Hope Mississippi
A bimonthly podcast educating Mississippians about the needs of fellow citizens, encouraging residents to work together to change the trajectory of our families and children, and sharing success stories.
Hope Mississippi
Amy Lancaster | Transforming Lives One Neighbor at a Time
What does it look like when faith moves beyond Sunday services to transform an entire community? Amy Lancaster of We Will Go Ministries shares a powerful story of answering God's unexpected call to serve not overseas, but in downtown Jackson—their "Jerusalem."
The journey began when Amy and her husband David sold their home and prepared for international missions, only to hear God redirect them to Jackson's deepest needs. What started with simply giving neighbors sandwiches has grown into a comprehensive ministry that feeds 30,000 people annually, provides daily children's programming, and engages thousands of volunteers in meaningful service.
Against the sobering backdrop where one in four Mississippi children live in poverty, We Will Go creates spaces of hope by restoring abandoned buildings and offering practical assistance to approximately 900 families monthly—many headed by grandparents supporting multiple generations on meager fixed incomes. Yet their approach transcends mere charity. "We sit with every single neighbor and pray with them," Amy explains, emphasizing the dignity of relationship over transactional giving.
Perhaps most compelling is how the ministry dismantles barriers to service. "Maybe we've made it too hard," Amy reflects, encouraging listeners to simply "start with something." Whether reading to a child, tending a community garden, or replacing a fence, every skill becomes valuable in God's hands. The impact flows both ways, as volunteers—from church groups to corporate teams—often find themselves deeply transformed through these encounters.
Amy's own family embodies this transformation. All three Lancaster children, now adults with professional degrees, have chosen to return home and join We Will Go using their skills in accounting, ministry leadership, and media.
Ready to discover how your unique gifts might bring hope to your community?
Visit wewillgo.org to explore volunteer opportunities that match your interests and availability.
As Amy reminds us, "God doesn't have a plan B. His plan is to use me and you to be the difference in the world."
When you need some hope and inspiration to build collaboration. Hope Mississippi is your salvation.
Speaker 2:One in four kids live in poverty.
Speaker 1:One in five are food deprived. Build collaborations and build hope with those who are struggling. Build collaborations and build hope with those who are struggling.
Speaker 2:Hope Mississippi.
Speaker 1:Hello and welcome back for another episode of Hope Mississippi. We're so glad you're joining us today and I have Amy Lancaster with me with we Will Go. Hey, Amy, good to have you. Tell us just a little bit about we Will Go and how it got started.
Speaker 2:First of all, thanks for having me Glad to be with y'all. Dave and I have been married for almost 33 years, so our whole marriage, our desire has been to serve the Lord like with our whole life. What does that look like? And so initially we thought that would mean overseas missions. God gave us three little kids right off the bat and we started taking them on mission and that was almost all overseas. That was our initial thought, is it would be overseas.
Speaker 1:Isn't that cool how God works. He brings you together with just the right person. My husband has that same loving giving, and you can accomplish so much more when you work together.
Speaker 2:Yep. And so that covenant you know, marriage is a covenant, it's very holy to God so he glued us together. God glued us together, and then our desire was well, we really want to honor you with our life, not just on Sunday, not just doing a good thing, not just barely making it through life, but we really want to honor you. So that started out with us just partnering with a lot of different ministries and with our church and different things, so we would go overseas. Then we will go, ministries and with our church and different things, so we would go overseas. Then we will go really turned into a real non-profit on its own over time. Our thinking was that God was going to move us overseas. We sold our house, we got out of debt, we were partnered with a lot of ministries, going all over the world, just coming alongside ministries and coming and helping them, taking our children with us as they were growing up.
