SPEAKER_03 0:01

Welcome to the SauceCast. Brenda Lee Smith. Yes, sir. Welcome to the SauceCast.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hey, I finally get to be a guest.

SPEAKER_03 0:11

You finally are here.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 0:14

Yeah, I was just thinking, um, how long have we known each other? I want to say 20 years. 20-something years. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

We were serving at the same church, but we didn't really know each other until I went to work for the private school that we both were working for.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

Masters Regional Academy.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Masters Regional Academy. And so did uh three of my children were enrolled, and my oldest was a teacher there. So you pretty much had almost the whole family.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

And I remember the first thing I attended was chapel. And you were speaking, and I was so taken in. And I thought, who is this? Did you get saved that day? Well, I thought about it. But then it was like the era of cassettes. We were still doing cassettes. Oh, wow. And I said, hey, we got to get this message out on cassettes. People need to hear it.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

So that's where we're giving an age away here. No, it's been such a joy because not only that, but we got to become basically partners in ministry, you know, from the school to the youth, doing mission strip together, going to Belize on missions. Those were really good times.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Can I share a story with you? Absolutely. Okay. So when I uh put my hand up to be a chaperone, I wasn't going because I had this great burden for uh another country, at least not yet, because I definitely changed. It was a burden to make sure that you watched all of the children and made sure we left with 15 and we came back with 15. That was the that was it. Um and so then during the end of the mission strip, which is so great because there's so much hardship that we saw and we were a part of.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Right.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Um of course we wanted to make such an impact that we have to agree, you know, that God calls us to at least do something one at a time. Right. And that will build into a greater momentum. And so that was our overall perspective, even with the students. Yeah. So the last day, uh Praying Pelican lets us go on a like a free day and you know, go starting. Leisure day they call it. So we're out like in the ocean, uh, friends, and um the kids ask Pastor Marco if they need to wear life jackets. And he says, Do you remember? No, he says no. And you know, I didn't want to be disrespectful and scream, absolutely not. So I said, Oh, uh, excuse me, sir, running the boat. How deep is it here? And he said, 20 feet. And Pastor Marco immediately said, uh, everybody, life jackets.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

Life jackets on now.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Yeah. Well, we did a lot of great work. We went back year after year. Um, we even created, my family and I created a scholarship in my husband's name. That's awesome. To uh educate students in Belize.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

So we were so good. We were really honored to do that.

SPEAKER_03 3:20

And you and then and then we did young adults ministry, doing college ministry up in University of Rhode Island. Yep, and Brian, we did Bryant University. Yeah. Those were really good times. What what's your were some of your favorite memories from that time period during young adults?

SPEAKER_00 3:37

They needed to talk, you know, because a lot of them are away from home and they felt like, hey, I'm 18, I'm an adult. And then they were finding out that adulthood looked differently than the number 18. Right. And they really needed to talk about their experiences.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

So it was really easy to talk to them. And I remember we used to just get in like a big circle of 50 people.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

And guys and girls would start to talk about what their struggles were, which was great, because think about it. Yeah. A lot of times young people will just keep it to themselves, but they didn't.

unknown 4:09

Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

They were really transparent with uh difficult, you know, school, drinking, uh, having relationships, and we got to be there, yeah, which I was so thankful for. We literally spoke directly into their life path.

SPEAKER_03 4:23

Yeah. So good. And then about 12 years ago, I felt called to move to New Bedford and plant this church. And somehow you ended up here. Can you tell us that story? How in the world did you went from Smithfield, Rhode Island to feel called to come to New Bedford?

SPEAKER_00 4:41

Well, you know, I was always connected to you and Lindsay, right? With ministry, we were together. But when you decided to go to New Bedford, I was like, peace out. You don't even talk to me about it, but I was like, absolutely not. That's I'm never going. It is a never. And it was five years after that I felt this compelling feeling to visit. And I really didn't know why. So I did.

