Bob

Article written for Baptist Homes

Sometimes, God changes lives through missionaries blazing gospel trails through the cold unknown. He’s been known to restore hearts, minds, and bodies through teachers and nurses, all the usual saints. But then there are the ordinary folks. 

Bob Maple’s just a simple country guy. He was working as a maintenance director in nursing facilities, but something felt wrong about driving to the city every day. He was itching to stick closer to his farm when he saw an ad on Indeed for a maintenance director for Baptist Homes – Adrian. All he’d been hoping for was a shorter commute, and here he’d found a chance to work for the Lord.

That’s how Bob sees his job maintaining the facilities at Adrian. The background work of bringing a building up to code may not look particularly spiritual at first glance. But if something isn’t working properly, the residents suffer. “God gave me the ability to maintain these facilities, structures, and equipment,” Bob said. “This is the way I give Him glory, because through serving these residents, it’s like serving God.”

Bob never seems to stop serving, either. He single-handedly made the biggest difference during the Adrian remodel, tackling projects from painting the exterior of the Independent Living building to power washing and patching the roof to prevent leaks. When most people would have called a contractor, Bob applied his own skills and experience to install cabinetry, countertops, and sinks, saving the facility more than $10,000. 

Bob takes pride in finding ways to make buildings and systems operate more efficiently; everything should work smoothly and look beautiful. Now he’s cutting costs across all facilities in his new role as Regional Maintenance Director. He’s busy converting the maintenance systems over to a building management app called TELS, which keeps track of code requirements for state surveyors and fire marshals. Bob has seen other buildings end up with too many tags—and too many fines—after depending on the chaos of pen and paper, so he knows the importance of setting up a more reliable system that lets all workers stay on the same page with other facilities and the corporate office.

For some people, faith seems to float in the sky, just a lovely collection of spiritual words that don’t intersect with their daily lives. But Bob understands what the apostle James meant when he wrote that true faith always turns into action. He’s constantly pulling it out of his toolbelt, using faith like a hammer or a caulking gun to keep residents comfortable and safe.

In Bible times, God used servants, prisoners, and slaves. He accomplished great works even through wicked kings. He has used fishermen—and one remarkable carpenter. So when you glimpse His goodness in the humble grin of a maintenance man, you shouldn’t be too surprised.