Hey, everybody's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks. And we continue now a part two of our conversation with jennyman Juno in her class at Briarc Christian School right after these brief messages from our general sponsors. Bob is very easy to listen to because he's honest and speaks from the heart. He talked about his mistakes and
what he's learned. He doesn't try to act like a hero. Instead, he just seems like a regular guy, army and normal folks who decided to care, which makes the podcast more powerful and relatable. This podcast taught me that one person really can make a difference. Bob didn't wait for someone else to fix things. He took action. Who's that okay?
Brome Zachary Pierce Zach. So, Yeah, this podcast was really touching because he talks about how people get into, you know, bad situations because they have nothing else to fill their time with. So that's why he created the rec Baseball League in Chicago, in the inner city of Chicago, and so it's just it's shocking to see, you know, how just even free time can lead to these bad decisions and just a simple thing as baseball, and he also
built a high school there as well. So just even something as simple as a sport can keep them out of jail.
Did you find him half as funny as I did? That guy's awesome, didn't he? Yes, listen, guys, no more assignments. I know it's a podcast, but if you want to laugh, listen to that podcast because this dude is hilarious. And by the way, sitting with them, Alex, what was he he? What was a little bit of background on Bob because he's so funny.
You got to keep saying these people's full names. So it's Bob Mazakowski or whatever.
What did I tell you about producers correcting me being a butt head?
It's pretty basic, isn't a guy?
Yeah?
So he was actually an addict in New York City, which is fun. So he was like playing rugby in New York City. And do you remember the story? You can feel for it to tell if you want. All right, So he literally like gets kicked out of the game and he's got a sippy cup full of cocaine that he's using. And then this pastor also gets kicked out of the game and he offers him some coke and he had no idea. The guy was pastor. What does
this guy doing playing rugby as a pastor? And this guy invited him to his church in Times Square, and that really fascinating church that had you know, wealthy people in suits and homeless people going to church together, you know, and dining together after. And this guy helped make him a Christian. And Bob ended up intentionally ultimately moving into
the inner city himself too. And I don't think everybody's necessarily called to do that, but he does put a good challenge of where ward Christ is where you live in these mcnanions in the suburbs, or would be living with the people.
In the city.
And so he's also, like Alan Barnhart, one of the most challenging and fascinating people you'll ever meet.
I encourage all to listen to it. Plus he's my kind of Christian, which that means sees like me. He needs prayer and redemption every night because of the seventy thousand sins I create every day. And he's still got that New York brashness in him. You have more freedom when you manage money compared to when you don't. Money isn't money itself, isn't sinful. It's what we choose to do with our money that can be sinful. They sacrifice the luxuries of life in order to pay off their
debts quicker and learned how to manage money properly. It's a challenge to keep your faith in college. There's a lack of motivation to do things like get up and go to church. We're talking about Brandy and Ashley. I think it's stathless, right, I say, Brandon and Ashley status.
Who's that? That's MEI you what's your name?
I'm Hannah Wigginton.
Yeah, tell me about it.
So I thought it was really interesting because like when they went to college, they started ministering to like freshmen in college and me going to a college next year, Like I'm going to Stanford University, so it's about Samford. Really Yeah it's Alma. Yeah, I guess a little, but yeah. I just feel like it's a good lesson for me to minister to other kids in college and like help them build their faith because I think I have a pretty good faith. I mean I but I it was
very inspiring. And I also feel like it's crazy how God's timing works, because like when all these friends gathered around to give them the money. They were like they just found out that they were pregnant. I thought that was crazy, Like God's timing is so like actually insane. So I thought that was really cool.
It's all, it's so cool to see that if you want exact some measure change, you don't have to start some big five oh one C three or be part of some big organization. You just help your neighbor and pass it on. Did you did you? Did you feel that as you were listening?
Yeah?
I also think I took away from it like you don't have to like have service to strangers. You can help people like you know, like yeah for sure, like your neighbor, like your friend, or like you don't have to just like when you serve, it doesn't have to be someone random like going on a mission trip, serving someone you don't know, but it can just be like the person that you are closest to who just needs help.
