Ana worked as a project manager for the Texas water commission where their purpose was to provide water services to people all over Texas. In that time Ana did not know God or really understand what it meant to be a Christian. She had heard the gospel, but it just didn’t make sense.

In 2011 Ana was laid off from her job and struggled deeply with depression. Ana went to Job Seekers in hopes to find a new job. Instead, she found something much greater.

It was there when she met a member of Hill Country (Bob Gilfillan) who shared the gospel with her in a way that was clear and made sense to her. Shortly after she gave her life to Christ, and when she did, everything changed for her. She had a “tremendous thirst for reading the Bible and wanting to know more”.

Being involved in Job Seekers, Ana got the opportunity to serve at a ministry called Reveal, a food and clothes pantry, to help others in need. She was encouraged to participate because it would help her think beyond herself. It was on that trip where she felt God calling her to step into serving. She saw the people serving there and thought “wow people are really doing what Christ asks us to do.”

Since then, she has been serving every Tuesday, and in doing so she has discovered that she is good at sharing the gospel with people in a way that they respond to.

She now serves at the prayer table where she gets to pray with those who come to Reveal. Ana believes that she was placed at that station so that God could use her past experiences to share the good news about Jesus and impact those who are going through their own struggles.

Ana could relate to many of those in that way as she had experienced some difficult seasons of loss of close family (Losing her husband to suicide over 4 years ago… Lost a child…).

Ana really embodies thinking beyond herself in her every day walk. She says, “I keep doing what Christ wants me to do, my main place is Reveal, but when I’m at the hair dresser, at the grocery store, etc… I feel the prompt of the Holy Spirit to open my mouth. It’s not me its Christ… it’s the Holy Spirit that puts the words in my mouth.”

Currently Ana is still serving and responding to Gods call on her life and encourages other to do the same. “I’m retired now and the only thing I want to do is serve him. Each person has their own gifting and our mission on earth is to serve Him.”

Ana finished with this, “I used to work in providing water services for people and now I provide the water of life.”

I took God for granted until my dad started coughing up blood on Christmas.

I was six when I first met Christ in Sunday school. A teacher shared the gospel, and a student volunteer led us in prayer. Both my parents are strong in their faith, and they instilled that value in our family. When they picked me up and heard the news, they were overjoyed and bought me my first Bible.

That evening, as I read through the gospel and prayed, I felt His presence for the first time.

However, I didn't change. As a kid, I didn’t realize that God had a plan for my life. My childhood was purely school, sports, and adventures. I didn’t know what it meant to live on mission or how to share the gospel.

My dad had heart problems as a kid, but to see them resurface so violently that Christmas was horrifying. We went to a doctor in Houston, who told us they had to wait to operate until his heart was failing. We went home to wait until he was dying. Even world-class doctors warned us that success was unlikely. During one of countless surgeries, the surgeons lost his pulse.

We were uprooted for months. We smuggled our dog in and out of hotels. I was unable to attend school and isolated from friends. I cannot remember that time in my life as having any light. It was all darkness. I felt utterly alone.

But whenever I called to God, even when I didn’t have the desire to pray, He was with me.

When I was 15, I went to Winter Camp. I knew it was a church camp, but I didn’t expect to meet God. I just wanted a distraction. The atmosphere was surprising and amazing – one leader shared her testimony, and another shared God’s desire to change my life.

I recalled Matthew 28:20: “For I am with you always, until the end of the age”. I saw that, although God had been unerringly faithful, I hadn't been. I wasn’t telling anyone about His promises. God was calling me to a new purpose, and I responded by recommitting my life to Him.

My dad slowly recovered, we learned to trust God in crises, and I stopped isolating myself. I’m so thankful that I met Christ as a kid and for the people who encouraged me. My relationship with Christ grew stronger, and my life changed for good because of His steadfast love.