From Corporate Success to Kingdom Purpose | Bill Gemaehlich

Can you pursue business success and still live completely on mission for Christ?

Bill Gemaehlich has spent decades leading global Christian ministries, serving alongside Chuck Swindoll at Insight for Living, planting a church, mentoring leaders, and traveling the world to advance the Gospel.

But his story didn't begin in ministry.

It began with a young businessman whose dream was simply to make money... until God completely redirected his life.

In this conversation we discuss:

• Growing up in Oregon
 • Finding Christ after being raised Catholic
 • Business, leadership, and ministry
 • Working with Wycliffe Bible Translators
 • Serving at Insight for Living
 • Church planting while working full time
 • Mentoring the next generation
 • What American Christians can learn from believers around the world
 • Why serving Jesus is worth a lifetime

If you've ever wondered how your career can become your ministry, this episode is for you.

Transcript

Todd Turner (00:00)
Well, today we welcome to the show Bill Gemaehlich He is a longtime friend. Well, first, welcome Bill.

Bill Gemaehlich (00:06)
Thank you. I'm glad to be here, Todd.

Todd Turner (00:08)
Well, you know, it's interesting. I sometimes interview people I don't know. I interview people I sorta know. And you're one of the rare ones of somebody I know very, very well. I you're in my inner circle. You know things about me. I know things about you. And I'm I'm excited because this is a kind of interview where I want people to know what I know. And so it's it's interesting. Some of these questions I ask, I already know the answer to.

And others I I need reminding and some I'm just very curious. So but my hope here is that everyone will learn the man that I've got to know I don't even know how long we've known each other now, almost twenty years. Is that probably right? Yeah, yeah. So let's start with the beginning and that is raised in the Northwest, but talk a little bit about your your childhood.

Bill Gemaehlich (00:46)
At least twenty, yeah.

Todd Turner (00:55)
where you grew up, tell a little bit about your family situation. And if that turns into a testimony of coming to faith, go go with that. But let's let everybody catch up from the beginning.

Bill Gemaehlich (01:04)
Right. Well, I grew up in Southern Oregon, which is the big town there is Medford, Oregon. back in those days in the seventies and early to mid eighties, it was probably 50,000 people. that county now has about a hundred thousand, so it's it's growing. my parents were from that area. They served in the Air Force. My my dad and I I was born in Texas, but

we landed back in Oregon. There's no economy there unless in those days, unless you were a logger or worked in the pear orchard world. Well Harry and David, that's their big area. So my dad he had picked pears as a child from 10 years up. So when he got out of the Air Force, he was picking pears. My mom was packing pears, and so th they were in the pear industry. And they realized

To make it, you had to create your own economy. So my dad went to school, got his tax accountant license and an enrolled agent, I think is what he was referred to, sort of like a CPA. And he opened a business there in our small little town of Jacksonville, Oregon. And at the age of about twelve and thirteen, I was helping on Saturdays, making photocopies of people's tax returns. And so I got involved with business very early.

Another thing they did to

earn money was they put in a campground because back in those days people would travel with travel trailers and campers, especially in the seventies before the g gas crisis. And so at thirteen they said, Hey, you want to learn to be a businessman? I'm like, sure, what do want me to do? Well they sent me out to collect the rent. And boy was that interesting. At thirteen years old. I met a lot of interesting people, funny characters.

Todd Turner (02:39)
Wow.

Bill Gemaehlich (02:43)
Everything from just good people. I met a retired madam one day, collecting her rent and that was just everything in between there and ministers, you know, I'd come. So I learned at a an early age how to operate business. And then at age fifteen, I opened my first store. It was called the the back the back porch and art gallery. And

I was on the Chamber of Commerce at 15 years old at there in Jacksonville, Oregon. went to school and did town there and then went to a a Catholic parochial school and high school in Medford, Oregon. And my first couple years of college was at Southern Oregon State. And while I was studying going to school, one of my dad's employees at the accounting firm,

led me to Christ. But prior to that, I one of the things I would do, I I would open the mail and I opened up an envelope. And in it was a it was mailed to the campground, covered wagon campground. There was a yellow track of how to become a Christian. And as a Catholic, the only thing I was missing was the gospel. I had never heard that it's finished. And that was the missing piece for me. And so I read this track. I prayed the prayer

And I I literally actually felt a kind of a sensation when I pr prayed it. I didn't know that I was saved. about nine months later and that one of my dad's employees walked me through the gospel story and we prayed again. And so I've been walking with Christ ever since.

Todd Turner (04:06)
Wow. So you and and your family were Catholic? Did was there any conversion or trying to of like, hey, guess what? I'm a Christian now. Y y you should be too, or how did that work with family dynamics from going from Catholicism to Christianity?

Bill Gemaehlich (04:20)
Right. my mom's family was Catholic, my dad's family were Lutheran. so I did w I got saved, and it was kind of the Jesus people movement took place in I think the late sixties, early seventies. So this was a decade later, kind of the early eighties, that hit the Pacific Northwest. Many Catholics actually came to Christ during that time. And

Our pastor was John Corson, the Applegate Christian Fellowship, which ended up being quite a large mega church in a small little area where demographically it wasn't possible, but God did it. So yeah, I came home and said, Hey, okay, mom and dad, I know Jesus. I let's get on with it. And it didn't go over real well to answer your question. So they thought I was a religious nut. And especially when they saw my

My dad saw on my check register that I was tithing and I I heard him one day, We've gotta get this kid out of that colt, you know. And

Todd Turner (05:15)
So I so let me let me just I'm trying to paint the picture. I've seen a picture of you in your twenties with the big the hair and the whole things, but were you a hippie or did you become a Jesus hippie? Like tell me your personality before and after you came to

Bill Gemaehlich (05:23)
Yeah.

Yeah.

We we kind of missed the hippie movement a little bit. I suppose those that age group was maybe four or five years older than me. So we really weren't true hippies, maybe want to be hippies. So we were in what you would call I guess the generation of certainly the sexual revolution that generation and of course the thing was was

who has a joint to smoke this week? You know, so we were pseudo hippies, I guess, but we had kind of missed that whole movement where you would live in a a commu a commune and that type of thing. Yeah.

Todd Turner (06:03)
Yeah. But but

you're still in the you're still in the Northwest, which now this is a Southerner saying this. But even if you just live up there, you're already hippie ish to us down here in the South. So you still have a culture of it, even though you may not be by definition, but you you probably lived in a more laid back, and I I'm going to get to that in a minute when we talk about theology, but but even just your lifestyle, like it it's how do you define the the attitude of the North?

