When Ministry Finds You: A Story of Obedience and Impact
In this episode, Mike Glenn, President of the Engage Church Network, sits down with Steve Moore—veteran concert promoter and founder of the Shalom Foundation—for a powerful conversation on calling, obedience, and what happens when you say “yes” to God.
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Mike Glenn: Hi, I'm Mike Glenn, and I am the president and founder of the Engage Church Network. Uh, we work with local pastors and churches in the middle Tennessee area, helping them understand their opportunities and challenges in their own community, helping them identify and train leaders, uh, to meet these new challenges that are part of our new situation here.
Uh, it's a lot of fun, and it's a lot of challenges. And for me, if you're wired like I am, challenge and fun usually go in the same sentence. You've heard me talk a lot about the first reformation gives, uh, the Word back to the people, the Bible back to the [00:01:00] people. The second reformation is giving ministry back to the people, and that is the opportunities now, the, the, the training, uh, the, the skillsets that our congregation have, and the ability now in our world because of things like the internet and on and on, uh, for people to have world impacting, kingdom, uh, celebrating kind of ministries.
Uh, and, and I'm kind of struggling because the ministry we're talking about today is that kind of ministry. So when you ask yourself, "What can I as a layperson do? What can one person do?" Well, the answer is, well, quite a lot. Our guest today is a friend of mine, Steve Moore. Steve has been in the country music business and the music business in the Nashville area for, uh, well, let's just say a long time.
Uh, promoting concerts and all of that. Went to Guatemala on a mission trip, and everything changed. So Steve, [00:02:00] welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Glad you're here. It's great to be with you. I'm gonna let you pick the story up from there. You, you go to Guatemala, you're invited by a, a pastor friend, and you go.
This is a mission trip. You're gonna go a week and come back and do your thing again. Well- What happens?
Steve Moore: Well, the interesting thing about that trip, the way it started, uh, in church, and it was Missions Day. You know, they- Mm-hmm ... have certain people. They're highlighting mission families, and I'm thinking to myself, "Why would you take your f- kids to those places?"
You know, honestly had those thoughts that day. And, um, I remember, uh, then the next segment talking about this church in, in Guatemala City that was really struggling with trying to teach their, the kids that lived there, uh, have a place for them to go to school, and they really was, was trying to build a school.
And so- You know, church ended. Next thing I know, I was [00:03:00] down there signing up. I never had really plans to do anything. I can't say that I was, you know, had it all figured out. I didn't have really anything figured out. But I ended up going, uh, and it was, uh, Memorial Day weekend that week, 1998. And, you know, for me it was, uh, looking back, really after, you know, many times looking back, it was a, an epiphany for me and changing my whole life perspective on everything.
Um, I just never really anticipated what was gonna happen and what God did to me on that trip. So what did happen? Well, 1998 was actually only two years beyond the civil war. Guatemala had been in a civil war for 30 years. Mm-hmm. And so most of the indigenous and normal Ladinos, Guatemalans, [00:04:00] were living out into the country, but the guerrillas, as rude, as cruel as that all was, they were moving into the cities.
And so they moved into these barrios up in the mountains. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. They don't own anything. They're just- Right ... they're squatting, the whole- Mm-hmm And so the area that the church is located in is called Zone 18. It's like a little sector of the city. It's called the Shalom Baptist Church, and Pastor Alvaro, uh, had pastored a lot of these families and these kids in the barrios.
And so when we got there, um, the church is in a okay place, but he took us into this area called Paradise, which is what they call the area they lived in- Mm-hmm ... which is anything but paradise.
Mike Glenn: Right. Mm-hmm.
Steve Moore: And the depravity that they lived in and the environment that they lived in was just heartbreaking to me.
And, um, and what, what I saw was a genuine joy in some of these people's lives when they had [00:05:00] absolutely nothing. And, uh, what experience, what I experienced there was something I had never experienced before in my whole life. Uh, I felt God's presence like I'd never felt before. I never felt it in church. I never felt it in prayer.
