Howdy family and friends!
This is a very exciting season for Team Berkey and we wanted to share with everyone what is going on! Many of you have followed our story and seen how God worked in amazing ways to bring us together and then make our transition into a family of four a great one. We are so thankful to Him for how life as Team Berkey has gone. There are challenges at times, but overall, our house is full of love and laughter! And lots of noise--Paxson (10) and Preston (8) are a constant source of dirt and noise but we do love them so. They have responded to Tod as Daddy so well, and he is more than I ever imagined he would be as a Dad. I could go on for days about how much Tod has blessed me and the boys but I'll get to the point of this post instead!
Many of you have asked what Tod has been doing for employment since he moved to College Station. That answer is a long one so I'll summarize. Several great opportunities have come and gone but none of them have materialized into a "normal" job. God did provide a great house for us to flip last year and after doing the repairs we sold it in the Spring. We loved the flexibility and time together that allowed our family. About a month ago, one of the other job opportunities Tod had been working on for about six months fell through because of circumstances beyond our control. A few months before that, we both began feeling like God was up to something and that He was going to make a substantial change in our lives but weren't sure what it was. We have both been leading Bible study with our church, Grace Bible Church, and had sensed God might want us to serve in a different way. We both loved our roles in that ministry but thought God might want more and/or something else. When the job fell through, we began praying about what would be next.
The rest happened pretty fast. Sometimes God paves the way for a big change and moves in circumstances around you to direct your steps very clearly! We are thankful He has done that for us! For most of Tod's working life, he has done full-time vocational ministry in many different areas. Some of those were serving at a Bible camp to working overseas with youth and families at a church with expats in England and Chile (about 12 combined years in vocational ministry). He also held several secular jobs and God blessed his efforts at both. In ministry, God used his many gifts and talents to do great things. There are countless stories about how the ministry grew or goals were easily met because of how Tod worked and served. He says that in his many years of ministry, he never had a day when he thought, "I HAVE to go to work today." He loved serving Christ by loving on others and using the gifts God has given him.
As we spent time discussing and praying about what might be next for him, we explored where his passion lies in ministry. It is no coincidence that our passions are the same (perhaps God knew that when He led us together!). We both greatly desire to work with churched people who may be saved but do not understand what "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27) means, who do not believe who and whose they are, and who are working really hard to earn God's love and favor. We both were blessed with spending time at a Bible school that focuses on those things as well as having the victory and peace in Christ He desires for us. I'm certainly not saying we have it all together--far from it--but we have learned Truth about our identity and how God sees us and try to live it out. We are also blessed to be in a church that teaches the power of God's amazing grace as well.
As we honed our ministry focus to churched people, we realized that means getting a job in a church since that's usually where the churched people are! To work full time in a church in a pastoral-type job, in the stage Tod is in (42 years old with a wife and two boys!), you typically need to have a seminary degree. So we began to pray about him going to seminary. Tod has considered seminary several other times in life, but felt led to jump into full-time ministry instead. He has done it kind of backwards--where most people attend seminary first, and then enter vocational ministry, Tod did the ministry first. A few weeks ago, we decided to go talk to one of our church's pastors who often helps folks with life coaching and has lots of wisdom and experience with seminary and theological education. He had Tod take several tests in preparation for that meeting about spiritual gifts, occupational gifts, etc. We had a great visit and he highly recommended Tod attend seminary because of his God-given gifts and passion for ministry. We then met with another one of our pastors to ask the same questions and seek his wisdom because he spent many years on the mission field and would come from a different viewpoint. He also recommended Tod attend seminary but also mentioned there might be some needs and opportunities to serve at our church while he does. The following week the first pastor asked Tod to meet with him again and communicated one such wonderful opportunity that would fit well with his passion and gifting but that would also require a leap of faith and trust in God's provision on our part!
