Becky Hoferer is a single mom with a young daughter who has disabilities. Raised in the foster system from ages 11-18, Becky considers herself blessed to have had believing foster parents. But when she aged out of the system, she also drifted away from the church.
When Becky turned 30, she felt the tug of the Holy Spirit to reconnect with God. She found a new church home at Central Park Christian Church in Topeka, KS. She said, “I was fine being a ‘pew-sitter’ until I was introduced to ministry by our TUMI Satellite Coordinator. I felt an urge to try and find a calling – a way to help.”
Limited by time and resources, Becky didn’t know how to identify what her call might be. She took a course on building urban resources and realized that she was in an urban context and could build resources for herself and also help others. She began to feel a kinship with the urban poor. Then, she enrolled in TUMI Topeka’s Conversion and Calling course, Module 1 of the Capstone Curriculum.
“It was very hard,” Becky recalls. She moved on into the advancing class but “wanted to quit… I would come to class in tears. Once I learned that, in order to succeed I had to learn to fail, it got better.” She didn’t quit and is now nearing graduation. “By staying in the (classes) I learned so much more that I gained confidence in how to exegete and disseminate information to others.”
When an opportunity came to co-teach her Sunday School class, she was nervous but “with the courses I’ve taken and the love of (her) church, class and mentors,” Becky overcame her fears and now teaches every few weeks. She also serves as Secretary of her church’s SIAFU chapter.
Becky concludes, “During these courses I have also grown to love the poor and to try and represent the Kingdom of God to help build up the oppressed.”