I never felt it anywhere. And, um, I... He basically broke my heart for those kids on that mission. And, um, you know, I look back on it, the journey that I've made over the last 25, 6 years, what I started doing was not what Go- God sent me. You know, it was, I ended up doing something else. But, uh- So it was just ama- it was just an epiphany for me that way, and I remember thinking about, man, [00:06:00] this is one of the best-kept secrets in church.
I mean, it, it seemed like if everybody knew- ... what I felt- Yeah ... everybody would be coming to, to wherever they go. Right. I mean, there's many places to go- Mm-hmm ... even if you go across town. Right. You know, you c- you can feel it. Um, and it just struck me that way. Uh, so that was the beginning of a journey this lasted, you know, 25, 26 years, uh, of, of, of ministry there for that, for those kids.
Okay.
Mike Glenn: Now, I, I am, uh, talking to you from the vantage point of, of having seen this ministry- Mm-hmm ... for the 25 years or so. Mm-hmm. So I kinda know where this story goes. Mm-hmm. But, uh, take me back to those first moment. You, you, you got a heart you, uh, uh, that is broken for these kids. You know you gotta do something, but you don't know what.
Mm-hmm. You don't know how. Mm-hmm. You're in the music business in Nashville.
Steve Moore: Mm-hmm.
Mike Glenn: So, uh, you know, we've talked about this before. There was [00:07:00] nothing in your background- Hmm. For sure ... or experience that trained you for what God called you to do. 100%.
Steve Moore: Yeah, I was probably the least trained person- ... to do anything, you know?
I always say, I don't know if there's anything more dumber than being a concert promoter, but, uh, you know, uh, we started building the h- school and finished the school. It took us a year or so, but we finished it. Mm-hmm. Two or three floors, and of course then the kids started coming, and then they needed clothes and shoes and books and that sort of thing.
Right. We started doing that. Uh, the church that I was, was working with in Franklin, uh, was supporting for a while, and then one Sunday got the word from the, that they were done with Guatemala and they were moving on to something else. Mm-hmm. And I'm going, man, how could you be done with Guatemala? They- Mm-hmm
you know, we- We just started, yeah ... just started. Mm-hmm. And [00:08:00] so that was really a, really an interesting time for me, uh, uh, to figure out what, what to do, but, uh- You know, after a few days of, you know, it was just like, "Okay, you're finished. I'm not finished, and God's not finished."
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Steve Moore: So that was when I officially formed the f- foundation, uh, because I didn't have a foundation.
Um, I had not set out to have a foundation, but that was, that compelled me to create a, a foundation, mainly to, you know, to receive help and recipients of money so I could send it to Guatemala- Right ... officially.
Mike Glenn: Which is the Shalom Foundation.
Steve Moore: The, the Shalom Foundation, which is named after the church.
Mm-hmm. Uh, that's still there, of course. Pastor Alvaro is still there. And so we started that in 2001 or 2000, one of the, one of, there somewhere. And so, that journey kept going, you know, the kids, and then when you find out about the kids, you find out who they are, where they live. [00:09:00] Then you go there, then you see what they're living in, which is just heartbreaking again.
Mm-hmm. So then, of course, Americans wanna always do something, build something, so we started building houses for them, you know, building homes. And, um, that went for a little while and, you know, that, that's good. Um, we were there building a home one trip, and this lady, uh, brought this little four-year-old, four-year-old up to, up to us.
There was a bunch of us there across the street, and she was just crying and crying and crying. She lifted up her blouse and there was a scar, and she started, in Spanish, trying to tell that she got, you know, shot in a la tienda, a store robbery. Well, obviously, we're all concerned. We didn't know if the, if it was, she was having pain then.
I guess she was- Mm-hmm ... having pain. So we, you know, we're trying to figure out what's going on. But we, [00:10:00] we, we figured out that she had been shot, looked at the x-rays, and sh- the bullet was still lodged in her low upper thigh, lower groin area. And, uh, one of the persons on our trip said, "Well, that's, that's not good."
