Walking in the Truth - Jessica Aquino

00:01 - Speaker 1 I think the thing that impacted me the most outside of people was when I learned that I could find the truth in God's Word. I was amazed by that. I learned that every lie I believed God showed me the truth, and so I began to walk in the truth, because it's something I had never experienced before. Hello, my name is Jessica Aquino. I'm very excited to be a part of Faithly this morning and I'm looking forward to continuing to see this ministry grow in leaps and bounds, bringing all kinds of leaders together to collaborate and continue to build the church. And this is my Faithly story. 00:40 - Speaker 2 Welcome to Faithly Stories, the podcast that brings you inspiring tales from conversations with church leaders as they navigate the peaks and valleys of their faith journeys through their ministry work and everyday life. Join us as we delve into their challenges, moments of encouragement and answered prayers. The Faithly Stories podcast is brought to you by Faithly, an online community committed to empowering church leaders, pastors, staff and volunteers. Learn more at faithlyco. Get ready to be uplifted and inspired as we unveil the heart of faith through stories from the front lines of ministry. On the Faithly Stories podcast. 01:21 - Speaker 3 Could you tell me how your faith journey started? 01:23 - Speaker 1 So my faith journey started. Well, let me tell you a little bit about my family. My parents were both from Puerto Rico, but no one in my family were Christians. We learned very early how to know who God was through a very different journey, and so my parents practiced santeria, which is a witchcraft, but if you talk to Spanish people they'll say, oh, it's a kind or it's a white witchcraft, it's witchcraft, it's terrible. 01:56 In any case, I grew up just learning that we had all kinds of protector spirits protecting us and we had to pray to them and build altars and sacrifice like little things, nothing major but little things. But deep inside, as a child, I always wondered if this God that we were serving was the real God, because I was so afraid of this God God. And so, as I got older, my mom and I, we lived in a neighborhood where our next door neighbor was a Christian, and there was a time that my mom was really ill and this gentleman came over and said hey, I heard that your mom was sick and I just want to pray for her. And so he did. He came over and he worshiped and he prayed and she got better and he said she said how can I thank you? He said the way you can thank me is by coming to church when you're out of this bed, because you will be out of this bed. And, sure enough, that weekend she was out of the bed and she went to church and she got saved. By that time me and my sisters were teenagers. I already was heavily involved in drugs and alcohol and I was just living a crazy life, desperately seeking for love and acceptance, especially because my parents had already separated and we were brought up in a broken home. 03:20 In any case, my mom, when she went to church that day, when she came back, my sisters and I had just been hanging out clubbing all night long. And she comes in and she opens the door wide and she's like you're never going to believe who I met today and we're like who? And she goes. I finally met the true God. I met Jesus and I was like we were like, oh my gosh, she's losing it. I met Jesus and I was like. We were like, oh my gosh, she's losing it. 03:48 And at that same day she said everything is going to change. She threw out all worldly music. She threw out all of our records. At the time we had records and cassettes I'm aging myself but she threw everything out. She brought down every single altar and threw every altar away and she said this is now going to be the house of God. And so, slowly but surely, my sisters and I began to sense the presence of God and just it provoked our curiosity. Eventually I got saved and I went into a program to to recover from drugs and alcohol. And I remember staying on as ministry in ministry, as a leader, working with other women, and that's really how my journey began with the Lord. 04:30 - Speaker 3 I have a personal question about your relationship to your father. I mean, I've mostly interviewed men and their fathers, but you're the first person I get to ask. This is so like what do you remember about your father? And then, how did him not being? Was he involved in your life? Not much, not much, not much. Looking back how did that affect you? 04:52 - Speaker 1 It affected me greatly not having my father in my life. I, you know, we were very poor. We were very poor and you know there were many days that we wondered when we were going to get the next meal. Living in America and so not having my dad and feeling that sense of we're not even protected. I remember my mom, you know, asking people in the neighborhood if they could help us and things like that. And there were times that we didn't have a place to stay and she would take us to places where we were with people that we didn't have a place to stay and she would take us to places where we were with people that we didn't even know. And you know we suffered a lot. You know not having that protection, not having guidance, not having a covering, not understanding what the love of the first man in your life is. 05:40 By the time I was 13 years old, I was looking for that love in other boys and that lasted a very long time. So it was very painful not having my dad around. What I remember of him was when he was around. I did feel very loved by my dad. The problem is that my dad was a heroin addict and he actually died of AIDS because he at that, at that time you know, he shared a needle with somebody that did um have AIDS and he and he died at I think he was 41. 