E04 - Dani Sumner: The 11th Initiative

Dani shares the origin story of her non-profit, “The 11th Initiative,” which was started by her then 11 year old daughter Makenzie to provide aid to Syrian refugees. We also discuss the importance of childlike faith and not worrying about the outcome as much as the “yes.”

TRANSCRIPTION:

Travis Avila Hello everyone. Today I'm talking with my friend Dani Sumner, about her nonprofit called 11th initiative which was started by her then 11 year old daughter, Mackenzie. This is such an encouraging conversation because Dani reassures us that you don't have to have all the answers to do the Jesus stuff. You just have to stay close to Jesus and be obedient to what he places on your heart, and to live with a childlike faith. In addition to talking through the origin story of their nonprofit, Dani also gives us some incredible parenting nuggets, and talks about how being stuck isn't actually a thing when we're living in Christ, who is always trying to birth something new in us. I hope you enjoy this episode with Dani.

Dani Sumner how are you? I'm doing good. How are you? Oh my gosh, it's good. So good to see you.

Travis Avila  You too. What's going on today? Dani Sumner Man, you know, living the dream in quarantine one day. 12,000,044 Travis Avila Yeah, who even knows anymore? Right? Dani Sumner I know. We're coming up on 11 weeks, right?

Travis Avila I think so. It kind of feels like an eternity with kids at home. Dani Sumner So I don't know. trav I can't relate. I really can't. Travis Avila Yeah, no, I know. It's probably just me. It's probably just me. Yeah.

Dani Sumner Just kidding. Oh my gosh, I know. It's pretty mind blowing. Right?

Travis Avila Yeah, it is. Well, thanks for doing this. Yeah, I'm excited. This is gonna be fine. I'm gonna ask you a bunch of dumb questions like I don't know what's going on, you know?

Dani Sumner Okay, I love it. We haven't started yet, right?

Travis Avila Well, I started recording but but it's cool. It's cool, you know, blooper is real. This whole thing might feel like a bloopers reel. Honestly, I don't know what's gonna happen. So I'm kind of thinking life as a bloopers reel to the life is a blooper bloopers reel, that's for sure. Um, and, you know, probably starting nonprofits can feel like a bloopers reel to

Dani Sumner Oh, my gosh, if you want to get confused about life, launch a nonprofit.

Travis Avila Yeah, I'm good. I'm getting. Okay, here's the thing, Dani. I thought of you immediately when this idea for the podcast came around, because obviously this is about normal people doing Jesus stuff. And I was And say I wouldn't say you're normal. You're like very relatable. And you're doing the Jesus stuff and you have been for a really long time and I think we could spend like Hours talking about all the stuff you're into. But for people that don't know you, maybe we just start off with who is Dani Sumner. Tell me about you. Tell me about your family. Tell me a little bit about like your like faith journey did you grow up in a Christian home all that kind of stuff so people can just get to understand you a bit.

Dani Sumner Wow. All right. Dig it in. Well, first of all, I love that you're doing this podcast Trav. I love that. You're using your gifts for the kingdom because I think that's what it's all about. And so I'm proud of you and man. Okay, tell you about Dani. Man, where do I start? So I'm a Jesus Freak follower only because he rescued me and redeemed me. I mean, honestly. For me it Jesus has just literally saved my life. I don't know where to start, but grew up in the US Grew up in Buffalo, New York and not a believing family but kind of an old school Catholic family, I guess you could say used to go to like Latin mass and, and all of that. And so yeah, it was really interesting. It was I'm really glad I was exposed to all of that. And it's funny because until I became a believer actually didn't know that they spoke English at churches because we literally, masses,

Travis Avila do you still know Latin?