Mm. "She won't survive it." We hustled and made arrangements to bring her to, to Nashville-
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm ...
Steve Moore: and to get her operated on, 'cause I didn't know anything about that either. Right. Especially in, in Guatemala. So we brought her to town, and a lot of our friends in the music business and just business friends and friends, church, everybody just loved on her.
Mm-hmm. And we got her, uh, a surgery. Uh, Dr. Mack Baxter, uh, great surgeon in town, operated on her and took out a .22 caliber, you know, out of her leg. And, uh, just loved on [00:11:00] her, and it just affected so many people around us here in- Mm-hmm ... Brentwood and Franklin. I mean, it moved a lot of people.
Mike Glenn: Um- Yeah, when you put a name and a face on, on- Right
on, on the need, right.
Steve Moore: 100% right. Mm-hmm. So little Ana was her name, Ana Rios. So Ana, uh, was just so sweet and, and, uh, everybody loved on her. And, uh, I remember we took, took her, uh, some people took her to lunch, and she didn't eat anything. She hadn't eaten in days. Um, then come to find out she had a toothache.
Well, took her to a dentist. Mm-hmm. Not only did she have a toothache, she had four abscessed teeth. Mm. So- Mm ... never, never cried about it- Yeah ... just didn't eat. Stuff like that. So, you know, uh, that all, that trip was just fabulous trip. G- great experience for her. Uh, took her back to Guatemala, uh, reluctantly.
I'd just rather keep her, but I- [00:12:00] Mm ... couldn't do that. But so we got her back home, and, uh, then God placed in my heart this question. So what happens to the rest of them? What happens to-
Mike Glenn: That's the sneaky- ... little girls that, that- That's the
Steve Moore: sneaky thing about God- I'm telling you ... that you, you do one-
Mike Glenn: You
Steve Moore: know- I was done.
I did my good deed. That's it. That's right. Little Ana's back home. She's, she's good, teeth fixed. Yeah. Surgery. Now, what, it started to eat on me, like, what happens to the rest of them that don't run into a Steve or a gringo or what- Yeah ... another person to help them? And, you know, the answer was not good.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Steve Moore: They live with it or they die with it. Mm-hmm. Uh, 'cause Guatemala has a, had a fail and still does, a failed health system- Mm-hmm ... particularly for the lower- Right ... socioeconomic, uh, strata that we were dealing with. And, uh, so that was the beginning of the next journey [00:13:00] that I, that I began working on and, um, and how things started to play together.
And, uh, it's just, it's nonco- coincidental how God put all this stuff together. Mm-hmm. About the same time, uh, Kix Brooks, who's one of my, uh, friends and c- uh- Yeah ... clients said, uh, "Moore, uh, uh, Children's, Monroe Children's is doing a festival, and they need some help with the stage, and you need to go down there and help them."
He's on the board. Right. And I said, "Yes, sir- Mm-hmm ... I'll, I'll be happy to do that." So was happy to do that. Went and worked with a lot of the folks at, at the Children's Hospital at, at Monroe Carell. And, and through that process, I met some surgeons and doctors and people that worked at the hospital.
Mm-hmm. So we started talking about Guatemala and- The need there and, and, uh, the, the conversation's progressed that, you know, we do some trips, we do them in Sub-Sahara, but we're not doing that [00:14:00] anymore, but we might be interested in doing Guatemala. It's easy to get to. So Dr. John Brock, who was, uh, head of surgery there, uh, was interested and said, "Well, you know, we'd be interested to put together a team, uh, maybe a urology team, if you could find us patients, a, a place to work and all that."
Mm-hmm. Well, you know, I, to me it's really simple. Like in the concert business, you go out and rent a hall and put up a stage- ... and kick shows up and running and they play. And
Mike Glenn: that's it. So- Yeah ... I, I liken it to that so- Well, same thing. We're gonna have surgeons show up, and we're gonna do operations.
