In my 61 years, I have had the wonderful privilege on knowing God, through my relationship with Jesus, by the agency of the indwelling Holy Spirit. I have seen God move mountains – literally – to make it possible for there to be a place of ministry called HopeQuest. One day, I hope to write about some of these miraculous events.They are both encouraging and inspiring.
My whole life has been devoted to building ministries and programs where people could come discover and maintain hope, deep in their soul – while they grieve and heal – while they dig out of an avalanche of mistakes and consequences – while they learn how to quest for a life with meaning and purpose – while they rebuild their marriage relationship and mend relationships in their families.
I have seen precious souls yearn for God and discover His life and purpose for them: broken people – wounded people – hurting people – hopeless and despairing people. And now, after twenty five years of walking this vision with God, I am from time to time blessed when I encounter someone who God allowed me to share a part of their life journey with them as they participated in one of the ministries that I founded and led. Each time this happens I am reminded that our God loves us so much. I have always believed that when a person truly gets serious about becoming like Jesus, God will move heaven and earth to give them the opportunity to do just that.
Today though, I have to acknowledge that I am getting older. I can’t run at the same pace I could when I was younger. Too, I don’t want to be distracted any longer by the need to raise millions of dollars each year while also attempting to manage all of the administrative things that a Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer has to do in an organization the size of HopeQuest. So, while I am retiring from HopeQuest, I am not retiring. For as long as God gives me breath, I will be involved in using the talents, education, training, skills, and experience God has given me to the same end – helping hurting people. For those who want to keep up with me both personally and professionally, you can follow me on my website at http://www.royablankenship.com where you will also find links to my social media things such as FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Since Nancy died on March 31, 2017, I have not been in active leadership at HopeQuest. Rather, I have had the opportunity to grieve Nancy’s death, work on reengineering my home environment, and reengineering my personal life. It has been the hardest two years I have ever known. Throughout this time though, I have been able to work closely with Troy in a consulting and somewhat supervisory capacity, helping him get ready to take over my role at HopeQuest as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. I couldn’t have a more qualified person to fill this role. And, I couldn’t have a more trusted friend. So as Troy takes his new responsibilities officially on January 20th, 2019, in reality, he has served in this role since Nancy first became sick and was hospitalized in February of 2017. Now, it is time for me to enter the last phase of my life change where I work on reengineering my professional life. (In other writings, I have talked about the first two phases: reengineering my home, and reengineering my personal life).
Soon, I will disclose more about the direction I am going in my personal life and my professional life as well as my ministry endeavors. I pray that those who know, love, and care about me will remember the heart of compassion and sacrifice that I have always given in service of people, a service I have always performed purely because of my relationship with Jesus. And I would ask each of you, as often as the Lord Jesus brings me to your mind, pray for me as I embark on this new journey that God has put before me.
Blessings!
Roy