Ally Turner

Growing up in the church, I always felt like an outsider, as I was never accepted into the cliques.  Whether it was a feeling of exclusion or quietly suffering with anxiety and/or depression, I never felt like there was a place for me in the church.  It wasn’t until 7th grade, when a girl from my volleyball team finally wore me down with her many invites to youth group, that I finally relented and decided to step outside my comfort zone.  That was the first time I felt welcome at a church event and it prompted me to continue attending.  About 7 months, The Holy Spirit led me to bow my head and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.  Since that time, following Christ has been the priority of my life.  In July 2020, Jesse Haney (our home group leader) encouraged and challenged the group to step up and use our gifts in a greater way.  This was a convicting message for me and led to sharing the responsibility of leading Bible studies.  In the past, I have been involved in a variety of ministry-related activities, including serving and building relationships through community outreach and assisting those with special needs through an organization called “Christian Berets”.  I served in this ministry over the course of four summers, involved in everything from assisting disabled campers to developing activities, to teaching and directing counselors.  While enrolled in college, I routinely attended a group called “Intervarsity”.  This is a Christian club that promotes and conducts Bible studies on campus.  I feel The Lord has been calling me to serve at the AJM base in Oakdale.  My main responsibility in this ministry will be coordinating events for AJM, to include home-church gatherings, game nights, community days and other special events.  I will also be involved with maintaining the base and Kingdom Coffee Ministries.  If you would like to support me in this endeavor, either financially, prayerfully or both, please contact me.  I would love to connect, so we can further discuss how the The Lord is moving through me and this wonderful ministry!