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 & 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.

Growing up on a ranch with her family in West Texas, Community First! Village neighbor Eddie Jean learned what hard 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, however, hasn't always been a palette of bright colors. After encountering a series 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.

When Mobile Loaves & Fishes first began moving neighbors up off the streets of Austin and into permanent 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.  

Gospel Con Carne host Alan Graham often describes Community First! Village as a peaceful place with a side salad of tension—and when many of these moments of tension arise around the neighborhood, the team knows 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 school classes, it wasn't until Michelle went to a Historically Black College that she realized her upbringing had been more privileged 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.   

A self-proclaimed free-spirit with a merry laugh, Alan's 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 being surrounded by the creatures of nature that she loves, Kate chose to adjust her living situation and made her way home to a place of permanence in Community First! Village. Today she stays active gardening throughout the Village as part of the property beautification team, and also enjoys painting and writing poetry again. Facing adversity at several points along life's journey, Kate has learned how to best overcome challenging times simply by never giving up.

Our guest on this episode of the Gospel Con Carne goes by 'Sippi' – short for Mississippi – 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 he encountered a more 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.

If you've ever taken a tour of Community First! Village, then you're probably very familiar with this week's guest on the Gospel Con Carne podcast. Our neighbor Ute has been living in the Village for about five-and-a-half years and is one of our incredibly talented artists who earns a dignified income from the pieces she creates and sells through our on-site Art House program. Although she is extremely grateful for where she is in her life right now, Ute remembers the rougher times she endured while she was homeless for 10 years. Listen in as Ute shares her beautiful journey of living in Germany to eventually finding her home in Austin, and how she is able to extend grace and patience to her neighbors after restoring these necessary qualities in herself.

The Gospel Con Carne podcast is back for a new season of meaningful conversations with your host, Mobile Loaves & Fishes’ Founder & CEO Alan Graham! Whether having experienced homelessness or not, all of Alan’s guests are individuals who understand the value of community. This week’s guest, Alan’s neighbor Brandon, is no exception. Growing up in the foster care system, transferred from family to family five times, Brandon has learned firsthand how surrounding oneself with good company—even under vulnerable conditions—brings joy, hopefulness and a desire to encourage others who may be struggling to experience a similar level of goodness. Join us for this hope-filled conversation as we kick-off the 2023 season of the Gospel Con Carne podcast!

We often say at Mobile Loaves & Fishes that our missional community is the secret sauce of Community First! Village. Alan’s guest on the podcast this week, Paul Gautier, and his wife Carol have devoted their lives to serving our neighbors every day by living in the Village as Missionals. Paul and Alan met back in 2002 on an MLF truck run and now, 20 years later, continue to serve Austin’s most vulnerable neighbors together. Paul shares an experience that he says was the biggest step in his faith journey and how he has learned the easiest way to live out the acts of the apostles—being in relationship with others.