Dani Sumner Oh, gosh, I didn't understand it then. I didn't. Not at all. No, but I remember going to church after I was saved and the pastor's like, wearing jeans and I'm like, Are you allowed to wear jeans? Like, what are you doing? Is that okay? So um, yeah, so I accepted Jesus when I was a junior in high school changed my life, but on a radical ride ever since. And I would say I really encountered Christ at a decade ago when actually I kind of hit rock bottom and kind of was medicating alcoholic and that's a whole other story but my hubby Gary stuck with me amazing man of God. We have two little kids who Mackenzie is now going to be 14 next week. And Zach is 11, which is crazy little human beings. Yeah, it's so crazy. Yeah. So they're amazing. And so, honestly, I really feel like I just started encountering life the last decade, to be honest. So yeah, that's me. I'm all about breakthrough and recovery ministry and helping people deal with kind of a crap, God forgive me, that binds us, that blocks us from the freedom of Christ, right? And so like, let's deal with that stuff, the root stuff and become who we were created to be, ya know, but it hasn't been been quite the journey. So,

Travis Avila yes. Well, so tell me about what were you doing? You know, four years ago, before all this craziness started, what was your life like?

Dani Sumner Yeah, so Gary and I, we have a business that we have in our tent making. We've always done ministry stuff and kept making so we're by vocational, I guess you could say, and so we have An insurance business and I've always kind of done entrepreneurial stuff in general, and honestly just raising some Rugrats, like raising some kids, like, you know, pouring my life into being a mama, and what does it mean to, you know, be trying to do ministry, help people, you know, do my what Jesus is calling me to do in my heart and then tent making put, you know, food on the table, that sort of thing. So it's been a it's been a, you know, a decade of that kind of thing. So yeah, and, you know, had some ambitions with my own life and stuff that I had had planned and that were on my heart and, you know, kind of pursuing them. And then I won't say it was an interruption at all with Mackenzie's idea and and Getty being birthed, but honestly, it's only done. It's only blessed us and helped us actually kind of figure out even our own next steps in life and ministry and all of that.

Travis Avila Well, let's talk about how that came to be. And Mak's idea what was what was that what was going on at school that led her to this idea?

Dani Sumner Okay, I love it. So, Mackenzie and my both my kids, they go to a small private school and in sixth grade, every sixth grader is introduced to, you know, projects and reports and discovery. And so they have to pick a country and basically study it the whole year, and the whole year long they're going and they're doing this country report. So like, Week One was a, A through Z, basically, each week was a different letter of something you had to study, right? So like a agriculture, what's the agriculture in that country B business, what's the business like in that country, you know, that sort of thing. And so, Mackenzie chose Syria, the country of Syria, primarily because we're Syrian, so my mom and her whole family Syrian, and at the end of the year, they do this huge, you know, cultural feast, and whatever your country as you bring in a meal and my head, Mackenzie just wanted Bach luffa, balaclavas and some Syrian food at the end. So that's why she chose Syria. And so, yeah, so she chose Syria, the country of Syria, and she just dug in and every week and so if you know anything about what's going on, there's a huge humanitarian crisis in the country of Syria, and there's just as big upheaval, they've been in civil wars and 2011. And to be honest, I have no idea. I mean, I knew there was stuff going on, but I didn't know the depth. And about week two, we realized, Oh, my gosh, we can't she can't do this alone. It's too, you know, some kids are like studying Fiji wine, right, like, what's going on in Fiji, you know, and, and so we actually had to, every Saturday morning, spend a couple hours with her, you know, and kind of had to tame what we were even researching for her sake. And then, about week, three week, it's impossible. You can't use study it without being affected by what's going on over there in about week three. She was like, man, we got to do something for these refugees. And you know, as parents, we're like, yeah, whatever you want. You know, that sounds great. You know, and then that's kind of how it all started. And then yeah, so does that make sense?

Travis Avila Well, yeah. Except that my kids come to me all the time with ideas. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, cool. But I have no intention of doing it. So what was different about this for you? Did you were you kind of giving her the smile and nod? Yeah, totally. Honey will do whatever you need to do or do or you just like, you knew this was a big or what?

