Ask A Cop
Ask A Cop is live and unscripted. Each episode gives other officers and the community a window into a police officer's world and provides authentic community engagement with law enforcement professionals.Listeners can relate by asking questions, hearing some of their own struggles, and finding solutions. Despite preconceived notions, these men and women, who serve and protect, are approachable and eager to answer questions. This resource provides meaningful engagement for officers, their families, and the community. As chaplains, we have witnessed the immeasurable rewards of simply sitting down and having these positive conversations. Produced in partnership with Gods Way Radio.
Ask A Cop
032: Building a Ministry and Navigating Retirement- Jorge Alessandri (Ret. Miami Beach PD)
What if you discovered that the milestones in your career weren't just your doing, but part of a greater plan? Our guest this week opens up about his journey of faith within the law enforcement community. Raised in a non-traditional Christian home, he initially credited his success to sheer hard work. But over time, he began to sense a higher power guiding his steps. He shares how God's influence reshaped his character, even transforming his language and demeanor, offering a beacon of hope for fellow first responders grappling with similar struggles.
We also get a heartfelt glimpse into the life of Jorge Alessandri, the dynamic leader of the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers chapter in Miami. Since 2013, Jorge has been the driving force behind impactful initiatives like distributing gifts to police officers and organizing solidarity rides, all fueled by his unwavering faith. As he transitions into retirement from the Miami Beach PD, Jorge shares the emotional highs and lows, underscoring the vital role of family support and divine guidance during such pivotal moments.
Navigating retirement can be a daunting journey, especially for those leaving a structured and demanding profession like law enforcement. We explore the unique challenges first responders face when stepping away from active duty. From the importance of having a supportive community to finding a new purpose, our discussion highlights practical advice for making this transition smoother. Plus, we delve into the remarkable story of founding a permanent home for a ministry dedicated to first responders, emphasizing the power of faith and community in these life-changing endeavors. Tune in for an episode filled with touching stories, practical insights, and spiritual encouragement.
You're listening to Ask a Cop Podcast, a time where communities and cops connect. These conversations are recorded live, so stay tuned after the podcast so you can learn where to submit your own questions and to learn how you can support us. For now, though, get ready to ask a cop.
Speaker 2:I love asking people their testimony if they're believers and not everyone that we have here in Ask a Cop is a believer but sometimes we get brothers and sisters in the Lord and you're one of those brothers in the Lord and you were telling me your story is unique. It's not like everyone's story. How you came to know the Lord.
Speaker 3:It is very unique. So you know, first, I just want to thank you guys for doing this. This is awesome. I love that you do this and thank you for the opportunity to be here. Yeah, so my my stories. I grew up in a, in a faith-based home, you know, a single mom, but we didn't have the the structure that I think that's a lot of homes have these days as far as Christian homes, you know the Bible studies, going to church regularly, know the youth groups and things like that. We didn't have any of that. So I got into law enforcement, kind of lived in this world you know a lot, and then fast forward. God began to grind away at my life to the point where you know he got my attention and I began seeking him. So my life was, I don't want to say, far from the Lord. I was never a complete rebel, I guess in our eyes, but I was.
Speaker 2:You know my character, even though it's always righteous, was not a righteous one through the eyes of Kind of like a moral person, a decent person, but never really that born again, that righteous living A radical change so fast forward.
Speaker 3:I get promoted and it's funny going back a little bit when I became a police officer I thought was really about me. You know, because I studied, I made all the sacrifices, became a police officer. Then I got promoted to sergeant and again I thought it was all about me. I mean, I studied, I did everything and as when that that change started and I started looking back, I realized it had nothing to do with me. It was all about him and him positioning me in the right place at the right time to be able to be a blessing to others. Him working through me Because I'm thinking I'm so broken, what can I do? But he's just a miracle worker.
Speaker 2:Amen. I just wanted to hone in on that because, as you were sharing with me earlier, I thought what a blessing to have someone with us today with that kind of story, because maybe there's a police officer, firefighter, someone listening that they're thinking, man, there's all these Christian guys and you know I still let a cuss word slip or I don't have my act together. I really want God. I'm trying. You know it wasn't overnight for you. You know you're not the same man today that you were when you started, even though you believed in God. Even though, like you just said, I want to hone in on that and allow you to elaborate a little bit more.
Speaker 3:So one of the things that I love when I talk to officers or first responders in general, it's when they say the words that I can't, I can't do that, I can't give that up. And for me that's fantastic, because when you are able to give that up, give that up, and for me that's fantastic because when you are able to give that up, then that's with your strength and not his strength. So it's that process of surrendering and he begins to change you. So my vocabulary, my, my walk, like I said, was not very Christ-like, although today I'm still broken.
Speaker 3:You know I don't, I'm not holier than thou, than anybody else. I'm broken and I, and I'm a sinner, just like everyone. But he begins to fine tune you and as you walk closer and as he begins to reveal himself to you and you learn more and you're around brothers and sisters in Christ, you begin to grow and it grounds you and then that just comes out. You know, that's just. It just begins to come out. So those things that you couldn't let go of, like I mean, I used to curse- like a sailor.
Speaker 3:You know, and and God began to change that in my life. It wasn't me, he changed it. And we're to the point now where I'm not saying that it doesn't slip. I mean, listen, I. The joke was that if I was in a armed robbery subject and the guy's not getting to the ground, there's going to be a lot of curse words coming out until the guy gets on the ground.
Speaker 3:But it's not my normal you know, Um and so if somebody is in that realm right now where they feel like, hey, you know, I'm not living that life, it's okay, like God, work If you, if you seek the Lord, he's going to help you through it. Amen, you know.
Speaker 2:I love that again, that summary that it wasn't me doing it, the Lord did it. Uh, and again, thank you. Thank you for sharing part of the testimony. And whenever we have guests, you know I'm thinking, man, there's so much to talk about. I could keep asking about that. We could go so deep on that. But you know, as we were preparing earlier, there's so much that God is doing right now and so much that George has in mind and his heart for police officers, his dreams for the work that God would do in the community, and we want to get to that. Maybe we'll rewind and come back to some police stories. Lord lead us, let's see how this goes. But, george, want to kind of jump forward a little bit to the recent past, your retirement that we're joking about already, if you don't mind sharing. I didn't ask for permission on this how old are you?
