Vibrant Life Ministries

I grew up in a loving, middle class Catholic family in Louisville, Kentucky; which included a mother and father whose union produced five (5) children of which I am the first male while being the 3rd child. My father, Charles, supported and encouraged me to participate in the Boy Scout program and due to his leadership and involvement; I was able to attain Eagle Scout status. During my junior year of high school I discovered myself being named a National Merit Scholar and began receiving scholarship offers from colleges such as MIT and Harvard.  In 1975 I chose & began attending an excellent engineering school; Rose-Hulman Institute; in southern Indiana.  Building other dimensions in addition to academics included becoming Freshman & Sophomore Classes President and President of fraternity in my senior year. Upon graduating from Rose-Hulman Institute in 1979, I discovered myself being presented with thirty-one (31) job offers in technical marketing rather than design engineering. I married my high school sweetheart, and accepted an engineering position at General Electric. The management team at G.E. was impressed with my academic achievements that I was recruited into a six-year advanced management training program where I quickly earned my Masters in Engineering degree. For my master's thesis, I designed and built a household robot (a super appliance like Rosie on the Jetsons) and by the early 80's I became solely focused with robotics. My wife and I moved to Connecticut where I took a position in G.E.'s robotic division.  

     Despite the fact I had worked hard to become an Engineer; management had different ideas. Management's ideal position for me was selling and marketing high- tech products.  Within a year I was first line manager; within three years I was named one of the youngest managers of Sales and Marketing at G.E. At this time my division moved to Florida; so my wife and I moved to Florida right before our son, Benjamin, was born. After about two years working and living in Florida; I was faced with the harsh reality that my wife of seven years no longer wanted to be married. I had become a true workaholic.  After a brief self-evaluation of my life; I began thinking about my 2 year old son, about his future and how he would be raised. I decided that despite the fact a child needs his mother, I could provide for him better than she could; so I fought for custody and won. As "Mr. Mom"; I went through many an airport with my son on my shoulders, a briefcase in one hand and a diaper bag in the other. This arrangement worked surprisingly well because my job entailed "sealing the deal" with clients over dinner in a nice hotel in the evenings, and the rest of my time was spent with my son.

     During this time; I had remained in contact with one of my best friends back in Connecticut. Keri was the manager of Human Resources at G.E. and she told me of her secretary, Donna. Upon meeting & maintaining a 2 month long distance relationship with Donna; it was announced at the same time that G.E. was closing their robotics division. I then received a phone call from an old business associate & he asked me if I would consider coming back to Louisville and running an Engineering department at G.E. appliances. I immediately took the position; Donna and I married and we moved to Louisville.  Donna and I welcomed a second son; Christopher.

     Within the next 2 years; I found myself being offered a position running an entire company in Denver, Colorado. The family packed and traveled to Colorado where I managed the making of key pads like the front of your microwave.  The company had a history of posting losses and suffering horrible quality problems.  I put my talents to work and profitability and quality got better. After about a year, my boss invited me to headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina to review the business and my performance.  My efforts were met with disapproval & unacceptance from my boss which caused devastation internally for yours truly. Consequently; I changed my airplane tickets and visited an engineer at Motorola in Chicago before traveling back to Colorado. He had been working excitedly on a new produ called "cell phone". He needed key pads for his phones. He needed a lot of them and he needed them cheap. I was interested but I didn't know exactly how to meet his need.  I toured the labs at Motorola, saw the prototypes, and right away I instantly had the revelation of a patentable concept that would accomplish what was needed. My fellow engineer and I began looking seriously at the future of communications, at market projections, and what the cell phone could be. We filed for and were granted a patent to produce the keypads quite inexpensively. Soon after this new development; I received a call from France, Square D; where the company I was managing in Colorado was to be sold.  When I arrived in Paris, I surprised them by telling them "We'll buy it." "Who's we?" they asked. "Me and my management staff" I said. They asked "Do you have any money?" "No" I said "but we'll get it". We did manage to raise the money. I told Square D about the invention; but at that time; cell phones were still in the lab; so the invention held no interest for them. We bought the company very inexpensively. Two factors that aided in the transition was the assistance of an investment banker from Denver who helped to arrange an investment group that was invaluable in purchasing the business & wisdom to insist that all employees would own stock in the new company while working as a team.  Within a year, we had the attention of all the big cell phone companies: Motorola, Nokia, Q, Sony, Erickson, Friedan, and Alacatel. We had the market cornered on this type of keypad technology. The business grew dramatically in sales.  Despite disagreements with my investment partners on what to do with this successful company, we prospered. By this time, Donna and I had our third and final child, Nicholas. 

