My Vision and Mission for my Life

In a college Leadership Class I recently took, I was given an assignment to write out a Personal Leadership Plan. 

There are 6 parts to this Personal Leadership Plan. I'm not sure yet if I will post all of them here or not.

1. Knowing Myself
2. Knowing my Past
3. Vision & Mission
4. SMART Goals
5. Mentors
6. Skills I Need

This assignment was: Vision and Mission:

• The How & Why of God's Calling as I now understand

My Vision Statement:

My vision is to equip believers throughout the world to walk a more Christ-centered life in the specific area of Biblical principles of finance and stewardship. My role in this vision is to serve and influence those that are struggling in business, to encourage the poor, and provide counsel to those who have legitimate needs. My ultimate desire is that each Christian would be equipped to live their lives in the way of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ in all areas of life, and specifically in the area of stewardship & finances. 

I desire to see both believers & non-believers living out a Biblical Worldview in all areas of life, but especially in the specific area of Finance & Stewardship. I have had this passion and desire for probably the last 3-4 years. I have spent much time in prayer and scripture reading about this vision and passion that I believe the Lord has placed in my life. Here are some specific areas that I believe God has called me to spend time sharing with others to build a Biblical Worldview in the Area of Finance & Stewardship. I have included some scripture on some of these points that will lead/have led me & guided me in these areas.

1. Know what it means to be financially free.
• Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, … And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. (Deuteronomy 8:11, 17-18)
2. Know what God’s Purposes for Money are
• For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him…” (2 Chronicles 16:9)
3. Choose to serve God rather than Money
• No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. [Money] (Matthew 6:24)
4. The importance of Tithing & Christian Giving
• Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (Malachi 3:8-10)
5. The danger of Debt & the clear scriptural principles against Debt in the life of a Believer
• Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8)
6. Self-Control from dangerous spending habits
• I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Philippians 4:12)
7. Learn Accounting Principles that benefit the life of a Believer
• Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:2)
8. Never Co-sign for someone else
• Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. (Proverbs 22:6)
9. Choose a Good Name (whatever the cost)
• A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. (Proverbs 22:1)
10. Principles of Praying for Money
• And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. (1 John 5:14-15)
11. The dangers of Business Partnerships
12. Biblical Principles of Retirement
13. The place of College in the life of a believer
• Look at John 21 & Deuteronomy 6
14. Avoid Divorce by living in Financial Freedom
• God made the man and the woman specifically to complement each other in marriage. Concerning divorce, Jesus said unequivocally, "From the beginning it was not so" (Matthew 19:8). God did not say to Adam, "Now I made this woman to be your wife, but if your marriage doesn't work out, you may divorce her, and we'll try another rib!"
• The Scriptural account of God making a suitable companion for Adam concludes with the statement, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). This speaks clearly of lifelong fidelity.
15. Avoid the trap of slothfulness
• For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10)
16. Give your Business to God
17. Set Priorities
18. Balance Life & Work
19. Strengthen Your Relationship with God
20. Build a Lasting Heritage
• But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:20-21)

My Mission Statement:

My mission in life is to help believers become educated in Biblical principles of finance & stewardship so that they will use their money & resources in a way that would please our Master. I will do this by writing books, counseling others one-to-one, speaking in front of live audiences, and by using technology to be able to reach as many believers around the globe as possible. I will live my life in a way that will back up, and not contradict, my written and spoken word. I will seek the counsel and guidance of older godly men who have lived a life of Christian service and have greatly sacrificed of their resources for the Kingdom of God.

My Mission is played out in the specific area of sharing the specific 20+ Principles I laid out above.

Why has God called me to this ministry? Because I believe that many Christians and non-Christians alike are bringing God’s judgment upon their lives and upon our nation through not living out a Biblical Worldview in Finances & Stewardship. Hardly anyone is stepping up and clearly warning others of God’s Judgment coming upon our nation & specifically upon our individual lives by not living by his principles in this area. God has given me a passion and a desire to see true genuine Christianity played out in the lives of believers through how we handle our finances.

Check out my blog about my College Life here - http://calebjenkins-collegeplus.blogspot.com/

About Me (Caleb Jenkins)

In a college Leadership Class I recently took, I was given an assignment to write out a Personal Leadership Plan. 

