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In this episode of the Elevate Your Life Podcast, JE sits down with Elder Kelly Diane Galloway and Elder Brittany Smith to discuss life in ministry, personal growth, and impactful projects like the Zelo Project. Both guests share insights on overcoming obstacles, staying true to one's purpose, and the importance of waiting on God's timing. They reflect on their journey in ministry, the significance of trusting God's plan, and the power of community and perseverance. Tune in to hear inspiring stories and valuable lessons from these dedicated women in ministry.
00:00 Introduction and Opening Remarks
01:43 Meet Elder Kelly Diane Galloway
02:40 Meet Elder Brittany Smith
03:50 Reflections on Ministry Beginnings
05:26 Lessons Learned in Ministry
11:03 The Impact of the RAMP Church
13:50 Belief and Vision for the Future
15:57 Rooting in Faith and Trusting God's Plan
16:58 The Zilo Project: Women Claiming Their Inheritance
17:53 Challenges and Strategies for Women in Ministry
20:51 Overcoming Bitterness and Trusting God's Timing
26:39 Healing and Validation in Ministry
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What is Elevate Your Life with J.E. Harrison?
Welcome to Elevate Your Life, the go-to podcast for high-achieving, faith-driven women ready to unlock their full potential. Hosted by Jamesia Harrison, this show delivers thought-provoking conversations with industry leaders, faith-driven entrepreneurs, and personal growth experts. Whether you are striving for career advancement, business success, or more profound personal transformation, this podcast provides the actionable insights, strategies, and inspiration you need to amplify your influence and step boldly into your purpose. If you're ready to level up in leadership, faith, and success, this is the place for you!
009 - 010 Elevate Your Life - Brittany & Kelly
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Brittany Smith: [00:00:00] Kelly, I'm gonna do it for you then. Yes. I did know.
Jamesia: Yeah.
Brittany Smith: Yes, I did know and, and
no, I.
Kelly Diane Galloway: wouldn't I believe it?
Brittany Smith: If God said it, why not believe it? If we going to, if we're going to listen, why would I waste my time in investment if I didn't believe there was gonna be a harvest? [00:01:00]
Jamesia: Today on the Elevate Your Life Podcast, I am sitting down with two of my co laborers in the gospel, elder Kelly Galloway and Elder Brittany Smith. We are talking all things life ministry, and we're gonna reflect on the Zilo project. Y'all stay tuned today on the Elevate Your Life Podcast, I get an opportunity to sit down with two of my co-labs in the gospel. Um, elder Kelly Galloway and Elder Brittany Smith. And both of these ladies are doing so many amazing things in ministry, in the marketplace.
They're making an impact. And so I wanna give them an opportunity to share a little bit about themselves and what they're currently doing. And so I'll start with Elder Kelly.
Kelly Diane Galloway: Hey everybody, my name is Elder Kelly Diane Galloway. Um, Evangel. Jamia. Thank you so much for having me on. Um, I believe that, um, Jesus Christ came that we might experience life and life abundantly. And so, [00:02:00] um, I'm in the ministry of producing overcomers in the earth realm. And so I specifically work with people who are part of marginalized populations, human trafficking victims, individuals who are, um. I don't know. The word of the world just looks at them and doesn't see anything significant, but God looks at them and sees something great. And so I do full-time missions. I work in non-profit consulting and I even have a for-profit business, um, where I take people all around the world, uh, for cultural exchange experiences called Freedom Tours.
And so, um, I love to teach the word, I love to preach the word, and I do my best to live the word out.
Jamesia: I love it. I love it. Come on, elder Brittany Smith.
Brittany Smith: Well, as, as Jami said, thank you again for inviting us on. I think we're gonna have a good time today. I am a lover of Christ, mother of two, a minister of the gospel, and I get a chance to operate and run a very successful men's [00:03:00] ministry, um, by way of a barbershop that I, um, founded and I've been in operation for five years now.
So it was two locations here in the city of Lynchburg. So I say men's ministry because, um, my ministry has become a marketplace, um, opportunity for me to share the gospel and cancel. And support men in the ministry. Uh, I say men in the ministry, but y'all know what I mean. But, um, um, so I, um, am currently working on a, my second graduate degree and, um, pastoral counseling.