Absolutely true. We talk about it all the time.
You have to employ your passion and your discipline, what you care about, what you're good at at areas of need. Those areas in need may be an inner city or in prison. That area need also maybe next door. Being a part of army or normal folks is not a call to be so extraordinarily big and everything and people who do that great. But you can be part of the army of normal folks by serving simply your neighbor
or your classmate or your friend. I enjoyed this podcast due to how vulnerable and open he was with the audience and how interesting his content was. I learned that our God is an amazing god that can use an ordinary guy like JT and turn him into a life changer. Jt Olsen both ends.
Hi hello and Angelie Gobondo? What Angelie Gobondo?
Hi?
Hi?
Go?
Okay? So J t Olsen Those that haven't watched it.
He came from a family and his parents both died in a car wreck, and his aunt and uncle took him in and he felt like he was left abandoned. And his family consisted of five kids, four kids, and they all moved in with his aunt and uncle without them really knowing that it was going to happen, just like took them in. And basically he went about and
helped orphans with adoption and widows. So he would get a team of people, all volunteers and get all these like objects and supplies from people, again all just given. Nothing was bought to help these widows with their houses, whatever they needed, whether it was gardening or drywall, plumbing like anything, and all the money that they got from sponsors would go towards a family to adopt, because adoption
is a lot more expensive than you'd think. It was, about much seventy thousand dollars I believe.
Seventy to one hundred thousand dollars to a back, So people that want to adopt don't have the money to adopt. And instead of raising money for people to adopt, he helped widows with houses and got sponsorships and then took that money so other families could adopt. So he partnered helping poor widows with fixops with adoption.
It was like a two to one situation.
He got two things done at one time with the widows and with the adoptions.
And yeah, I really could you learn from it.
It just made me realize how like one simple action that's happened like that's happened to you can make you a really big deal to someone else's life. Like my favorite quote that he said was when he was adopting his girl grace. He said something like, why is it so wrong to use my life savings to save a life? And his wife wasn't one hundred percent ready to have another kid because they already had four of their own.
And I thought it was really huge that he just knew that he needed to do it and that he prayed about it, and God was like, you need to take what you have and what I've given you to help someone else.
And yeah, I just thought that was great.
Sean and Inga Arvin love City. It's fascinating how the Lord works in our lives. I found their story motivating for me to reach great goals. I learned to take risks. I think they're very brave for taking the risk to help this new community.
Hi, that's me lose you.
I'm Katie Pearce.
Hi, how are you tell me about it?
So this was an interview with Sewn and Inga Arvin. And this was a couple that moved into this neighborhood that was not very.
Expected.
They bought this house and ended up inheriting this community center where they ended up taking care and welcoming of this huge community, and it was really unexpected of them, and it was Inga who just decided that she wanted to move into this neighborhood, and Sean was not on board with it at first because this was the neighborhood that he would used to buy drugs from, and so
he was not really wanting to do this. But they ended up getting that house and then making the big risk to take in this community and.
Help them a lot.
What'd you learn from it?
Definitely to take risks, and that like odd will like work out and you can go, will work in you in just like mysterious ways that.
You don't even know.
When you guys learned your elevator pitch, right, how many seconds did you have to make the pitch?
Do you remember?
We didn't thirty to forty that's a long elevator rod.
Four a little longer thirty to forty. Y'all are doing well in your synopsis?
Is?
I was just wondering because you guys are you guys are boiling down hour and a half to three hour podcast and do about two minutes, so I think you're using that skill right now. That's actually really good. I want to ask you how did you how did it did you find the very fact that this guy used to buy drugs in the neighborhood that he ended up returning to to try to help heal. Did that have any effect on you understanding that heart of his story.
Yeah, I can definitely understand why he wouldn't want to move there with all the bad memories from the drug dealing and all that, so I can understand why he wouldn't want to move back there. But it was really inspiring how he took the risk and how they were praying about it to.
Move into this neighborhood from their past.
