Sharing Our Stories: Introducing the writers

Introducing Kai A. Pineda in her words:

In 2015, I participated in a private author network I did not feel qualified for when initially asked to join. In one of the first meetings with our coach, we discussed the necessity of a tagline. 

As I listened to what others who were more seasoned had come up with to describe their brand or their mission, I had nothing. A few days later, I began to see the burden God had placed within my heart for the church and our need to become the Bride He hoped we would become. I prayed, leaning into what God showed me. The following tagline emerged: Be The Church You Want To See.

Fast forward to 2021, the work I had been doing surrounding the racial divide within the body and our need to unify became even more apparent when 2020 hit the world in ways many were not ready for at all. I started to be called upon to speak and share with others who did not look like me to help organizations, leaders, brothers, and sisters who desired to help as the world’s racial injustices were presented before us in a way we could not ignore. I understood the hard conversations didn’t just need to happen; they must occur for the church to move forward.

In writing my book or speaking out, I have nor will I ever say I have all the answers. What I do have is The Way, and that way is the Word of God. I will not lean into my race over my faith, nor will I condemn anyone who disagrees. We all have a lot to learn, and my desire here on this beautiful blog is to bring forth biblical principles we apply to our daily lives. I desire to see us all heal together as one body, loving its many parts.

I hope you will share this adventure with me through comments that foster dialogue. If I know anything, I know this about the Word of God; it will challenge, convict, and convert us every time we read it. I know we can no longer stand apart and think we will get anything done. 

God created us to live and grow in community.

I pray this is where we begin to become the church we want to see!

~*~
Author Bio:

I am a fire-starter and a passionate student of the Bible who helps others discover their identity and the beauty within the Body of Christ by leading them into an encounter with the Word of God. 

I am married to a man I am madly in like with and love more than I can explain. Together we plant home fellowships within the U.S. and abroad.

I am an author who released her first book, Dear Church: Vol 1: The Beauty of The Body, in 2019, with the second volume to be released in 2021. I have recorded two praise and worship albums and love to travel.

I am an introvert who loves her family, people, rainy days, a chai latte from Starbucks, and my Maltipoo McLovin.

I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, nor challenging people to live lives based on a biblical standard and not personal preferences.

~*~
Connect with Kai:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kai.a.pineda
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkaiapineda/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kai_A_Pineda
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/92920689-kai-pineda

Sharing Our Stories: Introducing the writers

Introducing Amber Hoopengarner in her words:

I want to share my story because I believe God gives us all stories to help others along their journey. As a mixed-race woman, I have faced various challenges socially and within myself and my own identity.

I want to be the change I wish to see by loving people how Jesus loved the church while educating them on the differences we all share that make us beautiful and unique the way God intended. I want to raise awareness by speaking up for BIPOC women who have been silenced for so long and bring voice and light to their truths.

For too long they have had to apologize and dim their shine to feel loved worthy and valuable.

It is my goal and desire to write words that remind women of all races that God has made them fearfully and wonderfully, while pointing out that others have not always treated us as the queens that God created us and all of His Daughters (regardless of race) to be.

I will continue to work with minority and mental health groups and minority groups in all areas to eliminate stigma and bring hope to the battles that have been fought in silence for too long.

We are all made by God and need to embrace our differences culturally, historically, physically, emotionally and eliminate the one size fits all approach to the things we do in our everyday lives.

I aim to bring about cultural sensitivity and education within my small community with the love of Jesus Christ and the understanding and wisdom that the Holy Spirit brings as I seek to do his work.

~*~
Author Bio:

Amber Hoopengarner is a writer and self-published author who is also a Certified Life Coach working with women who suffer from PMADs and children who suffer from mental health disorders.

She is a Maternal Mental Health Advocate and works to help raise awareness within the church of mental health disorders especially among BIPOC women.

Amber graduated in 2016 from the University of Phoenix with an Associates in Human Services Management and is currently in the process of obtaining her bachelor’s in psychology. She also has certificates in Mental Health Coaching, Bibliotherapy and CBT as well as in Perinatal Mood Anxiety Disorders.

Amber loves God and people! She enjoys making a difference through bringing up issues and challenges that sometimes would not otherwise be addressed. Amber believes that God wants His people to be loved where right where they are while they are working on who He has called them to become.