Speaker 2:And then about 20 years ago, the Lord spoke to us very, very clearly. We had an invitation to stay in Africa, which we wanted to do, and the Lord said no. And I always tell people it's really important when you're seeking the will of the Lord. He's a good father and good fathers say yes and no. And as a good father, he said no. He said Jackson, and we were not planning on moving to downtown Jackson. I grew up in North Mississippi, david grew up in South Alabama, and so the idea of moving to downtown Jackson was not even on our radar. But the Lord spoke very clearly to us, and what the Lord spoke to me and David on the same exact day was Jackson is your Jerusalem. It is on fire. And then God said my people don't care anything about it. And we were very shocked because we were planning on moving to a Muslim country and learning Arabic and reaching the lost. And the Lord said right here. So, long story short, we said yes to the Lord.
Speaker 2:I always tell people it's just a waste of time to tell God no or maybe or later or whatever. Just yes is a better answer. And we moved down here with our little children back in 2005, officially moved, and from the initial days of just giving our neighbors a sandwich and inviting people to our home to where we are now, it's the same heart, it's just more, it's just more people, and so that looks like just loving your neighbor. Jesus poured the entire gospel, the entire Bible down to love the Lord, your God, all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And I always say to people is he your God? Are you saved? Do you know the Lord? And then the second commandment is just as important as the first commandment, and that is to love your neighbor. And that is everyone. There's no one that I can discount.
Speaker 2:And so our whole heart is that has to look like something tangible all the time, seven days a week, not just one day a week. And of course, as you know, that involves all kinds of neighbors, people that live here in Jackson, people that come and serve. We have visitors this morning that are volunteering from a school. So how do we share the gospel in a really, really tangible way? It started from again moving here giving our neighbors a sandwich. To you know, now we're feeding 30,000 people.
Speaker 1:Our pathway with regard to ministry is very similar in that when I married my husband, he already did Honduras medical and dental so we did that we would work all year long, getting everything together to go down there and share for two weeks. But what we really came to be convicted of is that there are huge needs right here in Mississippi. One in four of our kids lives in poverty. One in five are food deprived and God's plan is to use us to be his hands and feet. He says when we do it unto the least of these, we do it unto him. Describe the many services that y'all are doing here at we Will Go.
Speaker 2:Well, it's changed a whole lot. Of course, as ministry does, it grows and morphs. Initially we didn't do children's ministry at all, so initially, literally was just living in the middle of it and reaching our neighbor literally at our house. And then over time God had us purchase several houses. We stored 13 houses in the middle of it and reaching our neighbor literally at our house. And then over time God had us purchase several houses. We've restored 13 houses in the Ferris District and then this commercial property, what we're sitting in right now. It used to be the YMCA. It was built in 1940 in the Ferris District, across the street. Here it used to be a hamburger joint and a liquor store and an insurance office and a huge grocery store, and so that has just expanded into.
Speaker 2:We really focus now on three main things. One is what we call essential food, so meeting people right where they are. You mentioned how our neighbors right here in Jackson many, many are extremely poor. Many grandmothers are taking care of a lot of kids and on a very, very low income. So last year, like I said, we fed about 30,000 people. So that goes on every day. So we're doing something with food every day picking it up, sorting, praying for people, ministering to people, giving groceries. Then every day we're doing something with kids ministry. So we do after school ministry every day for Jackson Public School kids. Some we pick up from school, some get off the bus, so that's every day and we really focus on reading and Bible and really that kid encountering the love of Christ. That's every day. And then we also have summer camp that goes on all summer.
Speaker 2:And so then the third part is engagement, which is this piece, which is how do we engage with people that don't know what to do? Like I said earlier, you know, a lot of people know that Jackson's broken and they know there's a lot of issues with our school system, or they know there's poverty, they know there's need, they know there's hungry people, but they're overwhelmed and so they don't know what to do. So engagement is how do we get God's people plugged in? So we have last year we had 5,000 volunteers and we'll probably pass that this year and so we're going to say yes. If somebody says, hey, I want to do something, we're going to say yes, that might mean that you come and you read to a child in the afternoon. Right now there is a school across the street that's helping unload a truck and pack bags for 120 neighbors that are coming in the morning.
