The first was in regards to the issue of licensure requirements for NY State counselors. Because the state would not accept Melissa's hours for licensure due to them all being done within private practice, Melissa had to find an alternative route to be able to continue counseling.
In response to this, West Oneonta Baptist Church (of which Melissa's husband is an Associate Pastor), issued Melissa a License for Ministry under the Conservative Baptist Association. This license for ministry allows Melissa to continue on as a Professional Pastoral Counselor which will be legally recoginzed by the state.
The drawback to this is that Pastoral Counselors are not able to receive third party billing (i.e. medical insurance reimbursements) for session fees. However, Melissa is looking into her options for obtaining the required 3,000 hours for state licensure so that True Hope may begin working with third party billing down the road.
In spite of the drawback the Licensure for Ministry was a huge answer to prayer in light of newly released state regulations!
Chad and Nichole like-wise, will be pursuing License for Ministry with their church as well.
Our second answer to prayer came to the Post family. As many of you know, they have walked by faith since the fall of 2004 as True Hope Counseling was just being started. Although True Hope continues to grow on a monthly basis, client loads are still not at a place that Chad and Nichole are able to survive on financially. As a result, both have been looking for additional work since the winter of last year.
Just this past week Davis College in Johnson City, NY has officially hired on Nichole as Director of Students! Although this will be a full-time position, Nichole will remain with True Hope Counseling as our marriage and family counselor. We rejoice with Chad and Nichole at this answer to prayer!
May God bless you in this coming month and may the warmth of the June sun bring happiness into your heart!