As a university professor, I spend most of my time with adults. I love mentoring these future leaders. It’s very fulfilling work. But twice a month, I spend my lunch hour with an elementary school boy that I met…
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Unique Ministries
I founded Sufficient Grace Ministries for Women in 2004, eight years after the loss of my twin daughters Faith and Grace and about six years after the loss of my son, Thomas. Faith and Grace were born still in…
Most people look forward to the day they retire. I suppose I was no different. At first, I wanted a typical sit-around-and-lounge retirement, but the fantasy of that wore off quickly. It didn’t take long before I was bored…
I remember a time when family not only meant that which you were born into, but also the people around us who we “do life” with. God is the greatest advocate for community, and I do not believe it…
I was a sixteen year old girl when I heard Matthew 25:36. “I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was in prison and you visited me.” The verse about visiting…
I was set free in one conversation while drinking a milkshake. A few years earlier, my soul and body had been traumatized. From that day, I would cry and wonder how I could ever have a healthy marriage. Would…
Nine years ago, my friend, Justin, and I were feeling an extreme passion to serve God. Justin felt the need to bring awareness to the homelessness issue in our small town in North Carolina. While we prayed and dreamed,…
I have been a Neonatal ICU nurse since 2010. I am also on the bereavement committee, and part of my job includes dressing babies once they pass on to Heaven. God had been speaking to me about finding someone…
When people are going through a crisis, friends need to come alongside of them and lend their support. That is the mission of Neighbor Brigade, a nonprofit started by my childhood friend, Pam Manikas Washek. She was diagnosed with…
When I was in 6th grade, I failed my school state test, and self-doubt started invading my thoughts. As a 22-year-old, I felt overwhelmed, having to quickly transform into my mother’s care giver, all while trying to survive being…
We are called to something much greater than ourselves: to love God and to love others. I never thought my calling would be found intertwined in the hearts and lives of marginalized women in the sex industry. Jesus Said…
God truly uses our gifts no matter how insignificant a gift it may seem. For years, my sisters and I have worked together to decorate and put on events. We have done everything from wedding receptions to birthday parties…
I was a senior in high school when I became pregnant with my first son. Thanks to the love and support of my family, I was able to finish high school and go on to become a nurse. Eventually,…
We all face storms—some we see brewing months before they hit, and others blindside us when the massive waves strike. On Sunday, March 11, 2018, our storm made landfall as my husband, Chris, developed gall stone-induced pancreatitis and was…
Have you ever had a desire to help an organization but didn’t know what you could do? That was my situation when I became aware of the Angels Charge Ministry, a faith-based non-profit helping women coming out of prisons…
A year ago, I was extremely depressed. I was without a job and feeling totally worthless. It seemed I had lost everything that I loved. I was thinking seriously about suicide. But as I was driving home one day,…
As a teenager, I was in and out of homeless shelters. By the time I was 17, I was a single mom. But in looking back, I think God was preparing me to do some wonderful things to glorify…
On February 14, 2010, I woke up at 5:00 in the morning. Jon didn’t make it home that night because he had died in a car accident. I was 34 and he was 38. We had a 3-year-old son and I…
Inner city ministry was something that I wasn’t searching for; in a sense, it found me. It started when my wife and I moved in with my brother. It was a temporary move, so we could find a place…
I was playing Contract Bridge after I had retired in early 2005, and one of the players was an AARP volunteer who helped people submit their federal tax returns for free at the local senior center. I had always done my…
There are an overwhelming number of women who have had their children, lives, and freedom taken from them due to drug addictions. Many have professed a Christian faith but still face suicidal thoughts and a deficit of hope. After…
I’ve been writing notes on a napkin and putting them in my kids’ lunchboxes for years. Some are funny, some are serious. But to me, it’s just a way to tell them I love them and to make them…
If you were to see me in passing, you’d notice nothing different about me compared to my fellow man. God has blessed me with a job in which I work a 40-hour week. I come home to a wonderful…
In 2017, my oldest daughter started kindergarten. The school she attends has the highest poverty rate in our district, where 75% of the students receive a free or reduced lunch. So, there is a lot of need. A month…
I have worked in the cancer field my whole career. I’ve seen the struggles patients go through and how it permeates every facet of their lives. I know how difficult it is to get the right nutrition during different…
I come from a very musical family. I wasn’t blessed with the gift of singing, but I was rhythmically inclined. My mother was a great dancer, and she showed me a few moves. Then, I discovered Michael Jackson and James Brown. I…
When you spend a few hours helping build a wheelchair ramp for someone who is homebound, you play a part in changing someone’s life. That’s what struck me when I was part of a Kiwanis club that built a…
Every Monday evening, the practice rooms in our Fine Arts hall are filled with university student music instructors and pupils eager to learn piano, guitar or drums. However, this isn’t just another music school. This is a Christian ministry called WOVEN:…
When people meet me, the first thing they notice is that I have Down Syndrome. What they can’t see, though, is that I am strong and brave, and I love Jesus with my whole heart. I’m very proud of…
When I had my first son, I stopped working and stayed home. I loved it, but after nine months, I started to go a little stir crazy and missed the socialization. That’s when a friend told me about MOPS—Mothers…