Our church has asked Tod to serve as a Fellow for the next 2-3 years and lead our singles program that meets at both our church's campuses! We are so excited and ready for the challenges. One of those challenges is the Fellows program (formerly called Intern Program) means we are required to raise our own support, or salary, for that time. There are about 20 Fellows who were chosen in the Spring to begin this fall and they work in several areas of the church. We are coming in a little late to begin fund raising but we also know God's timing is perfect! A typical Fellow at Grace has just finished their undergraduate degree and works as a Fellow to serve in full-time ministry for one to three years to see if that might be where God is leading them to continue. Many of the Grace Bible Church Fellows attend seminary or work full time in a ministry once they are done. While they are in the Fellows program, they also take seminary-type classes that allow them to take AP tests to get seminary credit. Check out the Grace web site Here for more info on the Fellows program. Tod will not fit the typical Fellow mold since he is twice their age and has lots of ministry experience but that's not stopping us from following God's clear leading to join them!
Tod officially applied to Dallas Theological Seminary at the end of June, completed the Fellows application and then was offered the job a few days later! We met with our pastor who provides leadership for the singles ministry and he shared how they have been praying for the right person to take over and what their vision is for our singles ministry. It has been led very well by several volunteer couples over the years but there has not been a staff person tasked with a singular focus on it yet.
After praying about it and seeking wise counsel we feel excited to go for it! I have also worked at our church and held two different jobs there so I know what a blessing it is to serve in that community and enjoy the fellowship with the other staff. I'm thrilled that Tod gets to use the gifts he has in teaching, leadership, mentoring, counseling and wisdom as he serves the young adults in our congregation and know he will be a blessing to the staff too. I am also happy to join him in this ministry and look forward to how God will use us as a team. We love serving together and have similar passions.
Many of you know we bought a house last Fall and renovated it for three months. It was a MAJOR fixer-upper and our main reason for wanting to take on the project was because of how well suited it is for ministry and hospitality (and it was a great deal)! We have already used it for both and love having a place that allows us to comfortably have large groups over. It's so cool to now see one of the reasons God clearly led us to our house, which is right in between our two church campuses, is because He knew long before we did that He would ask us to lead the singles ministry at Grace!
It might be surprising to think we even need a singles program with so many college students in College Station but it's growing like crazy and many grad students and young professionals continue to stay and/or move here. I've spent two seasons as a single in College Station so know what it's like--one as a single before marrying Layne and another as a single mom and widow before marrying Tod. :) Both seasons had their challenges and one of the biggest ones was trying to choose to trust God in His timing and ability to provide for me. Tod also spent many years as a single and we both feel we can relate to the challenges they face. We don't know yet exactly what his ministry will look like with the group--he may teach the Sunday school class every Sunday, we may lead a home church group with them, we may lead separate small group Bible studies with them, mentor and disciple folks one-on-one and more. Since he is also starting seminary classes in August we will also have to figure out how his class load will combine with ministry and our family life. As we soon dive into the job we will work those details out.
This is where some of you come in! To begin his job in August, we need to have raised a minimum of $18,000 in donations and/or pledges by August 1, 2015. (UPDATE--As of August 1, we are thankful to report we have the $18,000 in donations and pledges but are praying for God to still provide more. It's not too late!) All donations are tax-deductible and go through Grace Bible Church. Depending on how much we raise, some funds will cover Tod's minimal salary and others will cover seminary expenses. Because Tod will be attending seminary and has a family of four, we obviously need to raise more than $18,000 but trust God will provide for our needs through donations and other sources of income. If the process of support raising is new to you we are happy to answer any questions. It's very similar to raising money for a mission trip or to going permanently on the mission field. Our mission field just happens to be young adults and professionals in the Bryan/College Station area! They need to understand the Gospel and God's grace just as much as anyone else in the world does and we are honored to help with that need. I will try to cover some questions you may have here:
How do I partner with you to support Tod? You can support us with prayers and/or giving financially and we would love and appreciate it all! If you decide to do either, please fill out this online form we created first so we can have your information and keep good records. For some prayer requests, please skip to the end of this post. If you'd like to give financially, the easiest way is online by credit card at Grace's web site here. If you would prefer to give by check, please make checks payable to Grace Bible Church and write "TT25" in the memo line. Please do not put his name anywhere on the check. Those can be mailed to Tod and Erin at 1826 Shadowwood Drive, College Station, TX 77840. If mailing a check and you'd prefer not to fill out the online form, please provide your address, phone number and email so we can put you on our mailing list to get updates about our ministry as it unfolds. Any donors who fill out the online form we created will receive e-mail updates from us unless you tell us you'd rather not get them.
