Possibly moving to Ellendale, ND (Jamestown, Lisbon: employment, school districts, university)

[Strength Coach]

My wife and 3 young children are considering a short-term (about 3 years)move to ellendale, ND (from Georgia) so that she can complete her degree in early childhood education at Trinity Bible College (it's a long story as to why we are choosing this school).

We are trying to stay faithful to what we feel we are being called to do, but of course, with any big move that will affect the entire family, we are extremely nervous about it. I am a nationally certified Strength and Conditioning coach for athletes and I am wondering if Ellendale (or the surrounding area) is an area that takes athletics and athletic development seriously. Here in Georgia, good "Athletic Performance" coaches are in high demand. I know Ellendale is a small town and I am just curious as to how well I might be able to do, if I were to try to continue making a living doing what I do now.

I'm not big on "personal trainers", so I'm not sure a health club would suit me to well. I'm more of a "old warehouse with lots of room and free weights" kinda guy where kids of all ages can come in and train and just have fun. I would, of course, try to run my own outfit but I am just nervous that the demand for athletic development may not be too high. Of course, I don't have any idea whether it is or not, but if anybody could enlighten me, that would be great.

Also, can anyone give any input as to the quality of the school system in Ellendale or possibly, Oakes?

Another question is about churches in Ellendale or Oakes. We are of the Southern Baptist faith (although we are not your die-hard southern baptist types...we just love Jesus). Are there many baptist churches in either town?

Thanks so much in advance for anyone's help...we greatly appreciate it!

[Kamsack]

Hi...

As part of working for the Natl Weather Service I have travelled down in the area just east of Ellendale...Forman and Gwinner ND (Sargent county) and in the Lisbon area. I havent been to Ellendale personally, but that whole area is a nice area....quiet with farming the way of life and good hunting for the most part (esp water fowl and birds). I cant answer your first question much as I dont know facilities of the type of questioned in the Ellendale area for athletic training. Sorry.

But I did a quick check and there is a First Baptist church in Ellendale and no baptist churches in Oakes. I was born in Kentucky and know about southern Baptists....the First Baptist church looks to be affiliated with the main stream baptist church. organization. You will find more lutheran churches up our way. Ellendale area is mostly German heritage...so a mix of catholic and lutheran churches with some methodists.

As I am in the weather business....I want to provide with a link to the local temperature weatherbug weather station that is at the Ellendale High School. The link is to the Ellendale Fire Protection District, and in the upper right pops up the local weather conditions and also links to forecasts so you can tell the weather there from Georgia.

EFD - Local Weather Information & Fire Information (http://www.ellendalefire.org/weather.htm - broken link)

Dan

[fourwinds]

The football team at Trinity Bible College could badly need a strength coach based on their recent results. Call their football coach.

Many of the schools around Ellendale have been losing a lot of enrollment, as the country-side has been depoplulated (farm consolidation). Check with the school districts around the area. In addition to Oakes, check out LaMoure, Edgley-Kulm, and Ashley for both employment within the school districts and for churches. Call a Pastor of a church of interest and explain your situation. Housing in any of those towns should be very inexpensive.

Aberdeen (SD) is really not that far (a typical Atlanta commute mileage-wise, not traffic ), and there should be a number of possiblities there (especially Northern State University, an NCAA DII school which is relatively serious about athletics, especially basketball).

If your wife and you feel called to go to Trinity Bible (which is Assembly of God affiliated), is it possible that the Lord may also be calling you to be outside the Baptist Church (if just for a time) so that you can grow in ways that you never would have expected? Having lived in the South, there is a Baptist/Pentecostal divide (mostly in one direction), but there's an incredible amount to be learned from people in both type churches.

[Strength Coach]

Thank you for your replies. I will definitely check into the recommendations. I agree, Fourwinds, that God may indeed be calling us to explore other options. Even though we grew up in a Southern Baptist church, I think we would be more considered as "interdenominational" anyway.

Thanks alot for both of your replies. They are both very helpful and I appreciate the time you took to respond.

[meggo]

I am a native of Jamestown, ND which is roughly 64 miles from Ellendale. Jamestown College has a great athletic department there with many sports teams. The college has also started building a new athletics facility. I would recommend looking into getting a position with them as I would assume they could always use a strength coach.