     A large English company offered to buy our company and expressed global expansion philosophies that matched my own. They would buy our company: making Donna, I, and the management; quite wealthy and would let every employee have a financial windfall. As a condition of the sale; Donna, myself, and the three boys moved to Williamsburg, Virginia where we built a huge house and settled in the lap of luxury. We wanted for nothing. We spent money like there was no tomorrow. We took extravagant vacations and made outlandish purchases. We were in the grips of materialism on a grand scale! Oh sure, we gave some money away but for the most part we did what we wanted to do whenever we wanted to do it. I was an egomaniac by this time and so sure of myself that I was literally delusional. I began making decisions my boss disapproved of and scoffed at his authority. “Who does he think he is anyway? This is my show and I’ll run it as I see fit!” Finally one day in a disagreement over first class flight arrangements for my staff; I quit. I said “I’ll show you…I quit!!” I knew of course his boss would never let me quit. Well…guess what? He never returned my calls, never answered my letters. He did the impossible…He let me quit! I couldn’t believe it! Slowly reality began to set in and I realized I was completely unemployed. I also realized there wasn’t a lot of large scale manufacturing going on in this country anymore, and certainly no where I could make the salary that we were used to spending.  I panicked! What was I going to do? What was my family going to do? I realized I had never compiled a resume in my life! I never looked for a job; they had always looked for me! I had this huge house and virtually no savings. For the first time in my life I was truly scared. 

     I was down, but my ego wasn’t quitting. It was determined to rise again. Soon I met with an acquaintance of mine who had a general cleaning business.  He took the rest of my money in exchange for 49% interest in the business. I convinced him to change his focus to floor maintenance priority. I took out some big loans and we began our propelling our business forward. We were immediately faced with numerous problems such as logistic and employee challenges. This was the first time I realized I had neither support staff nor services nor did I have any experience in resolving them. I was experiencing huge disagreements with my partner and we were losing money. I borrowed some more money and bought out my partner’s 51% interest in the company’s business; but the downward spiral was out of control. The company’s status grew worse regardless of what we attempted to correct its direction. Near the end it was just plain pathetic. Finally I was faced with bankruptcy. I was terribly depressed and quite often suicidal in thought; but suicide was  never attempted. The bankruptcy was a long, humbling and trying process and it was just beginning.

     The pivotal point was Christmas 2000. I was feeling as low as I’d ever felt. My wife tried to encourage me to get in the Christmas spirit and decorate the house “for the kids”; she said…”they need it”. So finally on Christmas Eve, I pulled myself together and began decorating one room in the house. We had the best Christmas Eve ever; even though we only had one gift a piece as compared with dozens of gifts for each Christmas of previous years. The boys and I stayed up late that night putting away the decorations. Tomorrow was Christmas and the day after; the 26th; we were moving out of the house due to the bankruptcy. As I pulled down the box from the attic to put away the lights; the boys and I discovered an unwrapped gift in the box. Earlier as my sons and I were pulling lights out of the box; all of us would guarantee that the box was completely empty after the lights had been removed! Where had this wrapped gift come from? Came to find out that the present was from the previous year of 1999 and how it didn’t get opened last year; or how it got in the box we don’t know. What we did discover is that the gift was from my friend Keri (remember the matchmaker?) and that it was a Bible. I sort of smiled to myself as I recalled fond memories about Keri and about our friendship. I flipped through the pages as one might do and I came upon her words on the inner front cover: "DENNY; READ THIS! YOU NEED IT!!"

     As I look back, I know if I had opened that present a year earlier; I would not have read it. When I recall who I was, and where I was one year prior; I know in my heart I would have simply shelved “the Book” and that would have been the end of that. But I know now that God has a way of doing things in his time. That night I began reading the Bible from the very beginning. I read Genesis and Exodus that night. The next day, December 25, 2000; I called Keri and I thanked her for the Bible and I told her she was right. I did need the Bible. I then proceeded to tell her how my life had fallen apart and that I was near the end of the line. She then asked me if I remembered her son’s struggle with his drug issues; to which I replied in the affirmative. She told me of a Christian counselor who was in my area and she gave me this man’s phone number. What happened next is just amazing. I called this man at his office on Christmas Day and he answered his phone!  After crying on this man’s shoulder over the phone; he told me without hesitation; “Come right now!” When I arrived at his office, he patiently listened to my story of woe and misfortune. After about two hours he said to me; "You are not suicidal; God's been trying to get your attention for years and now he has it!" He directed me to a Bible study held on Friday mornings which I continue to attend as much as I am able. I began an interpersonal relationship with JESUS CHRIST via the HOLY SPIRIT about four months later in April 2001; I got saved That's the story of an extremely arrogant man who had to be humbled by God in order that he might LIVE.

     Over the course of the next several months; my life changed drastically. My family and I had moved out of the huge house and into a modest rental home. I began doing consulting work for substantially less money than I was accustomed to. I developed a real hunger for God and His Living Word. I was going to every Bible study I could find. Unfortunately, I was still running like mad. My work took me overseas frequently and I realized I was neglecting my wife and my children. The Lord told me I was falling into the same old pattern of putting my career first. Something had to be done and this time I immediately began praying for direction. The Lord answered my prayers with a new consulting job locally. The money was less but that was OK; the Lord was meeting my needs and I had more time with my family. This was a mixed blessing because circumstances had brought us together. We no longer resided in this huge house where we had our own areas and living quarters. We were thrust together for better or worse and we managed to hold it together and get closer.

