About Me
My name is Wayne Stocks. I am happily located in the central Ohio area where the weather changes more frequently than a politician’s stance. So, here is a little about me. I am a devoted follower of Christ – a sinner saved by the grace of God.
I have a wonderful wife of twenty-one years now. We are on a journey through life together. It has not always been easy, and I know that it is only by the grace of God that she is mine. I am a better man, a better father, a better person, and a better follower of Christ because of her. I am also the proud earthly father to four wonderful kids aged 27 (boy), 19 (boy), 18 (girl) and 13 (boy). They are wonderful gifts of God, wonderfully insightful, wonderfully educational, wonderfully independent, wonderfully unique and wonderfully rotten. 🙂 I have learned more about God and life from my kids then I will ever be able to teach them, and they show up regularly in my writing.
God’s Ministry (I was going it to call it my ministry, but that wouldn’t be accurate!)
Like life, my journey in ministry has also been a long and winding road. Shortly after my salvation, I was “drafted” to work with a bunch of two-year-olds and later with second graders in my local church on Sunday mornings. When we left that church and found a new church home, it was then that I felt the tugging at my heart to work with kids. I became actively involved in my local church in the Children’s Ministry. I like to tell people I did most things short of being on staff at the church. I led small groups, taught large groups, wrote lessons, led games for Awana, volunteered for Vacation Bible School and coordinated services for kids from Kindergarten through sixth grade. I found that in Children’s ministry, the process of trying to reduce complex theological concepts to the level a child can understand without sacrificing the truth and complexity of God’s revelation helps to bury those truths in my heart. I am constantly reminded of God’s call for us to exhibit faith like a child. I started a website and successful radio show aimed at equipping end edifying those who volunteer in children’s ministries around the world.
Just as I was getting comfortable working in children’s ministry every week, God threw a wrench into my plans. Through a series of events, and after much prodding, God led me into ministering to children of divorce, and then more broadly to hurting children. Hope 4 Hurting Kids was born, and I began to produce much needed resources for helping kids to deal with the trauma and emotional fallout in their lives. In addition to the website, and various writing, I have been blessed to be a speaker at several national, regional and local conferences (as well as at individual churches) to share the need for ministering to hurting kids and guide those already working with kids in how to better relate to and minister to these kids.
My Testimony
The short version is I did not grow up in church. After the birth of my third child in 2003, I felt drawn to investigate whether or not the claims of Christianity were true in order to make sure that I was in a position to teach truth to my kids. After much research and reading, I became a member of the family of God at age 30, and I haven’t looked back since. I have posted my entire testimony here.