Welcome everyone. Good morning. We'll just quickly pray and then we'll get started with the presentations. Father, we thank you. We come at this day. We come at this time and to your mighty hands. We come at everyone who's going to present their sermons today. Lord, I pray it to be a blessing to each one of us. We thank you in Jesus' name. We pray. Amen. Okay, we have five exciting speakers today. Those who are watching online, there's a lot of laughter here. We start with Nina and then we will follow with Rins and then Anand, Sriradha and Nikhil. So that's the order. So each one of them will, for want of time, each one of them will start immediately. Okay, you're ready Nina? Okay, fine. Good morning all. The simplicity of the childlike faith. So we start with from Matthew 18, one to five. At that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?  Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.   They are drawn to simple things with great awe and yet speak honest words that most adults don't have the courage to say. We often admitted children for their unique insight and captivating ways of describing simple things. But rarely do we include them in the adult conversations. The book of Matthew, Mark and Luke all wrote accounts about the value Jesus placed on children in an unexpected moment. So when disciples asked Jesus, who's the most important people in his kingdom, it was that they were really want some affirmations of their own status. After all, they were the people with whom Jesus chose to spend the most time. But Jesus shocked them by gathering up one of the little child and presented the child as an ideal heavenly citizen. Now this child became the chosen and valued example for entering heaven. Becoming like a little child means that we maintain that wonderful and beautiful characteristics and qualities of children which life in this sinful world tends to beat out of us. And what are these characteristics and qualities? They are like tenderness of conscience, openness about emotions and feelings, trust, dependence, easy to forgive and willing to learn and grow. Which we tend to strip out of us as we encounter the brokenness of this world. We do things because they have always been done that way and we have trouble imagining anything different. But children do not behave in this way nor did Jesus. Jesus lived in awe of life, of God and humanity and this awe was contagious. People who saw how Jesus lived began to see how life should be lived. Jesus revealed how God intended life to be lived.   This is what Jesus himself lived and this is what Jesus invited us to live also. And he taught us that if we want to experience God's life in this life, then we need to become like little children once again. So we'll see what are the other characteristics of little children. And the most important thing is a child capacity for excitement. And excitement is an appreciation, gratitude and awareness of things as they are. We must think of the disciples of Jesus Christ as they couldn't get over the excitement of the good news. They were irresistible as they proclaimed that Jesus was God incarnate and he died on the cross. And he burst the seal of the tomb that he lives for evermore and that he can change anyone's life who comes to him. And the disciples were ready to sacrifice their lives for this truth. But excitement of this good news we read in the New Testament, we certainly don't have it today. So Jesus is calling us again to go back to the thrill and excitement of a little child to enter the kingdom of God and bring other people also to the kingdom. Another thing about the children is Jesus meant that we have a childlike forgiving heart. Children cannot hold any grudge for very long. It is true that they have their misunderstanding but they are very short. And they never allow their prejudices to interfere with their joy of living. The little quarrels are soon patched up for. They can keep no enmity in their hearts. In that sense, we are all to be like children.  We cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus thought that it was foolish to seek forgiveness of God while we refuse to grant forgiveness to others. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. This also means that we were to have to live as simplicity of the little child. How natural it is for a child to believe except we become as little children in believing we shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. But our intellectual culture has crippled our ability to believe in the simple yet profound truth of God. We are dragged by materialism and numb by secularism so that we become hardened to a simple act of faith. But Jesus said we can be converted and become as little child and the childlike faith when we come to the cross of Christ with the knowledge that our sins are forgiven and we are new creation in Christ Jesus which is 2 Corinthians 5.17. This also meant that we were to come with the natural mentality of the child. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees who were pretending their religion with false humility and outside religiosity. The worst thing that could happen to a man is becoming contagiously religious so that he will not see the greatness of Christ and need of Christ in our lives. So Jesus said in Matthew 5.3 blessed our poor in spirit for this is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who are natural and pure enough to believe in God and to take their hearts and all of his greatest provisions which he made for us. Christ meant that we would become repentant heart like a child. We must never see the broken hearted repentance of a child poured out for the wrong done. A child has great capacity for repentance and this we should be taken into our life that we should have a believing, repenting, humble, natural mind like a child so that we can enter the kingdom of God. Apostle Paul said that to both the cultural Greeks and the pious Jews the reality of Christ on the cross sounded like the surest folly. But Paul said that wisdom of the world, in wisdom of the world it never found God and we are still groping blindly to seek him. Paul said the secret is found in the cross and we must approach the cross as a child and the real question is, are we willing to humble ourselves today to receive Christ as our Saviour with all the simplicity of a little child and we just pray that Lord that Father give us wisdom to do it according to your will in Jesus name. Thank you. Thank you, Nina. Thank you. Next is Prince. You switch on your, check the mics, switch on the camera and then we'll start the timer. You can push your chair back a bit, I think. Okay. Okay. I'll start the timer. The mic is not muted. Is it muted? Yeah, it was off. Okay, okay. Say something. Okay, yeah, got it. Okay, we'll start. Good morning, everyone. My sermon topic was staying hopeful. And I just want to share some of the insights and some of the thoughts on how we can stay hopeful in the situations that we face through in our everyday life which are so challenging. And we know the story of Jericho walls, right? The walls of Jericho were 17 feet high and they were made with thick, pure solid stone. And it is very hard and impossible situation for the Ang Ami Israelites and God promised to give them the land of Jericho, which is a main land, which is a main thing for Israelites to start to capture the promised land of Canada. And God promised them that he will give the land of Jericho, but it doesn't mean they will escape the reality that they have to face the Jericho world. And I think it's how it is in most of our lives that we have the promises of God. We have those dreams and visions that was backed up by the word of God and the promises of God. But it doesn't mean we'll escape through the realities of life. Like the Israelites have to face the Jericho world before the promised land. We also go through the walls of life and these walls in our lives can be sickness. There was addictions or disappointments, discouragement. We can name them anymore. And when we face these situations, it's very hard to keep our faith strong, to keep and stay hopeful believing that we'll see a miracle. That we'll see answers for our prayers, that we'll see our situations changed. And the bigger the walls, the bigger the situations were, the bigger intimidating and scary the situations may look like. And like Peter spent whole night catching fish, trying he will catch fish in the next tray, but ended up catching nothing. Most of the times we do things. We keep on doing things, believing that God will do, believing that we'll see a breakthrough, believing that we'll see our prayers being answered. We'll see believing that our situations may change, but we won't see it in some times. We won't see the result and we end up discouraged, tired, overwhelmed, hopeless. And sometimes we even bury our hopes, thinking, okay, it's not for me. Like maybe it won't happen, maybe it's not the will of God in my life. But I think most of the times why we, even though we know our God is a God who does impossible things, we know our God who is