And so my desire is to bring, um, counseling to the church and, um, create specifically the black church.
Jamesia: That is awesome. It is great for even me to get an update on what's going on in you ladies' lives. Like of course we have, uh, been in ministry together for over two decades
Brittany Smith: Yes.
Wow.
Jamesia: [00:04:00] Yeah. Like, and so, you know, of course Brittany, I met you when I started my journey at North Carolina a and t Aggie Pride
Brittany Smith: I give pride. I give pride. You pride.
Jamesia: And so that's how I met Brittany and I recall, um, you know, all the times when you used to have to pay people to let them let you cut their hair
Brittany Smith: Yes. Pay, beg and bribe
pay. yes,
Jamesia: where God has brought you. And it's just always an inspiration for me to see you really take that vision and run with it and how God has favored you in it.
And then also using it as a platform for ministry as well.
Brittany Smith: Thank you so much.
Jamesia: And
Brittany Smith: God's amazing.
Jamesia: of course, I remember. All the times when people would come and preach at the church and give you prophecies about going to different countries and
Brittany Smith: Wow.
Jamesia: and how God was gonna raise you up to be a mighty missionary and to see how God has actually kept his word.[00:05:00]
Not that I think we ever doubted that he would keep his word, but you know, sometimes when life starts lifeing and we put our own selves into the equation, we start wondering and question and guessing like, Ooh God,
Kelly Diane Galloway: Talk
Jamesia: you really need to call me? Like
Kelly Diane Galloway: it.
Jamesia: Was you sure about that? So just to see God continue to be faithful to His word is absolutely amazing.
So ladies, again, I'm so grateful that you're here and I wanna jump into, uh, the conversation. So my first question, and I will start off with Elder Brittany, looking back over 20 plus years ago when we were all just starting in ministry, what's one thing that you know now about calling and purpose that you wish you knew as your younger self?
Brittany Smith: Hmm. That's a very good question. Um hmm. So, when I met you 20 years ago, um, I was so sure that God had specifically called me to pulpit ministry. And not that I, [00:06:00] um, don't think so now, but I know that there's so many more opportunities and avenues for us to. To work in ministry, um, outside of pulpit ministry.
And I think it's very much similar to, um, being exposed to different careers in life. You know, when you, when you, when you're in school, you think about maybe a teacher, doctor, lawyer, engineer. And so, um, I have learned the, um, the expanded scope and opportunities of ministry that are just not behind a pulpit desk.
And so I would have, I think I've now learned that, um, that God can take all of your story, all the pieces of it, the miscellaneous pieces of it, and he can really make it make sense. And you don't have to understand the details. Brittany, if I, I would say to my 19-year-old, 18-year-old self, you don't have to understand the details, but you can trust that God does.
Jamesia: I
Brittany Smith: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Jamesia: Kelly, what about you?[00:07:00]
Kelly Diane Galloway: Um, I think that the one thing that I wish that I would've known earlier is just that like, um, the, the authentic you is enough.
Jamesia: Hmm.
Brittany Smith: Mm.
Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: in a very pivotal time in, humanity. We entered into ministry when, evolution of cell phones and technology
Brittany Smith: Wow. Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: what that does, it, it, I think that it sped up a lot of people, uh, a lot of people's timelines because here you are constantly. Shown what somebody else is doing, and it makes you, it can make you sometimes feel like I'm not doing enough or I'm not doing the right thing.
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: think that what I would've done, or what I wish I would've known is that, Kelly, you have your own timeline. have, um, you might have ambition. And while that, that's not a bad thing, uh, when it comes into competition with what has for you and the timeline [00:08:00] in which the Lord has for you, then it, your ambition can become an idol. And so, um, because I'm naturally a doer and I'm naturally a, we gonna get it done, like, all right, y'all had 17 meetings and produced absolutely nothing. Um, because
Brittany Smith: We appreciate people like you.
Kelly Diane Galloway: because getting it done is comes natural for me. Um, I think that I would've, I think I would've paused with technology for a while because and Brittany were already what I call like in the way. y'all knew what it meant to be safe, sanctified filled the
Jamesia: Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: with the evidence of speaking in
Brittany Smith: Hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: I came from smoking cigarettes in the church parking lot and the saints getting drunk. You know what I'm saying? Like came from Baptist. Baptist. And so I think that, um, that I needed more time to, to, to be in like this incubator
Jamesia: [00:09:00] Yeah,
Brittany Smith: Mm. Okay.