Speaker 3:52. 52.
Speaker 2:So not quite a 60 plus retirement age. Were you planning to retire at 52?
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 2:I was not, so tell us what happened.
Speaker 3:Actually my whole walk has kind of been an unplanned event In fact. Well, we'll get to that later on, but I had entered to the drop, so I know a lot of people familiar with the drop program. I still had six years left and just felt a calling for the Lord to lead me to do more in ministry.
Speaker 2:Now let me interrupt you right there because and again, please only share what you're comfortable with and everything. But for people who maybe aren't familiar with the drop, you're talking about money. You're talking about six years of investment, of earning more than normal. Maybe that's not the best way of describing it, but but there's an opportunity to earn more money because you're, in a sense, working a little extra is. Am I summarizing it?
Speaker 3:so, basically, the way it works is is you? You almost enter into an agreement. You know, obviously I work for the city so I turned into an agreement with the city. We have an eight year drop and so your benefits and everything continue. So you're getting paid the same, so you're getting increases, everything. But your pension money is getting banked.
Speaker 3:So every month that money that you would be getting as a pension now goes into an account and that just builds up quickly yeah and you know, within a year, and then two years, and then three years, and when you're hitting that six, seven, eight years, it's, it's significant yeah, so I just wanted to emphasize on that because for some reason, you walked away from that.
Speaker 2:It's kind of weird. Yeah, so I just wanted to emphasize on that because for some reason, you walked away from that.
Speaker 3:It's kind of weird it is weird, um, go ahead please, but um, yeah, so what ended up happening was I just kept having that, that, um, you know, calling from the lord to do more ministry work. You know I've had a heart for, for first responders, for, especially for our officers, being an officer, seeing them in that pain, and, uh, it pains me to see them in that pain. So, um, every chance I have, and again, different walk in my life, never expected to go down this path, but just, you know, just, loving on people, especially the, these officers, um, they need it. They do a lot of great work and they, they take on a lot of burdens. We take on, um, everyone's problems.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we don't get called. You know I joke around. We don't get called that they're like hey, meet me at. So, you know, seventh and washington, because we just made some, some cafecito and some pastelitos and before it gets cold, you know, we don't get those calls. So, um, it's, it's that painful scenes that we correlate and bring back to our home, oftentimes the brokenness, the, just, there's a lot of darkness that we're exposed to.
Speaker 3:So, it hurts me when I see these officers, um, the firefighters, first responders, going down a path to uh ease that pain. That is so temporary. So, anyways, the Lord just kept calling me more and more into ministry and um, and of course I didn't listen, um, you know, uh, it's funny, you know, uh, I lead a ministry, you know, and we've talked a little bit about it, but I lead a ministry called the fellowship of Christian peace officers and you would think that in that position you're like, okay, well, everything you do has got to be like perfect and righteous and it's got to be on point. It's not, you know, it's not, you know, it's like I, I fail all the time. In fact, I was just telling my wife today, uh, things that are working out, and I said, man, you know, I wish the lord sometimes would just do things, but sometimes he just he makes you kind of walk it out because you have to trust him and in that trust you grow.
Speaker 2:What makes me think of a bible verse? Without faith it's impossible to please god. You know, for those listening yeah how long have you been leading the FCPO chapter here?
Speaker 3:Since 2013.
Speaker 2:Nine years, yeah, going on. Nine Going to be 10 years in 2023.
Speaker 3:Going to be 10 years this year Wow.
Speaker 6:I remember Pastor Raz, before we were ever in chaplaincy. I remember hearing about an FCPO chapter and not knowing what it was, and then fast forward a couple years down the line. Uh, for those of you who know george, you know when he starts a sentence with I have an idea uh, everyone put on their seat belt, brace yourself. Your speakers might just blow out of the car right now, if you were, yeah and and so gotten to know I mean it feels like for years now, but maybe it hasn't been that long that, um, we've been able to to do these things together.
Speaker 6:You know, I think it was last year, the year before. One of the ideas was you know, I think I think we should get a gift to every police officer in miami-dade county yeah, and I was like. I'm pretty sure you know that that number three thousand six thousand something.
Speaker 3:We were trying to feed the five thousand, five thousand.
Speaker 2:So yeah and uh, I mean we, how many did you end up getting out? 2,000 or something it was, it was thousands it was a lot, probably 3,000 out there.
Speaker 6:Yeah, I don't know if everyone was able to to get it. But I'm curious if you're an officer listening. Do you remember getting a small little gift bag last year?
Speaker 2:uh, or the year before? Was it the year before? Because remember last year was like a week ago so you're talking 2021?
Speaker 6:yes, 2021, that's right yeah because in 2020.
Speaker 3:We did the solidarity ride.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just this little thing of of uh 15 agencies driving together through all miami-dade county with helicopters. No, no biggie.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's that's how it all started. It starts, it starts. You know, that's the way god works with me.
Speaker 3:It's like something small, it's like hey I got this little idea and I'm like okay, and then the lord's like no, no, we're gonna blow it up. I'm like, lord, we, that's too much. And he's like yeah, yeah, I know. So we're already at a level 100. And I'm like that's like we can't. And then he's like, yeah, but we're taking it to a thousand. What? And he makes it happen. So we just got to trust him.
Speaker 2:So a lot of history here with these guys. Adrian's on the other side of the table here running the technical aspect and chiming in as well. You know, adrian, he'll get his own episode one day. So much that just the grace of the Lord in his life and his heart for officers as well, and that's why, these two guys get. Along.
Speaker 3:Both you guys.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, it's a privilege. It's a privilege, but if you just tuned in, if you're listening live, you're listening either on 104.7 FM God's Way Radio, miami Florida Maybe you're listening at godswayradiocom or through our free app. If you don't have the app, check it out. It is awesome and thank you. If you're listening live to the recording, thank you as well. We're here with George Alessandri, formerly of Miami Beach PD, retired as a sergeant, and you were telling us how you ended up making that decision. Finally.