the one who turns water into wine. But why we still end up losing hope is because maybe we try to keep a period where there is a comma. Maybe we try to interpret things and situations on our own knowledge, on our own wisdom, instead of what the God says about it, what the God looks our situations at. We know like Joseph was betrayed by his own brothers and sold into slavery for Egyptians. But in Genesis chapter 45, when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, he says that you sold me into Egyptians, but God has sent me. He didn't interpreted his life based on the event that was happened, based on what people has done to him, based on what happened, but he interpreted his life and his situation, based on what God has done. Even though you have meant it for evil, but God has turned it for good. And even in the same, it is the same with the Israelites when they went to spy the land of Cana. All the 10 people, they came and they speak so hopeless things. They are like, they look like giants and we are like grasshopers before them. But it's Joshua and Caleb who told, they didn't deny the fact and the truth that the army of Canaanites are so powerful and strong. They didn't deny it, but they spoke the word of God that we will go, we will take the charge, because God has promised that he will give us the land. And that's how when we see things through our own eyes, that's when we get off of our hope. That's when we get discouraged off our hope. But when we start to see things through what God, what God says, what the promise of God over our lives through, that's when we keep our hopes alive. That's when we keep hoping and keep pressing forward without getting discouraged and getting tired. And most of the times it's not, and the question is not about do we have faith, but the question is more like, do we still have hope for what we are having faith for? Because in Hebrews 111 tells that faith is the evidence of things that we hoped for. And we need to have a hope for our faith to see like how we can keep on, how we can keep our faith if we are not hoping in the first place. We have to have a hope that we'll see the result. God will do what he has promised to do. And most of the times even our hope may be in our own confidence, maybe in our own selves. And that's where our hope is so powerless because the hope where it is not in Jesus Christ is powerless. And in Romans chapter five verse five tells that this hope will not disappoint us, will not lead us to disappointment for we know how dearly God loves us. And before the verse that tells, endurance develops strength of character and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And the word Greek word for salvation is sozo, which means it is a wholeness. We have everything that we needed in the salvation. So when we keep our hopes alive, when we keep our hopes not based on our situations, but on how God sees our situations, what the word of God tells our situation, that's when we can keep our hopes alive. That's when we, even though we get discouraged, even though we see failures, when we look back towards what God has done before, the word of God tells that even though enemy meant for evil, God will turn it for our good. God has prepared many good things for those who love him. When we keep our faith, when we keep our trust in the Lord and the word of God, that's when our faith won't be wavering. And Hebrews 10-23 says, Let us hold tightly without wavering to our hope. A frame for God can be trusted to keep his promises. And it is important to keep our faith, to keep our hope firm so that we can see the promises. It's like God will keep his promises and we have to trust it. And how we can trust completely is staying hopeful. And how we can stay hopeful in difficult times is looking what God says, looking what the word of God says. And looking how grateful and faithful he has been over everything and believing that the God who called us is faithful to complete every good work that he started in our lives. Thank you. Thanks, Vince. Thank you. Okay, so next we have Anand Paul, Pastor Anand. Go for it. Yeah, sorry, yeah. Okay, you ready? Just check the audio. Check, check, check. Yeah. Just one more person. Okay, yeah, start at the time. Hey, good morning, everyone. I'm Anand. My title is faith and my topic is on truth about Christian faith. Hebrews 11.6. It says that and without faith, it is impossible to please God. What is actually saying is without faith, we cannot do anything. It's impossible to please God. If you see, faith is the major thing in the Christianity. We can tell like this also, faith is the prerequisite in order to know God and to connect God. About the Christian faith, the truth is, if you see in India, there are 3 billion faith. The Christian faith is different and the other 3 billion faiths are there. If you see in other faiths, the important will be on the believers, which is in Christianity, faith is not depend on subject of faith, but on the object, which is Jesus. Let me tell you once again in Christianity, faith is not dependent on the subject of faith, but on the object, which is Jesus, while the others will be on the subject. I can proudly say that Christian faith stands out. If you see in Peter and his books, faith is compared as a precious faith. It's a priceless. So, Christian faith is the most invaluable faith in the worlds of the faith. So, I just want to take you today through John chapter 2. If we think about John chapter 2, we'll mostly remember about the Marys and we can listen to sermons about the Marys. But I just want to take you in another perspective, which is from verse 23. Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name and they saw the signs which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all men and had no need that anyone should testify of man, but he knew what was in man. So, if you see this verse, we all know that's the miracle which Jesus did. And because of the miracle, there are so many people who came to Jesus and believed him. But the main point, if you see here in verse 23, then Jesus did not commit himself to the people. Why Jesus did not commit himself to the people? Because it says like, he knows the intentions. If you see, according to John 2, 23 to 24, all believers are not true believers. He knows the intentions of the hat. So, if you see here, people who came to Jesus are just came because of the miracle, what happened. And what I think is in our Christian life also, most of us will be running after the miracles each and every time in our life. What I think is, I mean, there are certain times God says no. We should believe on him and hang up on him in each and every time. The very saddest thing is in our Christianity, we have changed the object of faith. I don't know about the urban churches and the regional churches and villages and all. People actually changed the object of faith. Today, our faith was depending upon this oil bottles or curches or pastures. See, I mean, I'm not telling it's a wrong thing to do. But what's happening is the object of faith is getting changed. So, but it should not happen like that. Our faith had to change. Our faith should not change. When we see in the prayer also, prayer has no power. But in the person to whom we are praying to is only have the power. I mean prayer is the only channel to get the power from God. If really, if you really think like prayer is the most powerful thing. If we see gentiles also, they'll pray so good than us. If you see, now it's November.  I mean, they have this meditation of 40 days. If we see also, they'll climb the mountains on their knees. When we compare to their prayers and all, nothing we are doing. But what I'm telling is maybe for them, there is a power in prayer for us. But the person to whom we are praying, there is power. So, when we come to the same reference once again, the reason why Jesus did not commit to their faith is because their faith did not help them to commit to God. When we see the scriptures in the whole Bible, faith is all about commitment. So, what kind of faith we are keeping on him is a matter. So, I just want to take you through three kinds of faith today. The first one is emotional faith. And the second one is intellectual faith. And the third one is emotional faith. Emotional faith is all about the emotions, the faith which we get out of the emotions because of some particular things. And the second one is intellectual faith. Intellectual faith is faith which is associated with a belief that may not necessarily lead to the practical changes. But maybe it will give little faith. Maybe the other thing is it won't last long. The third one is emotional faith. Emotional faith is all about refers to a resilient and courageous act of will. We are going to talk about the emotional faith now. So, what I tell is we all should have the emotional faith which is we have to know the God's will and we have to follow that. Emotional faith is all about doing everything for God. God actually desires emotional faith from us. As a Christians, we all have to introspect us. What kind of faith we