Minister Deborah Smith Simpkins and her bestseller

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Minister Deborah Smith Simpkins epitomizes the phrase, “you can’t hold a good woman down”.

She rose from struggling single mother to affluent motivational speaker, author and minister. “Sometimes I sit and just cry when I think about the past. Life was very hard for me at times. If God had shown me this part of my life, I wouldn’t have believed it!”

Growing up the daughter of a Bishop wasn’t easy, the world was always watching. Deborah’s life seemed so perfect on the surface, yet she was secretly battling poverty and pain from a toxic relationship.

Too full of pride to tell her family what she was going through, Deborah continued living paycheck to paycheck.
Then God spoke to her. “God called me to give my testimony, to tell the truth what was going on in my life.”

This prompted her to write her first novel, “Ministers with White Collars and Black Secrets”, exposing bad behavior behind the pulpit. Deborah was apprehensive about writing the book, fearing backlash from the church community but she knew in her heart that anything God directed her to do, He would protect her from. “I definitely received a lot of flack from the church community. It was very intense. I was even attacked at one of my book signings.”

Her novel elevated her to a place where she was independent and financially stable for the first time in her life! “This book was therapy for me. It felt like I started a new life. God transitioned me into a position of wealth because I trusted Him, so now it is my responsibility to share my struggles and my triumphs. God called me to identify with women and give them my testimony. If we have the same story, we should have the same ending. It is my joy to empower and strengthen women!”

Deborah’s speaks at hundreds of engagements each year spreading her message of hope inspiring women all over the world. In her spare time she can be found delivering trucks full of food to the less fortunate or paying the back rent for a single mother in need. “I can’t sleep well knowing that I am living good and there are people still out there struggling the way I once did.”

These grand gestures of kindness and empathy earned her the 2018 Humanitarian Award from the prestigious National Council of Negro Women.

She was awarded on Saturday, February 17,2018 in Newark, N.J. at the Metropolitan Baptist Church. “I was very excited and humbled to be honored! I am thankful to God for bringing me through my trials and allowing me to be a blessing to others.”

We are all thankful for Minister Deborah Smith Simpkins whose strength and perseverance is a shining example of black excellence!

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