective in the ministry. This will give an opportunity for over a million viewers to hear a little bit of my story and hopefully be encouraged to take the next step to say yes to God. Special thanks to Tom Callahan for setting this up. The TV interview was so much fun, and moving into the next day, November 1st, we kicked off with the Village of Columbus for Drug and Alcohol. This is a live-in rehab center, and we're starting our second month of holding spiritual classes, and what we have been covering and implementing is building a strong mindset by having a foundation on biblical principles, how to have a relationship with God, seeing your self-worth, and finding forgiveness. This has been a new experience for me. I've never gone through a drug or alcohol program. I got sober by going to church and just starting to follow the Word of God, and this opportunity was brought up by a member of my church who is also a counselor there, so special thanks to Don Galepski for setting this up, and also I have a partner with this now, Jeremy Methner. He is not just my parts guy at Harley, but he's a really good friend that I've got to know over the last few years, and he's definitely a key instrument in this program, and has been sober for over 10 years now, and knows the program aspect of it very well. One thing that he said that was really cool is he said, you know, you got sober this way. I got sober that way, so my way was following God. His way was following, I think it's the 10 or 12-step program, but what he said next was he said, we both ended up at the same place, and that was following God. So I'm super excited for this adventure, and super thankful to have Jeremy along with me as well. Him and I are brainstorming right now about getting him on the podcast so that you can hear his story, and also we're going to be talking about, you know, how to be set free from addiction. I am definitely excited to see what comes with that podcast, and again, you know, the purpose of why we talk about all of these things is maybe you'll hear something and think differently, and it'll open up a door to peace and forgiveness for you. Moving into Thursday, November 2nd, and this is where the fun, man. I love going to prison, and you're going to definitely tell a difference in the enthusiasm that's coming out, because I'm telling you, we went to four prisons, you know, within about a five-day period, and it was absolutely phenomenal. So we kicked it off November 2nd, and this was at Chillicothe Correctional Institution, and this was my second time getting to attend their volunteer event. So actually, the people that go into prison or have gone into prison with me before were not available to come with me to the volunteer recognition, so, you know, I brought some people who support the ministry. I brought Jack Jones, Pastor Tim Crisofoli, and my biggest supporter of all, my wife, Jamie Guthman, and if you listened in the last podcast, coming to this prison for her first time was the first time that she ever sang out loud in church when the inmates were singing. So, you know, what is a volunteer event if you're not sure? This is a thank you to the volunteers from the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, Chillicothe Correctional Institution, and Ross. So what goes on during these events is, you know, the inmates, they actually serve us, so they bring in food, they serve us, they do preaching, they play music, and we get a bunch of thank yous from the inmates, and one of the guys that talked first was talking about, you know, when he came to prison. He was 17 years old, and he's 56 now, and at this point, you know, in his life, he has nobody on the outside. They've either wrote him off or they have passed away because it's just been, you know, such a long period of time. He said the volunteers was the closest thing that he had to family since he's been incarcerated. He had met a volunteer when he was first incarcerated 39 years ago that led him to Christ. That volunteer followed him around when he was transferred from prison to prison and volunteered at that prison so that he had somebody. That volunteer was there that night for the event and got to hear everything that he said, and, you know, as a volunteer, to me, I'm just, like, thinking of the difference that it makes to, you know, these people who, you know, yeah, they've committed crimes, and they are serving time for it behind bars, but some of them don't have anybody, and if you're like this guy that's been in there, you know, for 39 years, man, I could not imagine, and you know, just to know that people coming in make such a difference, and he talked about us coming in as, like, planting seeds all around, continuing to come in helps them grow, but it does not start without our yes, and again, you know, that's 39 years. These guys really emphasized on, you know, what volunteers mean to them, and it was very moving and, you know, hearing that makes me a lifer to want to continue to go in and share the gospel, and there was a guy that was playing some bluegrass music for us, and he was telling us, you know, what volunteers mean to him, and how he found a new church family, because he had gone to, you know, the same church for about, I think he said 20 years, and had all kinds of friends there, was, you know, a part of tons of stuff, and ended up making a mistake, and