06:13 He was young and so my dad passing away at that age and for the reasons he passed away, really impacted me because all I thought about as a kid and as a teenager, and even my young adult years until I met the Lord, was you chose this lifestyle over loving us, and that stayed with me for a long time until I was able to understand the love of a father. And I will say I just want to say one thing there was one man that came into my life that is still in my life today, that showed me that consistently loved me. I met him in my early 20s and it's the church where I got saved, and he's the first man to teach me this is what it looks like to be loved by a father and so, but it affected me greatly. 06:59 - Speaker 3 Thank you for that. So your mom comes in, she's saved. You're like sobering up. What are you thinking Like from there? How did you get to receive Jesus? 07:10 - Speaker 1 So initially I thought she was crazy because she everything was about praying and worshiping God. And she had one cassette tape and it was the name of the song was Praise the Lord, and she played it over and over and over again, but something, she even played it overnight, and so something about that song really, really resonated with my spirit. And what ended up happening is that I would, I would go out to clubs and then at the end of the night I would tell my friends, especially from Saturday to Sunday, I would say, hey, you want to go to my mom's house? And we would go to my mom's house and play the song praise the Lord, and we would all be worshiping and crying, but none of us knew Jesus. And so one day I decided you know, I'm going to keep my promise to my mom. I would tell her that I was going to come to church and I never would. And so one day I did come after the club with a whole bunch of friends and I remember sensing the presence of the Lord right at the door. 08:06 I have a message. It's called the, the um. The altar starts at the door and I remember what I smelled like smoke alcohol. I looked like a crazy person. I was dressed completely inappropriate, but the usherette embraced me and said I am so happy you're here and I thought you are. You know, like I thought you know, why would she be happy? Anyway, she walks me to the second row and you know, the choir's worshiping and they're raising their hands. So I start raising my hands and then I start raising both hands and I sense God sobering me up and when the pastor made an altar call, I ran to the altar and gave my heart to the Lord and I never turned back, never turned back. 08:48 - Speaker 3 So, from there, how did your journey begin? Because it seems like it was such a powerful experience, but now re-acclimating your life to a new belief and lifestyle, it's hard. There's this learning curve. 09:04 - Speaker 1 Oh yes. 09:04 - Speaker 3 So for you like, what was that like? And then who are the people that like really shaped you and helped you through that? 09:12 - Speaker 1 I love that question. So after I met the Lord, I still had I, you know, I had these addictions that I needed to deal with, and the pastor at the time sent me into a program and I went through the program and I sobered up and I began to learn how to behave, how to dress, how to you know just how to live this Christian life. But I think the thing that impacted me the most, outside of people, was when I learned that I could find the truth in God's word. I was amazed by that in God's word. I was amazed by that. And when I started reading God's word, I learned that every lie I believed God showed me the truth. And so I began to walk in the truth, because it's something I had never experienced before. There were women in my life that prayed me through circumstances and things of that nature, but really, I have to say, it was God's word that transformed my thinking, my behaviors, everything that I did, conviction, and so, after going through the program, I moved back to New York and I asked the Lord you know, now that I'm this new creation like, what can I do? You know, what kind of work can I look for? And I started looking at the newspaper Again, I'm aging myself. I started looking through the newspaper and I saw Marriott and it said spirit to serve. And that resonated with me because I knew I had the spirit to serve, I knew I had the Lord and I also knew that I wanted to serve other people. 10:46 My journey on a professional level really began with Marriott because their core values were so in alignment with what I believed and so I started working there and I was trained to care for people, serve other people. And what I thought was pretty awesome is the general manager at the time said you are so different from all the other employees here. And I remember like I was promoted time and time and time and time again, and then I transferred from that place to a place in the city and I just want to tell you a little bit about that experience, because it was, it's pretty awesome and it's why I'm here, it's why I'm, I'm, I'm uh, the, the uh founder of building three, six, five, right. So as I was working there, we, there was a transition between general managers and the new one had come and he was staying with us for a couple of months, but we didn't know who he was. No one told us that. In any case, I remember him coming to the executive office and I would serve him and take care of him and serve him well. After a few months, he introduced himself to me and he said hi, I'm so-and-so and I'm the new general manager and I want you to know that I am pleased to have watched you all these months care for me and the other employees. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is so awesome. 