There are 6 parts to this Personal Leadership Plan. I'm not sure yet if I will post all of them here or not.

1. Knowing Myself
2. Knowing my Past
3. Vision & Mission
4. SMART Goals
5. Mentors
6. Skills I Need

This assignment was: Knowing My Past:

• Life experiences that have shaped me and continue to shape me.
• Understanding of the shaping influence of my life experiences.
• Relation of these life experiences to my current direction in life.

Knowing my Past:

I was born on June 12, 1994 at the home of my parents in Ceres, CA. I was 8lbs, 12oz when I was born. I started crawling at 18 months, and started walking at 2 years of age. I was starting to know how to read right before my 4^th birthday. I started preschool that year which was 1998-1999. Right off the bat my favorite subjects were math, logic, bible, & spelling. As much as I liked Math, I hated Science with the same passion (to this day, I still really don’t like Science). I had a deep love for reading books from a very early age. I started drinking coffee about the same time (5-6 age range). To this day you can still usually see me by my coffee mug. I have read hundreds if not thousands of books and many of those books, I have read over and over and over again. For example, I have read all of the Christian Heroes: Then & Now Series at least 3-5 times each as well as the Heroes of History Series at least 2-3 times each. I also developed an early attraction to technology and computers. I was fascinated by computers, which led me to learn more about their operations (I never really have been interested in the service & repair side of things though). By age 7 or 8, I was teaching my parents and older siblings how do to misc. things on the computer. I loved to sharpen my skills at typing on Mavis Beacon (I spent countless amount of hours practicing, and practicing and practicing, over and over and over again). In 2004, our family moved from on the edge of the city where my parents rented a house to a 10 acre almond farm in the country 3 miles outside of town. That was the year that I turned 10, as well as the year that my Grandpa Jenkins & Great Grandma Wagoner died (they lived in Indiana). I remember that being a sobering event in my life. In the years of 2005-2006, I spent a lot of time outside in our orchards, but I forever loved to spend whatever spare time I had still reading books & messing around on the computer. In May of 2008, I graduated from 8^th Grade. My speech was on Boldness & Courage (two things that were in the life of Caleb in the Bible that I want to be modeled in my life). Then in June of 2008, my life took a huge turn. One evening a few nights after my birthday, I could not sleep. My stomach hurt terrible bad. I tried to relieve the pain but nothing worked. When I would stand up to walk I would about collapse from the pain. I walked with my waste up parallel to the floor because of the horrible amounts of pain. Finally a few days later my parents took me to the hospital. In the emergency room they did a CT scan on me (before they did this, they made me drink some nasty flavored juice that was supposed to taste like Orange Juice, but to me it was a terrible substitute for the real thing). The emergency room doctor came and told us that the CT Scan came back with nothing. He said that it could either be that I had a bad case of the flu, or else I could be developing children’s kidney stone problems. My father did not like the answer, which the doctors sensed, so they called the general surgeon and he came and looked at me. He wanted to admit me to the hospital. After admitting me to the hospital he came and did a few tests on me, and told my parents that he thought I had appendicitis and wanted to do surgery on me. So the next day they did surgery on me, and to their surprise realized that my appendix had actually ruptured, Now this wasn’t just any ordinary rupture either. It had actually ruptured back in May of 2008, and had healed over and then re-burst in June. There was infection spread throughout my stomach area from the rupture. I spent about 14 or 15 days in the hospital because of this problem. I believe that the reason I spent this time there was a wake up call from the Lord about my personal salvation to which I did not respond to at that time being. Then in September of 2008, I prayed a prayer and “gave my life to the Lord”. I was baptized on October 5, 2008. I went down the path thinking that I was saved and tried on my own strength to be a true Christian. That fall I started working for my father doing tax & accounting work which I loved doing (It allowed me to focus on my strengths in Math & Logic while allowing me to work with $$ doing Financial Accounting & Bookkeeping which was my absolute joy – and still is). That next tax season (January-April 2009) I worked 4 days a week at the front desk as a receptionist. Then I started a small roadside fruit business for three weeks. This was a really good experience that allowed me to make some money and have some experience with entrepreneurship. I continued working for Daddy full-time from this point on doing mainly Accounting work, but also Personal & Corporate Tax Work on the side. Then in November of 2009, tragedy struck home. I had a four-wheeler wreck. I was riding my four-wheeler beside my brother on his four-wheeler in our orchard when I guess I bumped into his back tire (I don’t remember doing this). That threw me off my four-wheeler and into one of our almond trees. Miraculously, I was wearing a helmet at the time being (normally I don’t wear a helmet when just riding in our orchard). I was knocked out, and so my father who was riding with us, came up and instantly decided that I needed help. He called 911 and they sent out an ambulance and fire truck. The EMT’s decided that it might be too dangerous to transport me to the hospital in the ambulance so they called for a helicopter. After they medi-flighted me into the hospital I was in ICU for 3 days, then in the pediatric ward for another 7 days. I had broken my scapula in two spots, a bad break to my collar bone, and nine of the spinas on my vertebrae. When I was released from the hospital I had to wear a sling around for 6 weeks. That was fun to work at the office in (not)!! So after healing from that accident, I went through the tax season in 2010 and worked long hours (pushing 70 hours per week). During the summer I examined my future, and decided that it would be best to go down the route of becoming a CPA which would require a Bachelor’s degree to do. At the height of tax season in 2011, I worked 70-80 hour weeks. I loved every bit of this tax season with its challenges to further exceed and excel. Then in August of 2011 I went on a Journey to the Heart up in the Northwoods of Michigan. This was a life transforming event. I believe I really came to know Christ as my personal Lord & Savior on this trip. I was able to find freedom from sins that I was hiding in my life through confessing them & being open about them to my parents, and then through brokenness towards God because of the hurt that it had caused him. When I came home from that trip I started working on the Leadership course on Management & Communication through CollegePlus. I thoroughly enjoyed this class as it was challenging and heart searching to find answers in my life. Then this year in 2012 I survived tax season after working some 80 hour weeks. I graduated this spring from High School. My speech was on “A Biblical Worldview on Finances & Stewardship”. During this summer I took many trips to various places that challenged me to live for Christ. One of these was to a Missions Conference in OH. The Lord began to open my eyes through this event to his heart for the Nations. Then in August of this year I went on a trip to PA for a conference called “Kingdom Fellowship Weekend”. There the Lord began to open my eyes to the kingdom of God and what it is, and how it applies to my everyday life. I then traveled to OH and helped out a young lady going through demonic attacks. Through this experience the Lord began to open my eyes to the Spiritual Warfare that is happening all around us every day. Then I continued my trip to NYC where a friends & I did some repair work for Mennonites and then in the afternoons/evenings went out into the subways and sang and passed out gospel tracts and witnessed to Individuals about the Lord Jesus Christ. Through this experience the Lord began to open my eyes to his heart for every lost individual around us every day.