We'll be right back. Eight.
Dean Angel Studio's movie Brave the Dark about his adopter father stand Dean. The content kept me really intrigued. You could really hear how important this was to Nate and how much it affected his life. I'm very lucky that I haven't had to experience anything I had to go through I learned from this podcast asked that community and family matters, whether biological or not.
Hi.
Hi name, I'm joining Ezekiel.
Good to see you tell me about it.
So basically, when he was five, his dad shot his mom and then shot himself right after, and he watched the whole thing happen, and his grandparents took him in after like the police came and everything, but he was had like so much trauma and he like shut down that he wasn't really talking to anyone. So the grandparents
actually just ended up giving him up. And so then he went from multiple different foster homes and then he got a car and so then like ran away from his foster home and just like slept in his car, and then him and his friends robbed an electronics store where they got sent to jail. And then when he was in jail, his teacher came and visited him, and his teacher got him out of jail, and Nate ended up living with him after that, and his teacher just
made a huge impact on his life. And he was able to live with his teacher, and like his teacher showed him like Christmas and birthdays and gave him gifts and like spoiled him, and he just like never experienced anything like.
That, and it was just and what do you do with that experience?
He made a movie about his life.
Yep, what'd you learn from it?
Just the impact that people can have on others.
Yeah, think about you just had a teacher tell you that she was told to go home on weekends and spend the night at somebody else's house because she just wasn't even welcoming her own home on the weekends because of this function.
Created by her mother's lifestyle.
Think about when we drive down the street and we see homes and everybody else's family, and we assume behind the closed doors everything is perfect while we all have trials and tribulations in our own lives and we think we're on an island. There's this function in trauma and difficulty in everybody's life, right, and it's how you overcome it. And you're never on an island because everybody's experiencing something.
And if you're willing to be the person to step up and interject yourself in somebody's life and help out, you never know how deeply of an effect that can happen, Like a speech teacher, like a football coach.
Big lessons in that story.
Charity ball fraternities are usually known for loud music parties and drinking, but this frat wanted to make a lasting impact. Sigma Nu has had a lasting impact not only at Old Miss, but at other schools across the country. This podcast taught me not to judge a book about's cover and to always strive to respect and assist those in need.
Who wrote that that was me? Hi you? What's your name? Garrett Rosner? What Garrett Rosner? Okay? Tell me about this?
So basically, the Sigma Nu fraternity big frat at Old Miss. And in nineteen eighty nine, there's a football game going on between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt and one of the Old Miss players it was a homecoming game, so it's a big game also, and one of the Old Miss players, Chuckie Mullens, he was going for a play and then he got paralyzed.
And these two.
Fraternity brothers saw this and they went up to Chucky like a few days later, they're like, hey, like, is there any way like we can raise money for people that have like your condition to help them out. And they were like afraid to do this at first because they didn't like want to bother him, like annoy him, and it's like time and knee, and he was like
of course. And so then they started this charity bowl where these fraternities raise money for a kid and they raise all the money up and then they give it to a certain kid who has paralysis, and they keep continuing over the years and they keep setting goals for himself so they can keep going higher. And then I think they reached their all time goal like in twenty twenty two and gave away it was like three hundred
thousand dollars. It's like one kid of paralysis. And then other schools like Mississippi State also they like uh SEC schools also caught onto this and started doing their own charity balls this year.
The game was just played a month ago. The guys you were listening to their game just went off a month ago and they raised three hundred and eighty thousand dollars a bunch of kids like you to give away to a bunch of people like you who ended up paralyzed.
What'd you learn from it? I thought it was really cool.
Like fraternities always have the stigma around them, like they're like, I don't know, it's like a fraternity, like they were cool guys, like they party and all this stuff. But these kids like really wanted to make a change, and like you don't see, like you don't think of a fraternity going out to help like some kid of paralysis, Like you think they're like uptight like frat boys, you know.
Uh sound, but uh, these kids like really want to make a lasting impact and change the stigma around the fraternis.
I love it, Officer Tommy Norman.
