Today we’d like to introduce you to Alfred Washington.
Alfred, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
There are glimpses of your life you get to explore when you are younger. You can’t imagine every detail, but through your experiences, you try to create a world that only dreams will allow you to live in. Like a lot of people, my story is no different from the boy who was raised with less than and odds stack against him, preparing for a life he never saw lived before. I was raised on the east side of Lubbock, TX, not far from the train tracks visitors of the city wouldn’t dare cross. My father pastored a church near our home to a passionate group of individuals who believed in better days. I am the first of seven siblings, four boys, and three girls, so you can imagine the very few times the house was quiet. We grew up in the ministry; I played the piano, my mom sang, and my brothers took turns playing the drums. Although I was heavily involved, I was careful to keep my distance between the pulpit and the piano because I knew that becoming anything close to speaking upfront would result in a life-shifting narrative I wanted nothing to do with. I didn’t grow up with a lot, some would say nothing but one thing we had, were parents who taught us the bible.
August 2013 marked a defining moment for my life. I was the first in my family to graduate from college. Even though this was a successful day, it was also the day I made a risky decision to move to Dallas with nothing in the bank and no job to look forward to. Even though I had a degree, the job market wasn’t responding to it as quickly as I thought. I knew the decision I was making was going to challenge me, but I didn’t know that the same challenge was going to break me. Spending five weeks living in a new city with no income forced me to want to go back home to a place I felt the most comfortable, but something on the inside of me would not let me give up. That same challenge was pushing me in the direction of the dreams I saw when I was younger. But because I was more focused on what was happening around me and the realistic view of things, I pushed everything aside and placed all my attention on landing my first career position at an investment banking firm. Fortunately, I was a part of the analyst team and the compensation was more than the average college graduate. My fear of uncertainty temporarily subsided.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The next couple of months consisted of me diving into the financial world. I was excited about the direction God led me. I had just joined a church I found after searching “Black Churches near me” on Google. I felt like I could breathe. Suddenly, that feeling of emptiness rested in the inner parts of my heart, and even though everything around me was perceived to be going well, I found myself lost in the idea of external perfection yet being incomplete internally. I was lost. Every day thereafter became a struggle for me to go to work. I understood the fact that something was missing. However, I was in denial of my identity because I knew I wasn’t living out my true purpose. My parents drilled in me Proverbs 22:6 AMP which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents] and even when he is old he will not depart from it. So, the only solution I could think of to solve my problem was God.
There were several days I was struggling with who I was as a person. One day I attended church not feeling my best. I found myself looking around more often than usual. I guess I was trying to find a person with a look that closely described how I was feeling. As expected, the pastor asked us to greet the neighbor beside you. There was no one sitting next to me, so I turned around and something caught my attention. There were no young people. I mean, yeah, some at the very back but none that were visible. At that moment, I understood where my heart was leading me.
So, that week I submitted a proposal to the pastor to lead a young adult ministry called The Ladder. I was so excited because I was finally connecting to one of my passions that created an opportunity that I could benefit from and other people who were experiencing that same feeling. This was the beginning of a chapter I have yet to close. The Ladder made room for young adults and millennials all over the metroplex. As God began showing me more of Him, I took what I learned from my weaknesses and started teaching it for others to connect to Him more purposefully. The Ladder began expanding into the community, colleges, schools, and now homes reaching individuals who just
Please tell us about The Ladder Dallas.
Naturally, the Ladder encourages people to Connect, Relate, and Evolve by discovering their purpose in God. We intentionally want to go after people who feel lost, incomplete and purposeless, because it is the closest feeling we all could relate to. I have fully accepted my calling to ministry, and the other things God wanted to do in my life as I am still amazed at how God has continuously shown up in areas I fell short in. Through the Ladder ministry, we have been fortunate to work with Leadership for Education Equity, Mentorship program at the George Herbert Walker Bush Elementary, a fully sponsored mission trip in Costa Rico, partnered with the Dallas Christian College, created conferences and events around the Dallas Metroplex, and ultimately seek to bring people closer to Jesus. Overall, The Ladder created a space for everyone to serve in the capacity they were created to thrive in.
Contact Info:
- Website: theLadderdallas.org
- Email: info@theladderteam.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theladderdallas/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/theLadderDallas
Image Credit:
Photos Credit: Kelcee Guyton
Instagram; @freetobedope
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