When it comes to the “personal and cultural transformation” that is at the heart of Pinnacle Forum, Rick Zorehkey is a great example of God’s power to change lives.
For more than two decades, Rick seemed to “have it all” – a life in the fast lane that included a thriving career in real estate, a beautiful wife, big houses and fancy cars, expensive trips and just about everything else that the world uses to define success.
But he didn’t have Jesus Christ – something that would change in a dramatic and divine way and take him from success to significance, or, as he says, from “check writer to compassionate heart” and then from “feeling compassion to living compassion.”
Today, the 55-year-old Pinnacle Forum Partner describes himself as “sweetly surrendered and totally committed” to the cause of Christ.
Rick’s journey from “then” to “now” began in a very painful way in 2001, when he had an affair that could easily have ended his marriage. But Rick’s wife responded to the heartbreak of his infidelity by turning to God for hope and healing. Seeing her faithful obedience affected Rick deeply, and began a process that led him to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in 2005.
The journey also took him to Saddleback Church in Southern California, where he became involved in men’s ministry and mission trips – including a mercy mission in 2008 to hurricane-battered Cuba with Convoy of Hope, a faith-based international humanitarian organization headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.
“Those guys (with Convoy) were unbelievable,” he recalls, “It wasn’t at all about them, it was about helping people.”
The experience gave Rick that same helper’s heart – and prompted him to fast and pray for God to give him a calling. “God said, ‘I have something for you, but it’s not ready yet,” he recalls.
God’s answer came the next year, when Rick was asked to join Convoy of Hope. He said “yes” and in 2009 he packed up his family and moved to Missouri. Today he serves as the organization’s Strategic Relations Ambassador, sharing its vision and mission with top business, government and faith leaders in the U.S. and world, encouraging them to join the effort to bring help and hope to the poor and suffering.
Since 1994, Convoy of Hope has helped some 70 million people, distributed more than 60 million pounds and $81 million worth of food and supplies, served 51 million meals, enrolled nearly 150,000 children in feeding programs, and responded to 22 major disasters.
It also has held 1,000 community events – in which it partners with local churches and agencies to give thousands of people a “poverty-free day” that includes a host of free services, from groceries to haircuts to family portraits to prayer.
“It’s all about giving help and giving hope,” he says, encouraging fellow Partners to consider supporting Convoy of Hope or bringing it to their communities. More information is available from Rick at rzorehkey@convoyofhope.org or 417-459-3845, or at www.convoyofhope.org.
After connecting with a number of Pinnacle Forum leaders through his work, Rick became a Partner in 2014 even though there’s not a Forum near his home. But that fact, and a busy travel schedule that can have him away from family for half the year or more, has made him a perfect match for a Pinnacle Forum “TeleForum” – a virtual meeting designed for Partners whose locations or schedules rule out attending a physical forum.
He endorses Pinnacle Forum’s Four “E” strategy – encourage, equip, engage and execute – and stresses the need for people to be both “available” and “willing” to go where God calls them, with heavy emphasis on the latter.
“It’s one thing to be available or to write a check, but it’s another thing to go and do,” he says. “But,” he quickly adds, “the question is figuring out how to go and do.”
That’s where the Pinnacle Forum’s model of small Forums with significant peer-to-peer relationships and accountability are so important in helping people move from encouraging and equipping and engaging to actually executing on their God-given passions, gifts and callings.
While encouraging men and women to “go and do,” Rick also warns against ever becoming too content or comfortable with where they are. “We can get really comfortable in our good work,” he explains, “but maybe God has a greater work for us.”
