What I've Learned At Shepherds

Blog #2 in the “Celebrating 55” series

Thank you to Bill Stevens, Director of Development Activities, for writing today’s blog.

My ministry experience for the past 18 years at Shepherds has taught me four important truths. I have observed, experienced, and sought to live day to day the practical applications of these truths by the living examples of my friends who call Shepherds home.

Gayle

Gary

I have learned that “the just do live by faith”, a simple but powerful faith.  My friends Gayle and R.J. remind me every time I visit with them that they exhibit that kind of faith.  After eight years of faithfully praying for my wife who has been delivered from a terrible form of cancer, they still ask me how she is doing and if we still are keeping the faith.  Our respect for one another is reciprocal.  They have given me many prayer requests over the years and by faith we have seen them all answered.

   

I have learned that praying without ceasing and that the effectual, fervent prayers of the righteous avail much.  My two friends, both named Gary, never fail to pray with me when I am able to be on campus.  They also never fail to ask for my prayer requests, give me their requests, and always want to know how their prayers are being answered.  The truth of the matter is simple -  their prayers are being answered.  I have learned just how important prayer is to our residents and clients.  Great answers to prayer have been the testimonies of Shepherds for over 55 years.  My prayer life and my faith to believe God for great things have definitely been challenged by the example of my friends.

Dan

I have learned the truth of knowing the joy of being saved and serving Jesus.  No better lesson has been taught to me than by my friend Dan C.  From the very first week of my employment when I was going through indoctrination and training in the Shepherds Way, Dan showed me the importance of those truths to him.  I always fall short of the joy he constantly expresses, and he keeps me challenged before the Lord to show it, too!  When Dan and I first met in the hallway outside of his living area, he asked me a question, “Mr. Stevens, are you saved?”  Wow, that simple question humbled me and made realize just whom I was called to serve, individuals created by God, on and for a purpose, i.e. salvation and service to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  That is Dan in a nutshell!  Dan never seems to have a problem.  He is always full of joy and has an exuberance I could only dream of showing.  I have learned that I need to be more like Dan and share my faith and serve my Lord with all joy!

Butch

I have learned from my closest friend the truth of Proverbs 18:24. “There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”  From the time we first met, Butch bonded in close friendship with me and my wife.  He came to think of us as his “foster parents’ and he, as our adopted son.  To this day, eighteen years later, we speak by phone regularly and I have the wonderful opportunity to visit my friend, brother and son two or three times a year.  Our friendship continues to grow.  I am still learning what a friend we have in Jesus, but also what friends we have gained by being a part of this wonderful ministry called Shepherds.  It is a truth, an important truth; one that I will cherish forever.  Dan C told me one more thing on that eventful day when we first met.  He said, “Mr. Stevens, when I get to heaven I will be just like you.”  That statement reminded me that Dan knew why he was at Shepherds, but that Jesus Christ is the difference for all eternity.  I am going to enjoy hearing the testimonies of my friends as they stand or sit at the feet of Jesus and tell Him all the great things that they learned and experienced by being cared for by God’s servants at Shepherds.  And do you know what?  I am going to sit or stand at the feet of Jesus, too.  I am going to tell Him as a testimony on behalf of my friends, what great and wonderful lessons they taught me.

Gary

Ruthie Jo

The 55th Anniversary Open House

Blog #1 in the “Celebrating 55” series

Last week, we were all bustling around campus, making sure everything was in place for our 55^th Anniversary Open House.

Walkie-talkies for the tour guides were charging, the Domestics and Maintenance teams were polishing and straightening and tweaking, and the tour speakers were making last minute edits to their speeches to ensure they held guests at their stops for no more than five minutes.

The grounds crew was placing temporary signage at all the tour stops, the Shepherds Kitchen staff cut and mixed and sautéed as they prepared the hors d’oeuvres, and other staff moved their cars to the back lots to make parking room for our visitors.

I was ordering balloons to decorate the stage and stocking up batteries for the digital camera, Joy was fielding early visitors at the door, and Becci and Mary were desperately trying to get the beautiful posters of our clients to stay adhered to our slick gym walls.

The Horticulture students picked tomatoes from the Shepherds College Gardens, the Culinary Arts students chopped those tomatoes and turned them into a luscious topping for bruschetta to serve our visitors, and the residents were humming with excitement at the chance to welcome the guests into their homes.

It was a beautiful day. God blessed us with comfortable temperatures, a mild breeze and sunny skies – the perfect day to showcase His work at Shepherds Ministries.

