Our guest on this episode of the Gospel Con Carne goes by 'Sippi'&nbsp;–&nbsp;short for Mississippi&nbsp;–&nbsp;and has been a neighbor in Community First! Village for just more than a year. While it's easy to realize where Sippi's roots originated, he made his journey west to Austin, Texas as a young adult where&nbsp;he encountered a more&nbsp;challenging season of life in and out of homelessness for the greater part of a decade. Growing up as a star athlete with access to things that could get him into trouble, Sippi says he quickly learned that "there's a bad guy in all of us." Even during the dark times he experienced, however, Sippi kept his faith in God's plan, listened to His call and feels that he has now found the place he can call home.

Don't Leave Before the Miracle Happens

A self-proclaimed free-spirit with a merry laugh, Alan's&nbsp;podcast guest and neighbor, Kate, grew up in the UK where she and her mother gardened every day, spending much of her time in nature. After traveling to the United States and later divorcing her husband in search of freedom, Kate eventually found herself living under a bridge. Although she enjoyed&nbsp;being surrounded&nbsp;by the creatures&nbsp;of nature that she loves, Kate chose to adjust her&nbsp;living situation and&nbsp;made&nbsp;her way home to a place of permanence in Community First! Village. Today she stays active gardening throughout the&nbsp;Village as part of the property beautification team, and also enjoys&nbsp;painting and writing poetry again.&nbsp;Facing adversity at several points along life's journey, Kate has learned how to best overcome challenging times simply by never giving up.

Turning Lemons into Lemonade, with My Neighbor Kate

Gospel Con Carne host&nbsp;Alan&nbsp;Graham&nbsp;often describes Community First! Village as a peaceful place with a side salad of tension—and when many of these moments of tension arise&nbsp;around the neighborhood, the team knows&nbsp;just who to call. Michelle Ates helps our neighbors resolve conflict through restorative justice. Growing up as one of the only black people in her&nbsp;school classes, it wasn't until Michelle went to a Historically Black College&nbsp;that she realized her upbringing had been more privileged&nbsp;than the majority of her classmates. She uses her experience to help our friends transitioning out of homelessness to transform stereotypes they had of people who don't look like them, and ultimately helps us all to realize that we're not so different from one another.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Resolving Minor Conflict with a Major Impact, with My Friend Michelle

When&nbsp;Mobile Loaves &amp; Fishes first began moving neighbors up off the streets of Austin and into&nbsp;permanent&nbsp;homes in Community First! Village in 2015, the neighborhood was a small, close-knit community. Now, with almost 350 formerly homeless men and women living in the Village, it takes more of an effort to really get to know your neighbors. Alan's guest on this episode of the Gospel Con Carne, Bowie, has been living in the Village for just over a year, but this is the first time the two of them have met! After alcohol consumption controlled his life for many years and eventually led to his time living on the streets, Bowie is now almost 20 years sober. Today he finds hope in his relationship with God and enjoys sharing this joy with the rest of his neighbors in the Village.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Going Back to God, with My Neighbor Bowie

Growing up on a ranch with her family in West Texas, Community First! Village neighbor Eddie Jean learned what hard&nbsp;work looked like at a young age. Today, she continues this strong work ethic and earns a dignified income by creating beautiful paintings and ceramic pieces through our Art House program. Eddie Jean's story,&nbsp;however, hasn't always been a palette of bright colors. After encountering a series&nbsp;of deaths in her family, Eddie Jean ultimately ended up homeless and living out of her car. Despite immense grief and loss throughout her life, she has always seen the light in her circumstances and leans on her past to share unconditional love with everyone around her.

The Power of Seeing the Light, with My Neighbor Eddie Jean

In this special edition of the Gospel Con Carne podcast, Alan is joined by two community-driven individuals who we consider part of the Mobile Loaves &amp; Fishes family. Sherwynn Patton is an MLF Board member and one of the founders of Life Anew, which practices restorative justice in Community First! Village. Joe Bland is the leader behind Joe Bland Construction, a family-owned business whose team has handled the infrastructure development of the Village. On Monday, August 28th, at 9:00am on the south steps of the Texas Capitol, the entire community is invited to honor 60 years since Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Tune in to hear more details from Sherwynn and Joe about the event and its relevance to this day, as we are reminded of a concept introduced to us by Jesus Christ—to invite people from all walks of life to the banquet table as we love and care for our fellow neighbors.

