“If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.” – Psalm 91:9-13
“Gayle Haskins is a walking testament to this verse in Psalm 91. She calls on the Lord as her refuge, and He fiercely protects her, constantly reminding her that she is a conqueror because of her faith in Him. Gayle Haskins and her husband, Ovid, are a lovely couple that embody the love of Christ and have just moved to the Birmingham area from Connecticut. Gayle’s son, Craig Haskins, is married to one of our Grace Klein Community board members, Shannon Haskins. Craig and Shannon connected Gayle and Ovid to our ministry to help serve this community.
On the Friday before our monthly food box delivery in August, Gayle and her husband gave their time to love on families in need in Birmingham. When I arrived on that Friday to help fill boxes with food I was told of a prayer-warrior woman that was upstairs in our office reading her Bible and interceding in prayer for our ministry and for God’s people to be impacted by our food delivery. When I spoke to Gayle about what exactly she was doing in our office, I got to ask her a few questions about her life and her Jesus story.
Throughout her childhood she had always been involved with church. Her walk with God in her upbringing was more of a religion than a relationship. Mrs. Gayle remembers watching her pillar-of-faith grandmother read and revere her Bible and pray for those around her, but it was not until later in her life that Gayle realized the depth of what her grandmother was showing her. By the age of 28, Gayle was married with two kids and believed in God, but there was a pit in her soul where something was missing. Late one night with her husband in bed, asleep next to her and children tucked in, she began to pray what she called “flash prayers” saying, “God reveal yourself to me, show me who you are”; however, she did not have the strength to believe those prayers would go further than the ceiling.
Mrs. Gayle asked for God, not for Jesus, but the Father sweetly led her to His son. God revealed His love for her through Jesus, and Jesus began to transform Gayle’s heart and redeem her soul. She did not expect much to come from her cries to God on that quiet night, but Jesus set ablaze her religious view of Christianity and awakened her and her family to the beautiful, sacrificial relationship that Jesus desperately wants His people to know. A scripture that Gayle stands firm on is Psalm 27 where David writes about God’s unyielding protection, “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.” Mrs. Gayle was in a car accident recently, and she recalls leaning on this verse and a peace coming over her that God had set her high upon a rock in His divine protection and brought her through the accident safely.
In Gayle’s time serving with Grace Klein, God has begun to reveal to her a prophetic word for our ministry through the book of Nehemiah. When the cupbearer to the King, Nehemiah, hears that the wall of hometown Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire, he gets permission from Persian King Artaxerxes to rebuild the city. The governors of surrounding territories viciously oppose Nehemiah’s efforts, but the wall is finished in just 52 days. After Nehemiah restores Jerusalem in a physical sense, he returns to bring spiritual revival to Jerusalem and the nation rededicates themselves to obedience to God. Mrs. Gayle spoke this word over Grace Klein Community, that because of our obedience to God in serving the people of Birmingham there would be restoration for His people here. Grace Klein’s construction company physically rebuilds our city, and we (Grace Klein Community members) come alongside them to meet the tangible physical needs of this community. When a physical need is met, the door to cater to a SPIRITUAL need is flung wide open and God moves mightily!
Grace Klein is immensely grateful for the light that Gayle and her husband Ovid are bringing to our community! Her story of meeting Jesus and allowing Him to transform her from the inside out is one that has brought about life-changing power in Mrs. Gayle for everyone she comes in contact with to experience. We love you Gayle and welcome you to Sweet Home Alabama!” – Steeley Martin, Grace Klein Community Intern