Speaker 2:We try really hard. How do we get the body of Christ really out of the pew? And we try to make it as easy as we can to say you can come serve for an hour, for a day. We also have teams that come and stay here. We had a team of 37 from Amarillo last week and they stayed for five or six days. So many times it's also a mission trip, right. So it's somewhere people can actually come and learn and actually do the things they read about in scripture. They really do want it to look like something tangible and we're like, okay, come on, we plug them into what God's doing and prayer walk with them and spend time encouraging them in their walk. Of course, there are a lot of volunteers that don't know the Lord yet, so we see a lot of volunteers that get saved while they're here serving, which is fun.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about your location. I served on the Supreme Court for nine years and you are just a stone's throw from the Capitol and the Supreme Court and yet you're surrounded with poverty, surrounded by high crime, single mother homes or either households where the grandparents and so the need is tremendous and Jesus ministered to people oftentimes before he shared the gospel with them. And that's what you're doing every day is meeting those needs. You facilitate groups coming in. If a church group wants to come in, how do they do that?
Speaker 2:It's super simple.
Speaker 2:So, like I said, we're going to try to make it as easy as possible. The easiest way is just go to wewillgoorg. All the information is there. There's a little link. You click one button and it takes you to a visit us email and then, if you want to just call, the phone number's right there on the website. If you want to email, you can say hey, I want to bring a wonderful team that helps that happen. Some teams want to come for an hour. Some teams want to come consistently.
Speaker 2:We have volunteers that come every single week. There are volunteers that come on serve Saturdays. We had a Saturday this past week where a lot of people work during the week and they want to come and bring their families and their kids. So we had a bunch of people come from a lot of different churches this past Saturday we signed kids up for camp. We had a fun family festival in the backyard. Some Saturdays we're giving away groceries and praying for people. In two weeks we're going to be planting our neighborhood garden. We've got two big gardens right here out the back door. All they need to do is just send us a message. It's super easy. Or call us on the phone, go to wewillgoorg and just say, hey, how can we help? And so I always tell people start with something, just start with something. We're going to make it as easy as we possibly can and many times it just starts with coming on a Saturday for two or three hours when you're off work, or coming in the afternoon with your kids. The school that's here this morning is a homeschool group, so we're going to do our best to try to make it, you know, really work for you and then from there just see what God does.
Speaker 2:A lot of times the businesses come, so that's pretty fun. We have a lot of businesses that they really want their employees to serve the community. They know we're Christian, they know we're going to share the gospel, they know what we're doing. They get their employees involved. Sometimes they'll come and read to the kids. Sometimes they'll come and donate books. Sometimes they'll come and sponsor a child. Camp is coming. So a lot of times companies or businesses or we had a Sunday school class the other day and they will sponsor kids for camp Because, again, like you said, the kids and families that we served are just really, really poor people. I grew up really poor and there's nothing wrong with that? As the people of God church, we're supposed to come alongside and meet them where they are, just like you said, like Christ did. Christ said hey, sit them all down, we're going to feed them. And the disciples said how in the world would we find enough money or enough food?
Speaker 2:And the Lord just said just sit them down, it's going to be great and he blessed what they had, which in that story, was one little kid's lunch here. Sometimes it's one pallet of food and we're like, okay, lord, multiply this. And then that comes through a donor or through a company or through a church or through a school and they say how can we help? Sometimes I'll do a peanut butter drive. Or sometimes they'll say financially, can we support? Yes, you can. Hey, can we bring you know, vegetables? Yes, you can. So it's all those pieces together that actually gets it done, which I think is really fun.
