Accepted by God, Kathy Alex's Story

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Hey friends, welcome to the Her God Story podcast where you will always hear a good story to encourage and inspire you in your walk with God.

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I'm your host, Jodie Chiricosta, ministry leader at Somebody Cares American International, author and traveler on this journey with Jesus.

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I'd love to hear from you. Let me know what you like about this podcast, how you first heard about it, who has your favorite guest been, and anything else you want to share with me.

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Just send an email to hergodstory@somebodycares.org.

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We all want to feel accepted, affirmed, loved, but the enemy of our souls who is the devil wants us to feel rejected, despised, and unloved.

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He comes to steal our future, kill our dreams, destroy our lives in any way he can, and that often comes to the lies and actions of others.

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However, Ephesians 1: 4-6 tells us the real story of who we are.

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In the New Living Translation, we discover, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

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God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.

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This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

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So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear son.

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My dear friend and guest, Kathy Alex, has come to know the acceptance and affirmation of our loving Heavenly Father.

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I've known Kathy for well over 20 years and have seen God do amazing things in, for, and through her.

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She's been serving as Chaplain in the Lafayette Correctional System for about 14 years now, sharing God's love and acceptance with inmates, staff, and community partners.

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A woman of great faith and grace, I know you'll love Kathy's heart for others. Welcome, Kathy.

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Thank you, Jody, an honor to be here today.

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Kathy, life was tough for you when you were young. You had a lot of loss.

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But even then, God was pursuing you with his love. Share a little about your early years and how you first learned about the Lord.

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My biological mother died when I was five years old, and my stepfather when I was 13 years old.

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And so as I grew up, my sister Cora, she was 16 years older than me.

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And we had, I had siblings, I was the seventh child, we were eight children all together.

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And we lived in a one bedroom home, one bedroom, one bathroom, and one living room.

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They used to call them the shop shooters home at that time.

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And so when I was growing up, my sister raised me and one day she decided that she was going to move out after.

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When I became like, I would say about 15 years old, and I did have, God was so faithful,

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because I had my second cousin who was first cousin to my mother, that they're right across from me.

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And she witnessed to me, Jesus Christ, and I got saved under her.

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You went to high school. I mean, your sibling, your older siblings took care of you, saw you through high school.

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And then you went and completed a degree at Delta Business College. You started working.

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But inside you were feeling empty and you were desperate, because at this point you'd heard about Jesus,

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but you hadn't really given your life to him yet. So, you know, what changed?

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What changed? What actually brought you to that point where you laid down your life to the Lord?

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Well, I have to say the Spirit drew me, and also that Mrs. Leonna Harris, who was a true witness,

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the Bible teaches that a true witness rescues life. When she was that woman that I glean from,

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I can see the fruits of the Spirit, and she was a true Christian that really loved the Lord.

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And so my desire got larger, it increased day by day, because I would always, after going to school,

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coming back home, I'd spend days with her and lots of quality time with her.

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And that was something that stirred me up for the things of the Lord.

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And as she would tell me to have faith, and I would sense the Lord really loving on me, I began to pursue him more.

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So you did come to that place where you went to the church, and you made the confession of faith in Jesus.

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Yes, that's correct.

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So as a young believer, God was leading you in a variety of ways. He opened doors for jobs for you,

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and he was also bringing conviction in your life about your lifestyle,

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because when we come to know the Lord, he starts working in us, right?

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We're saved, but he starts sanctifying us.

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Tell us a little bit about where and how God led you in those years, your jobs,

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your story of how he was transforming you. What was he doing in your life?

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Again, I'd say I was spending time with Mrs. Leona Harris, and as I would go to church,

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learn a little bit about go to Sunday school, and then go to church and learn more of him.

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And the manifestation of the word began to work in my life, because very early, even when I was in college,

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I always had a job. There was always a job.

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And then one day, I remember looking at CBN, Dr. Pat Robinson, and he was talking and stuff,

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and it was almost like the revelation came, Jesus is Lord, and he was talking about tithing Jodie,

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and so that attracted me, and I made a decision that I was going to commit my life to the Lord.

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Another thing that God had, there was a young man, his name was Zenon, and I had gone into the store,

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and he says, oh, you're Catherine, Alex, you're Raymond, Alex's sister.

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I'm like, yes, and he just spoke, the Lord just used him. This is what he shared.

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He says, fornication is a sin, and I'll tell you what, that hit the mark.

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And I decided that during that time and that season, I was going to totally surrender to the Lord,

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and I'm so glad that I did.