since he's been incarcerated, not one person from the church has reached out to him, but a new church has come in to meet him, and that was the Church of Rock City, where he has found his, you know, new church home, and it really sucked to hear, you know, the fact that not one person, you know, from his church has reached out to him, and that just shows where, you know, we are failing as leaders, as leaders in the body of Christ, so if you're a churchgoer, and you know somebody that's incarcerated, send them, you know, a letter, a note, something, just to let them know that you're thinking about them. They ended the ceremony singing two songs, Waymaker, and Good, Good Father. Again, you know, just such an amazing opportunity, and, you know, I get emotional talking about it, and I'm sure that you could probably hear that in my voice, and moving on to the next event was Friday, November 3rd, and I was back at Chillicothe Correctional Institution for the Veterans Coalition Family Day, and, you know, how did I get invited to this? So I have to give a huge thank you to the Deputy Warden of Special Services, Nicole Joseph of Lucasville. I had the opportunity to talk with her in the beginning of October, and was just talking about some ideas that I had to do a prison run at Chillicothe, and, you know, just kind of my heart for veterans and my thought on, you know, the patch that says POW and MIA, which is Prisoner of War and Missing in Action, and the meaning, you know, is for those who, you know, are prisoners of war and, you know, that never made it home, and with the work that I had started to do with the incarcerated veterans, I realized that, you know, these guys are prisoners of war in their own mind that didn't get the help that they needed to, which probably was a huge factor in where they're at today, and they are most definitely, you know, missing in action from their family, and, you know, giving, you know, that little testimony of my heart, you know, led her to reach out to Chillicothe for me, which got me in contact with the Deputy Warden of Special Services, Jennifer Haywood, and she told me that they had a, you know, really cool event coming up for the veterans, and, you know, it would be good if I came, so, you know, special thanks to Jennifer Haywood, Sergeant Steinbeck, and Bradley Lemaster for setting up this event and asking me to come and be a special guest speaker. So I really, you know, wasn't sure what the event was, I just knew that, you know, there was going to be incarcerated veterans there, and also their family members, so I took Springer with me, and, you know, during this event, you know, they had the veterans military choir, they sang multiple songs, they sang the national anthem, but I just want to tell you, like, walking into this prison, into this chapel for this veterans family event was absolutely overwhelming. There are over 200 incarcerated veterans at the Chillicothe Prison, and, you know, during this event, they had special guest speakers, so what was really, really cool and just blew my mind was the inmates, you know, of this institution that are the veterans do things like food drives and different, you know, programs inside to raise money, and what they did with some of the money that they raised is they donated $1,000. I mean, the inmates, the inmates raised $1,000 from doing food drives and different things that can collect money, and they donated it to a military program called Dress Right Dress, and this is a reentry program that is very heavily involved with this prison, and I'll tell you what, I mean, I was ready to fall over. I mean, to know that these guys, that they're incarcerated, and they raised money and gave it away to say thank you was absolutely phenomenal. So, my partner went up and, you know, gave a little brief talk on, you know, his history in the military and also, you know, being a part of the motorcycle world for such a long time. When I went up there to talk, I definitely had high energy. I was super pumped. I mean, over 200 veterans in there. It was so exciting. Right after the event, one of the guards came up and said, hey, you know, before you go to the family event where there's some food and everything, the warden would like to see you in his office, and, you know, that's never happened. When I was up there talking, I passed out three combat veteran coins, one to Jennifer Haywood, one to Sergeant Steinbeck, and one to the warden of the prison, and he took us back there. He's a veteran, and he gave me a dog tag coin, and on one side it says Chillicothe Correctional Institution with a photo of the prison that says Honor, Dedication, Vigilance, and on the other side it says Warden's Coin of Achievement, so that was really cool. I had the opportunity to, you know, pitch the prison run to him that we're looking to do, and it looks like, you know, that is something that will actually happen May 26, I believe, of 2024. So moving into, you know, the food, hanging out with family and everything, so, you know, every event that I've ever been a part of, that's a special event where there's family, they have food, so that's really cool to, you know, get to eat at the prison with everybody. You know, not all veterans had family members to come and visit, so some of the veterans that didn't have family members took the job as being a porter, so, you