Michael and I are very excited to share that we have accepted a job together as Family Teachers at Vera Lloyd Presbyterian Home and Family Services in Monticello, Arkansas! You can visit Vera Lloyd's website here and get a tiny glimpse of the awesome ministry that exists on its campus. We were able to visit the campus last Thursday and Friday and have been spending time in prayer individually and as a couple until last night when we came to the place where we both knew this truly is where God has been leading us the whole time. There are so many questions to answer, so I thought I would format this post in a question/answer format. Feel free to leave any unanswered questions as a comment! And as always, take or leave the details!
Q: Where is Monticello and how big is the town?
A: Monticello is 1.5 hours South of Little Rock and 1.5 hours North of Louisiana. It is a small college town (University of Arkansas @Monticello) of about 10,000 people situated in the beautiful, hilly parts of the state. Several state parks are extremely close by and my family's reunion hot spot (Hot Springs) is about 2 hours away. We'll be about 10 hours from Salina.
Q: How do you feel about working in a different denomination (Presbyterian) and how does its connection to Vera Lloyd affect the ministry there?
A: We are not concerned about this change for several reasons. First, the organization as a whole was described by its own staff as very ecumenical and most of the staff attend churches of their denominational preference. Secondly, the joy of the Lord and the Spirit of God was very evident throughout our conversations with staff and our tour of the campus, and that is most important to us. It truly was a Christ-centered atmosphere. And third, neither of us are denominationally bound by nature. We love the Evangelical Covenant denomination but recognize our brothers and sisters around the world. Being connected to a denomination as far as we can tell is only a huge benefit as each home is adopted by groups of churches who continually pour into the kids living there and the physical needs of the home. The home we will be in was just remodeled last year by their sponsor church and all new furniture was purchased. The girls who live there receive monthly care packages and were just treated to dinner and the Hairspray Broadway show in Little Rock on Sunday by their sponsors. Not only is the organization solid financially but supported by churches who see a huge part of their mission as loving on the kids and people of Vera Lloyd.
Q: What are the children/youth like that you will be working with?
A: We will be in one of the girls' houses. Each of the girls who will be in our home will be in the foster care system of Arkansas. About half of the girls living there right now (we will have up to 8 girls at a time) are long-term residential and the other half are shelter kids (up to 45 days at Vera Lloyd; a.k.a. emergency care). The girls' ages range from 8-18. A new transitional living home is planned to open this summer where long-term girls and guys can move in at age 16 to begin the process of transitioning into adulthood.
Q: What is the environment like on campus?
A: Holy Cow - it is so incredible; we fell in love with it! The people of Vera Lloyd really exist as a family. We were able to meet the whole staff (5 sets of houseparents, housing directors, program directors, campus director, support staff, etc.) and felt embraced with the love of Christ. There is a real team and cooperative spirit, which reminded me so much of the FCC staff and was attractive to Michael who hasn't experienced anything like that in the public school system. Every person we interacted with sees their role at Vera Lloyd as a personal ministry and impossible without the Lord. Some very troubled children and youth end up at Vera Lloyd, but lives are impacted daily and it is obvious.
Q: I know you were looking seriously at some other larger campuses; what drew you to select this one?
A: At the time of our visit, we had narrowed our search down to Vera Lloyd and another campus in Texas that we were really impressed with. The two campuses are both Christ-centered and wonderful places, but extremely different. In the end, several factors aided our decison: 1. God's timing continually was intervening for Vera Lloyd. 2. The children at Vera Lloyd are truly foster children or orphans, which is where our calling originated. The children in Texas come from several sources but not foster care. 3. We were at home at Vera Lloyd; our personalities and hopes and dreams line up completely with the direction that the director plans to take the organization; Texas would have been probably just as wonderful, but would have been a much larger stretch for us culturally (ranching, rodeo, cowboy, etc.). 4. In the end, it was a feeling of being drawn and called to Arkansas...even in ways we could not explain. One particular thing that has stuck with me has been comments made by the current Program Director with the longest tenure at Vera Lloyd. He said the organization is in the best place it has ever been with the greatest staff they have ever had and no one is planning on going anywhere. Everyone's hearts are truly ministering together. The current staff with a few exceptions have extremely long tenures for this field (some of the couples having been Family Teachers for 10+ years there). A GREAT time for us to join a great ministry and learn from some amazing people.
Q: What is the campus like physically; what about the house you will live in?
A: The campus is right in the middle of town. It's beautiful. It holds 5 Family Teaching homes, a guest home, an administration building, a school & gym, and a few other miscellaneous buildings. They also own acreage of timber that is a source of revenue, as well as owning a large pond used for fishing or relaxation. Plans are in the mix for a challenge rope course and meditative prayer walk through the woods, as well. The home we will be in is great. We will have a small apartment that can be locked off from the rest of the house for off-duty time or opened to the home when we are on-duty. Our apartment has a few bedrooms and baths, a small living room, and kitchenette. The home itself has 6 bedrooms and bathrooms (one is for the alternate who works while we are off-duty), a gathering room, dining room, living room, kitchen, and office for Michael and I. (We forgot our camera to take pictures - Sorry!)
