Jocelyn Andersen writes
and speaks
on a variety of topics including Bible Prophecy, God and Women,
and Christian response to domestic violence. Her work has been
featured in magazines, newspapers, radio, and television.
My Story
"I was finished with God, Jesus, Heaven, Hell, Christianity, and anything that had to do with it.
God truly found me at a time when I was not looking for him..."
I was only six years old the day I decided I wanted to belong to Jesus Christ.I went home feeling a sense of euphoric joy at what had happened that morning.A sense of joy that was not to last...
I don't remember the sermon topic. Theology wasn't a concern at the time. I only knew that when the Pastor gave the invitation to "join the church," I wanted to. And as he counseled with me and prayed with me, my six-year-old faith connected to God through belief in his resurrected Son, and I knew that something special had happened to me.
I would like to say that I was faithful to God after that, but I wasn't always.
My Mother made sure we were at church almost every Sunday, and I said my prayers at night, sometimes. But I never made Jesus a real part of my life. I had no idea how to do that.
As an adolescent, I went my own way and stopped going to Church altogether.
A fear of dying and going to hell descended on me and stayed there for the next thirteen years. The only thing I knew about being a Christian was that you were supposed to go to Church and live a certain way, and I didn't want to do that. To be perfectly honest; church bored me.
As a young adult, I began living a lifestyle that I could not reconcile with my conscience and with what I had been taught in Church and in Sunday School through-out my childhood.
In 1979 I couldn't bear the guilt and fear any longer, and I decided I did not want to believe in hell anymore.
The only logical way that I could accomplish that, was to stop believing in God.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was very serious about it. I reasoned with myself that if the scriptures were true and there was a God, then there surely was a hell, and in spite of my profession of faith at age six, I was certain I was going there.
I could not think of a single reason why I should be granted eternal life when I died. I didn't understand that it was faith in what Christ did and not my own good works that saved me.
I will never forget the first time I announced to another person that I did not think I believed in God. The words shocked us both. But nothing awful happened, and I was encouraged to pursue my goal of becoming an atheist..
Between 1979 and 1981 I worked very hard at it. Sometimes, during the day with all its distractions, I was somewhat successful. But at night, when the silence descended, I could not squelch the conviction of the Holy Spirit that the scriptures were true and God was real.
In 1981 I was invited to go to church with some friends and family, and I went. I did not go to worship God that Sunday morning. My goal was to discount everything the preacher said and prove that Christianity was a myth and a crutch for weak-minded people to lean on.
I successfully (to my own satisfaction) shredded everything the preacher said that morning. I sat through the songs, prayers, preaching and alter call, untouched emotionally or spiritually. I walked out of church unchanged and very satisfied with myself.
I went back again the next week. I knew that if I could sit through one more sermon and alter call unmoved, as before, that I would be free, forever, from this Christianity that I found so tormenting.
I planned on walking away from God that morning and never looking back.
I sat down on the very back pew; the one closest to the exit, and waited for the service to begin. The congregation stood up, said a few prayers and sang a few hymns, then sat down.
I felt nothing - so far so good.
Then, the preacher (who did not know me) raised his arm and pointed his finger directly at me and thundered the first words of his sermon.
"And God gave them up!"
When he uttered the last word of that sentence, something seemed to come out of the end of his finger and slam straight into my heart. In that moment all my atheistic defenses were shattered, and I became acutely aware of the existence of my God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Immediately I cried out to him in my heart. I told him that I knew he was real, that I was sorry for ever denying him. I don't remember anything else the preacher said that morning, but I was the first one to reach the alter when he finished preaching.
I picked up my Bible that very afternoon and began reading the New Testament book of Matthew. I have been reading my Bible daily for over thirty-five years now. I read my Bible straight through, over and over, always picking up today, where I left off yesterday.
It has changed my life.
It took me almost twenty years to pick up where I left off when I was six, but I know that God allowed a little child to come to him, and then held on to her and mercifully revealed his awesome presence, even as she tried with all her might to deny him.
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| Mid-2000's |
My journey into ministry
Hungry Hearts Ministries began in the early "90's," with a correspondence course
entitled, REDEMPTION:
Bible Prophecy Simplified
The purpose of the course was soul-winning and discipleship. It was offered free to the public for several years and eventually and became the basis for the book by the same title. The focus has not changed, and the purpose of the book remains soul-winning and discipleship.
Ministry outreaches and opportunities have expanded over the years to
include, writing books, pastoring and co-pastoring, street ministry,
outreaches to battered women, those in bondage to various addictions,
preaching, teaching, public speaking, and six columns on Substack.
I have been both sprinkled and dunked
...and that qualifies me for nothing.
...and that qualifies me for nothing.
With
only two exceptions, until I was 24 years old, I never saw the inside
of any church unless it was either Baptist or Methodist. I thank God for
praying grandparents, for coming to Christ when I was only six years old, and for my early upbringing in
church, but sad to say, I spent most of my young
adult life ignoring God, eventually seeking freedom from Christianity
through the pursuit of unbiblical spirituality and atheism. But the righteous are blessed and their descendants, and I thank God that he did not
allow me to commit myself to an eternity without him.
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| 1980's |
In 1981, after years of backsliding, I was powerfully converted to Jesus and began reading my Bible every day (always picking up today where I left off yesterday). That has continued to the present day.
I began singing with a gospel group and joined the
praise team at my church. A few years later, I was bought a second-hand guitar
and taught myself to play. I even wrote a few songs (20 years later, I
took that same guitar to the streets of Winter Haven, FL. and became a street preacher).
I spent some time growing and learning (still growing and learning),
and then, for a time, taught new converts at my church.