know, what a porter does during an event like this is they'll pass out the food, they'll clean up, and, you know, they're basically just, you know, making sure everybody's having a good time while they're there visiting with their family, and, you know, what Springer and I did is we stayed the entire time, basically until they kicked us out. That way we were able to hang out with the veterans that didn't have family, and we spent about three hours, you know, talking to these veterans one-on-one, and it definitely meant the world to us. It was also great to meet the incarcerated veterans and their family that were able to attend this special event for their incarcerated veteran. Did see something very unique, and sat at the same time, but seeing them all together, you know, at the same table under the circumstances was a blessing. Now, there are two veteran brothers that are both incarcerated at the same prison, and their mom and dad came to visit them during this event, and the mom and dad were divorced. I know the dad came, you know, from a couple states away. I was kind of thrown off because I wasn't expecting that, but I took a moment just to talk to him, and, you know, I said, you know, it's really awesome, you know, that you guys can come together in a place like this to, you know, be with your children, and they thought that was cool and everything, and I was like, you know, you guys might look at me and think that I have, like, the most perfect life outside, but, you know, it would mean so much to me if I could sit at a table like this with my mom and dad, and us all have smiles on their faces, so, you know, the fact that even though they are divorced, that they can still come together and, you know, not make a hostile environment inside of a hostile environment, so that was really cool and, you know, very unique to see. While I was there, I did pass out a bunch of prayer request cards, and we did collect 27 back, and I'm going to share three of these, and these are veteran inmate prayer requests, and this is from Tony, and he checked the box that says, I am a firm believer and unashamed of the gospel. His prayer request is that I will show God's love to others and train veterans' dogs with God's light shining through, so they have a program here at Chillicothe where the veteran inmates can train dogs, and once the dogs are trained, if a veteran inmate is released, it will get the dog, but they also train it to help, you know, elderly veterans to kind of be like a service dog, which is a program that they have that he's a part of, so I thought that was really cool. The next prayer request that we have is from Jerry, and he also checked, I am a firm believer and unashamed of the gospel. He said, please pray that I reconnect with my children and grandchildren and siblings. A special prayer for my health and especially my bladder problem, so definitely, you know, everything that he just said backs up what I recently said is, you know, being in there for so long and losing contact with people, and that could, you know, potentially be because of the crime that they're in there for, so, you know, we just pray for peace and comfort and that, you know, he'll be able to have a relationship as best as possible, you know, with his loved ones even though he's incarcerated. And our last veteran prayer request from this special event is from Vincent, and he also checked, I'm a firm believer and unashamed of the gospel. He said, please pray that I may be a better servant for the kingdom of God in Christ Jesus. So, you know, what an awesome time getting to be there with these veterans during this, you know, special time. It was basically their Veterans Day, you know, celebration, and, you know, the inmates, you know, they did work to put this together from the food that was there, the food was paid for by money that they have raised from doing different food drives in there, or they will raise money through taking photos and, you know, inside of the prison. They might host that and, you know, put a little markup on it that way that they can put money into what is a 501c3 for that prison. And it also has, you know, such an amazing and beautiful, you know, veterans monument. And to see the, you know, care from the inmates that is also to the veteran guards and also the veteran warden, I mean, these guys really, you know, they are serving time, but it seems that this prison is really, you know, set up to, you know, care and honor the veterans. Sunday, November 5th, I went to Lucasville, and, you know, this is where it all started for me was at this prison, and this is the furthest drive for the shortest amount of time behind bars, and it's worth every second. This was my 30th trip to Lucasville, and that's 6,000 miles, 120 hours, which is five days of travel. And I absolutely love it, and like I said, you know, everything started for me here with the ministry at Lucasville, Ohio's maximum security prison, and, you know, I have had guys that have been to every single service, and I've got to know them since 2019, you know, up to today, and seeing, you know, the growth that they've had spiritually from continuing to go in there and till that ground, like, I absolutely love it, and Lucasville, if you want me to come right now, I'm on the way. I want to give a special thanks. I took, his name is Guitar Mike, and he plays the best