Speaker 3:So it's kind of funny, sometimes the Lord allows you to go through things and I was just continuing the grind, you know, because I you know kind of a little history behind the background. A single mom, we were okay, uh not the best financially, and then it got very difficult once I graduated high school. So that was a a thing that weighed on me, because now I have a wife, I have a son, I have my mom still, I have my mother-in-law and they're you know, and so kind of that burden I felt is on me you know, and me making this decision wasn't just about me, but it was about all of them.
Speaker 3:So stepping away from this was a big deal. And God just kept calling me, and calling me and I was like, ok, lord, just a little bit longer, just a little bit longer. And he just started making it more and more difficult at work Not that it was bad, but it just I wore a lot of hats and so the work just continued to grow and pile up and it just it became too much. And it was just at that point. And, uh, one weekend I just felt convicted and I wrote my retirement letter and, um, I showed my wife and and she's like are you really you're going to do this Cause? She's like, are you you're gonna do this because she's very supportive, thank god. And uh, I said yeah.
Speaker 3:So monday came, my, my stomach was a complete knot. I I mean, I hadn't slept, I didn't turn in monday. Tuesday was the same thing, wednesday I'm driving in and I felt again, lord said, hey, today it you need to turn this in today. And I'm like, okay, gosh, and even that was challenging because I couldn't meet the right people to turn in the resignation letter.
Speaker 3:And so I ended up meeting. The chief was out of town. I ended up meeting with one of the assistant chiefs. We had a great conversation. This is in the afternoon. I come downstairs to tell a friend of mine what had happened, before he hears it from anybody, and my wife sends me a text message that a school, that, um, she writes some children's books and there's a school that had reached out to her and wanted to pay her to come and speak well and they didn't have the money and they were seen and it kind of was up in the air.
Speaker 3:my wife's like, okay, don't you know, don't worry. And as I'm walking downstairs and I'm talking to my friend that I'm gonna get emotional, emotional, that text message comes through and I'm like man, like the Lord right there, saying hey, listen, I got you.
Speaker 2:You got to trust me Because they were able to pay her to come.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I was like you know. So it's those moments where it's like the Lord's showing favor, he's showing hey, I'm with you. And even he shows that continuously in our lives, and especially in my life. I still sometimes doubt. So that was the the journey there. Um, I end up retiring. I took some time off with my family and, uh, august 1st was the last day and I'm thinking, okay, lord, I'm ready. You know what? What?
Speaker 2:august 2nd.
Speaker 3:Let's go what do you got to do? Let's go, I'm ready to go. And it was just quiet. Wow, complete radio silence. Nothing was going on and I'm like Lord. You know, I took this step and there's nothing happening. That's tough.
Speaker 1:What am I doing?
Speaker 3:And I kind of went into a little bit of a season of I felt like I didn't have a purpose, you know, like I knew this stuff with ministry, but what that was I didn't know. And then the Lord begins to open this door on this thing that I know we're going to talk about shortly. But he begins to open this door and just everything starts flying open.
Speaker 2:There's so many things I want to ask you about in that story. Guys, remember, if you're listening live, you can call or text us If you're listening later. If it's not live, you can still call or text us. We'll interact with you. We'll get back to you. But if you're listening live, you can be part of the program. 786-313-315. 786-313-315. Remember, all the guests we bring here offer a unique perspective on law enforcement. They are here to connect with you. They are here to give us insight into this profession, into this calling, into this culture, so that we might be able to pray better and interact better and be a blessing all around. So call, don't hesitate to call or text us. Right now Adrian is able to pull up the texts. I have them on my phone. We're going to see it, okay. 786-313-315.
Speaker 2:George, kind of rewinding a little bit here that ministry-work-life balance in a sense, because I can imagine maybe you never had this thought. Oh, you know, when I do retire I'll lead this ministry, or when I have more time I'll lead this ministry. But I remember meeting you several years ago and, man, you were all over the place. And I say that in a positive way, I say that in a way of admiration. It's like, man, you were doing so much, you know, and you accomplished it all. You know, for example, I know how important it was for you to be there for your son, you know, as he's growing up teenager, and you would tell me oh no, I'm at this event, I'm at that. Oh, I can't. You know I'm juggling this, I'm double booked, but I'm going to try to figure it out. Can you elaborate on that, you of the Lord? They don't know how that's possible.
Speaker 3:So a huge priority is obviously the family. You know, I think that's the first blessing in our lives and for me, you know, my dad wasn't around. They got divorced early on and he kind of had his family. You know, he got married and remarried a couple of times and so that became a priority in my life and um, and I find that in our line of work it's easy to um get away from making that a priority, not because we have a cold heart or we don't love them, but it's just. It's just that it's the type of work that we do.
Speaker 3:We get consumed by the work and it's easy to get into that fast paced life, you know, um, and and my job I remember laughing several times where I was booked for three meetings at the same time and I'm like I can't be in three places at once, you know, and then people pulling me in different directions, Um, so I, what I would say is is you know, take some time first off with your family. You know that's really your first ministry. Spend some time with them, you know, love, guide them in and, and that's not always easy my son's 15, and there's times that I I feel like I'm missing opportunities. So I just I'm sharing that like something I often like to do is I like to share my heart, like I don't ever point fingers, I'm you know I'm sharing from my experiences and
Speaker 3:what I've gone through, um. Spend time with your, with your children. Spend time, you know, with your or your significant other. Read the Word. Get into something small if you have to. There's Bible apps. They give you a small verse every day. It's a one-minute video. Just take steps. It's like that, saying that if you want to walk a mile, you have to take a step. So take those steps and then allow the Lord to lead it. You know, he'll grow and he'll move you and he'll he'll guide you. Opportunities will come up. We've been very blessed in our ministry where I've seen men and women that are just, were very lost, you know and when I say lost just in a lot of pain, about to get divorced, drinking, doing all kinds of things numbing the pain, and now they're amazing they're actually mentoring others you know, so that's what it's about.
Speaker 3:So don't stress yourself out, I guess is the thing. Don't stress yourself out, Don't feel like it's like you don't burden yourself. The Lord will work it out. But be intentional.
