Every year, Christian Care Ministry’s Board of Directors recognizes exceptional employees for service excellence by awarding their President’s Awards. One of the Ministry’s recipients this year, Erika Williams, is our second Employee Spotlight for January.
Q: How long have you worked at the Ministry and in what capacities?
It will be 13 years on January 27th. I started as an intern in Finance and worked there for two years during our launch of the partnership with ACCU. Then, I moved to the Performance Engineering department (which had several names over the years), as a Business Analyst and then a Performance Analyst. After that, I was promoted to the Manager of Performance Engineering, which included several different areas: WorkForce Management, Analytics/Reporting, Business Analysts (for EPMO) and Process Improvement. As the ministry grew our department became more focused on Business Intelligence (reporting/analytics), so the other functions were moved to different teams and our name changed. After working with that team for several years, I now serve with the IT group leading the Data Services and Governance functions.
Q: What led you to CCM?
At the time I was working at Family Christian Store with Jessica Cook and she told me about a company called Christian Care Ministry/Medi-Share. I needed a college internship in Accounting, so I decided to apply. As God would ordain it, Jerry Lawrence just happened to be standing at the receptionist desk when I dropped my application off. It wasn’t long after that I interviewed with him and he graciously hired a college student for a role that I’m not even sure was posted at the time.
Q: What did it mean to you to be nominated and win the Chairman’s Award?
Humbling is the best way I can describe it. The truth is that we have SO many great folks we work with every day, and so receiving recognition for the work that I and many others completed together was a great feeling!
Q: Where did you grow up?
Melbourne, FL
Q: Tell us about your family.
My husband Lance and I have two children, Hannah and Jack. We enjoy being together as family, spending our free time at church, outdoor activities, visiting Mickey & Minnie at Disney, going to the movies and playing games.
Q: How did you come to know the Lord/what is your testimony?
I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home, but it wasn’t until college that I completely surrendered my heart and will to Him. Raised in the home I was, I thought I was missing out on all the ways of the world my parents had protected me from when growing up. So, when I was on my own away at school, I jumped in head first to experience everything I thought I’d been missing out on. It didn’t take long to figure out how empty all those things really were.
After a couple years away at college, I moved back home to Melbourne and got a job working at Family Christian Store. There, the Lord surrounded me with a boss and several coworkers, mature in their faith, who through daily conversations taught me what a personal relationship with Christ really looked like and the tremendous blessing that it was. One of those coworkers, Jessica Cook, is here at CCM with me today. After several months working with them, I asked the Lord for forgiveness and started walking with Him again as I had done when I was younger, but this time with a deeper conviction of who He was and what He had done for me. It wasn’t long after that He began setting me on a new path: I received a scholarship to finish my undergraduate and Master degrees, I found a great set of friends who loved the Lord and were a positive influence, and eventually the door was opened for me to start working at CCM. Thirteen years later, God continues to direct me on that new path, always showing His ever-present love and sovereign hand no matter the trials I face.
Q: What kind of church activities are you involved in?
I currently serve in the infant area on Sunday mornings, but I also enjoy helping out with special events throughout the year. We also participate in a small group Bible study.
Q: What are your hobbies or passions?
I love being a mom and wife! It is one of the greatest blessings of my life. I also enjoy cooking, weekends trips to explore new places, the beach, a walk on a beautiful day, shopping, family get-togethers, and learning about God’s creation.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
I’m so grateful for the people I work with at CCM. I especially want to thank the Business Analytics & Data Services/Governance teams for all their support over the past year. I couldn’t have done it without their help.
Comments