SPEAKER_02 5:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

And I kept visiting. And I felt like this was home. I needed to be here. So of course I talked to our senior pastors and asked for their blessing.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Because I think it's important to have that in place. Um, and then I I decided to come here, which was remember, a never. Right. But it was definitely God led, which is so important for our everyday lives.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

And you've been so instrumental to a lot that happens in this community. For those who don't know, like what do you do? Or what is it what what is it that you don't do? Because it feels like you do everything.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Hmm, let's see. No. Um, I definitely help out with the homeless population. We have great partnerships with other agencies. So they'll call us when there's a family in need, because right now that they're at they're at the end of their budgets for the year with federal and state uh monies. So we'll help and put a family up at a hotel or a motel. Or we'll also put up individuals. We'll also be working on to see if we can find housing alternatives. Um we're also talking about doing something different for those affected by homelessness. And that's to create a completely different initiative where individuals just wouldn't be living in a shelter and have to leave at seven in the morning, yeah, and they can't go back until 3 p.m. And that's also in the winter. So we're talking about our staff and our board about creating another initiative that says you can live here. It would be transitional housing, but we would have all of the agencies present.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

And then we would have a training program with local businesses. So we literally, you know, hands and feet, uh rehabilitative program for families and individuals. So that we're working on that, New Life South Coast, and I'm so excited to be a part of that because as we've talked about, we can't be the band-aid.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

We just can't. And those shelters don't work. Individuals just continue to circle around in that uh situation. Plus, there are many more people that are looking at homelessness that never did before because of the rents that continue to increase.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

Yeah. So good. And such such a need, right? That a lot of times goes unnoticed around us. Um what are the other initiatives that you're part of that gives you like life? Like what inspires you to serve?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

We get a lot of calls here at the church, and I'm so thankful that people look to the church. They're in desperate situations. So we might have someone that calls that doesn't come here, but's in a domestic violence situation. Uh, we unfortunately could have someone that's uh been a victim of rape. Yeah um we've had all kinds of calls like that that are very extreme and very painful. And my previous career, that's the center of what I did. Um I worked with all forms of law enforcement in the area of uh juveniles that were trafficked or victims of serious crimes. So all of that training and interacting with all of those communities, believe it or not, has come with me here to the church because people should call the church for help. Absolutely. So once again, we'll connect them with resources, uh, with gift cards, with housing, and also with all of the agencies that we know will be even a better fit for us. So it's so interesting how God uses our career again for the church, because it isn't just about the church, right? The building, right? It's about the communities and people coming into the church that need help. So that for me is gets me on fire, I guess. Not for their hardship ever.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

No, my heart aches for that. Um recently I had to go to the hospital for a knee injury and I was in a wheelchair and I couldn't walk. And there was this woman not too far from me, and she was weeping. You know, and I wanted to go to her, but I couldn't. And my friends were parking the car. So I I got her attention and I asked her, Can you come and sit near me? Because I could at least try to talk to her near me. And she did. And I could tell she was having an anxiety attack. So we just worked on breathing, and I kept telling her, You're safe, you're in a safe place. And so she she completely calmed down, and then I just prayed a prayer of peace for her.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

And then when the friends came in, they talked to her a little bit longer. But in that moment, I felt like it was greater for me to be there to help her than whatever was going on with my knee.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

And I think that's really been my life, even from childhood. My parents always taught us to help people.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

And we were a big Italian family, loud, um, argumentative. You know, I think we opened up with arguments.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

Your maiden name is Verducci, right? Isn't it? Yep. That says everything right there.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Right there. And um my uh my mother's maiden name was De Giulio, you know, DeMeo, Antonetta, Antonio.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

Is there any um, you know, mobster mob uh ties in there?

SPEAKER_00 10:19

Anyway, I can't really talk about that. You know, I'm gonna need a disclosure, perhaps. Um, but they always taught us to help. Literally. We were in the churches helping with different projects. And so we always felt like we we had to give or we had to help.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

And I think that's what's driven me all these years as an advocate for what is right and reasonable, yeah, even in the areas of this race.

SPEAKER_03 10:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Um, can I talk a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_03 10:47

Yeah, I was I was gonna get there in a second. You know, I was gonna say that, you know, on top of everything that you're doing here at the church, you also decided to run for state representative. I know. What in the world? What made you want to get into this?

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Well, we were putting together a nonpartisan forum here at New Life, and it was really our that outcome was phenomenal, by the way. Ladies and gents, we had 13 individuals here, and it was set up like a presidential. Over 500 people attended, and it was incredible. So while we were putting that together, I noticed that my opponent was running unopposed. And throughout my life in voting, I always thought, why does someone run unopposed? We should always give people an option. And um, that's how I felt immediately. We need to give people an option. I'm gonna enter the race. But I had to enter as a write-in because I had passed all dates to submit the number of signatures, which was 150, to get your name on the ballot.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

So we had eight days and five people. We did everything we could possibly do, made signs, handed out the worst handouts you could imagine, made them ourselves, crossed out, they're just terrible, but I saved it because I want to show how we've grown. Yeah. Um so come the primary, we ended up receiving 185 write-in votes, which put my name on the ballot for next week.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

But deep down inside, like, okay, you see someone running unopposed, right? But what drives you to be like, I'm gonna run?

