My name is Fifina (Fye-fee-nah) and I am originally from Atlanta, GA, but in December of 2021 on a trip to Oklahoma, I felt the Lord leading me to move. So, there were specific doors I asked Him to open, and by February 2022, all the doors I needed were wide open and I settled in Tulsa, OK to actively serve and be a part of a ministry I had known and loved for years, called First Love Fellowship. I joined my pastors, started working as a claims adjuster for an insurance company, and have now been here in Tulsa for almost a year and a half.
I gave my life to the Lord when I was 11 going on 12 years old. I learned about missions and accepted my call to it when I was 16 years old. I knew I would be a missionary someday and developed a huge burden for the unreached and the lost. This has been consistent in my life even until now, and I have lived my life being an evangelist, and served as a missionary both locally and internationally, having the privilege to have been in 3 different Asian countries short term.
After going to the field internationally, and witnessing things in ministry locally, I realized that missionaries need help, and missionaries need discipleship. I completed a master’s program in Psychology where as my final research project, I studied missionary attrition and learned that many missionaries leave the field prematurely for many reasons. However, one huge one being lack of quality missionary care, encompasses several things. So, in my latter months as a claims adjuster, that burden for missions, missionaries, and all things pertaining the field began to weigh on my heart again, as well the persecuted church and those that serve them, and I knew I needed to do something about it.
I began to pray for missionaries and the persecuted church more than I ever had, and in May of 2022, the burden was so heavy and the call was so clear, that I made the decision to quit my job to do full time ministry so that I can focus on missions and help fulfill the great commission by dealing with all of the challenges surrounding missions, so that God’s people can go forth and thrive doing the work He has called us all to do.
There is work that I have already been doing. Currently, I am on the board for One Commission Foundation, a missions organization dedicated to serving African American missionaries and mobilization of the African American church. I serve regularly at The Merchant in Tulsa, OK where we resource and take care of the homeless population in Tulsa while also providing spiritual care through the sharing of the gospel and worship. I am an affiliate of Sycamore Evangelical where I occasionally attend and partake in prayer for the nations and assist with worship. Last, I am currently on staff with the Demand Project as a 30-day house guardian where we care for girls from ages 11-17 who were victims of sexual and human trafficking, helping them to heal and lead a normal life free from the trauma’s they experienced in their youth. Soon, I will also be educating others and providing training on missions, mobilization, and advocating for the persecuted church so that we can all better understand our roles in fulfilling the great commission. I hope to also visit those in need on the field and see to it that missionaries are being discipled and resourced, so that they are getting what they need to successfully do the Lord’s work. I am excited about this new endeavor with NAAMC, as I know we will further advance the Kingdom in the work we will do, and I look forward to how we will fulfill the mission of God together.
Email: flawrence@naamcmissions.org