have? Are we doing the will of God in each and everything what we are doing in our lives? Actually, we have a faith that has to be accepted by him. I mean, the other thing also, when we come to the emotional faith, we have to surrender our whole will to God. When we see in Matthew chapter 7 verse 21 also, not everyone who says to me, God shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Whoever do the will of the Father, they can please God. Faith is like an anchor of the ship. So, we have to think ourselves on which, when your faith is on, is it on? Is it on some miracles? Is it on some pastors? Is it an object? Faith is all about us and God. We are believing God. There is no need of, I mean, I'm not denying the pastors and all, but the thing is, everyone has the same power, God given, if you have faith, if you have belief, everything will happen. But the other thing is, we can believe miracles, but we have to believe Jesus also. Miracles are the only channels to lead Jesus. Who does miracles? When we see a bleeding woman, when Jesus went to a bleeding woman, when she got healed, Jesus, it's a very private thing for her. But why Jesus actually calling her, who is this, who is this and what? Because why Jesus spoke with the lady, because he don't want her to stop at the miracle itself. That miracle should lead her to Jesus. Faith is not anchored in the miracles. Faith is anchored in the character of Jesus.  And the other thing is, when the miracle happens, it should not stop us there. I mean, it should not stop there only. It should, that miracle should lead to Jesus. And we have to put faith on Jesus. We should not keep our faith on men of God or men of God. As a men of God and we are, I mean future men of God, we have to introspect ourselves and we have to teach. And we have to think of ourselves what the commitment we have for Christ. And when coming to the commitment, it's all about submitting to the Lordship of Christ. We should come under God's control. If we compare this democracy, maybe people will think there is some freedom. But when you come to the Christ of Christ, it is under the God's control. There are so much freedom. 2 Corinthians 3, 18. We should obey the God in each and every situation. If you see so many people, David, Abraham, they followed Jesus and they were so fruitful. And the other thing I want to point out is, everyone making God, maybe Jesus, we are thinking maybe Jesus is my God. I don't have any other things. But in some other things, which is something lingering in our mind, 24 hours other than Jesus, we are making it on idols. Finally, the orchestration of a person who are in faith. Such a faith overcomes fear. And the second thing is such a faith overcomes worry. And such a true faith is consistent. Overcomes fear. If you see apostles acts for, they pray for the courage and they overcome the fear. And the second thing, such a faith overcomes the worry, which is Sam's 5522 says, cast all your burdens upon me. And the final thing is such a true faith is consistent. Thank you. Thank you, Madam. So no altar call, no? The end. Thank you. Okay, next we have Sriradha. Sriradha, just check. Give her the mic, please. Check, check. Yeah, say something. Can you guys just say? It's not coming on the past thing. Check, check. Okay. Is it visible? Go ahead. I'll start. Yes, pastor. Okay. I'll start, pastor. So my title is, my sermon title is Little Things Matter to God. And the topic is God is working behind the sin. When we are telling ourselves, we are unworthy. So I'll start with a story. So in a village, a woman used to live and that woman used to go to the river every day with her two vessels. One was broken and the other one was completely new. After two years, the broken vessel, which one is the broken vessel? He told its owner that why you don't throw me instead of carrying me? I'm completely broken. Then the woman took it on the way to the river and showed both the sides of the path. Paths were filled with beautiful flowers and she said to that vessel, can you see the flowers? When I carry you, water falls from you and from that water these flowers come out. Flowers came out. So never say that if I should throw you because you may feel broken the eyes of you but see what God birthed from your brokenness. So we'll see some of the things from this story. First thing is never underestimate the silent periods or waiting season of your life. If we see from Old Testament till New Testament, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, even the Jesus, everyone waited for the right time. Everyone had that waiting period or silent period in their life. Second thing is waiting period is not a wasting period. Sometimes we think that our waiting period is just like we are wasting but God is telling that it's not something that we are wasting. And if we see in Psalms chapter 31 verse 15 that our time is in his hand so it's not something that we are wasting. Third thing is never compare yourself to others. This is something that we do some mistake that we compare ourselves to others. Comparison is the enemy of contentment. It will always leave you feeling behind.  And next thing we will see that God uses every single thing, even our brokenness also. If we see that from... Sometimes brokenness has two parts. One is always lead to the God and one is always lead to the world. So we have to choose which path we are taking. One is brokenness is a blessing because it leads us towards the God because God is telling that when we are broken we are near to God because in our brokenness we always see God's face. So I want to share to verse one is Matthew chapter 10, 29 to 31. It's telling are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin and not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore you are of more value than many sparrows. So there is no favoritism in God and it's like we may see from our perspective but in God's perspective we are always like worthy and John 13 7 God is telling that Jesus answered and said to him what I'm doing you do not understand now but you will know after this. So maybe we are here in that waiting period or in silent period but there is hope in Jesus there is something like after every night there is a day. So it was my sermon. Thank you. Last but not the least for today we have Mr. Nikhil Masi bringing us God's word. So Nikhil Masi check check. You can switch on the camera. Ready Nikhil? Okay. Good morning once again everyone. Today is my sermon topic is living life as a Christian as we are believers as we are Christian so how should we live and what we have? What should we follow? So we are going to see this some points about living as life as a Christian as a believers as so first thing is live in obedience so for believers for like for Christians obedience is the most important thing. It is very important when we believe in Jesus Christ why because when we see for Samuel 1522 it says obedience is the more than is better than sacrifice if we are sacrificing anything if we are not obeying so that everything will be best so obedience is very important things for believers life as they live when we see a Brahms life in every areas wherever God says and he did maybe he could have asked how I will do how it it's possible but no he did whatever God says he obeyed he was faithful that's why called father of faith so obedience is the most important things in Christian life when we see John 1027 it says my see will listen my word my voice that is means telling about obeying when we see John 1415 if you love me then you will follow my commandments and indeed it says if you will love me you will keep my commandments so that's why it says when we love so it will be good it's good to obey in every areas to obey Lord and second thing is live like a child of God when we see believers life when we see they called to be a child of God called them to become his child so first Timothy 24 says God is calling us to be become his child to be his child and when we see John 112 it says if you will believe then you will get chance to become his child so when we believe in Jesus Christ as a savior so we'll get chance to become his children one John one it says God loves us he called us called us that's why he wants to save us so he loves us so live like a child of God and when we see third point live in authority so believers they should know because they also have authority in Christ Jesus as they are believers as they are follower of Jesus Christ Christian they have authority so let me share about little when I accepted Jesus Christ so that time I used to think like only pastor can preach I used to think like only prophet can prophecy I used to think like only like they can from where they are getting this power from where they are getting this all things but after when I started reading Bible so after I get to learn believers also called Jesus gave authority to everyone he says Luke 10 19 he gave us authority over all things Matthew 28 18 he gave us authority to preach to teach the word of God when we see I used to think like only in church like only big big pastor