“In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.” Isaiah 26:1
“Bulwark.” That’s the first word I heard in my Spirit the day that I met Tonya Drake. Yes, God described this mighty woman of God as a wall, a strong city. That’s exactly what I’ve come to know that she is. This woman is as faithful and true and dependable as they come.
Tonya has volunteered with GKC for a little over 2 years now and has come as full circle with her serving as our food rescue. You see, Tonya originally joined Grace Klein Community as one of our farmers, picking up weekly donations of our “over the hill” consumables that were no longer, well, consumable for humans. Tonya stepped right in and began to take our discards home to her pigs and livestock to continue our heartfelt desire that absolutely nothing be wasted!
Over the years Tonya has been involved in everything from picking up and delivering donations, our local food box delivery, donating her precious grandmother’s clothes, furniture etc. when she passed and even taking things from our give and take room and food rescue to bless other families and ministries! It’s no surprise for her to show up once a week with things like toilet paper for the office, cartons of eggs from her chickens, burlap bags for delivery and even trash bags, an always critical need. She recycles all the empty ink cartridges we can find and turns that asset into such necessities as pine sol cleaner and paper towels. She also pops in to scrub down a fridge, mop a floor or help host a GKC Sunday Trade Market. She has been instrumental in helping us secure and fund our little brown community dumpster and continues to grow our farmer connections and partnerships.
We are absolutely blessed to have formed such a meaningful partnership and genuine friendship with Tonya Drake. We are constantly in awe of what blessings flow through her hands and from our hands through her. We cannot remember what our days were like before Tonya. She is our wall and God sent her to us and for us. She is a connector, a visionary go-getter, the most authentic and loving person and a lover of Jesus. Her word is gold. Thank you, Tonya for loving us…we sure love you!