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And the Lord had been moving you into better and better job positions, which led to a job transfer.

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As you fully surrendered to the Lord, God took you to Houston through a job transfer,

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and he introduced you to a man that you got married to, you plugged into a church,

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life was really good for you, and after a few years, God asked you to take a big step of faith,

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which led to a whole lot more. Share about that step of faith and what you did and how God spoke to you and where it led.

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Oh, yes, Jodie, just so excited about that. When I worked at the, I was married, worked at the railroad,

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and one day I was like, I was in a dry space, going to church, but still feeling something missing,

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something missing, going to church, and had in my own heart, I had totally surrendered.

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But one day I was off work, and on the tube, on the television, I think it was Day Store,

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came Dr. Doug Stringer, the best thing that could have ever happened, and he began to relate and invite us to a 40-day fasting in prayer.

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And I'm like, oh my God, he says, you got to come. And I'm like, oh my God, that when my husband came that afternoon,

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I said, look, we've got to go there. There's something there for me. And I was able to attend, I think, for 38 nights.

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And at the, it was called Prayer Mountain on the southwest side of Houston, Texas.

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And so every night, and it was like the Spirit of the Lord was drawing me. And every night there was repentance.

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Every night there was a song that they would sing that says, come to the mercy seat.

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And every day I would wait, I couldn't wait to hurry get there, to be at that altar nearly every time that I was there.

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There was always something for me. And the Spirit of repentance took place.

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And that was the greatest revival, the greatest, such a divine time for me, because God was changing me.

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And he was drawn by his Spirit at that time.

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And you know, you were able to attend all those days because you had taken a step of obedience that the Lord had showed you.

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It was time to leave the railroad. I mean, the railroad had wanted to transfer you out of Houston somewhere else.

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And God even gave you a dream about that. Share about that.

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You know, I was seeking the Lord. I would seek the Lord.

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And we had like a prayer group 2 a.m. and we would pray.

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And I remember going to the Lord, I'm like, God always dealt with me with dreams.

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And I'm like, Lord, I need you to give me a dream of what you want me to do. I need you to speak to me.

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And that 2 o'clock was such a special time, an intimacy time, a time of prayer with the Lord.

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And so one night I went to bed and the Lord showed me what he did to make the Holy Spirit is accurate.

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What the Lord did is put me up top of a roof of a building where I work, the railroad building.

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And not only that, he in the dream was the atmosphere of the railroad.

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And I can see the locomotive was there. The conductors were around me and the engineers.

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And so the Lord spoke and he says, I want you to come up and out. Come out.

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And I knew within my spirit, soul, mind and body that it was him because I asked him to give me a dream.

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And I knew that right then and there in the marrow of my bone that it was time to come out of the railroad.

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That God had something else for me to do. But I didn't know what.

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So you resigned from the railroad and that gave you that opportunity for when Prayer Mountain,

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those 40 days of prayer and fasting came, you were available.

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That led to a whole different trajectory in your life because you started volunteering then with the Somebody Cares ministry.

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And through the years, you had been struggling with that spirit of rejection from when you were young, from so much loss.

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And the Lord started healing you and giving you a new confidence of your identity in Christ.

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Share a little bit about how that happened and how the Lord ministered to you in that way.

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Yes, that was the very one of the most important thing that happened in my life was when I went and volunteered

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at Somebody Cares in Turning Point Ministries and every day I would go.

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And it wasn't, the word volunteer is okay, but I would use, I can use the word I believe correctly now is that

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I became one with Somebody Cares and the staff there.

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And it was like, Somebody Cares was a healing place for me. That was my destiny.

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And so I would look forward because I'd be serving people and then we'd have Prayer Mountain every night.

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So that was, it was like, this is where I'm supposed to be.

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I was in my set place and you know when you're in your set place, that's where you flourish.

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So I began to go every night and then I began to, Pastor Doug, Doug Stringer, he saw something in me,

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I guess the faithfulness, the commitment and he had me part time.

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So you started working at the ministry.

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Yes, part time.

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Yeah, and you know one of the things that God's really ministered to you during that time was that you really

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were a daughter of God and you know that was spoken over you.

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So you gained that confidence of your identity in Christ.

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But several, you know, and after working with Somebody Cares and really establishing your identity in Christ there,

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it was severely tested.

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But through that testing, through that testing, you really gained a new confidence and that confidence was strengthened.

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So Kathy, what happened that shook, you know, or tested your confidence and how did you get through it?