only they can teach they can preach only other people they just have to listen but when we see Matthew 28 18 he is giving us authority to teach and preach so that means every believers have authority to teach to preach the word of God and when we see Luke 9 1 authority over all sickness and demons so when we see it's like it's for believers like sometimes they think only some pastor can pray they can lay hand and when they will pray they just believe like when they will pray that then I will get healing then I will I will get healing and only they can demonstrate they can cast out demons only they can do but when we see Luke 9 1 he is giving us authority over all things all sickness all so that means believers also can lay hand they can pray they also can cast out demons so they can also do everyone can do because they are child of God they have authority so they also can do when we see Mark 16 17 18 if you will believe then this these signs will follow you to lay hands to lay hands and pray cast out demons to all things if you will believe so that means whoever will believe that means anyone can believe Jesus Christ as a savior so these signs will follow them they can also do all these things they need to believe yes they have authority to do these things they have authority to overcome in this situation believers life should not be like every times just telling God complain complaining on God complaining on God like God why you doing this why you this why you are having situation why in this things in this things all things but no they have authority to declare over all things they have authority to declare our situation declare over all troubles in their lives they have authority and when we just we will see three more points and one see God not to sin when we see a most why for it says see God not to sin Proverbs 1923 it says fear God not to man because the fearing of God it will lead us in the way of life so fear God not to man and when we see love God not the world when we see 1 John 2 15 to 7 it says do not love the world God says if you will love the worldly things if you will love the world then you will get cheat because there is you will get in every areas but if we will love to God because he loved us he loved us he gave his son because of love so he loved us so that's why it says do not love the world so this is the points I want to say so Christian life they should know this things like only some of the points I have so they should know the things like what they have what they should follow what they have things how they should live they all things they should know so this is very important things so okay God bless you thank you thank you Nikhil thank you okay so we have 4 more minutes left so what we do is we will stop here huh yeah remarks okay we can probably share some let me see if I remember I'll just look at the hmm okay Nina's left um so Prince um huh yeah that's what I'll just yeah so yeah one thing that I've felt um is the personal application but what can you do okay so to to really emphasize that I think I felt that everyone needs to really be strong in that area uh because that's what you're leaving behind so to say that okay this is something that you heard but this is something that you can this is what you can do with it so um yeah so it was good um then Anand um yeah Anand very interesting topic and very interesting way that you shared and um again the personal application so so Prince coming back to Prince Prince is yours is a message of hope right so um so again this yeah staying hopeful so the personal application bit is very important like you know so which means that okay this is what I can take home so to really summarize with that correct correct yeah so so when you summarize it okay here are three things that you can do and also to like when you actually bring the thing out in real life examples okay it can be from your own life uh so that will really um put things in perspective and uh yeah I mean whatever you did but um to give some more details will be fine yeah so uh Anand also same thing personal application I think you you shared a lot of stories to illustrate the points but personal application of um you know uh of uh faith I think that that came through but you can actually summarize it uh Srirada uh Srirada what I felt was you could you could actually have spoken a little more you had some more time you finished in some uh yeah you know she had about I think four and a half minutes or something left according to my clock so um that was the thing um and uh yeah and the scriptures you see you're using a power point so put the scriptures there right you uh you you're using the power point for the points for your but then the scriptures can also be put there you had a lot of um you know good scriptures to share you can put that over there as well um yeah and also time you know you I think you were probably under pressure you wanted to finish it fast uh you didn't want to be you know left without time but then you can uh the best things to make best use of time you know not to rush through but take your time and uh do it and also a brokenness you can actually share a little more what does it mean really you know you can uh give it some more depth so so I can see I might be broken uh in a way but I don't really know it right uh like to my mind I'm just thinking brokenness maybe maybe lack of self-worth lack of self-esteem um maybe going through um I don't know difficult time you know uh so if you bring out what is really brokenness you know we have this idea okay something that is not right but what aspect of it is not right you know if you point out then um then I'm able to really receive that healing and all this and for a typical message like this you need to go into ministry time of course not for you know our presentation but really you can actually invite the presence of God to you know all these areas of brokenness that can be healing yeah nickel musty nickel um good nickel um and uh you also had some good points about Christian living uh you know basically on identity authority etc uh wind it up with that you know uh probably you thought you were running out of time but you had you know one more minute so to wind up uh would really help right okay thank you everyone so next uh class we would have Samuel Madhu and uh I think Anthony uh so these are two folks and uh maybe whoever Prabhu also Prabhu yes Prabhu, Prabhu, Samuel Madhu, Anthony uh three and anyone else who is not presented can do that right thank you so much God bless you bye bye


And so we give us a good overview of what this bill's all about. And if there are any flash points we should be aware of based on your experience. Okay. None of those I'm sure. Does everyone have a copy of the bill? Yeah. So you should follow along. I'm going to use my notes if I can. By the way, for the record, Brian Colomore representing the Ruffin Senate District. I'm going to use my foreign notes if you can if you will to walk through the bill. This is an act relating to the mitigation of systemic racism. Section one expresses the legislative intent. Section two amends the section of law setting forth the powers and duties of the governor's cabinet, which will include a directive that the cabinet work collaboratively with and provide relevant records to the chief civil rights officer, which is a new position created in this bill. Section three adds a new chapter to title three regarding that position. Section five 001 creates an independent position of chief civil rights officer to identify and work to eradicate systemic racism within state government. It gives the officer the powers and duties of the governor's cabinet while keeping the position independent of the cabinet, and it houses the officer within the agency of administration. Section five thousand two establishes the panel, the civil rights advisory panel within the agency of administration that consists of five members, none of which shall be legislators appointed by the various appointing bodies here, the Senate committee on committees, the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Governor and Human Rights Commission. Subdivision two specifies that the member shall have experience working to implement racial justice reform and that they represent geographically diverse areas of the state and that at least three members shall be persons of color. Subdivision three provides that the member shall serve staggered three-year terms, implies that of the first members appointed, one member shall serve a one-year term, one member a term of two years and up to five years so that the term of one member expires in each ensuing year. That was very complicated language at the beginning. I introduce an amendment which clears that up and I'll get to that a little bit later. The responsibilities of the panel are set forth in subsection C and those are to appoint the officer, work with the officer to implement reforms, oversee and advise the officer, report to both the, it should be Senate and House government operations committees annually and only the panel has