Christian outlaw country music that I have ever heard, and it was really cool, you know, going into some of these other prisons that I have mentioned. They have, you know, amenities, like, you know, the ability to, you know, play music, instruments, plenty of stuff to get involved in, but, you know, Lucasville is the detention center of detention centers. They call it, you know, the worst of the worst, and my God has such a history of going into dark places and changing them and shining light, and I'm excited to say that we had a record-breaking 40 men show up between two services with 16 new guys showing up, making the total reach for Chaplain Auto Ministries to 265 inmates reached. Amen, amen, amen. So what did we preach about? I talked about, you know, why follow God and what is the benefit, and I told them that if you're a believer in Christ, that this message will help you to become a stronger Christian and lead others to Christ. If you are maybe on the fence about joining or, you know, saying yes to Christ, then hopefully that this message today would, you know, tug a little bit at your heart, and I used some verses like Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 through 3. We talked about, you know, how do you know that you're a Christian and how can you lead others to Christ, and that can be found in Romans 10, 9 through 13, and also, you know, what are the laws and commandments that God gives us, and that can be found in Matthew 22, 36 through 40, and it's basic. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it. You should love your neighbor as yourself. I also talked about SLBs, which is self-limiting beliefs, and that is, you know, how we hold ourselves captive to what we think that we can't do or limit ourselves from, you know, what the world thinks or trying to be what the world wants you to be, and I lived for the world for so long, and I think a lot of them did as well, so, you know, just being extremely transparent with them about my walk and how I got to where I'm at, and I also, you know, gave them a homework assignment to read some Bible verses, you know, at least two times a day over the next month until I get back, and those are Matthew 6, 9 through 13, Romans 12, 9 through 21, the Beatitudes, which can be found in Matthew 5, 3 through 12, and also Ephesians 4, 29 through 32, and again, you know, this is like the detention center of detention centers, so they don't have, like I said, all the amenities, so when I go into this prison, I always, you know, give handouts of the service. You know, I highlight certain parts of verses. That way, when they go back to their cell, you know, they have a tool, and what was really cool is there was a new guy that had just showed up for his first service. He just got transferred to that prison recently, and when he went into his new cell, there was a Chaplain Auto Ministries paper in there, so he said it meant so much to him that the guy that left that cell left this behind for him because he doesn't have a Bible or anything yet, and to go into a cell in a maximum security prison and to have the Word of God right there ready and waiting for you when it's something that you want, I mean, come on, man, I can't make this stuff up. Like, that was so cool, and we had one guy in the first service come to Christ, so, you know, out of 40 men, we collected 32 prayer request cards, 27 of those checked firm believer, two rededicated their life, and one accepted Christ for the first time, and it was really cool. It was K-Sides. That's the first group that we get in, and those guys are locked in their cell, I think, like 22 hours out of the day, so, you know, coming to church is exciting, you know, for them to get out of there, and, you know, I'm talking and preaching, and I see this guy at the end just kind of like shaking his head, and I was like, are you ready? And he's like, I'm ready, and I was like, what are you ready for? He's like, I'm ready to make a decision, and I knew right then and there he was ready to, you know, call on Christ for the first time, and I'm about bringing everybody together in the body of Christ to encourage them, so I asked him to stand up, and he stood, and I said, if you're a believer, you know, raise your hand, and I think like 13 or 14 guys raised their hand, and I said, stretch your hands out towards this guy, and we're going to pray with him together and enter him into the kingdom, and to see all of these guys in this maximum security prison stretching their hands out, praying, you know, for this guy as he's giving his heart to Christ is so amazing. I mean, I wish that we could record some of this stuff, but I can't, so if you want to see it in live action, come to prison with me, and I want to give a shout out to Chaplain Ruckel. He is an Air Force veteran and has been working with me since 2019, let me come in there and put all of this stuff together, and also we have a guard, and I believe his name is Justin or Jeremy. We don't get him every time, but I want to request him. He is an Army veteran that I've got to know over the last few visits. I just can't remember his name, so I've got to get better at that, but you know, it's so cool to be in there surrounded by veterans. I just absolutely love it, and I did get a few prayer requests from Ohio's maximum security prison, and the first one is from Torres, and he