Honoring 60 Years of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Speech

In this special episode of the Gospel Con Carne podcast, your host Alan Graham sits down with Brian Walsh, an author of one of Alan's favorite books, “Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement.” When asked about the inspiration behind Community First! Village, Alan&nbsp;frequently&nbsp;references Beyond Homelessness as a book that helped him gain a rich understanding of the true meaning of home. Alan also often explains how Mobile Loaves &amp; Fishes intentionally uses this framework of home in the design of the Village. This year, on&nbsp;the book's&nbsp;15th anniversary, Brian and his co-author, Steven Bouma-Prediger, have launched a new edition that includes a postscript&nbsp;in which they discuss the evolution of their ideas and share true stories of home and community built anew.

A Conversation with “Beyond Homelessness” Author Brian Walsh

There are only a handful of people who have been with Mobile Loaves &amp; Fishes since its very first day 25 years ago, and Alan's guest on this season finale of the Gospel Con Carne is undeniably one of them! Alan is joined by his daughter and Mobile Loaves &amp; Fishes' Director of Community Empowerment, Taylor Graham, for&nbsp;this 25th anniversary&nbsp;special edition episode.&nbsp;You may be surprised to learn that being part of the family business wasn't always in Taylor's plan. Hear Mobile Loaves &amp; Fishes stories from Taylor's perspective, and each of their reflections from their&nbsp;recent&nbsp;six-week&nbsp;journey&nbsp;in Spain on the Camino de Santiago&nbsp;pilgrimage.&nbsp;Whether it's serving our homeless neighbors over the past quarter century or walking 500 miles across Spain, Alan and Taylor agree there is one key takeaway found in each of these unique journeys:&nbsp;keep putting one foot in front of the other.

25 Years of Following God's Detours, with Taylor Graham

On this episode of the Gospel Con Carne podcast, we are joined by not one, but two Alan’s! Joining our host, Alan Graham, is his friend and neighbor, Alan, who moved home to Community First! Village in December of 2019. Adopted as a baby, Alan built close relationships with his adoptive parents and fondly remembers his childhood growing up in north Austin. His life took a turn when he began using drugs&nbsp;as a young teenager, which led to a spiral that ultimately left him homeless. Since moving to Community First! Village, Alan has heavily relied on a Twelve Steps path of recovery for himself, while making amends with others in the process. Alan continues to improve on these steps every day and the work he's put in is reflective in his relationships with other neighbors and his deep desire to live servant-heartedly. While following the Twelve Steps has transformed Alan's life, he has found the most freeing part of the process to be the mending of relationships and rebuilding of the community that he lost along the way.

Life Beyond Twelve Steps, with My Neighbor Alan

Joining our host, Alan Graham, on this episode of the Gospel Con Carne podcast is our neighbor, Orion! Growing up in a small Texas town, Orion had a simple, old-fashioned life and knew what good hospitality looked like. However, what he thought was considered a "normal" family dynamic ended up causing him trouble in the years to follow.&nbsp;With a family history of alcoholism and other unfortunate circumstances, Orion ultimately became homeless around the age of 18. When Orion later found himself in prison, he met some of the most spirit-filled people, which began his journey toward a relationship with Christ. While continuing to pursue a relationship with the Lord was never easy, Orion was put in situations and met people who helped him form the strong relationship he has with Christ today. Since moving home to Community First! Village in early&nbsp;2023, Orion continues to shed light and love for the Lord through his interactions with his neighbors&nbsp;and&nbsp;others he encounters. He also regularly reminds those&nbsp;around him that as long as there is breath in your body, you can have hope.

Leaving the Ninety Nine, with My Neighbor Orion

Gospel Con Carne is a gritty journey of Tex-Mex Theology with Alan Graham, Founder and CEO of Mobile Loaves & Fishes.

Leaving the Ninety Nine, with My Neighbor Orion

Gospel Con Carne Podcast

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