Eventually, with lots of prayer and persistence, everything got done, and we waited for our first visitors in the lobby of the Findley Center. There was a little bit of tension at the uncertainty an Open House naturally elicits. Would we have two guests, or two hundred guests? We really didn’t know. We could only wait to see if anyone walked in the door at 4:30. 

At 4:10, our first four visitors arrived. Whew! We had people to take on a tour. Becci showed our guests into the Welcome Center to watch a video while they waited for the first tour to begin.

It was exciting to watch all the visitors arrive. People wanted to know about Shepherds! They wanted to see our campus! They wanted to meet our clients! Young and old came through the front doors with interest in their eyes. Men, women and children.  A priest, potential students and former staff. Community friends, church friends and our friends from Southern Center. About 75 guests in all went on tours from 4:30 to 7:00.

I was assigned photography duty and elected to walk along with a group whose dynamic intrigued me – two potential college students and their families, a couple - Dan and Verna - who were part of the original Sunday School class that started Shepherds, and another couple -Nate and Katie - just starting out on the ground floor of a ministry with a support structure similar to Shepherds – Christian individuals, foundations and churches.

At the first stop, Dr. Amstutz took people through the history of Shepherds, summarizing each decade on the History Wall in the Findley Lobby. Our visitor Dan turned toward me and said, “55 years ago I was standing in this spot, only it was an empty field, and I was up to my ankles in mud wondering what on earth we were doing.”

 

We left the Findley Center and walked to The Harbor, the men’s unit at the north end of the Wood Center. What a welcome we received! Mary Wright, the speaker, explained group home living while Gary shook hands, the other men smiled, and fresh baked cookies were offered to all the guests.  

Our next stop was in the North Commons of Shepherds College. Some of the college students were eating dinner while Tracy Terrill talked about Shepherds College and its cutting edge program designed to educate and train young adults with intellectual disabilities for a life of Appropriate Independence.

As we headed down the hallway, we ran into Mrs. Luchterhand, the instructor for Ai Academy. She explained the goal of this new college program and had Ellie and Matthew, two of her students, greet the visitors.

Then it was off to the Vocational Training area where our guests met Leslie Leith, Lead Instructor of Horticulture, who showed them a PowerPoint presentation of the Horticulture Program, and Chef Brett McCarthy, Lead Instructor of Culinary Arts, who talked about the Culinary Arts program. He and his 3^rd year student Josh served bruschetta, fresh and warm from the oven, to the guests.

Taking our snacks with us, we walked down the hall and around the corner to Tracy Lackey and her Catalyst clients. They showed us a PowerPoint presentation that included images of our independent living clients in their homes in the community.

We left the Wood Center for our next stop – Lamb Cottage. Andrea Humphrey explained the programs we have available to our clients on a short-term basis. As she talked, life in the cottage went on as usual. Ladies played games around a table, staff comforted one resident, while others watched television and rocked slowly in rocking chairs.

After leaving this cozy scene, we headed to the Miter Building to hear Gloria Dahlberg talk about the Day Services Center and all the activities it offers for our older or less mobile clients. Sweet Cathy was giving away butterfly magnets that the clients had made for the visitors. 

Down the hall, Bryan Edwards was coaching the Shepherds Enterprises employees as they bagged accessories for Andis hair clippers. 

Our last stop was the Bolthouse Center.  Dr. Kinkade presented the vision for the future of Shepherds Ministries in an inspiring presentation to our guests. 

Following the tour, each guest had the opportunity to visit information tables, read about giving and volunteer opportunities, meet staff, students and residents, and talk together as they gathered around the food tables. 

It was a tired, but animated bunch of people at the end of the day! Dan and Verna exclaimed about how much the ministry has developed over the years, and Nate and Katie listened attentively, mentally taking notes for their own ministry journey. 

It hit me in that moment, after several minutes of listening to the interaction between the young and the old, between the tested and tried and the nervous and new, just how much Shepherds Ministries has gained, and just how much it has to offer others, after all these years. 

55 years of experience caring for people with intellectual disabilities.

55 years of making mistakes, learning from them, fixing them and “perfecting” the process.

55 years and hundreds of staff members, each dedicating their own talents, wisdom and abilities to the service of a people we love.

55 years of praying and listening, of discerning God’s will and obeying.

55 years of building loyal friendships with people who have given hands and feet and heart to this important ministry.

55 years.

 

Thank you, our dear friends – for your prayers of support, for the untold hours of volunteer work on our campus, for the millions of Campbell’s Labels, for your words of advice and encouragement, for including us in your wills, for your generous donations both big and small, and for the gifts of quilts and clothing and vehicles and…it goes on and on. God has used you to impact the lives of people with intellectual disabilities for 55 years.  

And He still has wondrous plans in store for the years ahead…