And by the way, this is one of the coolest guys I've ever interviewed my life. The ability of mister Courtney and Tommy. So whoever wrote this, thanks because you plugged me to connect needs no change. It's perfect and provides heartfelt and eye opening experiences for the audience. I've learned that serving your community is more than just doing helpful things. It's the work behind the scenes protecting the community. Who wrote that, Hi, my name is Date bliin I wrote that, So tell me about it.
So Officer Tommy Norman, he is a cop and he lived in I think North Little Rock, Arkansas, and just a lot of the things there is that he yes, like he's an officer, but he specifically said his shift basically never ends, and he basically wanted to be a cop so he.
Could get back to his community. And how he says his shift doesn't end is when he's off shift. A lot of the other cops, they put up their belt, they go home and they just sit with their families and have dinner. And all that, but he's out in his community helping widows, buying groceries, buying a kid a bicycle so he can get to school and everything. And he says, really trying to be engaged and bring community into one instead of being separated.
One of the things Tommy Norman taught me is you can be part of an army and normal folks and serve just as a guy doing your job, just doing extra, just going a little above and beyond and what you do for a living. He has three goals. He wants to be invited into your yard. Then he wants to be invited onto your porch. Then he wants to be invited into your house, because once he finally is get invited to your house, he knows he's built.
A relationship with you.
And this is a cop who is white in an almost well at least a very predominantly African American community, running around in his police car with this police uniform on, which is typically in a community like that, the enemy or at least someone is scary, or at least someone who you're worried about, invading your personal rights, getting invited into people's yards, onto their porch, and into their house, and once he makes it in there, he builds relationships
with people in that community. He's considered the Michael Jordan of community policing, and he is revered in a community that popular narrative tells us is a community that hates the police and fears them, and he has turned that all upside down by simply having conversations with people on their porch. Again, you don't have to be some WI is good to have a lasting effect on so many people and be a part of the army and normal folks. It oftentimes is as easy as having a civil, non
threatening conversation. So those are the excerpts I have. I haven't gotten all of you, but that's the excerpts I have. What I'd like to know is someone who hasn't spoken yet. Did the assignment and the podcast in general give you any new thoughts or notions about volunteering, generosity or something that you might be encouraged to involve yourself in. Anybody, I know, I haven't heard from you. Hi, what's your name?
I'm Chrystal Pierre Luis.
So I didn't listen to an Army Folks podcast, but from all the discussion around has really interested me. I'm in Wilson's Society, the volunteer club here, community work, and recently I went Madonna, what's it?
What's what Wilson?
Yes, Wilson Society part of that.
Yes, Okay, stop because I'm gonna let you talk about it. Don't go anywhere. Here we go.
So that's a great segue. Perfect you did. Well, you're not a plant either. But there's this thing. Actually, why don't you explain what the Wilson thing is and then we'll go back to you and I want to hear about your involvement in it.
And we have several in here that are in Wilson Society. So Wilson Society is a service club on our campus. There's about two hundred members and they select projects that they're going to do each semester.
It varies.
The officers and the students decide what they're going to do. They can write a grant up to one thousand dollars through the Kimmins Wilson Family Foundation and they will give them money to do their project. So the projects are selected. If you have something that's going to cost money, you have to make a budget, make the plan, and then Wilson Society will provide you the people you know to make it work. So student get involved. They can lead
a project. We've got a few in here that have actually written the grant led a project, and then others come alongside. They can do a hands on, they can do a donation, and then we support Orange Mound through a variety of separate things that we do as well.
So with that as a background, tell me about what you've done.
Okay, So recently I went to the school Madonna And what is Madonna? Madonna? Yes, so Madonna is a school with kids with disabilities and things like autism and down syndrome, And a group of us went last week to spend time with them and like kind of like a summer like diving into summer type of things. So there was bouncy houses and coloring and stickers and popcorn and candy and although there was kids as young as like three
or three, and there were adults. And so the first round we had adults and they were really sweet and me and my classmate we did like this ball toss and like some of them wouldn't you know, they didn't want to like play with us, but just being like, hey, how you doing, Like just like making them feel welcomed as we're they're welcoming us, serving with them and playing with them, even though you know, we don't deal with
the same things that they do deal with. And again with the kids too, just being like, oh, you're your no policy looks really pretty or your hair looks really pretty, and just you know, serving with them and spending time and having fun with them was truly an experience I really loved.