Speaker 2:Awesome, thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Hopefully, you know, I think there might be someone listening that's right at that place to hear that word. They're ready to serve the Lord and the Lord hasn't told them to retire yet, but there's something they could do. So something else I wanted to hone in on, george, because we hear this a lot and, adrian, maybe you have something fresh in mind and statistic or something, maybe not, but you know, we hear about the life expectancy after retirement. We hear about the lack of purpose. We hear about how, all of a sudden, it's like you take a sports car and you throw it into first gear and now you know, if you you know, maybe this I'm messing up the analogy totally ruined the transmission. You know, I don't know the analogy totally ruin the transmission, I don't know. The point is that transition can be hard for first responders and it was hard for you. It was, if you want to elaborate and then go on to just share and encourage someone who's getting ready for retirement from police work.
Speaker 6:Well, George thinks about that. I think maybe a year before George retired, I think I don't know if he remembers the conversation. I said George, I think you need to retire soon, wow.
Speaker 3:A word of the.
Speaker 4:Lord.
Speaker 6:And because it's not for everyone, but there were certain things just like it looks like that direction, and I didn't think it was going to happen. I mean, I just and, but you know, lo and behold, god continued to orchestrate things. It wasn't hard, there were very difficult moments, but I think it's very important to not be doing or making decisions just based on fear. That's where, by faith, it is impossible to please Him.
Speaker 6:We need to walk by faith not by sight, and so you know we got to see some of that. It's not like the sky opened and everything was like this amazing thing. There were very difficult moments, so that was going into retirement and then I know that there was already a sense of purpose of what to do after. So hopefully I gave you some time to just think about it.
Speaker 2:I got to imagine that's part of it. Right, knowing your true purpose, your deeper right purpose, but go ahead.
Speaker 3:No, and I I think it's really important. Something that I kind of want to touch on is is like guys like you, you know, um, you know like brothers in in christ, sisters in christ, who who have no agenda and really, uh, care for you and want the best for you, because they're seeing things in your life, you know. I think that's important because sometimes we as an officer may hear something from somebody and take offense to it. So you got to find out what that source is. So you know I know you mentioned it I had another friend of mine, mario, who I know is on here too, Wow yeah.
Speaker 6:I had mentioned it several times.
Speaker 2:Shout out to mario, if you're listening.
Speaker 3:Give us a call, mario, that's. That's the, our friend from aviation right, no, no, that's another mario.
Speaker 6:I know mario too, mario rojo miami beach police officer.
Speaker 3:Okay, okay, so he mentioned.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, yes, yes, okay, got it sorry that's okay.
Speaker 3:He said it a couple times uh, actually several times, and had several people you know, people in my life that cared, they were trying to share, and say, hey, I see this, you know and I knew it, I just wasn't listening. But I guess the most important getting back to your question the most important is really, first off, just give yourself some grace. It is a big change. You know you're going from something very structured, whether you want to go to work or not. You got to go and, uh, there's certain holdovers and there's different events and there's different things that you are pressed to do. Yeah, um, and then you go from that to nothing.
Speaker 3:Like I went from my phone not stopping emails, not stopping circumstances not stopping because I wore so many hats to it kind of started dying down. It was great. This is the first time in years that I can actually put my phone on the side of the bed and not worry that it's going to ring in the middle of the night, you know, or just worry that it's going to on the weekends or something broke in the station or you know because.
Speaker 3:So the first thing I would say is just give yourself some grace, give yourself some time. You know, allow yourself to kind of decompress a little bit. I would say, if you're already in it and, like you know, this is somebody that's in it and they're like kind of like hey, what do I do? You know, just kind of give yourself a little bit of time, it'll begin to fall into place. Um, definitely seek something that that fulfills you.
Speaker 1:You know.
Speaker 3:For me, this is something that that fills my heart you know, serving the Lord. I never thought I'd say that you know um you would have told me this, I don't know, 12 years ago, that I'd be doing this. I would have laughed, you know. I'm like it's never going to happen. And yet here I am. You know, um, but if you're in that process of of about to retire, you're thinking about retiring, definitely have a plan in place. You know, like what? What is day one going to look? Like what?
Speaker 1:what, what?
Speaker 3:are Definitely have a plan in place. You know like, what is day one going to look like? What are you looking to do? What's going, what's your purpose? You know, whatever that is Because you can only travel so much.
Speaker 3:You can only buy so many cars, you can only buy so many houses, you can only buy so many things and just like everything. If you look in your life at anything you've purchased, whether it be your home, a car, whatever it's not the same. So that moment of joy or that moment of happiness not joy, happiness is a moment and then a month, six months, a year, down the line, that same happiness is not there. Those things fade. So seek those things that are really going to fulfill you and if you have a skill that you can share, go in that route.
Speaker 2:You know bless others yeah and help them again if there's someone in that circumstance and season. What a clear word. If you just tuned in, this is ask a cop. It premieres live the first tuesday of every month. We have a guest in the morning during our live program 7 7 to 8, 7.30 to 8.30. And in the afternoon as well, 3.30 to 4.30. If you're listening live, remember you can be a part of today's program by calling or texting us at the studio 786-313-3115.
Speaker 2:If you're listening going I missed it. I just downloaded this from my podcast feed. You didn't miss it. You can text or call us. We want to know that you're listening and if you have a specific question, you can still ask it. We're friends with a lot of our guests. I know Adrian has all the contact information. You know, whatever, how, distance, and so we can always get you in touch with the people that you hear from. It's anything's possible with the Lord. Right Scripture says so. Text us, call us whenever you're listening 786-313-315. So, george, you were worried about what was going to happen. It slowed down and then it started to pick up again.
Speaker 2:God's moving tremendous tell us what god's doing so?
Speaker 3:um, my, so a little background. My, my home church is christ journey and they had a, an off-site campus in kendall, and um, earlier in the year they made an announcement that they were closing that campus, you know, covet and things just wasn't. I guess it wasn't staying sustaining. And, uh, at the moment I started hearing that there's a high school ministry right next door and, adrian, you've seen it and you've been there and um, I felt immediately that that was going to be ours and, of course, again, not listening to the lord, um, I'm thinking, okay, it's, it's impossible now.
Speaker 2:Now just to interject, if you could recap fcpo hours. Uh, people that are just tuning in and not knowing, uh, you know, just to recap fcpo, right, if someone just tuned in, especially thinking ours, who's ours, miami Beach, what are you talking? About oh, okay, so you're leading FCPO and this is what you have in mind as you're telling us this story. So maybe just recap about the ministry.