12:10 Anyway, long story short, they began to look for an HR manager. I had no experience in HR. I did everything else besides that and he approached me and asked me why don't you apply for the job? And I said because I don't have the credentials. I know nothing about human resources, I don't know anything about the laws, and he had interviewed people who had a ridiculous amount of experience and skills. And he said but you know what you have, something that none of these people have. And he said can I have a conversation with you off the record? I said sure. He said what is it? What is it that you have? Because I see how you are with all of the executives, the employees, I see how you take care of the guests. You treat everybody like a VIP. I said, okay, it's Jesus. He said I knew it was something spiritual and from that point on he hired me, he trained me, he invested in me, he walked me through everything that I needed to know. He surrounded me with the most experienced HR professionals in the city. He paid them to surround me. And that's where my journey began. 13:13 And I want to say that the day that I was promoted, I ended up going to a prayer meeting. 13:18 I had not told anyone about my promotion, except my husband. 13:23 On that day I went to a prayer meeting and there was a pastor who was preaching and when I walked in through the doors I don't know if you've ever felt this, but I felt the Holy Spirit say to me I have a word for you. 13:33 So I came in and there was only one seat available in the prayer meeting, in the front. 13:38 So I sat in that seat and he called me up and he said I have a word for you, I have a word for you. And he said the Lord wants you to know that the training and the promotion you receive today is not for that house, it's for this house, and everything you will learn in that place will be for this house. God is going to call you out so that you could serve his people on a business level. And inside I was like, oh, I'm not doing ministry, like no, that can't be. And so then my journey with working with churches and nonprofit organizations began, and I have to say that I've learned so much. I've learned so much in corporate America that I've brought into the church and I believe with all my heart that God is calling the church to do it better, to do things better, to raise up the standards of how we serve, because it cannot be that corporate America can serve the people well and treat them well and invest in them and care for them and we're not at that level, if that makes sense. 14:43 - Speaker 3 No, that makes perfect sense. I completely agree with you. I think a lot of that also is like, because I'm like second gen, so like I was born here, my parents immigrated here and did the church because that was like the place where people spoke their language right, so it's more of a community center. But I kind of see this like. We grew up here, so we know the culture here and so our generation. I feel like god is calling us to like, merge culture and church together and show them like what happened, exactly what happened to you. You can do what they do, but differently, but somehow better. Right? Yes, I have a question. Was that general manager a christian? He wasn't, he't. Did he ever like explain what was, like his fascination, or like, or was he just so amazed by your service? 15:31 - Speaker 1 So it's twofold, I think. Before having the conversation with me about becoming the HR person, he actually spoke with the employees and the executives and they really I didn't know that they felt that way about me at all, I just knew that I loved them, all of them. I didn't know that they felt that way about me at all, I just knew that I loved them, all of them. I didn't care who you were, whoever was in front of me, I was going to serve them like a VIP, whether it was a guest or not. And so he saw that I had the relational equity with the employees and he knew that the hotel was in danger. It really was. That's why they called him in and in order to transform and change the organization, he needed someone who had the relational equity and someone who really loved the people, so he could have brought on another person that was new with him and they start over. But it really worked well. 16:17 In one year we must have gotten maybe six awards for changing the organization, transforming the organization, 100%. We used to do an employee survey and before he came on, the survey was like at a 50% and Marriott was in a position to break ties, because Marriott's standard of excellence is high and their standards are high. And so when they brought him in, his job was, how are you going to turn that around? And so I felt so honored that he would pick me, because I did have the relational equity with the employees, but I really loved them. It wasn't about the position for me, it wasn't about the job, it wasn't about the pay, it was about truly seeing these employees happy. And so by the end of the year, we went from a 50% to a 98% of satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and that meant a lot to the organization. 17:13 And so I think that he was very wise. But I think that it was those things. And he told me, as we got to know each other, that he really loved how I served him, because there were times that he asked me for the most ridiculous things and I would be like sure, just give me, give me a minute, you know I can, you know, like, but he was testing all of us because he wanted to know who we were. We had no idea. So, by the way, danny, just so you know, we had a um, a lunch once a month, but once a month I always spoke to him about the Lord, because he gave me permission to talk off the records. I told him my story. I would tell him about other people in the organization that knew Jesus, that loved Jesus, because I wanted him to know at least that again, that I am here because of Jesus. 