I have a prayer request that may seem trivial to some but others will understand.  I am a licensed clinical social worker.  Being a conservative fundamental Christian social worker is an oxymoron, a contradiction of terms.  There are not very many of us around.  I think we may well be on our way to extinction.
 
For that reason, I have chosen not to be a member of the National Association of Social Workers.  I am diametrically opposed to just about everything they stand for - abortion, gay rights ( I hate it that they hijacked a perfectly good rhyming word, not to mention the rainbow), euthanasia, and the list could go on and on.
 
So far, my employer is not pressuring me to rejoin this brotherhood of the misinformed.  However, I am also a mentor for a university and take practicum students under my wing.  They would prefer that I be a member of NASW and coldly suggested I rethink my decision.  The Association has sent me an email to be reinstated.  It is expensive - about $300 a year.  I really get no visible benefit from being a member.  I am an ACSW - which is their accreditation.  However, each state has its own criteria for licensure and a test which has nothing to do with NASW, as far as I know.  I don't need them in order to receive Continuing Education to maintain my license.  I honestly cannot see what benefit I derive from it.  I used to go to the professional meetings/yearly gatherings for Continuing Education Units, but I always came away angry because of the agenda.  Even their Ethics training was hyped by the gay agenda.
 
I am leaning toward not participating because I see no benefit.  But I am looking at that from a strictly professional and personal view.  God called me into/placed me in this profession.  It was Him, not me.  I don't see how I could be a witness to Him in it because I am just a "member".  I have never been a part of the ruling class.  I don't want to close a door, but when someone asks me how come I am not a member, it does give me an opportunity to explain my view of social work.
 
My testimony is that God placed me in social work.  He did it!  I was a single Mother with 3 young children to raise and provide for.  I needed a job with income and benefits, specifically dental and medical.  I was all prepared to follow in my Mother's footsteps and teach English in high school.  If you have never had God slam a door in your face, let me tell you it is a surprise.  I thought I was following His will.  It didn't work that way.
 
Instead, he placed me in a job in Children's Protective Services.  I really wasn't making much money but the benefits were okay.  I felt I needed something more and I started to look at an MBA, an RN degree, etc. But I couldn't afford it with the kids and the expenses.  About that time, the state decided to offer a stipend program to employees who were interested in a Master of Social Work degree.  I wasn't sure I was interested.  I looked at the MSWs I knew - very liberal, immoral, nonbelievers/agnostics, cynical, cold, etc.  You get my drift.  Then God brought 3 godly men to my attention - Gene, Bill and Jim.  They were Christians and they were MSWs.  So I applied.  I was accepted.  The state agency paid my salary, my books and my tuition while I attended school.  I really  do not know if I could have gone to school any other way.
 
When I was finished with my degree and had fulfilled my responsibility to the state regarding the stipend (four years of service), He removed me from my position there and placed me in a hospital where I worked with a simply wonderful team of professionals in planning discharges.  I have been pretty much in the medical field for the past 20 years.
 
Pray with me that He will give me the assurance that my decision (so far - I have learned that He is a great mind changer) is the right one and if not, that He will reveal that to me.  I pray for His guidance to a like-minded group of Christian social workers.  Surely there is another group out there that is not as worldly minded.
 
Thanks  Dawn