SPEAKER_00 12:28

I think I bring something different. I bring the ability to listen to people. I learned many years ago, especially having four children, that if I'm going to accurately listen, I need to be quiet in my thought life while someone is talking. So I can understand fully what they're talking about and able to have an appropriate discussion. So once I kind of taught myself to be quiet in my self-talk, I was able to have amazing communications with all types of people, especially when I worked with uh the Attorney General's office and Homeland Security. That was certainly a position of negotiation. And you had to represent each uh individual group appropriately in order to give their point across. So that I was learning in younger years, and that just stayed with me. And I thought, you know, I negotiate really well, and I care about all people. I don't see people if they're associated with a particular class or a particular um Democratic, Republican, independent party. Not at all. I just see the person as a person.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

And I'm sure there's something that we could agree with, something, no matter how small, and build upon that, because it really isn't about me. It's about the voices that I represent. And so all of my life experiences said this is the right time to do this. And I immediately came in and I was a uh school committee member also, and I I use a lot of that experience to move forward. And now we have a team of 50 uh that I'm really excited about that we all knock on doors every single day. We have people that go out, and uh they have made incredible contacts. Yeah, and I'm just thankful for where we're going. And again, I feel like we are the best decision because we listen and we care. And again, it never needs to be about us, yeah, right, as an individual, this place or position. But it is about us as in how we carry the message forward.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

I want to be able to meet with all the towns, like I am literally doing right now. We represent all of Fairhaven, Mata Poisset, Marion, Rochester, uh portion of Akrishna and a portion of uh Ward 1 in New Bedford.

SPEAKER_03 14:42

What district is that? 10. District 10. And and so far being out there in the community, what's what's your takeaway? Like what are people talking about? What are people worried about? What are people frustrated about?

SPEAKER_00 14:55

There's like three main things. I and I have to tell you wholeheartedly, every door I knock on, they bring up the abortion law, the nine-month abortion law. And I agree with them. That is uh awful, horrendous. I can't think of a more worse word. I would like to say to people doctors take an oath to save lives. They do everything they possibly can to save a life.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

This is so contrary to the very oath and the training that professional doctors take. And it isn't called uh a life measure, it's called an abortion. And if you just look at the word abort, right, it's a mission that begins and then somewhere in that process we stop it. And that's abortion. Why do we have to do that for a nine-month? If the argument is mom's unstable, babies unstable, well, that's already in the oath. That's already there. We didn't need this for any reason. I know some of the argument was, well, women don't have to leave the state anymore.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Well, that's a very sad and shameful argument. Because now, Pastor Marco, it's 24 weeks, 25, 26, 30, 36, all the way up to 40. I cannot imagine what that would even look like.

SPEAKER_03 16:14

The other argument and people say is it's it's about saving lives. What do you say to that?

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Absolutely not. Where's the life saved? Again, if uh when I I had twins, my last babies were twins.

SPEAKER_03 16:27

Shout out to Destiny Embriana.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Wait, you better bring Evan and Christine in there too.

SPEAKER_03 16:31

Shout out to the whole Smith family.

SPEAKER_00 16:34

Um but after I gave birth, I had a uh Caesarean uh birth, and I started to bleed internally. And my blood pressure was way down in the 30s and 40s. And I know the doctors came in, uh, they were all standing at the foot of the bed trying to reconsider whether or not they were gonna go back in. The babies were already born, so now it was about saving my life. And I'm just saying, we had a lot of people praying, and um, all of a sudden my blood pressure started to go up, and whatever appeared like internal bleeding stopped. So that would have been a life saving for me, right? The babies were already born.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

But let's say that happened while the babies were still in me. They would have to immediately talk to my husband, it my husband, your partner, whoever is with you, uh, to say we have to make a decision.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

So together they would make an immediate decision to move forward. But that's already in place. Those type of conditions are in place. So we don't need an abortion to say we're protecting life, because it's not. It's taking life.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

The other item that the voter, the uh legislature did is they removed all of the restrictions. Those restrictions are for uh a doctor that specializes in that type of surgery. That doesn't have to be. You don't have to do it in a hospital.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

You don't have to report it to the health organization. Why not? So it makes me think you're not working on my behalf and you don't represent me. I don't remember a meeting taking place for such an extreme vote in my town at a town hall. Yeah. Because that certainly needed to happen. So I think these individuals that make those kinds of decisions are making those kinds of decisions across the board. So that's another reason why I'm in this race. I'm gonna stay in this race. Yeah. And I believe I'm gonna win a week from today on November 3rd.