18:01 - Speaker 3 Every time we talk, I keep thinking about your stories, in alignment with Joseph, of your early years. You need to go through that. And then you are put in this place of just you trusting the Lord, and then you didn't realize you were just being an example, and then God kind of yeah, your story's making me cry. I want to backtrack a little bit because I'm very curious as to your recovery, because addiction is such a powerful thing and my personal thesis is like we're all addicted to something Right and so like, even if you're a drug addict, you're just trading one addiction for another. But for you, because drugs are so powerful, like chemically in your body, yes, how were you able to like overcome that? And like are you still like considering yourself, like I need to be careful of these things? And mostly it's just for people who are dealing with addiction. Now, what kind of encouragement would you give them to overcome and kind of pursue recovery? 18:56 - Speaker 1 So when I, when I was addicted, I could not function without mainly the alcohol consumption and you know, other drugs that I could not function. However, I want to say that this is really miraculous. So when I made the decision to go into this program, I didn't sober up before then. You're supposed to, but I didn't. I can tell you, danny, that when I walked through the doors of this program, god delivered me. He delivered me instantly. The process was difficult and I'll tell you what I mean by that. So when I say deliverance, I had no desire to consume drugs and alcohol. What I was faced with was my reality of why I got there, was the pain, was the rejection that I had to walk through, was the fact that I was sexually abused so many times as a child, was the reality of not having my dad and understanding that. I remember when I first read the verse that says that he is a father to the fatherless. That blew my mind. Fatherless. That blew my mind. I was like this holy, incredible, god is my father. That was a game changer for me, and so the process of dealing with those things and learning oh wow, I can actually deal with this and not have to take anything for the pain, because God was healing the pain. So I was in this program for about two years and it was. It was incredible. It was the classes. So there were classes that taught me about like I took a character quality class and in those classes everything was biblical based, but in those classes it was really discovering who I am in the Lord, and the more I learned about who I was in God, the more I was free, empowered and ready to keep running this race. And so I felt like nothing could change my mind at that point because I believed everything that God's word said. And so for people that are addicted, I would definitely encourage them to find a place, a faith-based place, because faith-based is different, but find the faith-based place that have godly principles right and that will give them the time they need, because some programs it's 90 days and you're done. It took 90 days to get the alcohol out of my body. I was so swollen. 90 days. It took six months for me to realize I'm actually here and my life is going to be right. It takes time, so a 90 day program is not going to do anything for anyone. 21:38 I also went into this program when I already had a daughter and just I skipped this part. I have to say this my oldest daughter spent a lot of time with my mother. She was five years old. She learned how to pray, so I had my mother praying for me at home, at her house. But when I would come home and be with my daughter, she would lay hands on me and say God, you're able to change my mom Like she was five. Deliver her, lord, deliver her, save my mom. So she was five. Deliver her, lord, deliver her, save my mom. So she was part of seeing God transform my life and in the program she already knew God's word. So she would. Every now and then she would say Mom, this is a word of God for you. And so I would say find the place that will give you the time that you need to recover, because it's not overnight. 22:23 Two years sounds like a lot of time, but when you're addicted for many years, two years is nothing. It's nothing. By the way, the name of the program is called New Life Home for Women and Children, and so that's where God really used the women there and the founders. That was their heartbeat to see women transformed and to be able to come into a program with their children. So I would say find the program or ask their church is there a place that they can go to so that they can experience freedom in the Lord and to give the time needed to be free, because oftentimes when people are on drugs they say I want it, I want it, and then they end up wow, it's 60 days a year. That's too much. It's changed my life. It's been 30 years. I've never gone back. 30 years is a long time. 23:24 - Speaker 3 I always say like the cliche literally is one day at a time, yes, and when you just focus one day at a time, like you said, 30 years goes by. You're like okay, I can't even believe I did this. But when you think too far, then like the unknown and the fear kind of stops you, oh yeah. 23:38 - Speaker 1 And sometimes it's one moment at a time, one moment at a time, but God is so faithful. I give him all the glory and all the honor. There's nothing that I have done without the Lord. 23:48 - Speaker 3 Thank you. So what is your hope for everything you learned in hospitality in the secular world as you transition to the church world? Like one, like what were all the problems you saw of like oh wait, why are we doing it this way? And then two how did you go about, like bringing in change? 