Speaker 3:The FCPO. It's called the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers. It's a national ministry. We are a chapter under that. We're the Miami-Dade FCPO Awesome, been here since 2013. We have various agencies, not only police officers. We have current retired, we have military, a lot of first responders and people from the community that have nothing to do with law enforcement.
Speaker 4:Awesome.
Speaker 3:Some beautiful stories of people coming out. They've had, ultimately, a beautiful interaction with an officer and they felt led to come to the meeting. So one lady that I'm thinking of in particular went through a very difficult time and one of the officers really helped her a lot, guided her through this pain and she comes to the meetings all the time.
Speaker 6:That's amazing, very sweet lady.
Speaker 3:Yeah, very sweet lady.
Speaker 2:She actually called me.
Speaker 3:today she's in Puerto Rico. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:I was going to ask you. The question slipped my mind, but I know that one of my fond memories with FCPO is the Bless the Badge ceremonies. I remember being at those and how special they were. They still are. Oh, I was going to ask you, not that you have to give an exact schedule, I know you're in a transition time, but just again, give me more detail on what the ministry does. You guys meet every so often. You do outreaches, what? What's some of the things that you do as a ministry?
Speaker 3:So we, we meet every month. Um, we hadn't met and kind of this is what would led into this, this opportunity that the Lord opened. Um, but we would meet. Usually we have somebody that comes out and gives a testimony usually it's an officer or some type of first responder. We'll have worship, we'll have a little bit of service, we'll have food, everything is free. You know, I tell people there's no strings attached, there's. You don't have to sign anything, you don't have to do anything. We really just want you to have that moment, you know, to be able to just have that one-on-one with God. The way we've been, we've had that, that one-on-one with God. The way we've been, we've had that, that one-on-one with God. Um, so, um, basically that's it.
Speaker 3:We've done some outreaches, we've done um something prayer with a cop, which, uh, adrian, you've been part of prayer with a cop, um, which has been beautiful, which is, we did one at the Chick-fil-A actually two or maybe three in Doral. Um, we did it at the PBA and we just have signs. It's all police officers, chaplains, and we just had signs and say, hey, if you want us to pray for you, um, you know, stop by. And we ended up praying for a ton of people. Um, so one lady I remember it was beautiful she came down and she started crying and we're like you know, are you okay? And she's like I can't believe that you guys are praying for us, like I need to be praying for you guys. So that was beautiful. Um, we've done outreaches down south, um, where we just go and love on people yeah, we had a water baptism we had the water baptism.
Speaker 6:It was the first one that I know of. Uh, it wasn't part of a church right, it was just specifically for first law enforcement water baptism, went to the beach had worship. One of the young men, who is the son of a police officer from the city of Miami, led worship.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 6:And then we I mean, we didn't know, but a couple people showed up from different agencies, Just went out there in faith, and even one random person. This is how God works, right, when you know, like there's that Bible story where he overtakes the chariot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Philip, I think.
Speaker 6:But like we were there and there was a young man from, I think he worked at the beach in that area and then an officer was like hey, they're doing a water baptism. Haven't you wanted to get water baptized? Go over there. And he came over and and and participated, and so um yeah, a bunch of other things.
Speaker 3:Yeah, with prayer, with the tent uh, oh, that was amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, on the beach right on the beach.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was one of the, you know, memorial day weekends, a horrible weekend for us.
Speaker 2:So I want to hone in on that one. But remember, this is a family program because I know, and, and, and you know I'm joking, but that's the point of the story, right the environment.
Speaker 2:So I'd like you know you guys to share on that for a moment. And then I also want to hear about, um, the difficulties you know I don't want to use this word, but it's, it's probably the best word the persecution I think you guys encountered with. Some people didn't like that. Police officers were praying for people, from what I remember, yeah. So I would like to ask about both of those things, but let me slow down here. First of all, can you give us a little information, tell us about that Memorial Day weekend prayer tent, because there were some incredible stories. It was quite an incredible time, from what I remember hearing and you guys telling me about it.
Speaker 3:So I started in 2001 with Miami Beach. This is my third department and that first year is when it went crazy. We weren't expecting anything. The crowds were coming in from everywhere. They shut down the streets. It was just mass chaos. We were just you. You know calls of shootings and stabbings, it's just, it was chaos and um. And then that just continued every year, um, so every year on eighth and ocean, um, we call it kind of like the nucleus, that's where all the problems, you know, that's like, that's like the, the area, that's always a. So what was it like now Two years ago, right, maybe three?
Speaker 6:Two years ago, I think.
Speaker 2:It would have been 2020 or 2021.
Speaker 6:I think 2021 because obviously everyone was allowed to come back out Gotcha.
Speaker 4:Right, exactly.
Speaker 2:And so a lot of people were coming in, a lot of pent up energy. Yeah, everyone wanted to get out.
Speaker 6:So a lot of people did come, and this is one of those things George said. I have an idea. Yes, and he was called in because this is what also happens. This is an inside story of George. What also happens is he still had to work, so he really couldn't be at this great idea he had and it really was a good idea and so others came alongside too while George was at the station, and I'm just going to throw in an end of the story part and we can come back.
Speaker 4:Sure yeah.
Speaker 6:I remember leaving that day and we could describe what goes on that day. But we're leaving that day and George came down from the station, met me outside before I left and he said do you hear that? I said no, he goes exactly. I've never come outside the station on Memorial Day weekend not heard sirens blazing the radio going off the hook with call after call after call. The radio is silent. You don't hear sirens.
Speaker 4:Wow.
Speaker 6:You know, and that's the year, that we had at the Nucleus a tent and several people who were volunteers. I went with another chaplain a chaplain of the South Miami Police and we stood there and prayed for people while they were in their middle of their hip-hop weekend gatherings, which involved a lot of alcohol, not a lot of clothes and a lot of just wild living and chaos.
Speaker 2:Wild living, wild dancing.
Speaker 6:They were literally. I mean I'm going. I said the end part, which was that quiet moment where George said do you hear that? Do you hear that? And so that man, that was what a blessing that was. But yeah, there was. You know, you're talking about several people maybe praying for someone and the openness that God answered. I mean, god was working while there's some maybe inappropriate dance on the other side of the block.