checked the box that said, I'm a firm believer and unashamed of the gospel, and his prayer request is, prayer for the strength to make it through prison and the healing of this pain. We have another prayer request from Whiteford, and he also checked the box saying he is a firm believer and unashamed of the gospel, and his prayer request is, for me that I stay in my steadfastness of faith, fighting the temptation that troubles me every day. And our last one is from Eric, he also checked the box, I'm a firm believer and unashamed of the gospel, and he said, I pray to stay focused on the change that I have been working on for my life. So you know, that's really awesome, and I want to tell you, you know, 99% of the prayer requests that I get are not for less time. They are for personal change. I get a lot of prayer requests that inmates are praying for the guards, most definitely praying for their families on the outside. I even had a prayer request that said, please pray for the family of my victim. And you know, when I read these, I read real repentance. I read a heart changed, and it's just so amazing to be a part of. I definitely love Lucasville, and I'm scheduled there the first Sunday of every month, and will also be doing a special family event on December 18th. The last prison event that we've had this week was back at Chillicothe Correctional Institution, and this was an unplanned meeting. We just got invited, you know, after being at the Veterans Coalition Family Day, and this was the Veterans Coalition meeting. So the Veterans Coalition is the name for the inmate group of veterans who are incarcerated at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. And you know, it was really awesome. We got to walk, you know, all the way through the yard, and they're showing us all kinds of stuff, walking, you know, past a bunch of inmates and everything, and we, you know, get into the room, you know, where there's like at least 50 veterans that are incarcerated sitting in there waiting for the meeting. And you know, I hear all of this clapping, like as we're walking in, and I'm like turning around like, who is here? What is going on? And Springer was with me, and he was like, they're clapping for you, man. And I was like, what? I mean, I was just, you know, absolutely blown away with the welcome back that I got from these guys. It was extremely touching and overwhelming, and I told them, I said, you know, I had no idea that you guys were clapping for me, and I hope that I stay, you know, this humble forever because I had no clue that they were clapping for me, and it was just super cool, and it just encouraged me to want to keep going because I'm seeing, you know, the enthusiasm and the excitement and the hope that it's bringing these guys. I was very impressed with how they handled the meeting, and if you're in the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association or maybe another motorcycle group, you know, they run their meeting just like we would. And you know, of course, they have problems and difficulties, you know, that get brought up, and I was very impressed with, you know, how the commander handled himself and just everybody really working as a team. And it seems, you know, a lot of what these guys are about is, you know, working on fundraisers, and they're working on a fundraiser right now for the Veteran Memorial Monument that they are building inside of the prison, and I'm telling you, this is awesome. I tried to find some photos online to see, you know, if I could show those, but I can't see them. You'll just have to come in with me, and we'll give you a tour to check it out. So you know, got to speak with them, and some things that I said, you know, is don't take things personally. You know, there's plenty of stuff that, you know, can happen throughout your day, and you know, if you try to not take it personally, it'll help you, you know, get through the day a little bit better. And also, you know, look at each other equally. Hold a higher standard and have each other's backs. You know, it could always be worse. That's something that I'm sure that if you're a veteran, you probably heard going through basic training, and I told them to, you know, appreciate, you know, what you have and think about, you know, your other brothers that are incarcerated at other prisons that don't have a program like this, and I told them it was in, like, May of this year, I was requested to be a special guest speaker at a Pickaway Correctional Institution on Veterans Day today, and they had, you know, a staff member that ran the veteran program that was a veteran, and he is no longer running that, so that event is canceled for those guys. So, you know, it might seem, you know, like life sucks at times, especially because they're incarcerated behind bars, but I told them, you know, to be thankful for what you have because you guys have a staff that's willing to step up to the plate and, you know, help put this thing together to honor you as a veteran, and once they kind of put that, you know, into perspective and realize that they have veteran brothers at another prison that aren't going to get to celebrate Veterans Day by any means, I think that that really hit home for them. So, the big news, big, big news, getting ready to start a 12-week anger management class with incarcerated veterans starting