My first park, of 5 ParkLife experiences, was at Shenandoah. I love the mountains and it was like a huge, literal, mountaintop experience. We had 5 men and 2 ladies working on the team that season. After week #1, one of the guys said he wasn’t cut out for preaching and so the lot ended up falling on me to lead a worship location. I love the outdoors and thought this was a great way to worship God. This was all new to me, too.

The management made a few mistakes that season and lost their local workforce. This made for a desperate situation for employees at a park that sees over a million visitors. As they went out into the “highways and byways” to find employees, they found a man under a bridge and asked him if he wanted a job. The guy said yes, and with only the clothes on his body took on the roll of dishwasher. His name was Frank. We became friends, co-worker evangelism, and Frank shared his story of how he became homeless and walked from Florida to Virginia, ending up at the foothill of SNP. Frank drowned his sorrows in booze, which took the better part of his weekly paycheck. When he got fired, he asked me to take him down the mountain. That’s when God got busy with me and my ministry team partner, Peter K.

God laid on my heart to do 4 things for Frank, starting immediately. First, don’t let him become homeless again. Second, help him find a job. Thirdly, help him find a place to live, and lastly, help him find a church. By the way, the park was closing for the season in 2 weeks, and everybody was heading out. I was going to Big Bend in west Texas and my friend, Peter, was heading to Death Valley, CA. So, God had a lot of work to do in a short period of time!

Everyday after my work at the cash register outside the gift shop/restaurant area, I would go down the mountain and check with Frank about a job. The Lord had already led us to the right hotel for him to stay in. It was owned by a Christian family, who generously cut the bill in half, due to the circumstances. I was footing most of the bill and Peter helped provide food. Finally, one day, after looking at the Classifieds with Frank he found a job that he could do. It was work at the local Tyson chicken plant. But, Frank was very shy and said that he couldn’t do an interview. Suddenly, out of my mouth, I said, “ No worries, Frank, I’ll go with you.” Then, after hearing those words from my mouth, I knew God was working on Frank’s behalf. Truly, that was a weird thing to say and then to do! But, I could honestly say that he was a good worker. It was off the job that he struggled with life issues and the things of his past. There it was, #1, he got a job.

Now we needed to find him a place to live…anywhere! He would have to walk to work, so it would need to be nearby. Being a bit discouraged, not seeing anything for rent in the area, we went to the little store across the street from the chicken plant to get a coffee. It was late October, and the days were drawing nearer to leaving. I asked the cashier if she knew of anyone renting something, anything, for my friend needs a place to live. She immediately said her boss had just called and said that she has a one bedroom apartment for rent. I asked if I could speak with her and the cashier kindly obliged. The landlord was at the open apartment At That Time, and welcomed us to take a look. It was perfect for Frank. The landlord was so kind. She whispered to me that I don’t need to worry about his first months rent, that she knows where he works and will get it from him later. Phew! That saved us about $400!

Now, onto #3. We went to the local Thrift store and got him a bed, small furniture and dishes and a fishing pole. I told Frank to take up fishing after work. There was a beautiful stream behind his apartment building. We were now down to the last 2 days before leaving Shenandoah. Number 4 was finding a church for Frank. On the last night, Peter and I were with Frank at the apartment laundry room, when he took off for a minute to get something from his room, we spoke with one of the residents. We asked if he knew of a local church, that our friend could get to know this great and mighty God who just provided for all of his needs. This guy said that he goes to a local church about a mile up the road. I asked him to invite Frank, who might say yes to Jesus someday. The next day, we said goodbye to Frank. He cried and said that, “Nobody has ever helped me in my entire life.” We told him we were just the hands and feet of Jesus and He loves you very much. We said goodbye. That event was a huge faith builder for me. It changed everything for me going forward. What an awesome God we serve! While at Shenandoah, God was fine tuning my heart and giving me a strong compassion to help others work through life issues. God was grooming me to become a counselor. I didn’t think I was smart enough to go through the training, so I started taking correspondence classes on Biblical Counseling. I needed to learn the skills of being a good counselor.

So, now, on to Texas, Big Bend NP. What a contrast to the east. It was like taking a step into an old western. It has its own beauty, that’s for sure. Half of my co-workers were from Mexico and had a place to live on both sides of the Rio Grande river. (Yes, I crossed the river several times to visit the small villages there.) I worked as a Front Desk Clerk at BBNP. I had a wonderful person in the ministry with me whose name is Karen. We played a lot of tennis during our free time. As God continued to work on my heart to study counseling at the graduate level, I was challenged by the numerous facts: how could I pay for it and how could I improve my memory skills to remember what I had learned? To both questions, God would always answer, “I’ve got this.” Eventually, I gave in and sent the application to Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio, my home state. They accepted my application and after serving my term at Big Bend, I was off to seminary. I couldn’t believe it! I was so nervous about the whole process but so excited that God had found me worthy to put me into a study about human behavior.

My first year of studies were all Bible classes (because I had to bring my GPA up from my undergraduate studies). I loved it and became very involved on the campus. In November of my first year of studies, I received a phone call from the Sheriff of Luray, Virginia, where Frank lived. He asked me to identify how I knew Frank and then he told me that I was being blessed from the ministry that I had provided for Frank. I thought it was interesting that he used the word, “blessed,” since he was a Sheriff and apparently calling on official business. He told me that Frank had been shot and killed. Some of the locals there were going to rob him because they knew he carried a lot of cash on him on pay day. They ended up killing him. The Sheriff told me that myself and Peter K, my ministry partner, were both identified as beneficiaries on Frank’s work account/life insurance. We both were granted $20,000 each. God knew this would happen when I was challenging Him with the question of how I could pay for my tuition. What an awesome God we serve.

Go & Serve.

Tammy C.