~*~
Connect with Amber:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/amberwha35/

Sharing Our Stories: Introducing the writers

Introducing Marie W. Watts, in her words:

The day my brother participated in Little League tryouts is etched in my mind. The third graders took the field, a coach hitting balls to them. I watched as a boy at shortstop reached for a slow-moving grounder hit right to him and let it roll between his legs. A terrible realization seized me. Although I could play baseball better than that little boy, I would never be allowed on the field because I was a girl.

You see, my father was an extraordinary man. Because he had led a sheltered life before being thrown into combat in WWII, he was determined that neither me nor my younger brother, would suffer the same fate. I learned to play ball, ride a bike, and mow the lawn along with my sibling.

Both of us were expected to go to college and to succeed academically. It’s remarkable, really, that I was under the illusion that my brother and I were equals until I was in fourth grade.

I expressed rage at the indignity of it all. My wonderful dad and mom did not try to put me in my place or tell me that’s just how it was. He coached a group of my girlfriends, and we had our own baseball team. Unfortunately, we could only practice. No other female teams existed at the time.

Over the years, other incidents have occurred to remind me that, while things are better, the playing field is not level. Women, persons of color, the disabled, those of certain religious faiths, low-income Americans, and the LGBTQ community struggle in various ways.

Thirty years of my career were dedicated to ending employment discrimination and teaching diversity to thousands of Texas employees. Prodding me to push forward was the disappointment, dejection, and fury I felt that day on the tryout field.

Each of us has a moral responsibility to leave this world better than when we arrived. Yes, we can vote, write our politicians, and donate to charities. But there are things we must do when interacting with others to show our commitment to change.

Over the coming year, I will be sharing ideas and skills to help control the biases and prejudices in each of us. Only by taking a fresh look at how we interact with those who are different from us and changing ourselves can we tackle the systemic racism/sexism in this country. If each of us takes responsibility for leveling the playing field even a fraction, the unfair barriers will begin to crumble.

~*~
Author Bio:

Marie W. Watts is a former employment discrimination investigator and human resource consultant with over twenty-five years of experience. In pursuit of justice in the workplace, she’s been from jails to corporate boardrooms seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly of humans at work.  

Her on-the-job observations came in handy when she co-authored a textbook about how to behave at work, Human Relations 4th ed. Additionally, her work has been published in the Texas Bar Journal and the Houston Business Journal as well as featured on Issues Today syndicated to 119 radio stations, NBC San Antonio, Texas, and TAMU-TV in College Station, Texas.

A popular diversity and employment discrimination trainer, Marie has trained thousands of employees to recognize their own biases and prejudices and avoid discriminating against others in the workplace. She has brought her experiences to life in the trilogy Warriors For Equal Rights about the struggles of ordinary people who work at the little-known federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

She and her husband live on a ranch in central Texas. In her spare time, she supports a historic house and hangs out with her grandsons. For more information about Marie and her stories about life, visit www.mariewatts.com.

~*~
Connect with Marie:
Bookbub - https://www.bookbub.com/profile/marie-w-watts
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mariewattsbooks
Twitter - https://twitter.com/MarieWattsBooks
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mariewattswriter/
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-w-watts-5b2a2b/

Sharing Our Stories: Introducing the writers

Introducing Dr. Angelle M. Jones, in her words:

When I think of the weighted albatross pressing down upon the necks and backs of my brothers and sisters wearing melanated skin, I hear a cry deep down in my soul.

I hear a Voice in the wilderness calling, “Who will change the narrative?” The story that has been born in pain. The narrative that has been painted by the trauma inflicted upon the ancestors of those still struggling to overcome. When will the oppressed overcome? When will the pain of yesterday transition into the hope that the dark past has taught us? The Voice calls again, “Who will change the narrative?”

I chose to answer the Voice, with the loud stroke of my pen: I will change the narrative. I will write to change the collective narrative of shame. I will write to change, the individual narrative of guilt. I will write to change, the narratives of the emotional scars left in the hollow belly of the slave ships. I will write to change, the narratives of the lashing straps beating the dignity from Black men like they were created to be their White brother’s personal whipping posts. When I write, I will ask the hard questions, “Will the narrative of the strange black and brown fruit still found hanging low from trees today, ever change?”

