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Well, we never actually went anywhere. I did take hiatus from producing new Truth.Love.Parent. podcast content because we had so many other projects going on.
Today I want to tell you what we’ve been up to, discuss how the ministry is doing, and share a special announcement. So, let’s dive right in.
We do this because we humans are incapable of being truly successful at anything outside of God’s plan and empowerment. So, the Bible is absolutely integral to everything about which we talk.
Over the past seven years and twenty-six seasons, we’ve posted one episode a week, then two episodes a week, and then back to one episode a week when I started the Celebration of God podcast. Of course, there were times we accidentally didn’t post at all (or we posted late) because of technical difficulties, and there were those times we re-aired extremely important past episodes.
But up until last year we had never taken a multi-month break. In fact, at the end of March last year when I announced that we would be taking this extended hiatus, I really had no idea how long it would be.
Let me tell you why.
When I started this podcast in 2016, I was working at Victory Academy for Boys. I worked my full-time job, and then produced this podcast as labor of love.
When we moved from Victory at the end of 2019 and decided to make Truth.Love.Family. a nonprofit, we had no idea where God was going to lead us.
Not only is starting a nonprofit very challenging (resulting in so many of them failing in the first five years), but starting a biblically-based nonprofit has even more difficulty ahead of it because it’s offering something the majority of the world simply doesn’t want.
And then add on the fact that the world governments decided to shut down the planet for a couple years, and things get even more interesting.
But God was faithful to provide, and—by His grace alone—Truth.Love.Family. didn’t shut it’s metaphorical doors. Of course, there’s really only one main thing God used to keep us afloat during these past four years—He has been using a core group of financial donors.
For the past four years we have received between ten and twenty thousand dollars in donations per year. And though we’re super thankful for each of those dollars, we really have my parents, Ray and Carolyn Brewster, to thank that TLP survived.
When I started the podcast, my housing was provided for by Victory Academy. When we left that ministry to pursue Truth.Love.Family. my housing was not provided for. In fact, for the first year and a half after starting this nonprofit, I didn’t receive any paycheck at all.
Since then, I’ve been receiving $500 a month from the ministry because that’s all the ministry can afford to give me. But I want to stop here and give a special thank you to the donors that give specifically to the Director’s Fund. For the past two years I’ve received between four and five thousand additional dollars a year from the Director’s Fund, and each of those gifts are so special to me and my family.
So, if you’re doing the math, I personally am on track to make about $10,000 this year from Truth.Love.Family. And for those of you who’ve been in a similar monetary situation before, you understand how stressful that can be.
Please note, I’m not complaining, I’m simply setting the stage for what I’ve been doing the past ten months and how God has been sustaining us.
And that’s where my parents come in. My parents have been such a tremendous blessing to me and my family, and—by extension—to you. Without their inviting my family of four to live with them for the past four years and absorbing all of the housing costs themselves, this nonprofit never would have gotten off the ground.
The Lord has used my parents, our core of faithful donors, and various social services, to help Truth.Love.Family. weather the past four years.
And I’m sure you can imagine how many times over those years that I’ve meditated on the fact that even though we’ve consistently published new podcast episodes for years and years, our donor base hasn’t been growing fast enough to support the ministry and my family’s needs.
There were many times I considered whether or not I was doing the right thing by not simply getting another job. So, I decided to try something a little different last year. I started Door Dashing in January. I split my time between delivering food here in Brevard and working on Truth.Love.Parent. It was doubly unfulfilling because I wasn’t making enough Door Dashing to make a dent in the monetary situation, and every hour I spent doing it was another hour I wasn’t counseling or creating content for you and your family.
But then March came. As I looked at the various speaking opportunities I had last year, I needed to stop Door Dashing so I could prepare for those conferences. In addition to being on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio every month as well as Theology Throw Down and Apologetics Live from Striving for Eternity Ministries, I was blessed to speak about a “Family United in God” at Grace Christian School in Bennington, VT, and Berean Reformed Baptist Church in Osceola, IN. And then I spoke at Bible Baptist Church in Howell, MI, about the Biblical Parenting Essentials. I also did a counseling workshop at the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors annual conference near Los Angeles, CA. In addition to that, I presented the ministry at various churches across Indiana and Michigan.
And I had the joy of doing a twelve week seminar for Eyes on You Ministry where we discussed how God would have us suffer well in our afflictions.
So, with all of that travel, I knew it would be hard to put out new episodes every week.
But there were two other significant projects we were working on. The first of which was putting the finishing touches on my book. I know some of you have been waiting a long time for that, so I dug in and made it happen.
At this point, the manuscript has been submitted in its entirety to the editor, and we’re eagerly anticipating having the book published here very soon. Stay tuned for more information about that as I get updated timelines from them.
But the other project I was working on over the summer was the Evermind App.
The Evermind App is the place to find all of our online courses and a growing library of resources from Truth.Love.Family, Faithtree Biblical Counseling and Discipleship, and The Year Long Celebration of God.
So, October finally came, I was done traveling, I finished my short writing retreat to knock out the last chapter, and I considered the possibility of starting the podcast back up. Yet despite all of these amazing ministerial opportunities from the year, the financial stresses on me and my family continued compounding as we fought to keep our heads above water. The final straw was a significant medical bill for my daughter, and I knew something had to change.
For that reason, with the exception of my weekly biblical counseling sessions, I stopped all work for Truth.Love.Family. and dedicated two months to paint an apartment building. That’s right, from the end of October through December, I painted the exterior of an apartment building.
So, that’s what I’ve been doing for the past ten months. During the summer I was counseling, speaking, writing, and creating an app, and I’ve been doing various side hustles.
So then came January of this year, and I was once again faced with a similar decision . . . do I throw myself back into Truth.Love.Family. full time, do I stop the ministry and get another job, or do I continue pursuing some hybrid of the two.
In my heart of heart, I want nothing more than to minister full time. I yearn deeply to pour God’s truth into the minds of people anywhere God may allow me. And so I keep coming back to trying to get Evermind Ministries to the place where it can sustain itself and my family.
That’s why I believe it’s time to head back into the studio to reconnect with you, spread the good news God has for every family on the planet, and—Lord willing—meet some new donors who will partner with us as we do it.
The more people who connect with us, the more who have the potential of being spiritually strengthened because of it, and the more who may then be willing to donate monthly to keep the ministry running.
If God doesn’t want Evermind Ministries to flourish like that, it won’t, and I’ll pursue employment and ministry somewhere else. But I believe we’re at a pivotal place. I’m being asked to speak more places, I have increased availability in my counseling schedule, Lord willing the book will be published early this year, and the Evermind App is live—and we’re adding more and more content to it.
So, if you want to see Truth.Love.Family. and our podcast, Truth.Love.Parent. grow, please subscribe to this podcast, consume it regularly, share it with your pastors and friends in person and on social media. If you are in charge of a ministry, you can invite me to speak. You can request biblical counseling. You should really download the app and start consuming that content. There are links in the description of today’s episode that will help you seamlessly do that. You can plan now to buy the book when it’s available. And you can start giving. Even if it’s just $5 a month, every gift will be an important part of our being able to build a sustainable ministry that will continue to impact the world for God.
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