“I’ve known God quite a bit of my life… It’s just accepting God as part of my life.” Barbara Raper, one of Work Life’s most recent graduates, reveals her gratitude for her relationship with God, the hardships she’s crossed to fully witness and grasp the pure joy and love that come with following our Father, and how Faith is the substance of all things good. Since 2012, the very first time that Barbara met Grant Croley and Allen Murdock at Long Hollow Baptist Church, Project Connect was welcoming Barbara in with open arms.

Kipp Godsey, another longtime friend of the Murdocks, was also being spun into the PCN family with new classes on the horizon, a few familiar smiles, and the teachings and scriptures of the Bible. Barbara and Kipp, unbeknownst to them, were about to change their lives around for the better, and partake in a journey alongside God, to a place of healing, a path to recovery, and a road towards higher ground. Because after all, there is nobody that God can’t reach. 

The loss of Barbara’s Mother in 2018 was tragic and devasting to say the least, and it left Barbara feeling a sense of hopelessness and misplacement. After battling with substance abuse a few years prior, Barbara felt within her heart, that it was the right time to join PCN, and participate in a few classes to help overcome her Mother’s death. Allen put Barbara through Faith & Finance, the Story of God, and Work Life Balance, a few of the classes that Project Connect still currently offers. PCN also aided in Barbara finding her first job, which was at Captain D’s. “I still wasn’t ready for a job because I hadn’t worked all my life. Someone put me to washing dishes and I was thinking, huh?” she laughs. 

Having not grown up in a household where her Mother or Father believed in God, Barbara found it difficult to complete Work Life the six weeks through, and wound up discontinuing the class two times before graduating. Her persistence with wanting to learn about Jesus, and the relationships she built along the way with fellow teachers, classmates, and Pastors, were instrumental in keeping her going. “I now believe in God, and I believe that he can heal, I know that he can heal… And I know the Lord can work any way you want him to.” It is off this beaten path and through our mistakes, where we really start to observe and detect God’s grace.

After completing the twenty fifth class of Work Life, Barbara feels the Lord working within her on a daily basis. A star employee of Kroger now for over three years, and soon to land a promotion inside the Deli, Barbara’s boss recently acknowledged a significant change in her attitude, and her willingness to be a team player. “The most important thing I’ve learned at PCN is Relationships – how to get along with my coworkers and how to do what they say and not just what I want to do.” 

Kipp Godsey, also a graduate of 2021 Work Life, can certainly attest to Barbara’s newly found glory of building relationships, and how crucial they are to playing an intricate part in someone’s development, growth, and happiness. “Relationships are key to having a good life in anything…relationships bring you joy. They give you motivation. We’re not made to be alone.” Work Life puts an emphasis on building trusting connections and interactions, exactly what God intends for us, and this particular lesson really resonated with the students this class.

As vulnerable and unquestioning as we all try to be at times, Kipp wasn’t so trusting of others in his early years. Kipp ran his own business for quite some time as an electrician and construction worker. He was able to get a job fairly easily, having an extensive educational background, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree, a Master’s, and partaking in the Marine Cor. Kipp was in the first Work Life class held at PCN, but dropped out due to his struggle with drinking and substance abuse. “I started praying. For the first time in my life, I was feeling God’s presence. And, I couldn’t hide it. I couldn’t fight the fact that I was asking for help, so I actually had to accept the help.”

In 2018, Kipp’s growing relationship with Jesus and hearing his calling to help heal him from the inside out, while unveiling the path to recovery, was truly igniting. After graduating Work Life this semester, and now over 100 days sober, Kipp’s opportunities in the work world are endless. Kipp has been interviewing with multiple positions in Construction, Electrical Work and Remodeling. Aligning with Kipp’s upcoming job launches is his promise to stay connected with Project Connect, continuing with classes on Sunday night, and walking alongside God in this new light moving forward. “You still have to trust in others. Just pray about it, stay focused on what God has planned for you, because he does have a plan for you.”