One of Jennifer Porter Cox’s biggest life lessons came in her early 30s.

She’d agreed to leave her home in Jamaica so she could get involved with ministry projects in the US; once she got there she was overwhelmed.

“I didn’t know anyone, and everything for me was brand new. It was a matter of leaving everything I had known behind and coming into a place of trusting God to chart the path for me as far as ministry was concerned,” she said.

“My intention was to come to America and complete the course in a year before heading back to Jamaica, but I eventually came to recognise that was not what God had in mind.

“It was a matter of learning how God orchestrates things to get us to where He wants us to be and how He propels us from one place to another.”

The experience gave Rev Porter Cox a clearer understanding of her Heavenly Father, and His plan for her life. These days she spends the bulk of her time on the road, speaking at churches across the US and Caribbean. She’ll be in Bermuda next week for the New Testament Church of God’s 2016 Women’s Conference.

“The basic message is, even though there will be obstacles in our path as we seek to serve God in truth, He has given us the power to overcome them through the Holy Spirit,” she said. “Just like a well-trained athlete, we must choose to follow the instructions given to us by God our coach, and run this race successfully and triumphantly.

“Many times in our walk with God, when we face our valleys, we tend to think we’re the only ones dealing with such challenges, and with that mindset, many fall by the wayside or simply just give up. It’s necessary for everyone, not only the women, but every individual who may feel that they cannot make it because of the weight of life’s cares, to know that in God is the power to do the things that may seem impossible and this race can be run. It’s possible to come out from under the stranglehold that the enemy is using as a distraction and a discouragement to abort the work of the Kingdom. They need to know they’re not alone.”

Rev Porter Cox and her two siblings were raised by their grandmother, a woman of staunch faith.

“I cannot remember a time when I was not involved with church, but it wasn’t until I was a teenager I learnt the difference between being in church and being in a relationship with God,” she said. At 15 she attended a revival service and heard a powerful message about God’s love and sacrifice of His son, Jesus. Her life was forever changed.

“To this day I’m most grateful for salvation,” Rev Porter Cox said. “When everything that you are, or can ever hope to be, hinges on the spirit of God, then you cannot [take that for granted]. Everything in my life is a direct result of my relationship with God and the covenant blessings that come with that relationship.”

She was determined to be a good Christian, help others and be active in the church but full-time ministry was never on her agenda early on in her walk. It was while she was working for the Jamaican Red Cross that her outlook changed. Godly people, many of whom she had never met before, would tell her about the awesome work she was doing for the Lord. In 1993 she took the hint.

“God had other plans and I soon came to discover that He was very intentional in His purposes,” she said. “I heard from Him directly, but not an audible voice. As Christians, we believe God speaks to those who serve Him in various ways and in my case it was a constant consciousness of His nearness; a daily sense of concern and an urgency to let everyone know about this amazing love of God and the gift of Jesus Christ.”

Her message to people she crosses paths with today is to “choose God”.

“There will be no peace or fulfilled purpose living on the outskirts of the will of God,” she said. “He will not let you fall or fail, so trust His faithfulness. No one else can handle your life like God can and there is no possibility of failing or losing with God in control because even your bad days in His will are better than your best days straddling the fence.”

•Rev Cox will speak at Miracle Temple on Friday at 7pm, and Saturday at 11.15am and 5pm, and at Goodwin C Smith Hall on Saturday at 8.30am