24:07 - Speaker 1 oh wait, why are we doing it this way? And then two, how did you go about bringing change? When I was working for Marriott the church that I was actually attending they asked for HR professionals to join an HR volunteer team. And at this time I had already been working for Marriott for many years Remember the word that God had given me, right? So for many years. 24:25 And when I got that email I felt the tug in my heart and I thought okay, let me respond to it. So I responded to it and I and I met with the team for the first time and they asked you know, what would you like to do? And I said you know, I would love to audit the church, just want to audit them, see how they're doing, and if there's any way that I can help, I can, I would help them. So I did, I audited them and I saw that there were a lot of issues, a lot of mistakes, and I thought about how the pastor I knew the pastor. I knew that he had no idea that some of these things were taking place. Some of the problems were they didn't have job descriptions. There were really no expectations, no policies, no procedures, no processes, none of that. So people, pretty much, they did what they wanted to do right. And so I'm coming from corporate America. You don't do that right. You're going to honor people's time. You're going to respect people's time. There are processes, there are policies and all of us need that right. 25:24 So the first thing I started working on was okay, let's take a look at where everybody is. And as I started working with the employees, I realized that they were in the wrong job. So when I did a survey with them, I noticed that the morale was very low, but it was low because they were doing the wrong job. When they were hired, it was hired because they were hired because of spiritual reasons, but not because of skills. There's a big difference. Oh, you know how to pray so well. If my pastor hears this the pastor that I'm talking about he's going to laugh because it's true. He would tell me I hired her to, you know, to do accounting because she did such a great job praying Right and so. But she didn't have the skills. And so I started working on let's really see who this person is. What is God called so-and-so to do? And then equipping them, resourcing them and empowering them to do the job was a win, not only for me, because I do. I I'm telling you, danny, I have a passion to see people be in the best position that they could be, but it was a win for the employee and so, eventually, having all of the employees in the right jobs, we saw the organization moving and shaking and people were excited about being where they were and they were getting the job done in excellence. They were so excited. So that was the first thing. 26:43 The second thing was there were really no, there were no safeguards in the church. As I said, like you know, there wasn't a process for how how you hire. They had never fired anyone in all the years they had. They had been in business, and sometimes it's necessary to let someone go. It's not. It's not that you let them go, it's how you let them go, because in a church you can't fire someone the way you do in corporate America. Right, that's still their church. How do you separate with an employee and then understand that, ok, you're not working here anymore, but I'm still your pastor and I love you and this is still your church? That's a very difficult thing to do. So those are some of the things that I brought to the table in the first time that I started working with the church. 27:25 - Speaker 3 What is Building 365? 27:29 - Speaker 1 Building 365 is a consulting organization and what we do is consult with churches, leaders, employees, and really what we do is we try to bridge any gaps to ensure that there is such a great relationship between the leaders, the employees, the executives, the church, the congregants. A lot of times and this is even, statistically, congregations, the people that are in the congregation. They can feel so many different ways and the pastor will never know, and so one of the things that we do is we bridge those gaps is and the pastor will never know, and so one of the things that we do is we bridge those gaps. We make sure that the pastors we help the pastors know, understand and also know how to work through if there are any issues. How do you work through that? You have 800 people? How do you handle responding to 800 people in a way that they feel that you care and that you are listening to their voice, that they have a voice? 28:27 Oftentimes at churches there's a great disconnect. The person that's on the platform, it's on the platform and that's what it is right. There is not a relationship between the person on the platform and the congregation sees them as a person on the platform with a title, but there's no relationship and that is critical to growing and discipling a person on the platform with a title. But there's no relationship and that is critical to growing and discipling a church on every level, from a newcomer to someone who has been there for 40 years. Right, that relationship has to continue to go on. And how do you do that? And so building 365, and that's what we do, that's what we do. We help the church not only first see the condition and the health of their church, the health of the church, but then how do we get them to the healthiest place that they could be? Because I do believe and this is our model, I believe that if our employees are treated well and they're taken care of and they're loved and they're paid well, that's another thing that's very important, right, and they have a work-life balance. And I'm talking about in the church, in ministry, that will impact the ministry for years to come and it will be infectious. 