Q: What will your schedule be like?
A: We really like the Vera Lloyd schedule. Three weeks a month, we will be on duty at 9pm Sunday and get off duty at 3pm Friday. The same alternate will work those weekends while we are off duty. One week a month, we will be on duty for the weekend and have some weekdays in the middle of the week off. We are responsible for setting up our schedule, so there is some flexibility in cooperation with our alternate to figure out how to work this for the benefit for everyone. What is extremely attractive to us is that 3 Sundays a month, we will be able to be involved in the church of our choice as a couple and possibly even a small group (if it gets out by 8:30pm) Sunday night. The children at VL attend a Presbyterian church twice a month and churches of other denominations and worship styles the other weekends, so once a month we will join them on their rotation! As far as our daily schedule goes, it will always be an adventure! Mornings have a lot of structure and the kids go to school everyday, but the afternoons and evenings vary quite a bit.
Q: Everyone's favorite: What will YOU do all day?
A: Along with the Family Teaching Model, USDA-approved menu and food documentation, foster care case work, and other things I am sure I don't even know about yet, there is about 40-50 hours of paperwork a week for the two of us to split. We will also handle our own line-itemized household budget for all expenses related to the home and the kids. Day-time or "school time" will be our time for organization, because this job demands a lot in that area. We will plan our meals, take care of the household needs, etc. We'll also have staff meetings and appointments for the kids in our care. Outside of these duties, this is our "down time" each day if we can squeeze in a nap or lunch out together or an afternoon walk to energize us for the wave of activity hitting us at 3pm.
Q: Do you plan to sell your house? Anything else?
A: Yes. As much as we hate it, selling our home will be the best option for us. We would love to sell it privately, so talk to us if you or someone you know is interested! And, yes, we will be selling A LOT else. This will be an incredible down size for us as our personal belongings are to fit within our apartment. I plan to have a few garage sales before we leave but am also willing to sell things privately, although which "things" is still under discussion.
Q: When will you leave Salina & FCC?
A: We are talking specifics with VL soon, but the start date we originally gave them was July 1. Before July 1, we hope to squeeze in a week long vacation together and a week of packing and preparing to move, so my end date at FCC will probably be around the first or second week of June.
Q: Where is Monticello and how big is the town?
A: Monticello is 1.5 hours South of Little Rock and 1.5 hours North of Louisiana. It is a small college town (University of Arkansas @Monticello) of about 10,000 people situated in the beautiful, hilly parts of the state. Several state parks are extremely close by and my family's reunion hot spot (Hot Springs) is about 2 hours away. We'll be about 10 hours from Salina.
Q: How do you feel about working in a different denomination (Presbyterian) and how does its connection to Vera Lloyd affect the ministry there?
A: We are not concerned about this change for several reasons. First, the organization as a whole was described by its own staff as very ecumenical and most of the staff attend churches of their denominational preference. Secondly, the joy of the Lord and the Spirit of God was very evident throughout our conversations with staff and our tour of the campus, and that is most important to us. It truly was a Christ-centered atmosphere. And third, neither of us are denominationally bound by nature. We love the Evangelical Covenant denomination but recognize our brothers and sisters around the world. Being connected to a denomination as far as we can tell is only a huge benefit as each home is adopted by groups of churches who continually pour into the kids living there and the physical needs of the home. The home we will be in was just remodeled last year by their sponsor church and all new furniture was purchased. The girls who live there receive monthly care packages and were just treated to dinner and the Hairspray Broadway show in Little Rock on Sunday by their sponsors. Not only is the organization solid financially but supported by churches who see a huge part of their mission as loving on the kids and people of Vera Lloyd.
Q: What are the children/youth like that you will be working with?
A: We will be in one of the girls' houses. Each of the girls who will be in our home will be in the foster care system of Arkansas. About half of the girls living there right now (we will have up to 8 girls at a time) are long-term residential and the other half are shelter kids (up to 45 days at Vera Lloyd; a.k.a. emergency care). The girls' ages range from 8-18. A new transitional living home is planned to open this summer where long-term girls and guys can move in at age 16 to begin the process of transitioning into adulthood.
Q: What is the environment like on campus?
A: Holy Cow - it is so incredible; we fell in love with it! The people of Vera Lloyd really exist as a family. We were able to meet the whole staff (5 sets of houseparents, housing directors, program directors, campus director, support staff, etc.) and felt embraced with the love of Christ. There is a real team and cooperative spirit, which reminded me so much of the FCC staff and was attractive to Michael who hasn't experienced anything like that in the public school system. Every person we interacted with sees their role at Vera Lloyd as a personal ministry and impossible without the Lord. Some very troubled children and youth end up at Vera Lloyd, but lives are impacted daily and it is obvious.
Q: I know you were looking seriously at some other larger campuses; what drew you to select this one?
