The Birth of a Ministry

I have always had a passion to mentor young women. In the early 90's as President of Professional Staffing, a home health-care staffing agency, I employed approximately eighty to one hundred employees; mainly young, low-income women. These women came with a myriad of personal problems that often prevented them from obtaining and maintaining permanent employment. My policy when dealing with employees has always been to have an open door, allowing them to feel free to share with me their daily concerns. Through the daily, if not constant interactions and discussions, Let's Talk was born.

Let's Talk, was their opportunity to share after work hours, in a facilitated session on issues such as; relationships, abuse, life skills, communications skills, and other concerns that were barriers in their lives. These sessions soon grow to attract not only just employees, but their friends and other associates. Soon, a full-time operation was born, complete with other services such as a food pantry, job training, and life skills training.

Very early I realized many of problems my employees had, manifested through the interaction with their children. Because of inadequate daycare for their children, the women often brought them to Let's Talk, and I got to see firsthand the acute lack of parenting skills. Through this need we started a daycare facility which I also used as a tool to teach young women how to interact with their children more positively. The daycare services became thriving business very quickly.

Sadly, as the scripture says, "to much is given, much is required". In March of 1999, my family suffered a tremendous loss in the unexpected death of my middle son, John. John was a raising basketball star of his high school, and during the course of one of his games, he suffered massive heart failure. In an instant, our precious son was gone to be with the Lord. My focus became to help myself and my family heal from this loss, and so I made the decision to discontinue the staffing business and the Let's Talk ministry. I still maintained some contact with my "ladies" through the daycare ministry which we maintained until 2003.

But often out of the ashes of despair comes hope. In 2005 I returned to ministry meeting the needs of women throughout the country. Breaking the Chains of Bondage is a ministry whose mission is to help women break down the barriers of abuse and illiteracy to lead fulfilled and productive lives. As an evangelist and workshop facilitator, I minister to women primarily by helping them to recognize and address the mental, emotional, and spiritual strongholds in their lives. This work has afforded me the opportunity to be a guest for several appearances on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), and to serve as a host on the Atlanta based local talk show, Cynthia and Friends, as well as maintaining speaking and workshop engagements. This blog is another effort to help address the needs of women and be a voice to advocate for them to live free and abundant lives.