Dani Sumner No, hundred percent. Oh, crap. We were given the like, Oh, yeah, honey, you can do it. You can change the world wherever you want to do. You know, like, yeah, and then we'd sneak you know, she'd forget about it in two weeks. Right. Right. So that was kind of our Yeah, we did the parenting like, of course, we'll do something and oh my gosh, let's have a lemonade stand. And, you know, Mom and Dad. We're just going to write a check. For you know, a couple hundred bucks and send it to some organization doing great work and, and that sort of thing. So that was week three as it progressed it kind of got more and more she was like well what could we do kind of thing and then it honestly it just kind of fell away for a little while kind of the desire so you know we didn't bring it up sheet and bring it up and about how to say week nine. I gave a message at their school about how the kids are God's masterpiece and it's about the scripture in Ephesians fusions 210 it breaks it down into like your God's masterpiece set apart to do good works and that word masterpiece is so rich and it's Poma in Greek and it's actually only used twice in the New Testament when Paul's talking about like creation like that's God's masterpiece, and then he internalizes it to not only is the sunset sunrise and that's God's creation, but also he internalizes it to like in Ephesians where you're God's creation and he has something set apart just for you, right So, Mackenzie came home and you know, she was like mom, will you? First of all, would you nicknamed me ploy amount which I'm like, Oh my god, she got it. You know, like, I don't know if any of the other kids heard the message, but my kids did. So I was happy. Nice. So she's like, would you make me a sticker or a logo with a toy on it? And I'm like, Oh, yeah, absolutely. So we like went on the computer and fooled around and made a cool thing. And we were like googling, like, how do you get this printed? And at dinner that night, I'll never forget, we were at dinner. And we were sitting around the table, and she's like, Hey, why don't we make t shirts would put them on it, and sell them and give all the money to Syrian refugees. And it's interesting, because Have you ever had those moments in life where it was a split second, but you thought through your whole life, it was like a dialogue? Oh, man, it was one of those moments where I feel I felt like I dialogue with God, dialogue with myself and had like, a weekend retreat. In my mind to really Can I do this like figure it out? And but it was literally probably a two second delay. And Gary tells the story way funnier than I do because I'm gonna throw him under the bus right now but he's adorable. He's Gary says that in his head he was like, Oh, that's great, honey. Yes. And when you graduate college, we will help you we will line it all up. Let's get you through sixth grade and, you know, high school and college and and then we'll do your big dream. And but before he could say anything, I was like, Yes. Heck yes. We're gonna do this Kim D, we'll figure this out. And she was like, Okay, great. Like past the brown. Like it was that was it. It was just a very, like, subtle decision. But in my mind, it was like, why not? And she has, I mean, honestly travel like her face. Like kids faith is so pure and so innocent. And she, like, you know us as adults. We're like, this is why it's not gonna work. This is not gonna let me just tell you all the Let me just draw a chart and give you a pie graph to tell you we have a 3% chance of survival, right? Yeah, yes. I think life just beats it out of us. Right? Yeah, one of the things that I've learned through this is that childlike faith, like in Matthew where it talks about like, unless you change, become like a little child, like, you will never enter the kingdom of God. And I don't think like, I think we can get into a theological debate. But I think it's like, the kingdom is here now. Like, we have this opportunity to partner with Jesus now, right? Like that kingdom comes, I will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Like how do we enter that kingdom work? Now? That childlike faith, it's like, man, every idea could fail, and may eventually fail, like, right? But the reality is like stepping into that and having that childlike faith is where the fun and the joy and the enthusiasm and it's like a jigsaw puzzle, figuring out all the pieces and what's next and how do you do it? You know,

Travis Avila Why is it that I mean, you don't seem to be afraid of the roadblocks. All that kind of stuff is that because I can just imagine people are thinking, yeah, good for you, Danny and McKenzie, like, you guys can do stuff like that. But I think the whole point in what you're saying with this whole podcast is about is no, like we can all it might not be helping Syrian refugees, but it's being obedient to whatever God has put on your heart, however big or small that thing is, and taking the risk, which I would define as obedience to God in the face of opposition, and often that opposition is is just ourselves. But why is it that are, are you afraid but push through? Are you not afraid? And like, where does that kind of grit come from?

