Last spring, I searched through the serving opportunities posted on the church website. There were several that met my skill set, availability, and interests.

• Pray in the church’s prayer tower for an hour each week? Count me in!
• Write encouraging notes to be placed in the pocket of clothing donated to people being freed from jail? I could easily knock that out on a Sunday afternoon.
• Serve dinner at the Austin Street Shelter? That would be a great opportunity to serve as a family.

That day, I signed up for multiple opportunities.

One opportunity that jumped out to me was volunteering at Agape Clinic. Agape is a free healthcare clinic that needed administrative help. With my business background and organizational skills, I was confident that I could support the Executive Director with filing and any other tasks needed.

My first day, I opened the door and saw a crowded waiting room of eyes all look my way. I quickly moved through to the office area where I was introduced to the Executive Director, Stephanie Bohan. She explained the clinic’s mission (healthcare for all – regardless of ability to pay, insurance, citizenship, etc.), how many patients they see (19,000+ this year), and what she would like from me (the stacks on her desk told me she needed me!).

Little did I know how much I needed Agape.

God has used volunteering at Agape to transform my spiritual life. Once I started seeing the struggles, obstacles, and concerns of others from their point of view, it opened my eyes to a world of lost, hurt people in desperate need. I started praying differently. My viewpoint on the “less fortunate” changed. A compassion began to emerge.

Any time I volunteered, I would come home energized by the mission and moved by the needs. I could not stop talking or thinking about it.

I started doing Bible studies related to poverty. I watched documentaries on homelessness. I read anything about food deserts, hunger in America, and its impact on health. By December, I had three words I could not get out of my head: healthcare, hunger, and homelessness. Those words have become my purpose and passion, which I call, “H3.”

H3 is my mission to unite individuals, nonprofits, ministries, community leaders, and businesses to address the social issues of healthcare, hunger, and homelessness. The goal is to identify gaps, unite resources, streamline services, and make a greater impact on these issues.

As part of H3, the Lord placed a desire in my heart for a mobile medical unit. Through months of prayer and a myriad of miracles, the Hope Clinic in Bartlesville, OK recently donated their mobile clinic to Agape! I had the privilege of delivering it from Oklahoma to Dallas where Agape will use it to serve the Bonton Farm Community. It is humbling and exciting to see God working.

I now have a vision for what God wants me to do with my time, interests, and skills. It is big — way outside my skill set and level of comfortability — and yet every step I prayerfully take, the Lord has opened doors.