Thursday, November 30th at Pickaway Correctional Institution with the veterans, and I'm really glad that this class was able to get set up because, like I just said, they no longer have a veterans program, so, you know, when I reached out to that prison and everything, I specifically asked if this could be promoted to veterans only, and it seems like that's a go, so looking forward to starting that November 30th, and then I believe it's January 10th. It'll be the second Wednesday of January. For 2024, I will be starting the same class at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution with veterans. The subject I will be teaching is what's good about anger, dealing with rage. This course offers real skills for positive change, and upon completion, each participant will receive a certificate that is nationally recognized in court, probation, and on the parole board. In this class, they will learn about anger's many faces, sources of anger, healthy examples of anger, stress management techniques, dealing with rage, conflict resolution, and diffusing anger and hostility. So, just think about this for a minute. If a veteran inmate takes this class and uses what they learn, it will benefit them once they are released back into society and come on our side of the wire. You know, if you're a veteran and you were deployed, think about what it was like coming back after, you know, a six- to 15-month deployment. You know, I don't know about you, but civilians really pissed me off, and I let the anger get the best of me in many situations, and almost every situation involved alcohol because that was the only way that I knew how to deal with the pain. You know, think about the veteran that signs up for this class that has, you know, 20 years to life. Who would that affect? I can tell you it would affect the veteran 100%. Again, if he uses what he learns, it will help him focus on doing his time and not letting his time do him. This veteran could become a mentor to other inmates. Let's say he reaches five inmates, and they reach five also. So think about the staff, the people who punch in day in and day out. These men and women who are the staff of the prison leave the civilian wire five days a week to go behind the wire on the front lines where anything can happen. You know, I believe that teaching this class to veteran inmates and knowing the reach that it can have if applied could create a safer environment for the staff and the inmates of the prison. You know, I used to be a very angry person. Coming to Christ helped me deal with rage, anger, and PTSD, and I believe this biblically based class will help these men. And honestly, it could help anybody who's listening right now. I want to thank everybody for listening this far, and I want to close with a recent testimony on how I know God hears me, and testimony means God do it again. So if you listened to the previous podcast, I told a story, and in that podcast I mentioned about, you know, the power of social media and how I never, you know, intended on being on a podcast or having people follow me or reach out on TikTok or anything. It just all kind of happened, and the story I told about the power of social media was meeting a guy named Smoke in Colorado. That's his road name. He's a CVMA member from Utah, and he hit me up when I rode out, and I was able to pray for him and some other CVMA members. Well, you're never going to believe this. God made another connection between this story and a recent prison trip. But first I have to explain, you know, my request to God. I asked God to speak to me clearly, you know, that I was following Him on His path and doing His will. You know, as I'm doing all of this stuff with the prison and the veterans, I'm moving 100% on faith, and I always want to make sure, you know, God, I'm doing what You want me to do and not what I want to do, because I don't want this ever to be about me. It's 100% about what God is doing through me. And if you're doing something good, I promise you will get persecuted. You know, I used to let it get under my skin, and I realized that it was a blessing if I was being persecuted for sharing the gospel. So real quick, I want to share this verse from Matthew 5, verses 9 through 12. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. So I always want to be a peacemaker. Verse 10, blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say evil things against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. So, you know, I've had veterans reach out to me and, you know, say I shouldn't be wearing my colors when I go into prison, visiting incarcerated veterans, and, you know, I've had veterans reach out and tell me that, you know, what I'm doing with veterans in prison is not veterans helping veterans. So now when I get persecuted, you know, I know I'm on the right track. So, you know, back to the story of knowing that God hears me. You know, I'm driving to this prison, and I'm like, God, just show me, you know, speak to me clearly in a way that only I can understand that I am following what you want me to do. So, you know, at the veterans meeting on the 8th, one of the guards came up to me that was in charge of overseeing the meeting at Chillicothe, and he asked me, you know, what chapter was I in. And I was kind of thrown off guard at first, you know, especially based on previous experiences of, you