29:45 The church that I'm working with right now we started a discipleship process. They were doing something else and maybe five or six people would show up, but it really wasn't impacting the people to come at all, and so we started working on a process and it took about eight months for us to build something solid. But on the day that we launched, 600 people came out. But you know why 600 people came out? Because there was vision, there was vision, there was vision, and the people thought you are interested in discipling me, wow. So I have to say, 600 people the first time, and it has been the most happening thing in that church today and it's about a year that we've been running this discipleship structure. 30:34 So many people have gotten saved, but it's not just what happens during that altar call, what happens when they walk away from that altar call. So we created a system that we're following them all the way into their small group and after their small group there's more discipling and community and growth and development and genuine interest in the person. And so it's been such an amazing opportunity for me but to see this church turn their discipleship from five or six people showing up right and no volunteers wanting to volunteer to even teach these classes, to now us having so many volunteers saying I want to teach, I want to teach, I want to be a part, I want to be a part, and so that's. Those are some of the things that that we do to to see a church thrive and go from. You know, really not much to much. 31:30 And again, it's not about the numbers. It has to be about what's happening in that person's spiritual life. You know, why are they not tithing? Why are they not serving what's happening in their life? Why do they come once in a blue moon, right? Why are they not engaged? Why do they come once in a blue moon, right? Why are they not engaged? 31:47 - Speaker 3 So. So I have a question. You say you're trying to bridge the gap between leadership and the people Right. How do you do that specifically? What are some examples, or what are some examples you can give? 32:05 - Speaker 1 no-transcript. They don't know that there's a gap until there's an assessment. First thing that I do, the first way that I assess is I come and I observe services and interactions. So I'll observe the welcoming experience, the exiting experience. How do the employees interact with one another? How do the ministers interact with one another? How do the ministers interact with one another? How do the leaders interact with one another? That's the first thing that I do. 32:36 Usually, what I observe is there's a separation. Well, that's my team and that's his team and that's their team. And that's already a problem, because we're all one team. And how do we collaborate together? How do we understand that? What you do, danny, is just as important to me as what I do. So that's usually the first, this first. Okay, there's a disconnect here. 32:56 The second thing that I do if the, if the, once I give the results to the pastor, my, my next recommendation is um, can I do an assessment, a survey? It has to be anonymous, which means that if the pastor or the leader expects me to tell them who said what, I will not go into contract with them, because I need them to trust the process and I need the employees to be free. They're not going to be free, because most of the time and this is statistically most of the time that no one is going to go to the pastor and say I have a problem with this, especially if there's a family dynamic. So if you have a leadership and they're all family, you're never going to get the truth. So the best way to do that is I would prefer let's, let's, let's do a survey, let me get the results, and then we'll talk about the results. So usually when that happens, I have to say there there are pastors that have wept, they have felt so hurt that they didn't know, but they are and they're open to make a change. There are pastors that have been like, well, I don't know why, they didn't tell me, and they're upset and they feel defensive. And that really doesn't change that, that that it's harder to to bring change in the organization or to bridge that that gap. 34:06 Because my role is not to be the hero, my role is to make them the hero. My role is to is, that is, that the employees see that oh, no, no, this pastor that you may not have had a relationship with or may not have understood you, they understand you now because at some point, I move on. They need to see the pastors and the leaders in that church as the ones that they're going to, you know, be led by, and so it's usually observation, then a survey, and then we get to work. Once I, once I have a survey, then I start training. I'll do a disc assessment, you know, I'll do the five, five dysfunctions of a team, which is incredible, but that's usually for the leadership team, and what happens is that everyone is discovering all of these things that have been inside, that affect behavior in the organization. 34:55 They may not be saying it, but they're behaving in a way that. That's why I say observation is the first thing for me, because I watched their behavior and I know where they're at. But when they start discovering these things and then they match it up with what God expects of us, right, they feel like, oh my gosh, like God, I didn't even realize. So I've had sessions with teams where they're all crying and they're apologizing to one another and they're asking each other for forgiveness, and I've seen them go from being distant to just so much love and appreciation. And that's important because the scripture says right, they will know who I am by your love for one another. So when I walk into a church and I see the employees and the ministers and them interacting and loving on one another, I know, ooh, this is a good place. 