The History of Grace’s Place Ministries

   For far too long I was ashamed of my testimony (read below for details). Guilt and condemnation still had their nasty arms tightly wrapped around me.  I had shared parts of my story and people’s reaction were always something between pure shock and tears.  At the church I was attending, they do something called “Laity Sunday” once a year. Basically the Pastors and congregants trade places for a day. In 2015, I was sitting in Sunday School when they started talking about needing a speaker and I thought “NO WAY.”  Some other people were discussing it when I kept hearing in my heart “you do it” and I kept thinking “NO.”  I don’t remember all the details, but I do remember standing in front of the guy in charge of it that year and saying “I’ll do it.” Afterwards all I could think was “what in the world did I just get myself into?”

  The day of my testimony, I was so nervous and although I had made somewhat of an outline, I still felt like I was going to throw up. As soon as I got up and after saying a prayer, Holy Spirit took over, and that was that. When I was finished, there were many women that started to line the floor in front of the stage. With many tears and thanks, one woman at a time came up and thanked me as they shared their own painful experiences. It was at this time that the LORD first spoke to me about Grace’s Place. I heard in my heart “one day you’re going to open up a home for broken chicks just like you.” I laughed to myself and thought “yeah, in about 20 years that would be good”. Little did I know that HIS timing would be so much different than mine. 

  After I gave my testimony, I then went on something called an Emmaus Walk which to put in a nutshell is a place where JESUS poured gasoline on me and Holy Spirit lit a match. I came back from that weekend on FIRE and there was nothing able to put me out. I started thinking about things I never thought about before, and these things were not letting me go. For some reason, I felt like I needed to go into missionary work of any kind. I first checked into going to the Arabian Peninsula because I just knew that if GOD called me then HE would be with me wherever I would go. I truly believed that I was meant to go into the darkest place to carry JESUS’ Light. I spoke with my Pastor at the time who did not agree with this and told me that “I could not just wake up one day and decide to be a missionary.” I was told about training schools and classes I should take before considering such an endeavor. Despite his good intentioned suggestions, I was not satisfied, so I went home and started doing research.

    I ended up being turned down for the Arabian Peninsula, and a strange desire for reaching out to Muslims burned in my heart. I ended up getting in touch with a Pastor who was in the middle of a church plant in Houston, TX. I felt a pull to his church because he was specifically reaching out to the Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists that saturated Houston. After several phone calls and a few trips, I was accepted to be a part of this ministry. During this time I thought I was doing GOD’S will, but unfortunately I was going about it April’s way. Long story short, I found out that what the LORD wanted from me and what this ministry wanted from me were two very different things, so we parted ways. I was literally about one month away from moving when I made the decision to break away from the church plant in Houston and see what the LORD intended for me.

   I prayed and got introduced to a woman who was establishing a human trafficking ministry here in the local area. I spoke with her and we started a journey together for almost a year. In January of 2018, in my prayer time I heard the LORD say “It’s Time for Grace’s Place.” I thought I had heard wrong because I was planning on this dream being a long term goal. In the Word it says “His thoughts and ways are higher than ours,” and this was definitely the case. I met with the woman I was working with at the time, and when I told her my dream of Grace’s Place she said she was shocked because I never told her about it. In the end, she said that she was not interested in going on this endeavor with me, so we said our goodbyes and the journey started. One of the many things the LORD has shown me is that both of these ministries are great in their purpose and goals, but they were not what JESUS had in mind for me.

   I prayed about what HE wanted me to do for months before I decided one day to make a list of people who I thought would be involved. I prayed over each name and waited for a response which I never got. After honestly getting frustrated, I said “fine then. You make the list,” and He did! He gave me four names pretty quickly after me saying that. The names He gave me were all dear friends, but were all in pretty different stages and had very different circumstances. I thought there’s no way all these people can meet at the same time. As I made each phone call, I was amazed how every single person said “yes, I can be there.” The date of our first meeting - which was held over pizza - was April 16, 2018 (the day before my birthday). What started out as a simple prayer meeting to just see what the LORD would do, has now turned into Grace’s Place Ministries. I can’t believe what the LORD has done in only a little over a year’s time.  We are a 501C3 nonprofit organization as of December 2019. We are looking for either a piece of property to build on (at least 2 acres) or an established home with at least 5 bedrooms. Location preference is in the Florida Panhandle (Santa Rosa county).