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Because it was, you know, it was a very difficult time for you.

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Yes, my husband shared with me that he did not want to be married to me anymore.

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And yeah, that was one of the greatest trials that I've ever had ever been through.

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And I suffered a lot of humiliation, a lot of shame.

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But God and his people, I remember me telling you that I was in the right place at the right time and I flourished.

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So in that time, I got to feast in my wilderness.

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And how I did that, the body of Christ that was around me, my spiritual father, Dr. Doug Stringer,

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he began to speak into my life and you know, he says, Kathy, I want you to know

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you have a spiritual family.

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And I'm telling you, everywhere I would turn, all the saints around me, my sisters and brothers that are part of the body of Christ,

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and even in the city of Houston, because somebody cares, it was the Catholic place in the city of Houston.

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So even the pastors and all those that partner with somebody cares, they would come in and out.

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And everybody had a word of encouragement to me.

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And I appreciate that. And even the people that they prayed for me day and night,

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that's what brought me through that wilderness experience.

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And that's what helped me bring the healing. My God, I'm so excited to even be able to share

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that it was because I was in the right place that somebody cares and the people were in line.

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People were in line. There was nothing that I like.

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Jodi, one day I got to experience God as my good shepherd,

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and I got to experience the tangible expression of Jesus Christ.

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One day I had just left the workplace and I was hungry and I wanted to go.

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So I went to the store to purchase something. I didn't have a lot of money, but guess what?

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I heard the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and he says, get you what you want to eat for supper.

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I'm going to give you some more. And that blessed me.

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You see, it was affirmation after affirmation. It was acceptance after acceptance.

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And I mean, just being around that atmosphere, I knew I was an approved daughter of God.

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And there was physical assistance that you received. I mean, people helped you move into your apartment

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when, you know, pay some bills that were difficult. Share some of those tangible things that you experienced

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because people, you know, lived their Christian faith and loving you. Share some specific examples of that.

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Oh, yes. Oh, yes. This is exciting. There was nothing missing.

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Nothing missing. You see, I was left in poverty without anything.

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My former husband, all the bills needed to be paid. That was taken care of. People would give me money.

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I even got this beautiful white car, a Mitsubishi, one of my girlfriend gave me.

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How every need was met. I had to move. Pastor told me that I needed to move.

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So I moved into God opened up a way where I got an apartment less than one month.

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And I was set up. The Lord was my provider. He was my good shepherd.

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But what he did, he raised up people to help me in that situation.

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And my wilderness experience, that's feasting, seeing God.

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And when you're in a dark area, he wants us to see him because he was a very present.

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And he used the body of Christ and somebody and somebody cares to help me get healed.

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And you said something so important, Kathy, is because you were in the right place.

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I mean, you had pursued the Lord.

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And, you know, although God certainly didn't wish that tragedy on you and your marriage,

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you were pursuing God. And in the midst of it, he sheltered you and took care of you.

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When someone else did something bad, God was there to protect, care and really care for you.

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That's right, Jodie. Absolutely.

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I know it took some time to heal from all that, but God had you in a healthy place,

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allowed you to be involved in reaching out to others, which, boy, that's healing in itself, isn't it?

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When we reach out and share love with others, that can be so healing for us.

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Yes. Yes.

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Share some of the things that God had you involved in and how it prepared you for your next assignment.

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I mean, you know, you were working in a ministry.

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What are some of those things that you got to do?

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I know. That's feasting again.

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Yes, Jodie, I was the outreach coordinator and I got to partner with,

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I don't know how many partners, but it was like the churches and the ministries in Houston, Texas.

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I got to feed the poor, got to counsel, just do the work of the ministries,

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seeking the kingdom of God first, and everything else was added to me, you know,

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and stuff, and so I was able to do the work of the kingdom during my time of being healed,

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you know, just staying busy, you know, steadfast, unmovable, always abiding in the work of the Lord.

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There was always stuff going on.

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And, you know, Houston is a big city, and you know, you have people from all over that comes to Houston,

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even doing Katrina.

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You know, even doing Katrina, it was one of the most exciting times for us, and people would come in.

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It wasn't about just giving them the tangible stuff, but also winning souls and telling people,

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hey, you could make it no matter, you know, you're just going through.

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Giving them the name of Jesus, which had all power, introducing them to the Lord.

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That was a good time.

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Amen. And you got some training.

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First-hand training, that's right.

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During it, I was able to come on the other side of the Sabine River to Lafayette, Louisiana,

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and use that training and being able to, and never thought that I was going to be chaplain.

