Opening Doors Through Prayer
Sometimes, a job is way more than a job.
For guest Seth Minkema, in the R3 program at the Eugene Mission, his new job with Kalen Electric was (literally) an answer to prayer.
Seth needed employment that was close to the Mission (Kalen is one street over), that paid a good wage and that would provide stability in his life at a time when he really needed it.
A chance encounter with Jackson Conrad, a graduate of the men’s Life Change Program who was at the Mission to lead a Bible study, resulted in a prayer that quickly began to open doors.
“I was in the Rescue Shelter cleaning and Jackson invited me to the Bible study and we’ve been talking ever since,” Seth said.
Jackson said the particular chapel service where they first bonded was one of the largest groups since he began leading it and he was initially worried he didn’t do a very good job leading the conversation, but he said he felt like God put Seth on his heart to talk to him and so he struck up a conversation.
“I asked him, ‘what do you want in life?’ because that’s one of the first things I usually ask people,” Jackson said. “He told me he needed a job with some really specific requirements, and I said God would provide.”
Seth shared that he would really like to work in a machine shop, like the kind Jackson works in at Monaco Tool, and so they prayed about it. A little while later when Jackson was helping with stage tear down at his church, Ekklesia, he met someone who worked at Kalen, and the dots began connecting.
In his new position, Seth is learning the ins and outs of the business and has room to grow via an apprenticeship. In a perfect twist, he now enjoys a Bible study with his co-workers at Kalen early in the morning once a week, which is also an answer to prayer.
“I prayed that he would be able to work with good, godly men,” Jackson shared.
This Easter, Seth is considering what it means to start life afresh with new tools, resources and relationships to support him. “I pray every morning; I talk to God all the time,” he said, and he credits God with giving him a strong new foundation on which to build.