Kelly Diane Galloway: from up under the purification, the purifying heat that that
Brittany Smith: Oh,
Kelly Diane Galloway: that comes from the hand of our God.
So,
Brittany Smith: amen. Amen.
Jamesia: That is
Brittany Smith: I lemme tell
you something, I hear you.
Jamesia: as, I was kind of like reflecting on this question, I was thinking, the one thing I think I would've told myself was, um, number one, perfection is not required. I kind of always had this mindset of I had to help God out.
Brittany Smith: Oh, yes.
Jamesia: my way of helping God out was making it easy for him to do what he said he was gonna do by trying to dot all the i's and cross all the T's.
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Jamesia: so not allowing myself to be 19, 20, 21, 22. Um, and so I've noticed just even with my life as maturation has taken place, it's almost like. I kind of wish I could go back to those years and maybe do things a little differently. Not say, not be saved.
Brittany Smith: Yeah,
I hear you. I hear you.[00:10:00]
Jamesia: Yeah.
Brittany Smith: you.
Kelly Diane Galloway: we didn't get to experience that a lot of
Jamesia: You didn't.
Kelly Diane Galloway: are our age. Got to,
Jamesia: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: I never did summer break. Spring break or
Jamesia: Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: college students do. I never did that. We were traveling and doing and preaching and singing and doing drama ministry. And
Brittany Smith: everywhere. Yes.
Kelly Diane Galloway: that people our age had, we did not have those same experiences.
Jamesia: Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: speak for you. I can only speak for me. I did
Jamesia: I didn't have.
Brittany Smith: No.
Kelly Diane Galloway: experiences and, um, and, and, and some of the mistakes that most people make in their early twenties, I was finding myself on, you know, I preachers be like on the precipice of making catastrophic decisions that would change and alter the trajectory of my life in my thirties
Brittany Smith: Uh huh.
Kelly Diane Galloway: some mistakes.
'cause when we started the church, I was 19,
Jamesia: Yeah.
Brittany Smith: Wow.
Kelly.
Kelly Diane Galloway: when the RAMP Church was founded. When we started the church, I was 19 years old.
Brittany Smith: Okay.
Jamesia: Yeah, like we [00:11:00] were all really super young. And I think one of the
Brittany Smith: Super young.
Jamesia: and I wonder, do you guys realize the impact that we would make when we started the church? Like looking back now and being able to see how impactful, um, the RAMP Church International has been, Bishop Younger God is really raising him up,
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Jamesia: general in this generation,
Brittany Smith: Giving honor the bishop? Yes.
Jamesia: is really known, like all over the world.
Like did
Brittany Smith: Literally
Jamesia: that the RAMP Church
Kelly Diane Galloway: to this
Jamesia: Nation would have that great of an impact?
Kelly Diane Galloway: I'm a
Brittany Smith: no. Well,
Kelly Diane Galloway: comment section and be like, see, we knew she was full of arrogance,
Brittany Smith: no. Kelly, I'm gonna do it for you then. Yes. I did know.
Jamesia: Yeah.
Brittany Smith: Yes, I did know and, and
no, I.
Kelly Diane Galloway: wouldn't I believe it?
Brittany Smith: If God said it, why not believe it? If we going to, if we're going to listen, why would I waste my time in investment if I didn't believe there was gonna be a harvest? If there was not gonna be fruit of it, why would I, why was I doing it?
It wasn't for [00:12:00] fun. We won. We was having fun. But listen, if Jamia and I went to probably not probably, excuse me, the top HBCU in the world,
Jamesia: Yeah.
Brittany Smith: and, um, there were plenty of opportunities for us to do a lot of things, but we made a decision to not indulge in some of those things, made a decision because we, first of all, for God, let's just stop there for God alone.
But it was because we knew, we believed God and we believed what God said about the ministry, um, of the RAMP Church and the vision of the RAMP Church. You know, um, Kelly can go into all about the vision. I mean, that was what she, she, and, and, and made sure that every staff member. Of the RAMP Church knew the vision, knew the mission of the RAMP church, so this is something that Yeah, we believed it.
