Ephesians 4:1 says to “live a life worthy of the calling which you have received.”. Kasi Nicole asks the world a very important question. “How are you going to do anything effectively, if you aren’t living above reproach?”

How you act and what you say around your friends, family, spouse and church family declare whether you are living above reproach or not. Does your life reflect what you say you believe? She says “As Eve was deceived by the serpent, I believe your mind has been somehow led astray from your pure devotion.”

Kasi Nicole is a voice for a generation who is desperate for something true and something real. As a girl who once struggled with self-worth, she has discovered her identity is in Christ, and her hope in this broken world can only be found in the person of Jesus.

“Be imitators of God, Walk in Love” has become a message that stays close to her heart, as she speaks to a group of people the world considers to be outcasts. Kasi’s word for them, wrapped between lines of poetry and Scripture, is one of Hope in the midst of the brokenness and pain that permeates through the lives of so many people, who need to know the love of Jesus. Her desire for others to see themselves the way that Christ sees them, and come to know Him as Savior and Treasure.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:44)

This is the verse that comes to mind as I reflect on our conversations a couple of months ago.

I was introduced to Kasi through a friend of mine via email a few months ago.  I had watched a few of her videos online and began to pray about how to approach this feature article.  I was reading some of her bio on Facebook, and came across this:

“From the moment I was born, my life was not my own. It’s hard to bite your nails when your hands are in the hands of the Father.”

You see, Kasi is someone who has anxiety attacks and struggles with biting her nails, so that speaks volumes to me. As we began to exchange emails back and forth, I discovered someone who was very passionate about one thing:

Making the name of Jesus known.

Kasi says “Bottom line? I’m Kasi Nicole, but I no longer exist. He exists within me.” Here is Kasi’s story.

Tell us a little about yourself, Kasi

Let’s see… Well to make a long story short, I grew up going to church. My dad felt very strongly about his girls being brought up in a Christian environment. My mom, on the other hand, always told us we shouldn’t go or want to. But I always felt drawn to being at church anyway.

When I was 16 my dad passed away. I was so mad at God for taking him from me and I stopped going to church. But I never stopped believing… I always knew He was there, I just wished He wasn’t. My boyfriend at the time had been very emotionally abusive but after my dad died he became physically abusive too. That went on for about the next year or so, and honestly, I’m very lucky to be alive.

When I got out of that (late 2007) my whole world became about me. I stopped talking to everyone I had any connection to in high school. None of my new friends knew anything about it. I hid every detail of my past so none of them really knew me. I went to cosmetology school and my plan was to  become a platform artist and travel the world. I wanted everyone to know MY name and how amazing I was. God had different plans.

I knew in my heart that God wanted me to turn my experiences into something beautiful, something that could help and save lives. But I just wanted to forget, so I refused… For years. About the time I had started making appearances at church again (late 2009), my friends there started a worship service called Thy Kingdom Come. That was my breaking point into  ministry.

In April 2010, In the Midst of Lions played at the church with other Facedown bands. Over the next few days after the show I spent a lot of time talking to their vocalist about almost anything and everything. We became really good friends. I still have no idea what made me do this, but I told him all about my past. (At this point, not even my church friends knew about it) I suddenly felt at peace about it, and more willing to tell people. I told David, my best friend and TKC’s drummer/founder, next. Before I knew it, I was doing all the marketing/PR work for Thy Kingdom Come and it quickly became more important to me than my salon job or any hair related dream.

I still struggled with the thought of telling large groups of people, or anyone I didn’t know about my past. I knew what God wanted, but I was terrified. That winter I finally gave in and asked to share my testimony at the service. It was like a weigh had been lifted. And in April 2011 (exactly year from first talking about it) I spoke at the service. The video from that sermon in up on YouTube. And suddenly it wasn’t about me anymore. I didn’t care who knew MY name, I wanted everyone to know His name. I want people to know me, so that I can tell them about Him.

After that I got asked to speak in other places. Festivals and coffee shops. I gained more and more responsibility at TKC and became the associate pastor.  I had been reading my Bible more and more, Sam (also from ITMOL) and I had become very close friends as well and were constantly having theological discussions and through him I met people that live somewhat close to me that and some of the strongest Christians I’ve ever known. God’s choreography! (: With all my new knowledge and support system in place, I felt called to leave the service and pursue my speaking. So October 30th was my last day as leadership in TKC.

