One year ago, after stepping out on faith, Amy Coyle and Jennifer Sprayberry learned that their offer on the former Montgomery County Elementary School was accepted by the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District’s board of trustees.
The transformation made by the organization to the former elementary school is still amazes visitors. Now, a rustic farmhouse theme replaces what once were the walls of the elementary school.
There are still a few remnants of the school, but as Jesus stated to the Pharisees “….Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” (Matt: 9:17)
The same can be said about residents at God’s House of Hope and the external and internal transformations of the building.
“There’s still a whole wing that we haven’t even touched yet,” Johnson said. “We’ve just now put the finishing touches on the inside, and now we’re working on the outside.”
One year later, God’s House of Hope of Kilmichael is now fully staffed with 11 employees, including Johnson who runs the Kilmichael campus and have 48 participants willing and ready to give up their addiction and their way of life; shed their old wineskin and put on a new one; take up their cross and follow after the path and the ways of Jesus Christ.
“We’re filling up. We have people from all over. They’re from North Mississippi, South Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas,” Johnson said.
She said the organization has a good working relationship with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department and Judge Larry Bamberg.
Johnson said those who are from Montgomery County and sent to God’s House of Hope are sent to their Nettleton Center instead of their Kilmichael Center.
“If they’re close, it’s easier for them to leave the program and go back to their lifestyle,” Nick Coyle, founder and husband to Amy, said. “It was like that for me. I’m from New Jersey, and there was a center 45 minutes from my house. I could’ve walked out. Being farther away made me stay.”
Johnson and Coyle, both former addicts, said being farther away pushed them to keep going.
“You’re not around your family, friends, people you know, the environment, the things that you know,” Johnson said.
The center opened its doors in February 2020 and began intake on February 24, 2020. Shortly after cutting the ribbon, COVID-19 struck, halting a lot of what they do, particularly going out into the community to tell people about Jesus and the center. Johnson said one year later, the board of directors have lifted restriction on community outreach.
They’ve also had to revamp. Because of the pandemic, they weren’t able to hold small groups when they first began, but they adjusted. As restrictions began to lift, they began to ease back into their small groups and their worship times.
To open a new facility, began intake, and battle a pandemic can be overwhelming, but when you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. And they put their faith into actions, by pushing past the hard moments.
“It’s been a long, hard year, but God is faithful,” Johnson said.
“We’ve been so blessed, and we’re so thankful,” she said.
Johnson said because of the pandemic, they haven’t been able to make their rounds to different churches telling them about their ministry. God’s House of Hope relies heavily on the donations from the community.
“Our board just released us to be able to go back out in the community to visit different churches,” Johnson said.
But, she said the people in Montgomery County and all of the surrounding counties have been gracious and kind to the organization. Even in the middle of the pandemic, they lacked nothing. Johnson said they still received donations from the community during the pandemic.
She said they received donations in the form of food boxes, a new roof installed by Dixie Roofing, and a new HVAC installed by Century Cooling – all through donations.
Johnson said this year, they were able to open the “Stand Up for Jesus Room” designed by Ellen and James Sheedy. She said before, they didn’t have male leaders on staff to open the room, and now they can finally open it.
They also have a thrift store, where they sell household items, clothing and other goods. The thrift store is open the first and second Saturday of each month.
Johnson said the center is graduating its first class and will hold a banquet ceremony on Saturday, April 17 at Kilmichael Baptist Church at 6 p.m. She said they’re preparing a graduation booklet and they are selling ads so that people in the community will be able to congratulate the graduates and wish them well, in hope that they will continue to live what they have learned at God’s House of Hope.