Jamesia: Yeah. No, I, I love that because I recall, again, as you mentioned, countless times we were going up and down the road, you [00:13:00] know, spending our weekends traveling literally from state to state. I remember times we would be in South Carolina on Friday night, North Carolina on Saturday in Virginia on a Sunday, and then turn around and be back in class,
Brittany Smith: Right.
Exactly. Exactly.
I.
Jamesia: but yeah, like, and just hearing the prophecies, like hearing all of the words that, that the Lord would use to speak over the ministry, to speak over the Ramp Church International. And so I'm just amazed that God allowed us to be a part of it. You know what I'm saying? That he allowed us to be a part of that foundation of raising up this ministry that is still, and think about it, y'all, that only 20 years in, look at what God has done.
Brittany Smith: Amen.
Jamesia: what the next 20
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Jamesia: to look like. So, yeah, so big shout out to our
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Jamesia: bishop, his
Brittany Smith: Amen. Kiss Grace.
Bishop Show. if there was ever only a question for us, it could have been the how,
Jamesia: Mm,
Brittany Smith: how, how is God gonna do it? Yeah,
Jamesia: Yeah, because we were all, what college students,
Brittany Smith: [00:14:00] yeah,
Jamesia: really didn't have jobs like that. It was like
we were piling up in cars.
Kelly Diane Galloway: looking for the miracle.
Jamesia: Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: I never
stopped looking. And I, and I think that's where people, when the Bible says, don't get weary and well doing
Jamesia: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: it, like don't get weary. Like I remember when we sat down and, uh, we were trying to figure out, you know, when, when, I sat down with Bishop Young at Red Lobster on Candles Mountain Road and said, you know, what is the vision for this ministry? Or what is, what does the Lord showed you, shown you? he told me, and I remember the first thing was a octagon shaped cathedral. That was he thousands for the purpose of a worship experience. I, I, I never thought that it would be where we are right now, but I was always looking for land. I mean, I was, I, I would drive down 29 and see somebody say, land for sale.
And I know I didn't have two pennies to rub together, but I
Jamesia: Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: those people, like, show me the land and I would walk on the land. I walked on so many different properties because I was always looking for the miracle.
Brittany Smith: No [00:15:00] lies.
Kelly Diane Galloway: I, 'cause I knew that it was coming. Yeah. And, um, I mean, willing to work four and five jobs at, at the time to support the ministry.
Because,
Brittany Smith: We got a church to bill. That's what the quote that that was the going saying.
Kelly Diane Galloway: I got a church to, I, we got a church to build. We got a church to
Jamesia: Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: then when you even look at the, like, geographic geographically and, and, um, and I believe that belief, when you really believe something, all things point to that thing.
Jamesia: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: so y'all went to North Carolina a and t, y'all were living in. Greensboro, north Car, Greensboro, North Carolina. But when the Lord opened up a door and said, okay, like this is where we're gonna be, we're gonna open in Lynchburg, Virginia. And so even though we were in a very small building at 37 60 because y'all believed y'all packed up your bags and all of your belongings and drove up the road, and you moved there and you settled there and you found
Brittany Smith: Mm
Kelly Diane Galloway: there,
Brittany Smith: wow. [00:16:00]
Kelly Diane Galloway: put putting down your roots there because you believe the word of the Lord. And so,
Brittany Smith: Hallelujah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: even in today's society, people get
Brittany Smith: Mm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: and think that magic is supposed to make it happen. But you know, sometimes you gonna have to pull up your roots and then actually go somewhere and get planted and stay a while. And so I think that when somebody say, do you,
Brittany Smith: Ah, that's good.
Kelly Diane Galloway: do you really believe
Jamesia: Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: will show how much you really believe that thing?
And so, you know, none of us is a former Lynchburg.
Jamesia: None of us.
Brittany Smith: And never thought we would be here.
Kelly Diane Galloway: yeah. And now
Jamesia: mm
Kelly Diane Galloway: the Lord has done in such a small place.
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Jamesia: No, that's really good. Elder Kelly. That's really good. So ladies, I wanna pivot and talk a [00:17:00] little bit about the Zilo project. So we had an opportunity to be a part of the first Zilo project, um, this, this past summer. And, um, for the listening audience, the Zilo project is based off of the daughters of Za Lofa had in the book of numbers, um, where the daughters wanted their father's inheritance.
