By Teena Myers

One summer, Cissy’s family vacationed at a campground in North Carolina. People at the campground said, “If you think this is great, you should see Glacier National Park in Montana.”

The following year they visited Glacier National Park. “When we got to Montana, there was something that said ‘home.’ We returned several years in a row, and one day I said to my husband, ‘Why don’t we live where we love and vacation to see our family?’ But Bill, a native born Floridian, wasn’t interested in moving to Montana.”

Several years later, Cissy attended a Teen Challenge meeting. A woman confessed her fear that God would call her as a missionary to Africa. Cissy sprang to her feet and said, “God will never call you anywhere he has not first placed the desire to go.” In that moment, Cissy realized God had given her the desire to move to Montana.

“I truly believe God fulfills the desires of your heart because he gave you the desire. I thought my desire to move to Montana was selfish. It never occurred to me the desire came from God.”

God brought Bill into agreement with Cissy’s desire at a most inopportune time. Bill announced he had resigned his job after their eldest daughter announced her engagement, and Cissy couldn’t drive because of a recent surgery. Undeterred, they loaded up the kids, the newlyweds, and the dog and headed west. The home owner sold the house they rented before they arrived. A one-room cabin with a five gallon hot water tank became their home for the next seven weeks.

They agreed to attend Helena First Assembly of God, where a five-dollar challenge launched Cissy into her musical missionary work. Her pastor and mentor, Ken Ross, gave everyone in the congregation $5. He instructed them to invest the money for the kingdom of God, and he would collect the earnings in sixty days.

Cissy loved the idea. Her sisters were scheduled to visit, so she used her five dollars to make posters announcing a gospel music concert.  The offering received at the end of the concert multiplied her five-dollar investment into $1,400. Invitations to sing poured in, and Cissy continued giving 100% of profits from the concerts to missions.

“One day Pastor Ken told me I needed to make a CD. I left his office thinking he was nuts, but he kept watering that seed until it took root. I really liked music produced by The Ruppes, a gospel group formed by Leo and Brenda Ruppe and their daughters, so I contacted them to request their music. Leo answered the phone. When he learned I wanted to make a CD to support missions, he offered to help. He found a producer and studio I could use, but I needed to raise $10,000 within six weeks. I don’t even remember how God blessed me with the money, but when the deadline arrived, I had $10,000.”

Pastor Ken’s five-dollar-challenge did much more than raise money for missionary work—he launched a ministry. Cissy speaks at women’s conferences across the country. She has recorded five CDs and traveled to five countries sharing the gospel through song. She also wrote two children’s books. A lot can come from a little.