When letters become words, and words become paragraphs, and paragraphs become books, that’s how the narrative will change. I will use this platform to become a scribe of hope, using written words to speak light into darkness, and to bring change to the pain. I will take the words that have historically been used to intimidate and cast fear upon the oppressed to change the narrative. The words I write will reverse the curse. The words I write will hopefully inspire the reader to share the Light with others. My prayer is that the chain reaction of the words I pen will help change the narrative.

As a woman of color who has journaled my story for over forty years, I pray God’s grace and resilience will shine through the cross I and my Black brothers and sisters bear daily. For this cause, I will write mine, yours, and whoever will share their story. 

I will use words to shed light on the truth for those who have been known to project the lies and deceit of who the oppressed really are. I will write to open the eyes and minds of those searching for a place to contain the words of the thriving, striving, and surviving of a people who have suffered long enough. 

I will turn the years of hurtful words into helpful words. I will turn hateful words into words of love. I will use His Word to change the narrative of injustice and racial division into a sacred container filled with stories of God’s compassion and mercy. 

My prayer to God is: Send me, “I will change the narrative.”

~*~
Author Bio:

“Inspiring and Motivating With the Power of Words” 

Angelle M. Jones believes that the power of words inspires, and motivate to bring about transformative change individually and collectively. 

Angelle originally hails from Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in African-American studies from the University of Cincinnati. Angelle has a master’s degree in Theological Studies from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia and an earned Doctorate in Ministry on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, and his philosophy of The Beloved Community from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

Her ministry career began as a staff member of the Northeastern Ohio Billy Graham Crusade in 1994. For twenty years, as founder and director of In The Spirit Ministries, Inc. she led teams on mission outreaches throughout the world. From 2007-2012 Angelle served as Missions Director of New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio where she currently resides. Angelle is founder and director of GlobaLife Coaching and Consulting serving as a Life and Transformation Coach and Church Consultant. 

In 2016 Angelle authored and self-published her first book, Happily Never After. Along with sharing words of hope by sharing her writings on her social media platforms, she has been published in Vantage Magazine which is a literary source for faculty, students and alumni of Columbia Theological Seminary, and Ready which is a cutting-edge online magazine addressing current events and trending socially relevant topics for women.

Angelle is the mother of an adult daughter. She is a grandmother and great-grandmother.

Sharing Our Stories: Introducing the writers

Introducing Kristen Rimer Terrette, in her words:

I’m a white woman living in the suburbs of Atlanta. 

I’ve spent my whole life in the south, and I truly love southern traditions like big Sunday dinners and back porch swinging, sweet tea and everything fried, Chick-fil-A and farmhouse-style anything. 

Down here, we boast about having all four seasons show off in vivid color (though summer seems to last at least six months!) and our gigantic love of college football (like really, it’s insane). And I’ll admit, my husband and I entertained the biggest southern cliché of all… Our son’s name is my grandmother’s maiden name. I know…you don’t get more southern, and cliché, than that.

But this culture, the one that has seeped into my everyday life, is also soaked in racial injustice, the sting of oppression, and blindness (through ignorance or a purposeful turning away) to disunity going on right before our eyes. My awakening journey to this problem started years ago. I looked around my children’s ministry, as its director, and at my own personal life, and noticed it wasn’t as diverse as it should be. And since heaven will be filled with “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9 NIV), my life needed to be this way also. A passion for unity and diversity was birthed then. And as I learned, listened, and repented, my desire to be of use to God as a reconciler grew stronger.

But who am I? My voice is small compared to the loud one of the enemy, who’s plan is “to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10 NIV) by carving out more dissention in God’s people, and causing more anger and pain to the oppressed.

Thankfully, God knows combined voices get loud. Together, we can drown out and drive away the enemy in Jesus’ name. So, I hope to my use my meager influence, one that has benefitted from white privilege and led a life of white fragility, to share my perspective, to help open veiled eyes to past atrocities, systematic racism, prejudices, and complicit behavior.

I want to share my own stories, as well as those in my circle and community, to challenge our culture, especially here in the South, and impact my generation, which will be a source of change for the next generation.

If you’re reading this, it’s likely we want the same thing. A unified church body. The enemy has conquered our land and people far too long. He has lied to us, blinded us, and kept us separated. Through this blog’s platform, let’s share our viewpoints and ongoing journey to reconciliation. Let’s open up conversations that help change hearts, biases, and prejudices. 

