Through a series of circumstances only God could create, Mike Young felt a clear calling and began an unusual journey that would prepare him to help churches disciple men.
“The work isn’t easy, but I wake up every morning excited about what He has given me to do!”
As the Founder and Executive Director of Noble Warriors, Mike carries out the mission of serving pastors and leaders in local churches as they invest strategically in men. The journey that brought him to this point, he describes as “crazy and atypical.” Mike started his professional life as a high school science teacher and coach, serving in the classroom for 5 years. From there he transitioned to administration for 3 years and served as a high school assistant principal. At that point, God lead him to move from education to his father-in-law’s business of building custom homes, where he worked for 7 years. But, God began creating circumstances that indicated that it was time for a change, using a radio program, a national conference and a ministry leader to clarify this calling for him. God then prompted Mike and his wife, Stacy, to launch Noble Warriors. The fact that Mike only has 9.5 digits, doesn’t keep him from his favorite hobbies of woodworking and doing (or at least starting) home projects. On the contrary, the loss of half of his left pinky in a 2014 accident has provided him with quite a few finger nub tricks that will come in handy one day in his grandfathering! Mike also loves to read and usually reads several books at the same time. Currently, his list includes:
- Knowing God by JI Packer – “…because I’ve been encouraged to read it many times. It’s rocking my world!”
- The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Conner – “…pulled this from my closet bookshelf and sometimes read from it at night.”
- The Box by Marc Levinson – “…someone recommended this book about the development of the shipping container industry. Love to read a business innovation book from time to time.”
- The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas – “…just finished this book about a teenage girl who was in the car when her friend, the driver, was shot by a police officer. Eye opening.”
Mike also enjoys spending time outdoors, whether it’s spent hiking, camping, or kayaking. In fact, he describes his favorite place as simply finding “a spot to sit down in the woods and delight in God’s creation…I don’t get there enough.” Mike and Stacy have been married for 27 years and have three sons and one daughter. The oldest, Tim, recently got married to his wife, Caroline, and they live in Hawaii. Last summer, Mike and Stacy were able to enjoy a quick trip to Hawaii to see Tim shortly after he reported for duty.
“We were able to do a bit of touristy stuff but it was really cool to see him sign a lease on a house and purchase a car for his bride! Crazy cool dad moments!”
Their son, Zach, is a Junior in the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech, and Ben is a Freshman at NC State. Their daughter, Hannah, is a High School Freshman. Mike shares that the best advice he was ever given was from his dad, who used lots of pithy sayings that have stuck with him through the years. His favorite is, “Work’s not work, unless you make it work.”