An old thing new -- Request for prayers

Greetings in the His name,

There are changes coming for us all.  Fortunately for Patti and I we know many of the changes we face.  Some are wonderful and others - well, not so much.

But the exciting news is that after a great deal of prayer and counsel I have accepted the challenge of begining a Biblical Counseling practice.  I know many of you know that I have done this for years but never in any "official" way.  Well, in the sunset of our lives Patti and I are accepting the challenge.

I have become a member of the Association of Biblical Counselors and I will be going through their particular certification process.  We selected the ABC after a great deal of searching and prayer as well as input from our church leadership.  We are humbled by this new undertakng and seek His guidance and provision for it.

If you would, we would apprecaite your prayers and assistance.  There are several things we have considered and they make it obviouse that prayer in the main and plain things is needed.

Becasue many of those I work with are already under the care of a psychiatrist, psychologist or counselor they are already carrying a heavy burden financially.  We do not want to add to that so we have determined to keep "overhead" as small as possible.

The first impact this has is in regrds to an office.  Right now I meet with clients at (of course) Caribou and can meet at their homes or their church (if possible).  So, they don't have to pay for an office space.  However that raised quite a few eyebrows.  "No office, how can this be a real counseling practice?"  Well, it is but it does not want to add to the burden its clients already have.

So we are praying for the provision of a space somewhere that we can use for free.  It doesn't have to be much, just a room with space for a couple of chairs and maybe a table.  Well, a window would be nice.  But all in all we just need a place to meet with our clients so when some heavy privacy is needed it is available.  So please pray that God will provide the contacts, connections or just the space for this to happen.

We are also praying about fees.  Again, my clinets tend to be under a financial burden already and to add to that would be counter productive.  But, we need to eat and all so we have accepted the necessity of having fees.  We have a "range" in mind that starts a $0.00.  What we are praying about is the top end of this.  So please pray that we will get good advice in setting that end.

Costs of materials is another issue.  I use a lot of study sheets and verse cards in working with folks and they cost money.  Fortunately we can always go digital for those who have access to a computer or the internet.  But some folks just like paper and we wish to respect that.  So, there's another factor to put in the prayer mix.

Marketing --- oy vey!  We are already working with some mental health professionals but we want to expand our connections and get the word out.  That takes $.  We want to keep it simple and inexpensive.  So we plan to do a a letter of introduction and send it our to churches and mental health practitioners. Again, $. So we have another notch on the prayer log.

Then there is "stuff" - paper, pencils - "stuff."  We're not as worried about that as the things above but we have to keep that in mind.

Finally there is the certification process.  It costs money and it's money we don't have right now.  The first level costs about $500 (there are three levels).  So we are praying to be able to meet that need.

Notice how much $'s figure into this?  Oh well.  But we ask you to pray not just that God will provide it through others but that Patti and I will improve our stewardship so we can carry our share.

A couple of things for those of you who I have worked with in the past.  First if you could pass this need on to others who might be willing to help that would be great.  Second, if you could simply write a recommendation concerning the work we did together I would be grateful.

Well, that's about it - "Praise God and press on!"

If you have any advice, inight or questions please don't hesitate to send it!!!

Thanks for taking the time to consider and pray about this.

In Him,
Michael Sanders

Michael and Patti Sanders
2205 New Garden Rd.
#2807
Greensboro, NC 27410
336-549-2081
ms@tc2v1.com