Rhonda J. Smith
Short Version
Wife, mother, minister, teacher, writer, speaker, friend are the terms most associated with me. I know each is a calling and take them seriously. I am dedicated to marriage, ministry and motherhood, and I am overjoyed to see people walking in what they were born to do. One of my chief aims is to see women walk in the freedom of Christ and make no apologies for doing so. I love eating ethnic foods, reading, and listening to jazz and spoken word poetry.
Long (Formal) Version
Rhonda J. Smith first joined a Christian church more than 20 years ago, but she did not confess Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior until 1995. Since that time, she has recognized the need to not just be involved in church activity but to use her gifts and talents to edify the Body of Christ, particularly women. To that end, Rhonda has applied her professional communications background to teach teen girls and women at church; speak at various ministry functions; write and edit newsletters for Christian ministries; and teach public speaking workshops. One workshop, which she also helped design, was SMILE (Successfully Making Instructional Learning Enjoyable and Effective), a train the trainer session for Christian author Rebecca Osaigbovo’s Chosen Vessels™ Ministries. Her latest ventures are this blog, where she discusses her personal conflict of wanting to be a self-made superwoman yet still desiring to surrender her will to God, and the parenting columnist for EEW Magazine, the premier online publication for Christian women of color.
She is married to Pastor Flynn Andre Smith, and they have three sons, Joshua, Nathaniel and Justus. Together they attend Evangel Ministries in Detroit, where he is the pastor of Christian Education and teaches in the church’s Detroit Bible Institute and she is an integral part of Women of Purpose, the women’s ministry. She serves in the discipleship ministry, and as an advisor to her church’s women’s pastor. In 2007 she was licensed as a minister, where she serves at the behest of her senior pastor, Christopher W. Brooks, and alongside the women’s pastor in leading the women of the church.
A past full-time speech instructor at Wayne County Community College District in Detroit, where she was also the communications coordinator, Rhonda is a full-time homemaker and journalist. She has written for a number of outlets, including DaySpring’s (in)courage blog, The Detroit News, Newsday (New York), Chicago Tribune, Daily Tribune (Royal Oak, MI) and Charisma Magazine. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in communication, both from Wayne State University, Detroit. She and her family reside in Detroit.
Congrats on your blog! I am motivated personally when I hear that phrase, “strong, black woman. I want to make my anceestors proud; my Big mama was my father’s mother, Danella. We never met because she passed before I was born, but my dad has told me so much about her in such a reverencial tone-even now, on his 79the year of life, that I feel like I know who she was. I can feel the strength of her love for me, even though I was yet unborn, as well as, her hope for my future and the possibilities I would have that she did not.
My dad once told me the reason he didn’t like to visit the South. In my lifetime, he never visited anywhere south of Ohio except the one time we drove to Florida to see Disney land. He would not stop to use the bathroom from the southern Ohio border to Atlanta, GA because of his morbid fear/perception of what might happen to us. My grandmother lost a close cousin while living herself in the south. He was tarred and feathered before her own eyes. She was promptly placed on a bus to New York and was told to never return. She didn’t and neither did her son, my father. I thought of the courage it must have taken for her to leave the only world she knew to try for a better life in Buffalo. When I look at the only picture we have of her, there is a steel, strength in her eyes. Tired, but strong. Was that the look of the strong, black woman?
Conversely, I also feel a void within, because being a strong, black woman somehow implies that there is a special, unique strength found in black women that isn’t found in women of other racial backgrounds. A brief study on any other races history will reveal a past that required an inner toughness, resilience and courage, as well. Is it just me or do we black women tend to make ourselves better than other races because of the past oppressive social context that we have had to live with, fight against and patiently strive to destroy?
You bring up an interesting point, Pastor Renee, about whether or not black women tend to make ourselves better than other races because of “the past oppressive social context that we have had to live with, fight against and patiently strive to destroy.” This will make for a good post, one that I’m formulating even now. I would love to hear what others think.
It has been interesting to say the least to have grown up through the 60’s,70’s ,80’s and by the time I got to the 80’s and after, I knew that the strong,”liberated woman” was much overrated! Most of our anscestors were strong ,both physically and spiritually because they had to be. Our black men who were attempting to care for us were oppressed and depressed and could not do what their white counterparts could do. My mother was a strong black woman because she was widdowed at age 33.
However, I realized early in my adulthood, that the stronger I purposed to be, the weaker I was allowing the men and boys I was in contact with to be.
After my “aha!” moment, I realized that the real strength was in my surrender to the teachings of Christ. I realized that for years I called myself Christian, I was not heeding the actual teaching of Jesus. Jesus himself (God incarnate) had to be strengthened by God the Father, so why was I trying to do everything all by myself? -That old God as my co-pilot mentality!
Thank God for HIS wisdom and mercy for delivering me from my foolishness!
I am waiting on your book! This is awesome….but I did not expect anything less.
Thanks, Lisa. Keep coming to the site. Your support will make the difference.