Bill Gemaehlich (06:08)
Yeah.

totally.

Mm-hmm.

Todd Turner (06:30)
West and what did you grow up? What culture is that?

Bill Gemaehlich (06:32)
Yeah. Well it was of course, you know, Pacific Northwest, when the weather's good, it happens outside. So yes, I we hiked trails, climbed mountains, rafted rivers. I actually had a so I was kind of an outdoorsman, I guess, a young outdoorsman. And I had a big beard and like you said, the big, super big hair. I think the Jackson Fives were jealo jealous of my hair probably. Big thick. It was very, very big hair. And

Todd Turner (06:53)
It was me.

Bill Gemaehlich (06:56)
But life happened outside. you'd go hunting and fishing and that type of thing. I I did have my own raft, like I was saying, so was kind of an amateur guide for the down the Rogue River. And then each year we would go to Crater Lake, you take a boat out to Wizard Island, you hike it and you come back out and it's quite a wilderness hike. And then we climb Mount McLaughlin and that type of thing. But life was more laid back, definitely.

Yeah, for sure.

Todd Turner (07:23)
So I I'm not trying to write your story, but I'm gonna ask the question like this is how you were thinking. But so you go to school, get a degree, you already have this business knowledge that's passed down from your dad and experiences. Are are you thinking, okay, I'm gonna start life and my goal is to make as much money as possible? What was your mindset as you travel into your twenties of just like, here's what I am meant to do?

Bill Gemaehlich (07:25)
Mm-hmm.

Todd Turner (07:49)
Or did you struggle with that question? Or was it money first? Like how how how did you think coming into your your young twenties?

Bill Gemaehlich (07:56)
Yeah. For me, I was kind of geared toward making as much money as I could. I didn't know what a yuppie was. One day I came by my parents' house to visit them and my mom had been watching the news and she goes, Honey, I think you're a yuppie. I was probably tw twenty three years old. I'm like, What the heck? I didn't know what it was. She'd been watching it. She goes, Well, it's young urban professionals. And I thought, that's that's what I want to be.

Todd Turner (08:22)
Sure, I'll be that.

Bill Gemaehlich (08:22)
Yeah, that sounds good. and I ended up you know, y in university you would take some of the tests to see what you're academically inclined toward and that type of thing. And for me it was business, but also and this is after I became a Christian, so I've been walking with Christ for maybe two, two and a half years. And it kept coming up on these tests. I took a t two of that I would make a good minister.

And I totally turned a hundred and eighty degrees. I thought, no way do I want to be a minister, because to be a minister you have to be poor. And it just wasn't in what I viewed my life as being a a poor minister. But I did love ministry. I just had a hunger for it from the get-go. To be involved with missions, going to Mexico and this type of thing. we did street evangelism. we would go to Ashland, Oregon and paint our faces up like

mimes and do ev evangelical skits to then share the gospel. So thought from the very early age I wanted to somehow combine ministry desire that I had with some business acumen that I had. My dad really wanted me to grow up grow up and be a CPA. I I had no desire to do that. I found it stifling and boring and

But I like business. And so from that point on, my my first job was working for at that time Taco Bell Corporate, which was owned by PepsiCo back in the eighties. So I relocated to Southern California in nineteen eighty six and that was my first corporate job.

Todd Turner (09:46)
I I I need I'm gonna that's this fits both ways, whether we're talking about the northwest or the south west, if you will.

Bill Gemaehlich (09:51)
Mm-hmm.

Todd Turner (09:52)
I'm begging the question with this because I would say the South has a problem, and that is we're born into cultural Christianity here. And I think the the West doesn't, you're not born into it. So when you become a believer, you have to learn how to be a believer. And what I already hear from you is but it seems is maturity in, I'm a believer. What does that look like?

Where in the South, it's like, here's what it looks like. You vote this way, you dress this way, you act this way, and there's a cultural Christianity that we inherit that we have to learn to walk our way out of that. But that's another topic. But it feels like you really leaned into your faith having actions, right? I mean, that's what I'm hearing. You're out you're you're witnessing on the street in in your twenties, you're thinking through how am I gonna be in ministry? I still want to make money, but I want to be in ministry.

Bill Gemaehlich (10:31)
Mm-hmm.

Todd Turner (10:40)
So you wanna I I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, but then I wanna know when you moved to Southern California, did you have to learn that culture of Christianity too? Was it a culture shock or is it very much the same west coast or is there a distinct difference from the north and the south?

Bill Gemaehlich (10:54)
Good question. If I get off you can steer me back. okay, yeah. I g I got it. Yeah. Well certainly. in the Pacific Northwest, back in the early eighties, again, this was kind of a a movement of God's spirit. I just call it a delayed reaction, about a decade later from the Jesus people movement and in my church was a Calvary Chapel plant.

Todd Turner (10:56)
I don't even know exactly what I asked, but I think you just exist. Yeah.

Bill Gemaehlich (11:18)
up there in southern Oregon. And so for me it was radical because y it's sort of like culturally, you're either a born again Christian or you're not. And if you're not, then we 'cause for me it was a one day I was walking in darkness. it was, you know, morality wasn't that big of a deal even as a Catholic, up to a certain point, you know, you you might have your limits.

Not knowing Christ, for me, the re the religion I saw was religion without Christ. So when I got saved, it was radical. Wow, I can have a personal relationship with Jesus. And so it was all or nothing, to your point. It really was. And all or nothing. And if you're gonna serve him, you're gonna show up, you're gonna share your faith. your friends, a lot of them disappeared, like, my gosh, I I met a

One of my friends at a grocery store, and I said, Hey, I'm a Christian. And he goes, I heard of all people, my gosh, you know. He didn't yeah, he he didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. my nickname in high school was Wild Bill, and there's a reason for that. And so when I got saved, it was 180 degrees radical. So yeah, I I would say certainly in that movement in the early 80s.

Todd Turner (12:10)
I heard about this.

Bill Gemaehlich (12:27)
if you're a Christian, it was you you went from darkness to light and it was very, very notable. it wasn't like in the South. when I moved here to Texas, I met somebody in the grocery store and I was sharing Christ with them, and they're like, yeah, back in the forties, Uncle Jim was a Baptist pastor in Waco. Yeah, I know all about that. I'm a Christian. And they didn't really understand that.

were new creations in Christ. And for me, I I I had a clear understanding of what it was. Southern California, very similar. I had to relearn a little bit. But for me I went from a Calvary Chapel to a mega Calvary Chapel, in Costa Mesa. And so a lot of similarities, but culturally the people in Southern California are more loose ended. So it was harder to initially make connections there, even in the church. So

Todd Turner (13:15)
Yeah, that yeah, that makes sense. But you did you felt comfortable with the Calvary Chapel, the theology, the the methodology, I guess, of a Calvary Chapel, so you stuck with that. And I would say here you are decades later and you really haven't left that, right?