His fa their father had no sons. And so the daughters went and petitioned and said, Hey, why shouldn't we have our inheritance? Because our father had no sons. And so, um, we got to participate in this amazing conference. And so I wanted to ask you ladies, so the daughters of Z Lofa had boldly asked for what was theirs. What does asking for your inheritance look like for women in ministry today?
Brittany Smith: Hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: I think it's having it. It is. It is. It. It such a delicate balance because if, if we're speaking about like [00:18:00] here in the United States of America, like it has so many different things that we have to take into consideration. and it's so many dances unfortunately, that I, I believe that women, feel like they have to do. And
Jamesia: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: um, because I don't want, I I, I remember back in the day, Bishop Younger used to always say like, listen, y'all are women. Y'all are gonna have it harder. You are gonna have it
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: And like, don't feel like you don't feel pressured to feel like you gotta preach like a man or show up like a man. But then in, in a male driven society like our country, it, it sometimes feels like we have to knock down doors for ourselves.
Brittany Smith: Mm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: pursuing your purpose as a woman in this country, as a minority woman in my case, and as a woman in ministry, um, I have defaulted. Now that I'm 40 and to allowing my gift to make room for me, I
Brittany Smith: Amen.
Kelly Diane Galloway: that I had [00:19:00] to knock down doors and build a table where there was none. Um, and that got exhausting
Jamesia: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: it
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: it. It started to make me, um, uh, feel bitter
Jamesia: That's real.
Kelly Diane Galloway: of places because I'm like, if
Brittany Smith: Amen.
Kelly Diane Galloway: to do this, and you say that you honor the gift and calling God in my life, then why don't you prepare this table then?
Brittany Smith: Amen.
Kelly Diane Galloway: so for me, I've just reconciled in myself that there's gonna come a time and there's gonna come a place where what God has put on the inside of me is going to be needed for such a time as is.
Jamesia: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: so I don't have to knock down doors. I don't even have to build tables. All I have to do is stay in alignment with the Holy Spirit. And I believe that my, my gift will make room for me. Now, that doesn't mean that I don't do the work.
Jamesia: Right?
Brittany Smith: Amen.
Kelly Diane Galloway: That doesn't mean I gotta hide amongst the stuff. If
Jamesia: Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: me to do this and like this podcast you're doing right, like I believe that this is God ordained, [00:20:00] whatever it is that
Jamesia: Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: to
Brittany Smith: Amen.
Kelly Diane Galloway: to do, I feel like you should do that. But I'm just in a place where right now, where I don't feel like I have to have to fight. I do think you have to
Brittany Smith: Mm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: and courage to be who it is that God called you to be without becoming bitter.
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Jamesia: So, um, ELD Galloway,
Brittany Smith: Amen.
Jamesia: let me piggyback on that. What strategies did you, did you use that helps you not to become bitter, frustrated, angry in the process? Because you're so right. And I can relate with you on that when you're like, okay, I've done the work. I've prepared myself, I've served, I've been committed, I've been dedicated.
I checked off X, Y, Z, but yet someone else could walk in the room of a with a different genitalia, and it's like they're preferred simply because of that. Like how,
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Jamesia: you been able to navigate that to not allow yourself to become bitter and angry and frustrated?
Kelly Diane Galloway: I did two things even, see, the first thing I realized is that I needed to do is I had to repent
Jamesia: Hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: bitterness was directly [00:21:00] connected to my lack of trust in God.
Jamesia: Wow.
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: excuse. Even
Jamesia: Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: person overlooked me for an opportunity, even if this
Jamesia: Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: not call me, even if this person put this person, this person, this person all before me, and I feel like I deserve this,
Jamesia: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: right? If I really trust that God is calling me to this work, then I have to trust that it's in his timing
Brittany Smith: Ah, amen.
Amen.
Kelly Diane Galloway: my bitterness.
The root of my bitterness was because I didn't trust God's timing. I wanted it when I wanted it, how I wanted it, and God made. God made say, Hey Kelly, I'm not put, I'm not putting you in position to walk through the front door. the thing is, when everybody's in a panic, they going for any door, and guess what?
Guess who gonna be there to open that back door? is gonna be you. And so the I I I, I repented number one, and then I, and I began to trust number two.
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: it all came down to do I trust [00:22:00] God.
Brittany Smith: Wow.
Kelly Diane Galloway: able to do exactly what he said he's going to do, and, and am I willing to, to, to lay down at his feet my timeline. And once I did that, all of it was gone. Everything
Jamesia: So repentance and trust. Yeah.
Brittany Smith: Repeat, repentance and trust. Yeah.
Kelly Diane Galloway: guess what? It happens when I'm 70
Jamesia: And finding peace in that
Brittany Smith: And peace in that in God's talent.
Amen.
Jamesia: make all things beautiful in their time.
Brittany Smith: Ah,
yes.
Kelly Diane Galloway: and which is ultimately his time. And
Jamesia: absolutely.
Kelly Diane Galloway: I don't know, I, I, I know me and
Jamesia: I,
Kelly Diane Galloway: have this dialogue about like some of the, some of the, some of the, some of the, the negative things that has, that have happened in our life because we move outside of the timing of God.
Brittany Smith: Mm-hmm.
Kelly Diane Galloway: you move outside of the timing of God, that really just says, God, I don't trust you. That's what it comes down to.
Brittany Smith: I play that.
Kelly Diane Galloway: It is a [00:23:00] relinquishing self over and over and over again. Like, it's not my time yet. It's not my time yet. When it's your turn, it'll also be your time.
Brittany Smith: Ah, yes, Lord.
Kelly Diane Galloway: wait your turn.
Brittany Smith: Amen.
Jamesia: I don't know if y'all getting what I'm getting, but like I feel like y'all need, we gonna have to send a cash app or something. 'cause let me tell you, oh, the
Brittany Smith: Listen,
Jamesia: today. Okay,
Brittany Smith: preaching, preaching, preaching,
Jamesia: off and I love it.
Brittany Smith: Uhhuh,
Jamesia: do you have anything you wanna add to that?
Brittany Smith: I, yeah, I do. And actually, while she was talking, I jotted some notes, is that when we consider inheritance is that we want a place and we want consideration. We won't place and want consideration
and, um, and that's what we want, like anybody else. And, um, for us, you know, it's representation has been important.
Just like you know, it, being a minority in America, representation is key. And so there are men and women who have gone before us who have paved the way, but we have seen the struggle that they've had to face too with [00:24:00] being women in ministry. Um, I was called to preach at the age of 15,
and I did not do my initial sermon until I was 30 years old.
In the meantime, I worked in campus ministry.
In the meantime, I served in our youth ministry. In the meantime, I served, um, at, at, at my church, um, helping, being one of the founding members of the RAMP Church. But had it, but, and, and, and to be and to be real Jamia was, was a campus leader for you. And to see you and others women go before me, I, I questioned for a moment.
My place, I wondered, was I considered and so I had to resolve within myself. Very similar to Elder Kelly, is that, that God was gonna do it in his timing. And actually that was my, um, key verse when I did my initial sermon, that God makes all things beautiful in his timing. That was my key verse. And um, and so, um, something that Bishop has taught us [00:25:00] too is that when we are called by God, we don't have to fight for position because we have place.
And so, um, my way of really, really dealing with, or, or not, or overcoming bitterness was to trust God's timing. You're right, Kelly, that when we can trust his timing, we can trust his plan. We can trust, um, whatever we go through, whoever says no, whoever gets give, gives us a space that we just trust him and in the meantime, prepare.
I'm in a male dominant feel as a woman barber.
And, um, and so I have had the experience of working in a line, a traditional barbershop in a line of barbershops where people come in and they wanna know who's the best barber, barber in here, and they're gonna go to that one. And if they feel you're not qualified, you won't get a chance.
And so there were times that I was rejected simply because I was a woman. Simply they didn't know what I did, didn't know what I offered, but simply because [00:26:00] I was a woman and not just, not just rejected for, from men, but also from women that would bring their sons in. So my, my, um, so for a little while I was arrogant in my, you know, really, really like, oh, you, oh yeah, yeah.
You know, just really talking junk about it. Then I realized, no, Brittany, refine your skill. Make it where it's undeniable that you can't reject me because I'm qualified. And so now, you know, in, in that, in my profession, you know, I am a sa I can, I am a sought after barber. And, um, my gifts go before me and have made, made room for me.
