I recently got to be part of one of the strangest bible studies I’ve encountered in a while. Several of my fellow staff directors and our supervisor read Genesis chapter 24 asking the question, What insight does this chapter hold for us, as we think about staff recruiting?

A challenge my Area Director team is working on this year is hiring more staff at our Research 1 institutions (universities with the largest research budgets and most numerous PhD programs). On my team, we have staff coverage at all R-1s in our four state area with two exceptions: The University of Nebraska in Lincoln and Mizzou in Columbia, MO. My networking efforts this year will be trained on finding staff candidates for UNL. This is where the camels come in!

The improbability of prospecting.

Genesis 24 opens with a grieving widower longing to see his son marry the right woman. If the story sounds familiar, I’m talking about Abraham and Isaac. The right woman in Abraham’s mind would come from his own people and NOT from the “Canaanites among whom I am living.” Things you can’t miss in the story:

• Abraham makes his servant swear an oath that Isaac’s bride will NOT be a Canaanite (and let me tell you, they did something a little different than raise one hand with the other on a bible!).
• The servant’s prospecting has to fit what God has already promised Abraham (trajectory).
• The Lord will ultimately secure the outcome, sending not only this servant but a messenger before him.
• Abraham himself won’t lift a finger – but provides the resources and gifts!
• The servant accepts his assignment, but engages his own faith in the LORD.
• He goes to where women would naturally gather (a water source, after the heat of the day).
• The servant specifies EXACTLY what he wants (an incredible woman, who will water his camels).
• The LORD gives him EXACTLY what he asked for on behalf of Abraham and Isaac.

Of course this is NOT about knowing how to water camels. The essential ingredients seem to be:

1. God’s purposes for Abraham and his family (the promise). vv6-7
2. God’s involvement in the search (He will send his angel before you).
3. The Servant’s diligence and faith (travel, gifts prepared, prayer, confirmation)
4. Shortcut avoided: no, don’t just take Isaac with you.
5. Shortcut avoided: no, don’t accept a woman from Canaan.
6. Shortcut avoided: no, don’t just settle for the first woman you see.
7. Confirmation – God is this really who you are providing (the camel oracle)?

Abraham understood God’s purposes and saw how vital it was that Isaac be able to build a family. While some of the mechanisms don’t relate (swearing an oath, watering camels, nose-rings) there is a definite pattern of searching, finding and confirming. It’s not about technique. It’s about searching and finding through actions of faith. That’s what prospecting is all about.

A send off for one of Silas’ friends who has been living with us. And our daughter Phoebe’s big move back to Omaha from San Diego w her husband Ryan. Landed in an apartment 3 blocks away!

What are you trying to find?

This fall I am trying to find two kinds of people. Both seem very much no where to be seen! I’m searching for GFM staff-potential candidates in hopes of hiring a staff member to work at UNL. I’m also searching for a major donor (capable and energized to give $10,000 to $20,000 in repeating support). These aren’t easy things to look for. I’ve shut the door on as many short-cuts as I can. I’m searching for full time staff who will raise their entire budget (improbable). I’m searching for candidates who have vivid gifts for ministry and have masters level education or higher (how likely would their availability be, given training like that). I should use my faith to focus on what I specifically need and not get distracted by what might be possible. With a limited pool of candidates, it will be compelling to take the first thing that comes along.

The same is really true of searching for major donors. They don’t seem accessible. It feels like their interests have all been spoken for by needs they find more compelling. I am convinced of the urgency of my specific needs. Like an unmarried only son, funding is a make or break reality in the context of God’s purposes for InterVarsity and God’s purposes for me. I can’t continue doing a ministry that isn’t more fully funded. InterVarsity can’t raise up work on new campuses without leadership and resources.

Here are some specifics you can pray for as you picture Tim doing GFM ministry this year:

• Faith. Pray for my faith and that I get a grip on the PURPOSES God has for GFM on my R-1 Campuses.
• Candidates. Actual people to talk to about joining GFM staff in Lincoln, NE (same is true for our faculty work in St. Louis and for GFM in Columbia, MO).
• Pathways to those candidates. I have a list of people I’m talking to for the next three months. They are LIKE Abraham’s servants in that they may prove to be the human channel for finding staff.
• Creativity and specificity. Connecting and communicating about GFM ministry means inviting others into what God has called InterVarsity to.
• Success in connecting! Calling, texting, emailing, messaging, conversing, praying, listening.
• All the same bullets above apply to finding candidates for resources as well. Pray for me to find potential major donors this year.

How can I more directly help you, Tim ?

Help me find the right people. If you have connections, suggestions, ideas of where to look, I would love your input. Staff candidates for GFM are the kind of people who understand graduate students, they’ve been a part of the university system, they are faculty members or retired faculty members. People who have done masters degrees in ministry are also great candidates. Many GFM staff were formerly undergrad IV staff who got the itch to go to grad school. If any of this is ringing a bell, call me! Text me! Email me! Introduce me to who you know. You might have some good advice about where I can park my thirsty camels!

Later! Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying!