Ministry Spotlight: Your Church Friend, Angela

Angie and Nita

By CHRIS DRIVER
Baptist Progress Editor

For almost 15 years, Angela Northcutt – loving known to most as Miss Angie – has been sending cards to her church family. It might be a well-timed “Happy birthday,” “Get well soon”, “Praying for you”, or a God-inspired “Thinking of you” but when it is opened the recipient will know they have been remembered and they will know they are loved.

“God helps me make people feel good.” That is Angie’s simple motivation for her ministry. Being born with Down’s Syndrome has not stopped Angie from knowing, loving and serving Jesus throughout her life.
“She was two weeks old the first time we took her to church. She has literally been in church her whole life,” explains her mother, Nita Sargent. Angie’s dad, Clayton Northcutt, had been a long time BMA pastor before he passed away in 1997.

“Angela used to go with Clayton to the church and find ways to serve and things to do around the church,” Nita recalls. “When she got older, she loved to sing. But she eventually started losing her voice and couldn’t sing anymore so I told her there are other ways she could bless people.”

That’s when Angie started sending cards. “Everyone needs encouragement and needs to be seen and missed,” says Nita. So, Angie began listening and writing down those mentioned at prayer meetings. She also began asking for birthdays from the members. It did not take long for her list to grow and her impact with it.

Over the last 15 years, Angie has sent 8-10 birthday and get-well cards almost every week. During the Christmas holidays, Angie will send out over 150 cards to church family and friends. According to Nita, there are some years Angie will touch more than 1,000 lives with a personalized card that often comes at just the right time in someone’s life.

When asked about Angie and her ministry at Union Hill, Christie Burton, wife of pastor Preston Burton, explains, “True encouragement comes from a servant’s heart that is rooted in faith and focused on God’s will. This is Angie. Her desire to serve the Lord through her card ministry has been a joy for me and my family as well as for our church family.”

Christie goes on to say about Angie, “Her encouragement always seems to come at just the time I have needed it the most. She is a faithful servant of the Lord and I am so thankful to call Angie my friend.”

A ministry like Angie’s takes a lot of dedication and organization, and Angie definitely has both. In the corner of her room is a neat and tidy, well-organized desk complete with a tower of assorted cards ready to be called into action at a moment’s notice. In one drawer you will find a stack of return labels and in another you will find multiple rolls of stamps. Pinned to her bulletin board is a list of birthdays for that month that is lovingly provided by Union Hill’s children’s director, Hannah Dingler. Angie’s 15 years of loving commitment to sending these cards has resulted in a system that runs like a well-oiled machine.
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Angie’s card ministry has now become a special part of the overall ministry at Union Hill. New members who receive their first card from Angie will often make a special effort to find and thank Angie for her unexpected blessing and those who have been blessed for years by her thoughtfulness love to return the favor.
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“Sometimes people send me cards to tell me thank you for my card.” Angie beams, “I like it when they send me cards.”

Angie's cards and calendar

Angie at her desk

One such card came in the mail just recently from her beloved pastor and his family who had been on vacation. They took the time to send her a special postcard and note signed by the whole Burton family. Angie glows with pride as she holds it as one of her most prized possessions.

That’s not the only way people bless Angie and her ministry. Nita describes how people will often give her packs of cards they do not use or buy her books of stamps to help with her ministry in response to a card they received ‘at just the right time’. The postmaster in Brownsboro just recently gave her a bunch of cards they had around the office they were not using.

“People know about her ministry and love to help her keep it going,” Nita gratefully explains.
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Angie has even begun to expand her ministry by getting others involved. During Wednesday night game nights at Union Hill, you will often find Angie passing around cards for others to sign. It is an awesome way to help others get involved and to add to the joy a person gets when they open the card to find a host of church family members’ names sending out their love in a difficult or special time.

“Whether you have something going on that’s good or bad, you can bet there will be a card showing up in the mail from Angie,” shares Anthony Dingler, a deacon at Union Hill. “Angie is a true blessing to all who know her.”

When asked what they might like people to get from hearing Angie’s story, Nita’s response is simple and straight forward, “Angela has never let Down’s Syndrome keep her from being faithful to Jesus and serving His church. Everyone can serve the Lord. Everyone has gifts and talents they can use to help others and serve their church family. There really is no excuse for not finding some way to love and serve Jesus and His church.”

1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

Faithfully serving others and sharing God’s grace. Yes. That just might be the perfect description of Miss Angie and what she has been doing for Jesus over the last 15 years. What a truly special work God has done through cards in the mail from your church friend, Angela.

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