Dani Sumner That's plenty. That's probably a whole other story. But just through a lot of failure, I think. I think the only way to grow is through failure. And if you've done anything in business, which I know you were a successful businessman prior to jumping into ministry, and in all of that, you know, I mean, It takes a few fails before you actually are successful. And I think pivoting I think pivot is the key. We're pivoting now within Getty, like this entity is made, it looks so much different than it did two years ago when we actually like, launched it. Right. And so I think having the the tenacity and the flexibility of failure and and what is failure? I mean, is it that we didn't raise a million bucks? Like, what what are the standards that we're putting on ourselves? Where isn't obedience just success in itself? Like, just, hey, we did that we're doing that. Who cares about even the outcome, right? Because we don't see we don't see the side of having the true outcome of anything we do. Right. The one thing that I want to plant in my kids, I think, I mean, I learned from the school of hard knocks, I think, you know, just in life, and I'm still learning through the school of hard knocks, right? But if I could plant anything in my kid, besides like the love and the graces of God, it would be tenacity. Like, don't give up, man. Like, I just feel like tenacious hope is like, our, our battle cry as Christians, you know?

Travis Avila Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's something I've been talking to my son about too, as he's just turned 13 and we're going through a discipleship process where, you know, risk is one of the values that I want to instill in him. And I think that often we don't do we don't do anything because we feel like we can't do the thing which is I think so often based on this outcome that we have in our minds and hearts that really we have so little control of and God kind of will ordain what what that is meant to be. But I found in my own life, too, and I'm curious how this worked with in getting you guys starting that the starting that doing something is the hardest part and just getting over that hump of just Do a little thing move to take one step toward this direction, this obedience that God's calling you to, really, I think helps alleviate any of not all of the fear, but some of the fear and just kind of getting going and taping taking baby steps. So what was that? Like? She has this idea for stickers and all this kind of stuff. And you guys were like, Okay, let's do it. And you have this like, huge vision in a two minute span. you rethink your whole life. And then what happens next?

Dani Sumner Well, I love what you said about you know, baby stepping or taking the next right step, right, because the reality is we want to do your right, we're all seeking what is the thing God's calling us to do? Like what is that one big higher calling where we get the light from heaven and we're like, do that and honestly trapped for me, it hasn't been that way. It's still not that way. I feel like in getti is a part of our life and it's a part of what we're supposed to be doing right and even from McKenzie, we've tried really hard not to let this thing to find her. So like she gets to call the shots when she's involved. When she does stuff, she usually likes to do the fun stuff. You know, she's on the board. So she'll come to some board meetings, but only if we're going to make a big fun decision. Otherwise, she could care less. And the reality is, we didn't want this to become a burden on her. Right. And I think early on, one of the things that we did was we thought a lot of counsel. So like, it was not just us. That's what I always laugh at, like, seriously, we just, we look like we're in charge. And we're in the front of it, but we're not like there's an army of people who, you know, we went right off the bat and met with I think 10 different like we sought counsel, like, is this a good idea? would you do this? How would you do this? Do you want to be a part of it? You want to link arms kind of thing. So I think seeking counsel and the timing was really imperative like it was very helpful, you know, that proverb where make plans by seeking advice, like there's just other people further along in different areas that can speak to And give direction and it honestly, it keeps morphing, like that's the thing, like, we might have this vision grand vision in our head. But it, it takes a life of its own as you take the next right step, right. And sometimes you're going to take the next right step and be like, that was the wrong step. Maybe, or maybe you just pivot to the right, you had to meet somebody in that journey. And, you know, it's, it's about the process, I think, for us growing our faith and, and what God is birthing a decade from now that we have to walk through now. You know, like for Mackenzie. I mean, she's such a visionary. She has so many things. So I don't want to tie one thing to her at, you know, 13 years old or 14 years old. Right? Yes. Yeah, still figuring it out. I'm still figuring it out. And I'm 40 Yeah,

Travis Avila yeah, exactly. Me too. Me too. So how did you guys go from this idea of selling stuff to help Syrian refugees to starting a nonprofit because that feels like a pretty major leap.

