Bruce Ruffin Jr.
Bruce Ruffin Jr. understands how pivotal God can be in the life of a young person.
As a high school student in suburban Denver, Bruce says he was drifting in the wrong direction.
“I had a really hard time in high school,” he says. “I got in with a bad crowd and was making bad decisions. Not horrible decisions – I wasn’t drinking or doing drugs, but I was underachieving. One day, a guy came over and talked to me about Christ. He was real. He wasn’t trying to force God down my throat.”
Sensing that a new life path had opened up, Bruce embarked on the journey that led him to become Milwaukie Presbyterian’s youth program director.
He began by going to church. He connected with people his own age in a fellowship group.
“They weren’t stuffy,” Bruce says. “They were real and honest, not ‘holier than thou.’”
His grades improved. He went to the University of Colorado and graduated with degrees in political science and history, intending, perhaps, to attend law school with aim of making a career for himself in some sort of public policy field.
But, first Bruce went to work for AmeriCorps and in the process had his own epiphany, deciding a future in public policy wasn’t for him.
“The political game is corrupt,” he says.
Feeling called by God, Bruce obtained his master’s degree in leadership from Denver Seminary and began working for Youth For Christ with inner city youth.
By then, Bruce was married to Karla, an oncology nurse who grew up in Salem.
Karla wanted to live closer to her family, so Bruce began looking for job in the Portland metropolitan area. He currently divides his time between Youth For Christ as the Portland City Life Director and MPC, where he has energetically revitalized the youth program.
“The response from the kids has been great,” he says.
Bruce has a celebrity in his family. His brother, Michael, is an NBA basketball player with the Milwaukee Bucks.