Speaker 5:Right.
Speaker 6:It was a very weird thing, but I think that it's going to go down in history in the record books. It is, if people pay attention, yeah, how many violent crimes, george, and you can tell us now on the law enforcement side, every year, mass chaos, tons of calls, many violent crimes committed yeah, how many that year?
Speaker 2:People get killed at Memorial.
Speaker 6:Day weekend on the beach fairly regularly.
Speaker 3:Yeah, sadly, I mean I don't know the statistics, but yeah, we have critical incidents every year. There's always robberies, shootings, stabbings and things like that. But just to go back a little bit more on that, um, you know, we we've had planning since 2000. I guess 2002 the planning's really started, because now it's chaos. So this is, you know, alpha, bravo, shifts.
Speaker 3:This is calling in outside agencies to come in shutting down streets. I mean it's, it's a an elaborate setup. I mean they spent countless hours, uh, setting this up for what's coming. And then the spring break, which in march, which is on the heels of everyone coming out, was insane, I mean, it was. It made national news. So this memorial day is coming and the lord again put something on my heart and it's this prayer tent. That's all I have is tent. I don't even know what this means and I'm like prayer tent, prayer tent, okay, what does this mean? And I'm talking to a friend and I'm talking to Mario and I said man, prayer tent, I'm talking to Adrian. And so we're like hey, you know what, let's put the FCPO tent out there on 8th and Ocean. And it was the first time ever. Only thing we did different same logistics, same amount of officers, same amount of fire, rescue, lockdowns, shutdowns, the whole God squad, goodwill ambassadors, everything. All we did different was put prayer tent out there.
Speaker 3:That was the first year that we didn't have a single shooting, a single stabbing that weekend. Wow, in fact, the first shooting that we had was Tuesday morning, so Monday night and then to Tuesday morning, outside of the Ocean Drive area, which is the hot spot where a lot of things happen.
Speaker 2:Nothing happened that year, literally right after the weekend, right outside of the area.
Speaker 3:And the tent was down. We were taking the tent down. Wow, you know, those are those little glimpses from heaven, sometimes right outside of the area.
Speaker 2:And the tent was down. We were taking the tent down. Wow, yeah, you know, those are those little glimpses from heaven sometimes. I think you know that. What does Chronicles say If my people would humble themselves, seek my face, pray, you know, you know, it's like God's like come on, you know, but wow, wow. I mean again, that's something else that we could just talk on, yeah.
Speaker 6:The benefit to everyone around it. And you wish, I wish, it would be nice that every single officer, every single person that was there would be like oh, it's because of the prayer tank, and we know that's not going to be the case. But if only me, george, mario, you, those listening now, know that we believe truly it was a presence of God. Situation man, that's okay, because you know what, when one person responds to the Lord, everyone around is going to be benefited by that, because God is not in a vacuum. So that one decision, that one tent, those that responded to be there, those that were praying from there or maybe from another place, affected everyone that weekend Every officer, every civilian, and so you might be listening to Ask a Cop on the podcast or live and saying, well, I'm not a chaplain, I'm not in law enforcement, I'm not doing something, but it's your prayers and your even awareness is affecting.
Speaker 4:In a more bigger English, is not my first language in a bigger scale, the work of God in it.
Speaker 2:Well, adrian, you say this all the time, I hear you say it all the time how you think about spiritual work, chaplaincy. It goes all the way down to officer safety, right. How many officers were safer that weekend, right? Not responding to people shooting each other because of prayer, uh. And so you know it gets that detail oriented, you know it gets into the practical things of day-to-day police work, this spiritual work that we, that you all, and, like you said, adrian, that anyone can participate in. Again, so much we could talk about. One last thing I would say from that weekend and we're racing with time, george we told you the time flies. You know we have about 15 minutes left. If you're listening live, you still have a chance to call or text. If you're listening to the podcast, hey, you might want to just park. You might want to text someone? Hey, give me 10 more minutes. I gotta finish this episode. This is not one of those I can pause and come back to 786 please go ahead, 786-313-315.
Speaker 2:You're going to call live or, if you want to contact us after the premiere, 786-313-3115. Text or call us now. Time is running out.
Speaker 6:If you have to leave. We haven't given the next FCPO meeting. We want to before this time is over, so text us. If you're saying I have to tune out, I got to go somewhere, Well, text that number 786-313-3115. We'll send you that information. But if you can't stay together, stick together, listen, and we'll give that information as to this new stuff and new things that maybe God is doing.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes, that we're freaking out about, but, God's good, I'm trying to run, I'm trying to run to get to that. One last thing if I'm remembering correctly, was there a story that there was. Was it a young lady that her dad was a pastor, or she went to church or something, that weekend?
Speaker 6:I remember one story of a young man whose dad was a pastor and he, like, literally, was sobbing on our shoulders.
Speaker 2:This was that weekend, that weekend, that same weekend.
Speaker 6:And he, you know. And others would say, man, you're convicting, you know. Oh man, oh you're you know. And so they knew that without even saying anything, not in a bad way, no one was antagonistic, no one was like get out of my face, because we weren't in anyone's face, we were just saying hey, if you need prayer we're here. But that one young man family was, you know, church-going family. He had come down for this party and he, sobbing, just sobbing on her shoulder, crying.
Speaker 6:I hope and pray wherever he's at now. He's walking with the Lord.
Speaker 2:Just wanted to highlight that story because it's so sweet. You know God reaching, you know the Myrie Pitt scripture says I was there, we were there. So getting to the big one, in a sense the fresh off the presses, god, I still don't know the whole story. How am I going to tell Joey and the radio but God is moving and FCPO, getting back to that story you retired and now what God is doing now.
Speaker 3:So, getting back to this space, the church ends up closing the Kendall Campus and next door is a high school ministry and if you're familiar with the area, so you have Christ's Journey, which was the Kendall campus, and then you had before that you had Miami Vineyard, which is where the warehouses are, and they had this high school area that every church I guess for the last 20 years has taken that spot. When I got word that the church was closing, immediately I felt the Lord saying hey, that spot's going to be yours. And of course you know, like I've mentioned before, I ignored it, fast forward again. I get a prompting of the Lord and when I say prompting, it's kind of like you know some people might think, well, what he came down. He just starts speaking to you. No, it's kind of you get like this urgency, like you need to get something done, you know.