SPEAKER_03 18:28

Come on. What are the other other you said there was two or three issues that keep seem are prevalent among the people that you're talking to. Can you can you share some light on that?

SPEAKER_00 18:38

Yep. Everybody's talking about the electric bills and all of the additional fees that are on there. So there's a c there's so many contributing factors that are going in there. Um it's increasing prices in general. And then there are fees on there. MassSafe has a fee, there's a portfolio fee. It has to do with protecting our environment. And I agree that's a good thing to protect, but how much is going towards what part of the environment? So my team and I, we've been looking into the Utilities Commission to try to figure out where is this money going? And is it necessary? Have you already put enough into that particular initiative? We can't seem to get a direct answer, but we're going to keep trying because I don't want to just talk about a problem. I want to be able to offer a solution. So we can say, which people are saying all over the country, affordability. Right. Now we have to unpack that. What about affordability? I know my opponent recently voted on not to decrease the tax on gas. That particular vote was for 60 days. And I thought, wow, it's just for 60 days. I think we could have pulled uh finances out of a dou a different area. It's election, that would have been great, right? And then also it's holidays. What a gift we could have given to Massachusetts for 60 days, 24 cents less uh a gallon. That's phenomenal. Right. And I think we could have also negotiated with the suppliers. So I think there is a way. And I think again, because of my negotiation background, we can find a way, make sure that it's right for everyone, not just a group.

SPEAKER_03 20:10

Yeah. And what would be a third issue that keeps coming up?

SPEAKER_00 20:16

School. Our school funding. There's a formula that the state uses. It's an old formula. It has been updated, but it needs to be updated again. Being on the school committee in Fair Haven, I saw that firsthand. We never had enough money from the state. What happens? We then have to go to the town for money. We couldn't get all our resources from the town. And that's when when you see teachers are let go, after school activities stop, uh, extracurriculum activities, you could have uh now the band might not be as active. That's all because there wasn't enough money in the budget. And believe me, we we looked at our budget A to Z, took it apart, every single piece of it. And it's transparent too. You can go right on the school committee, right on the uh superintendent's website, uh School of Fairhaven, and see the entire budget and where everything goes. I think we had exceptional teachers in Fairhaven. They love education, they love the students. I say let's pay them what they deserve and let's keep every other activity in place for our students, because that also in contributes to their overall well-being. So that particular formula, again, what the state doesn't give us, that's affected in our taxes. So our taxes will increase. So if we could get enough money from the state, figure out that formula way better, then our that would affect our taxes, and then our utility bills will be affected once we can remove those fees.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

And what about the the tension of parents in schools right now, right? We we're seeing a lot of that. Um and I think a lot of times people don't understand where Where does the policies come from? Who gets to play a role in those things? Especially in the area of, you know, I had a a podcast not long ago about the the mom and a and a daughter who had a lot of gender confusion, and unfortunately, there's not a lot of support for parents. It seems like there'd be more support for the kids. And so is there anything that a state rep or people in that position can do about these things?

SPEAKER_00 22:26

Yeah, my opponent did vote for something that would protect the students and keep information from the parents. I would never vote for that because why? Parents are the parents. A school there for education. They should be devoting themselves to the core curriculum.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

They're not a doctor, they're not a nurse, they're not a psychologist, they certainly aren't able to prescribe, but they are. So this is a war on the innocence of our children 100%. I can't imagine having my say taken away about my children.

