When Carol Seeley heard Pastor Cheryl Allen's vision for the Touch Life Centre at Troyeville Baptist Church in Johannesburg, South Africa, Seeley knew that this ministry was where God was calling her to serve.
Since last fall, Seeley had been feeling a call to missionary service through the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's Venturer program, and she had been prayerfully considering mission opportunities in China, Jamaica, and India. Then in February, South African pastor Cheryl Allen visited the U.S. to speak at the VBMB's 21-C Conference, and the next week she and Seeley had the chance to discuss the Touch Life Centre's ministry to the physical and spiritual needs of the impoverished Troyeville area in Johannesburg. “Cheryl Allen inspired me with her vision of what the church can do in its neighborhood to uplift the people and make an eternal impact on the community,” said Seeley.
Mission Board staffers offered words of blessing during a commissioning service for Seeley.
As a Venturer at the Touch Life Centre, Seeley will minister to older youth, particularly in the areas of Christian education, values clarification, life skills, and faith development. Many of these youth face difficult life situations as they deal with neglect, abuse, drugs, violence, and AIDS. “This ministry will give me the chance to build relationships with teenagers and young adults and to encourage them to make positive life choices and to share with them how special they are and how precious they are to God,” she said.
In South Africa, Seeley will be serving with a missionary partner, Amber Williams, an active member of Bowling Green Baptist Church, who is also going as a Venturer. Venturers are individuals, 18 years of age or older, who serve in hands-on mission roles for a period of six months to two years. Seeley's initial commitment is for a one-year term, with the possibility for extension.
Seeley's decision to become a Venturer grew out of her emerging sense of calling into full-time ministry. In 2000, after more than a decade working for Electronic Data Systems in Northern Virginia, she quit her job as a Project Manager and enrolled at Gardner Webb Divinity School in Boiling Springs, NC, where she earned an M.Div. After graduating, she was called to serve as Minister of Youth and Children at Heritage Baptist in Annapolis, MD. But after two years, Seeley, a native of Danville, found that she wanted to return home to Virginia.
In March 2006 Seeley was hired as the Ministry Assistant for the VBMB's Emerging Leaders Team, a position that gave her the opportunity to contribute her administrative skills and to reconnect with Virginia Baptists while she tried to discern where God was leading her next. After about six months, Seeley began looking for a church ministry position. Yet all along the idea of serving in missions had been in the back of her mind. As she became acquainted with the Venturer program, she began to realize that this was the avenue through which God wanted her to serve.
A commissioning service for Seeley was held at the Virginia Baptist Resource Center on May 2. At its conclusion, Virginia Baptist Mission Board staff came forward to lay hands on her as they offered words of blessing and encouragement.
Seeley is thankful for her co-workers' support during this time of transition and also for the chance to serve on behalf of Virginia Baptists through the Venturer program. “It's a blessing to me to be able go to South Africa in Christ's name with the prayers and financial support of Virginia Baptist churches.”