35:47 - Speaker 3 Yeah, one thing I'm learning this year is the kingdom is just inside out living, and when you can find yourself no longer being afraid of just showing people what's going on in the inside, and that's actually just vulnerability. Either people will resonate or they'll reject it. But the people that resonate, they are able to bring down their walls and then now real connection and communication can happen. And you brought up DISC and it's funny. 36:10 - Speaker 1 You know, danny, one of the reasons why I use the DISC is because what I've learned over the years is that the biggest issue in organizations is communication, and when everyone understands this is my style of communication. But big deal If I don't understand yours, who cares if I'm a high D high, I high S right. I need to understand how can I communicate with Danny in such a way that we're able to accomplish the end goal. So you know organizational development just throughout. Just so you know Building 365, we work on everything that relates to developing the organization. It could be a startup company. 36:52 I will say that I'm most attracted to organizations in crisis because I really believe. I believe with all my heart that even when it looks like the doors are going to shut, I believe that God can breathe life into dry bones. Right, I believe that God can transform any organization. I believe that he can raise any organization back to life. So I am most attracted to organizations in crisis. Don't get me wrong, I would work with any organization, but that for me is I don't know. It just impacts me in a special way because I feel like there were so many times in my life that I could have died out there in the street, right and and you know, god saw me fit enough right To say no, no, no, I'm going to raise you up. 37:43 I'm going to raise you up and I'm going to call you to do things that you never imagined, I never imagined, I never imagined that Jessica Aquino, you know, comes from a family that did Santeria, never knew the Lord. Poor us can be with nothing to give. Yet God has given me everything that I need and that's why I say everything that I give it's from the Lord. I can't celebrate anything else or anyone else. It's God. I can't celebrate anything else or anyone else. 38:12 - Speaker 3 It's God. I totally understand. I had a really rough childhood too and I realized growing up in a broken home made me broken. But after the healing he's left a soft spot for broken people and desperate people and I think it's because those people are the ones most willing to receive, you know, a solution and salvation. Yeah, no, I totally hear you. I just want to end on like a couple of last things. One you said you're married now. 38:41 - Speaker 1 I am, I am. How long have you been married? 20 years. 38:44 - Speaker 3 So the reason why I ask one I'm always curious as how people met together, but with you and just the dynamic, with your father and just I know what it's like to hold baggage with the opposite gender and you need to work through that and like you're married, so like yeah, could you share how that happened? How'd you meet? 39:02 - Speaker 1 Absolutely. This is going to be so cool. So I am married 20 years to an incredible man that loves the Lord and loves me. I met my husband at Marriott. He was my boss. 39:17 My husband taught me so much about serving other people and doing things in excellence. He's an introvert, behind the scenes, very quiet man, but he's the one that really has encouraged me in so many ways. My husband, if there was an opportunity, he would say you can do it, go for it, I'm proud of you, you can do it. You know, I never had that in my life and so my husband has been my behind the scenes cheerleader, if I could say I don't like to say cheerleader, I actually no, he's just been my greatest encourager, not just in my career, danny, but I battled breast cancer and I should have died and my husband served me. 40:01 Like just the ways that my husband served me, I think it was the first time that I was actually able to accept his love, because when you don't have a father and you've experienced all the things that I have, it took time. I felt very leery Like does he really love me? Does he really love me? But when I battled uh Brent's breast cancer and I and I was told that. You know, they didn't know if I was going to make it Um and um. The surgery that I experienced was very intense. My husband walked me through and he loved me through and there were weeks that he had to wash me and feed me and all of those things, and that's when I realized how much my husband loved me. It's changed our relationship. 40:45 But I say that because that took time. It took time. God has really used him in such a profound way Because that took time. It took time. God has really used him in such a profound way. Even this morning on this podcast, he was so proud and so blessed that I'm going to share about the things that God has done in my life and it encouraged me. There are so many things that I'm like I don't think I could do that. I don't think that I can do that, and he no, yes, you can, yes, you can. And so I have to say I am so blessed that God has given him to me and he's walked me through a lot. 41:14 - Speaker 3 So I have a funny question If he was your boss, isn't that like an HR violation? 41:19 - Speaker 1 Yeah. So what happened was that is an HR violation. That's so funny. So what we decided we first started to get to know each other as friends. So what we decided, we first started to get to know each other as friends. 