MINISTRY JOURNEY

How God Shaped My Calling Through Awakening, Service, and Seasons of Becoming

My ministry journey is a testimony of how God shaped my calling over time — through service, through awakening, and through moments I never expected.

My early ministry involvement began after my relationship with God deepened in adulthood. I served as a youth leader, learning how to teach, encourage, and support young people. Later, I became ordained as a deacon, which expanded my responsibilities and deepened my understanding of leadership and service.

But the true turning point — the moment that awakened my calling — came during a simple family vacation.

A Vacation That Became a Divine Appointment

(Excerpt from EVERYWHERE: Seeing God’s Fingerprints in Every Season)

In the mid‑80s, my late wife Helene and I took our two sons to Cedine Bible Camp in Tennessee. It was meant to be a peaceful getaway — rest, recreation, and family time. I wasn’t seeking ministry. I wasn’t expecting revelation. I wasn’t looking for anything more than a week with my family.

But God had other plans.

During one of the teaching sessions, something shifted inside me. It wasn’t emotional hype or a charged environment. It was quiet. Simple. Unexpected. Yet unmistakably divine.

It was the weight of the Word settling on me for the first time.

At Cedine, God awakened a hunger I didn’t know I carried — a fire for Scripture, a passion for teaching, a desire to proclaim truth with clarity and conviction.

I didn’t go to Cedine looking for a calling. But a calling found me.

Cedine didn’t create the gift — it revealed it.

The Awakening That Followed

When I returned home, I wasn’t the same. My pastor noticed the shift before I could articulate it. He saw something stirring in me — something I didn’t yet understand.

Later that summer, our church entered a season of revival. One evening, my pastor approached me and asked me to teach a series during the revival. I had never taught publicly before. I didn’t feel qualified. But he trusted what God had awakened.

So I taught.

Night after night, the presence of God moved in ways that confirmed the calling. The Scriptures opened. The words flowed. The gift awakened at Cedine now had a place to breathe.

Cedine awakened the gift. The revival activated it. My pastor confirmed it.

I didn’t go to Cedine looking for a calling. But a calling followed me home.

The Ministry That Followed — The Verified Timeline

As the years progressed, God continued to shape my calling through service, compassion, and real‑world ministry experiences.

Licensed to Preach (1989)

In 1989, I was licensed to preach the Gospel — the formal beginning of my public ministry.

Ordained to Pastor / True Faith Baptist Church (1990)

In 1990, with the blessing and support of my home church, I was ordained to pastor and organized True Faith Baptist Church, which worshipped inside the Open Door Rescue Mission.

This placed me directly under the spiritual covering of Pastor Herbert & Mary Rylander, and into the environment God would later call me to lead.

Volunteering Under the Rylanders (1990–1994)

Helene and I served faithfully at the Mission for years — supporting the Rylanders, serving meals, ministering to men, and building trust with the Mission community.

These years prepared us for the mantle that was coming.

A Door Opened Through Faithful Hands

Before I ever stepped into leadership at the Open-Door Rescue Mission, God used a quiet, faithful servant to open the door.

At my home church, Mother Corinthia Riley — a missionary and a pillar of faithfulness — carried a burden for the men at the mission. Every week she gathered food and delivered it, serving with consistency, compassion, and conviction.

Over time, she persuaded Helene and me to take the food on Wednesday evenings after Bible study. What began as a simple act of obedience became the turning point of our ministry journey.

It was during those weekly visits that we met Herbert and Mary Rylander, the leaders of the mission and the ones who would become our predecessors. Their heart for broken men, their commitment to restoration, and their unwavering faith shaped the environment we would eventually inherit.

This moment — sparked by Mother Riley’s faithfulness — became the doorway into a season of service, leadership, and transformation.

The Rylander Passing & Succession (January 1994)

When Pastor Herbert Rylander passed away in January 1994, both ministries faced a defining moment.

Because of:

my pastoral experience
our years of volunteer service
our established presence
our relationship with the Rylanders
our proven leadership

both the Mission Board of Directors and the Open-Door Gospel Tabernacle congregation asked me to step into leadership.

In 1994, I became:

Executive Director of the Open-Door Rescue Mission, and
Pastor of Open-Door Gospel Tabernacle.

This dual calling marked the beginning of the next major era of my ministry.

The Open-Door Rescue Mission A 23‑Year Era of Service (1994–2017)

For 23 years, I served families facing addiction, homelessness, and brokenness — walking with them through the hardest seasons of their lives.

These years shaped:

my compassion
my leadership
my understanding of real‑world ministry
my heart for restoration

They became one of the most defining eras of my calling.

ASD Classroom Ministry

My work as a paraprofessional in an ASD classroom became a ministry of patience, structure, and compassion. Supporting students with autism taught me how to serve with gentleness, consistency, and understanding.

It shaped my heart for families and deepened my commitment to helping people navigate challenging seasons with dignity and hope.

Respite Care Ministry

From that classroom experience, God opened another unexpected door. I began serving families as a Respite Care Provider, offering support to parents and caregivers of children with special needs.

What began as professional service became ministry — creating sacred space for families to rest, reconnect, and breathe again.

This work is not behind a pulpit, but it is ministry in its purest form: showing up with compassion, providing relief, and letting God love families through me.

Books That Shaped the Ministry

These works mark defining seasons in my journey — not the early years of ministry, but the years where God rebuilt, restored, and reaffirmed His calling.

GOD'S PURPOSE FOR MY PAIN (2010)

Born from grief, shaped by revelation, written after decades of ministry with my beloved Helene. Learn More about GOD'S PURPOSE

INEVITABLE - A Celebration of Life, Labor, Love (2020)

Celebrating 60 years of life, 30 years of ministry, and 10 years of marriage to Yolanda. Learn More About INEVITABLE

EVERYWHERE - Seeing God's Fingerprint in Every Season (2026)

A revelation that God is woven into every ordinary moment, every hidden place, every chapter. Learn More About EVERYWHERE

Together, these books stand as witnesses to a God who is present in pain, faithful in transition, and sovereign in every chapter.

The Beginning of Becoming

Looking back now, I see that Cedine was not the beginning of ministry — it was the beginning of becoming.

From youth leadership, to deacon and then pastoral ministry, to teaching, to serving at a local shelter, to my work in the ASD classroom, and to providing respite care for families, God used every season to shape my voice, refine my calling, and prepare me for the work I walk in today.

This page preserves that journey — the gradual awakening, the divine appointment, the confirmation, and the faithful path God used to build the ministry entrusted to me.