Last night a friend an I went to Niceville for an event in support of a new entrepreneurial women’s transitional residence ministry. It has been in the planning for several years, arising out of one woman’s passion, experience, and calling…
We are pleased to cheer them on as they get housing for six women up and running. Congratulations Freedom House and Stephanie Wedel!
From 7 years ago today in my journal:
“Six years of employment as director of women’s ministry for a rescue mission (to which I was appointed as a provisional deacon from 2012-2014) ended in April 2014 after a new executive director had come on board 6 months earlier. His style of management and his theological position regarding women in ministry led to me leaving there and starting a non-profit recovery community residential ministry. The Lord has blessed the endeavor. And I am happier than ever, knowing that I am doing what God has called me to do. The ladies in our ministry’s care are thriving and finding freedom in Christ and moving into healthy, interdependent lives within the Body of Christ. Opposition and discontent are dificult, but in God’s wonderfully redemptive way, they aren’t always bad things….they can lead us to where God is moving us………..”Enlarged territory” doesn’t always mean more people under one’s supervision or more responsibility….sometimes it means more effectiveness (and a whole lot less time!) I actually have time for MY life, which includes initiating and participating in other ministries! I actually get to DO MINISTRY in several smaller settings 1-to-1 and not just trouble shoot the crisis du jour involved in a 53 bed facility, attempting to address homelessness and substance abuse. Some things are better done on a smaller scale, it seems! …..like discipleship, mentoring, spiritual healing, and transformational ministry. Or maybe my spiritual gifts do not include administration on that larger scale, especially when denied the personnel and authority to do it!
If your style is interpersonal and entrepreneurial, one-to-one and intimate, DO IT. Ministry that is institutional and large scale isn’t for everyone.”