This Week's Spotlight ~ Quiniece Sheppard: "Worth Waiting For"

Meet Quiniece Sheppard of Virginia. In 2009, Quiniece Sheppard released her first book titled “The Seven Deadly Sexual Sins” and as a result of that book release, she founded I Am the Chase Ministries for single women whose mission is to promote abstinence and celibacy.  The ministry also encourages a woman’s self-esteem, spiritual growth, how to have healthy relationships, how to overcome loneliness and rejection and many other empowerment tools.   Through the ministry, she facilitated a fundraiser to raise money for the Alabama Tornado victims and raised $300 to support those individuals affected by the storm.  Aside from doing book signings and seminars, she also hosts an annual conference each year in April titled Worth the Wait Women’s Conference to teach women the importance on waiting on God for a mate and also waiting on God to fulfill the promise he has in their lives.  In 2011, Quiniece released her second book titled “Before the Lights Go Out: 11 Keys to Achieve Real Physical Intimacy” to help heal broken relationships and teach others how to have a three strand cord that is not easily broken.  She also founded Chasing Books Christian Book Club in 2011 to support African American self- published or independent authors.  “I wanted to give back to my community and show the importance of supporting our own people of color so this book club specifically reads books by African American authors.   I want to serve God in any capacity and wherever he leads me to serve”, says Sheppard.

My Greatest Accomplishment To Date Has Been:

Getting my second book “Before the Lights Go Out: 11 Keys to Achieve Real Physical Intimacy’ on the bookshelves at a major Christian bookstore.  This book is on the bookshelf in 4 states (AL, FL, MD and VA and 11 locations) and going to the bookstore and seeing my book on the shelf was such a triumphant and proud moment for me.  It was a great achievement that not many African American self-published authors like myself have experienced.  It was a lot of work and determination, but I have definitely found favor in the sight of God and man because I haven’t sold tons of books and I don’t have any type of name recognition to guarantee sales, but God has so blessed me and I’m so thankful to having accomplished this.  God is so faithful.

The Most Challenging Thing I Ever Experienced Is:

Accepting the call of God over my life in 2006 and writing my first book “The Seven Deadly Sexual Sins”.  I dreaded writing such a type of book that exposes so much of myself and my issues, yet also exposes the sins of others that society in whole don’t want to talk about.  I had a hard time getting this book out there because of so much rejection I had received not only from bookstores, but churches as well.  I knew what God had called me to do, but wasn’t fully prepared for the opposition.  I put myself out there not fully knowing what to expect and how I would be received.  I just didn’t know anything about writing a book, let alone publishing one.  But, by the grace of God, I learned and experienced so much and it has taught me about trusting in God no matter what it looks like and to remain steadfast in what He said because sometimes we concentrate so much on what we don’t see that we lose sight of what we actually see.    Writing a Christian nonfiction book is challenging and hard because it comes from a true, real place, so you can’t make something up.  It’s real and I’m so glad that God trusted me this task and continues to pour books into my spirit to minister to others.

My Most Valuable Lesson(s):

We never, ever “arrive” in Christ.  There is always room for improvement and growth and just when you have mastered one thing, another situation arises to test and try you once again.  I’m learning that there will always be processes in our lives to shape us, mold us and make us to be the image of God.  Just because you don’t have the same struggles as someone else doesn’t mean you don’t have struggles.  When I finally grasped that, I stopped being so judgmental of others and I thank God for teaching me that lesson.  We can’t look down on someone else who have a drug abuse problem, but forget we have a problem with fornication.  Both are different issues with the same repercussions with God.   God is a merciful God to all of us and we all have a chance to get it together every day God gives us breath.  Just because I got myself together quicker than someone else did doesn’t mean I’m better.  It only means I was there before him, but now we’re both where we need to be.  I’m still learning everyday as I minister to others to be compassionate and full of mercy and grace as God freely gives us.

Final Remark:

God died for all of us and we are all saved by grace.  There’s nothing we can do to earn salvation.  We’re only saved because God loves us so much.  Once we grasp how much God loves us, then I believe we’ll feel better about ourselves and we will think twice about the decisions we make.   We must remember God’s love and how mindful he is of us.  He is concerned about our welfare, our problems, hurts, disappointments, failures, joys, happiness, sadness, etc.  Whatever we are feeling or going through, remember that God knows about it and He cares about us so much.  It’s good to know that someone cares and is concerned about our welfare.  It’s good to know that someone has our best interests at heart and all he wants in return is for us to Love Him back.  I just want others to know that the greatest love of all is Jesus Christ.  You find Him; you will find a love that you can’t get in a friend, romantic relationship, parents, children, etc.  Nothing beats the love of God.  I hope that others find that love before it’s too late.

For more information on Quiniece Sheppard or I am the Chase Ministries visit www.iamthechase.com.

BOND Inc Spotlight features ordinary African American women from all over who are doing extra-ordinary things. If you or anyone you know would like to be featured, send your requests for more information to iambondinc@gmail.com.