the authority to remove the officer. The panel is entitled to per diem compensation. Moving on, section 5003 sets forth the duties of the Chief Civil Rights Officer which are to work with state government to combat systemic racial disparities and measure progress toward fair and impartial governance. These duties are to include oversight of a comprehensive organizational review to identify systemic racism throughout state government, management and oversight of the statewide collection of race-based data. Subsection C specifies that the officer shall work with the agencies and departments and the CPO, the Chief Performance Officer to develop performance targets and measures for all three branches of government and directs the inclusion of these measures in the officer's annual report to the legislature. Subsection D provides that the officer shall in consultation with the Department of Human Resources and various agencies and departments develop and conduct trainings for the agencies and departments. Subsection E grants subpoena power to the Chief to require the production of data and to compel testimony. The power granted to the officer is similar to the subpoena power of the Human Rights Commission. Section four is the authorization for the position. Section five, the appropriation that is been replaced by the appropriations committee amendment and we'll get to that a little bit later and section six creates a timeline of events for the rollout of both the position and its work. The panel is to be appointed by September 1st of this year. The officer job description posted by November 1st. The panel appointed the officer by January 1st of 2019. The officer updates the government operations committees on how to achieve the comprehensive organizational review including potential private and public sources of funding for it by April 1st and next year and the bill takes effect on passage. Now one of the two amendments that I offered on the floor was to retitle the bill to enact relating to the mitigation of systemic racism and that has been accomplished. That is in fact the name of the act. And then I mentioned the appointments to the panel. So the first one will change the subdivision setting up the staggered terms to specify which length of appointment is made by each appointing authority. So the Human Resources Commission points a one-year term. The governor appoints the two-year term, the speaker of the house appoints the three-year term, the committee on committees appoints the four-year term and the Chief Justice appoints the five-year term and they will be staggered from that point on. The second repeals the officer position and the panel in five years on June 30th, 2024. And we heard from a very long list of witnesses. I can go through them if you'd like. It's not necessary since we have basically the same, not down to the exact number but virtually the same one that you folks have. Yeah I will say at least one on one occasion we had to adjourn from our committee room to room 10 to be able to have enough people in the room to be comfortable. Are you set for some questions? Sure. Senator Comart, thank you for the overview. This was helpful. Can you, and I don't follow the Senate actions real closely, but there was a news article about some war amendment on this I think related to the commitment of the panel. Can you give us any, I guess ultimately fail, but can you give us any background on that? Sure. Yep, Senator Brock introduced or offered that amendment. He and I had talked, when he knew I was going to be the reporter, the bill he indicated that he was going to offer an amendment. This is the amendment that he offered, which would replace subsection or subdivision two in that five thousand two section. In order to promote vigorous debate and a full exploration of the issues, panel membership shall reflect a variety of background skills, experiences and perspectives be racially diverse and represent geographically diverse areas of the state and all members appointed shall be made in a non-discriminatory manner. That was the amendment that was offered by Senator Brock on the floor. I don't want to speak for him, but I think he did mention on the floor that he felt that in order to put persons of color in the bill was in fact racism and he felt very strongly about that. And the vote as I recall on the amendment was 18 to 12 not to accept his amendment. So I'm trying to understand how this would work in practice. It's in the bill. It says at least three members shall be persons of color. And then you have a five-member panel. Correct. And one's appointed by the governor, one's appointed by the Human Rights Commission. So who gets to choose who's who? I mean, I guess if they're making these appointments independently, how do you end up with the balance or the criteria here being fulfilled? That's an excellent question. I think the feeling was that there would be some collaboration and some talk with the appointing bodies before they would appoint anybody so that that fact would be accomplished. And then the panel would meet and decide who the officer was going to be. Okay. My next question relates to the director or officer or whatever it's called. Is that a full-time or a part-time position? No, intended for six months worth of funding. And I didn't get to that, but the Appropriations Committee in the Senate did appropriate $75,000 for the position of the Chief Civil Rights Officer and to take care of the per diems for the panel. So it was intended to be a six-month appointment. And that was it. Okay, so that raises the next question. So six months meaning like just because it's only going to be half a fiscal year? Correct. So the annual appropriation is really twice this? Well, that's not addressed in the bill at all. The only money that's been appropriate is the $75,000. No, I understand. But if we're going to set all this up unless it's only going to last six months, next year we have to appropriate. Correct. Twice that amount. Correct. Okay. I just want to make sure that that's understood. Yep. The other question I have and I'll be quiet after that is it seems some of this has to do with issues that we might normally turn to the Human Rights Commission. I can remember an incident where a small business didn't use public restroom to be used by a customer of color on the Human Rights Commission that evolved and resolved that issue. Did your committee look at whether or not the Human Rights Commission would be the right place and maybe somehow could be beat up to serve this purpose as opposed to looking to a brand new independent commission? I'm not really sure in the end who reports to it. The initial bill was drafted by Senator Ingram from Chittenden County. So this is the end result is different from what was originally intended or originally proposed. But the Senate Government Operations Committee, I think, was pretty clear in its intent that we, while we appreciate the work of the Human Rights Commission, we wanted to focus strictly on systemic racial problems in the state. So we felt that it should get an independent full-time panel and officer working on that. So that was the intent right from the get-go, was to not use existing bodies, but to appoint and to fund a separate group, if you will, that would concern themselves only with that one issue. How did you define a person of color? That was a very interesting discussion in the committee room. We didn't come up with a definition. And why is color the primary determining factor? Why wouldn't it be all races or religions?  Why aren't we talking about different nationalities as opposed to just color? Well, again, the intent of the committee was to address racism. So that is based on race. And we felt strongly, I think, because the committee vote was 5-0-0, that that should be a part of the discussion, that in many ways, and there was a lot of floor debate on this topic too, you can only understand what someone else is feeling if that person is talking to you about their experiences. I used the example, I don't know if I did it on the floor, but I think I could do it here, in education, for instance, in tests that our teacher will come up with in tests and everybody. What we, as whites, see as a perfectly legitimate question may not be viewed the same way by someone of color, so that we don't see the same lens that they do. And we felt that at least to have a majority of the panel on that was important. Thank you. Sure. We've got John and then Cheson. So, Senator, I was looking at the duties of the civil rights officer, and A-1 says, you know, oversee a comprehensive organizational review to identify systematic racism in each of the three branches of state government, but then it says, which may be completed by consultant or outside vendor? Yes. There's no money for that in this bill. Correct. We did ask Joint Fiscal to come up with a fiscal note for us on that. And we had estimates somewhere between, I want to say, $200,000 to $450,000, depending on how long and how deep a dive you wanted folks to do. But the costs were not addressed in the