Bill Gemaehlich (13:28)
Yeah.

No, I haven't. I've certainly tried different movements in different churches. I I went to some charismatic churches. Now some Baptists think that Calvary Chapel is charismatic, but most charismatics will think they think Calvary Chapel is Baptist. So, you know Jews so yeah, you know. But

Todd Turner (13:49)
It's who's the bad and light the yeah, okay.

Bill Gemaehlich (13:52)
the theology is, you know, it's Genesis to revelation. They believe what God says and his word and and that's really the essence of it. So I was very comfortable with that. And up there we did some of the same things. I met my wife at church. We got married. again we would immediately were asked to be directors of as volunteers as the missions department. So get our to get our teams ready for Central America and Africa, we would take them out to

Santa Monica, sometimes in Newport Beach Pier, and we would witness. And it was the same, very similar to what we had experien I had experienced in Southern Oregon, where you're sharing the gospel and pu people overall they want to listen. Not everybody would respond and but a lot of them would listen and they would hear, some would respond. But again

It was there's light and there's darkness and it was more defined than here in the southern states, I think. So

Todd Turner (14:46)
Yeah.

well y you you just opened my mind to a thing I don't know if you've and I you and I have ever even talked about. But what I just heard you say was when you were doing mission work, it was evangelical, meaning it's street preaching and and and you know, like some people go on mission trips and like, hey, we're gonna go hang some drywall or we're gonna do whatever and yours was very evangelical by nature. Is that a Calvary Chapel thing or is that where your heart is? Like

How did you get into that? Or is that the only thing you thought our job was to do is to go preach the gospel?

Bill Gemaehlich (15:17)
I think it is what in partly driven by my heart. 'cause I have been involved with where you go down and build a house and that type of thing. It's kind of ended up being a byproduct of going to say Central America and building relationships. So we'd come back down later. But initially it was always for preaching the gospel, sharing Jesus Christ. And 'cause for me it was the passion that I had

In the Calvary Chapels that I went to, that's what they did. They just sent out teams to do ministry in various formats. We we would have puppet shows for the kids and films, you know, translated in Spanish and that type of thing. And then almost every in Central America, every time I would speak, I had a translator. And so I become very good friends with folks. And you probably have met six foot seven, very handsome Jorge

Sereno, I think is his name. And Santizo, Jor Jorge Santizo, yeah. And so I've been a lifetime friend with him, down there. But yeah.

Todd Turner (16:09)
Guatemala.

Okay. Yeah.

So so you there's a passion to share the gospel, and then I guess there's once you my opinion is once you get a taste of doing it outside of your backyard, the states, and going overseas, you just to me you're like your eyes are open, like, wow, Christianity has done so much different. There are so many cultures, and it just opens your eyes to the possibilities.

and a calling, it feels like a a a yearning to go do more of that. It feels like people who are on mission stay on mission and then people who aren't never even experience it, right? And so I guess you just got the the taste and the hunger for it early on. Is that am I correct on that?

Bill Gemaehlich (16:52)
Yeah, that I mean I was I think a couple of months after giving my life to Jesus Christ, I was ministering, sharing the gospel. Yeah. And I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing, you know. I was doing I I would sh say things like, Follow Jesus 'cause he's good I 'cause I didn't know what else to say.

Todd Turner (17:04)
But you are being faithful to trial.

Your life was

radically changed and it showed, and you wanted other people's life to be radically changed, and you're willing to profess that. So somehow you're balancing, making money, and then on your evenings and weekends, and your vacation time, you're in ministry. What happened for you to say, I guess I'm gonna do this full-time? Like, how did you go from

Taco Bell, total corporate Fortune five hundred world, into a life of ministry. What what happened?

Bill Gemaehlich (17:40)
Think it was around nineteen ninety six. Pepsi was moving a lot of their divisions around and so the division I was a part of, Pepsi Food Service at that particular time, was moving everybody here in the Dallas area to Friedelay and and then have a Pepsi office here, but I think primarily Frida Lay.

Of course I wasn't up I you know, Californians in those days didn't move to Texas. They now they're they do it by, you know, herd r russian to Texas, but not in those days. Just wasn't heard of. a pastor friend of mine called and said, Hey Bill, there's this position at Wycliffe Bible Translators with their Wycliffe associates arm that I think you might be interested in because it's

Todd Turner (18:08)
Yeah.

Bill Gemaehlich (18:23)
bringing business together with a ministry. I thought, okay, what the heck, I'll try it. After seven interviews, they hired me. And it took seven interviews because they didn't know how to interview people. And that's one of the things they wanted me to teach them how to do when I got on, in the human resources world. And so I did. And I I so loved it, Bible translation. And it gave me an outlet to do business and to fulfill the ministry passion.

that I had that I just thought this is it, this is what I wanna do. Yeah, that's that's how it all started.

Todd Turner (18:53)
Okay. So

were you in one major role in w with Wicklip? Did you change roles? Like what tell me the journey of Wicklip for you? Like what what did you experience there? What kind of growth did you have and what kind of roles did you do there?

Bill Gemaehlich (19:07)
Yeah, they hired me as an HR manager. this particular branch of Wycliffe, the Wycliffe Associates, they would build cons through construction, they would build offices and centers around the the world. That was the primary thing they did, plus fundraising for Wycliffe Bible translators. So they brought me in as human resources. their handbook at that time was emails from the president.

with three hole punches and you just stick them into a a binder. So one of the first things I did was I wrote him a proper HR manual. But my boss, the president, his name is Martin Hewitt, he's like, wow, Bill, you've got passion for a lot of other things. So within three month three months, I was promoted to director of people and staff services, which included everything from human resources to

temporarily I was over the fundraising br arm while we were out looking for somebody to hire. So I w actually went out on the road and raised money. It we we would serve chicken dinners and the the joke was thousands of chickens give their lives for Bible translation. But back in that day it were I think they still do some variation of it, but that was the thing. And then I was over

prayer ministry and then staff services which included any time missionaries would come home and furlough, you would have practical, pragmatic things for them, bedding and towels and just stuff that you didn't necessarily have the funds to run down to Walmart Walmart and buy. And and so

Within three like I said, within three mu I started out as one thing and within three months they gave me all this other stuff, which then I I was my tank was full. I was very fulfilled in what I was doing.

