For Michelle King and husband Dan, their ministry strives to do more than just preach to people. The name of their church is New Beginnings Ministry of Vicksburg Training and Equipping Center, and their purpose is to train and equip followers of Christ to be ready and capable of outreach.

The church began in 2010, but King and her husband took over in 2014.

“If a person is inquiring about a walk with Christ . . . we ask them about their faith . . . and just see how far they want to go in developing a spiritual walk with Christ,” Michelle explained. “We don’t rush one; we don’t force anything. This is what the assessment is. If that person wants to know more, then we will go ahead and get them linked up with a teacher. More than likely that would be myself in the beginning, and I will teach them about life in the walk of Christ and what that looks like to follow him.”

Michelle said, like anything else, a real walk with Christ requires some training.

“This is the training and equipment part that comes with training with us once we’ve advanced a bit into salvation and being born again,” she said. “Then we train them to approach others who may be curious about Christ and what that looks like. The equipment part of it would be the word of God. It is our equipment. What do we say? Do we go further with the wisdom of God when we speak to a person, or refrain from saying anything further? That’s why we call it training and equipment, and we do that on our regular Thursday night Bible class.”

Michelle said she and Dan hope to not only teach people the word of God, but also to equip them to carry it forward into the world.

“I teach people that anyone that will listen, your job is part of training and equipment of how we show up in the world as disciples of Christ. It should be a first manifestation of first fruit at your job. Your coworkers should know that there is something uniquely different about your walk. Just as we know how to identify the CEO versus the manager or the supervisor, that same thing applies with those of us who were born again of the spirit of God, and so that training is not just street witnessing on a corner passing out tracts to someone. Our first work of ministry is our character and integrity at work.”

Michelle has the opportunity to practice this at her job every day as a hospice chaplain, something that is more a calling than a job, she said. Every Tuesday, she hosts a Facebook Live lunchtime sermon to encourage others in their walks with Christ.

Additionally, the church began God’s Storehouse, a food box distribution ministry. Many people have been helped by this ministry. They donate boxes of food to families in need. Anyone interested in donating or receiving may contact the church.

Michelle said she is strong in her faith; however, she was not raised in church, and faith came to her later in life.

“There’s not a person walking on this earth that could tell me that God is not real,” she said. “There is no way possible. No way. It’s been a wonderful journey. I appreciate it and I just love all types of people.”

For those interested in New Beginnings Ministry, the church is located at 3529 Wisconsin Ave. in Vicksburg. It may also be found on Facebook under New Beginnings Ministry.