SPEAKER_01 22:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

That's unacceptable. So sometimes people will say there's laws in place. Not necessarily. We need attorneys that will definitely speak up for our liberties and our freedoms as parents. It's crazy that I have to come into a school and say, a parent has these rights.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

But we have to do that. We have to initiate and partner with other uh law firms to uh represent us the very rights that we automatically have. Now, obviously, if I was a delinquent, abusive parent, yes, I invite DCF to come in and do what they have to do. But that's not the case here. This is about a group of people that think what they think is better for my children or your children than what I think. Right. And that's just unacceptable. So I will absolutely protect parents' rights. I've talked about it, I'll continue to talk about it. It is a hot topic. It's here in Massachusetts, it's all over the United States. But it does seem abnormal that we have to create laws to protect parents' rights that they already have for their children. Right? Does it make sense? It doesn't make sense. So I think that's what m what sets me apart. I represent what does make sense. Let's just keep it simple on all of these topics. What can we do differently that's more effective? How can we represent parents and students very effectively in the school room and let the schools know this is not your role. Like take a step back.

SPEAKER_03 24:32

Yeah. What what would you say might be something that's going on in our state that needs to be given more attention to? Because a lot of times I feel like the regular person is not paying attention to what's really going on, right? So in your position, in the conversation you're having with people, in your own passion, what is something that you would want to talk about that seems to be like in the background and people don't understand and this is important, you know?

SPEAKER_00 25:00

It's really everything that we just talked about. So what we're also doing is we're going through all the bills that we're voting on and we're pulling out the exact line number so that we can talk more effectively and say, we want you to look this up and this is how you do it. That'll be coming out this week.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

And uh we've also had it come out in some of our mailings. These are the line items that are in a particular bill that affects uh the abortion restrictions.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Right? Well, and I would say there are no restrictions, unfortunately. And then as far as uh maintaining parents' rights, any anything that's been voted on, like let's protect all of the students and take the parents right as secondary or third dairy.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Um we want to talk about that in the legislation also, that it states this in this particular bill. People need to see the facts because they don't believe it's true.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

We could have someone in this room right now that has a completely different opinion that we'd listen to.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

But I think they're basing it on hearsay. They're not basing it on the actual facts. Um I know parents in Rochester that just went through a situation. You were talking about that the mom and their daughter, their parents and their daughter, and what they were restricted in doing and saying on the behalf of their child. And there was another family where uh a student came into the uh female restroom. So there's another situation going on there, and that family is taking it all the way to the federal government because they're not being listened to on the local state level. They tried. Um, and I I say, good, keep going, because you're not, I mean, you're representing your daughter, but you're also representing a lot of other children that could possibly be affected by the same interactions that are inappropriate and uncalled for. But the original question that you asked, how can we inform people? Yes. I think we also have to encourage people to stop turning their back on what's in the news. But and then they have to research it. And then they can call their state rep and say, hey, I saw this, what does it mean? How does it affect me? But I think a lot of people have stepped back and they're kind of checked out. Uh I don't want to listen to that, I don't want to know how to do it. And I say, ladies and gentlemen, I can see where there are groups of people that are starting to re-engage in what's happening around us on a state level, local level, and also on a federal level. But we have to do it even better. Yeah. Ask the right questions and don't stop until you get the right answer.

SPEAKER_03 27:23

Yeah. What about those who I I because I feel like one of the things I hear a lot is politics is so divisive. You know, people feel like I don't want to get in, you know, involved. It's it's just divisive. It doesn't really help. What do you say to those people?

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Well, I'd say I agree. And then I'd say, have you ever disagreed with a member of your family? Have you just been like, I don't know where they're coming from? Right? Have you ever just raised your hands and said, These are my children, I can't believe it. They're thinking this way or acting that way.

SPEAKER_02 27:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Oh well. Stay in it. You love your kids, you love your family, you love your extended relatives. But you I hope you don't turn your back on them.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

So don't turn your back on issues that affect all of us. And quite frankly, they're going to affect our children and our children's children even more. So, you know what? Roll your sleeves up, get a little uncomfortable. Learn how to explain what you think is correct without having an explosive, violent argument. And keep going. Don't don't be afraid to say, well, this is my opinion. If someone is completely argumentative and they absolutely will not give you a moment to speak, well, that's not the person to talk to. Move on to someone else.

SPEAKER_03 28:41

You know, uh, as Christians, one of the alarming statistics is that I think if I'm correct, I could be wrong. We can you can um they can fact check me afterwards. But I I think it was something like 75% of Christians do not vote at all. Right? Which is alarming to think about. Um why do you think that is? Why do you think Christians don't want to have an impact in what's going on in society?

