Legacy of Faith: Claudette Walker

“You will not die in this hospital, but you will walk in weakness the rest of your life.”  My wife was only seventeen years old when the Lord spoke these words to her as she lay near death in the ICU of a hospital in Tupelo, Mississippi. Although she has indeed walked in much weakness, the Lord continues to give her strength to minister as He called her to do.

The first song we chose for our wedding was a love song to the Lord: “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” Claudette considers that truth the theme of her life.

Her parents, Ray and Betty Kloepper, became the president of the Tupelo Children’s Mansion when Claudette was only four years old. Mom Kloepper often said that although they raised over one hundred and thirty orphans, no one really raised her own kids. Even though the staff was small and her parents’ hours were long, Claudette is deeply grateful for the compassion and selfless, Kingdom-minded living her parents demonstrated throughout her life.

Although my wife once dreamed of earning a PhD in English literature and teaching at an Ivy League college, her health was far too compromised for her to attend a secular college after high school. Her urologist, however, allowed her to enroll in Apostolic Bible Institute—if she saw a urologist in St. Paul monthly and took daily medication. That year, her passionate love for English literature shifted to a passionate desire to consume, study, and teach the Word of God. God gave her the strength to graduate from ABI.

Claudette and I were blessed to be married in March of 1974, after which we immediately moved to Odessa, Texas, to assist J. T. Pugh. Because he was a visionary, he allowed us to pursue our dream of opening a youth outreach center called “The Carpenter’s Shop.” We were honored to return years later to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary and the many young people who had come to know the Lord through it.

In 1976, Pastor Norman Paslay I asked us to join the ministry team of The Calvary Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. One of the greatest blessings of our lives was ministering under the leadership of Norman and Mary Alice Paslay. Sister Paslay had preached since she was a teenager, and both she and her husband recognized and affirmed the call to preach on Claudette’s life at a time when women in ministry were far less prevalent.

Fifty years ago, in the spring of 1975, Sister Paslay asked Claudette to speak to the Calvary ladies, opening the door for her ministry to women. Because of the love and support of many district ladies’ presidents and pastors’ wives, she has since been invited to minister in almost every district in North America and in many places overseas. She carries a God-birthed burden to share His Word and her life experiences with women.

During our time in Cincinnati, the Lord helped us train a wonderful Bible quiz team that won back-to-back North American Championships. Four years later, we became the leaders of the UPCI’s Senior Bible Quiz Ministry. For the next twenty years, God gave us a plan to use this ministry to train leaders for His kingdom, shifting the paradigm from seeing quizzing as merely a competitive game to understanding it as an opportunity to build leaders.

The Lord gave Claudette a revelation about Zechariah 4:6 that became a classic message, “Zach in Action,” which continues to inspire quizzers via YouTube forty-nine years later. What a joy it has been to travel across North America and around the world, meeting leaders and ministers we were privileged to help train during those twenty years of Bible quizzing ministry.

Through the gift of prophecy, the Lord told Claudette and me that we would begin traveling to places we had never been to help strengthen marriages and families. His Word has proven true. For forty-five years, we have been privileged to team-teach marriage conferences around the world. God recently blessed us to conduct both a Bible quizzing and a marriage conference in the Philippines.

Although doctors said Claudette would never conceive, in 1978, the Lord blessed her with the birth of a miracle son—one we had asked God to give us to bless His kingdom. The doctor warned that if she did not abort the baby, both she and the child would die. Today, Jonathan is the senior pastor of the dynamic revival church, Bethel UPC, on Long Island, where more than forty nationalities worship together. “Sometimes the greatest gift you can give to the kingdom of God is not something you do but someone you raise.” Jonathan’s wife, Lindsi, is the daughter-in-love Claudette always wanted, and Quinci and Graham are the grandchildren she always dreamed of loving.

After serving for two years as first lady of Tupelo Children’s Mansion, Claudette became the first lady of Faith Apostolic Church of Troy, Michigan. The precious Faith Apostolic saints have been Kingdom-minded enough to carry a burden for her and share her with so many others as she fulfills her God-called assignments.

Since 2002, Claudette and I have served alongside other facilitators to mentor young ministry couples through the national Jonathan Project and the Michigan and Detroit Metro Mantle ministries. We love affirming and blessing these young ministry couples.

In 2012, David Norris invited Claudette to begin a ministry at Urshan College, which she named “Open Hearts.” She was blessed to spend about five weeks each year on campus for three years. This ministry served young ladies called to ministry, whom Claudette prayed with, counseled, and taught. She shared many of her life lessons with young women whom she dearly loves.

One of the “Open Hearts” ladies started a YouTube channel called “Open Hearts—Claudette Walker” to share her messages with others. These messages are not simply sermons, but life messages born of Claudette’s many fiery trials. Often, she has had to live the message before she can give it.

During her years at Urshan, Claudette’s latest burden was born. As she travels across North America and overseas, God joins her heart with young women upon whom she sees His call. Claudette offers her open heart to love them, her shoulders to cry on, her ears to listen, and her spirit to intercede. These anointed young women bring great joy to Claudette as she shares her experiences and love for them.

Claudette feels deeply blessed by God for His call to preach His Word and for every door He has opened to minister to His precious people. The weakness has remained—but just as He promised her in that ICU in Tupelo when she was seventeen, His strength has been made perfect in her weakness. At age seventy-four, Claudette is still singing to her Lord: “Great is Thy faithfulness.”