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That wasn't even my desire.

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I thought I was going to just be an evangelist in the church, you know, and just maybe evangelizing all over.

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But God chose that.

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God was training me in the midst of my wilderness.

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So while you were at Somebody Cares, you were able to actually go to a chaplain training

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and get a certificate, a chaplaincy certificate, weren't you?

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Yes, Pastor.

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Oh, yeah, he allowed me to do that.

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That's right.

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I think it was about six to eight weeks, and that was good.

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Little did I know I was going to be in the jail.

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Yeah.

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You know, because, you know, you have different chaplains.

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You have chaplain in the hospitals, chaplains at hospice, you know.

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But God chose the prison industry.

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So you're still in, you know, you were still in Houston,

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and then the Lord began speaking to you to return to Lafayette,

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which hadn't really been on your mind that much.

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But your family's there, and, you know, God was drawing you there

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because he wanted to put you as a chaplain in the jail.

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He didn't tell you that when he told you to go home.

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But explain how, you know, what was that process that when the Lord told you,

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okay, it's time to go home, how did that happen for you?

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Jodie, I began to sense the grace being lifted.

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You know, it wasn't like as exciting, you know.

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And so my brother, when I first, my husband first left me, Raymond had to ask me,

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he said, Kat, come home, we're going to take care of you.

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And I said, Raymond, I don't feel that my job is finished here in Houston.

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I don't think my assignment is complete yet.

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So this particular time, I'd asked him to do something for me.

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He says, you need to come so me and Mark, we can help watch over you, Kat.

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And so I kind of felt that, yeah, that kind of made sense.

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I got to talk to Dr. Stringer and stuff, and he thought it was the right thing, too.

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I believed that I was in the will of the Lord.

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And I started preparing to come back home.

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But I didn't know, Jodie, what I was going to do.

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I didn't know.

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Yeah. And so as you were preparing to go home, and really as you were going out the door,

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the pastors of Houston, a lot of them came together and prayed over you, didn't they?

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Oh, yes. I still give that testimony.

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That was one of the best things that said approval, that affirmation and that acceptance right there.

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All these men, these leaders in the great city of Houston, Texas, with their anointing,

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laying hands and giving me that impartation, yes, getting me ready,

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looking and being able to identify that I was qualified to come on this side of the river.

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Yeah. So you got home to Lafayette and were thinking, all right,

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I'm just going to get a little job and work here near my family and do ministry in the church.

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And then a friend told you about an opportunity to be a chaplain

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at the Lafayette-Cordes correctional institute.

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Not something you had ever thought of, but the Lord spoke to you and said, yeah, that's where I want you.

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But it was a process to get there.

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Yeah, it was a process.

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So tell us what that process was, because you had to step out of faith, didn't you?

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Yeah. Well, it kind of like it started in Houston when I told Vanessa I was coming back home,

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my longtime friend for years, and she says, Kat, our chaplain position is coming up at the jail.

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You need to just apply for it.

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And so I just took on that. I said, OK, I'm going to just apply.

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So just put an application. And so I did that and I end up coming home.

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And when I did come home, no, when I was in Houston, Texas, I got to talk to the warden of the Lafayette-Paris

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correctional center, and he had heard about me and knew that I was religious.

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That's what they had shared with him.

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But anyway, so he says, when you get to Lafayette, contact me.

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And I did that, but I didn't do it right away because while waiting, the Lord gave me an assignment.

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And what I did, I went to the courthouse, got pictures of all the city officials and prayed for them every day.

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And every and for seven days, I would ride around the court session in Lafayette, Louisiana, and I would pray,

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pray for all the officials. And it was just like a drive.

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I would drive. And that was one of my assignments.

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And while I was here to do in that time, God just called me to intercession and to seek his face.

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I had to wait. It was a process.

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But after, you know, going and just doing the work of the Lord around the courthouse, the faith came.

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I kept my faith kept building up because I knew that God, I was in the right place in the right city at the right time.

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So, Jody, one day I was leaving the kitchen and coming down the hallway and the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me.

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He says, Jeremiah one and ten.

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I'm like, oh, my God, what's in there?

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So I couldn't wait. I ran to my Bible where God was telling me in my virgin.

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It's like, look, I want you to clean up. You have this assignment.

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I want you to clean up. I want you to pluck up and rebuild.

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And I remember sitting on this big chair and I'm like, God, I'm going to do that.

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I'm going to rebuild this ministry.