Todd Turner (20:41)
Well,

because you you I'm I'm I'm gonna project myself onto your situation. you know, you and I have had conversations, but once you realize the engine behind what it takes to do ministry, and especially working for a global ministry, you you realize, there's a place for me. Like when you're a kid, you're like, missionaries go, they come back and we support and then we live our lives. And then you realize, no, it's a machine to take the gospel.

Bill Gemaehlich (20:45)
Mm-hmm.

Todd Turner (21:06)
Sometimes it's an efficient machine, sometimes it's inefficient, sometimes it's complicated, sometimes it's not, but there is a lot to do behind the scenes. And I'm assuming we threw you in the deep end of that.

Bill Gemaehlich (21:16)
they did. And when they found out my interest in short term missions, they said, Hey, Bill, we've been been wanting to put together a short term missions program for churches to get involved. So I opened my big mouth. I said, Well, I know how to do that. A two year assignment. And that, you know, for lifers, that really is a short term missions. And so we put together one and two week and we used the center. They had had a their

Todd Turner (21:28)
What?

Bill Gemaehlich (21:41)
first center I think they ever had was in Guatemala. And so we use that as a test region for prayer ministry, building maintenance, and then we would do child care so and they would have co Wycliffe conferences there. And so it was though those four venues is what they started with. So it was a really neat to be in the startup of that whole program. So

Todd Turner (22:04)
So I'm I hear and hear a lot, a little of international travel. Did you were you always on the road?

Bill Gemaehlich (22:10)
Yes.

Often, yeah. Yeah.

Todd Turner (22:15)
different parts of the world. Like did you start something I didn't mention mention a minute ago, but I feel like once people get the bug to travel, there's that. And then there's also a heart for an area. Did you gain a a favorite place or a a certain culture that you just like that's the one that really gets me? yeah, tell me a little bit about your experiences there.

Bill Gemaehlich (22:34)
Yeah, it's a it's great question. Initially, because of the church where Nancy, my wife, and I were the missions directors, we did a lot in Mexico and Guatemala. So I really did gain a heart for the culture, the Latino culture and the people. we also went to Africa. We spent a month there. Actually Nancy and I were single and just getting to know each other. And after that trip,

On the trip in Africa one day, I you could make a movie out of you know what, out of Africa or something. the sun hit her and I thought, my gosh, this beautiful young lady is serving God with the same passion I have. I who knows, maybe I'll marry her. Sure enough, we came back and got married. And so Africa certainly. but where I really got the bug for travel, I didn't mention this going back before I moved to California, my aunt

Aunt and uncle lived in Greece. they were in the military and they said, Hey, Bill, you better come over and before you get married and spend some time with us and just see Europe. And so I did. I for three months I stayed at their place in Greece as a home base and I traveled to Europe. My church went to Israel and I took my first trip to Israel, met them there. And so from that point on, I so had a bug for travel, I even looked into starting my own travel agency.

And the reason I didn't go forward with it was the PC, the personal computers were coming online at that point and they said there wasn't a real future for travel agencies. So I ended up in mission ministry anyway, so it all worked out. Yeah.

Todd Turner (24:01)
Right, right. Okay.

no, that's no, that's very interesting. Okay, so tell me how what happened to how you leave Wycliffe, but I'm assuming whatever that answer is, you didn't go back to you you didn't go to a you know, for profit job, you stayed in ministry or how did that transition go and where did you go?

Bill Gemaehlich (24:20)
Yes. So Wycliffe, they came to me and they we knew they were talking about building their permanent headquarters in the Orlando, Florida area. And we weren't sure if our branch office would end up there. Well, sure enough, they were pulling everybody together. So my boss said, Hey, why don't you go out, you and Nancy, and check it out. We would really like you to move with the ministry.

We were thinking, Florida? I I just can't imagine. So we we went out, our our children were toddlers and we were trying to imagine, we thought, well, we always wanted horses, and we thought in Florida maybe we could have a horse, live in the country a little bit. Well, we got there and it's so humid, as you know, you've been there, terribly humid. We were looking at some housing, that Wycliffe had set us up with the realtor, and we were looking around and

My wife said, Hey, Bill, what's that trotting down the sidewalk? And I said, my gosh, it's an alligator. And it was it was trotting toward us. And Nancy just said, I think God just spoke to us. We're not moving here because we had babies. And we didn't, yeah. And it was funny because the Wycliffe missionaries at that time they said, Hey, it's not that bad relocating to Orlando. You just teach your kids to zigzag and climb.

Todd Turner (25:09)
Yeah.

Yeah, we don't need to pray over this. We

Bill Gemaehlich (25:27)
And the idea was is it you run in a zigzag form because a bull a bull alligator can run up to thirty-five, forty miles an hour, but he can't make quick turns and he can't climb a tree. And we thought, well, shoot, that solves the problem, but not. So I I we went back, two weeks later a headhunter called me and said, Hey Bill, how would you like to work for Chuck's Wendal?

Todd Turner (25:40)
Not.

Bill Gemaehlich (25:49)
And insight for living. And I my response was, well, they don't have an international focus, so I don't think I would be interested in that. And they said, Well, they have a little bit of one give it some thought and give me a call back. Another two weeks went by and I couldn't shake the idea of I thought, you know what, I need to at least hear what they have to say. So I called the headhunter back and she invited me out, and the rest was history.

And I ended up working for Insight for Living and I'm still there.

Todd Turner (26:14)
And and I and

yeah, and I can I I can make this part short. You've done everything under the sun there like you were at Wycliffe. You you've managed, run, improved so many departments, so many procedures, HR, IT, international, you've you've done it all. And and they've benefited from you greatly to say to say the least. and

I'm gonna have to interject this here somewhere along the way. You decided, I don't have enough to do, and you started a church. Like how what you got to explain this? What would make somebody who is I know you're an entrepreneur on the side already? And then to say, I have a heart to be a pastor? How did this how did this go?

Bill Gemaehlich (26:45)
Yes.

Yeah, it's crazy, isn't it? Somebody would I mean I'm still in therapy over it. yeah, you know, the working for Wycliffe and then Insight for Living had great fulfillment. The the part that I was lacking in my life was the ministry part of being involved in people's lives where it hurts, where there's

Todd Turner (26:59)
So when you say it, well yes.

