Women are strategic players in the mission of God, and across our family of churches, they are stepping into their God-given callings through countless creative and essential ministries. Kimberley McGibbon, Gracie Thomas and Chaneika Jackson are each leveraging the spaces that God has placed them to advance His kingdom.
Kimberley McGibbon – Send Relief Ministry Center Director and Church Planter’s Wife
The Hamilton Fellowships, Toronto, Canada
More than a decade ago, when Kimberley McGibbon sold her business – what had become the largest special events company in Canada — to homeschool her children as their family joined the church planting movement in Canada, she had no idea that was just the first in a series of events God would use to prepare her to lead a Send Relief Ministry Center years later.
Kimberley and her husband, Jason, remember the spark of the church planting movement in the Toronto area. Kimberley attended the preview service for the first-ever Southern Baptist church plant in Toronto, and several years later, her husband planted the first granddaughter church in Canada – a church that was planted by another church plant.
As a church planter’s wife, Kimberley has dipped her toes into many unexpected areas of ministry, including helping her church engage their city through compassion ministry.
“Our city has declared a state of emergency in homelessness and now with refugees. So we have a lot of tent encampments that people are living in, right beside our church, even in the winter,” Kimberley shares.
Today, as the Send Relief Toronto Ministry Center director, Kimberley gets to serve the refugee community by organizing ESL classes, job education and placement programs, life skills seminars and more.
“I would have never dreamed that when I look back on everything I’ve been through, I’d see that all the things God taught me were to get me ready for this,” Kimberley says. “This role is the perfect fit for me.”
Kimberley adds, “God has made women in all different ways. What would it look like if we started leveraging all the gifts, talents and experiences God has given us for His kingdom?”
Gracie Thomas – Church Planting Team Member and Hospital Nurse
Maranatha Baptist Church, New York City
After Gracie Thomas spent one summer serving alongside Maranatha Baptist Church in New York City through GenSend, she decided to move to the city to serve as a church planting team member following her college graduation. However, Gracie says that leaving her Texas home “was a complete act of faith.”
Today, she works full-time as a nurse at Mt. Sinai Hospital while also serving as Maranatha’s administrative assistant. Gracie coordinates the church’s communications and social media pages and leads in the youth and children’s ministries.
“I never thought that I could have two callings – ministry and nursing – that intersect each other,” Gracie shares. “But the desires the Lord gives us are purposeful. The Lord gave me the desire to be a nurse and also the desire to teach and disciple. And now, He’s using both.”
For Gracie, the click between her two callings began the first summer she served with Maranatha Baptist Church.
“If it weren’t for Send Network and GenSend,” she says, “I would not have ended up in New York for two months. And by the second week, I was already asking the Lord, ‘Would this be the place that you send me?’”
Chaneika Jackson – Communications Director
Grace Church, Avon, Mass.
Chaneika Jackson admits that she wouldn’t be serving God in the ways she is today without a community of believers who called out her giftings.
“There were a lot of people who highlighted what they saw in me,” she recalls, “which has challenged me to speak life into the gifts that I see in others.”
One of the first people who called out Chaneika’s leadership abilities was Sean Sears, lead pastor of Grace Church in Avon, Mass. and the director of Send Network New England, who she first met while serving at a camp where he was speaking.
“He told me, ‘You’re a leader, and you should move to Boston and work with our middle school students,’” Chaneika recalls.
So that’s exactly what she did — Chaneika launched Grace Church’s middle school ministry, began leading the church’s first impressions, then started serving in community events and missions.
“With church planting, there are lots of needs and few people. So anywhere where there was a need, I was willing to put myself in positions where I could help fill that need,” Chaneika shares.
Today, she serves as the communications director for Grace Church and has seen the church plant ten more churches and support over 30 church plants throughout North America.
Chaneika says, “As women, wherever God has placed us, we should share who God is in our life, why we have a need for Him and how He influences the way that we live.”
Published April 11, 2024