Exactly. Yeah. That's
Steve Moore: exactly right. Mm-hmm. So I go down there and I find the, uh, m- uh, Guatemalan Pediatric Association group, and they have a little makeshift building, and they do surgeries in it. But, I mean, it's- Mm ... it's not anything like what we have today, but it was okay. So anyway, so they, they came.
They came and did a few trips and that worked out [00:15:00] good for a year and, uh, second year, uh, they were there, and I think it was still urology or orthopedics, I'm not sure. But, uh, I had borrowed a, uh, a heart monitor from the Rotary. And I met this gentleman named Tecono, and he's, he turned out, he ended up being a dear, dear friend of mine over the years.
And, um, Tecono loaned me this heart monitor, brand new. They borrowed it, too. They borrowed it and loaned it to me. And so after the second day, they would get there to the hospital to use the heart monitor. Where's the heart monitor? Gone. Somebody stole the heart monitor. So there's another thing. So God said, "Well, you know, you need your own place you can lock the door."
Oh, w- my own place- Yeah ... my own hospital. Yeah. "Well, you need to get your own, your, our own hospital so we can take care of our equipment and take care of our [00:16:00] kids, and we don't have to depend on other people." So that started, you know, the next journey, uh, the next phase of this journey. And, uh, what was interesting about it was is that I found a piece of, I found a heart...
We l- and we looked around, but I was leaving Guatemala one time from that journey, and I, I said, "Well, I'm just gonna look online myself."
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Steve Moore: I'm sitting in the Delta ready there, getting on the plane, and I found this hospital for sale and got into it when I got back to the States, and yes, it's for sale.
The lady lives in Antigua, up in the middle of the country, and, um, discovered that her mother was a gynecologist and opened the maternity ward in there in 1954 And she was one of the, one of the first Mayan females that got certified in Guatemala. But she'd since passed. The hospital had been closed for [00:17:00] years- Mm-hmm
but was delighted that we would use it for children. Mm. So we, we made a deal and, uh, we closed on... Well, we didn't close it, we made a deal to buy it. We had the money, they were willing to sell it, but through the bureaucracy, we couldn't take possession of it for almost two years. Mm. We, we worked through- Mm-hmm
the bureaucracy to try to get a control of the hospital so we could go to work on it. But, so that took almost two years. So once we finally got the hospital, um, it only took another four years to get it renovated and- And, and, and up to standard ... and, and opened- Right. Right ... and standard for, you know, somewhat standard for US standards.
And so after six and a half years, and I'd probably quit, I don't know, about 150 times- ... I had quit. But I didn't leave, I just quit. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. But we kept going and, uh, I remember Tommy [00:18:00] Sanders, who I think you know- Yeah. I know Tommy, yeah ... a dear friend and, uh, mentor that al- always telling me, "Steve, if it was easy down here, everybody'd be doing
Mike Glenn: it."
Yeah.
Steve Moore: And they're not. Matter of fact, nobody's doing it. Yeah. And so, but we finally opened on 2011. Dr. Brock brought a team down and, um, opened, did our first surgery team with a urology team and it, you know... That's been 14 years ago.
Mike Glenn: Now what, now what's the church doing? Or, or what's, what's the surgery center doing?
Steve Moore: Well, in 10, we've been, since then we, we are up to 18 teams a year. We do every discipline except, uh, neurology and, and, uh, cardiology. Mainly 'cause we don't have the- Yeah ... uh, uh, ICU or- Right ... specialty. And last November we celebrated, uh, the milestone of hitting 10,000 surgeries. And [00:19:00] really it's 13 years, but we lost two years in COVID, so it really is only about 11, 12 years.
Right. But, so that was a big milestone for, for the hospital and, um, we've since added, um, I've added three dental suites. So we do, and I have a full-time dentist, so we do, we do dental work for that group of people five, full time. Yeah. Four days a week. And so those patients are nonstop. Mm-hmm. So that's, that's, you know, it's just been a, a unbelievable journey- Of, you know, and plus, you know, it's always been a ministry.