bill. No, that was something for a future legislature to be concerned. The only funding, the only money attached to this is the $75,000. OK. Thank you. Just to follow up a little bit on Rob's question, I was curious about whether or not you heard from anyone from the Abinachias. And there is a chief of the Nelhigen band that lives in my district, and is curious. And so I'm kind of, because I would assume that that would fit under this, no? Again, we had a very interesting discussion on the floor about that. To my knowledge, we did not hear from anyone from that group. So can you tell me a little bit about the interesting discussion on the floor? Well, again, if you tried to, in 25 words or less, describe what a person of color is, you probably, if you talk to three people, you get three different answers. Senator Pearson, I think, made the point that it's everyone that's not white. And so then you begin to look at Middle Eastern folks, and are they persons of color or not? Asian people, are they persons of color? And the answer is we can't come up with the perfect definition. And if you look at the federal government and how they've, because I know that there is a whole section around Native Americans, and so they have to find it somewhat as well as the different nationalities have been defined. So I wonder if that could be helpful. We didn't take a look at anything like that. Okay, thank you. The vote, by the way, on the floor was a voice vote, as I recall. We didn't take a roll call on that. But we did take a roll call on Senator Brock's amendment. But when it was defeated, we moved immediately to a voice vote, and there was a nose.  Other questions for the senator from the committee members? Lauren. Small on the appointment of members. The term shall be three years accept. And then we have the one year appointment, two year appointment. And as terms of currently serving members expire, appointments of successors shall be in accord with the provisions of this subsection. And I'm just wondering which provision. And I would hope that their reappointment would be for three years, even if they had originally been appointed only for one or two years, four or five, for that matter. At some point, it gets self-selecting. As people step down, these staggered terms are necessary when you begin, but not in the future. Correct. And I think the amendment that we passed, which changes the way that the appointments are made, took care of that. OK. With this bill originally, it's now an act relating to the mitigation systemic racism. Let me go back. I could look it up. There was oversight in the original, the systemic racism mitigation oversight and equity review board. The board. Thank you for that, Mr. Cheney. I don't know. OK. Yes, Your Honor. How often do they propose a meeting, though? I don't know if that's addressed or not. There was a question earlier, and part of the answer was full-time. And I'm not going to get any volunteers to go full-time if they want to get a PD. That's the chief officer. That's the chief office director itself. Yeah, but there was a mention in sort of passing through about full-time. I'm looking at the bill to see if I could get to any answer. I don't think, I don't believe there's anything in there that addresses it. I'm going to get the sign on that. The sign was on frequency of meetings. I don't see anything. The problem should be someone who is going to burn through your podium. Yes. Really fast. Just a couple more questions for the senator, and then we have to ask for other folks. Jessica? Just quickly. So it looks like the head of the board, the chief, the civil head can't find the name. Chief's of the right. All the other sides. Reports to the board. Does that person report to anyone inside of government? So the governor or a chief, nothing more? I just want to be sure I'm not missing it. There is a report that goes to both of the government operations committees annually, I believe. Yeah, I saw that. I'm looking at it right back. So how many positions are there in state government that aren't controlled by the governor or the administration and can't be fired by the administration? Yeah. That was another interesting point. I'm not sure there are. We did take testimony from folks that in order to set this up as an independent panel and position for the officer, it was important that it not have to sort of have shoestrings tied to any of the branches. So it is worded that way that only the panel may remove the officer. And it became a matter of discussion in the committee and also on the floor. OK. And just one other question with respect to the subpoena powers. Yes. What if there has to be subpoena enforcement? I mean, it doesn't really detail what happens if, say, a witness refuses to comply with a subpoena or an agency refuses to produce documents pursuant to a subpoena. Yeah, the subpoena power was an administrative one that is similar to what we have with the Human Rights Commission. And I believe that if that happened, the attorney general could get involved. OK. Thank you. Marcia, I might have an answer for John's question. It used to be that it was the commissioner of education and liquor control were not direct appointees of the governor. I think that's changed for education, but liquor control still reports to their board. But my question for the senator is, when you testimony, can you give me an idea of how pervasive this issue is on state government? Well, I think that's the answer to which we hope this panel and the officer will come up with. We did take testimony from both the Agency of Transportation and Department of Public Service through the state police that they have already begun work on this and have made substantial progress, I would phrase it. But there may be other areas of state government that we just haven't looked at yet. So that was the point of having the panel and the officer. Yeah. To look at this carefully. Thank you. As a follow-up to that, are there benchmarks, even if they're fuzzy, from which further progress can be measured? Well, I think if the panel and the officer work with the chief performance officer, that person is a big champion of results-based accountability, as we well know, from serving on other committees. So there will be outcomes and indicators, I'm sure, that they'll be able to work through. Thanks. Go ahead. No, I began my Senate report by saying that I think we all can point to instances of bad behavior by people who are acting in a racist manner. But what we don't understand sometimes is the systemic situation that we may not even be aware of. That's why I use the example of the education and the testing and the particular question that, for all of us, might seem fairly innocuous, but it may not be that way underneath all these layers. And I think that was the intent of this panel and the officer. Thank you. First, as a follow-up to Marcia's comment about the liquor in education, I think she's exactly correct. However, in both cases, those boards are totally appointed by the governor. So one could argue there is certainly an indirect line to the governor in both cases. But getting back to who this commission reports to, the Attorney General's Office, I believe, has a civil rights division. Was there any conversation with the Attorney General's Office as to whether this was the right home for the commission or board? I know that we have testimony from that office. I'm trying to remember who came in. I don't see it quickly here. But yes, we did have discussions at least about that. But again, the intent was to make it as independent as possible. It kind of just sets out there to kind of do its own work. And that's a matter of concern, I know. I'm going to take the last question, because your bell is ringing. I'm going to tug out the room there. I have a feeling today's process may not be quite as long or contentious as it is. Oh, yes, Friday. Was there any discussion in committee as to what happens or how it's dealt with? If there's disagreement in the bill, it talks about three members of the panel. Language, I lost it. Yes, at least three members shall be persons of color. If there are individuals, even one individual who believes that there are not at least three members that are persons of color who have been appointed. In other words, if it gets to that question as to how to define, what happens? Was there any discussion about that? Well, I think with the odd number of members of the panel, you would just vote. So from within the panel itself, they would refuse to say that the person, x, y, or z, was not to be seated as part of the panel? Well, no, I think that I jumped ahead. It would be the step before that the appointing bodies would be getting together and deciding who was going to be on the panel. Yes. So at that point, they would have to come to a conclusion. But if they were a member of the public, say, took a look at the final constituted panel and said, hey, they don't meet the definition. There's not three persons of color. Was there any discussion about that if there was the interpretation from outside of the nominating