The Ministry of Krystle Uche
In the Spring of 2012 while working at Sughrue Mion in Washington, D.C., I met Krystle Uche. She was unmarried at the time so she went by her maiden name, Krystle Lynch. I took an immediate liking to her and would try to plan my lunch hour around the same time she did so we could sit together and talk. I remember being disappointed whenever I didn’t see her in the lunchroom. At the time, I was working on my first startup, Sooligan, a mobile app to help college students find hyper-local rants and raves about the city around them. Krystle seemed intrigued that I was an entrepreneur. She would ask me questions about the process and constantly give me words of encouragement. At some point a mutual friend of ours, Maria, told Krystle that I was using most of my paychecks to fund my startup company and as a result, I didn’t have the best living situation. This was true. I was bouncing around between short-term rentals in really bad parts of DC unknowingly in order to stretch my dollars. At the time, I was in Southeast DC off of the Anacostia metro stop. If you know, you KNOW, lol.
Krystle lived in a one-bedroom apartment by herself and didn’t use her dining room. She didn’t have any furniture in that space at all. I don’t know what compelled her to make this offer but one day she told me that if I wanted to, I could move into her apartment with her. She would charge me a really low rent and let me convert her dining room into a little sleeping area. I eagerly accepted her offer. I didn’t need much to be happy as long as I was working on my startup. Krystle’s home offered me a safe place to live, a desk, and most importantly, fast internet. I could sleep on the floor for all I cared. And, I actually did. I had a small twin air mattress that I slept on every night but at some point it developed a hole so the air mattress would deflate by the middle of the night. It didn’t matter though. I now had stability, could focus on getting my company off the ground, and had someone to bounce ideas with.
Krystle and I at a Happy Hour in Washington DC on May 17, 2012.
A Seed is Planted
I had grown up in a Christian home. Both of my parents served faithfully in the church as deacons. I was a church usher and Sunday School teacher while I was in High School. I ended up going to Berkeley for college. If you know Berkeley, you know it is definitely not a place where people openly practiced Christianity. In fact, my mom’s pastor, Pastor Gene Ho, was so worried about me becoming an atheist while attending Berkeley that he called a special meeting of the church elders to pray over me the week before I left for Berkeley. I would soon learn that his concerns were not unfounded. A Church of Scientology was directly in front of my dorm. A really nice guy that I started dating Freshman year randomly asked me one day “Why do you believe in God if your dad was killed in a car accident? What kind of God takes away a father from 5 kids?” (I have 4 siblings, so in total 5 of us). I realized quickly that my brilliant boyfriend was an atheist. I also realized I had never met an atheist in my life, at least not that I know of. I grew up completely surrounded by Christians. We were at church or Bible study 3-4 times a week. I didn’t know how to respond to my boyfriend. I wasn’t mature enough in my spiritual walk to answer the questions well. I think I mumbled something about it being God’s will but he combated that immediately with another question. I eventually broke up with him but he had created enough doubt in my mind that I slowly started to fall out of my faith. Over time, I stopped attending church altogether. I would pray every day before my meals and bedtime. I would read the Bible occasionally, but that was the extent of my faith.
Now Krystle Uche, on the other hand, was a devoted Christian. She was only 2 years older than me but she practiced her faith consistently. She loved God and her life was a reflection of that. She would play gospel music in the car, she would listen to Joel Osteen messages, and she would read her Bible every day. She had a little devotion book that she read every morning too. She went to church every Sunday and tithed faithfully.
One Sunday, Krystle asked me if I wanted to go to church with her. I think I declined her the first time because I was working on an application that was due the next day. However, the following weekend, Krystle asked me again if I wanted to go to church with her. I felt bad turning her down, and didn’t want to make things awkward since I lived with her so I said yes. The worship service for the church was great but the sermon literally made me fall asleep. I had never in my life fallen asleep during a church service but this particular sermon made me become extremely drowsy. When Krystle invited me to the service again the next weekend, I politely declined.
Krystle and I at her wedding shower in 2018.
The Second Invitation
After living with Krystle for a few months, I moved to Arkansas to join The Ark Challenge accelerator program in Fayetteville. Krystle and I remained close, and kept in touch. She continued to be a huge supporter of my entrepreneur journey. A few years later in the Spring of 2014, I ended up living in New Orleans with a boyfriend who I later found was not who I thought he was. By the end of April, it became obvious that I needed to move out of his home fast. Around this time, I received news that my startup was accepted into another business program in Syracuse, NY called Startfast Ventures. The program would begin in June so it didn’t really make sense for me to move from New Orleans back to California only to move to Syracuse a few weeks later. I called Krystle and she agreed to let me stay with her in DC for a few weeks until it was time for me to move up to Syracuse.
Not too long after I arrived back at Krystle’s house in May 2014, Krystle tells me there’s this new church she just started going to with this amazing pastor. “You will love him. His messages are so on point. You’re not going to fall asleep.” We both laughed, remembering the last church service she had invited me to. Krystle mentions that his wife is a friend of hers. They had worked at the same place at one point. I figured why not, it couldn’t hurt to visit a church with Krystle on Sunday for old time’s sake.
Finding my Forever Church Home
I ended up attending my first service at Restoration Church in May 2014, and I knew then there was something different about this church, this Pastor. Pastor Renelle Johnson was clearly a man after God’s own heart. He was kind, genuine, compassionate, and spoke about scripture in a way I had never heard it delivered. I was surprised that I could easily understand everything he was saying, which was rare because usually I left church confused, ashamed, or discouraged by the seemingly unattainable high standards. I felt convicted in my spirit that day. I wanted to hear more and learn more about God’s word. Krystle didn’t have to invite me to church the next weekend. I got up the next Sunday bright and early to get ready for church. I attended a few more Sunday’s until it was time for me to move to Syracuse as planned. I felt a deep sadness having to leave Restoration Church. It felt like this was going to be my forever church, and my forever pastor. At some point over the next few years, Pastor Ren began recording the church services and uploading them to YouTube. He would send me links so that I could continue to watch the services virtually. He also created a new program called the “E-Partners” so that people that wanted to be members of the church but did not live in the DMV could still be part of the church virtually. I was so touched by the thoughtfulness, consideration, and effort by Pastor Ren. I ended up becoming one of Restoration Church’s first E-Partners and am still a member to do this day, where I am a virtual life group leader as well.
Overtime, Restoration Church and Pastor Ren has become a critical part of my life. He baptized me in 2016, dedicated my son Jax in 2019, and when my co-parent and I started having issues, he lovingly counseled us and gave us some of the best life advice I’ve ever received. Today, Pastor Ren also ministers to my friends who are also not located in the DMV. He will be marrying two of them later this year in Austin. Restoration Church and Pastor Ren have become an integral part of my daily life. Last month during the church’s 10 year anniversary service, Pastor Ren took some time to honor Krystle Uche for her faithfulness in serving as the church administrator since it opened in 2014. He used the line “the Ministry of Krystle Uche” and it really affected me. I was watching the service virtually from home and felt tears streaming down my face as I recalled how the ministry work of Krystle Uche changed my life. It occurred to me that I have never honored Krystle for her faithfulness in inviting me week after week to church. I never thanked her for leading me back to God. I never thanked her for helping me find such an amazing pastor and church family. She single handedly changed my life. Since I don’t have a church podium to honor Krystle, I wrote this blog as my way of honoring Krystle too. You can also watch Restoration Church honoring Krystle at this link. It starts at the 41:15 mark.
I hope this story about Krystle inspires you to take that next step and invite your friends or family members to church with you. If church seems like a big step, invite them to an event or holiday celebration at the church. Those tend to be more informal. You never know how your invitation to church can impact someone’s life and change the lives of everyone around them. Krystle’s invitation to me 10 years ago forever changed my life. My life has been filled with a lot of really hard, difficult, and stressful situations over the last 10 years. However, being a believer has given me the tools to deal with it in a productive manner. I formed a virtual Bible study group. I design Bible games that people use for their own small group meetings. I serve in the church. All of these things started with the small seed Krystle planted 10 years ago.
My Restoration Church family. Krystle and I are the very top, 3rd and 4th from the right.
To: Krystle
Thank you for your obedience and faithfulness in inviting me week after week, year after year, to church. Thank you for living a life that serves as a great example of a strong Christian woman. Thank you for your boldness and helping me find a church home that I love. You have changed my life and my family’s lives forever through your faithfulness. My life is soooo different because of you. I love you soooo soo much.
