Lance Williams, Executive Director: Barber & Beauty Scholarship Fund
Lance Williams is, in his own words, a "harmonious contrarian". At first glance, that may seem like an oxymoron, but a careful look into the choices he has made, and the great friendships he has forged, and one can see that that description is an appropriate one.
Lance was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in the southwest part of town. He lived a fairly normal childhood, graduated from Robert E. Lee High School, and began pondering his choices for higher education. His contrarian nature won out as he chose Texas A&M because, he says, "most of my friends chose UT (the University of Texas)" and I wanted to do something different, and I wanted to forge relationships with people outside of my circle." He would graduate from Aggieland with a B.A. in Speech Communications, and a minor in Business.
Before graduating, Lance's life would change forever as he encountered, for the first time, the God of the Universe, Jesus Christ. As a result of this encounter, his purpose changed from serving himself to serving God and others. Lance's faith now gives him the drive to see lives changed. As has been the case throughout his life his good friends had a hand in this life-changing moment.
His conversion led him to become the youth minister at a Korean church in Houston. He would call that role one of the most important and yet difficult he has played so far in his brief sojourn. "I believe the work I did there impacted lives in a positive way, and I still speak to many of those kids today," he says before adding, "but there were many challenges in the job that had to be overcome to be able to accomplish what I think I was there for."
In many ways, his experience at the Korean church was a harbinger of things to come. His work there confirmed his calling that he had felt right after graduating from college. Soon, he would enroll at Dallas Theological Seminary where he would serve on the leadership team of the Spiritual Formation department for two years. He recently graduated from DTS in May 2008 with his Masters in Theology.
In spite of all of his accomplishments, somehow Lance felt the need to take on another daunting challenge, one that is giving him the time of his life: Director of the Barber and Beauty Scholarship Fund. "This fund helps individuals who really want to change their lives for the better," he notes.
And, as has often been the case in Lance's life, the many challenges of this role are far outweighed by the difference his work is making in the lives of those he touches every day.
"It is one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had," he admits joyfully. "The appreciation we receive when we hand these brave people a check to allow them to take a step up and educate themselves is awesome."
Lance is married to Melissa and they just had their first child, a little girl named Reese, in April 2008..