Craig's ministry is entitled, "Bounce Back" ministries, a ministry birthed by God in 2006. In all transparency, Craig shared that throughout his life, he's always been active in sports and remembered men always gravitating towards him, asking him to be a mentor for them. Craig's wife, Peggy saw what was to come and spoke wisdom, stating that God is going to use him for a greater purpose. And indeed God made good on His promise. He groomed Craig personally, professionally and spiritually to take on the role of providing guidance and tools to men that will help them grow as men of God in the Kingdom as well as within their families. Craig stated that the blessing of the ministry was that his heart was always towards family, children, and couples. God specifically centered him towards the men. God spoke to Craig and said, "If you can get the men, then the rest will follow." And that is the foundation of the ministry, "Advancing the Kingdom, one man at a time." With the blessing of the ministry, there was also a burden of the ministry: how will women of God find those men of God that desire God and have the qualities they desire? As a young, single woman of God, I can definitely relate to that question. We as women need strong, spiritually whole men to lead us and our families. Craig further explained that his experiences with men has revealed to him that men still struggle with the independent-minded women; women who were raised with no father present in the home and women who were taught by society how to be independent. Men don't have the same vision as women. This ideal places women in difficult positions, because the men are not in position to be all that God has called them to be.
This burden led Craig to write the BounceBack Devotional and Journal series. The series is divided into 12 months. Each month has a specific title and topic. The first two months are entitled, "God's Plan" and "Overcoming Past Pain". The devotional series touches on topics such as father/son relationships, mother/son relationships, practical living in the areas of finance, prayer, spiritual walk, as well as, the issues that men deal with daily. One issue that Craig addresses is the fact that men tend to come to the church in a functional position as a deacon, pastor, maintenance person, usher, etc., but not spiritually. It was at a previous church, where the Lord laid upon Craig's heart to pray every day at 4 am after seeing the struggle of prayer during Bible study. It was a moment that was the prerequisite to the writing process for the devotionals.
Now, those who know me personally, know that my professional and educational background is accounting and financial management. I had the opportunity for the last 5 years to work with clientele that spanned various industries. It was in the field of accounting that God drew me back to my first love of writing/blogging. Little did I know that when I would speak with Craig that he would share a similar story. As some of you may know, Craig is an engineer, mathematician, and scientist, both educationally and professionally; he worked for over 24 years at IBM, a company that actually helped Craig began the writing process for the devotional series. Some of you may be asking, how can working for a huge corporation like IBM help someone write a devotional for men? Well, Craig shared with me that back in 2003, while on a plane to France, at 1am, God placed on his heart the titles and topics within 10 minutes, which would be part of his devotional series. Amazing, right? Flashback to 1982, the Lord spoke in a different way and Craig used punch cards from work to write different things God gave him. This process showed Craig how to teach and preach in a relatable way. He continued to receive titles during his time at his previous churches in Illinois and Colorado and dated them on cards. He created the titles and he automatically generated the structure of the book. He didn't know what the titles meant but in his obedience, he allowed God to move and he wrote. When the devotionals came into fruition, it took a week to write most of the information. Some devotionals took research. Even the structure incorporated the mathematical and scientific side of Craig. He created spreadsheets and used various nomenclature to structure the book. From that process, the 1st devotional, "God's Plan" was published in 2008 and the 2nd devotional, "Overcoming Past Pain" was published a month later. The other books were written years later. Craig says that although he is visual in how he writes and how he sees, it was feedback that helped him during his isolation period as a writer. Yes, I said isolation period. Craig was used to talking to his clients and colleagues on a daily basis so writing became intimidating without feedback which sparked his methods for his processes.
So where did Craig's gift from writing blossom? Craig's writing journey began when he wrote stories in elementary school. Next, in college, Craig's instructor gave an assignment that challenged him to be a better writer. "Don't stop writing!", his instructor encouraged. Then at his corporate job, he received a revelation, "You know your stuff, but you can't communicate." God spoke to Craig and said, "If you don't finish writing, then you will miss your season." Craig struggled with leaving IBM because of the goodness of the company and the financial freedom, but he trusted God and in Feb. 2006, he walked away to pursue writing. This is the 9th year of his faith walk and the Lord has been faithful. God showed Craig that the things he learned in corporate America were not for corporate America, but to build up the church. He learned in college that his success was not in the natural, but in the spiritual. God gave Craig his abilities, and He was taking him somewhere.
Craig attributes his success to the support of his wife Peggy who unofficially became his official editor after offering her feedback on his initial writings and his diligence in writing. He says, that "just one word written down will help you remember what God is saying to you." Over the last 4 years, Craig's been sharing his devotionals at God's unction which has opened up opportunities to speak to men. One memory Craig recalls is when his 2nd book, "Overcoming Past Pain" was the most cathartic writing for him. Although it was a difficult story to tell, he's glad to have told it. Writing the book showed him who God was. Since the book's inception, it has been used at his wife's youth conference and NewBirth spent 9 months on what is considered to be a 30-day book. Craig shared just the introduction at a men's meeting and from that one moment, it allowed a 60-year old man to come forth and speak about dealing with his issues for years. Just hearing that alone blessed me and reminded me of the amazing things God does when we are faithful and obedient to the gift(s) and the messages He gives us to share with the world.
In the end, people didn't understand why Craig left IBM. Yes, there were sacrifices, the journey was tough and yes it was a hard transition, but Craig knew that if he didn't do this work that God placed in Him, then God didn't have anything for him to do and he would die. Powerful. Men of God, I pray that Craig's testimony will bless you and bring forth the urgency to be the man that God has called you to be. Women of God, I encourage you all to share this ministry with the men in your life. In order to have strong families, we have to build strong leaders. Remember, Phillippians 1:6, NKJV: "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." All it takes is the Write faith and the Write vision.
For more information on BounceBack Ministries and Elder Craig Heath, check out www.bouncebackministries.com.
Facebook: Craig Heath
Also for more encouragement, tips, and accountability, listen to Sharon Frame's message from the last #JustWrite meeting here:
http://rs1035.freeconferencecall.com/fcc/cgi-bin/share.mp3/7127757100-194812-13.mp3
Look for #JustWrite on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1436559053226684/
~Lequvia Ousley ~
