We Accidentally Started a Ministry

Photo by Arthur Mazi on Unsplash

How following Jesus one step at a time became something we never planned.

When my husband, Angel, first began following Jesus, he felt behind.

He was eager to know the Lord and understand His Word, but he was starting from the beginning. There was Christian language he didn’t understand and Bible stories he had never read. Even Bible studies often seemed to start a few steps ahead of where he was.

But instead of letting that make him walk away, he wanted to go deeper.

He wanted someone who knew Scripture well to sit down with him, open the Bible, and walk through it line by line.

And God made a way.

The Lord brought to Angel’s mind an old friend, J, who had been walking with the Lord for more than twenty years and knew Scripture well. Looking back, I’m so grateful J had stayed rooted in his faith all those years. When we met Jesus and needed someone to turn to, there he was, ready to open the Word with us.

I don’t think we realized it then, but that little picture would eventually become so much of the heart behind this ministry.

Then there was Adnan, one of Angel’s childhood friends. Adnan loved to cook and had always been the guy making food when everyone gathered for football. Around the same time, he became curious about what was happening in our lives.

Our brother-in-law, Eddy, had also been spending more time around us. He felt new in his faith too and wanted to learn.

And, as it happened, Eddy had tables and chairs.

We didn’t know we would need those yet.

So four men gathered in our home.

Adnan made the food. Eddy brought the table and chairs. J opened the Bible. And we opened our home.

There was no ministry name. No strategy. No thought of what this could become.

Just a group of men eager to know the Lord.

A Lamp to Our Feet

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Psalm 119:105

Looking back, this verse feels like the story of everything that happened next.

A lamp doesn’t illuminate the entire road ahead. It gives you enough light to see where you are and where to step next.

That’s how God led us.

We weren’t asking Him for a blueprint. Honestly, we didn’t even think to ask for one.

We were simply eager to know Him, and as He gave light, we walked in it.

One person invited a friend. That friend invited another.

Before long, what started with four men around a table became a room filled with people at completely different places in their faith. Seasoned believers sat alongside brand-new believers. Some didn’t believe at all. Some were simply curious.

And that was okay.

You didn’t have to know the Christian language. You didn’t have to know where to turn in your Bible. You didn’t have to pretend you understood something you didn’t.

You could simply come and see. (John 1:46)

Something Special Was Happening

One of the first moments I realized this had become something special was Christmas Eve of 2024.

That Christmas Eve, my grandpa passed away.

After spending days at the hospital with him, our family gathered back at our house. It also happened to be a Tuesday, the night the men normally met for Bible study.

Study obviously wasn’t happening that evening, but one of the guys hadn’t gotten the memo.

He showed up at our door expecting Bible study.

And strangely, it made me smile.

In the middle of our grief, there was something so beautiful about it. This thing that had started so simply had become a place people genuinely wanted to be. They looked forward to gathering, opening the Word, and being together.

So we invited him in.

It was such a small moment in the middle of such a heavy day, but I remember seeing God in it. Another little glimpse of what He had been quietly building right in front of us.

And as the community continued to grow, we started hearing what it meant to people.

Every now and then, we’d watch a grown man get choked up as he realized he wasn’t alone in what he had been carrying.

Others told us they hadn’t realized how badly they needed community. Some wanted to know Jesus but had never felt like they could actually come to Him.

And one word kept coming up:

Authentic.

“I don’t have to wear a mask here.”

That’s when our desire to grow began to change too.

It wasn’t about making something bigger.

It was realizing there were people drowning, and God was using this little community as a place where they could come up for air.

We wanted to make room for more.

Fill the Jars

Along the way, another passage became an anchor for us.

At the wedding in Cana, Jesus told the servants to fill six stone jars with water.

“And they filled them up to the brim.”

John 2:7

What I love about this story is that the servants were simply responsible for what Jesus asked them to do. They could fill the jars with water, and they did, all the way to the brim. But what happened with that water afterward was something only Jesus could do.

That has become such a simple reminder for us in ministry: fill the jars and trust Jesus with the miracle.

Open the house. Cook the meal. Bring the chairs. Study the Word. Send the invitation. Make room.

We can be faithful with what God gives us, but we cannot change hearts or make someone fall in love with Jesus.

That belongs to Him.

Somewhere Along the Way, It Had a Name

Funny enough, 99 in the Fold originally wasn’t supposed to be any of this.

Angel had begun connecting with Christian hip-hop artists and saw how difficult it could be for music that glorified Jesus to reach people. The original idea was a music collective that could help artists connect and get their music heard.

But that idea stalled.

Meanwhile, something else was quietly growing right in front of us.

Eventually, the music found its place too, not as the whole ministry, but as part of the community God was already building.

What began with four men around a table grew into Bible studies, gatherings, meals, worship, prayer, friendships, and a community centered around following Jesus together.

And somehow, the name makes more sense now than we ever could have planned.

The name points to Jesus’ picture of a shepherd leaving the ninety-nine to go after the one who was lost.

We are the 99 because we’ve all been the one.

We have all needed the Shepherd, and we still do. Jesus brought us into His fold, and while we’re here, He continues to grow us through His Word and teach us how to follow Him together.

But being part of the fold doesn’t mean forgetting about the one who isn’t here yet. We get to join Jesus in His work.

Our heart is simple:

Equip the 99. Reach the one.

And when Jesus brings someone new into the fold, we rejoice and make room for whoever He brings next.

The Lamp Is Still Enough

Maybe the most fitting part of this story is that we still don’t know exactly where God is taking it.

When I look back, I can see His hand so clearly.

A man who felt behind and simply wanted to understand his Bible.

A friend who knew the Word.

A friend who could cook.

A brother with tables and chairs.

A home with an open door.

None of it looked like a ministry.

It just looked like the next step.

And maybe there is something God has placed in front of you right now that feels equally ordinary. Maybe you can’t see what it could become.

You don’t have to.

His Word is a lamp to your feet.

Take the step He’s illuminating. Fill the jar He’s placed in front of you. Leave the miracle to Him.

We certainly didn’t set out to start a ministry. We were just trying to follow Jesus.

And maybe that’s what makes looking back so beautiful.

It may have been accidental to us, but none of it was accidental to God.

Even now, we still can’t see the whole road ahead.

But the lamp has been enough.