Until entering seminary, I was serving as the Director of Life Coaches for Kids® at Bethlehem on a volunteer basis. But Julie and I were faced with a difficult decision. With the house sold, and most of the move into our rental home completed, I now had time to work. And I needed to work to give us any chance of making it financially through seminary. The question was should I leave Life Coaches for Kids® directorless? (After over a year of searching there was still no one on our leadership team that could take on that role.) There just wasn’t enough time to serve my family, work, do school, and lead a ministry. However, in the Fall, a new option emerged. A pastor at church recommended that I talk to the director of Bethlehem Urban Initiatives (BUI), an inner-city ministry of our church.
I talked to the BUI director and found him very supportive of the idea of us working together. Most of the kids we find mentors for in the Life Coaches for Kids® ministry live in the inner city, so it was a natural fit. He proposed that I increase my hours from 2-4 per week as ministry director to 10 hours per week to help our team develop the ministry in new ways. I could do this by raising support as a part time urban missionary. This would allow me to expand the minstry instead of leaving it, and it would allow me to continuing serving father absent kids in the place of part time employment. I put in my application in the Fall.
On January 29, after a pair of interviews, we heard back from BUI. The board had made their decision. I was approved!
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