Bill Gemaehlich (27:20)
pain in people's lives and where I can come along and say, but Jesus is the answer. And that w I still ha didn't have that in my life, even working for a wor world renowned ministry, which has just been nothing but wonderful in every way. And that was the one piece. And we lived far enough out at the time that we to to commute down to Frisco, Texas was quite a drive back in those days.

And so I went to Calvary Chapel and said, Would you guys be interested in starting a Calvary Chapel out in the country? I think one would do well out there. And they said, We hadn't thought about it, but because you're interested here, here's the baton, go start one. So I did. And I became affiliated as a Calvary Chapel pastor. It's quite a process that you go through. And we started out in our home with Bible studies and then

From there moved into a former feed store. And and so we've been there for over fifteen years in that feed store and

Todd Turner (28:18)
You've been

doing that for 15 years, co. You know, some people about being a tit maker and then a pastor, and you're all of them. You're a tit maker, pastor at work in ministry, which honestly it's it's part of the reason I I'm even talking to you today, and because I want people to hear it's like you literally live a life on mission and it's very thought out. It's not random, like you have chosen to live on mission and you have a full plate. And so

Bill Gemaehlich (28:21)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Todd Turner (28:44)
To me, that's admirable. But what where I get I I see you as a role model is you're you're always calm, cool, and collected. Like if I lived your life, I'd have no fingernails. I'd probably pull my hair out. It just you you really have, I'm gonna say mastered, but mastered the ups and downs and challenges and busy schedules, like you manage that well. And so that's my

question is are you wired for it? Do you have to work at it? Does your wife and you have to have your own therapy to just say, okay, help me decompress? Like, how do you manage it? And what what do you learn to say no to? And how do you do it? Because I I I could I don't think I could do what you do. Your your schedule and your level of responsibility are very big and you do it well. So what's your secret?

Bill Gemaehlich (29:31)
Well, thank you. I think all of the above are really I mean

Departmentalizing is important. when I am at Insight for Living, I focus on Insight for Living. in the evenings and weekends, I focus on Calvary Chapel. Now it does in all honesty, it helps that we're a smaller church. We're under a hundred people. So that makes it manageable. However, I will say this: preparing a sermon for 60 plus people, there's no less work in it. I have

We have less staff at the church, so it does require more from Nancy and I. But we do have some fantastic elders and they teach on Sundays. So I might only teach now. when we first started, I taught every Sunday. And at that time I was filling in temporarily at for the International Department in Insight for Living, as you remember, but it that temporary ended up being seven and a half years.

That was the most difficult time for me because those are both huge focuses, right? But I immediately understood that it's so important to have utilize the people that God puts in your off your life to help equip them, to help mentor them. So mentoring became a big deal for me at that point for in both ministries. And so I've always utilized people who are being mentored to step into the pulpit.

And and so we've been very blessed at the church to have some elders who are very, very qualified. And they all all four of teach. We have four right now, and they they get up and teach. And so right now, it's like I said, one or two Sundays a year a month that I actually teach. And so that that helps a lot. And and then here at Insight for Living, same way, I believe in mentoring people and then letting them f

Try their wings, let fly. Let's see what they can do. Even if they make mistakes, that's okay. Let's let's get out there and let them do. So that's probably for me one of the key to my successes. The others would be realizing that I can't carry all of it. And that isn't just it sounds good, it sounds like Christian ease or whatever, but it it really I learned to actually apply it and live it. And to draw boundaries.

I learned to say no. That wasn't always easy. And and at the church, a lot of times peop we're small church pastor, why don't we do this, that, or the other? And why don't we have this great youth outreach? And I'll listen patiently and then I'll ask them, Do you feel called to do that? And they're like, Well, no. And I'm like, gosh, what a coincidence. I don't either. And they're like, But you're the pastor, you know. And I just tell them what

Todd Turner (31:49)
Yeah.

Bill Gemaehlich (31:54)
I do is what I do, and we're always looking for God to bring somebody else in to help us with these other areas. And I've turned people away. I you know, hey, we can't fulfill that goal. so maybe First Baptist or Stonebrier Church or where wherever, maybe that's where your family needs to go to meet that need that you have. And so that's

In a kind of a quick nutshell, that's one of the ways I balance it. yeah.

Todd Turner (32:20)
Yeah, you

you I would say you you're you're content with slow. You yeah, right? You're like I I'm not you're you're trying to run the marathon, not win these little short things, and you're very you you've thought about your answers before somebody even asked. I think that's what that's what I hear. You you answered a question I was gonna ask, but I'm still gonna ask it because I was gonna mention on top of everything else, you also

Bill Gemaehlich (32:25)
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Yes.

Todd Turner (32:46)
put into your life mentoring. I've seen you do it for two decades now, but I think you've sort of answered part of that is passion, part of that's necessity. That you need it. You've realized the downline is the way you can do more because you but you do you pour into people in a very methodical way. You give your time and energy to it. It's not

Bill Gemaehlich (32:56)
Mm-hmm.

Todd Turner (33:10)
Hey, come by if you have a problem. Like you spend time with people and you invest at them. And to your point, I also see you encourage them to fly and fail, and you don't beat them up when they fail. You you pour into them and help them back up. And you're you're a really good mentor. But more than being good, you're faithful to it. And so I just wanted you to talk a little bit more about that. I can see now why you do it, but

There's still passion there that's not just practice.

Bill Gemaehlich (33:36)
Yeah, no th that's very true. It the foundation of it really is passion. I think I always remember back to when Mrs. Zebedee, the sons of Thunder's mother, came to Jesus in Matthew, I think, chapter eleven, said, Hey Jesus, I I I'm gonna ask you something and he's like, Okay, how can I help you? These two sons of mine

Command that they will one will sit on my left side and one on my right side. And I just love it. The other disciples are going nuts, ballistic, like how arrogant, you know, you get your mother in there to try to get position in the kingdom of God. My goodness. And of course you you know the response. Jesus was like, You number one, you don't know what you're asking because only God can fill those positions. But number two, can you s

Carry this cup that I'm going to carry. And they said, Yes, we can. And he's like, Yeah, you will carry that cup. But he said, of course, by this time the disciples are indignant, absolutely indignant. And Jesus is like, Okay, look, the Gentiles and their leadership, they lord it over one another. But it's not that way with you. It's not going to be that way. If you want to serve my kingdom or lead, you're going to have to serve. So I that's always been the foundation of.

my serving in leadership has been that understanding that I need to serve others. And so if I have somebody reporting to me, what good is it if they report to me and then if I left tomorrow, they couldn't go, you know, go on, carry on. It would not be good. it would be poor stewardship on my part. And so I I think that's part of the drive too is realizing that ministry

is it really includes developing t tomorrow the leaders of tomorrow, the hope of tomorrow is kinda the way I look at it. And so

Todd Turner (35:18)
Like that. Now I don't want you to have to play your hand to your employer. But what do you see, you know, I I've heard

There's phrases like, Well, Christianity, you can't retire. You can retire from a job, but you can't retire from Christianity. Your life is so weaved in with ministry. What do you see the next twenty, thirty years? Like, do you have a plan? Are you just is it one day at a time? Do you wanna die an old country pastor to the bitter end? Or do you wanna travel more? Like what what what what do you

wanting, are you aiming at anything or are you just right where the Lord wants you and that's good enough?

