My Part in God’s Business
My career journey has been one of continual change and unexpected results that I can only credit to God. My mother’s desire to see me achieve secondary education led me to a four year degree in Business and Human Resources. I only added the Human Resources degree because it was a couple more classes to a double major, and it would help me be a CEO someday (my vision for my life). Jobs were scarce when I graduated, so when I saw an advertisement for a Human Resources position at a Menards store, I was thrilled to get the role.
It was a very time-demanding role, and I did not like my job, continually searching for a way out. I was interested in the home rental market. I could make use of what I learned in my construction job during college, my experience at Menards, and the skills of my childhood as a farmer, to acquire distressed homes, fix them up, and rent them out. After acquiring six homes during my eight years at Menards, I began to see a way out of that retail turnstile―I could be a property manager!
In the late hours after work, I put together the requirements to start People First Property Management, LLC. We wanted to put “people first” over profit, and we knew we didn’t want to operate like the typical slumlords. I needed to have clean homes available. I also wanted to help people when they shared their stories, which usually involved why no one else would approve them for housing. This is where the Lord really had to work on my heart because, as I had experienced already up to this point, the landlords had valid reasons to be rejecting these applicants. When I have made exceptions in the past, it often cost me financially and added stress to my life. There was usually a “safer bet” applicant that wouldn’t add to that stress. We quickly found ourselves on a short list of property managers in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, willing to accept county housing vouchers with the added complexities. This led to people inquiring with us who had unfavorable things in their recent history.
Looking at these applications through the lens of being equally loved by God, what it really came down to was this question: Who am I to turn these people away? Instead of outright rejecting them, I can help educate them on what it looks like to have a positive relationship with a landlord.
My wife, Erika, and I have expanded this business into what is now eight employees, one being my sister. She makes a majority of the decisions now, with the same heart. She is a follower of Christ and runs this business with us, living her life for the Lord! Many single mothers and young people with no credit are being continually denied housing, and we can look past that. We can develop relationships with our tenants, recognize when they are in hard times, and give grace where grace is needed.
It was after this change in our hearts that we started not only viewing our business as belonging to God, but also our lives! Erika and I could use not only our business, but also our time and resources for God’s kingdom. We dove in to help the youth ministry program at our church and continue to look for other ways God is calling us to move in both our home and our business. Our apartment business has been able to team up with an organization that offers peer mentorship, which has shown significant life growth for the participants of the program.
Shawn is a veteran, and due to poor financial choices, he would be evicted by most standards. But instead of looking at Shawn from a money perspective, we can look at him in his current situation and try to help him prioritize responsible spending to hold his family together. If God hadn’t blessed our business to be where it is today, we would not be able to carry Shawn in these hard times.
Amanda is a single mother of two that battles depression. We would constantly extend grace on rent, eventually building to years’ worth of unpaid rent. Again, most agencies file the paperwork and start over with a new tenant after one month of being late, but we would ask her how she’s doing and try to get a plan together. My sister would meet Amanda and work through a way for her to get caught up. We didn’t want her to end up in a homeless shelter. When Amanda would thank us over and over for not evicting her, my sister would respond that we’re doing this because of our faith in Christ. Often this would follow with small but productive conversations about Christ.
Shelley had created a negative relationship with the owner of an apartment complex that I was managing. Shelley was defiant and I got the order from the owner to “get her out now,” which I had no choice but to follow. I dreaded the court date, but on the day, it was put very clearly on my heart that I could not evict Shelley. Five minutes before court, Shelley came in, dog in tow. I explained that I was going to drop my case against her. She was confused and shocked, but before I could explain, we were ushered into the courtroom and I proceeded to confuse everybody.
I assisted her back to her car and we talked for two hours about her life. She suffered horrible back pain and memory loss due to a major car accident. As a result, she lost her family and her nursing job, and pretty much her whole identity. Her story was heartbreaking, and I hoped she could find a new apartment as the owner was taking over the building from me, and she would still need to find new housing.
Later, as I was spending time in God’s Word, it hit me clear as day: we needed to look outside the box―she needed to buy a house! Everyone I talked to for advice said I was crazy, and her credit and background confirmed that this was financially unwise. However, we pushed forward, and were able to get her a loan on a condo with disability access and a garage. And you know what? She hasn’t missed a payment to date!
Growing up, I often said, “I’ll do anything for Jesus, but I’m not going to Africa…” Well, I’m now writing this from an airplane on my way to Chad. I have been sent to Chad three times now in supportive roles, all in the village of Doh, using my skills to help our fantastic missionaries with building projects. Each time, this has been a step outside of my comfort zone, but we feel very strongly about missionary support. My pastor, Kirk Militzer, encouraged me years ago with this saying I hold close, “God can move mountains, but we need to pick up a shovel.”
God has blessed me with the ability to fix things and to be available to help others in need. God uses ordinary people. I am just that: an ordinary guy. I see myself picking up the cross daily as I pray each morning and ask God how he wants me to move.
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ―1 Peter 4:10
Nick and Erika Brunner are members at Bethesda Lutheran Brethren Church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.