“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose..” - Romans 8:28

August 28th, 2021

One of the most significant days of my life. 

I was headed to a friend’s farm when I received the text. 

Yelena texted me that she had some news. She wanted me to take over Tirzah Ministries.  

Truth be told, I’m pretty sure I panicked for a week. I went through all the stages of grief (weirdly enough).  Denial, that my life was drastically changing, that we were growing into new phases.  Anger, that things were transitioning (weird thing to be angry about!).  Bargaining, multiple prayers with God about responsibility and transitions; multiple texts and emails with Yelena.  Depression, literally a week where I seriously stayed home and went through reading a book a day and watching tv.  Acceptance, finally coming to realize this was an answer to prayer straight from God to me and that I was ready for this responsibility.

What is that responsibility?  

I am beyond excited to be the new Editor-In-Chief of Tirzah Ministries. 

Yelena has worked long and hard.  We have nonprofit status and now have federal nonprofit status. This has been an exciting and grueling process. Clearly, I went through many stages before realizing that this was next for me.  I want to describe to you how this decision was made.

I was an executive director in the job I said I would do for years.  God had allowed me to create the pregnancy center of my dreams - a place where women, men, and children would all be loved.  A place where both abortion and adoption wouldn’t be the first option but keeping families together from birth was our first priority.  Then, God told me, but there’s more.  In what everyone thought was a crazy move, the center offered me a position that went down from 40 hours a week to 15, and a pay cut to match.  It was the position I wanted in the company where I could simply serve the women, which the center knew I would enjoy.  At that moment, I had a realization.

My job was not my dream job, but a space where I could show people how important family was.  It was a place where I could show the world that family was important, both the church and those outside of it.  

Tell the story of how my parents, at 15 and 18, were married and had me almost a year later.  My parents did an amazing job at raising my sister and me to love Jesus, put family first, and serve others.  

When I grew up, the pro-life movement and the pro-choice movement both continually spoke about how people my parent’s age should either abort (pro-choice) or adopt (pro-life).  It frustrated me and my job ended up, in one year, creating a platform for me to share my own family’s story with both parties, showing God’s original design.

This left me at a crossroads, continue to work for a place I helped build (and accomplished what I wanted) or chase after my own/personal dreams and desires.  I took a giant leap of faith and stepped into a very part-time job where I was able to be a part of my dream for my family.  As I took that step of faith, I prayed, that God would open the door for me to pursue my dreams as a speaker and writer.  Yelena did not know about that prayer, nor did she know that several years ago God had given me a promise through the verse Romans 8:28.  

God promised me that He would work out all of the details, both several years ago, and when I took that leap of faith.  

Two months later, Yelena messaged me on 8/28 with the answer to my prayers.  If I had kept that job, I would have never had the capacity to take on this dream of mine.  If I hadn’t had that job for that one year, I would have never been prepared to serve all of you in Tirzah Ministries. 

It’s official, I am stepping from years behind the scenes to the helm of this ministry, thanks to Yelena’s hard work and a Board’s commitment to my growth as a leader in ministry.  I cannot wait to interact with all of you and train up a new generation of young women stepping out in faith for God’s plan in their own lives.  I am praying for each of you and beyond honored to be a small piece of your life. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alycia Johnson is a free-spirited wanderer learning to find roots. She currently resides in Milwaukee and serves the community of southeastern Wisconsin. You can typically find her outdoors, as long as it’s warm, hanging out with family/close friends and meeting soon-to-not-be strangers. In her spare time, she writes, drinks chai tea, and builds non-profits, homes, families, and people. Some people like to call it missions. She prefers well-digging.