Back in 2014, Amy Coyle received her fourth DUI in 18 months, had been indicted on her charges, and was facing 50 years in prison.
Coyle said she went to a Restorative Ranch in Tuscumbia, Ala. While there, she said God began to work on her life. She graduated the program, went through staff training, and went to Holcomb, Mo., to help open Freedom House, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility there.
While in Missouri, Coyle met Rebekah Johnson and Jennifer Sprayberry. Johnson was in the facility for drug addiction.
“I had been on crystal meth for eight years. I was charged with grand larceny, two felony drug charges and burglary of an occupied dwelling,” Johnson said.
She said she met Eric Nanney, and through him, she went to Missouri.
“And God did big work on her life as well,” Sprayberry said.
For Coyle, during her second year of staff training, she said God laid upon her heart to open a facility in Mississippi, and her friendship with Sprayberry became a catalyst for that goal.
Coyle said while in Missouri, Sprayberry and her husband David went to the facility to visit someone who happened to be from Tupelo.
“She [Sprayberry] stated that we needed a facility like this in Mississippi,” Coyle said.
That’s how God’s House of Hope was born. The facility opened three years ago and has transformed the lives of many and needed a second chance at life.
Sprayberry said the process to open God’s House of Hope in Nettleton began September 2, 2016, and opened February 20, 2017. Ironically, the process to open God’s House of Hope in Kilmichael will begin September 2, 2019, and the facility is set to open on February 2020.
The story as to how they got to Kilmichael is a similar one.
“Juanda Swanson, who works at Bank of Winona, had been following our story and she commented back in 2017 that a facility was needed where she lived. I commented back and told her you never know how God works,” Coyle said.
Simultaneously, the process for the consolidation of the Winona Separate and Montgomery County School Districts began in 2017. After the two schools consolidated in 2018, forming the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District, it left two vacant school buildings in Kilmichael.
“Kilmichael’s Mayor Bobby Howell had been following our story, and he contacted us while we were in Florida,” Coyle said.
She said Howell told her there was an open facility that used to be the elementary school, and he thought it would be an excellent place to house a new facility.
Coyle said they met the following week and plans began to fall into place. She said meetings were set up with Dr. Teresa Jackson, Superintendent of the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District. From there, the process to purchase the former elementary school.
Earlier this month, the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District board accepted a $40,000 bid from God’s House of Hope and work is now underway to turn the elementary building into a campus that will house 50 people – 25 men and 25 women.
“Ten of our staff members will begin living there on Oct. 1,” Coyle said.
Coyle said God’s House of Hope provides an in-house six to eight-month program that helps people with drug, alcohol, and emotional problems come back to or meet Jesus and learn how to live a normal life. She said residents will undergo what will feel like two years of Bible college.
There will be counseling sessions, and she said they want to partner with Families First of Mississippi for parenting classes. Coyle said there is also a partnership with New Resources Learning Center that will help residents get their GED or complete their high school diploma.
“There will be a church service every Sunday that will be open to the public and residents will have to complete work projects,” Coyle said. She said they have long-term goals of a opening a thrift store, a wing for women who have been involved with human trafficking, and they plan to open their facility to the public to sell plate lunches as a way to fundraise.
She said the goal isn’t just to rehab residents but to set them free from addiction so they can go help someone else.
“It isn’t just them getting clean. It was their obedience,” Sprayberry said.
“[God] delivered us. Rebekah’s charges were dismissed, retired to the file after [the Lee County District Attorney] saw the work she did in Nettleton. My charges were dismissed and retired to the file. And we were facing prison time. Rebekah couldn’t even go to drug court because her charges were so severe, she was going to prison, and God delivered us.”
Coyle said they share their stories with the residents of God’s House of Hope to show them they’re not alone and they can do it.
“That’s how the hands and feet of Jesus work. He set us free, so we can share our stories so someone else can be free. How can I help you if I’m still bound? That’s the faith it takes,” she said.
Coyle said she’s been clean for six years, and Johnson said she’s been clean for three.
“It’ll be four years in April,” she said.
They said the organization is faith-based and solely funded by donations. They don’t receive any government help at all. Coyle said the program is free to those who come.
“Whatever God places on their heart to give, that’s what we want them to give,” Coyle said.
She said they have a bank account set up at Bank of Kilmichael, and there will be a way to make donations on their website for Kilmichael.
“People have told us there’s nowhere in Kilmichael to get a good meal on Sunday, so we’re looking into it,” she said.
Coyle, Sprayberry, and Johnson said they had never been to Kilmichael, had no idea where it was, but the people in Kilmichael have been so welcoming.
“When Juanda Swanson commented, I had no idea where she was from,” Coyle said.
She said two churches have already reached out to them and want to do a men’s brotherhood.
“Melissa Acy has been a go-getter,” Coyle said. “Anything that we’ve needed, anything we’ve asked, she’s done it or told us where to go. She told us about the newspaper, printing services, anything. She’s been really helpful,” Coyle said. “Bobby [Howell] has been so helpful, and so has Dr. Teresa [Jackson].”
They said the response has been overwhelming, and they’re excited.
“We’ve been pretty excited. Kilmichael has a home feeling,” Coyle said. She said they recently did a God’s House of Hope Facebook page for Kilmichael and already had over 400 people following.
“And the people have been super welcoming and very helpful,” Johnson said.