I believe if we do the hard work needed to break the enemy’s stronghold over our minds and our society, and as we strive to forgive, lament, and move forward, our children will see this unification happen.

~*~
Author Bio:

Kristen's passionate about storytelling and helping people take their next steps in their relationship with Jesus.

She lives forty-five minutes outside of Atlanta, GA. where she served as a Children's Ministry Director for many years. With the support of her husband and two children, she now stays home writing fiction and non-fiction. 

She also serves on the women’s leadership team at her local church and writes for Crosswalk and Wholly Loved Ministries. You can check out her articles and novels at www.kristenterrette.com.

~*~
Connect with Kristen:
Website - www.kristenterrette.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/authorkristenterrette/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/KTerrette
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kterrette/
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16252020.Kristen_Terrette
Bookbub - https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kristen-terrette
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/kterrette2/

Sharing Our Stories: An Introduction

Sharing Our Stories: Being the Change We Seek
An Introduction post by Alexis A. Goring

We are living in troubled times.

These days, you don’t have to watch the news to see it.

But we have HOPE. His Name is Jesus Christ and He loves you with His very life! Read John 3:16 in The Holy Bible for background about that fact.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I know that this life here on Earth is not going to be perfect because of the side-effects of sin which include but are not limited to: hatred, prejudice, racism, oppression, injustice, pain, suffering, sorrow and ultimately, death.

But again, we have hope in Jesus Christ!

Human history will not continue like this forever. One day all of this suffering will end when God sends His Son (Jesus Christ) back to Earth to take His faithful followers home to Heaven. If you want to experience a happily-ever-after that’s REAL and lasts for all of eternity then that is a good reason to follow Jesus Christ. 

Only Jesus can equip us with the tools that we need to survive this sin-ridden world. Only Jesus can show us that there is hope on the horizon. Only Jesus can help us want to treat each other way we want to be treated (otherwise known as “The Golden Rule” OR Matthew 7:12, because it’s also in the Bible).

In light of everything we’re going through here on Earth, I’ve created this new series that will launch on Sunday, Sept. 6 and continue on a weekly basis. The series is called “Sharing Our Stories: Being the Change We Seek.” Every Sunday, starting in September 2020, one of my writers will share their heart on the topics that divide us with hope of uniting us.

It is my hope that through launching and coordinating this new series on this “On My Heart” blog that everyone who reads the words by my kind-hearted, faith-based writers, will be inspired to live like Jesus tells us to live (Micah 6:8). I hope that we will truly seek to treat others the way that we want to be treated (with kindness, respect and dignity). I hope that we will learn how to love each other the way that Jesus loves every one of us (regardless of our looks, ethnicity or culture). May we finally realize that there really is only ONE race (the HUMAN race) and we’re ALL in this story called life together.

I’m hoping that hearts will soften, empathy will increase and a Christ-like love will abound within the soul of every single reader.

This series is meant to move beyond having “hard” and “courageous” coffeehouse conversations; it will serve as a catalyst for change. We endeavor to be kind to each other and to understand where we’re coming from as we read each other’s stories and share our hearts. Our goal is racial reconciliation with the hope of preparing our hearts for a better country, a heavenly one (as Hebrews 11:16 describes).

This world will not last forever. But faith in God and His Kingdom will.

While we’re traveling through this human experience on Earth, it is my hope that though perfection and harmony will not be completely achieved until Heaven, we will learn to be kind to each other. Everyone is fighting some sort of battle. Words have the power to destroy but they also have the power to heal. Will you join me in creating a space where words can help heal the hurting hearts of humankind?

Sincerely with love,

Alexis A. Goring, MFA
Founder of “On My Heart” (blog)
https://coveringitall.blogspot.com

Introducing "On my heart"

I have been challenged to write about the issues that are on my heart.

After much thought and debating about it in my mind, I've decided "Why not?" because you never know who's feeling the same way about the issues that matter to you and how people with shared sympathies can inspire change.

I want this blog to encourage courageous conversations that will clear confusion, heal hearts and move minds in a positive direction as we are reminded that we're all part of one family--  the human family. 

So here's to my new blog and changing the world, one heart at a time. :)