Speaker 1:So from the provider standpoint, there is no excuse not to get involved, because you can use a willing hands and they can be mentors and tutors or so many different things. And you said that you came up poor. We came up poor in my family, but I can remember watching God provide through individuals, through organizations and churches, and it was through God's provision that I realized man, he cares about me Exactly right.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of times in our culture maybe we've made it too hard, maybe we've made it too complex, maybe we made the gospel too complex. You know a lot of the neighbors that we love on do know the Lord. You know some of them pray as hard as me and you do. A lot of them have not ever been exposed to the gospel. You know a lot of our neighbors can't read. We focus a lot on literacy. There's a lot of people that their literacy is really really low and so if we can teach this fourth grader or this second grader to read the word of God for themselves, guess what they do? They take that word home to grandmama. And the majority of the folks that we are ministering to is about 900 families every month and out of that about 80% are people that are my age and older, that are in their 50s, 60s, 70s, that are taking care of a lot of people on about $700 or $800 a month and that's supposed to cover food and rent and utilities and school and everything. So it's a very challenging situation for our family. So we try to meet them right where they are. Sometimes we find that there's, you know, six children in the home and they need tutoring and we say, hey, can they get off the bus? And you know, can we love on them and help with their homework and can we pray over them and teach them the gospel? And the mom will be like, well, we don't, we can't afford it, and that's okay, we really want to bless your family. And then vice versa, sometimes we'll find that the child that's here came from a school. Their family is really, really in need of groceries and we're like, that's great, we've got you. You know, we'd love to bless your family. So again. And then there's many times there's a church or a Sunday school group or a business or a company. Our hearts are broken for Jackson, our hearts are broken for the city, and we're like you're great, come on. And so then we'll give lots of different ideas. You know what might work. And everybody might not feel called to kids. Everybody might not feel called to food. Some people might be, you know, excited about the gardens. Great, I need your help. So we're going to try really hard to say how can we pray with y'all to get you plugged in? Sometimes people hear education. They think, oh gosh. And I tell people if you can read. If you can read you're a tutor here you can come and sit with the eight-year-old and read that book. If you have any love of Jesus in you, you can come and push your kid on the swing, you can. And so I think a lot of times we maybe we've made it too hard or too complicated in which we really we will go. We really want to break that down into listen.
Speaker 2:The gospel is very simple. Jesus, if you remember, all these little kids are coming to him. The disciples are saying hey, hey, hey, hey, get away from the rabbi. We're, you know, we're important, he's important, he's this big teacher. And Jesus rebuked the disciples and said bring all the little kids over here. And he says unless we're like little kids, we won't get into the kingdom of heaven, we won't make it. So Jesus is the model of simplify it, make it simple. The gospel is simple enough for a child.
Speaker 2:Then I'm always going to say let's go slower, you know, take it easy. We had some volunteers the other day and they were just so, you know, I think they were excited, but they were going so fast and I said, hey, just pick, just take one neighbor and sit with that grandmother and pray with her and just listen to her and just take your time, and they were blessed because they actually got to know somebody that was very different from them. She ended up praying over them when they prayed over her. You know, instead of that whole making it so hard, she's a grandmother and she's got 10 people she's taking care of. She has a name. I said take time. Her name's Sarah. She's my neighbor, I know her. She's taking care of her 90-year-old mama and her sister and her daughter and their children. So she's got 10 people. So just sit down and listen. So I think you know, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Sometimes, as a believer, I think we just make it too hard. And the Lord, he, did not make it hard, it's the gospel that does the saving right. And then we, as the servants, get to partner with the Lord, and that's how I feel about it. I get to live here, so I get to partner with the Lord and what he's doing and I get to say come on, yeah, you can help me, you can help me plant that. Come on, you can help me unload this truck, you can help me. That'd be great. You can bring peanut butter, that'd be wonderful. And then, beautifully.
Speaker 2:We had some volunteers recently and they got ready to leave. They'd been here maybe an hour or two and I just said, hey, can I pray for y'all real quick before you go? And I got through praying and they're weeping, they're just weeping and I said what's wrong? And they said what's this? And I said it's Jesus, it's the presence of Jesus, and this man, very important man, very important businessman, he said I've never felt that and I think here are these people that walk around. Well, he's just as important, this important businessman that came to we Will Go to serve, right that. I stopped for him and I got to share the gospel with the man and he's thinking he's just here to, you know, to unload a truck, and he did, but his soul is just as valuable as the right.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. We're all children of the King and the challenges are great in Mississippi generational poverty and we know that it's important that that daily need be met. But we also know that education is such a vital part in breaking that generational poverty and also the relationship that you are introducing these kids to with Christ. I know it's being poured in through their grandmothers oftentimes, but when folks know that the reason you do this is because you love them and you love Jesus, that makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it? It does.
