This is a guest post from Gina Hurford. My sister of all people! She is a Financial Planner and Investment Consultant in San Francisco. She is also an InterVarsity alumni and came to faith in college at the University of San Diego. I have seen her grow since the beginning of her faith and I couldn’t be more proud of what she is doing now. When she told me this story a few weeks ago, I knew she needed to share.
People always talk about having a calling or knowing the ways to serve out of your gifts and talents. One of the hardest things as a Christian graduating from college was to determine what it was God wanted me to do with my life. I didn’t even know what my gifts were! I didn’t major in business or econ. I studied Art History in college and didn’t know much about managing money – it wasn’t until I was 19 years old that someone introduced the stock market. And it wasn’t until my third job out of college that I made the career change into the world of investments and financial planning. Now I work as a financial planner and investment advisor to affluent families in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the country. We help people define their financial and lifestyle goals, invest their money soundly and make good choices to get them to and through retirement.
Some people literally serve God as a full time job (pastors, campus ministers, missionaries, etc.), and then there’s the majority who don’t. I used to wonder if I was really following God if I didn’t have a full time ministry career. But now I see that God needs both types (pastoral and business people) and I’ve had an amazing opportunity to use my career to serve God and His people!
My husband and I attend a church in San Francisco called The City Church, whose mission is to follow Christ to renew the city. One way our church lives out this mission is by partnering with City Team International. They run a men’s recovery home in the one of the darkest parts of San Francisco. Men come here to participate in a 10-24 month, Christian based, recovery program to rehabilitate from drug and alcohol addiction. One of the weekly classes the men attend is a financial management program that I now teach.
When my friend shared the need within City Team for someone to teach this financial management class I thought, “This sounds exactly like something I’d love to do!” Addiction and recovery hits close to home for me, and I’ve felt for a long time that our society as a whole, disregarding demographics, is lacking basic financial management instruction. Given that I work in finance, it seemed like a great fit. I also thought about how scary it would be to speak in front of 15-20 men, ages 18-60, about managing their money. I doubted my self, my knowledge, and why anyone would take me, a small, young, privileged white girl, seriously. But God turned all the lights green and I decided to put my fears behind me. My employer even agreed to allow me to take an hour and a half lunch break every other Friday to teach the class to the men at City Team. So I said yes!
Every other Friday I walk down the streets of Mission and 6th and pray for two things; 1- for God to protect me as I walk down those city streets and 2 –for God to help me teach this class. I’ve never taught a class before and though I work in finance, the basics of good financial management (budgeting, checking accounts, having and restoring credit) is very different from investing or retirement planning. Sometimes I feel like it’s an education for me! But what I love about this ministry is that the class and the education is only half of what’s meaningful to these guys. Just showing up every other week speaks volumes to people who have been overlooked or forgotten most of their lives.
I love that I am able to share my talents. I wasn’t looking to serve in this way, but by being plugged in to a local church and being part of small group, I was in a position to hear of this specific need.
For all of you pastors/ministers out there, there are so many people like me who are willing to serve! Some of us simply need to hear of the needs in the community, whether it’s within the church body or inside a local non-profit ministry. Tell your leaders to tell their leaders about needs and opportunities, and you’ll cast a vision for Christian working professionals. I have a whole new outlook on serving God as a working woman because someone shared a specific need with me. God does need Christians in the workforce and He needs us to share our talents.
I hope this story can be an encouraging one to other working professionals that haven’t quite found the best way to serve God in His mission. I encourage you to ask around and see if there is a way your specific talent can take on a need in the community. Let’s keep serving God and bringing his Kingdom fully to earth!
How does this story encourage you? Please share in the comments.
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This is really encouraging! I am almost done with law school and have also sometimes felt as though those who chose full-time vocational ministry were more valuable to God than I. This inspires me to be looking for ways to serve with my legal education within the church. Thank you!
I am a Financial Advisor. I too have wondered how I can be used by God. What curriculum did your sister use? I’m thinking this could be something I could do.