Callings often unfold step by step and in multiple directions, as Rosalyn Bates’ story reveals. As an undergraduate at Northwestern University, Rosalyn sensed a call to preach the gospel, but she believed that call translated into counseling work rather than church ministry.

While studying for a master’s in clinical psychology at Wheaton, Rosalyn herself was diagnosed with clinical depression. Rosalyn’s acute sense of brokenness became an offering for the graduate student community. She led a worship team and engaged students of different theologies and cultures. Eventually, she became part of a long-prayed-for revival.

In therapy, she realized that some of her reluctance to go into church ministry stemmed from past experiences in church contexts. “God did not accept my excuses not to go into ministry,” Rosalyn said. “I thought I would only be suitable if God reconstructed me, and I submitted to that process.”

In navigating her personal brokenness, Rosalyn became aware that she had a particular gift that would help her navigate community brokenness—the gift of racial reconciliation. Today, Rosalyn uses that gift serving as the director of ministries at the Southside Worship Center in Chicago, teaching, preaching, and managing volunteers. She also works as an assessment specialist at AMITA Health, counseling and referring patients in crisis. She has counseled children, teens, and adults traumatized by rape, as well as people struggling with substance abuse.

Rosalyn sees her counseling work as another side of her call. “It pains me when God’s image [in people] is distorted or mistreated, abused, neglected, undervalued, annihilated. That is where the dissent and advocacy come in—how do we protect that which God has beautifully and wonderfully made?”