Sometimes the call of God doesn’t make sense to those who are walking the path of His will, yet that call resonates so deeply within our hearts that we can do nothing but follow Him.   Such is the case with Speaking Thru Me Ministries and the duo that birthed it.  Several years ago, Leigh Gray of Carmi, Illinois, a previous Proverbs 31 speaker, heard a call from the Lord to step out in obedience and develop a team of ladies who not only had a passion for sharing the Word of God, but also had a desire to make quality Christian speakers accessible and affordable for even the smallest of churches. 

Despite the fact that she has spoken to audiences large and small, Leigh’s heart is tendered toward small churches.  Leigh knew that ladies in churches of all sizes are hungry for a fresh word from God, yet many speakers in the Christian arena require honorariums that are far beyond the budget of the majority of churches in America.  In 2006 Leigh shared her passion and dream to make quality Christian speakers available to all churches, regardless of size and budget, with a former college friend, Ginger Moore of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, and discovered that Ginger’s heart matched her own.  Thus, Speaking Thru Me Ministries was birthed.

Leigh and Ginger developed a website for Speaking Thru Me Ministries and then began praying that the Lord would lead them to the ladies who were His choice to be on the ministry’s speaking team.   Many ladies answered the call to submit a ‘resume’ and the enormity of the task of selecting ladies to be on the team was almost overwhelming to Leigh and Ginger.  Some ladies saw the call for applications on the website, while others heard from a friend of a friend that a speaking team was being assembled by Speaking Thru Me Ministries.   At present there are eleven ladies from all across the United States that comprise the Speaking Thru Me Ministries speaking team.  

Each lady on the team has a passion to teach God’s Word and a heart for seeing other women know the grace and mercy that can only be found in Jesus Christ.  A wide variety of speaking topics abounds among the ladies with the focus ranging from the many issues affecting teenage girls to seeing ourselves as Christ view us to the trauma of post-partum depression and everything in between.  The element that makes this team somewhat unique is that they are committed to offering this teaching without charging an honorarium.   The church that seeks to utilize Speaking Thru Me Ministry speakers is responsible for covering the cost of the speaker’s travel and lodging.  Should a church choose to provide an honorarium or take up a love offering, Speaking Thru Me Ministries will utilize a percentage of any money given to the speaker to defray costs associated with running the ministry on a daily basis, such as postage, DVD/CD duplication, advertising/promotion, and other costs.  The speaker keeps the remainder to assist with her own personal ministry costs.

Leigh and Ginger both exude enthusiasm over being called to minister in this fashion and the Lord has been faithful to raise up ladies for the speaking team who share that joy.  While they feel that there is nothing wrong with accepting an honorarium for speaking, Leigh and Ginger both know that for them and Speaking Thru Me Ministries, fee-free is the calling that God has at this season and they are excited to make this service available to churches across the United States.