Hi friend,

I was three years old when my parents accepted Jesus into their lives; I was eight when I wrote a note to my parents that boldly stated: "I am going to grow up to do something great for God." I was twelve when my parents started a church. I was fourteen when I decided I would never date or marry anyone who had anything to do with full-time church ministry.

I resented the glass house we lived in, the expectations and pressure to be perfect. I also hated the lies. My dad grew up in a dysfunctional home full of every kind of abuse, and as much as he tried to give us a life different than the one he grew up with, he did not succeed in every way. He brought control, emotional, mental and physical abuse and overall dysfunction into our home and I silently lived with it.

I wanted to run, run as far away from the pain of silence, abuse, pressure, and God as I could.

Years later I met my husband James, and it was love at first sight. The only problem, he was a pastor’s son. I took a chance on him, and when he proposed my answer was, “yes, as long as you promise to never work for a church." He said, "absolutely!" We spat and shook on it.

Everything was going good; life was as I had dreamed, I had an amazing husband, beautiful kids, and a dog that I affectionally call my forever baby.

I protected my life from the church and God, and I liked it that way.

James ended up breaking his promise and years after we got married, he left a successful career and went to work full time for a local church.

My world didn’t fall apart as I thought it would. I was still happy, but I felt like my happiness was threatened.

I was so happy that I was miserable.

It was amid my misery that God began working on my heart; He never let me go too far; He never let me wander off. He kept bringing me back to Him. He was healing my wounds; He was showing me that He could be trusted, He was showing me that I was loved and He could be trusted.

One Sunday our pastor said something that rocked my heart! I can’t remember what he was preaching about, but I do remember the part that mattered, the part God used to bring me fully back to Him. He said, our response to God should be “God the answer is yes, now what’s the question.” I felt those words hit me in the deepest part of my rebellion, anger, selfishness, and fear.

It took me all of two seconds to say the words in my heart. I knew there would be a cost, I knew it meant leaving my comfort zone, and I knew it meant relinquishing control, I also knew it wouldn’t be easy, but there was an excitement about the future, anticipation to see what God would do with my “yes.”

That day I stopped running. I stopped running from the pain, hurt, and from God.

I have not regretted a moment of this God-directed, inspired and protected journey.

This journey has taken me across the country preaching the message of Jesus. I’ve been privileged to work and lead at some of the largest churches in America, I’ve realized a God-dream of starting Nichole Chavez Ministries that reaches women around the world with the message; we don’t have to be victims of this sinful world, but rather volunteers to change it. I’ve been honored to have the study I authored, “Journey To Purpose”, published and currently being studied in small groups across the country.

For years I was silent about my pain, my hurt, and my faith, but God healed, restored and has redeemed it all for His purpose.

Romans 8:28 NLT says,

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”

God took the entirety of my life, the hurt, the pain, the past, and my present and He has worked it for good, my good, His good and the good of every single person who is impacted by NCM.

If redemption, healing, restoration, trust and, faith, is possible for me, it is possible for everyone. I believe that women around the world have a purpose and that purpose is to change the world for Jesus. I believe we don’t have to be victims of what is happening all around us, but instead volunteers to change it.

I know it is time for God’s daughters to stand up, silenced no more by the sin and pain of this world, but instead bravely joining the fight, fully aware that the battle being fought requires all of us to make a stand using our purpose, calling, actions and voice to bring Jesus into our world again.

My purpose, my calling, my life’s mission is

to build a community of women from around the world

who want to change the world for Jesus;

women who no longer see themselves as

victims of a sinful world but as volunteers to change it.