God has done amazing things in this ministry so far and we are looking forward to connecting with everyone who wants to be a part of helping His daughters be set free!

*MINISTRY UPDATE: From February 2021 - September 2022, Grace’s Place Ministry was renting a house. However, the owners decide to sell the property and Grace’s Place has been forced to find a new location. Please pray for the ministry as we are hopeful for the future of Grace’s Place and know that with your support, we will once again have a home for women seeking help.

A Little of April’s Story (chick who envisioned Grace’s Place):

I grew up in a military family with a father who was dedicated to his family and Navy career and a full time working mother. At the age of about 7, my first sexual abuse took place and from there I would experience two other family member sexual abuses in just a two year span. By the time I was sixteen, I had experienced sexual abuse by 6 different people. When I was a teenager, I had gotten so far away from my identity that I based all my self-worth on what the last man said about me.  

My teen years were spent drowning my broken memories with drugs and alcohol and then finding myself in and out of rehab constantly. At the tender age of twenty three I had already been married and then divorced after my addiction resurfaced. During the next 10 years, I would end up in places doing things I could have never imagined.

After my last overdose, I decided to go back home and try cleaning up, it didn’t last long. Soon I found myself escorting, drug dealing, and then drug trafficking. I was so full of pride that I thought I was on top of the world, although it wasn’t too long into all of this I found myself being arrested for drug trafficking along with several other charges. If this wasn’t enough, I got out and thought to stay out of trouble I’d stop dealing. I started to dance in a strip club and then had the opportunity to move to Alaska, but failed to realize what a big deal jumping bail is. Without thinking, I quickly moved to Alaska and after the first time of living up there and not getting busted I thought well why not try it again. I went back up a second time, but this time I got busted because of my own pride. I ended up going to prison and being told that I was probably going to be a federal case which meant more time, but sentenced to a “nicer prison”. While in there I was introduced to my Savior, but knew very little about Him. I gave a shallow confession of faith, but in the word it says all that is required is faith the size of a mustard seed and little did I know that’s what I had even though it was a sarcastic and critical mustard seed.

The day before going to court, I found out that I was going federal and looking at 25-30 years. A woman (that I’m convinced to this day is an angel) told me, “April, the LORD told me that you don’t belong here, and you’re not like the other girls in here.” I thought this woman was a complete loon but the way she prayed with me was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. The next day, I went to court and after being called the first time and being told I had to meet with my lawyer I sat down. The second time I got called, the judge was in the process of sentencing me when the bailiff walked from the back of the courtroom in what seemed like slow motion and showed the judge his blackberry to which after three times of looking at it and then looking at me said, “Ms. Fisher, I need you to have a seat. There’s been a dramatic change in your case.” The third time I got called the judge said, “Ms. Fisher, before I sentence you I have a question for you.” He then proceeded to ask me, “How does it feel to win the lottery?” I looked baffled for a moment and said “I wouldn’t know your Honor”. He then told me that out of the 3 counties of cops/state troopers, etc that the one man who was pursuing me just died and that I’ll be free that afternoon. I fell to my knees and said, “JESUS I’m Yours” and although I may have not meant it, He took it seriously.

I would still try and do things “my way” for another three years. One day, while smoking crack/cocaine I suddenly looked at the other people with me and said, “hey guys, I think I’m going to church today.” As they cracked up and proceeded to tell me how messed up I was they asked me why I was going. I said, “I have no idea, but I’m going.” It was only a few hours later I found myself hiding up in the balcony in a see through yellow sundress high out of my mind. All I could do was stare at the big wooden cross and wonder “what’s up with the cross?” That was the beginning of my JESUS journey, and I have been set free since 2011! I live in complete and total freedom of every addiction and demonic stronghold the enemy had me under for years. I am a Daughter of the King and live every day loved and accepted by my Heavenly Father.