SPEAKER_00 29:08

I think they started to settle. I think apathy came in, and I think they thought it like it didn't matter. But it does matter because we're kind of it's in a mess. Like even if we just talk about abortion, yeah, we have to be responsible without lack of involvement. That's also part of the problem. I can't just look at the other side, so to speak, or look at individuals that voted a certain way. I also have to be responsible for um what am I doing? How much time have I devoted to that particular issue? When I lived in Rhode Island, I was at the Statehouse quite often uh talking about what they were trying to move forward in that area. Uh my daughter was the uh deputy director at Right to Life, so we were very educated on what was happening and what wasn't happening. But I think the overall opinion about uh believers not being involved is a lack of understanding that God created the government and we still have a responsibility to protect it, to honor it, so that there are life-bearing priorities that are moved forward. And I think that's why we're in where we're in. So I say to everyone, get involved on some level. Uh call my campaign, get involved with us, hold signs this weekend, hold signs on Tuesday, you can get involved on a local level. You can just go to your town meetings, you don't have to be a representative to do that. And care more about what's going on around you because they affect all of us. Like if people people are talking about affordability and um their electric bill, good. Talk about it. But we also have to have resolution and a solution. And so I think people are starting to wake up. But can you imagine if all of the believers across the country got involved? Right, we wouldn't be voting on a nine-month abortion. You know, we wouldn't have to be begging for more state funding so our students can be uh properly educated, and we certainly wouldn't have to create laws to protect parents to bring up their children.

SPEAKER_03 31:10

Yeah. So let me ask you a deeper question there for believers specifically, right? How can they get involved, right? And and do their part, but not lose the essence of what it means to be a believer, where we always say kingdom over everything, right? Christ over culture. So how can a believer walk that line of really getting involved but not allowing politics to become an idol in their lives?

SPEAKER_00 31:39

I think it's like anything else. Anything could become an idol. Their family could be, children could be, job could be, working out. Anything can become more important. So as every day, work on a relationship with the Lord, have that intimacy with him, have a great group of friends that you can talk to about different things. But I think it's across the board, not just a political perspective. I think it's any perspective. So you'd have to be really honest with yourself and see is there anything I need to surrender so that I can hear clearly, I can speak on behalf of what is right, right? And then I can also, if I am involved to the extent that I am, I can write laws and amendments that make sense for the government that God created. And we think about our forefathers. They argued.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

Right.

SPEAKER_00 32:25

There there is historical writings that they argued hard.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

Right.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

But in that they prayed first, they prayed second, and they prayed third. They honored God. And when people come into office, they put their hand on a Bible and pledge to take the same government that was created by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and let that be the light that takes us and moves us forward. So as far as the believer is right now, I'd say this is not a big deal. This isn't separate from who we are. This is a part of who we are. So the question I would ask is how are you protecting the government of God in your home and outside your home?

SPEAKER_03 33:07

Yeah. Let's talk more about the campaign itself, because I'm always um curious about the interactions, right? Is there like an interaction that stands out to you from a conversation you had from knocking on someone's door? Because I remember talking to Jesse and he had a very interesting interaction with this particular man who was first not going to vote for him, but then they would end up having a great conversation that changed his mind. Is there any conversation that stands out to you that you've had?

SPEAKER_00 33:34

Yeah, I've had several.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

Um there was a woman that wanted all our signs. Someone had knocked on her door before me. So I was going there to deliver signs. She was at the top of her stairs, and I noticed that she had a hard time breathing. So right then in that moment, it was the election was second, secondary. You know, so I went up the stairs and I said, Hey, are you okay? She could hardly breathe, Pastor Marco. So I said, Hey, don't talk. Just let's just take a moment. And she asked me if I could pray for her. I said, Absolutely. And I did.

SPEAKER_03 34:09

Because And you just meeting this woman.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

Just meeting her.

SPEAKER_03 34:11

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

And I could see that she was laboring to breathe.

unknown 34:14

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 34:15

So it wasn't about the sign anymore. It was about her health. So I said yes. And I prayed for her. And then we started to talk about the campaign, and then she told me about other health conditions she was having. So I prayed again because I felt that was the most important moment for her. And um she was up there in age, but she had such a passion for what was right and honorable in Massachusetts and in the United States. So she shared to me her concerns. Again, she brings up abortion to preserve life at any cost. We talked about that. I noticed her breathing up better, so we thank you, Lord, for that. And then she said, put as many signs as you want because her her property was pretty large. And I went, okay, you don't have to tell me twice. And I went ahead and did that.

