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Missions and Marketing

An Interview with Charity Waterman-Reeb

WIM interviewed Charity Waterman-Reeb about her bivocational ministry experience. She is the marketing consultant for the Eurasia Region of the Assemblies of God World Missions and Project Rescue International.

WIM: Please introduce yourself to us.

Waterman-Reeb: Hello, I am Charity Waterman-Reeb. I’m a 24-year-old, sometimes overly ambitious marketing consultant. I come from a background of bivocational ministers. My father is the pastor of a small church and owns a dairy farm. Life has always been a beautiful merge of faith and living since I was a child. I have vivid memories of my Dad telling cattlemen and farm hands about Jesus. Most of them, through my father’s ministry, found Jesus as the answer to life’s questions. I found Him as the answer to mine as well.

WIM: Describe your academic and professional background.

Waterman-Reeb: In 2004, I graduated from Evangel University in Springfield, Mo. Before my current position, I worked at a national ad firm as the right-hand to the vice president on the foodservice division of M&M’s/Mars and Schwan’s Food Company accounts, assisted in market planning, presentation, innovation process, etc.

WIM: Do you believe God has called you to ministry? If so, how did you become aware of His call and what does that look like for you?

Waterman-Reeb: Personally, I found my call while working at an ad agency. I was promoting products, and one day it occurred to me that the same strategies that were being used to promote desserts and appetizers could be used to promote ministries. I thought, Wow, I could use marketing to grow the Lord’s kingdom and see lives changed. Soon after I pursued it, and the doors of opportunity flew open. God’s peace was there, and I knew it was right. This is my call. My goal is to remain in His will whether it is marketing as ministry, or if later it’s something new. Our God is not stagnant. He’s always stretching, molding and developing us. He likes to see us grow. I’m excited about growth now and in the future.

WIM: How is your call to ministry being fulfilled and worked out in a practical sense?

Waterman-Reeb: The work I do is very practical. It is everything that someone with my credentialing would typically do, but for ministries and missionaries. I didn’t pursue a second degree or plunge into something new from where I was before. Instead, I shifted my talents to serve in ministry.

WIM: As a bivocational woman, what is the relationship between the two vocations in which you serve? Do you experience tension between them such as having two sets of professional priorities, people’s expectations, etc.?

Waterman-Reeb: Yes, there is always tension when you pursue bivocational ministry. Many times you come to certain situations with a set understanding of how things should happen based on previous experience. I went from a very corporate setting to a ministry setting, and the rules, personalities, expectations, and priorities changed. Simply said, there is a lot of change. But change isn’t all bad. It just requires additional sensitivity to the new process in which you function, and a willing spirit to change the way in which you have always done things. Changing some of the old habits has brought greater learning experiences along the way.

WIM: Some of us believe there are advantages to being a bivocational woman in ministry. From your experience, what are some advantages and some disadvantages that you have discovered?

Waterman-Reeb: Some definite advantages:

• Newfound creativity in ministry. It’s exciting to see ministries in an innovative light, sharing the message through new ventures.

• Expanding the box. Whatever your bivocational work career may be, you are adding a different perspective, helping expand the box in which typical day-to-day function happens. This is an awesome contribution.

• Openness to other bivocational ministries. In fact, in Eurasia many of the missionaries go on the field bivocationally rather than as traditional missionaries when they are not able to obtain visas as missionaries.

A few disadvantages:

• The pay. There is a big difference between ministry and corporate salary. You really have to depend on the Lord for provision. But He is a God who provides, so don’t let this stop you.

• Bivocational ministry is still a new concept to some. You really have to approach it with sensitivity to the fact that your ideas may not be readily accepted. Hang in there. If the Lord wants to use you bivocationally, it will happen. Don’t push! It just may take a little more time.

WIM: Are there any moments in your spiritual journey that were turning points in God’s direction for you as a woman in bivocational ministry?

Waterman-Reeb: I have been blessed with many rich spiritual experiences in which the Lord has confirmed that He has a strategic plan for my life. I’m a planner, so I need to be reminded continually of His direction!

One particular reminder I received was during a missions trip to Thailand. I met a stylish Thai woman who spoke English at the hotel where I was staying. She quickly became a close friend, and we ate breakfast, made Starbucks runs, and took shopping trips together on a continual basis. I quickly learned she wasn’t the typical Thai woman as she spoke three languages and was married to a Frenchman. Her life seemed glamorous, but there was something very unusual and sad about her, even though on the exterior she acted quite happy with life. I later found out that she had been sold into a brothel as a young woman and later sold to her wealthy French husband as an indentured servant. She was visiting Thailand and her parents one last time before they died.

Her face has stuck with me over the years. I don’t think I will ever forget her friendship and the generosity she showed me in spite of her circumstances. I knew after meeting her that I wanted to become a part of the fight against human trafficking, and here I am working with Project Rescue.

WIM: You are creatively working and living in two over-lapping worlds and doing it well. What advice would you have for young women who have a heart to minister but know God is leading them to work in non-traditional ministry vocations?

Waterman-Reeb: My advice for those who feel the Lord leading them into a nontraditional ministry vocation is go for it! But, do it prayerfully and with the understanding that often what we have envisioned for our lives is different from what God actually has waiting for us. Be ready when the door opens and willing to listen to key people God has placed in your life. Find a mentor you look up to—someone who is willing to pray with you and be there with you throughout the journey.

WIM: In the past, some ministers viewed those in bivocational ministry as being less than totally committed to ministry. How would you respond to that perception?

Waterman-Reeb: The perception that a bivocational minister is less than a totally committed person in ministry is definitely still around, but thankfully, it is a waning view. My response to this point of view is Ephesians 4:11-13, “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

We need apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, and it is biblical for those of us who are workers for Christ to sit under their leadership and draw from their godly wisdom. Nowhere, though, does the Bible discredit “works of service” as less than totally committed ministers. We all work together in ministry to attain fullness in Christ. This is our goal.

And, a side note: if someone is viewing others’ ministry as less than their own, the Bible has something to say about that too. Romans 12:3, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” This is good to keep in mind, whether you find yourself in bivocational ministry or not!

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