Wow, what an awesome God we serve! I am a friend of your sister, Rev. Sharon. It is a blessing to know that God is using you in a mighty way. “I have had my Florida moments when I wanted to/did lose it – Good Times.” – Lord, help me not to lose it. LOL Keep me posted, I want to get the book hot off the press.
Be blessed,
Arlise
Thanks, Arlise. I glad you could relate. I look forward to more of your comments, even if you don’t relate. And I’ll definitely make sure you get the book.
Hi Rhonda,
Congratulations on your blog. I was cleaning up my e-mails and just ran across yours. I didn’t have the internet for several months because I wasn’t working at the time. I’m back to work now so I will be more dilligent in responding. Again good job!
God Bless You,
Sonya McCutchen
Hey!!
I’m all in for assisting you to fulfill your ministry and publication aspiration…I’ll be participating in the blogs…talk to you soon!
Hi Sonya,
I’m so glad that my email didn’t get totally lost in your pile. Congratulations on your new job. I look forward to hearing from again soon.
Thanks so much, Lorri. I can’t wait to receive your insight.
Hi Rhonda,
I was glad to know that comments come to you first. Feel free to edit if necessary, or not use at all. My comments are as follows:
I truly admire and respect Rhonda for sharing her growth with us. She is a great example of Ecclesiastes 9:16, Wisdom is better than strength and Romans 12:2, Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. God wants us to continually grow.
My growth came from the other direction. After my son who is handicapped by autism came along, I felt very weak and ineffective. Nothing like an autistic child to let you know that you are not in control and that you need new techniques for being a mother. I was constantly praying for strength, strength to make it through the day, strength to live with this person, strength to put on a calm face to the world, while i was in turmoil. My favorite verses were Isaiah 40:31, “They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. . .” and Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I kept repeating these verses and still do because my autistic son still lives with me at age 33. In my book, “Inspired by Autism” I share both my weaknesses and strengths. I am an example of “If God brings you to it, He’ll bring you through it.”
I believe that whatever we go through makes us into a better person. If we can endure our crises and trials, we gain an inner strength and resilience. When we look back at what we have been through we can see how far we have come.
Claudreen,
Thanks for your encouragement. My goal is to just get people to think about the positions we take and question if they are biblical or not. We need to always prepare what God says above what our culture says.
Your story is amazing. Just the little of your testimony you have given says a lot about how you have been able to walk in God’s strength. I can’t wait to read your book. Please post to the blog to let us know when it’s ready for purchase.
Hi Rhonda. Tis is my first day on and what thought provoking items you have here. I look forward to heling you achieve your mission but also, see the interaction as an oppotunity for me as I continue to mature spiritually and become even more comfortable with allowing God to direct me especially during my precarious marital times, parenting times, etc. While I’ve been successful at juggling many things and playing many roles, I realize the invisible W (for Wonderwomen) on my chest has become a hinderence in my personal/spiritual growth and often a detriment to health. I’ll definitely stay tuned. Much luv/keep up the good work
Erica
Hi Rhonda,
I am enjoying your writing and the insightful information I gleaned from reading your work. Thank you for allowing God to use you in a very powerful way.
Love you
Melissa
Melissa, I’m glad you are benefitting from what God strongly impresses upon me to do. Thanks for commenting.
I really love and admire you Minister Rhonda. The Lord told me long ago that you and Pastor Renee would really impact my life. I did not know what he meant. I was only 17 at the time and that scared me because I did not know either of you and you never met me. So I left and went back into the world yet knowing that the Lord wanted me. Years later I returned at the age of 23 and now at 25 he has showed me what to do and I’ve been on base for almost two years. Thank you Min. Rhonda. I love you with the love of the Lord and I trust God and I thank him for putting me in a position to be led by awesome, loving, sincere women of God at Evangel.
Thank you so much, Sister Crystal. God is truly blessing your life and I can’t wait to see the greater things that God will do in and through you.
Hi Rhonda,
What a treat to find your blog. I’m a stop for Marilynn Griffith’s blog tour and in following the tour I found you and also see that we have quite a few things in common, besides the obvious. :o)
I look forward to continuing to read. Please stop by and visit me as well at http://www.urbanchristianfictiontoday.com
Blessings,
Rhonda McKnight
Secrets and Lies, coming Dec 2009
Rhonda,
Thanks for stopping by. I will visit you and look forward to us connecting.
You go girl! I think it’s true that if you want something done…ask a busy person. My heart’s desire for you and your family is for God’s will to be done in your lives and ministries.
I am internetelias.wordpress.com
Rhonda
So happy for you and so proud of you. You are radiating so much that is positive. Continued success and congrats on your new blog!
Thank you, Internet Elias. God bless you in your ministry, too.
Thanks so much Linda. Your encouragement means so much to me.
Rhonda, I think that this is very special the way you are encourging women. We need someone to speak the truth. There are so many things that we get caught up in as Christian women that we don’t hear what God has to say on the matter. I look forward to reading your comments. Keep pressing toward the mark.
Hi Tabatha, for some reason I couldn’t post a reply the date your comment came through. I’m glad you were able to come to the site and comment. Thanks for your encouragement. We do have a great road ahead and the only way to travel it is to keep pressing. Thanks.