From the Desk of the Ministry Director

When I think about my 33 years with First Stone, I can only think of the people I’ve encountered. Our appearance is different and programs have changed, but the truth we have held to has endured, and God has continued to work among us.

I met Jeff Janes at a wedding. He struck up a conversation, saying, “I heard you have a great testimony. I’d like to talk with you about it.” Soon, I began volunteering with First Stone during a season of new development and change under the Janes’ leadership. I trusted them for their warmth and determination to serve.

As a new volunteer, I was startled by the raw honesty in the support groups. I quickly saw how that honesty could become a path God used to bring repentance and healing.

This became the essence of ministry at First Stone. Through biblical counseling, prayer, groups, and gatherings, I have watched the Holy Spirit use community to bring people along in their journey with Him. It was both safe and personal. In September 1997, I joined the staff full-time.

Over the years, I have witnessed many expressions of God’s heart toward hurting people. Lewis and Carol, along with Jo and Warren, ministered from their homes with tenderness and generous hospitality. Sheila served women, Louise the staff, Angie parents, and Kim H. wives. Keith proclaimed truth and wanted people to understand how to walk with God. Steve H. brought earnestness and creativity to men’s ministry. Andrew cared deeply about spiritual formation. Stephen brought years of leadership, a powerful teaching voice, and language for difficult discipleship practices.

No single ministry leader carried the heart of the mission. First Stone would have been much less without the many faces of staff and volunteers. Each person brought beautiful gifts, and through them I have seen truth and tenderness, proclamation and hospitality, creativity and patience, spiritual depth and practical care.

I see the same thing in our staff and volunteers. We each bring our own gifts and ways of serving, and I am grateful for what each one brings into the room.

In many ways, the work still looks the same: people gathered one-on-one or in groups, experiencing the love of God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the care of His people.

I am grateful that God gave me a place among these people. I have known their faithfulness, laughed with them, struggled alongside them, learned from them, and watched God use them in the lives of hurting people. I am grateful for those who came before us, for those who have walked beside me, and for those who are still making room for hurting people today.