entities and all? Because you mentioned to us there was all this discussion as to how to define is a person from Asia a person of color? Is a person you were running through that before? No, we did not discuss it. We left it up to the appointing bodies to reach consensus and appoint people that they felt were. Yeah. Thank you, Senator. I would head downstairs as need be. Thank you so much for your flexibility. The senator was asking if we couldn't start at 8.30. I explained that we had people driving in. 9 o'clock is our Tuesday morning time. So thank you. You're very welcome. Have a good day. Thank you. And may we call upon you if we have some questions? For sure. Let's see. We have with us our colleagues. Did I see Deanna come in? Or did she? She loves. She has chemical sensitivity. Oh, we have stuff in here? There might have been. Because I think that's why she loved it. It happens in our committee. Well, coach, would you care to share with us any thoughts you have in regards to this bill? I want to take advantage of members who can be here when they stop by. Because your presence shows an interest, it seems, to me for you, Bill, before you get all back to where you would normally be at this moment. Well, I think we're going to go right to the floor. Oh, OK. For the record. Representative Kevin Coach Christie from Hartford. So in following the Senate bill, S281, there was a bill that was in the house, and it is now on your wall, H868, mitigating systemic racism in Vermont. And that was a parallel bill to Senator Ingram's bill. And the outcome of the work in the Senate is what we have before us. Our bill, as you know, is still on the house version, is still on the wall. It's a much broader context. The house version of the bill, it not only looks at state government, but it looks at racism across the spectrum. It goes back into policing, the criminal justice portion of the system as well. And as a result of the work in the Senate, especially in Gabobs, it was felt that initially, to get a very deep dive done at the administrative level throughout state government seemed to be a very appropriate way to go. And when you look at the structure, it's more like an Office of Equal Employment Opportunity. And if you look at those offices across organizations, the idea is that they're autonomous. They have a responsibility to look at where inequities might be across that particular organization and delve into that research and work and come up with solutions, possible trainings, as have been noted, in the Senate bill. So taking that all into effect, I noticed the questions about the Human Rights Commission being used as the vehicle to mitigate some of these questions. And I think that from a legal perspective, what's happened is the Human Rights Commission deals with the state government side of things. And then the AG's office would deal with those external components. Being that the Human Rights Commission has a charge to protect all protected classes, we'll find that. And I think that when we look at how things have worked over time, the Human Rights Commission would end up dealing with those issues in state government because it felt that there needed to be a separation from the AG's office in some cases that showed a true separation, especially around that subpoena component and being able to mitigate one of those cases. I also heard the question that why didn't the Senate look at possibly merging the responsibilities into the commission? Well, after 30 years, this is the commission's 30th anniversary. Its composition has not changed. The work of the commission has drastically changed over the last 30 years. And there has been no support given to the commission. So to give it an additional charge without authorizing additional resources would not be an appropriate thing. When we do things in state government, sometimes that aren't necessarily what we'd like to say are proactive, but that would have been bordering on ludicrous. And that's not just a judgment call. I mean, think about every bill that we've seen that talks about responsibilities, most recently the sexual harassment bill that we passed out of the House, shared responsibility of the protected classes was given to the AG's office, Andy Human Rights Commission. The AG's office added staff. The commission has not. So I mean, there's only so much you can do with what you have. So anyways, that's that perspective. I have a couple of questions. Sure. Committee, questions for the coach? One, I guess going back coach to your, excuse me, about the Human Rights Commission. Are there no people of color on that? Is that what you were? I was just appointed by the governor as the commission's new chair. OK, so now there is. Now, in the last three years, I have to admit. Could you give me a couple of examples of what systemic racism looks like, say within state government, as far as maybe would be more probably your personal observation? Well, I'll give you an example of just weird situations, for lack of a better adjective. A few days ago, I was in the motel and went to breakfast. And I was the last person in the little breakfast up there. And this woman comes up and says, do you work here? And I went on to say, why do you ask? And she couldn't. I mean, then she started blah, blah, blah, blah. And I said, why do you ask if I work here? And she couldn't really answer the question.  If you had said that to someone else, we might have had a whole different outcome to this conversation. I don't work here. Your assumption was inaccurate. When you look at situations and the number of times that people respond differently to you as a person of color, depending on how I dress, if I'm in my work clothes, today's work clothes, sir, I mean, people go out of their way to do that. When I'm more casually dressed, the responses change. And I rarely dress like I'm working out my car unless I go to a car place. But there's a whole different range of reactions that people have. And that's fact. It's part of my reality as being a person of color. I've been in Vermont since 1973. And if I shared some of those, it's changed since the early 70s. Back in the 70s, besides epithets used. And it was hard to tell where it was coming from. Was it mean-spirited? Was it just total ignorance? Or were they trying to see my reaction? But that has changed over time. Some of it's become more subversive. And you can sense when there's a different tone that's being used, simple things like people not wanting to put your change directly in your hand, like throw it on the counter, things like that. I mean, when you're living it is a whole another ball game, so to speak. And it's real. Talking to people on the phone is because of where I went to school and the fact that I went to an appropriate school. My speaking patterns aren't necessarily, let's say, neighborhood patterns. So talking to someone on the phone, I'll get a certain response. Once I meet that person, a whole different response. So it's fascinating in a way. Pain in the butt sometimes, but it is what it is. People are really trying to get a better understanding, I think. People with open minds, people that feel that. Like Senator Calamor said, you know when you see it, and then it's pretty apparent, it's not easy sometimes. Sometimes you want to just lose it and you can understand why people do. I choose not to, because I don't like that side of my personality when I lose it. So I keep it under control. But I do know folks who don't. And that creates a pretty hairy situation, so to speak. But that's the reality. And that's what we're looking for. Now, when as a trainer, because I have helped school districts especially, work through issues of bias, as I said, just general bias. And when people start to understand that we all have biases, it might be a bias for a person with a handicap or it could be any number of different situations. But as we start to learn about ourselves and about how we can sometimes misdirect our feelings about certain things, that's when the door really opens to change. And that's what this training piece we're talking about. That's what the Human Rights Commission over time has found itself in that role throughout the state, be it with schools, be it with businesses. I remember a case when I was on the commission before. And it was one of the last cases we had where two people went into a denny's. And one was a person of color. And another one was his salesperson partner. And so they were seated in a closed section of the restaurant. And I remember that case like it was yesterday. Needless to say, denny's, even with the litigation power that they had lost the case. But it was clearly a case of discrimination. Other cases where an interracial couple at the sheriff in Burlington went out. And the husband made the reservation. The wife came in later to get her room key. And they wouldn't give her the key.  