This section will be used to post testimonials of those who have or currently participating in the Ministers Facing Money Cohort and Financial Peace University programs on campus. Here you will find stories of hope and encouragement as students take on a new theological and financially smart relationship with money.

Pamela Jarvis is currently a student in the Masters of Divinity program here at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She was also a member of the 2014-2015 Ministers Facing Money Cohort. Below is her testimonial about sharing what she has learned from Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University program with a friend of hers.

"Having learned some of the basics from Mr. Ramsey, and having had some success at home in trying them out, I opened myself to the possibility of teaching others. An opportunity arose at dinner one night when a friend confided that she and her husband are struggling mightily to keep their spending from overrunning them with debt. After sharing my story with her, she asked to sit down and make a budget using the FPU strategies.

The difficulty lay in the fact that although she had grown up middle class, her husband had not. His background is one of poverty and want, a lack of education in his family, and constant financial struggle. Only recently had he gained a High School equivalency certificate and two-year college degree that allowed him financial stability. In his view, credit was an indicator of middle-class living – the dream advertized in our culture that he had not been able to participate in. For him, cash was what you saved up in a jar so you could hope to buy food.

This family’s situation has allowed me to see that FPU is not one-size-fits-all. I imagine my future ministries will encompass a broad range of financial experiences. It is important for me to remember that I need to meet people where they are, be flexible, and always bring humor, patience, encouragement and hope to the table."

Treighton Haddon is currently a student in the Masters of Divinity program here at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He was also a member of the 2014-2015 Ministers Facing Money Cohort. Below is his testimonial about his experience at a Financial Peace University live event with Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruze.