“I knew without any confusion or doubt that it was the Lord that guided me to TKU. It was the first time in my life that I knew I was doing what I was suppose to, a recognition for a higher calling on my life.”
Amy Ogden was taking core classes at a nearby college pursuing a potential nursing degree before God led her to TKU. Despite her lack of passion for nursing, she knew it would support her life as a single mother. She was waitressing and going through a difficult custody battle over her daughter when she reached the end of her rope.
Having not grown up in the church or around Christianity, Amy was unaccustomed to attending church, but she knew it was a place that helped people, and she needed help. Upon her first visit she was overwhelmed by the size and was unsure as to how she could get connected, but a surprising set of circumstances set her steps in motion like she never would have believed.
One afternoon while waiting tables, two men sat down in Amy’s section and she served them lunch. Before leaving one of them asked if there was anything they could pray about for her. The kindness of the question sent Amy into tears. After praying for her, they told her they were pastors at Gateway Church and asked for her phone number to connect her to the Single Parents department. 
In the coming weeks, Amy began to get plugged in to the Single Parents department at Gateway. They encouraged her to attend a program they’d developed to help her find out her strengths, spiritual gifts, and much more about her life purpose.
“I didn’t know I had a purpose until taking that class and my strengths, spiritual gifting, emotional EQ, love languages – basically the way God uniquely wired me – were all pointing to one common area and that was counseling. That’s when I began to look at TKU,” says Amy.
As she began to look into The King’s University, Amy was introduced to President, Dr. John Spurling, who told her about the Biblical Counseling program.
“Dr. John has played a big role in my life as a mentor and encourager since that day. He has been my champion through it all and I know I’m not just a number – he’s fighting for me to succeed.”
Amy was able to apply for a Single Parent grant through Gateway to help her go back to school and finish her bachelor’s degree in Biblical Counseling. She was handpicked from the program to do her practicum course training with Marriage Today (founded by Pastor and Gateway Church Apostolic Elder, Jimmy Evans) and says it has completely changed her perspective on her own story and God’s call for her to minister to others.
“I had begun to find my identity in being a single parent and thought that’s what I would minister to others out of, but God has spoken clearly to me that I’m to learn what a healthy marriage looks like and that the single parent cycle in my family gets cut off with me. The education I’m getting is setting me up to minister to others from a place of health and wholeness.”
As God continues to direct and lead Amy’s journey, it is obvious that His favor is on her life. She continues to be overwhelmed by God’s grace in putting so many people along her path to help steer her to health and wholeness. She says that’s what has encouraged her the most…that someone cared.
After Amy finishes her bachelors she considers pursuing her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy, a new degree that TKU is launching in the fall of 2016. More than anything though, she wants her daughter to remain a top priority and she’s open to following wherever God leads.