Speaker 2:One of our little boys. His grandmother's trying to raise him and one day his other grandmother came to see me here. He was here. He's in our after school and we pick him up from school every day. And she comes and she says I need to talk to you.
Speaker 2:And I'm thinking, oh, she seemed kind of angry. I said okay, she took me outside. I said what's the matter? And she said do y'all teach these kids about Jesus? You teach them to pray for people? I said yes, ma'am, and she seemed kind of upset and she said let me tell you what happened yesterday.
Speaker 2:She said he got home from here and she said my next door neighbor is in a wheelchair and she broke her hip or something. And she said he just went over there and started praying over her leg and laid his hand on her and laid his hand and started praying for her. Did y'all teach him that? I said yes, ma'am. She said good, he can keep coming then. That is precious Right.
Speaker 2:And he's eight and so he's catching and applying the gospel as a little kid and he's witnessing. I didn't know that, but he's going home to his family, which is a very hard family situation, and he is praying healing over his grandmama's neighbor who broke her hip, and so it's just a real gospel and I think if people really get a handle on who Jesus really, really is, really who he was in the flesh, as a person walking around feeding people, loving people, stopping for people, stopping for the woman at the well, touching the leper, touching the sick, touching the blind, he was not afraid and he was teaching his disciples, which is me what are you afraid of? Like that's the number one conversation that I have with people is they're very, very afraid. So they're afraid of people. The neighbors are afraid of crime, they're afraid of all these things and I'm like, yeah, but if you've got the love of Jesus in you, that overtakes any fear. That's present.
Speaker 1:And he provides all that we need. You know, we act like we have to be the one that does all the change, but all he asks is that we be faithful with those talents that he has given us. That's it, that's it.
Speaker 2:He's the Savior, I'm not.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm reminded, some people have given significant financial contributions and you've been able to take vacant businesses that would otherwise be places of crime and you've turned them into places of hope. But I'm reminded, recently you posted a message to me saying that you needed groups during the summer. Y'all only have a few employees, but you rely on the army of God to show up.
Speaker 2:We do, we do. We couldn't do what we do without volunteers. It would be very hard and not done as well. So we love the body of Christ to come. So, like I said, last year we had 5,000 and that looks like a thousand different things. With kids especially, the more volunteers the better. With our food ministry, the more the better, because we're not just here's a box, go, go, go, go go. We sit with every single neighbor and pray with them, and that's 900 a month, so we need as many people them and that's $900 a month, so we need as many people coming and, like I said, sitting with this grandmother and praying with her and her family and loving her.
Speaker 2:Well, with summertime it is super busy, super great. We've got 100 children in this building every day, so we have a day camp. That's a summer all day long. So we do breakfast, lunch, snacks. The kids do bible, they do worship, they do art. We have a swimming pool here in this big building out back. We teach women every single solitary day, so it's a lot that they rotate through. We do summer reading, so we love plugging volunteers into what's going on and a lot of people in the summertime maybe have a little bit more time.
Speaker 2:I had a mom that came sat and she said I really want my daughter to serve, but how does that work? And I said, well, if she's under 18, she needs to come with an 18-year-old or older. So that can be you, that could be an older sibling, that could be a youth pastor, it could be just one person, it could be a big group. Again, people just reach out to us and we are going to do our absolute best to try to make that fit with what's going on here and fit with maybe a Saturday. Again, people have all kinds of different schedules.
