How The Well Got Started - by Abbie Anderson
Hey there! It’s me, Abbie. I’ve wanted to write down how this incredible ministry started for a while now. If you are like me, I tend to forget things rather quickly, so journaling allows me to preserve and capture moments in detail. This story is packed with so many God moments I’m not sure I’ll be able to capture them all in detail, but Lord willing, I will do my best.
01. First, God stepped in
The nonprofit started well before the legal documents were finalized in March of 2023. It truly started when God chased after a group of women’s hearts at various times in their life. He led each of them away from their life of sin and rebellion and turned them into daughters of Christ.
For me personally, I can testify that I am nothing without my Lord and Savior. I tried doing this life without Him and failed time after time. Like many other women in this ministry, I had a testimony of knowing about God but not knowing who He was relationally. It wasn’t until the Spring of 2020 did God reveal Himself to me in the guest bedroom of my parent’s home after graduating college. I was completely wrecked for Him. I wanted nothing more than to know Him deeply and intimately. Through the abundant overflow of His mercy and grace, I constantly began to share the Gospel with others.
02. He blessed us with community
Throughout the following years of going “all-in” for Jesus, I craved a community of on-fire women who would push me toward following Jesus. A few months into praying, God began to answer by helping me get plugged into the church. Soon, I would find myself surrounded by passionate Christian women who were on the same mission to be obedient to follow Jesus. He began to show us what intense discipleship and accountability can look like as a group. We prayed, were in the Word, and worshiped the Lord together. Sometimes the accountability was sweet, and other times it was difficult, but I can tell you one thing, it was fruitful! The Lord stirred our hearts to be His hands and feet. We wanted other people to experience what He gifted us as a group.
03. A local coffee shop on a mission for Jesus
In the summer of 2022, a local coffee shop opened on a mission to bring the light of Christ to the Dyersville community. The Lord prompted store owner Jacey Stanbro to open a shop to serve coffee and be a mission field that would host bible studies, prayer gatherings, youth events, and worship nights in Dyersville. The Lord pulsed the heart behind the store, giving Christians a hub to dive deeper into their faith and to serve their community. We enjoyed getting to serve there as an extension of the Church.
When the store announced they were closing, the Lord laid it on our hearts to continue the mission work started by the coffee shop. It began to feed the idea of creating a nonprofit to continue local bible studies, monthly events, and worship gatherings. The Lord continued to stir our hearts with an urgency of reaching more people with the good news of the Gospel. Even though the shop was closing, the ministry that was started didn’t have to.
04. The Lord sends confirmation
During the fall of 2022, God began to paint a picture of a nonprofit focusing on serving women in the community on my heart. In the season of transition for the coffee shop, it was clear that the Lord was passing the mission baton from the coffee shop to a potential nonprofit.
Throughout the following months, the Lord began to show me through scripture the need for reaching and encouraging women, no matter where they are in their walk with Christ, to go all in for Him. I was struck by the Women at The Well story and how Jesus went out of His way to minister to her. He was genuine and humble towards a woman who was hurting and rejected by her people. God used the story to paint a picture of ministry on my heart, and the nonprofit's structure began to form before my eyes.
A few weeks later, I began to see physical wells everywhere. The first was seen after the death of my grandpa. As I was leaving his house the night he passed, I noticed a well sitting outside his front door. It was a well he built by hand years ago, but God brought it to my attention that night. On my way to my grandpa’s burial, we passed another decorative well on the way to the cemetery. Soon after, wells began appearing in routine areas of my life. God used them as confirmation the nonprofit was to be called, Gathering at The Well.
03. The leadership team
After sharing the testimony of the wells with others, God started to pierce the heart of local women to be on a mission with The Well. A board of directors was formed, and a leadership team was rallied. The planning phases began as we gathered to pray, worship, and wait for the Lord and His timing. In March 2023, Gathering at The Well became a legal nonprofit!
04. Go out and make disciples!
The Well now operates out of the homes of local women who want to see Jesus move in the lives of others. Bible studies and fellowship gatherings launched in the summer of 2023 and continue to impact the lives of women in the community today.