We'll be right back.
Your teacher sitting on my left over here, Jenny, oh sorry, miss whatever you're supposed to be called, says I love what you're doing. She loves the podcast. Obviously she would have made you guys do this assignment if she didn't, But she said, I hope we're building an army of
normal teenagers. That's what she wants to do through this class, through this process, through listening to the podcast, through all of this stuff, would anybody say they've had a changed or heightened awareness at all of the importance of community involvement service?
Anybody want to talk about that?
So I actually sorry, Angelae Covonde, there you go. I helped write one of the grants this year for one of the projects for Wilson Society, and it had to do with Christmas. And I just never thought about Christmas not having gifts, like obviously addition to the christ part of it, but like having gifts was just is normal to me. Like I've been very blessed. I have parents are still together, like I'm an only child, so I've been.
Very very blessed.
And this year, when I was doing the grant, it made me realize, like there are kids that are just walking around that don't understand the joy of Christmas or.
Get gifts at all.
So part of that grant was we get specified kids that ask for certain things, and we get a red tub and we fill it with all the things that they asked for that we can get with the money that we raise. And another part of it is Briarcrest donates toys and Teddy Bears.
And little race cars and stuff just in general.
And we have a back room that all the kids can just walk through and grab a gift. And I didn't get to go to the event. I was taking the act, but I saw pictures and like the joy that these kids get just seeing gifts that they've never seen before was something that truly changed my outlook on how blessed I really am?
Or little backdrop on red tub. It's for foster children. So all eight hundred plus foster children each get a red tub the Memphis Family Connection Center, and so we sponsored four tubs through Wilson Society. And those tubs also pay for their therapeutic care for the year, so if they need psychological or anything else, that also covers it.
Pretty cool.
I want to leave you guys with one thought. It's time to get y'all back to class. I know y'all can't wait to get back to class and air conditioning, and in fairness, you know this is probably better and sitting class at least. But here we go. Who has heard the turkey person explanation? Okay, well, I'm going to give it to all of you.
As you.
Think about what you've listened to, and as you think about this discussion, and as you ponder, hopefully what can I do as richly blessed as each of you are. It's not a nice thing to do something kind of a requirement, kind of a requirement of the blessings you have to give back in some way. But fair warning, it comes with it comes with a set of rules. That will reveal themselves to you as you get involved. It is not easy, it is fraught with misunderstanding, but
it's worth the effort. My first year, when I showed up at Manassas High School, there were seventeen kids on the team and they'd won four games.
And ten years. Four games in ten years. That's bad.
I mean, I know you're not good at math, but wouldn't you say that's and that's pretty rough? Pretty bad? Seventeen kids four ninety five. So my first year I was their seven. My first year, halfway through the season were three and three. Now, I think three and three is pretty average, but when you've won four games in ten years, they think three and three. You know, I'm kind of like a fat headed, redheaded version Elane Kiffin or somebody they were buying in.
Well.
When I first got to Manassis, obviously I had to start coaching football basics, right, But as we started coaching football, I also learned we had to coach a lot of other things. Somebody opened the table of contents and the book in front of you. Somebody hand that person the microphone. Would you just read the chapters loudly?
So Chapter one on the value of character Chapter two, The meaning of commitment.
Chapter three.
Daring to leave your comfort zone for service is not someone else's job. Five How leaders are defined. Six the search of the search for civility. Seven, the power of dreams. Eight, The relationship between fear and fortitude. Nine, perseverance never takes a break. Ten, the dignity of hard work. Eleven, standing on a firm foundation. Twelve, responsibility for the talk taking thirteen grace appears in a forgiving heart, and fourteen the gift of a legacy.