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This is what the Spirit of the Lord told me, says, I'm going to send you partners.

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My God, that just so resident that so agree with my spirit because I was used to being having partnership.

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And Houston, Texas.

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I was used to that kind of kingdom relationship.

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That's a string of taught us that the kingdom of God is built on relationship. So I knew things were happening.

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Yeah. And so you know that the chaplain position didn't open right up.

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But you were offered a position to just kind of be a file clerk for a while.

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And you felt like and you felt like that was the first step in.

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And then the Lord opened the door for you to be part time.

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And eventually, yes, they took you on and said, you're the full time chaplain. Right.

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Yeah. What was your process of, you know, I mean, you had to reach out to the city and and it was a new kind of a new concept for them to partner with you in the prison there.

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So what happened? Share a share a story or two about how God worked through that rebuilding that ministry and how he worked in some of the lives that you got to interact with.

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So I became full time chaplain and it was God gave me a dream that I was that the warden had signed my papers to become full time chaplain.

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I got the dream on Friday. And then on Monday, when I returned back to work after leaving work, the captain of the jail said, Miss Alex, your papers have been signed.

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And so that was good. I knew that I needed to get to work.

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And so, Jody, and so I went out. They introduced me, brought me to my office and the office was terrible. It was real bad and stuff.

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And the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and he said, Lafayette Parish Correctional Center is the wealthy place.

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And I got the right I knew that it was the wealthy place is a place where men and women have made mistakes and they could come and get corrected.

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Lafayette Parish and put emphasis on correction and get their life real line and get to know Jesus.

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And I saw all these papers. It was just a mess. But God spoke to me, told me it was the wealthy place and Jody, the partners.

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Remember when I told you about Jeremiah 1 and 10 and how the Lord said they was going to send partners and people volunteers were coming from everywhere.

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I mean, all denominations and being a chaplain, you have to be able to meet the needs of the people, whether they are Christian or whether they're Muslim, Catholic, whatever denomination.

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My job is to make sure that they have the Bible.

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And that was one of the things that the warden that's one of the things that the warden asked me if a Muslim would come and ask me for a Quran, would I refuse him?

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And and I told him, well, no, because you cannot be in that position.

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We have that's their right. And I had to honor that.

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And I began to see the ministry grow and I began to see fruits.

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People come out of it. Today, I have this young man. His name is Jude Darborn. Jude Darborn would come in and out of jail.

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But each time he came in and out of jail, I have what you call the fake pod.

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This is where like about 30 men would be in there and all they would do that entire day.

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This was a pod that was allocated where all they did was study all day.

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And they had different privilege that was granted to them.

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Well, Jude would always be faithful. He always would come to turn to the Bible studies.

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And so finally, after a couple of years, I think it was about two or three years, Jude had did his time.

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And I remember laying my hands on him and told him to be strong in the Lord and the power of his mind.

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I remember praying the prayer of faith.

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I had no idea that Jude was going was not going to be successful, but he was faithful where he was.

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And I saw his commitment to the Lord.

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Well, today, Jude owned his own beauty salon. He has people working for him.

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He just purchased. I went to blessed about two months ago.

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He just purchased a three hundred and fifty thousand dollar salon and he's a leading man in the city.

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God restored his family, his children.

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He's not married, but he's a single man that lives with his sister and live holy.

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And you see, I saw the restoration on him. And Jude is so accountable.

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Sometimes it unbles me because, you know, every Monday he's calling, childless pray.

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We pray every Monday. But he is a man that's accountable.

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The Lord restores his integrity and everything about Jude Darbon.

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So proud of him because he is he also teaches at Team Challenge in the Lafayette area.

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He also has other Bible studies all during the week.

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He's a busy man. And I'll tell you what, he's winning souls daily.

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And all of that, I mean, you know, you were faithful in that position.

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And, you know, I'm sure there's other men.

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You can't tell us all the stories, but it's amazing when we're faithful to do what God's called us to do.

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Yes. So faithful, humble Lord with grace.

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You've served with grace and humility, Kathy, all those years.

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The impact you've had just can't be measured.

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You know, only in heaven will we know it all. Thank you, Jesus.

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What is a key truth that you've learned through your journey with God that you want our listeners to know?

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That he's Yahweh. That God will never change.

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He will never leave you. What he said that he's going to do for you.

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You can put your weight on it because he's a covenant God.

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He will do. He will keep his promise.

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You just got to use your faith.

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And in the time that you don't have your faith, you can just ask him anything and say, Father, I need you to increase my faith because I'm reading your word.

