Sisters working together to lift up those who are down

Debbie Briscoe Smith knows firsthand what it feels like to hit rock bottom, a place where you feel there is no one to help or care. It’s a place she doesn’t want to return to, and one she strives to lift others from. 

“If I’d had someone to tell me ‘I’m here for you, and I’m going to help you’ I wouldn’t have experienced the depression I did after being diagnosed as HIV positive,” Smith said. 

Her experiences led Smith to form an HIV/AIDS ministry. The name, she said, came to her as she realized that God kept placing other women in her path. 

“Someone said, ‘You know, we are all sisters in Christ,’” she said. “So that is how we became Sisters in Christ Restoration and Recovery Ministry.” 

The ministry which seeks to help the homeless and others began out of Smith’s home, and then to a building behind Granny’s Bakery in Spindale, a space quickly outgrown, Smith said. Now the ministry is located in an old restaurant building at 514 E. Main St., across from Tri-City Motel in Spindale, which also houses the ministry’s homeless shelter. 

“We searched for a building for a while, but this was the only parking lot that we prayed in,” Smith explained. “This is the location we need to be in.” 

The location is one that’s central to another part of the ministry’s service - providing food to those who reside in local motels. 

“We housed 34 people in motels for the month of January,” Smith said. “The shelter can house 40 men.” 

Those who are homeless who don’t meet criteria for other area shelters are welcomed at Sisters in Christ. 

“We don’t judge you by what’s in your system. We have to have an open mind about everyone who comes in,” Smith said. “Once you’re here, though, you have to follow our guidelines.” 

Among those guidelines is to attend Bible study twice each day, attend church on Sunday and that you have to want help in order to be helped, Smith continued. 

“You know within a week if they truly want help,” she said. “I believe every person who steps through these doors can change … until I know they don’t want to.” 

All the work provided by Sisters in Christ is done by volunteers. There are no paid employees. The outpouring of community support for the ministry has been overwhelming, Smith said. 

“This building was nothing but a shell, and God provided everything we needed in two weeks.” 

But there is still work to be done, Smith said. The ministry is always in need of food donations for the community food pantry it maintains, cots for those in the shelter to use and deep freezers. Donations of items can be made at the shelter each day between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

Monetary donations are also needed; those can be made at Woodforest Bank (located inside Walmart). 

The ministry will continue to grow, Smith said. 

“Whatever the need is in the community, we will try to meet it.” 

More information on Sisters in Christ Restoration and Recovery Ministry can be found online at Facebook.com/SistersInChristRestorationRecoveryMinistry.