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This year’s Orientation Day for Small Beginnings Ministries
was a momentous day for the Board as we realized the fruit of years of labor.
It has been over two years since our ministry has held its regular classes and
even more years since we have held the Foundation & Transformation Class.
As most of the friends of our ministry know, losing our Founder, Bob Peers,
threw many things into the air and it has taken quite a lot of administrative
work to build our ministry to the point where we could be fully operational
once again. There were many times as we slogged through many details when we
wondered if this day would ever come.
 We are delighted to have six students registered this year. This
is a good size class as we will have no problem giving every student the
individual attention they will need. They hail from Everett,
Seattle, and Mountlake
Terrace and represent Blessed Sacrament Catholic
Church, Hope Foursquare, and The Seattle Vineyard, a truly interdenominational
group! We were blessed and honored to have past students come to Orientation
Day out of the sheer desire to support the new students as they embark on a new
and important journey. One of these students, Molly Buhler,
came from as far away as Sequim. We were excited to see Danielle
Rowland, a past student, come to offer support and prayer as
well as Julene, our intern, who will also be involved with the class’ small
groups. Several of our new students expressed how reassuring it was to speak at
length with our alumni and hear of their own experiences within the program.
 As we do at every Orientation Day, we had the students take
the Motivational Gift test by Don and Katie Fortune, which is a jumping off
point to learn about themselves and how they tend to see the world and operate
within it. We enjoyed coffee and pastries while Maya introduced the volunteer
staff, the new students and Small Beginnings Ministries’ beliefs and focus.
 The Board members, Steve Sprague,
Susie Rodriguez and Randy Ramos, worked hard to
pull together all the details to make the day go smoothly. Whether it was
registering students or pre-ordering the coffee, pizza and running around for
supplies beforehand, the Board did a wonderful job. So wonderful, that there
was not one detail missed.
After lunch, Maya led the group in some exercises to get to
know one another well and realize that as human beings we all suffer many of
the same fears and concerns. This year will be spent getting to know others
deeply and being vulnerable enough to be known. It is our desire that the
interactive class and small group  time will be a safe place for all the
students to share their heart and work on any issues that may be preventing
them from reaching their full potential in their walk with the Lord.
We are excited to see what the Lord has for both the
students and our ministry as a whole this year.
 We take possession of our new
space today, September 17, 2007,
and Steve Sprague will be guiding the full
remodel. We will temporarily be using other spaces within the neighboring
Mennonite church until our space is ready. We would ask that you pray for the
students that they bond as a class and that they fully engage themselves in the
transformation process. For the volunteer staff, please pray for continued unity
of purpose, that the Lord go before us as we remodel our new space and that we
be open to be used by God as fully as possible in the lives of our students.
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Susie Rodriguez, our
Treasurer and Board member since August 2006, resigned her post early effective
January 6, 2008, due to a
job opportunity in Chicago. We will
miss her very much.
We wish to thank the Seattle
Mennonite Church
for allowing us to meet in their conference room with the full use of their
kitchen and restrooms at no cost while our suite was being remodeled. They have
bent over backwards to make us feel welcome in our place and their example of
service, grace and love have impacted us greatly.