41:31 But when he and I noticed that we had feelings, we had a conversation and he said you're either going to have to go to another property or I'm going to have to move on. And I said, well, why don't you stay, because you've already established yourself. So I went ahead and I applied and I moved on to another Marriott property. And the funny thing is that the HR director of the new Marriott property, by the time she came on and did my review, I was Aquino. I was no longer Jessica Gonzalez, I was Jessica Aquino and she goes Jessica Aquino. And she made the connection and she asked, and I, and I told her this is why I moved on. But, yeah, we had to make that was a hard decision for us because we really enjoyed working with one another and even though by the time we started having feelings for one another, we won two total different shifts. Him being my boss was a conflict of interest and so, yes, I had to move on. 42:30 - Speaker 3 I also just bring that up because that's exactly why policies and procedures are in place. Yes, because it's not so that, like you can be ticky tacky and like that's right micromanaging. It's like you need to account for human emotions and reactions and like we're human beings, so we need these rules to protect ourselves, but also like the business and stuff. So yes, yes, and your story is so funny it is, it's hysterical. 42:59 - Speaker 1 We were like, wait a minute, you know, of course we did. And and not only that. There was a place we wanted to honor the lord because we could, we could forego the policies. Nobody would have known. But really, is god gonna bless that right? God going to bless that Right? Is he going to bless that? The answer is no. 43:14 - Speaker 3 That's the thing that, like, is constantly in my head now, that even if no one knows, I'll know, I'll know, and I'll know with the Lord, and I can't live with that. And that kind of integrity. 43:27 I'm not saying I was born with it, but he like formed it in me to hold the precious that the most important thing is what he thinks and how he feels and that's been like such a saving grace, because when I look back and all the things that like I thought I was gonna like, like it was a desire of the temptation, but I said no, yeah I'm like I'm so glad I said no yes, thank the lord. 43:47 - Speaker 1 Yeah, yes, yes, yeah. 43:50 - Speaker 3 so I always end with these last two questions what are you hoping at Faithly? 43:54 - Speaker 1 I'm hoping that Faithly would continue to do podcasts, maybe expand and have leaders from different backgrounds, different genders, multi-generational impact church and ministry just by doing podcasts or even communicating the work that they're doing, that the individuals are doing. 44:17 But I think there's something really special about coming together as a team and talking about how everyone is impacting the kingdom on an organizational level, ministry level. It could be worship, it could be creative, it could be the things that I do. But I would love to see Faithfully build something like that, where they have a group of people and, like I said, multi-generational talking about how they're impacting the kingdom so that the people that are looking at these podcasts, they can grow and learn from their experiences. I'm also praying and hoping that there would be a space for training through Faithly, using again different leaders and different experiences, trainings that could strengthen the leadership skills that some of our leaders already have, that some of our leaders already have. There's a few podcasts that I watched that I was very impressed with and I thought, ooh, this is so good. I wanna learn more about this organization. I wanna learn more, even about the person, how they got to where they are now, and so similar to what you're already doing, but expanding it. 45:24 - Speaker 3 Lastly, how can we be praying for you and your family? 45:27 - Speaker 1 So pray from the way that you can pray for me and my family is one of the closest and dearest things to my heart. Personally is my son, who has autism. Just praying that God will continue to open doors for him. He's a musical genius. There's so many areas of his life that he's so incredible and just you know, just praying that God would provide him with the resources that he needs. For my family, that God would continue to grow us together and minister to us and use us as one unit. And for my ministry, that God would give me the opportunity to continue to do the things that I do for the church on a broader level, Because I believe with all my heart that God has called me specifically to be a voice for both for the leaders and for the employees, and so yeah, thank you. 46:17 - Speaker 3 This is great. I'm so glad I met you and I'm definitely going to be keeping in touch with you. I have so many ideas about building 365. 46:25 - Speaker 1 Thank you so much. I'm so excited to have been a part of this podcast this morning and I'm looking forward to connecting with you again too. 46:34 - Speaker 3 All right, that's it for the podcast. 46:36 - Speaker 2 Bye, guys, bye. Thank you for tuning in to the Faithly Stories podcast. We pray this episode gave you the encouragement you needed to continue on your journey. The Faithly Stories podcast is brought to you by Faithly, an online community committed to empowering church leaders, pastors, staff and volunteers. The Faithly digital platform offers innovative and practical tools and resources to enhance connection, foster collaboration and promote growth within the church and ministry space. Remember to subscribe, rate and review our podcast to help reach more listeners like you. Stay tuned for more uplifting tales from the front lines of ministry on the Faithly Podcast. Stay bold, stay faithful and never underestimate the power of your own story.