It's A Calling
2015 was the year I had the dream of a community center. This center was providing services from multiple disciplines other than primary care, medication management, and therapy. Going into detail would be saying too much, but I held onto that dream for many years. I was in graduate school at the time with three kids, full-time work, and a full school schedule. I had three more years to go and the fear of practicum and internship caused me to quit the program and finish with a MA in Marriage and Family therapy. Not all master's are created equal and this did not allow me to practice in the field blocking my ability to move forward with the vision.
Fast forward to 2019, God picked me up and turned me around and placed my feet on solid ground as the song says. However, I fell into a valley: I left my job without security, entered back into the program that I feared, and put my full trust in God. I saw nothing but mountains. My new job was on faith and I shouldn't have been hired BUT GOD always makes a way where the world says no. I went to work at a psychiatric/detox unit with no experience and no qualifications.
Not long after starting this new chapter in my life the vision came back. An audible name came to me one morning doing my morning walk and talk with God. Shai. I wrote it down, prayed about it, and was still unsure if I heard correctly. It came again. Shai.
"Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end- it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay."
Habakkuk 2:2-3
I requested a sign, something, anything, from God for a direction. I was led to Genesis 17:15 where Sarai and Abram's names were changed. Does God still do this? Am I crazy? Not sure either way, but I was convicted that this was going to be a name change for me. What does Shai even mean? In Hebrew it means "The Gift". How do you tell people and they not think your nuts? This is still in progress.
During my journey of working within the hospital, I found two people that shared my deep hurt of how the system was failing our communities. They also shared a love for being vessels of God. Together we would complain about the lack of services, the barriers to care, and why no one was doing anything about it.
I got brave. I shared my vision with them, along with the name Shai, and awaited their laughter of how insane it would be to achieve such a lofty vision. To my surprise, they asked how we should get started. I had no clue, but they gave me the confidence to get the ball rolling.
Karla McCall and Kenneth Fox became the first members of the board for Shai Ministries, Inc. Karla expressed a similar passion with her brother Derrick Chalfant, now we have four board members. Together we are going to figure this out!
Small Beginnings-Faith Steps Towards the Vision
Shai Ministries
Powered By I AM
501-(c)(3)
Nonprofit
Project Shai Packs
Supplies for the Unsheltered
Project Script
Filling the Gap for Medications
Matthew 25:35-36
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."