Dani Sumner Well, yeah, so we we found some counselor Like, okay, should we just do some fundraisers. And right away, we felt like the team that was a part of it wanted to do something long term. So like, our nonprofit is called the 11th initiative. And the premise behind it is john 13, where Jesus says, a new command I give you love one another as I have loved you, and then they will know. You're our disciples. And so that's, that's our focal point, like everything we do within our nonprofit or who we raise money for what we're doing or who we're trying to help and engage in some way. It's it's all about loving one another and trying to you know, be the hands and feet of Jesus. Right. So Gary, my heavy, has said for years, there's not 10 commandments, there's 11 commandments, right? So because Jesus, who is fully God said a new command I give you he didn't come to abolish the law. He came to fulfill it right. And so the last command he gave us was to love one another. And so the 11th initiative burst in Getty. So in getting into the clothing, I guess you could say that represents and then a portion of the profits proceeds goes to different nonprofits. So for Syrian refugees, we support World Vision. And I don't know if you're familiar with World Vision, they do humanitarian, I know Travis's. But I don't know if your listeners are but World Vision does humanitarian work all over the world in amazing ways. I mean, they are just so reputable and so powerful and so amazing. And so I had a friend actually Johnny huddle, who worked for World Vision. He is what you call like the water guy, quote, unquote, because he has just been one of those spirits and who's just led the water initiative through World Vision. So we reached out to Johnny right away, and we're like, Hey, who's doing good work with Syrian refugees? How if we raise some money, who can we give the money to? And he was like, ah, Danny, oh my gosh, we're visionary. And he just went out like 45 minutes and the guy's like crying and yeah, Johnny can do. Oh my gosh, he's powers like he's Get so passionate. And so yeah, I mean, first conversation, I was like sold like, this is where we're giving the money. You know it, it was just it just made sense. And so and then along the lines, so we birthed the nonprofit got the 501 c three. And honestly, Travis it was, you know, when you Google like how do you become How do you get a nonprofit? It's kind of overwhelming. And it's kind of like, Oh my gosh, can we do this? How do you do this? And I all I've heard really, prior to this was kind of horror stories. Like, it's hard. You got it. It's just all this like, takes five years. And I'm like, Okay, you know what, but we had an attorney friend who was like, you can do it, it's no problem. We can get it, you know, and so just went through the process. And honestly, again, it was just God bringing the right people at the right time with the right knowledge to open the door. And so, yeah, so that's how it, how it unfolded. Travis Avila That's crazy. And how did you keep going when? What kept you going when it got hard as you were trying to start up? That's not process. Dani Sumner You know, I think maybe stupid tenacity. Like, we're gonna figure this out. I govern stubborn, stubborn pit bonus. And I think it was just the constant like, Kinsey's like, pure, innocent, a little workout and we'll figure it out. Oh, ask somebody else. Like, I mean, she was always like, there's someone that knows it and I'm like, Oh my gosh, this kid's gonna write a book because, you know, I'm telling you all the ways why it's not gonna work and she's like, this is why it's gonna work, you know, kind of thing. So, I think it was just honestly Travis like, God, just bringing the right people at the right time to encourage and to pour into and, you know, just to figure out the next steps, right. So like, even about a year ago, I so, operations wise, Mary Holland, this amazing woman of God. She's on our board and she is just a spearheading kind of operations, which has been amazing because to be honest with When I launched when we launched this thing, the desire was never for this to be my, you know, my baby or my, you know, it's Kinsey saying that we're holding our hands wide open. And when she's 21, God willing, we'll hand it to her, you know, kind of thing. But so God just, I was kind of getting weary of like, because we had made another partnership with captive hearts, which is a local recovery ministry and they're amazing and, and powerful. And one of their ladies was our first intern, amazing woman, and she's had so many ideas. So I had this vision of her kind of taken over operations. And she still may, to be totally honest, she's amazing. And so Mary's like, well, Danny, you seem overwhelmed. Let me step in and help with operations wise and organization and just kind of take it for the next 12 months kind of thing. And it was just the biggest godsend for me to be able to like step back and just kind of go back to visionary, not like, the like, you know, how are we getting the T shirt shipped kind of thing. And so and captive hearts partnering with them has been. I mean, that's really pushed us along to because you see the fruit. I mean, to be honest, you know, you we don't see much fruit with the Syrian refugee stuff, right, and the Syrian refugee stuff, we only don't see it because we're so far away. Right? So it's, you know, they're the money that we're, we're supporting World Vision with is going to Lebanon to build preschools for the Syrian refugees. And it's not just about building preschools, and it's, they're doing phenomenal work. And there's a ton of organizations pouring into this to this preschool initiative. And it's to educate the refugees, but it's to bring them food and just basic needs kind of thing. And so, you know, we'll get updates once a year, every six months or so about what's going on, which is fantastic. And we know that it's having like kingdom, kingdom, but we, you know, Kingdom fruit, but we're not over there, we don't see it, you know, our goal was to go in 2020 but, you know, with COVID and everything else is not going to happen this year. So, God willing 2021 but so when we partnered with captive hearts, you can see the fruit immediately. And what's what's happening and how it's empowering these women who, if you're not familiar, captive hearts has this amazing recovery ministry. They basically sweep women off the street from addiction and get them into recovery. A lot of them have been through sex trafficking and that sort of thing. And so to see them be a part of it, and to grab on and to, honestly such gifted women, it's fun, but that's really fun, too. So in this point, we're trying to figure out like, Okay, how do we juggle all the kind of plates in the air and what we want to do and honestly, Travis, it's, we don't know, like, it's one day at a time. And it's, this feels right today. So this is what we're doing today or this quarter or this season. And just kind of leave it in God's hands and and see, see what happens.