Speaker 2:We need every single solitary volunteer that we can, for two reasons. Number one the reason that we're doing that everything is to glorify the Lord. Number two you don't know what all you're going to receive, right? So a lot of times as a volunteer, we think, oh, I'm going to go. I mean, you talked about when y'all go to Honduras and stuff. I'm going to go and it's amazing. I'm preaching the gospel and it is. But you know as well as me, because we've talked about it, you're so changed and you're so touched and you're so different because you've got to minister and receive in a whole different culture than you're used to, which is the goal. Then you go back to your hometown and to your people and you go I could do that, I could prayer walk my town, I could do this stuff in my little church or whatever. So that's the reason for it. Yes, we need it, but we're not being greedy. We want you to get on fire for God and for that to spill over into your school, your church, your neighborhood.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I've never given to God that I didn't get tenfold back in such blessings. I'm thinking about the trauma that a lot of the folks that come in here have experienced. What we know is that poverty causes a lot of trauma, and then many of these people live in high crime areas. When you talk about sitting down and talking to someone, you're not just listening to a story. We know from science that they're unpacking that trauma. They're listening ears that care about them and, as they feel safe and can unpack that, there's healing.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I'll tell a quick little story. One of our grandpas came one day and he and his wife are taking care of about 12 people With COVID. They all moved into their home and they could never move back out, and so they've got all these kids, grandkids, all these different generations it's just a lot and they're really poor. And so he came about six months ago the first time to get groceries.
Speaker 2:And people just hear about us from different places, and so he comes and he was very stoic and very angry and I sat down with him and I'm a pretty good talker, I'm a decent communicator, and so I'm usually can get people talking about themselves. He was just shut down, shut down, how can I pray for you? He was, like you know, just a stone wall really, and I just kept on and kept on, and kept on. I'm a grandmother too, you know, and how can I pray for your grandkids and what's going on with your family? And nope, nothing, nothing, nothing. And so finally I just started praying for him. I just had my hand on his no-transcript down his face and I said Mr Miller, are you okay? And he just collapses on me. Just, I mean, just hugs me.
Speaker 2:This big old, huge, you know, big old black man. And I'm thinking what is? I said, mr Miller, what is it? He said I can't remember the last time I had anybody really look me in the eye and ask how I'm doing. And he said I've been trying to hold myself together for the past 30 minutes while you've been trying to pray for me and talk to me. And he said you really do want to know. He was so overwhelmed that somebody really cared about him. And of course then we're standing out in the parking lot. He's crying, I'm crying. Then he opens up. We spend another 30 minutes me praying over his hip and his wife and his kids and his grandkids, you know. And now he comes every month. He's just full of joy.
Speaker 2:And he came back the next time and he said we've gone back to church. I had gotten so depressed I had just given up. And he said we're going back to the Lord. He said we're reading the Bible together as a family every day. He's just like one of my favorite men. But to your point, it just started with just sitting down and asking about his family. And how are you just sitting down and asking about his family and how are you Like? Is there anything I can pray with you about? How are y'all doing, and I think that again back to the simple right. What did Jesus do when he stopped for that woman at the well? What did he do when he stopped for people? He really spent a lot of time slowing down and loving well.
Speaker 2:And that means listening, that means taking time, and I think that's something that I always encourage people. There was a team that came recently and when they would talk to our neighbors, they kind of stood up and the neighbor's sitting in a chair and I came over behind them and I pull up a chair. I said it's okay, have a seat. And I said people like for you to just listen to them, eyeball to eyeball, and just talk about their dog. And one of them were teenagers and they said we talked about the game shows they liked for a long time before we ever prayed. I said that's great People. Wherever you're at, think about it.
Speaker 2:If someone knows your name, your name is Dawn. They don't just call you. I don't know. That's that strange little lady To talk to you as a person. And how's your family? How's your dad? Before we got started, I love your daddy. How's your family doing? How's your husband doing? We're humans, we're not robots. And then you get to say now tell me, dawn, how can I pray for you today? Tell me what's going on with your husband. And it's amazing the way the Holy Spirit moves on people's hearts and it's a joy.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and if you're sitting on the sidelines, you are absolutely missing out on what God would have you to do, so wewillgoorg.
