Jacob Brumfield: Mentor to young men

Brumfield moved to N.C. to work with inner city program for at-risk youth

Published: August 28, 2015

Jacob Brumfield, a member of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Rogers, visits with Jennifer Verkamp in August at One7, an inner-city program at Charlotte, N.C. Verkamp, formerly of Rogers, was visiting Brumfield.

Jacob Brumfield can attest to the Lord’s use of dramatic flair for getting attention. This past spring, he had a Saul-to-Paul experience when both feet were broken in separate incidents in a 48-hour span.

Brumfield thought everything was going according to plan. He graduated from Transylvania College in Lexington, Ky., and started a job at the Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville five years ago. But while his corporate lifestyle kept him busy, it did not always keep him fulfilled.

“My passion is seeing teenagers’ lives change for Christ,” Brumfield, 27, said.

So when he wasn’t working, Brumfield spent his time at St. Vincent de Paul Church ministering to the young men in the Life Teen program. Yet, he felt called to rectify, “finding a career and fitting ministry into it or making ministry into a career.”

But answering the call when it came wasn’t easy.

Through a friend, Brumfield became acquainted with One7, an inner-city program in Charlotte, N.C., that seeks to show the homeless, undocumented and at-risk youth the love of Christ.

And it was the two broken feet that caused him to “be still,” pray and know the Lord’s desire for him.

This month, Brumfield moved to North Carolina, sandwiched in an apartment between a Ugandan family and a Vietnamese family. He said he is working in an environment that “is the most literal manifestation of the Gospel of Jesus he has ever seen.”

What saint would you like to meet and why?

“St. Paul because I feel like my story parallels his in the New Testament in some ways, and he is one of the most important people in the history of the spread of the Gospel, so I would want to hear more insight and stories from him.”

Click for the 15 Catholic young adults who inspire us, 2015 index