Speaker 2:Is it while you're praying or reading, or it can happen throughout the day.
Speaker 3:Various times, Believe it or not. A lot of times where I get the prompting the most is when I'm working out and I'm listening to worship music. It's kind of like my quiet time you know, and it's just him and me, and if I'm stressed out about something I'm able to like, work it out, you know.
Speaker 2:Awesome. I think the worship music is the key. Oh, no, for sure.
Speaker 3:Worship music is, yeah, connecting, and I've actually many times you know, adrian knows I write devotionals, which I'm a horrible writer. So I'll say this that if there's somebody that doesn't think that the Lord can use them, look at me, because I am a horrible writer when I say horrible, horrible, and the Lord works through these devotionals that I write and there's times that I get these beautiful messages. That puts me in tears because I'm thinking, wow, you know, so he can use anyone you know, just be encouraged.
Speaker 3:He can use anyone. I never expected my life to take this path and it has, and it's all him. But getting back to this, so Great, yeah, thank you, george.
Speaker 2:Hold your thought Again. It's getting so exciting. We're rushing with the time, we're racing, but we have somebody on the line. Thank you for calling. Where are you calling us from?
Speaker 5:Miami.
Speaker 2:Great Doral, Kendall, Miami Beach.
Speaker 5:Tamiami, tamiami Great FIU area.
Speaker 2:Fiu area Great. Go ahead and share with us. Tamiyami, Tamiyami, great FIU area. Fiu area great. Go ahead and share with us. George is listening. We're all listening.
Speaker 5:Did George just say that he hears from the Lord when he works out?
Speaker 2:That's what he said.
Speaker 5:He must not be hearing a whole lot from the Lord.
Speaker 2:It's okay, though, new Year. He might have a perfect record this year.
Speaker 6:I don't know it depends on, maybe, what we consider working out. Maybe he considers, you know, walking outside working out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, right, right exactly just a thing hey what's the scripture?
Speaker 6:again with the stones and jesus, and you know cast the first stone and, uh, this, if anyone's listening, we mentioned him earlier on the program. This is Mario. Well, if you didn't want to say who you were, no last name, it could be any, mario. And we have another caller on the line.
Speaker 2:So, mr Mario, sir, what do you want to share with us? George is listening, the whole family is listening, all right. Well, I think we lost the call. I think he just wanted to say hello. Thank you for calling. We have our next caller on the line. Where are you calling us from today? It's Ferdinand from Clearwater. Hey, ferdinand, great to hear from you, my friend, so briefly whatever you would like to share or ask please.
Speaker 4:Simone, because I know you guys know that I'm retired and up here and I take my time to go to parks and allow God to set a meter for you. I can witness to and sometimes you know you can be impatient about those things and hearing God's voice. So just to see his trajectory and where he's come from, where he's at right now, is definitely a blessing for me.
Speaker 3:Oh man, thank you.
Speaker 4:Continue doing what I'm doing, so I want to thank you for that.
Speaker 3:Oh, fernand, thank you so much for calling and sharing that man. Keep at it. You know the Lord is faithful. You know there's so much more in the story, but he's done amazing things and I'm so grateful that you took the time to share that because, yeah, he's going to do some awesome things through you. Man, I really appreciate you taking the time. Just keep listening to him and he's able. You know, I struggle with that all the time and I have to remind myself and remind myself of all the blessings he's done in my life and the things that I thought were impossible that he made possible, which is one of these that I haven't been able to share yet. But, um, but it's, uh, it's a beautiful place to be, so.
Speaker 4:Hey man, I appreciate it. Brother, have a great day.
Speaker 3:You too.
Speaker 4:God bless you. Thank you, brother.
Speaker 2:What a joy to hear from Clearwater. Florida people listening through the app and the website gauzerradiocom. All right, I think we're back reconnected with Mario.
Speaker 5:Mario, please, we're listening. Yeah, the call fell through, but no, I just got on and I was listening and I just heard that. And I just heard that. And you know, we've had this vision, this dream now for a number of years and it's amazing what the Lord does. And you know, I remember the first time we met with our deputy chief and he said this is going to be a lot bigger than you guys realize and we're seeing that His hand at work now. So you know, george and I are so thankful and grateful for the doors that he's opened and we just love to serve him and share the love of Christ with others. So I appreciate your show and all you guys and what you guys do.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Thank you, mario, for calling. We can hear your heart. It's funny. We've been thinking well, we're about to hear the story. We're about to hear a story and it's this anticipation, so what you're sharing with us, the joy in your heart. It's like gratitude that I'm hearing, we're about to hear, the details. So, mario, thank you for calling my brother. All right, god bless you.
Speaker 5:Mario, thank you. Thank you All right, george, thank you.
Speaker 2:George, if you don't tell us, man, people are going to protest outside the studio. We got to know what's going on.
Speaker 3:We're going to protest outside the studio. We got to know what's going on. So, just getting back to that location, you know, for the last 20 years, every church that's come in that's taken that high school ministry, god says, hey, this is yours. And of course, me being doubtful and even though seeing like I shared with Ferdinand and he heard it, just I've seen him work over and over and over again.
Speaker 2:Ferdinand, yeah, shared with fernand down and he heard it.
Speaker 3:just, I've seen him work over and over and over again and um, and so this store begins to open. I feel prompted to contact the um, like the, basically the realtor, and um, and I, I just out of faith, I tell the lady, listen, I, I don't know how this is going to work. You know, we, we don't have the funding for this, or this is I just I just feel this prompting and I need to be obedient, and so I called her and I ended up calling one guy. That led me to this lady. We ended up having conversations and and I said, lord, I don't even know how this is going to happen, um, but you know, I'm just like leaving it in your hands. So, um, I didn't hear back from her and I thought, well, kind of funny, that happened with the FCPO too. When I reached out initially with the FCPO, I didn't hear back and I said, well, lord, you know, I did my part.
Speaker 1:You know, like I did what I was supposed to do. I'm off the hook.