Bill Gemaehlich (35:51)
Yeah, again, as some of a little bit of all of the above, I guess, primarily the the last thing you said, it's I'm right where where I'm supposed to be. So for to now for now that needs to be okay. it because it really is one day at a time. And yet there is wisdom and planning and thinking about the future. you know, my boss here at Insight.

retired from his church at ninety, but he didn't retire. He still, as you know, does podcast almost weekly. And he if at first he didn't know what a podcast was, you you probably had to tell him what one was, but he now does it. So I think and I under I look at that and think, okay, that's he's my mentor, he's my example. My dad was the same way. He died at eighty five, but he worked

in his accounting business up to two weeks before he died because he didn't want to just sit in a rocking chair. So I look at it twofold. Whether I continue doing exactly what I'm doing now for twenty years or not, that I don't know. it's unlikely. But what I don't can't imagine is that my passion for serving the Lord, Jesus, my savior, any less. And so

So I I o you know you w you pray and you ponder, yet at the end of the day, you you put your hand to the plough for what's required of you now. So I don't know if that answers your question specifically, but yeah.

Todd Turner (37:09)
No. No,

it it it's a great one. All right. I I I'm gonna wrap up, but it's not gonna take a minute. This this wrap up is a a deep wrap up because I really want to pick your brain and answer as long as it takes. But ha you having grown up in the I'm I'm returning to a the c a thing we talked about thirty plus minutes ago. Having grown up in the in the Pacific Northwest, having lived now considerable time of your life here in Texas.

Bill Gemaehlich (37:15)
Mm-hmm.

Todd Turner (37:33)
And having traveled, I'll start with the I'm gonna start with the Northwest versus Texas. What do you wish the people of the Northwest knew about Christianity that Tex that Southerns know? And then flip-flop, what do you wish the people you know of Texas knew knew that the people of the Northwest execute well? Like what versions of Christianity are the good ones? And what are what frustrates you about the Christianity in the areas that you live?

That's a loaded question. I don't want to get you in trouble with your flock. But you you get the gist of because you've traveled well enough. You're like, there are different cultures with under Christianity. And you being well traveled, 'cause I'm your my next question is what do you see between Americans and the rest of the world and what do you wish they knew? So I'm I'm letting you know where I'm where the where this is headed.

Bill Gemaehlich (37:59)
Yeah.

Okay. That's that's a great yeah. Thank you. Very very loaded question. But a good one. And and there is a difference. You know, it's like here in Texas being the the Bible belt, I have I've been here for twenty years, so I have seen changes. it is morphine because you know part of it is is you have a lot of people from the east coast, the west coast, the north, wherever moving in to the area. And so there is naturally going to be cultural and so societal changes.

Off the top, I I would say the biggest difference here in the South that I think would be advantageous for believers in the North is in the South education is everything. You know, here in Texas, most kids graduate from school. You're gonna go to Texas A and or you know, wherever, UT or something like that. In Oregon, the

don't put as much emphasis on education for Christians, young people, I would say. that was one difference. I think there it's more for lack of a better word, maybe more charismatic on the West Coast, as far as the just because of the sheer passion for Jesus and what he's done and how he's changed my life and you know and this type of thing. And you see it, I recently was traveling on the West Coast and I

Slipped away one day. I was doing some writing. My wife and adult children were hiking, and I thought, I'm gonna go to this local church, and of course it was a Calvary chapel. The huge difference from the the South to out in the north and the west was the people were absolutely passionate. You walked into it, and again, Calvary Chapels specifically, it's my world, so that's why I'm talking about it.

They're not considered like wild and crazy charismatics. But I walked into that place and these people were excited about Jesus. And so it shows in their worship, it shows in their greeting and talking to one another and in the delivery of the word. So I wish that the self would pick up on that a little more, I guess. that type of thing. Yeah. So those are the two b if you're gonna go very high level in my estimation.

Todd Turner (40:12)
Yeah, yeah. It's

it's interesting. I'm gonna I'm gonna double down on that. As the church I have found that I worship at, that is the thing and I didn't really know it. You know, now you're saying it, I'm like, that is a hundred percent it. But I visited some churches and you know, it's the old joke of

I have joy, joy, joy. It's like, no, you don't. You're just singing it. Yeah, but do you have it? And I was thinking, my church right now, if they were singing that song, hands would be in the air and there would be literal joy of the gospel and not just the the habit of just living in the culture of, I'm a Christian. Here's what Christians do. We sing about joy. Well, no, like why don't why did it flow out of you?

Bill Gemaehlich (40:34)
Yeah. Right.

Todd Turner (40:53)
Do you do not know you've been redeemed? Like, and don't you want the world to know? Wouldn't that make you passionate to tell the next guy if it's authentic?

Bill Gemaehlich (41:02)
And that's the key, the authenticity. Very, very important. Because religion can look charismatic. You know, we we know that. And so when it's the genuine enthusiasm, there's nothing like it for the things of God. Yeah. It is absolutely contagious. And you know, we I always would joke, okay, I grew up with a dad who was a football nut and

Todd Turner (41:14)
It's contagious. It's contagious.

Bill Gemaehlich (41:25)
He'd take me to games as a kid, and that was you know kind of exciting. But at the house we had two TVs, one in the family room, one in the living room. They'd each have a different game. And then the stereo system was on the third game, a l a local college or high school. And he would get excited about it and you know emotional and you know, bad call or good call. And yet, my experience growing up in the church.

in a religion, what I would say in my experience anyway, a religion without Christ, was very deadpan. And when the offering plate was handed, all you could hear was little coins going ching, ching, ching. That's all you could hear, you know? No, no enthusiasm. So when I got saved, it was like, my gosh, Jesus is somebody to be excited about, somebody to passion passionately serve. And and so that that was the difference for me.

