 My new role as the Cleveland Area Coordinator, begins in January 2025. As the Cleveland Area Coordinator, I will be focused on creating collaborative spaces for youth leaders to be personally encouraged, professionally equipped and spiritually strengthened for faithful and effective ministry with the next generation. And, I can’t wait to get started!
Would you prayerfully consider making a year end gift, or becoming a monthly ministry partner? I am currently at 64% of my total support raising goal! To be fully funded and ready to serve youth leaders in this new chapter, I need just $1,300 more in monthly commitments. MAKE A YEAR END GIFT Year End Gift: Make an impact in 2025 with a special Year End Gift. Year End Gifts must be postmarked by December 31st, 2024. BECOME A MINISTRY PARTNER 50/50 Partnership: Become one of my Faithful 50; 50 partners contributing $50 a month. I need 42 more Faithful 50 Partners. 10 X 100 Team Impact: Help me crush my goal as 1 of 10 partners contributing $100 a month. I need 6 more 10x100 Partners. Together, we can make an eternal difference. Thank you for being part of this journey! Complete your giving online with my giving portal. Click on the link below!
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“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” - Luke 2:4-7 ESV I can’t count the times I have heard a pastor share this text from Luke 2, then talk about how “messy” and “untimely” the events surrounding the Christmas story must have been for Mary and Joseph. Engaged. Mary pregnant. Joseph making the choice to still marry Mary. Census in Bethlehem. Road trip at nine months. Crowded city. No vacancies. Giving birth in a stable. Yes, it seems and sounds like an absolute disaster waiting to happen. No doubt Mary and Joseph had their fears, anxiety, and apprehension. And yet, in what looks like an imperfect mess, we see God’s perfect plan and timing. But isn’t this how life is? In what we think is “disaster waiting to happen”, God is moving to bring about his perfect plan at his perfect time. It’s not always easy to see in the moment, but when we back up and look at the bigger picture, we can begin to see what God is doing. Messy? Untimely? Not to God. It was just as he wanted, when he wanted.  This is true for us today. At first, our recent news felt messy and untimely. Starting a new ministry role with Bay Presbyterian Church, shifting roles with NNYM, house hunting during the holidays, relocating in the new year, and Breya starting a new school in January all felt overwhelming. But none of this is new to God. In fact, this is all how he planned it. The last couple of months have been filled with questions. How will it all work? Will it all fall into place? Are we really going to be able to move and starter in the new year? Amy and I have always looked at new opportunities with a philosophy that says, “If God opens the door, we will walk through it.” And that’s what we did. As each door opened, we stepped through it. Again and again, God provided. With each door and with each step we saw God answer a prayer. With each answered prayer, came the confidence to trust God more and more.  Starting January 2025, I will begin my new role with Bay. It’s an opportunity to introduce students to the grace and love that God through the gospel, and partner with parents as they seek to raise and disciple their children. I will also begin serving youth leaders throughout the Cleveland ares as I create collaborative spaces for youth leaders to be personally encouraged, professionally equipped and spiritually strengthened for faithful and effective ministry with the next generation. We have a place to live. Breya is excited to begin her new school. Amy has been given an opportunity to work with students and adults with disabilities. And, we are preparing to move in just a couple of weeks. With each of our concerns, prayer requests, and hurdles; God has been two steps ahead of us.  Christmas might seem a bit messy. Life might seem a bit messy. But God’s timing is always perfect. As we look back and these last couple of months, we can see God’s provision over and over again. He is a good, good Father. Now as we step into this new and exciting partnership, Bay Pres. and NNYM, we are can’t wait to see how God might use us as we serve students and families, AND the youth leaders through the Cleveland area.