know, hearing other veterans say something about, you know, me wearing my colors or, you know, patch inside of the prison. So I looked at him and smiled, and I said, I'm in 12-1. And he smiled and said, he's a member of the CVMA also, and he is in 12-8, and his road name is Top. So, you know, being curious, especially, you know, some of past experiences and things that I've heard, you know, I asked him how he felt seeing us, you know, wear that patch behind bars when we came in to visit veterans, and he said he absolutely loved it. You know, I thought that was really cool, and, you know, hearing that gave me a little encouragement. However, you know, I had forgotten the request that I spoke to God on my way to prison. I asked for Him to speak clearly to me that I was following His path and doing His will. And later that evening, I received a message on Facebook. It was of me in Colorado with the guy Smoke that I was talking about and the other guys that I met when I got to pray for him and that I had mentioned on the last episode. So the message said, small world, I met you in Colorado to do a bike blessing, and I just heard you ran into an old buddy of mine, Jeremy, from Dress Right Dress. We used to be stationed together. You know, reading this, it kind of hit me like, aha, I suddenly, you know, started to remember the prayer request that I sent to God, you know, speak to me clearly so that I know that I'm on the right path and doing His will. You know, sometimes we're so focused on the optic and we need to take a step back to observe our range of fire. This message came from, his road name is Hawkeye, and he is the chapter commander for Utah CVMA 49-3. And he had no idea that I had spoke about, you know, that event of, you know, meeting those guys in Colorado on my previous podcast. He just knows Jeremy from Dress Right Dress, who I just met at the Veterans Family Day in prison, who was blessed by the inmates with the $1,000 donation. Hawkeye saw a photo of me on their Facebook and made the connection. And you know, I was hit with emotion, and I was just so thankful as I put the pieces of the puzzle together and realized, you know, that God heard me. And I posted on Facebook that night, Matthew 7, 7 and 8, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened. And, you know, this just means so much to me. And you know, I have to acknowledge that, you know, God is, is speaking to me. And it's a choice because it would be so easy to, you know, brush a few of those things off. But obviously, you know, I was a little bit, you know, affected by hearing, you know, some things from veterans that I wouldn't expect to hear about helping veterans. And, you know, here I go into this prison for the first time for this Veterans Coalition meeting and the guard running it is a member of, you know, the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association who was absolutely pumped, you know, that we were in there and thought that it was so cool, you know, serving the veterans that are incarcerated. And then I get home and I get a message from somebody that, you know, I met one time in Colorado and he's referencing, you know, something of me being in prison with veterans. So, to me, that's where I say God is speaking to me clearly and I only have to remain faithful to his word and his calling and keep going forward. I want to tell you that, you know, God is creative and tailored in how he will speak to you. He's not a cookie cutter and, you know, how can you get to this place of peace? And that is, you know, you got to read the Bible, read a verse, start out reading, you know, a verse a day and then maybe that'll turn into a chapter, you know, pray to God. It's as simple as, you know, me talking into this microphone right now. It's just a conversation. So I want to thank everybody for, you know, listening to this podcast, our second one today. This is definitely about double the time of the last one. So if you stuck in there, thank you so much. You can connect with me on Linktree and you'll have access to, you know, my Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Tik Tok, YouTube, and my email, which is chaplainauto at gmail.com. If you type in Chaplain Auto on Google, my information should pop up and again, my email is chaplainauto at gmail.com. That is C-H-A-P-L-A-I-N-O-T-T-O at gmail.com. So if you have any questions, comments, concerns, prayer requests, just want to say hi, please feel free to shoot me an email. And also, you know, if you like this podcast and you're really interested and, you know, helping this ministry advance on what we're doing, funding is always needed. It does cost gas money to get to these places and especially moving into winter, my bike is up and the 4Runner, the ministry machine is ready to go. Just got the service done for that. So you know, if you want to help out the ministry, you can help us out with some gas money. We also use the gas money for snacks, for, you know, coffee and stuff, for volunteers when they're taking these trips with us. You can do that at PayPal or Zelle. Both are under the ministry email, chaplainauto at gmail.com. Again, thank you so much and I'm looking forward to putting out this next podcast. Please feel free to leave a comment, like it, follow me and share it with someone that you think might need to hear this. Until next time, stay blessed.