Pain is something that we all experience. some learn and grow through it. Some let it define them. Others, like Melissa Vanmeter, experience God’s profound grace in the times when pain is most profound.
Melissa’s experience with God’s profound grace came when her first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. For those who have never experienced it, it’s hard to imagine the pain of knowing you’ll never be able to hold your child… to see his first smile… to hear his happy cooing. But Melissa realized that she didn’t have to give up hope. Here are her own words about her first experience with profound grace:
I gave my heart to God in 2007, after my first miscarriage. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to endure in my life, and I knew I needed the Lord to help me get through it. I also knew that if I ever wanted to see/hold my baby, I had to get to heaven. The end of 2014, however, is when I TRULY started living for the Lord and putting my entire life into his hands. I had found an AMAZING church, re-committed my life to God, was baptized, and grew closer to God than ever before.
Melissa’s current full-time ministry is her family. Because she stays at home to care for her house and her living child and works at home, Melissa needed to find training with a flexible schedule.
Hello! My name is Melissa (“Missy”) VanMeter and I am 28 years old. I am a stay-at-home/work-at-home mom (I am an Affiliate Marketer as well as a DoTERRA Essential Oils Wellness Advocate.) I have an Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice, as well as a Veterinary Assisting diploma. I have been married to my wonderful husband, Dale, for 11 years. We have a precious 5-year-old son, Aidan, and 2 angel-babies in heaven.
We live in the country, in West Virginia (USA) and travel across the USA during the winter months. Although hate-crimes against Christians are unfortunately becoming more common, I’m blessed to live in a country where Christianity is still the main religion.
But God was calling Melissa further into ministry. He set it on her heart to make a difference for Him in a community that is ravaged by drugs. Her calling is to preach Christ to the younger people who are so frequently drawn into drugs. If they can experience the same profound grace she did, the fatal overdose rate could drop significantly.
West Virginia has a huge drug problem (and a very high overdose death rate.) I would love to start my own non-denominational church focused on the younger crowd, to combat this drug epidemic. These folks need to learn about Christ, accept him, and allow him to heal them of their addictions. I suffer from Social Anxiety & have terrible stage fright & difficulty with public speaking. In order to successfully make this dream a reality, I know that God must help me overcome those issues. Knowing how awesome my God is, however, I have total confidence that he can and will do just that. I also know that with God’s help, we can change lives! This program will also, of course, benefit my own spiritual life.
Being a stay at home mom means that if/when I attend school, it must be done online/at home with a very flexible schedule. So Christian Leaders Institute is a great fit. And without the scholarship program, I wouldn’t be able to afford the training necessary to accurately and confidently teach the gospel in a way that people can understand & relate to. I have read the Bible in its entirety. However, I feel the need to delve deeper & better understand the word before preaching the gospel to others. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity! Thank you so very much!!!
Who in your community could benefit from experiencing the profound grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ? If you feel that God is leading you to bring revival to your community, or even if you’re just looking for a deeper relationship with Him, Christian Leaders Institute can help prepare you for whatever lies ahead. You can find out for yourself by clicking here to enroll in your first class!
God doesn’t promise us that after we come to him life will be flowers and roses. Sometimes we experience trouble… pain…. even brokenness. But it is in the brokenness that we can truly experience the healing power of grace.
Paula Furfaro was in a time of brokenness. For a long time she believed she couldn’t be forgiven. She struggled through pain, guilt, and doubt. But God was watching over her through the turmoil. He brought her to a new church where she was able to experience the healing power of grace.
I am a Japanese woman born in Brazil, with a Russian great-grandmother. After 15 years living and travelling all over the world, I am back in Brazil, the place where revival is happening daily in the local churches, in detention centers, and even on the streets. The fact that I am a Brazilian with an Asian face and an Asian with a Brazilian culture made me a citizen of the world.
When I was a teenager I used to hate Christians, how can they preach freedom if they are tied in old beliefs and traditions, I used to think. I attended all kinds of religions in a search for the truth, from pagan rituals to atheist workshops, until my mother was diagnosed with tumors in her uterus. My boyfriend then was attending an evangelical church that was very famous for healings and I decided to go by curiosity first, and later I invited my mother who got healed in the first visit. She has even the doctor´s files proving her miraculous healing. I never left Jesus after that.
My ministry dream is to show people that are like I used to be the real freedom that the Holy Spirit can bring, my heart goes to the single, divorced and widowed mothers and fathers who are often forgotten inside most of the churches. The ones that don´t fit well in the single´s ministry, but don´t fit well in the family´s ministry either. The feeling of “not fitting” can be overwhelming, making these souls leave church and Christ. I want to preach for these invisible part of the society, I want to pastor this flock to the living water.
I lived the desert of the divorce myself, the pain, the unforgiveness from both sides. I dealt with the constant attacks from the enemy whispering: sinner… sinner… and the other members inside the church telling how “Christ hates the divorce”, and talking about me on my back. Others would pursue my small children to ask them “inside information”. Women at the family´s ministry would not let me sit next to their husbands. I thought Christ wasn´t listening to me anymore, even thou I tried every book, I tried marriage counseling, I tried everything I could to save my marriage, but maybe I didn´t try well enough, so Jesus he probably hates me now, I used to think. I suffered for one full year until I found a church that sheltered my children and I, I broke in tears everytime someone asked where my husband was, several times, and got hugged and prayed for every single time. And with the help from the elders and the pastors I got healed. Now I want to help others to get healed too.
I attend now a revivalist church, and I got anointed a Pastor and I´ve been praying and pursuing training to be able to reach as many people as possible. And my children not only support me, my eldest want to become a Pastor as well, he is only 10.
As a mother raising children by herself, the scholarship of Christian Leaders Institute is essential for me to be able to learn and grow as a Christian, leading my own household and others to the Lord.
I humbly ask my brothers and sisters to pray for strength and wisdom for all the pastors in my country and for my family. And please, be loving people, remember to hate the sin and not the sinners and may God bless us all.
Perhaps you need to experience the power of grace. Perhaps you’ve been called to share the power of grace with others. If you believe that free ministry training could help you in ministry endeavors or just improving your walk with God, click here to enroll in free courses.