We want to invite you to continue in the mission with us. Your partnership through prayers and financial support will allow us to reach out and connect with youth leaders. Would you consider a year end gift? We are 64% funded, and would love to be able to start 2025 fully-funded and ready to serve Cleveland. In His Grace, Jay and Amy It was just about 9 months ago that I began my ministry to youth leaders with National Network of Youth Ministries (NNYM). My mission has been to reach out to youth leaders throughout western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, inviting them to connect with other youth leaders in their area through networks. These networks help to develop relationships that encourage youth leaders and other caring adults locally to reach and equip young people for Jesus Christ. During these past months, I had the opportunity to meet with youth workers from Cambria, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland counties in Pennsylvania, and Ohio County in West Virginia. I also had the privilege of working with students, partnering with Pine Springs Camp, and continuing to serve alongside Amy as she ministered with Ohio Valley Young Life Capernaum. To make this ministry possible, I set out to invite a team of ministry partners to join me. The role of a ministry partner is to pray for me, my family, and the mission to reach students and youth leaders throughout the Appalachia Area. With prayer comes the opportunity to financially participate in the mission, providing support towards my work with NNYM. It was exciting to see God at work in so many ways. And I thoroughly enjoyed every opportunity to meet, speak, pray with, encourage, train, and promote what God was doing in and throughout the area.  But what happens now? Are you leaving NNYM? What about your ministry partners? Are you still going to work with youth leaders? Those are great questions. And honestly, these were the same questions that I needed to address and answer. So Amy and I sat down and began to pray and talk about what to do next. I reached out to the leadership at NNYM and the leadership at Bay Presbyterian Church. Here is what we are hoping to see happen in the new year. First, we are going to continue to serve with NNYM as the Cleveland Area Coordinator. This will be a quarter-time position, allowing me to connect and serve youth leaders in the Cleveland area, while still focusing attention on the ministry at Bay Presbyterian Church (BPC).  Second, we will still need our ministry partners. The work I do with NNYM will be separate from my work at BPC. The coaching, mentoring, training, networking, and outreach with youth leaders is vital. Remember, studies have proven that youth workers who are connected with a local youth ministry network double their staying time and effectiveness. We need to continue to welcome these youth leaders. So I invite you to continue partnering with me as together we reach out to youth leaders.
Third, our work in the Cleveland area begins in January 2025. With my transition to a quarter-time role with NNYM, our overall budget has been significantly reduced, making every gift even more impactful. Thanks to your incredible generosity, we are already over 64% of our total goal! To be fully funded and ready to serve youth leaders in this new chapter, we need just $1,300 more in monthly commitments. Would you prayerfully consider a year-end gift or beginning monthly partnership to help us reach this goal? Together, we can make an eternal difference. Thank you for being part of this journey! - jay I believe the saying goes something like this, “God, (or) the Lord, works/moves in mysterious ways.” It’s often quoted when things work out in odd or unexpected ways. Many think it’s a verse from the Bible. It ranks up there with, ‘cleanliness is next to godliness’, and ‘the Lord helps those who help themselves.’ But these statements aren’t in the Bible. In fact, when you think about them, they’re kind of cringy. Does God work or move in mysterious ways? I don’t think so. While I might not always understand what God is doing in the moment, I’m not sure I would say that He was acting mysteriously. I believe that God makes His intentions and His plans very clear in His word. Mysterious? No. Purposeful and intentional? I think so. One of my favorite verses about who God is comes from Psalm 139:16. It reads, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (ESV  This verse reminds me of two thoughts. The first, God is Omniscient. He knows everything. He is Omnipresent. He is outside of our understanding of time and was able to see that which was not yet formed. And, He is Omnipotent. That’s all powerful. Not only does He know all and is ever present, but seeing what was not yet formed, He had the power to make the nothing into something. Me. Second, nothing escapes the knowledge of God. My days. Every single one of them. From birth to death; each one written in His book. Thus each day, and everything I do in that day, then the next and the next, are purposeful and intentional. This means no surprises. No skeletons in the closet. No mistakes. Sure, I might have to walk through some difficulties or challenges, but does anything take him by surprise? No  When I look back over my career as a youth pastor/leader, I can see how each new role, and each relocation, worked to prepare me for the next call that God would put before me. Each move was purposeful and intentional.
And now here we are, about to step into a new ministry opportunity. The Higham’s are moving to Ohio! I have accepted the position of Director of Parenting and Middle School Ministry, with Bay Presbyterian Church (EPC), just west of Cleveland in Bay Village, Ohio. This new role will allow me to partner with parents as they navigate through the milestone moments of life, while also serving as youth pastor to the middle school students. My time with Bay Presbyterian Church will begin in January 2025. In the meantime, Amy and I, are preparing to make the move to Ohio. We would appreciate your prayers as we wrap up life and ministry in Wheeling, WV, and begin this new and exciting journey in the Cleveland area. - jay |
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