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

Um, there was another situation where uh um a mom made it known that she wouldn't be voting uh with us, and we just talked about different things. And we ended with her saying, You gave me some really good things to think about. And and that's because we're talking to people. We're not talking at them. Right. We're not trying to convince them. We just want to get to know people.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Um, I had another gentleman that uh emailed me and said, Hey, I got one of your mailers and I like what I'm reading. Again, Pastor Mark, I am not bringing I'm not making this up and I would never make it up. He said, Where do you stand on abortion? I emailed him back. I told him where I stood that I wouldn't have voted on that nine-month atrocity. I told him about the petition that was going on to be able to put this on the ballot in 28. And he emailed me back. His first sentence was, I cannot believe you responded. Wow. He said, I've been reaching out to your opponent for months and haven't heard anything. He said, Would you come to my home and meet me and my wife?

SPEAKER_03 36:09

Yeah, that's awesome. I want to go on the record again and say that when we did the the forum, we invited everyone. Absolutely from all the parties. Yes. Because we wanted to hear all perspectives. And unfortunately a lot of them didn't respond back, you know. But that was the goal. We that what you said is so important. We want to have a conversation.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_03 36:30

And that's all we can ask for, right? And being a literally a grassroot movement from being right in ballot to now having a team of 50 or something people, what has been the most challenging part of this whole thing?

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Being everywhere. You know, getting to all the towns. Every town has a Republican Party and a Democratic Party. And people meet and they talk to one another and they talk about issues. They have us come, we talk to them, uh, we talk to people and tell them why we're running and and so forth. And so I've met an incredible, amazing group of people. That we will continue doing because we want to be able to talk to people and find out, okay, we'll we know what's important in each town, but we also want to build upon uh personalized and specific elements to what people care about and what needs to change. We also want to help to move the needle on apathy. Yeah, because I did run into other people that said, Oh, it doesn't matter. My vote doesn't matter. No, ladies and gentlemen, when you vote, we win. So please think about that.

SPEAKER_02 37:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

We must vote. That is another opportunity for us to protect the government.

SPEAKER_03 37:43

Yeah. And with with that mindset, right, of being the challenge of getting to everyone, uh, and time is kind of like This is it. This is it, right? Um what are you hoping to achieve in these next few days?

SPEAKER_00 38:01

Well, I'm still knocking on doors, talking to as many people as I can. Tonight I'll be in New Bedford uh at the Pulaski School for a forum there. We'll answer questions from the audience. Uh we'll talk to them a little bit about ourselves. So I'm looking forward to that. Um also trying to confirm one more radio opportunity. And uh it's really the nonstop of talking to people, holding signs, knocking on doors. I have to say that's been the greatest excitement is just to meet people. And they're so willing, they're so willing to talk and share their views. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 38:36

Yeah. Is there something that we haven't touched on that you would like to to bring to the attention of the people? Is there anything, any other maybe policy or a passion of yours that we haven't touched on?

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Well, as you know, New Bedford is known for its fishing industry. Boy, we need to do some work there. The permits are so expensive for fishermen to have and to keep. Their insurance is so high. So if you have uh someone who has one boat, it's hard for them to keep two because of the the permits that are involved. We also have a pier that needs to be updated. There are so many regulations. There are fed federal regulations and state regulations that limits the time fishermen can fish. We need to work on that. I know the federal government met with uh one of our reps from New Bedford to talk about the federal waters. We can get pretty close to Canada, but we can't go into a certain area because of different environmental legislation. I think we have to revisit that and say, does that really make sense? We also have to care about these wind turbines that every time they go around, they spit plastic into the water. And that that's not good. Like I know they were created for environmental, but they're also infecting, they're affecting our environment that's hazardous to the fish that are in the waters. So we have to look at all of these elements, especially, I have to say, the wind turbines, that was a $4 billion package. I'm not sure why we had to pay that much. That's something we're also looking into. And then uh our fishermen absolutely need to be protected. I had a meeting with one of the organizations that worked closely with the fishermen, and there were more areas that aren't working that need to work. So I'm gonna meet with them again along with fishermen to find out first hand what they think because they're not involved in all the legislation process. They're involved in the everyday burden of having to fish in all kinds of weather. So we want to make it as easy as possible, not as hard as possible.

