Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Bills.
Hi Angela, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in a low-income family on the east side of Detroit, Michigan where I found myself homeless after I graduated from high school. I enlisted in the Army as a pathway to overcome homelessness and begin my life’s journey. After serving 20 years, I retired and told God I wanted to serve Him fully. I knew God was calling me to ministry as I always had a passion to help people because of my own traumatic experiences. As I sought God for direction and purpose, He led my heart to those who were homeless, and I established my nonprofit called “God’s Messenger of Victorious People (GMOVP). I knew San Antonio offered a lot of resources to help the unsheltered, so I conducted some research in partnership with a ministry called Taking It to the Streets. My husband, Charles and I, provided our “Fresh Start to Hope” hygiene bags to the unsheltered to determine how we could assist them. Within those three years we realized although San Antonio offered a lot of resources to help the unsheltered, they did not understand how to connect with or navigate the systems. God laid it on my heart to begin our ministry called “The Journey from Homelessness to Wholeness,” where GMOVP journeys with the unsheltered to help them overcome the barriers that prevent them from gaining independence and freedom from homelessness. GMOVP provides the unsheltered with a safe and loving environment that empowers them through ID recovery, food and clothing assistance, employment assistance, spiritual coaching and discipleship among many other resources.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There were so many obstacles as I had never owned a business and did not have backing to fund or support my ministry. I trusted God at every step and took a leap of faith to lease our new location at 581 Spencer Lane to grow “The Journey” program. I still have many obstacles to overcome as Charles and I are fully funding the ministry out of our military retirement pay, until we can navigate the grant and sponsorship process. I have no staff and no support, but I have the greatest backing of all, which is the Lord. He has helped to sustain our program for four years and sent some amazing volunteers over the years to help our efforts. We are grateful for the support of our volunteers, and we hope that as we share our story others would come along side of us to sponsor or donate to help our unsheltered brothers and sisters to grow from homelessness to wholeness.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Homeless resource center and spiritual discipleship ministry
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory is watching my dad read the Bible and share his faith with me because it gave me the strength, I needed to overcome some of the most painful and challenging times of my childhood.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gmovp.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gmovp/#
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gmovp
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmovp
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GMOVPStudios