Speaker 3:And you haven't gotten back to me. And so she calls me back and we end up having this conversation and she says, hey, listen, I, I, I'm in conversations with the landlord. I think there's certain things we can do, and just there was so many things that began to, uh, not happen and I thought, okay, lord is it? You know, you made it clear to me that this is going to happen, but things kept kind of like, seemed like they were going to fall through, like it was just moments, and he just continued to make it happen. You know, and the biggest thing is that this is impossible and he made it possible.
Speaker 3:So, just recently, we finally signed the lease and, um, and we're, we're going to have a home and, you know, I pray that all the first responders that are listening to this would know that they're going to have a home there for us. You know, it's going to be for all of us. Um, it's going to be an opportunity to be able to heal and and just have good conversations and, uh, and be available, um, kind of share what, what we've gone through, yeah, um, the mistakes, you know, the good things, the bad, um, and so, um, we're opening the doors. Um, this saturday we're going to start cleaning, so we're like just kind of bringing everybody in the community in to take a look at it and we're going to start cleaning, um, next saturday, we're going to start doing.
Speaker 3:We're going to start cleaning Um. Next Saturday, we're going to start doing. We're going to start painting. And on the 21st uh, which is funny, you mentioned this and I hadn't said anything but on the 21st we're going to do the blessing of the badge.
Speaker 6:Wow.
Speaker 3:So if, um, if there's anybody out there that's a firefighter, a police officer, military, anyone that um, that has an ID or a badge, we're going to be doing a blessing of the badge. It's going to be somewhat of an informal meeting, yeah, but it's just a lot of Q&A opportunities and just a good time of fellowship.
Speaker 2:So if you're listening live, that's January 7th for cleaning preparation prayer, january 14th for painting and January 21st for the blessing of the badge, the first one at the new location. George, what's, what's the biggest differences? That that you can already say or that you expect now with a permanent home, versus how the ministry's been functioning up to this point?
Speaker 3:well, um, it's been a blessing because the doors have always been open for us which is obviously God's hand moving.
Speaker 3:No one's ever said no to us for locations, but now it's going to be ours, meaning it's just going to be the first responders. It's going to be their home, their permanent place. They're going to get to feel like this is theirs. We always would go to places and, even though we were welcomed with open arms everywhere we went, it's different. It's kind of like, you know, going and staying in a hotel. It may be beautiful or whatever, but when you come home it's your home. And that's our prayer that once they get there, they feel at home, that this is yours.
Speaker 2:You know, it kind of reminds me of the children of Israel, right, they're traveling in tents. And then, finally, god said now you plant yourself here. You know, I'm going to build out the land, we're going to conquer the land and, and you know it's interesting, right, not to take it too far. You know how the lord would apply those scriptures, but to build him a home, you know, to honor him, to build this for him. So, so sweet, what the possibilities that lay ahead of you and ahead of us and all those that you know, again, whether I'm able to, I mean, I'm going to visit eventually got to whether I'm able to be there this month or whenever I get to visit, and maybe people like Adrian alluded to before that will never visit.
Speaker 2:Maybe Ferdinand will not be visiting Miami, but I'm sure he's going to be praying If he's still listening here and all that God is doing. Maybe we have listeners as far as Australia, believe it or not. So, whether or not you're going to physically participate, all those that will pray, all the possibility that lie ahead of all of us who will be praying. Georgia man, amazing, amazing, what we've talked about so far. We have a couple minutes left here. I guess the best thing to highlight would be how can people get in contact with you or FCPO, for example? Somebody is listening, thinking, yes, I want to paint, I want to serve the Lord and the first responders, I want to paint. Quick and simple. How people could get in touch with the ministry right now, today going forward.
Speaker 3:If they can email me, it's George J-O-r-g-e at miamidade, f-c-p-oorg. George at miamidade, f-c-p-oorg. That'd be the easiest thing to do. I can give you all the information, the address, the times um we share. That's kind of where I share our um, the devotionals that I write um prayer requests and meeting dates and things like that.
Speaker 6:I'm going to. If you follow AskACop and Policethankyoucom, we're going to be able to put all that information on there as well, including that email that George gave. So if you want to contact George or FCPO in general or any Miami-Dade first responder that wants to fellowship there, just please make sure you get that information and reach out if you want to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely the ministry there that Adrian is mentioning here at Gaza Radio. We can always get you in touch with different people. We can try to help facilitate those connections, as we've said already. But if you want to get in touch with George directly, if you're being diligent and writing things down, j-o-r-g-e at MiamiDadeFCPOorg Exactly.
Speaker 3:Oh man, Perfect on point.
Speaker 2:Awesome, I'm going to remember that for five minutes, and then I'm going to remember that for five minutes and then I'm going to need to write it down. Hey, so hopefully, like I said, if you're being diligent, if it's important to you, you know George man with seconds left, if something's important, you put in the work, right. I'm sure that's been a theme of your life and even this ministry. If something about George is sticking out to you, he's the man you want to speak. To email him he gave you his contact information.
Speaker 2:You don't need to wait for an official meeting.
Speaker 3:I guess that's what I'm trying to say. Absolutely, email me now and um, and we'll make contact. That's where our heart's at. We, we, that's exactly what we're doing. What we're doing, we don't want to see anybody suffering silently amen.
Speaker 2:Well, george, I mean, like we said, the time went so quickly. We're gonna maybe hear the outro here or we'll just cut away, but I think and this is up to producer adrian I think we might have to have you back. I don't know, there's a lot that we could still talk about absolutely.
Speaker 6:I'm sure we'll come up with some sort of uh, ask a cop extra on the podcast.
Speaker 2:I was thinking of that, maybe on site or this month at fcpo, as it's happening.
Speaker 6:That's a great idea I am surrounded by two people who always say I have an idea.
Speaker 4:I like that idea, and then I'm sandwiched in the middle. You're going to do great.
Speaker 3:Let's do it in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
Speaker 1:You've been listening to Ask a Cop. For more information or to get in contact with us, visit our website, policethankyoucom. You'll also find out how you can support us Again, just visit policethankyoucom. All one word Don't forget to subscribe to the Ask a Cop podcast, wherever you're listening right now. We look forward to continuing the conversation when you join us next time for Ask a Cop.