SPEAKER_03 40:42

Yeah. But Brenda, you don't know you what you're doing. You're brand new with this, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:47

Does it sound like I'm brand new?

SPEAKER_03 40:48

No, but like, why should someone vote for you?

SPEAKER_00 40:51

Well, I'm gonna say it again, my friend, because I care, I listen, I am a great negotiator. So even if I don't agree with someone, I still want to listen to them. Because I want to care about, I want to have their best interest in mind. I want to care what they have to say. And together we have to be able to work out something if we truly are representing our districts. I would say, I am your common sense vote. I'm the person who will look realistically, honestly, absolutely, I'll tell you where things are at, where they're not at, what we still have to work on to make it pass. You will get the truth from me. I will be available for you, I will meet with you, I will definitely have coffee with you because I do love coffee. Flavored, if I could just put that in. Um I think that's what you get with me. And if we did have the opportunity for my four children that live all over the United States to talk on my behalf, that's something they will say. I have certainly grown in the ability to listen uh more than I ever have. And uh because believe me, I want to tell them what to do and how to do it.

SPEAKER_03 42:00

I know all about that.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

But I think I will continue when it comes to our uh state laws and um amendments, we will have to talk and explain why they're important, why they need to pass.

SPEAKER_03 42:13

Speaking of state, right, we we both came from Rhode Island, right? And I remember I before moving here, right, I told Lindsay, my wife, that I could never live here. You know, I had no particular reasons. I just couldn't see myself here. And she said, God has a sense of humor, and here we are, right? And I love this place. Couldn't imagine being anywhere else. So I guess my question for you is what is your hope for this region, for this state, you know?

SPEAKER_00 42:41

To um to eradicate homelessness for sure. But we all have to work together to do that. We need all hands on deck, round table discussion. How much money do we have and where is it actually going? So I would like to see a better accounting process for all of that and make it transparent so that everyone can see what's happening. I would love people to get involved, like the how and why to eradicate homelessness. I would like to have uh areas where people are in domestic violence relationships, where they can live protected and free from those types of relationships. Again, we have to work all together to do this. I think a lot of our agencies uh are overworked and they need more people to work there. But we also need to see where the funds are going so that we can we can employ more people. I want our state and East Coast to care more about other people than just what they're doing for themselves. What we're doing for ourselves is important. But how can I move past that? I would love to see in our schools, starting right from kindergarten, where our students volunteer to do something, whether they'd make a collection and it grows with them. So it becomes more mature the older they get. So they literally have an investment in helping people around them. Where, like it was for my family, it's just a part of who we are. My children live all over the United States, and all of them are doing something for their communities. I don't know if they'll ever run for office, but they're helping other people. They're uh well acquainted with working hard, working for them themselves, but also helping others around them.

SPEAKER_02 44:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:19

I'd like to see that because if we can we can fold that in to our education process, then our students will grow naturally to automatically help people. So when we're saying, hey, we need everybody to surround us and talk with us about eradicating homelessness and and giving uh you know different classes for restoration and relationships so that no one is abused, people will understand the impact of them being involved to eliminate those type of situations.

SPEAKER_03 44:46

Yeah, that's good. Um if someone is listening right now and they want to get involved and know more about what you're doing specifically, where can they go? Where can they find you?

SPEAKER_00 44:59

They can go immediately to my email, Brenda with the number four rep at gmail.com. So that's my name, Brenda the number four rep at gmail.com. And I personally will get back to you within 24 hours. Do you have a social media presence? We do. We do. So you can also uh look us up on Facebook.

SPEAKER_03 45:22

Facebook. Oh man. I have mixed feelings about Facebook, but we can use it certainly for good, right? Yeah. I've been saying this uh to our church, and I want to say it again. The goal is to get our people to do their homework, pray, and then vote their values. Yes, right. Any final words?

SPEAKER_00 45:45

Thank you so much for you and Lindsay for being my friend, my family, my pastors. I'm so thankful that you have led me and my children all these years. And I would thank you to the communities that are giving us a chance to vote. Obviously, I'm encourage everyone because when you vote, we win. And what wins? Honesty wins, accountability wins, transparency, opportunities to make decisions that are right, are sincere, and will make a difference for the majority of our state.

SPEAKER_03 46:22

Love it. As a friend, I am proud of you. No matter what happens on Tuesday, we are proud of you. And Godspeed, my friend.

SPEAKER_00 46:32

Thank you so much. I appreciated this. Thank you.