A: At the time of our visit, we had narrowed our search down to Vera Lloyd and another campus in Texas that we were really impressed with. The two campuses are both Christ-centered and wonderful places, but extremely different. In the end, several factors aided our decison: 1. God's timing continually was intervening for Vera Lloyd. 2. The children at Vera Lloyd are truly foster children or orphans, which is where our calling originated. The children in Texas come from several sources but not foster care. 3. We were at home at Vera Lloyd; our personalities and hopes and dreams line up completely with the direction that the director plans to take the organization; Texas would have been probably just as wonderful, but would have been a much larger stretch for us culturally (ranching, rodeo, cowboy, etc.). 4. In the end, it was a feeling of being drawn and called to Arkansas...even in ways we could not explain. One particular thing that has stuck with me has been comments made by the current Program Director with the longest tenure at Vera Lloyd. He said the organization is in the best place it has ever been with the greatest staff they have ever had and no one is planning on going anywhere. Everyone's hearts are truly ministering together. The current staff with a few exceptions have extremely long tenures for this field (some of the couples having been Family Teachers for 10+ years there). A GREAT time for us to join a great ministry and learn from some amazing people.
Q: What is the campus like physically; what about the house you will live in?
A: The campus is right in the middle of town. It's beautiful. It holds 5 Family Teaching homes, a guest home, an administration building, a school & gym, and a few other miscellaneous buildings. They also own acreage of timber that is a source of revenue, as well as owning a large pond used for fishing or relaxation. Plans are in the mix for a challenge rope course and meditative prayer walk through the woods, as well. The home we will be in is great. We will have a small apartment that can be locked off from the rest of the house for off-duty time or opened to the home when we are on-duty. Our apartment has a few bedrooms and baths, a small living room, and kitchenette. The home itself has 6 bedrooms and bathrooms (one is for the alternate who works while we are off-duty), a gathering room, dining room, living room, kitchen, and office for Michael and I. (We forgot our camera to take pictures - Sorry!)
Q: What will your schedule be like?
A: We really like the Vera Lloyd schedule. Three weeks a month, we will be on duty at 9pm Sunday and get off duty at 3pm Friday. The same alternate will work those weekends while we are off duty. One week a month, we will be on duty for the weekend and have some weekdays in the middle of the week off. We are responsible for setting up our schedule, so there is some flexibility in cooperation with our alternate to figure out how to work this for the benefit for everyone. What is extremely attractive to us is that 3 Sundays a month, we will be able to be involved in the church of our choice as a couple and possibly even a small group (if it gets out by 8:30pm) Sunday night. The children at VL attend a Presbyterian church twice a month and churches of other denominations and worship styles the other weekends, so once a month we will join them on their rotation! As far as our daily schedule goes, it will always be an adventure! Mornings have a lot of structure and the kids go to school everyday, but the afternoons and evenings vary quite a bit.
Q: Everyone's favorite: What will YOU do all day?
A: Along with the Family Teaching Model, USDA-approved menu and food documentation, foster care case work, and other things I am sure I don't even know about yet, there is about 40-50 hours of paperwork a week for the two of us to split. We will also handle our own line-itemized household budget for all expenses related to the home and the kids. Day-time or "school time" will be our time for organization, because this job demands a lot in that area. We will plan our meals, take care of the household needs, etc. We'll also have staff meetings and appointments for the kids in our care. Outside of these duties, this is our "down time" each day if we can squeeze in a nap or lunch out together or an afternoon walk to energize us for the wave of activity hitting us at 3pm.
Q: Do you plan to sell your house? Anything else?
A: Yes. As much as we hate it, selling our home will be the best option for us. We would love to sell it privately, so talk to us if you or someone you know is interested! And, yes, we will be selling A LOT else. This will be an incredible down size for us as our personal belongings are to fit within our apartment. I plan to have a few garage sales before we leave but am also willing to sell things privately, although which "things" is still under discussion.
Q: When will you leave Salina & FCC?
A: We are talking specifics with VL soon, but the start date we originally gave them was July 1. Before July 1, we hope to squeeze in a week long vacation together and a week of packing and preparing to move, so my end date at FCC will probably be around the first or second week of June.
I am so excited for you guys!
ReplyDeleteOne question I have had is about finances. I haven't seen anything about how you are paid. Are you responsible to raise support or does the main ministry raise all the support & you are hired?
Sure sounds like a wonderful fit. Praying for you!
Thanks, Maria!
ReplyDeleteWe won't be raising our own support. The organization is heavily backed by the denomination, their timber industry, financial sponsors, as well as specific areas where they receive funding from the state (and are still miraculously able to keep Jesus in it all)! We'll be given salary and benefits as well as housing and utilities.
Betsy and Michael,
ReplyDeleteWhile I knew that foster care was a passion on both of your hearts, I didn't know about this amazing ministry opportunity until I saw a recent post on Facebook. How amazing that God has orchestrated a job where you can both serve together, in a ministry capacity, on a college campus, working with teens, and working with foster children! It's like so many dreams of yours rolled into one! I'm so excited for both of you! I will be praying for you both in the midst of this transition.