Friends,

I was sitting with the CEO of a large manufacturing company. As a Christian businessman leading a very profitable company, I was hoping to engage him in taking a deeper look at our ministry with hopes that he or his company might become financial partners. Yet, instead of talking about ministry to the incarcerated, the conversation followed a similar path that I had with a multitude of Christian leaders; that is, trying to identify the answer on how Christians are supposed to reflect the work of Christ in their daily lives. In assessing his own life, this business executive went to church on Sunday, where he saw Christ engaged. But come Monday, the return to corporate life tended to turn off the proverbial spiritual switch.

This person knew my story. My first 20 years of industry were spent climbing the corporate ladder. With God’s grace, I had the opportunity to participate in upper and executive management at Fortune 10, Fortune 500, and privately held organizations. After my family and I felt the tug to be missionaries, it was common for me to be asked the question of how long I had been in ministry.

Yet people grew confused with my response. My answer typically predated our foray into missionary life and actually included years that I worked in the forest products industry. But this was because, during my time in industry, I felt I was living a life of ministry. The Lord had me exactly where he wanted me at the time, and I was still able to engage the Kingdom in these roles.

It became clear with this executive and many other leaders I encountered that this kind of lifestyle seemed foreign to them. Ministry was something to be accomplished when the workday or, even more so, the work life was finished. So it became important for me to educate believing leaders that the concept of ministry could be done from where a person was at in life. I often reflected that God needed teachers, garbagemen, and postal workers, just as much as he needed pastors, non-profit leaders, and missionaries.

I recognized that as often as I was being asked the question(s) about Christians engaging in ministry, there really was not any how-to guide to provide a path of getting up off the couch and being the hands and feet of Christ. So, utilizing my own experience and sharing how Lifeline Global likes to engage supporters, so I decided to write an easy-to-read book on how to do just that.

The result of this effort is “Finding Your Pace.” For more about the book, please click here. 

In His Name,

Dr. Romney Ruder

Lifeline Global President