Chasty King began working for The Olive Branch Ministry in 2019 in Gaston County (NC), which is a Harm-Reduction agency. Through this job, Chasty was exposed to many individuals in the community who were either homeless, used drugs, or both. Her job required her to meet people (literally) where they were such as hotels, dope houses, in the streets and/or tent sites in the woods. April Payne, being a close friend of Chasty, had been creating prayer cloths for Chasty to distribute as the Holy Spirit led.
One day, in May 2020, while reaching out to the homeless community living in a neck of woods in Gastonia, N.C., Chasty gave out some of April's prayer cloths and asked permission to snap a photo of the tent site. After doing so, Chasty sent the picture to April showing her a visual of where some of her prayer cloths went that day. April was deeply moved by the photo and then asked to go out with her the next time she went, along with a mutual friend named Jenny.
After running this idea by with the folks who lived at the tent site, they went to take a trip into the woods on a Saturday. From that point forward, things began to happen suddenly. A commitment to visit every week on the same day was made. Food from different restaurants each week was given to folks. In addition, non-perishable food items for people to keep throughout the week were bought as well as things like socks, book bags, etc. Chasty would bring other supplies, like Narcan, to reduce the harm and risk of using drugs and April would bring bags she made with different hygiene items as well as water.
After noticing an extreme amount of trash in the tent sites and hearing the voice of the Lord to clean it all up, April's husband and her kids joined in visiting every week to help bag all the trash and haul it out of the woods. Of course, through meeting basic physical needs, prayer and sharing Jesus was in the midst of it all.
Word spread about what they were doing and people wanted to start donating money to help with buying food and supplies. One thing led to another and after coming together with a vision of the Lord, the ladies decided to begin a non-profit organization so the funds could go into an account.
A name was decided and The Calling was birthed. Though Jenny decided to move on, as her heart is for those who are bound in human trafficking, April and Chasty continued with confirmation from the Lord saying, "The Calling still stands."
The vision for The Calling is to buy land and build a community of houses, helping people get on their feet and learn how to live a life of freedom through the power of Christ.
Freely we have received, freely we will give!