Redefining My Calling: Ministry, Career Shifts, and Finding Purpose

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In my late teens and early twenties, my sole career focus was ministry. When I first expressed this calling, I quickly realized that traditional congregational ministry didn’t feel like the right fit for me. Seeking guidance, I approached the pastor of my church—part of the Presbyterian Church (USA)—to ask if there were alternative paths in ministry. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to discuss it, and before we could follow up, I had moved on to college.

In college, I continued preparing for ministry, but every discussion and lesson centered on congregational work. Over time, I became so immersed in that narrative that I lost sight of any other possibilities. After a brief yet relatively successful stint as a missionary in Brazil, I accepted a call to serve a small church in New Mexico, part of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. It turned out to be a terrible experience. One elder regularly solicited critiques of my work from the congregation and then relayed them to me weekly. I faced constant opposition and a lack of collaboration from those I was trying to serve. These are only the most surface-level details of what happened, as I don’t like dwelling on it. Ultimately, this experience led me to walk away from full-time ministry altogether.

When I moved to New Jersey, I found work first as an ESL teacher, drawing on my experience as an EFL teacher during my time in Brazil. I had a brief stint as a legal assistant at a law office, then spent a few years answering business calls for a major telecom company. My career took a significant turn when I joined a startup in New York. Within a few years, I advanced from site producer to associate project manager, then to project manager, and eventually program manager. Along the way, I earned my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, along with several others, and completed two graduate degrees: a Master of Arts in Management: Project Management and a Master of Science in Innovation and Strategic Management. Clearly, I’m serious about my career path.

However, working primarily in media technology has meant facing ongoing job instability. While the tech industry is notorious for layoffs, the media and entertainment sector has arguably been even more volatile as companies struggle to monetize streaming effectively.

And what about ministry? While it’s no longer the central focus of my life, I’ve found a way to contribute in a meaningful way. As part of my Master of Arts capstone project a few years ago, I founded Uberlândia Development Initiatives (UDI), a nonprofit that raises funds for a community center in Uberlândia, Brazil. The center, Estação Vida, serves hundreds of children, offering programs in Olympic wrestling, martial arts, crafting, dance, music, homework support, and more. UDI is nonsectarian and nonreligious, grounded in the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In essence, founding UDI was a project—and now, through it, I continue to fund and manage projects that make a tangible impact. Project management, through and through.

Life has a way of taking us to places we never expected to be. Sometimes those detours are for the better, other times not—but what truly matters is what we make of them. If you had asked me at 20 whether I’d ever work in New Jersey or New York for major tech companies, I would have thought you were crazy. Yet, here I am, and I’ve come to realize that, at least for this chapter of my life, this is exactly where I’m meant to be.

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