It's still a ministry. We have full-time, uh, chaplain, pastor that works for us there- Mm-hmm ... and works with the families and understands what's, try to get them to understand why we're there. Mm-hmm. We're there to provide hope and healing, but we're here because Jesus said to- The, the gospel. That's right.
Mm-hmm ... the gospel. [00:20:00] And then so we provide them with materials and Bibles and stuff that we get generously donated through Lifeway. And so, uh, we just try not to ever get away from the essence of what brought us there. Mm-hmm. And, uh, so that's, you know, it's just one of those things that I still don't know, looking back, I don't know how- I do know how.
I don't know who, and I know how. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just don't know why me- Yeah, yeah ... is ma- mainly the question, why me? Yeah. But, uh- What
Mike Glenn: would, uh, what would the, the Steve now tell the Steve who was beginning that process?
Steve Moore: Well, I, I would say, and to anyone, I would say if, if you haven't experienced, um, a trip with, with some believers and for church or...
Please just don't leave this earth without doing it. Mm-hmm. Just don't do it. It'll, it'll bring more fulfillment than you can [00:21:00] ever imagine. Right. I mean, I have had, you know, a really f- for me, where I come from, I had an extraordinary time in life- Mm-hmm ... working in, with the great artists and- Mm-hmm ... that I've got to do here and looking back on all the things that I've got to do and nothing compares to it.
Nothing compares to
Mike Glenn: it. Well, anybody that knows you, uh, understands that if we, uh, if we spend more than 10 minutes talking to you, you're gonna get shalom- Yeah. and, and, and that- I guess so ... in that conversation somehow. Yeah. Which is interesting, again, considering the career you have had in the music industry.
Mm-hmm. I mean, y- some of these concerts that, uh- Yeah ... we celebrate on YouTube as being groundbreaking, you were there. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh, some of these artists and- Mm-hmm ... and all, you were there, and, and, and the thing that gives you the most joy- Mm-hmm, yeah ... is, uh, is this hospital in Guatemala. [00:22:00]
Steve Moore: Yeah, and, you know, it's just, it's a constant reminder every time I go down there, and, uh, not only the, the work, the children, the, the staff that I have, it's just, it's indescribable.
Young people, um, and they, it's like an extended family to me. Mm-hmm. We have 30 employees. They're really not employees. They're partners- Mm-hmm ... or associates or colleagues or- And they're young. They're all young people, and m- primarily female, thank God. And, uh, they work harder. You can depend on them to show up.
To show up. That's right, yeah. Yeah. And, uh, so yeah, I mean, it's, uh, it's just a, an amazing, amazing thing- Yeah ... for, for anybody that would wanna experience it. We've had... And in our teams, you know, we have different specialists bring different levels of numbers. Mm-hmm. Sometimes they bring family members, [00:23:00] a lot of young people, some of them in college.
You know, we've had people, I've had several experiences, uh, one, young people are majoring in business. They leave, they're changing their major.
Mike Glenn: Yeah.
Steve Moore: They're changing their major to medical, nursing, doc- I mean, they wanna- Mm-hmm ... they wanna use their skill- Be part of the wor- Be part of that ... to change the world.
Yeah. Yeah. And so that's encouraging to be a, you know, that kind of a, um, a exper- have that kind of experience. Mm-hmm. And, um, and at the same time, sometimes it's, it's dreadful when we've had people come and just break down- Mm-hmm ... because of the... It's heartache. Yeah, the need.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. The need. It's just overwhelming.
Steve Moore: And you know, my comment was, "You know, God didn't send you down here to save thousands. He just-" Yeah ... "want."
Mike Glenn: Yeah.
Steve Moore: Yeah. So anybody that goes, y- you're not called to change the world. Yeah. You know, you, you're just called to do something. Do that one.
