The Talk of Louisville Podcast

On this episode of the Talk of Louisville Podcast, Mike and Kellye talk with Shirley's Way team members Wendy Barker CFO and McKenzie Humphrey Shirley's Deals General Manager.

On this episode of the Talk of Louisville Podcast, Mike and Kellye talk with Maria Gurren from Imagination Library of Louisville.
 
For more info visit: https://imaginationlibrarylouisville.org/about/

On this episode of the Talk of Louisville Podcast, Mike and Kellye talk with LMPD Scanner enthusiast Todd Neal.
Check out his FB group at facebook.com/groups/467920548287393

On this episode of The talk of Louisville, Mike and Kellye talk to Mark Pfeifer from Wigglewow.
 
Wigglewow is in God's business of transforming the lives of adults with special needs creating employment opportunities through gourmet dog treats.
 
For more info visit wigglewow.com

On this episode of The talk of Louisville, Mike and Kellye talk again with Christine Miller about Judging Judges here in Louisville.

Welcome to The Talk Of Louisville Podcast. This episode Mike talks with George Eklund from Coalition For The Homeless.

Welcome to The Talk Of Louisville Podcast. This episode Mike talks with Rich Abell and Lori Shannonhouse from Southwest Fest.

Welcome to The Talk Of Louisville Podcast. This episode Mike talks with Shane Schlatter from Exodus Family Ministries.
 About Exodus Family Ministries:
Exodus Family Ministries seeks to guide our neighbors in Southwest Louisville out of captivity—whether it be poverty, addiction, lack of education, hunger, or other forms of oppression—by offering support, prayer, and services to address these needs.
 
visit Exodus Family Ministries for more info

Welcome to The Talk Of Louisville Podcast. This episode Mike talks with Tracy Patton and Melissa Marvel from The Zoom Group.
Zoom Group (ZG) Empowering individuals with disabilities to thrive through inclusive opportunities.
For more info visit zoomgroup.org

Welcome to The Talk Of Louisville Podcast. This episode Mike talks with Barry Washington from Barry’s Cheese Steaks
 
ABOUT US
We are a Christian-owned business that is also family-owned and operated. We share the good news because that’s what we believe has brought us this far. We want to make a real Cheesesteak, just like we have done it up there in Philly. We try to share a lot of love and good food in our community.
 
 
BARRY'S STORY
Former Drug Dealer, Addict, Testifies Of God's Grace. No money. No friends. No home. No hope. Barry Washington had lost everything. Twenty years of drugs, alcohol, crime and violence had left his life as empty as the abandoned shack where he slept. He was constantly hungry. he was constantly high. One day walking on the streets of Philadelphia, he even contemplated suicide. In his sorrow and shame, Washington could barely see two men who were cleaning outside a house. Washington approached them and asked for money. The men, two Nigerian Christians, gave him money and something more - hope for a clean life. The men saw something beneath Washington's disheveled, dirty, drug-scarred exterior. They saw a man whom God could save. More than five years later, Washington, who obtained his A. A. degree from Boyce College on May 19th, now sees it too. God has transformed a drug dealer with an eight-grade education into a sinner saved by grace. “One of my favorite texts is in Mark 5 – the man at the tomb who is out of his mind, ” Washington said. What God has done for me lets me know about true compassion. For most of his life, Washington modeled the man that Jesus met. Raised in Pittsburgh by his adoptive parents, he rebelled from the start.
In grade school, he never learned to read or write. Though a talented baseball player, he gave up on sports and school to play another game. “I chose to follow my brother’s career as a drug dealer and ended up dropping out of school in 9th grade.” Washington said.
His decision began a 20 year downward spiral of destitution. “I started selling,” he said. “I went from reefer to cocaine, to selling heroin.”
In the 1980’s, Washington moved to Michigan, but he packed his old lifestyle with him. The drug running finally caught up with him when several other dealers confronted him and left him for dead in his front yard.
“I got stabbed 41 times,” Washington said. “I almost died.” When he recovered, though, Washington fell back into his old addictions and moved back to Philadelphia.
Drug pushing made sometimes $5,000 in a day, but his business and life soon turned sour. He overdosed three times, he was in and out of jail, and he knew that something was wrong.
Every time I would use drugs I would ask God for help,”
Finally, he came to the breaking point outside that abandoned shack. He wanted to kill himself, but those two Nigerian men pointed to true life.
“I called them my Peter and John in the book of Acts at the gate called beautiful.” Washington said, referring to the passage in Acts 3. “That day they invited me to a church meeting in their house.” At the small service, the preacher explained the gospel. At the end of the service, Washington prayed to receive Christ.
Though he still struggled with his addictions, the desires gradually fizzled. Several weeks later, Washington walked away from his old way of life and has been clean to this day.
He returned to Michigan and began to attend church regularly. there, he received his calling to ministry. Washington could barely re-adapt the time, but six months later, with the encouragement of his pastor, Washington had earned his high school equivalency and had begun to preach. His pastor also encouraged him to further his education at Boyce College.
The 37-year- old Washington graduated in May 2000 with an Associates degree in Biblical Studies, then obtained his B.S. degree in pastoral counseling, then continued his education at Southern Baptist the Theological Seminary, obtaining a Masters in Theology. Washington attributes these achievements to God, but he dedicates the degree to his mother who prayed constantly for him.
“Some pastors I know say, ‘Well, it’s only an A.A.,” Washington said. “They don’t understand my history and what this would do for a woman whose sisters and brothers said, ‘your kid’s aren’t nothing.'” Washington currently uses his experience to minister to others. He leads youth ministries, helps with homeless shelters and boys’ homes, teaches on drug addiction and preaches across the state.
“The Lord has been really gracious to me down here,” Washington said.
“I could have been dead a number of times. I could never have dreamed of doing anything like this. I still don’t believe it some days.But Washington does not want to forget, either. “I keep this old welfare card of how I used to look just as a reminder,” he said.