We started teaching that too.
We realized we had to coach the basics.
So halfway through the season, we're three and three. We're coaching football.
We're coaching that stuff, and half the team was buying in. Now, the whole team was buying into the football. Yes or no so are on the football field. But the minute football was over, only half the team was buying into that stuff. The other half the team, while yes or no so are on the football field, they were getting back in the streets after games and practices engage in the same behavior that got them to four wins in ninety five's metaphorically in life as well as football film.
So I was frustrated. Every coach has a guy. So I went to my guy and I said, hey, man, what do I gotta do?
Y'all are yes or no, sir? Everything's good on.
Football, but the important stuff only half of you are buying them. What do I got to do to get the other half that team to buy into the important stuff?
Like you're half the team.
And this guy, who I had real conversations with, who I knew would tell me the truth, looked at me and said, all coach, just keep doing what you're doing dismissively. You know how y'all talk to your parents when they tell you something you don't want to hear. You know, yes, sir, yes ma'am, but in your mind you're thinking, nah, you know that right? That was the response, and I'm like, no, man, real talk. And he said, Coach, I don't want to
hurt your feelings. I said, man, you're not going to hurt my feelings, but I need to understand and while that half the team ain't buying an important stuff like here after him, he said, all right, coach, real talk.
I said, real talk.
He said, Coach, they're just trying to figure out if you're a Turkey person.
Or not. And I said, what are you talking about? Man? He said, Coach.
Every Thanksgiving and Christmas people roll into our neighborhoods and they give us hands and turkeys and gifts, and we take them because we ain't got none. But then they leave and we never see them again. Makes you wonder if they're doing that because they really care about us, or that they're doing that to make themselves feel good. I know I'm in a Christian school, but I'm going to quote this exactly how he said it. He looked me dead and as they said, coach, really, what the
hell are you doing here? I want to challenge you guys to think about something. It's not enough to show up once. Because when you show up once and leave the type of people that you're in, type of communities that you're going in to serve, that is very common. What is uncommon, what matters, what will have a lasting impact. It's consistency is going back over and over and over again and being uncommon. The other thing is this, don't allow yourself to engage because you like the way that
it makes you feel. Don't allow yourself to engage because when people hear about the work you're doing, the backslaps and the congratulations, and the people in your orbit think of you in a better way because of the work you're doing. Because if you are doing it, because you are getting something out of it personally from your peer group, you are, in fact a turkey person, and a turkey person's a fraud. You don't serve so that exalts you.
You serve so that it exults someone not as blessed as you, and you do it consistently.
And if you do that, you are uncommon.
And uncommon people are what makes the army of normal folks go. So I challenge you as you go off to college, as you go off and become adults, this weird assignment that you didn't want to do. My biggest hope for you, guys is your biggest takeaway is be uncommon, be uncommon, and grow the army in normal folks.
I'm going to leave it with you at your class closes.
I'm very proud of how well they did today.
They did a great job.
Thank you so much for sharing with them. I think it's been more enlightening than they probably thought it would be, and they've learned a lot about themselves through the podcast and what they can do in the future. So thank you for your podcast that could open the eyes of even teenagers.
I hope that did.
We're signing off from Briercrest High School in Memphis, Tennessee, where there's a room full of kids who, at the best of the teacher hopefully has.
Grown and wants to join the ranks of the Army of Normal Folks. Kids.
Thanks for being here, I appreciate it very much. Well done, and thank you for joining us this week. If Teacher Jenny has inspired you in general, or better yet, to take action by using an Army of Normal Folks with your classroom, recommending it to your school, or using it with your own kids, please let me know. I'd love to hear about it. You can write me anytime at Bill at normalfolks dot us, and I promise you I will respond. We may and do an episode with your classroom.
And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends and on social subscribe to the podcast, rate and review it. Join the Army at normalfolks dot us, consider becoming a premium member. There any and all of these things that will help us grow an Army of normal Folks.
I'm Bill Courtney. Until next time, do what you can