Todd Turner (42:12)
So I think we probably already answered the difference between the states and international, but any thoughts of that? Like what do you enjoy? Cause I I love watching worship happen. I know that's a big word, so I guess I partially mean through song, and other cultures. but just seeing Christianity done differently.

it it to me it opens your eyes of like wow what are they what what am i seeing versus what I see at home? And you've traveled that? Or is the answer depends. The Middle East is done one way, the the Far East has done another, Africa's done another, but yeah what what are your thoughts on the difference of Christianity here in the States versus abroad? Or is that too big of a question?

Bill Gemaehlich (42:54)
Yeah, it

part of it is I would say it depends, I suppose, 'cause each region of the country and you know, I have been in most, y you have been in most. One of the things though that really stands out as a difference in so many of the countries is they don't take their Christianity maybe as for granted, especially in places that we have been, like in China and places like that where

every day you're just, you know, if you can get together and worship with brothers and sisters in Christ, you're that's that's man, that's something very special where for here because we have the wonderful, amazing freedom that we have, we take it for granted, oftentimes. And it's not necessarily a wrong thing, it's just the reality, I think. the most recent church I've spoke at was a three years ago and that was in I think Poland.

a chur evangelical church in Poland. And I had such of a blast. and partly it's because I'm from America and I could just stand up and say, Jesus said, and they're gonna get all excited, you know. And in Poland, you know, they're more c the further north you go in Europe, the more conserv conservative they are. So it's not like I was preaching in Italy or Greece or something. But they were pulling on me. They were excited about what I was saying. and most of the young people knew enough English that

They they were just drawn upon it. But I saw that though in their Christian day to day interaction with each other, just a passion and an appreciation for one another. I seems like, from what I can tell, less bickering. They still have it 'cause they're human. Maybe a little less bickering because i it hasn't been that long s like in Poland that they've what, forty years that they've been ha have the freedom.

to be the church in the way that they do now. So that's part of it.

Todd Turner (44:34)
Yeah.

I yeah, I I'll I'll I'll sum that. I I believe they cherish

God's word, their time together, and even their ability to to execute their faith more than we do. And I think it's probably because it's old hat for us because we grew up in a Christian nation and you don't cherish things that there's one on every street corner. And and it's I wish we could inherit it. And I think I'll repeat what I said. I think when you travel, it gives you the appreciation to see it, where we just

don't get that w sitting in our pews in our own churches. Unfortunately.

Bill Gemaehlich (45:07)
Yeah.

Yeah, no, I I agree. Absolutely.

Todd Turner (45:11)
All right, I'm we're I'm gonna end on a practical, you're gonna give some advice. So for those listening, Bill went on a and you're gonna correct me your six-week trip, and you went to two or three continents and four or five places in the middle of winter. It was a very busy trip, and you did it on one carry-on, and you had to dress up in suits and carry jackets. So you're gonna give the listeners a travel tip.

How do you do it? Cause I remember you going and I thought, how many lug pieces of luggage are you taking? And you said, just to carry on. And I thought, what does this man do? Just keep his toothbrush in his back pocket? How do you do it? What's your what's your international travel tip? Because I still don't know how you do it.

Bill Gemaehlich (45:50)
Yeah.

That that's f that's always people always give me a hard time about that, but it it works. you know, my the first time I went to Europe in the nineteen eighties and spent three months there, I took everything but the kitchen sink as the old saying goes. I mean, literally. And I found and I didn't end up using half the stuff and I thought, well this is ridiculous. then a few years later when I was married, my mother in law actually is the one that taught me. She would go to Europe with a handbag over her shoulders.

And I said, Okay, z how how you doing that? And she would say, Well, every day in a hotel, she goes, I don't mind hand washing socks and underwear in the sink and just putting them up on the towel rack to dry. She goes, I'd rather do that than to carry the lug these big bags around. And so I took note. And so it's it's just very pragmatic, that type of thing. Yeah. And I

Todd Turner (46:37)
You put

you bet jackets, you just wear your jacket and yeah.

Bill Gemaehlich (46:40)
Yeah. I

w I wear so when I go on the airplane, usually the air in those airplanes are cold anyway. I wear it on and then if I get hot I fold it up, just stick it up with my carry-on and I'm I'm good to go.

Todd Turner (46:52)
You you did it in the bed

with and I think you went to Russia and Poland too. And and you had to preach and you were w had to have suits and like, just just preparing for one Sunday, I would have a whole luggage full for one Sunday.

Bill Gemaehlich (46:55)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, what you do is you t you I look at okay, this one pair of slacks is gonna go with these three shirts or whatever it is, you know. And then occasionally you're at a hotel that has laundry and so I on that particular trip, I think I did laundry two or three times at a hotel. And and that that also helps. But what we we were traveling and it was in April, we thought, Okay, we're going to China

several places in China, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong. Then we were gonna fly to Paris because we had to go down to at the time Trans World Radio was in the south of France, Mont Monte Carlo. And so we went down there thinking, wow, let's we'll jump in the Mediterranean swim. It's it's April, it's gotta be nice. Well it snowed in Monte Carlo So we did didn't swim.

Todd Turner (47:50)
Did you get it? No.

Bill Gemaehlich (47:52)
Then we went to Saint Petersburg and they had six feet of snow. It was a late winter and from Saint Petersburg to Moscow was packed snow. I'd never seen such deep snow. And so I I w at that point I just wore layers. about four shirts and a a jacket. And it it somehow worked. Yeah.

Todd Turner (48:10)
That is hilarious. All right. I wasn't

gonna I wasn't gonna do this, but we're gonna t we're gonna end on a story because I'm gonna let you give your side because I tell this story all the time and you never get to defend yourself. So I'm gonna give you an opportunity. But here's how this goes. I had just had surgery and I'm sitting under doctor's orders, laying on a a recliner with you know, an ice pack on me, and I get a phone call from Bill.

Bill Gemaehlich (48:22)
Ha ha.

Todd Turner (48:35)
And Bill goes, Todd, I need you to go to Canada with me. And I go, I don't even know if I'm allowed to go. And you're like, I really need you to go. Because we had a policy with travel. You know, you don't travel alone or you can't travel with the opposite sex. And then plus whatever was going on you you you needed me or you thought you did. And I said, Well, I Bill, I I gotta call my doctor. Like I don't I mean, it's not that I don't want to go, I don't even think I'm allowed to get out of this chair right now.