Mike Glenn: And- The, the old starfish story, made a [00:24:00] difference to that starfish- 100%
that, that I threw him back, yeah. No, I
Steve Moore: meant, uh... And I've said many times, and it sounds cliche, and I guess it is, but everybody can do something. Okay. Everybody- Yeah ... can do something. And I, too, believe that God has called everybody to do something. Mm-hmm. It's just if you wanna listen to it or you don't.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. Well, part of, part of what we learn in following Christ, we learn only in obedience.
Steve Moore: True. That's exactly right. Some, some of the lessons
Mike Glenn: you have learned- Mm-hmm ... about God's goodness and faithfulness and- Mm-hmm ... uh, and the way he orchestrates things, you've learned only because you- Mm-hmm ... walk through the next door.
Steve Moore: Mm-hmm. Right. But I, I'm not, I'm not here to toot my horn about it. I can't tell you that I was Miss Mar- uh, Onward Christian Soldier marching through the- I, I'm not gonna say that because it's not been, it's not all been easy. Yeah. I mean, so you struggle.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Steve Moore: You struggle. It's all a struggle, you know, the money, [00:25:00] the, the people, the process, the everything.
Mm-hmm. It's just,
Mike Glenn: you know- Waiting, waiting two years for the government to give you permission to build a hospital.
Steve Moore: I know. I know. Yeah. It's just... And it seems like the s- the negative spiritual forces that we know about has threw up every, every block- Yeah ... every wall, every hindrance You know, they, they, and it will happen to you.
Mm-hmm. I promise you it will happen. And, you know, just got to the point when hopefully it, in my faith there it's, you know, it was a fai- advanced treatment of faith 'cause you, you learn a lot- ... in that period- That's right ... 'cause I wasn't- Yeah ... I wasn't really- Mm-hmm ... prepared for it. Uh, but you, you get, you get prepared pretty quick when you stay in the book, and you have to kinda keep going.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. And, and- Well, like our friend Tommy says, if it was easy.
Steve Moore: Yeah. 100%.
Mike Glenn: Everybody'd be doing it. That's right. So it's not.
Steve Moore: Yeah.
Mike Glenn: So how do people find out about, [00:26:00] uh, about your work, the foundation? ShalomFoundation.- Org ...
Steve Moore: org. Yes, it's there. And, um, there's a Spanish version, too, if you'd like that. It's, but, uh, Centro, uh, Centro Moore.
But theShalomFoundation.org is probably the easiest. Mm-hmm. And, uh, we'd welcome, uh, anyone who wanted to take a trip. We'd welcome anybody who wants to go and- Yeah ... learn about- Be a part of that ... um, that particular mission. And, you know, and being a, a pastor you've been and supporting missions, there's a, there's a sh- shoe size for everybody.
Yeah. It, no, where- wherever you wanna go- Yeah. There, there's, there's something you can do ... you can, you can build here, go there- Mm-hmm ... do whatever. Mm-hmm. And I'm not, not, not everybody's gonna be called to Guatemala, but, uh, there's a place to go. There's always something to do, and I think God honors all that, no matter how deep or heavy you get into it.
He does. [00:27:00]
Mike Glenn: Think God honors it. You have honored us by being here, Steve. Th- a- as you can see why I s- talking to Steve and the story of the Shalom Foundation and the Shalom Hospital is one of my favorite stories. Like many of you, Steve was just a guy who went to church, who went on a mission trip, and was overwhelmed by the burden and the need that he saw, and just walked through the next door.
That next door went from, uh, a little house where, where we built a school f- to building houses, to taking care of the kids, to bringing a child up here for surgery, to now the hospital there that has done thousands and thousands of surgeries, and this all started in the pew of a local church. God wants you to be part of what he's doing in redeeming his broken world.
He's Steve Moore. Yeah. Find out more about, uh, his work in Guatemala at theShalomFoundation.org. I'm Mike Glenn. Thanks for being part of our podcast.[00:28:00]
Thanks for tuning in to the Engage Church Network podcast. We exist to train healthy and skilled leaders for congregations throughout Middle Tennessee. If today's episode helped you, share it with a fellow leader, and don't forget to visit engagechurchnetwork.com for more ways to grow.