How much do I give and for how long? However much you feel led to give of course, but folks typically either give monthly in amounts from $50, $100, $200 or more or give with a one-time gift. If you want to give monthly, automatic monthly drafts can easily be set up online with a credit card. If you want to give monthly with a check, please let us know that when the check is mailed so the pledged amount will count towards our goal. For now, we are raising support for the time it will likely take to complete seminary and stay in the Fellows program which is two to three years. We understand of course that circumstances change and folks who may not be able to support us now could in a year or vice versa. There is no "wrong" amount. We are thankful for any amount for any period of time.
If Fellows are employees of Grace Bible Church, why do they have to raise support?
Great question. In a perfect world, they wouldn't! However, Grace is a unique church in that it is a "University/Family" church. This means that it is a church comprised of very few families and an extremely large number of transitory university students, most of whom are not able to support the church financially. Although Grace loves the unique position in which the Lord has put our church, they face additional financial challenges associated with our church body that many churches their size do not. A few of the things that put them in a unique position financially include:
--55% of our church body are college students
--only 30% of our church body have full time jobs
--only 27% of our attendees have lived in the B/CS area for more than 5 years
--only 25% of our church body are members of the church (most college students don't become members due to the short amount of time they attend Grace)
Grace's college ministry involves 1500+ college students who attend college services and participate in small groups and discipleship. There are thousands more folks in "big church" and other programs. The Fellows are critical in order to effectively disciple and pour into some of those. There have been 10-14 Fellows the past several years and to account for the need to have so many, Grace raises a portion of the support needed for each Fellow but they ask the Fellows to raise money for the portion not covered by Grace Bible Church.
Also, I will still be doing my photography business--one of my other passions--but with the instability of income that comes with owning a small business we don't feel it was wise to reply 100% on that. Tod also hopes to flip some more houses. We don't know how God will provide but we know He will.
Isn't it more effective to support missionaries heading overseas? Grace (and the Berkeys) strongly support overseas missions! In fact, Grace believe the Fellows program is one of the most strategic opportunities to partner with in reaching the world for Christ! Grace views their Fellows as missionaries strategically placed in the small town of College Station, Texas to reach students and people around the globe for Jesus Christ! With a wealth of approximately 45,000 undergrad and graduate students at A&M and Blinn, you can imagine how vital and valuable ministry to them is. Texas A&M is also a hub for international students from all over the world! The internationals who come here to study are often the most influential people in their respective countries. If we can reach these international students while they are here, we can have a great influence in countries in which we've never set foot! Many of them are involved in the singles ministry as grad students too!
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading about what God is doing with Team Berkey! Even if you cannot give financially, we would LOVE your prayers as we embark on this new adventure. I can say with complete certainty that many of your prayers have gotten me through other challenges and seasons in my life that also required supernatural faith and trust in God to provide in ways I couldn't even imagine! So you fellow prayer warriors, please do it again!
Please pray:
--that God would provide for us through ministry partners financially and in prayer
--that God would prepare us to serve faithfully in the ministry to singles in whatever ways He calls us and that He would be working in the hearts of those we will serve
--that God would help Tod balance his ministry, seminary classes and family life
--that God would protect Team Berkey from attacks of our enemy who is always ready to thwart God's plans. That He would protect our marriage and guide our parenting.
--that our focus would continue to be Christ and Christ alone and that we would draw all life, power, focus and identity from Him and not people, our jobs or anything this world has to offer.
Thanks for caring about what we are up to and for praying for us! We are so thankful for the amazing people God has put into our lives! If you have questions we haven't answered here please contact us directly!!
The picture above was taken on my 40th birthday last month! We went to Brenham to go roller skating--so fun!
