As 2018 begins at Heart for Lebanon, I am reminded of a quote from the famous racecar driver, Mario Andretti,
“If everything’s under control, then you’re going too slow.”
Last year seemed to be a blur of wonderful advancements for this ministry; and as we race into 2018, we can expect more of the same.
We have so many reasons to share our gratitude with you for this past year. We’ve continued to celebrate the opportunity to demonstrate compassion to more people within Lebanon. We’ve witnessed great progress on the development of our HOPE Ministry Center in the Bekaa. And finally, we’ve shared the joy of seeing two worship gatherings begin within the communities we serve in Lebanon. Truly, we can look back with humble hearts at what God continues to do.
In 2017, we had begun praying collectively (staff leadership and the Board of Directors) on how we can best steward the God-given growth of our organization both in Lebanon and in our International Office. In response to the amazing growth we’ve experienced the past several years, we’ve completely redesigned our organization within Lebanon in order to help us better deliver our mission. We are confident that our updated structure allows us to better meet the needs of those we serve as well as driving efficiencies necessary to function properly.
Additionally, we’ve assessed how the International Office can best position itself to handle the current growth trajectory. We fully understand and acknowledge that the local church continues to be the anchor of stability for a thriving mission such as ours. We feel we have greater opportunity to improve how we serve the local church better in the future.
Traditionally, we’ve been able to manage our valued relationships through the important efforts of Camille and Tom. As we came to the realization that both are becoming increasingly challenged with time conflicts, we knew that as an organization we needed to find additional ways to provide you the support you deserve.
So, we are pleased to formally announce that Will Cunningham has officially joined our Heart for Lebanon International Office Team. Will’s deep passion and expertise will help sharpen our focus in the areas of church relations, prayer ministry, and our individual investor relationships. We look forward to each of you getting to know Will a bit more in the future.
A little about Will,
Will is a US Navy veteran serving honorably in multiple conflicts & wars since 1985 with additional time spent in Afghanistan and Iraq as a military liaison to Special Forces units. William is a graduate of the Montreat College with a Master Degree in Business Administration.
After serving several years overseas in multiple countries in the late 80’s to early 90’s as a Naval intelligence professional, William accepted a ministry position as an executive assisting pastor of the largest church in Hawaii. He directed and navigated the ministry’s radio syndication from 5 markets to 215 markets nationally in a two-year period. He additionally directed an affiliated Bible College as a teaching director.
In 2012 Will focused his interests by volunteering and then serving as Chief Operating Officer and Major Gift Officer of the largest homeless shelter in Western North Carolina where he spent much of his time coaching life-changing principles with those in need and encouraging donors to be blessed by giving their life away.
Will is married to Amy, and has three children: Christian, who also served as an Army Paratrooper with the 173rd in Italy, as well as Afghanistan, and is now studying management at Appalachian State. Elizabeth spent a year in the mission field as a missionary caretaker for handicap orphans in Mexico. She is married and has worked with handicap kids and adults in Carey, NC and is now a mother to her first child Knox. Blake is in the Marines!
Will enjoys giving back to the community at various levels to: WNC Rescue Mission (Homeless Shelter), Special Operations Foundation, Victor Marx Ministries (Combating Human Trafficking), Youth With A Mission (YWAM).
Will believes in life long learning, in 1992 he graduated from Calvary Chapel Bible College School of Ministry (SOM) followed by a pastoral commissioning; in 2010 he received a Master certification in Applied Project management through Villanova University; In 2011 William completed certification requirements for Legal Investigation through Winston Salem State University; In 2014 he completed his requirements as a certified Christian counselor through Sarasota Academy of Christian Counseling; and recently achieved the coveted designator of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) Agilest (SA) for Executive managers who desire to implement Lean-Agile methodologies.
We’re so excited about the new opportunities to get ahead of 2018 in supporting you. As always, your continued prayers and support amaze us. On behalf of our Board of Directors and the entire team at Heart for Lebanon, thank you for running the race with us. May God extend you many blessings this year!
