BUCYRUS—Two sisters are working diligently to continue their parents’ legacy of helping others.
Ashely France and Christina Shaw lost their mom, Pastor Anita France, in 2012, and their dad, Pastor Bernie France, last year.
“I am the youngest daughter of the late Pastors Bernie and Anita France. My parents served the community for nearly 30 years in many different ways. They ran a local church, Prevailing Word Ministries Christian Center here in Crawford County, along with a daycare facility, a restaurant, the county’s first sober living facility and a food pantry,” said Ashley.
She said that after her dad passed away in May of 2019, the food pantry was forced to close but Ashley and Christina are changing that by opening their own food pantry.
“My sister and I decided to continue the legacy and ministry of our parents. Now named Prevailing Word Ministry in Motion and also working with homeless communities in the Summit County area, we obtained a new location in Bucyrus for the pantry and have been serving appointments to the community for a few months now,” said Ashley, of the pantry located at 540 N. Sandusky Ave., in Bucyrus.
The pantry’s grand opening was held on July 20 and a ribbon-cutting will be held by Jessica Furner with the Bucyrus Chamber of Commerce at 4 p.m. on August 27.
“It’s in our DNA to help people. It’s all we’ve ever seen, it’s all we’ve ever been taught. When all you have left of a life you once lived and all you have left of the people who meant the most are pictures, memories, and a legacy of ministry, you will do whatever it takes to keep those memories and that legacy alive,” said Ashley. “With my sister and I, it was never a question as to “if“ we wanted to continue running our parents’ legacy of ministry, and it was never a question of “how“ we would do it. We were always taught that when something is led by God, all you have to do is use your faith in believing it will come to pass.”
Christina said she felt a lot of anger when her mom died in October of 2012.
“It has been a journey back to God for me since I lost my mother in Oct 2012. I was so mad for so long,” said Christina.
She helped her parents operate their church, Prevailing Word Ministries, for several years and formed the program, Reformers Unanimous, at the church in 2011.
“We opened the Beacon House for woman and things were really taking off at the church. Then my mom got sick and passed. I just didn’t do well with that. I left the church and I just up and moved out of town,” said Christina.
She moved to Akron and began a new life. She felt a calling in heart, instead of anger, when her dad died in May of 2019. She said she could no longer allow anger to rule her life.
“As the oldest child, I felt like I didn’t want the ministry my parents created 30 years ago to die. So many lives were changed by them. The community depended on them and I want to keep their legacy alive,” said Christina.
The sisters worked together to figure out the best way to carry on their parents’ ministry and legacy.
“We never questioned if we would continue, it was just figuring out how. We wanted to be an outreach ministry. I’ve always had a heart for helping others. It’s what we were taught our whole life. I had to refile new paperwork with the state and have everything redone in order to continue, during COVID-19 to top it off, so everything took twice as long but we did it,” said Christina.
Ashley and Christina founded Prevailing Word Ministry in Motion in February of this year.
“We kept the Prevailing Word from our parents and added Ministry in Motion because Ashley and our team plan to do just that-operate an outreach in motion,” said Christina, who also founded F.I.T. (Friends in Tents) in October of 2019 in Summit County where she resides after visiting camps in that area where homeless people stay.
She and a co-worker began to collect items, such as coats and hot meals, to donate to the camps.
“Meggan cooks the food at our office and plans our meals then my fiancé, Harry Patterson, and I pick it up and take it into camps. We have an Amazon Wishlist that has had over 500 donated items that we take directly into camps. We have great partnerships with Uncle Bacon’s BBQ, Little Debbie and Dave’s Darn Near Anything. They have donated a ton of food to our FIT. We have people donating eggs fresh from the farm and people reaching out to donate on a consistent basis,” said Christina. “Now I know why I’m in Akron. It was a plan before I even knew it.”
As far as the food pantry in Bucyrus goes, the sisters are providing food to area residents through donations and purchasing items themselves.
“We are working on securing partnerships with distributors and welcome any donations,” said Ashley of the non-profit organization.
To donate or for more information, contact Ashley at 419-561-1761, email her or visit the Prevailing Word Ministry in Motion Facebook page. If you need to make an appointment to pick up food items, also call Ashley at 419-561-1761.