Speaker 2:Wewillgoorg. Super easy. Everything is there that you need. And if you just say I want to click on there, you can call me on the phone. Just say, hey, I heard this what I do all the time, especially if you've never been, I'm going to do it. As soon as we get through, in a minute, just call me, email me and say, hey, I just want to come see and I've done it with you, I've done it with lots of people and just walk around and we'll just pray about it and maybe you feel really connected instantly with the library we just built a brand new library. Or you're like man, I love growing tomatoes. I'll walk around with you, we'll talk, we'll pray, you can meet our team, and then you're like you know what I'd like to bring my family? Or I'd like to come myself. Let us help you get out of the pew, let us help you get out of that stuck place. And out of that stuck place and maybe it is that your Sunday school class, you know, collects canned corn. Great, let's do that. But start with something and then we're going to help you the best we can, you know, make it look like something.
Speaker 2:There's a team that came and replaced it with a rotten fence. They wanted a hammer. They were men, they weren't interested in reading a book. Well, that's okay. We needed that fence replaced. God needs hammers too, doesn't he? God needs hammers too. And David was like look at, the Lord brought us a man group to replace the fence. So yeah, we're going to do our best to Amy.
Speaker 1:I so appreciate all that you do. I want to hear just a little bit about how God has just brought your entire family into this ministry and the blessing that it has been to your family that is a wild story that I'm still unpacking that with God.
Speaker 2:As you know, we raised our children here, of three kids Jonathan, olivia and Sarah. They all went off to college. I homeschooled them. We grew up down here in the Ferris District and I never imagined that they would come back here. You know, I really didn't pressure them, david, and I didn't even I don't even know that we really prayed or pressed them. We wanted them to serve the Lord, whatever that looked like, and all three of them chose to come back. And Jonathan is our oldest. He's 31. He's our accountant, he's married, has two little kids. Olivia is our middle child. She's 29. She's married, has two little kids and she runs all the ministry areas, does a beautiful job. And then Sarah is our youngest and she does all the media stuff. And they went to college and then they came back and brought all this wisdom and knowledge and skill and they chose to live here in Jackson. It's amazing to me still.
Speaker 1:I'm reminded that you and your husband both have a very good education and you brought that and it equipped you to be successful in this ministry. Remind me what's your education background.
Speaker 2:Mine is dentistry and David's engineering. And so I often ask young people because we have a lot of partnerships with colleges, with area colleges Belhaven, jsu, mississippi College, millsap so we always have college students that are here. So I'm always saying to them now tell me why you're doing what you're doing. What is God calling you to? Sometimes they look at me like I'm silly, but I'm like, whatever you're doing, the Lord wants to use that for his kingdom. And so, like my husband with his engineering, he is like the best project manager. There's nothing he can't figure out in bigs. And so sometimes I'm up, like with the college kids, I'm like, okay, listen, you're getting this big education. You're getting this big education to use it for the Lord. So if it's law, great, how have you prayed about? How could God use that? And sometimes they're like that's a new concept to them.
Speaker 2:But if you have the gift of getting an education, if you have the blessing of getting, like Jonathan, getting an accountant's degree, okay, how can you use that for the Lord? It might be in a ministry, it might be in a business that you need a godly people to be practicing. It's very fun to me that the Lord uses regular folks and we're just regular folks and I think again, especially in ministry, I think a lot of times people think, well, I have to have a big, you know PhD or a big MD of or go to seminary. And if God leads you to seminary, please obey the Lord. But if that is not your thing, that does not mean that you don't minister the gospel at all. You and your role, you know, being a judge and justice and lawyer, my goodness love. Many people might think well, what does that have to do with the Lord?
Speaker 1:Everything it does you take him with you into what you're doing, and we need godly folks in every area of work. Well, our prayer is that, as you've listened today, that you'll be moved to ask God how do you want to use me, in whatever place that you find yourself? Because I promise you, the joy of serving others is like nothing else, and we cannot see the fruit that is going to come from our labor, just like the little boy that went home and prayed for a handicapped person in a wheelchair. But God has that plan. He doesn't have a plan B. His plan, his only plan, plan A and only plan is to use me and you to be the difference in the world. Amy, thank you for all that y'all are doing here and what a great, great visit we've had.
Speaker 2:It's a joy. Love you Dawn.
Speaker 1:Love you too, wewillgoorg, you will be blessed. Have a great day, hope, mississippi.
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