     As I began my role in consulting; I quickly realized I didn’t know everything about everything. My ego was being constantly reduced. As I became less and less enchanted with the consulting world; I became friends with a man who was involved with prison ministry full-time. He explained to me what it meant to be involved in the ministry and I accepted the challenge. The first time I went to a prison; after ministering and praying for the men, I cried for four (4) straight days. I think the reason I cried was three fold: 1st, the prisoners had lost their freedom, their wives, and years with their children; 2nd, the Holy Spirit moved dramatically and openly among us as He performed numerous miracles and 3rd was simply this: they helped me more than I ever helped them. At this time I knew that God wanted me to have a job in ministry.  I agreed with His direction as He guided me step-by-step and I continually surrendered & still do surrender to His ongoing, encompassing transformation in my life.

     Soon I met a man who introduced me to the term “faith-based” and he told me about trust in God. He said I didn’t need a salary. God would provide. I was flabbergasted! I could deal with making little money; but making no money?! I had a family with three kids preparing for college. What was I to do? I surrendered, that’s what I did.  I gave it all to God and I said; “Please help me!” I completely let go of known controls. So in February of 2004; God and I started Vibrant Life Ministries. During this time I had many miraculous things occur. Money that I didn’t know where it would come from just came. I, Dennis, who had always been Mr. Self-Reliant, had started to rely on God.

     One day I was driving around with a supporter of the un-defined ministry, and as we were driving; I looked out the side window and I heard out loud; God’s voice telling me clear as day; “This is your building.” I met the owner of the building and I told him “I heard God’s voice this morning.” He responded with "You did?  What did he say?" I shared with him that God told me verbally his building was to be my building. He said; “What do you want it for? I said; “I don’t know.” He then asked me if I had any money to which I replied; “No, I used to but not anymore”. He then said “I’ll think about it” and he walked out. I was very humiliated.

     Over the course of the next few days, I was invited to attend a meeting that the United Way had been holding on the homeless issue in Williamsburg for thirteen years. My response was; "What homeless issue?" I learned that Williamsburg has the same issue as any other community, but some community leaders of this tourist town wanted to deny it. I began to sense the ministry that GOD was giving me.

In the next two weeks, an experienced 'roller coaster' adventure occurred. God gave us a different building to use. The homeless committee got excited, but the building was very small and not useful as a shelter. The building's owner offered to build us an appropriate building on land he owned. A member of the Board of supervisors said, "Not in this town!” A general from the army called and offered me beds, desks, and an entire kitchen for use in building a shelter. Over the course of those developments, I got hooked. There was a need that presented itself. God was presenting to me this homeless issue and promising His resources to meet the need.

     We housed our first men on December 7, 2004 and housed people every night until November 2012. We resumed housing in November of 2013 and have housed irregularly since. We started out knowing nothing about the issue, but have housed well over 130,000 bed-nights since the beginning. God has provided over 400,000 meals through Vibrant Life Ministries. We have been very active in local and jail ministries. We have taken care of people who have AIDS, Sclerosis, Strokes, Schizophrenia, Alcoholism, Drug Addiction and many other illnesses. 

     Vibrant Life Ministries has been a culmination of visions as the Lord has revealed them to me. He gave me the mission statement (Matthew 25:31) at church in February 2005.  That mission statement says that we have a much bigger future than just a homeless shelter. We have to feed and water the hungry, comfort the sick, visit those in jail, minister to strangers, and clothe the naked. He showed me successful ministries with the same mission in Norfolk and Richmond. Those saints have been so willing to share their decades of experience that they have accelerated our efforts faster than we ever could have. He showed me that eventually, Vibrant Life Ministries would open a Christian orphanage and a Christian senior citizen's home. 

I know that God gave me the vision and I know that He does not let His word return empty. This ministry has already helped a significant number of people. It will help a great deal more as time unfolds. Along this journey of starting and runningGod led me to attend seminary and graduated 

I believe God wants a church oriented approach to an operational re-start of the ministry. The church will take a page from the Kauris jail ministry and strive to break down denomination boundaries as we re-start.

The testing of Spiritual gifts that I been blessed with has confirmed what I have observed: God has blessed me with a pastoral heart ( I am often in tears about some suffering that somebody is going through) and talents to inspire people.

I need to let go this time and let God do what He is going to do with this ministry. I need to work on my integrity as I have just recently demonstrated with these last two classes. My word needs to be able to be counted on when I give it. I am going to count on God for sanctification help.

I do feel fortunate with the education that I have been blessed  with in my life, both in the natural and in the spiritual. I plan on staying involved in King's College of Jamestown and will continue to invest in education...not because I need it for ministry success, but because the community needs the seminary and I feel like I am called to help the community and myself.

I would like to finish this assignment with a proclamation about my belief of the validity of the Holy Bible as the irrefutable Word of God. I plan on continuing the daily study time both alone and with people that I due now. I currently use a devotional called "Jesus Calling" to augment my Bible study and I plan on continuing this daily practice. I love to study His word and then I love to preach it to people who need to hear it. I believe the final ordination that I will receive In September will help me in this effort. 

I know that God has called me and He has more to show me. I am looking forward to a further walk with Him.