For lack of a better way to put it, those kinds of things still happen, still go on. And I think that we have an opportunity with our work legislatively to try to help mitigate some of these problems. And that's what it's about. I think the better we understand each other, the better we understand what these problems are, the easier it is for us to do our work collectively. And that's what it's about. And you couldn't ask for a better time to be doing this bill than the anniversary of Dr. King's death. Because he got it done. And that's a tribute. And I think for all of us. So I guess that's all I've got to share at this point. I'm just curious to hear that you're going to be the new chair of the Human Rights Commission. I'm just curious if you see that if this were to go through, that you would try and work together, to some degree, would the Human Rights Commission and this new board have any relationship together? Well, I guess the dream piece would be that not only would the Human Rights Commission, but all of the commissions that are dealing with protected classes. But to look at that racism, systemic racism component initially, looking to work with the AG's division of civil rights, as well as this new civil rights officer, would be a goal, one of the goals of the commission. And as we move forward. Would you be available to us also? Sure. I'd be happy to. Perfect. Great. Thank you very much. And thank you very much. Because this isn't easy. I mean, stuff that tugs on our hearts and kind of get into places in there that are kind of gushy, for lack of a better adjective, it isn't easy. But I think the fact that we're taking this opportunity to work on it says a lot of love for mom. It's what makes it special. Sorry? Just woke up. No, you were lying in the way. Have other states set up what we're talking about here? Not that I'm aware of. So sometimes it's helpful to look at someone's structure or something. And who is it report to? How is it funded? What have the results been? Has it made a difference? And that would be really interesting to know. Well, I guess it's something that we could always do a little work with NCSL or one of those entities, at least make an inquiry to see we're in the process of developing our work and what do you have available. Yeah, good point. Thank you. You all come here. I hope that we have time to do a full walk through about me at all. Nine pages. But it sounds like you've got a little bit of a walk through our day through the night. If you would mind, I wanted two questions I wanted to ask. Sure. We need to go downstairs. One, do you have any flexibility later today to come into an honest-to-God walk through with us? Yes. I'm booked in committee, I think, from 2 to 4.30. But outside of that? I'm thinking much before. Because I gather a floor for the house is also going to be very short today. And I think we're all going to go directly into caucuses, which opens up right after lunch for committee discussion type stuff if we didn't have people coming. So we'll say if this transpires as such, we'll say 115 be possible for you to do a full walk through with us. Committee, does that seem reasonable? If indeed this plays out the way I've been given to understand, it might, if nothing's ever for sure, it happens around here. OK, so we'll try for 115 for an honest-to-goodness walk through. The other thing I wanted to ask right now, so at least in my mind, chew on this, this business about it's on page, come, come, come, come. It's right at the beginning of section 3, thereabouts. Dagnabbit. Oh, here it is. This business about the chief civil rights officer. So when there's talk about it being independent, is it truly meant to be entirely independent of everything out there? It's like a free-flowing atom or something. The language in the bill does suggest that it's intended to be independent as a governor's cabinet. Although it's housed within the executive branch, it is intended to operate independently of it. And that all the departments and agencies are basically told in this language, you will cooperate face to face. Yes. And just informal. Yes. Yes. I just wanted to get back here and I'm going to go on. OK, OK. Folks, any short questions for understanding 115 will do the formal walk-through. Warren? I just wanted to, one of the last questions your coach was aware of things in other states. And I just wondered, as you were looking at it, did you, I assume that other states have faced this question in different ways? Yes. So I'm not aware of any other states that have instituted something similar, but I am aware of some initiatives to put something similar into place. So I can work with NCSL to find out if there are some samples that we can look at of other legislation. That would be great. So when you say initiatives, I guess ours would be an initiative because we're actively looking at it but haven't enacted anything. So other states have perhaps something similar going through? That is what I'm not sure of, but I will work with NCSL to find out how far along the process of other states gone. OK, great. Thank you. That would be helpful. We all set till 1.15, assuming things unfold as predicted. If not, watch for notes from me or spend it on the floor and say something off the cuff. OK, what will work? What will work? All right, and then thank you, Brad. Thank you. Till later, till later. So at 1.15, here's my plan for the moment subject to potential change. At 1.15, we get things squared away in our heads as to what the bill actually says with Bryn. And then after Bryn finishes, and we finish with our questions for Bryn, if we could then have some committee discussion time before 2.30 arrives regarding the Waterbury Charter. OK, because at 2.30, we have to move into formal discussion of the charter again. Understanding that anybody and everybody is welcome to sit in the room and listen to said discussions. OK? Down on the floor in five minutes. Interesting. Welcome back to having most of the seats grilled, Brown. Yeah.


Right, here we are on Worthing Seafront. Welcome to Film My Run, my name's Stephen. This is where I live and where I live sometimes very silly things happen. This is the World Championship Flip Flop 5K. This is Nick from Bad Boy Running, wearing his flip flops. On for the win of the World Championships has to be Paul Sargent. Don't be silly. Wearing his flip flops. So everyone's got to wear flip flops. I've no idea what times are going to be like. I'm looking for 18 minutes for the winner. This is Pete Sutton wearing his flip flops. Are these free flip flops given to them? Well, that's worth the entry price alone. They're basically doing the Worthing Park Run route. And the Worthing Park Run route starts just here. This event, bizarrely, is officially timed by Timing Monkey. And Russ is walking it with a beer. Quality work, Russ. I mean, he has just run 100 miles, so it's fair enough. Race director Jay, what's the word on the street from halfway? Paul Sargent's in the front. Paul Sargent is leading. Quite a few haven't been proved, so... What, 11 minutes? 12 minutes? So, 12 minutes into the race. We've flown halfway and Paul Sargent is in the lead. And coming in at around about 19 to 20 minutes, it is Paul Sargent in the lead. He's going to win. He's going to win the World Championships flip flop 5K. Look at that. Now, did you tape them? You didn't even tape them to your feet. Well done, Paul. How'd you feel? Feet of sore. Feet of sore? Yeah, fair enough. Paul Sargent's feet of sore. Nick Barter coming in. Right, so this is Alice. Alice is our first lady, running first bird over all. And she's running flip flops and she's beaten her own personal 5K. That's not bad. That's not bad. Second lady coming in. And here comes Terry in his favourite running shirt. Oh, and it's the bad boy press-ups. Has to be done. Actually, Nick didn't do it. Nick, you didn't do the press-ups. What's going on?  It's just mandatory. Here's Pete Sunderland. Well done, Pete. Into the finish is Russ. Say that again, Russ. 100 miles, no blisters, 5K on my feet are in pieces. Well, that's because you ran in those final two coming in in the world championship flip flop 5. And there we are. That's it from the flip flop 5K here in Worthing. Hope you enjoyed that bit of fun, isn't it? Take care. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.


Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. Quicker team or two teams? What are the idea behind doing this run? To build teamwork and to get the different MSCs in the different sections to be able to go out there and compete and do something kind of fun together. I believe this event ties into the Marines being warfighters. What we do as Marines, there has to be a lot of camaraderie. There has to be a challenge, we have to be physically fit, we have to be spiritually fit. We get a chance to do an event like this at a place like Marfor Rez, which is a headquarters. There's not a lot of interaction amongst Marines. This type of opportunity gives Marines to get out and compete against each other and build those relationships and camaraderie. And that way, you know, have done some kind of funny events with each other and get to know each other a little bit and build really that Marine Corps team. And I believe that's what a lot of Marines join for.