Travis Avila Yeah, I think that's kind of the misconception, like, you know, this obedience and following the call of Jesus that once you get the you get that call and you start walking that just clearly and ahead of you And I've just I've never experienced that. It doesn't seem like you guys are but I think that's that whole, you know, book a john abiding in Christ, like keep making the steps abide in Christ and the path will will become clear but doesn't seem like it's clear for very far ahead he all the time

Dani Sumner not even a little bit.

Travis Avila I'm wondering, Danny if you can kind of make a finer point on this question of you know, when McKenzie brought you have this idea and you start swirling it around was because I think people we get a lot of ideas and we're kind of wrestling as Christians with and Is this something Lord wants me to do? Is this me like should I do it? Should I not do it? What was it about this idea that made you feel like this is the thing we have to do this is a God thing or or is that even the right question?

Dani Sumner No, I think it is. I mean, I think it is hard, especially if you're if you get a lot of ideas. So it's hard to like discern like, man, is this the one is this what I'm supposed to be pouring the next 18 months into kind of thing. And if you're launching a nonprofit, you're pouring some time into it and energy, even if you're handing it off at the end. Like there's it's your blood, sweat and tears as you get the movement, you know, going right, and I still feel like, we're in the first inning. I mean, I feel like, literally, they just threw the first pitch and we're like, Okay, what, who's pitching what's now kind of thing but I would say, you know, honestly, I think seek counsel and in you know, in your heart, like, check with yourself, check in with the Holy Spirit. And even I'll be honest with you, we had a few people. So we sought counsel, and they were like, that's a lot of work, and I don't think it's worth it. And so, and these are people we love and respect and honor as our brother and sister in Christ. And collectively, our crew was like, that doesn't Right. Like, I love them, I honor them. But I don't think I don't think they see. I don't think they caught the vision. And so like, if you get enough nose to, it's almost like when your heart won't let you get away from it. That's the Holy Spirit. Yes. Does that make sense? So it's not just people who are like your biggest fan and like, yeah, support whatever you do, you know, it's like, even if you get some nose, you know your heart if you're supposed to take that now or if you're supposed to, that maybe the Lord allowed that to kind of strengthen my Yes.

Travis Avila Yeah. Well, then what would you say to people who and I think we've hinted around this as we've been talking, but for people who either don't know what God's calling them to, or maybe have a feeling or a stirring but feel stuck or afraid, how would you encourage them?