Um, but, um, something that that really, really challenged me in, in, in my life, and I think, and I didn't even know it was an issue, um, that some of my, my perception of my spiritual father, um, men, other men in ministry, I [00:27:00] related them to, um, my experience with my natural father.
And so, um, being rejected by him being feeling abandoned by him, um, anytime that I would feel that my gifts were, um, in ministry were not either promoted or I saw another brother in the church be preferred over me, I immediately went back to that rejection from my father.
And so on. My journey within the last several years of leaning in and being vulnerable to the hardness. And the difficulties of healing. Um, I discovered through counseling as well and through the help of the Holy Ghost, that there was an area of me that was still holding on to some of those things. And literally I realized that I still needed the validation of my father or a father.
I, 'cause I had resolved myself. I don't need a man, not a man like, you know, like in a relationship. But I don't need a man to affirm [00:28:00] me. I don't need my pastor to affirm me, that I will work enough that he will see me. And if he doesn't, then then other people will. And so that was not the attitude to have because I couldn't receive from him from who he was.
And so it was literally right before the, the Zilo conference, um, that God had to do a, a, a, a crazy work in me. Literally, um, challenged me and showing me what does it mean to, um, the difference in the daughters of Loha and lots daughter. They both desired an inheritance. They both desired an inheritance, but their way of obtaining that inheritance was different.
And so God began to show me that you'll receive as you perceive. And so their fathers, the daughters of Aloha, they perceive that their father was a man of God and that he was able to receive that. He could hear that, he can hear from God. And then the, the Bible says that when he, when their, the daughters went to him, he went to God.
And [00:29:00] God said, they're right, they're right. But what did the Lot's daughters do? They, they went a back door. They went another way and, and, and walked and moved in deceit. And because they didn't perceive their father as a man of God, or, or they didn't, or we can look at it as they didn't perceive God as, as, um, the author and the finish of their faith.
And so I began to change my perception of how I saw God, how I saw my spiritual father and the bitterness that I had. 'cause to be honest, I did not wanna go to Zelo conference. I did not, I didn't feel, I didn't feel, I myself, rejected myself as a daughter. I, I walked in rejection. I was not rejected. I walked in rejection.
And so because I didn't perceive myself as a daughter, that I didn't see him as a father anymore. And I didn't realize it. I did not realize it. And so God healed my heart. And when I tell you [00:30:00] literally, and I'm in my hand to God when I have now, I have now walking in such a confidence and assurance in my ministry that I have never had in my entire life.
I have preached my best sermons this year
because I am confident who I am and I'm in, I am validated by God simply that it's a long story, but I just, I'd have to put that in there. Yeah.
Jamesia: Wow. I'm, I'm doing my best not to tear up 'cause I feel like you touched on so many things, um, for me. And of
Brittany Smith: Tear up.
Jamesia: you late both. Yeah. You would say tear up.
Brittany Smith: Oh, you know, I love a good cry.
Jamesia: both of you ladies know. Um, what, 22. I packed my stuff and I moved to Atlanta. Um, and I'm contemplating about, you know, like how much of that story I wanna tell, but I'll, I'll share a little bit Now. Part of me packing up and moving to Atlanta, um, actually kind of falls within your story a little bit.
Brittany. I stopped
Brittany Smith: Really?[00:31:00]
Jamesia: as a daughter. I did like, I stopped seeing myself as a daughter and I had to grieve.
Brittany Smith: Hmm.
Jamesia: ministry was going to look like. What I thought ministry would be at that point, at that phase in my life. So in my mind, okay, I'm not a wife, I'm not a mom. Ministry hasn't popped off like all the prophecies I've been saying all of these years.
So all I have left is my career. So let me go pursue that.
Brittany Smith: Jam. Jamia
Jamesia: so I, I think even
Brittany Smith: Jamia.
Jamesia: the, the difficulties that I experienced in Atlanta was me kind of operating like one of lot's daughters
Brittany Smith: woo.
Jamesia: where I feel like now God is like, no, you've never been rejected. Your inheritance is still in place.
Kelly Diane Galloway: Hmm.
Brittany Smith: Ah,
Jamesia: to admit, recognize that and get back in the place that God wants you to be.
Brittany Smith: hallelujah.
Jamesia: note, we're gonna take a brief break.
[00:32:00]