Here's Our Story
Amazing Love Ministries Is a Religious not-for-profit ministry that encourages, equips, and sends those called out for ministry We do this in three very particular ways.
1. (Encourages) Sarah Beth’s Cottage – Sarah Beth’s Cottage is a 16x40 cottage located in Boaz, AL. It is a one-bedroom one-bath cottage with a full kitchen, laundry, living room, bedroom, and a bunk bed area. It is designed with those who serve in ministry vocationally or bi-vocationally in mind. Amazing Love Ministries founders, Matt and Julie have been in ministry for over 18 years and have twice found themselves homeless in ministry. The first time due to unexpectantly evacuating China while serving there as missionaries at the outbreak of Covid 19. The second time was when serving a church in Hawaii and the time there ended very unexpectantly as well. Both times God provided a place to land as He always does. We want Sarah Beth’s Cottage to be a place where pastors and missionaries can land and rest for a period of time while they are regrouping and preparing for the next steps of their journey with the Lord. We would also like to offer the cottage as a vacation or rest spot for those in vocational or bi-vocational ministry while not being utilized as transitional housing. In both cases, Sarah Beth’s Cottage will be offered free of charge to those utilizing it.
2. (Sends) The Sarah Beth Scholarship - Founders Matt and Julie Collins sought the Lord for guidance when their third child Emily was born in 2011. This would be the third C-section for Julie and the concern was that any further pregnancies could pose a higher risk for Julie. They committed the matter to the Lord and instructed the Dr. to let them know if they could have another C-section after Emily's birth. They prayed specifically for two things.
1.) That if God wanted them to have another child God would give their doctor confidence that another c-section after Emily would be possible. 2.) That if they could have another child the child would be one that God would use to take the gospel around the world and would be dedicated to His service all their life. When Emily was born the Dr. said everything looked great for Julie to be able to have one more C-section. Matt and Julie left the matter in the Lord’s hands and five years passed after Emily was born before they were blessed with the news, that they were going to have a fourth child. They found out she was a girl and the family prayerfully decided to follow their son Triston’s suggestion to name her Sarah Beth. Julie went to a routine appointment when ending her 8th month of pregnancy. At this appointment, it was discovered that Sarah Beth no longer had a heartbeat. Some time between the previous appointment and this one she had passed away. Matt and Julie went in for Sarah Beth’s delivery in June of 2015 and three days later they had a service to lay her to rest. Confused, and burnout from planting a church the previous two years, and a bit frustrated with God for making it clear they needed to have a fourth child and then never allowing her to become the person that would take the gospel around the world as they had requested led to the couple taking a couple of months for sabbatical. During prayer and worship during this time, God impressed upon their hearts that He wanted them to begin a mission scholarship in Sarah Beth’s honor. Since then, the Collins have used that scholarship to help send short-term missionaries on their first international mission trip. Through this scholarship, Sarah Beth’s life has touched Asia, Australia, and South America, and the list continues to grow. She has impacted hundreds of souls with the gospel of Jesus Christ just as God had promised Matt and Julie. Matt and Julie know that she is in good hands with a Father Who has loved her far more than they ever could have and her life has impacted hundreds more souls than she ever could have in her lifetime.
3. (Equips) Ministry Leader Training on the Mission Field – Having served the Lord in China, Brazil, Senegal, The Philippines, and Guatemala as well as multiple states in the US both short and long-term during their ministry Matt and Julie discovered that not all that are called can have access to ministry training through Bible College or Seminary. A burden was birthed to prepare, translate, and deliver ministry training for those who are called but are unable to have access to training. God asked them to step out in faith in 2018 to begin to prepare for this calling. After several years of education and ministry preparation, Matt and Julie began preparing lessons and gathering resources to deliver these resources to pastors, missionaries, and women ministry leaders on the mission field. Julie has a burden to disciple women and is already published as the author of “Amazing Love Devotion Book” and has written Bible studies as well as hermeneutical studies for women to study God’s Word and teach it to others. Matt prepares and gathers Bible study notes and hermeneutics classes as well as simple Bible commentaries and theology classes for indigenous pastors to utilize in their languages. Amazing Love Ministries partners with pastors and teachers who have been blessed with training combined with years of ministry experience to take these condensed Bible College-type resources to the men and women called in other countries.