Dani Sumner Well, I first I would say, don't wait for that big moment of like, this is my calling in life, right like There are so many people who actually found what their most fulfillment later on in life right with, with whatever, they created that special, you know, that special thing that ends up defining their life, but I think it only defines their life to others watching, right where for them, it might just be a blessing and a blip. Right? So I feel like we're all called to kindness into loving Jesus. And so like, what's your passion? What What do you enjoy doing? I mean, and, you know, if you enjoy other folks, go volunteer at a nursing home and see what stirs out of that, you know, if you enjoy children, go volunteer Sunday school and see what God does. And, and birthed out of that I think, too much of the time, we're spending so much time trying to figure it out and like, seeking God and I'm going on, you know, which I think going on silent retreats, and all of that is powerful and amazing. God speaks but I don't know about you, but whenever I've done that soul, deep work it really has nothing to do with the task at hand. It's all about the inner healing. So I think, get as much inner healing as you can, and allow the Lord to heal and to speak to those places. And then things come up and you're like, yeah, that feels right. I'm going to do this for this season. And then knowing when it's not your time anymore and handing it off and moving on or moving into the next project, right, like you're doing, you know, as you've grown your, your ministry, you know, that book that you wrote, was in you for so many years. I'm so proud of you, you find you did it, like right. And now it's accomplished. And now you're into the podcast, like, how exciting like, this is all just part of the formation of what God wants to do through traveling. Right.

Travis Avila Yeah, I love what you said about making sure that our that we're healthy enough to be like us and available. Yeah, that's really important. So I because I think what might happen is, if we're not abiding in Christ and doing the hard work of, you know, uprooting stuff that we're doing Dealing with that's not healthy and all those kinds of things that will get into something and just burn out or burn other people along the way. And so yeah, that kind of inner healing and pieces, I think critical, that's really good.

Dani Sumner Totally. And just to kind of expand on that, like, I think even being stuck or feeling stuck, I think that's honestly a lie from enemy to, I don't think before in Christ wherever stuck, like, you know, we might be disappointed that something hasn't promised that the Lord maybe planted in our heart is unfulfilled, but we're never stuck. Like that's where we got to replace it with the truth and renew our mind and know that we're on this journey and he's trying to birth something bigger than we are. And that's, that's the beauty and if we rush it and we try to like do it on our own, it falls to hell.

Travis Avila Well into like, God doesn't need us for for anything like he invites us to partner with them, but the US thinking that God somehow needs us to accomplish His will is a little bit

Dani Sumner You know, probably very Western narcissistic.

Travis Avila Way, though, right? But the beauty is to like rest in him abide in him and then allow him to work in and through us to accomplish His kingdom purpose, which is what it sounds like you guys.

Dani Sumner and it's scary, right? Like it's an adventure to figure it out. It's an adventure to what's that JSON, what's the next step and not looking at roadblocks as like the end of the road and Alright, let's just go kick our feet up. It's like, Okay, how do we get around it? Like what's been how do we figure it out and go take the next step? You know? Yeah. and not let the roadblock take our joy or enthusiasm?

Travis Avila Yeah, that's good. So Dani, how can people find out more about 11th initiative and and getting what you guys are doing?

Dani Sumner So in getty.org, and it's E and G di.org is the website and there's a bunch of information about the nonprofit's that we support and we partner with to help us Honestly, we're just trying to blow a horn on what's going on for Syrian refugees and then also bring awareness and help to, you know, women in recovery locally and that sort of thing. So in getting out org and Getty just so a traveler I know you know the story but, and Getty stands for well it's actually a place in Israel and it's a rich oasis. It's a place of refuge. It's actually where King David fled to when King Saul was chasing him and wanted to kill him. And so he found refuge in the hills of in Getty. And so when we kind of went through this whole thing, we just felt like man, the banner of and Getty is over our life and over our home to bring refuge to people. So God willing, that's the hope with in getti sell some t shirts where where the truth of who you are Poma and yeah, and share it with the world.

Travis Avila That's great. Well, thanks, Dani, I really appreciate you being on and love you and your family, Israel.

Dani Sumner We love you too. Yeah, thanks. It was an honor and love your trip. So proud of you and excited See what God's doing with you. It's fun.

Travis Avila Okay, so before I let you go, I think it would be so cool for you guys to hear about how this all got started from McKenzie herself. Here you go.