Believe it or not, that does make a long story short, even though this is still probably the longest email ever haha. Other than that, umm.. I’m 22. Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. My step brother is the worship leader at a church here, and my uncle is a pastor in another city. I love it – its like a family thing.

Does that help?

That’s a great place to start! Thank you so much. So what have been some of the responses you’ve received from sharing your testimony with others?

My favorite response was from a 15 year old girl at one the festivals I did. After I got off stage so came running to me in tears. She told me she was going through something similar. I hugged her and we talked for a while. A guy named Randy, who’s a promoter here in Corpus, was in the tent with me when she came up and was listening in. Later on, he goes “I’m proud of you for how you handled that. I’ve worked with a lot of the big contemporary bands and when people come to them like that, needing prayer or whatever, they don’t wanna do it.” Umm, but everyone seems to receive it very well. I see a lot of people cry, tell me that I’m brave or that I have an amazing gift. No ones ever had a negative response to it. One old woman, who looked very cross and mean, smiled after and told the owner of the coffee shop I was at that hearing me was the most fun she’s ever had.

What are some of the struggles you’ve experienced in ministry?

One constant struggle for me is definitely my family, unfortunately. My mom tells me constantly that my ministry is stupid, and that no one enjoys hearing me speak or believes anything I say about God.  Its hard to keep your head up when someone is telling you that so often. I do believe that as a leader, I’m held to a higher standard. That goes for anyone in leadership of a ministry. So I try hard to really live up to that and up to my calling. I take being a leader or role model very seriously and that means giving up a lot of things, which is hard for me but I’m determined to do it. Whenever I do happen to slip up, even the slightest bit, I’m very, very hard on myself about it. I don’t let me get away with anything haha. But, uh, there are people that aren’t my friends anymore because of it, I’ve had to leave jobs etc. I feel like this is my paragraph where I get to complain haha. But honestly, I try not to look at the struggles because when it comes down to it I know He’s gonna take care of me no matter what. And the good, always outweighs the bad.

Who have been some of the biggest influences in your life spiritually?

My old pastor, John Elford, for one. When I started going back to church he organized a night for me , and another cosmetologist at the church, to go to a homeless shelter and do the people’s hair there. It was my first real ministry “task” and it meant a lot to me that he still believed in me enough to give me that opportunity when a lot of other people didn’t. When I first gave my testimony he asked me, “What would you have said if someone told you 5 years ago, that you’d be giving sermons?” I was like, “I would of thought they were stupid.” He lives in Austin now, but every time something  happens as far as my ministry I always think “I have to tell Pastor John!!” Mattie Montgomery, from For Today, would probably be one also. I love that when he speaks in between songs at their shows there’s always this power to his words. You really feel his passion for what he does and its always moving. I really hope that people get that from my words as well.

I’ve seen Mattie several times so I definitely understand where you are coming from.

He’s amazing. I met him briefly earlier this year. His passion is incredible. And I love The Glorious Unseen! That’s what’s been in my stereo for months! Haha

One last question.  ”Be the Domino God uses to touch the lives of others.”  What does that mean for you personally?

Its all the little ways that you effect the people around you, sometimes without even realizing it. You don’t realize how much of an impact you have on people and that something you did could cause something even greater. And any little role you play in that is amazing. The other day at work a man named Jay Bailey came to the salon. He’s involved in ministry also, and we’ve become friends since his first salon visit. But this day, I was really frustrated but he came in and we talked about God and my separation from TKC and the details of that. When he left, I was no longer frustrated. I was re-inspired and ready to go. Later that day another woman came in who I had worked on before. She was battling depression and told me about her problems. She and I talked about God and His love for her. When she left she was very cheery, looking forward to picking up her daughter from school and spending time with her that evening. That was a domino effect. God knew that woman was going to come to me and that I would help her. But He also knew I was gonna need some back up that day to do it. And everything fell perfectly into place.

 Thank you so much Kasi for taking the time to answer these questions!

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