Now – how does all of this relate to where I am currently at and headed in life? Well going back, let’s look at a few things. I have had a interest in Math & Logic from an early age. I have always loved to read. I have always longed to be able to work with numbers. I enjoy working with computers and new technology. But more importantly, I have a desire for a close walk with Christ through Prayer & Scripture reading, & Evangelism. One of my Joys in life is sharing the Gospel with the lost and Biblical Principles of Finance & Stewardship with those that profess to know Christ. 

So where does all of this lead me in life? Well, my vision is to equip believers throughout the world to walk a more Christ-centered life in the specific area of Biblical principles of finance and stewardship. My role in this vision is to serve and influence those that are struggling in business, to encourage the poor, and provide counsel to those who have legitimate needs. My ultimate desire is that each Christian would be equipped to live their lives in the way of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ in all areas of life, and specifically in the area of stewardship & finances.

You may ask, "How and where is this mission & vision carried out?" The answer to this question is, "I'm not sure." In the past year or so, my vision has changed from an American Christianity perspective on finances to a more Biblical Christianity view of finances. My sights are now on the whole world instead of just America. My sights are now set to see lost people saved, and Christians edified and challenged to grow in their walk with Christ. I want to see a group of believers from every tribe around the world who are passionately on fire for the Lord and who live the radical life of Christianity as was displayed by those in the early church who gave sacrificially of the time, money, possessions, and even to the point of death for the spread of the Gospel to all people groups around the world.

I hope that reading this college essay paper has helped you to understand more of who I am and who God has made me to be.