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Meet Juanita, a Pastor with a heart for God and God's People

After 25 years of ministry, my commitment to help others grow, spiritually develop, and walk in purpose is unwavering. Growing up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia I did not know what God had in store for me, but I knew that He was calling me to something. I did not know that I would be a messenger for God and a caregiver for His people, but I knew that there was an assignment on my life.

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As I trace the steps of my life, I see the hand of God gently nudging and directing me along the way. For it was clearly God that ordered my steps to Richmond Virginia in 1985, opening a door for me to attend Virginia Commonwealth University. While at VCU not only did I receive preparation for God’s assignment for my life, being educated in the field of rehabilitation counseling, but it was also there at VCU that my husband Craig found me. After four years of courtship and thirty-five years of marriage we continue to enjoy a fruitful union giving birth to three daughters Jasmine, Joclyn, and Camille. God has also gifted us with an amazing little boy named Zechariah who fills our home with laughter and love.

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For over twenty years I worked in the field of Rehabilitation Counseling as a licensed Rehabilitation Provider. In 1999 I was licensed to preach the Gospel at Broad Rock Baptist Church in Richmond Virginia serving as a teacher and providing leadership for the Taskforce on Family Ministry. I was later ordained in 2001 at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Chesterfield Virginia. During my time at Tabernacle, I served as the Minister of Worship and Minister of Christian Education. I received a Master of Divinity, with an emphasis in Christian Education, in 2004, from The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia. I later served in a dual capacity at The Tabernacle Divinity School as an Instructor and Dean. In December of 2008, I was honored to receive an Honorary Doctorate in Christian Studies from the Tabernacle Divinity School for devoted, dedicated, and invaluable service to Religious Education.

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I have been blessed to be the Senior Pastor of Bethesda Baptist church in South Chesterfield Virginia for 17 years, and I continue to enjoy the journey. I look forward to what is to come for us as Pastor and people as we continue to “Reveal the Heart of Christ to Everybody, Everywhere, Every Time.”  It is my daily aim to not let mercy and truth forsake me, to bind them around my neck and write them on the tablets of my heart, knowing that if I do, I will find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.

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