Our Stories

July 9, 2024 “I have a praise report!” Inmates don’t typically have praise reports. Usually, I hear a complaint or a story of what happened to another inmate who was injured or got into trouble. The prison where I teach weekly has over 800 inmates divided into four housing units. Two of the units are…

June 24, 2024 On my first day teaching at a men’s prison, an inmate made the statement that he had a hard time forgiving himself. Not knowing what to expect, I asked if others in the group felt the same way. I wasn’t asking them to claim their guilt or innocence. Surprisingly, two-thirds of the…

June 17, 2024 Apparently, I am not excused from Matthew 25:35-46. In the story of “the least of these,” Jesus speaks of the hungry, the poorly clothed, the sick, and the prisoners. He taught, “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” The first three…

January 2, 2024 I honestly believed our work in ministry would slow down as we aged, but I could not have been more wrong. This has been one of the busiest and most productive years of our lives. It’s always helpful to look back and see the building blocks we have placed for the days…

I could not be prouder of Sheila and the ministry she leads. For more than a decade, Simply Sisters® has been a beacon of hope, providing love and support to women facing life-altering challenges. They offer a helping hand to those striving to rebuild their homes and families, extend a lifeline to crisis pregnancy groups,…

Rob Benson is an executive and corporate coach. He says, “Communicate your core values. If they are really core, they are really important.” Rob and his wife, Melissa, have been our friends since before DoorWays® started. Why did I wait until interviewing him for a recent podcast to hear this advice? After the recording ended,…

Financial accountability of ministries is important. That’s why I am taking the next few sentences to report on the funds we received for Ukrainian relief efforts. We hoped to raise $5,000 and DoorWays® committed to match that amount. To our surprise, we received much more than the amount we requested. So far we have distributed…

Simply Sisters® is not just about Sheila Shields. There’s Rachel (who recently had her first baby – a girl named Lydia Anne), Cheryl, Penny, Nancy, Dana, and Sue. These ladies form the small group of seven who meet most weeks for prayer, bible study, conversation, and lunch. But there are nearly 75 others who volunteer…

He’s been in prison since 2001 and is likely to remain there another 5 years. By his own admission it was his egregious behavior that put him there and his time as an inmate has been difficult. Prison changes a person; sometimes for the worse, and sometimes for the better. I hope you will appreciate…

We have money. Not enough to solve all of the problems, but enough to help Ukrainians who are struggling against aggression in their homeland. I spoke two hours ago with a friend; a missionary-physician now serving on the border of Ukraine and Poland. As we spoke by phone her voice broke. “I’m trying to buy…

It’s so simple that either you or I could have said it, but someone else beat us to it. Though Teddy Roosevelt made it famous, he actually got the quote from someone else. “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.” Long ago, I realized it was highly unlikely that fame would…

The day will be forever etched in my mind as the day an extraordinary, undeniable, miracle took place in the small village of Yalewane (yäl-uh-wän-ā), near Tillabéri in western Niger. During the rainy season, Yalewane becomes an island and is only accessible by boat. Thankfully, this was the dry season and our small team arrived…

I sensed the Holy Spirit speak to me on April 21, 1990 while driving past an old school building in Topeka, KS. It was not about a brick and mortar building. Rather, it was about building, equipping, and empowering people. Though none of it made sense at the time, I wrote down the thoughts as…

The morning after my high school graduation I moved to Minneapolis, MN. Summer classes were set to begin at a Bible School one week later. I needed to find a job, get settled into the dorm, and enrolled in school as quickly as possible. There was so much to learn. I felt like a sponge…

March 2020 Dear Partners & Friends, In Cuba, those who attended Simply Sisters® events ranged from first-time visitors, Christians needing encouragement, and to those actively practicing witchcraft. While over 50 women made decisions to follow Christ, we also rejoice in the seeds that were planted among the over 300 women who attended the events! “Who…

January 2020 Though we had hoped our daughter-in-law, Blair, would join us on a Simply Sisters® outreach soon, her tragic death in December now prevents it. In another sense, however, Blair’s passing provided a way in which we could share her heart and joy. Blair was a discussion group leader in Bible Study Fellowship. She…