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I've been praying. I've been doing what you want me to do.

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And so, Father, I need you to help me.

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Amen. Well, as we close, Kathy, would you share about a woman of the Bible whose story has inspired, encouraged, or taught you something?

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Of course, Jody. The Shudamite woman in the book of Kings is a woman of faith, a woman that believed God to the end.

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And she's one of the women, I would say, she was a covenant woman.

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And that's exactly what attracts me to her, her faith and believe in that the man of God has spoken into her life.

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And when she got, when she went through her little tests and trials, she believed what the man of God said and she stood on it.

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And she, Jody, this woman was a divine servant. I like that.

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And that's what I learned also at Somebody Cares.

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You keep on moving. We got to keep on serving.

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And it may not look like we're doing anything, but everything that we do for the kingdom will last, Jody.

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Amen. Well, Kathy has shared how God took a seemingly abandoned little girl and gave her a heavenly identity and family.

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First Peter 2, 9 through 11 in the New Living Translation reminds us, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession.

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As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

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Once you had no identity as a people, now you are God's people.

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Once you had received no mercy, now you have received God's mercy.

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Dear friends, I warn you as temporary residents and foreigners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your souls.

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When Kathy was fully surrendered to the Lord, living a holy sanctified life, God formed her and filled her with his presence and power

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and has placed her where she can show others the goodness of God as well.

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And he has plans for you too. Make yourself available to him and be obedient to his leading. He'll do amazing things.

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Kathy, would you take a moment and pray for our listeners?

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Yes, Father. We just thank you for this time. Oh God, we love and adore you.

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And Father, I pray for everyone that's listening to this podcast.

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And Father, that hope will come alive in them, Father God.

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No matter what their state is, Father, you're able to raise them up.

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And Father, I pray, Lord God, for the hope and Father, for the faith that just even the faith of a mustard seed will take them to the next level, Father God.

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I pray for their spirit, soul, mind and body, Lord God.

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And they will make a decision to connect with you, Lord God.

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Encourage man, wake up because God has a desire for you.

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Woman, it's not over yet.

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Lord, in Jesus' name, let everyone know that they have been accepted.

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They have been approved by you, Jesus.

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And Lord, we affirm them today.

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Father, no matter what the situation is, Father, Lord, with man, it is impossible.

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But with you, nothing is impossible.

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Father, your word declares, they that look to you, their faces are radiant and they won't ever be ashamed.

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Lord, you took shame 2000 years ago.

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And Father, you broke shame, Lord God.

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And we thank you, Father God, and we will not be ashamed.

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Bless them, Lord God.

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Give them to trust you that you are Yahweh.

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Everything that you say you are, you are.

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Lord, the word of the Lord says, the name of the Lord is a high tower.

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The righteous run in and they're saved.

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Father, I pray for every listener.

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Bless them.

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Bless their children and bless their children's children.

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It's in Jesus' name we pray and we thank you for it.

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Amen and amen.

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Amen. You know, friends, there are orphans as well as widows all over the world who need a tangible expression of God's love right now.

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Last year, we were able to help two young men in Texas who had lost both parents to remain together in their family home by helping with repairs after it was flooded during a storm.

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We also assisted a widow and her two children who were displaced by violence in the Middle East.

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They were looking for a new apartment with a bomb shelter for safety.

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But many orphans and widows have special needs that we as a company of women can meet together.

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Would you consider joining us for the special gift to help?

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Just go to hergodstory.org and click on the widow and orphan tab at the top of the page.

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Thank you for tuning in.

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In our show notes at hergodstory.org, you'll find scriptures and other information we talked about.

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And remember, I'd love to hear from you.

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So email me at hergodstory at somebodycares.org.

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And if you'd like a free six week devotional on women of the Bible, you can download that at hergodstory.org or purchase a 12 week devotional that we'll send to you for just $12, knowing that all the proceeds go to our Widow and Orphan Fund.

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We'd also love to pray with you on our 24-7 prayer and text line.

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So give us a call anytime at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer at somebodycares.org.

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And now, dear friends, if you've committed your life to Christ, I declare to you what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2, 9 through 11 and Paul in Romans 15, 33.

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You are chosen.

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You are a royal priest, part of a holy nation, God's very own possession.

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As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

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You belong to God's family and have received his mercy.

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You are his ambassador in this world.

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So, dear friend, keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your souls and the God of peace will be with you.

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Amen.

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Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and International.

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To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.