In 1988, I was led of the Lord to
take my Bible and $14 (which was all I had) and make an almost 400 mile
round-trip from Georgia to Kentucky alone. It was an impossible
amount with which to make the trip, but I trusted God.
I knew where I was going, but not specifically why—only that
God would open a door of ministry for me after I arrived, and also that he
would provide the money I needed to return home (at the time you could drive 200 miles on $14!).
When I asked the Lord why he was sending me to Kentucky, the only answer he would give me was one line from scripture, “Lest I build on another’s foundation.”
That was it.
So, I went.
When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace to
reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him.... I
conferred not with flesh and blood. I sought no one's permission, approval, or covering [protection] other than that of the Holy Spirit.
I simply obeyed.
I simply obeyed.
Not only did God provide
the money I needed to get there and home again, but the ministry door that
opened to me on that trip was powerful and enduring.
Some years passed, during which time I remained active in my church. I knocked on doors for the bus ministry, I taught Bible classes and was involved in
music ministry.
Then the Spirit of the Lord began to deal with me about being ordained.
I resisted the idea, not wanting to be known as a “Lady Preacher.” But
God had other
plans, and I received counsel from one of my spiritual elders, the one I
call my "Beloved Teacher," to submit to having hands laid on me and
being sent forth. I could submit to that.
That was in 1993.
After I had been sent forth with the laying on of hands, in the early days
of my ministry, which I began to call “Hungry Hearts Ministries,” I reached out to my community by holding home Bible studies
hosted by others.
My ministry outreaches have often been unorthodox. I remember being
led of the Spirit to attend a watch night service at the local Kingdom
Hall. That idea would never have occurred to me on my own. I knew it
came from God. It did not make sense to me, but I obeyed.
The result of that visit, was a relationship I developed with one of the elderly members of that congregation, which led to the writing of my first book, Redemption: Bible ProphecySimplified.
The result of that visit, was a relationship I developed with one of the elderly members of that congregation, which led to the writing of my first book, Redemption: Bible ProphecySimplified.
I had been praying about something having to do with that relationship,
and the answer came in what can only be described as a supernatural,
panoramic, vision.
It happened in a moment of time (I tell about it in the book). I
immediately grabbed
pen and paper and began writing down the understanding of God’s Word I
had received in answer to my prayer.
That became the first draft of Redemption, which I completed it in just 24 hours.
I converted the original manuscript into a correspondence course, and
used it to reach people for Christ all over the country, and in jails and
prisons.
In 1998, Pastors Ken and Pat
Smith at Living Word Fellowship in Spring Place, GA, asked that I
allow them to ordain me as a minister of the gospel. Well, I was
already a minister of the gospel. I had already been sent forth with the laying on of hands and was not inclined to participate in an ordination ceremony. I saw no need for it.
When God unexpectedly called me into street ministry, in 1999, although I did not realize it beforehand, he had already fully prepared me for the work. I went forth with only the Holy Spirit as my covering. That has always been enough. I asked no one’s permission to obey God. And for two years, often through great adversity, I was called "Pastor" by those who came to my meetings every Sunday morning, at Silver Lake Park in Winter Haven, FL.
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| No longer our address (20002) |
Although I was a woman alone, working on the streets with addicts,
mostly male and often criminals, I was never afraid. No harm ever came
to me.
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| 2003 |
Through domestic abuse, rain, heat, cold, and tropical storm, I was obedient to that calling. I never missed a street meeting for any reason. There were always those waiting for me to arrive, and the anointing was strong as I fed their bodies natural food and their souls the living and powerful Word of God. And there was always music. My, how the lord ministered through my songs and that second-hand guitar.
The ministry bore fruit.
I watched sin-hardened addicts begin to hunger for God and for something better than the hopeless life they lived.
I watched sin-hardened addicts begin to hunger for God and for something better than the hopeless life they lived.
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| Mid-2000's |
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| Mid-2000's |
During those years, two of the
largest street ministries in Winter Haven, FL (and some others) recognized my work
and calling and honored me with open doors to labor with them in their outreaches.
It was also during that time, that God led me to lay hands on some and send them forth, as I had been. I asked no
one’s permission to obey him. As years earlier, God had sent his prophet to
lay hands on me and send me forth, so he sent me to do the same for these.
In 2002, another
ministry in Ft Walton Beach, FL ordained me as a pastor within
their ministry. I served on their Board of Directors, as Associate Pastor,
Adult Sunday School Teacher, Music Minister, and Director of Christian Education. It was a blessed and fruitful time.
That church eventually
experienced a split, and I resigned from my position as associate pastor and from the Board of Directors. The Senior Pastor began a new ministry and asked if I would co-pastor the new church with him. I
declined but offered to work alongside him in an independent support
capacity with teaching and music ministry.
He accepted my offer and honored me by placing the name of my ministry,
Hungry Hearts Ministries, on the sign in front of his church.
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| 2004 |
Beginning in 2005, The leading of
the Holy Spirit set me on a journey circulating through the Body of
Christ without regard for denominational affiliation or lack thereof. Sometimes I visited for a day, a month,
or longer. Sometimes I joined with ministries for a season.
Every pastor I have worked with, has recognized the calling and
anointing of God on my life. Some
have tried to harness it for their own selfish purposes, to build their
own
empires. Some have felt threatened by it (though I have never coveted
another’s
position or ministry). Some have honored it, as we labored joyfully
together to win souls, make disciples, and promote the interests of
Jesus Christ.
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| Mid-2000's |
Through laboring in the Word (both speaking and writing) and ministering in music, I continue to be about my Father's business to best of my ability and understanding,
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| Home Keepers Show 2007 |
In his service, and in his will, is where I want to be found when he comes or calls me home.
Jocelyn can be reached through the contact form in the sidebar of this blog 
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