And I called the doctor and he goes, Well, you can go, but you can't carry anything. Like, you can go walk slow, blah, blah, blah, but you know, don't lift anything. So I called you back and I said, Bill, I can go, but here are the rules. And I go, Will you carry my luggage for me? And you and you go, of course you're like, sure, Todd, I'll I'll carry your luggage. So I hang up and I think about it. I'm like, How can I make this hard on Bill? How can I

How can I make Bill's life miserable? And I thought, my great-grandmother gave me one of those Paisley pink suitcases with no wheels, and it's in the attic. So I go holler at my son. I go, hey, go up to the attic and go find that. Go back to the corner. There's probably a black widow back there in the deep dark bowels of our closet. You're gonna find this ugly non-roller suitcase. Go bring it down for me. And he did.

And I filled that thing up. And I think we were only going for a couple days. I had room left and I might have thrown a brick in there. I mean, I may have put something heavy in there just because. And I laid it or I had my kids laid on the front door and you showed up and I remember you just looked at me with this look of just shaking your head, like, okay, all right, this is what we're gonna do here. So to me that was the joke. Well, because you're such a big traveler and a big mentor.

You were always giving me advice of how to travel well. Like, hey, when you go to a country, you know, if you say they're for business, here's what's gonna happen. If you don't, it's gonna help with customs. And so you're like, just you know, we always do personal stuff on all the trips. So we're not lying because IFO had a policy. Hey, when you're somewhere, go be part of the culture. Take the person you're with out and spend time. And so it it it wasn't a lie, it's just

We were there for both, but don't say both. So you and I are checking in through a passport, and I thought, well, he's got my luggage. I'm just gonna walk with him up there because you're carrying a paisley luggage, you're rolling yours, and we walk up, and they look up and they go, business for pleasure, and I just lean in and say, Pleasure.

Bill Gemaehlich (50:59)
Ha ha ha.

Todd Turner (51:01)
And I decided to put my arm around Bill just to make it awkward. Well, I had no idea. They said, where are you staying? And you go a bed and breakfast because I didn't know where you had played. I thought we were going to a you know, I thought we're going to a hotel and you said, you know, we're staying at best fragments. And they go, What was it? And you go, Sweet dreams, and I lost I lost it so much. The guy just sort of handed our passport, like, you two have fun. I was like, we will.

Bill Gemaehlich (51:16)
It was sweet dreams. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Todd Turner (51:28)
I laugh about

that all the time. I wish I could do that joke to you every single day of my life, but I didn't know I've been telling that you joke for fifteen years, but I don't know if you ever even mentioned it or I'm the only one out in the world saying it.

Bill Gemaehlich (51:40)
I I use use it in sermons all the time. Yeah. One one correction. It wasn't Paisley, it had pink roses on it just so the audience understands. It was

Todd Turner (51:43)
no, don't be a jerk to your brother. Love your brother better.

It

was it was a girl, it was very feminine.

Bill Gemaehlich (51:55)
It was it was

definitely grandma's feminine suitcase. And and we yeah, we were we were totally blindsided. We're cause it the office up in Canada, they said, one of our donors has a bed and breakfast called Sweet Dreams. And we thought, great, well, we'll take it. And so yeah, it was a it was a big setup. I didn't know you per purposely grabbed that. I thought, doesn't this guy I'm gonna have to buy him a suitcase?

Todd Turner (52:21)
I

went to the deep dark bowels I thought I I need to grab a a a Kroger's bag or I was gonna grab something flimsy and and and not even luggage. I thought, No, no, no, the luggage is better.

Bill Gemaehlich (52:28)
Yeah.

Well, aren't you glad you took that trip though? Wasn't that fun? Yeah.

Todd Turner (52:37)
no, it was. You and I have been around. We what we've been to

Israel together. I don't UK, China, I don't know. We've been everywhere. I don't I don't even I don't think I encountered all Australia where I had the worst jet lag of my life. I woke up from jet lag and I remember thinking, Am I in my mother's womb? Like I didn't know my name. I didn't know where I was. It was dark and I was like, Who am I? How old am I? It took me minutes to even get my bearing where I was.

Bill Gemaehlich (52:47)
Australia. Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah. Yeah, that

that's a rough trip. They they should put sedate you like space travel, you know, just to get to Australia. It's yeah.

Todd Turner (53:08)
Yes. it was it was miserable.

I still and I'll finish with this. In that same flight you and I were at Los in Los Angeles getting on the flight and there was a guy next to us 'cause we had gotten the long leg room, but it still we weren't you know, we weren't allowed to fly first class, so we we were back in with the normal folk, but we got good leg room because you and I are fairly tall. And a guy was sitting next to us and he did not move. I had to do the the finger.

under his nose to see if he was breathing. He took the whole flight and didn't go to the restroom, didn't eat, didn't watch a movie. He he he was falling asleep when we got on the plane and I had to wake him up when we got there and I said, We're here. And to this day I'm like, I don't know what pill that guy swallowed, but it was some of a horse tranquilizer. Whatever it was, I still think about the every time I get on a plane, I think about that guy.

Bill Gemaehlich (53:54)
yeah.

But I remember when we landed he jumped up like we're like, How did that corpse just come ali it was crazy, yeah.

Todd Turner (54:00)
Yeah. Ali. You remember one

more thing real quick? On that same trip, I you know, international trips, you remember, because they're, you know, they're a thing. I remember sleeping, watching a movie, you know, you go to the restroom, you sort of plan your deal, and you slept for like six hours. And I looked over and I go, How did you do that? And you pulled out a pill and you go, I forgot to give this to you.

You had two of You took one and you didn't give me mine. And so you slept and I was in the stuff watching movies all night.

Bill Gemaehlich (54:24)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that was your pill. So I think I used it on the way back, but yeah.

Todd Turner (54:30)
Yeah, maybe, maybe.

Bill, thank you for taking the time. I'm I'm glad I'm glad I know you. I hope our audience gets to know you. And you are a great example of someone who serves faithfully, that you don't need to be in the spotlight, you don't want to be in the spotlight, but you serve well. You are intentional in all that you do and it's admirable and I call it a an honest privilege to be your friend. And I just

I thank you for taking the time. Thank you for being a good friend and a good follower of Christ.

Bill Gemaehlich (55:01)
You bet. And likewise, Todd, I I just have enjoyed knowing you through the years and will enjoy knowing you for eternity, of course. And you're a friend indeed. So it was

Todd Turner (55:12)
Yeah, can't wait to

spend eternity with you. It but let's let's hang out more while we're here too. All right, blessings, brother.

Bill Gemaehlich (55:16)
Yeah. Absolutely. All

right. Thank you, Todd.

Todd Turner (55:21)
All right.