Nicole Crumpler used to be an apathetic churchgoer — often going on Sundays just to appease her mom.

Then it finally hit her that worship was about a lot more than attending service once a week.

The 35-year-old mother of two is now passionately involved in ministry at her church, Vernon Temple AME in Southampton, and uses her talents for singing, acting and dancing to bless others every chance she gets.

Tomorrow she will be appearing alongside a talented cast in a play put on by The First Church of God’s Music and Performing Arts Ministry’s Celebrating The Gift Of Love.

“I had been going to church for ever, but remember my faith finally became a priority for me one break during college,” she said. “I had come back home and heard a sermon and it felt like the pastor had been stalking me because his message was telling my whole life story.

“I was sitting there and felt so conflicted. I said ‘Alright Lord, I need to take this seriously’.

“I had been going to church for a while, but not all the way in commitment wise. I was still doing what I wanted to do and would go to church when I felt like it.” Prior to that she would find herself in situations where she wanted to help people in a Godly manner and point them to the right scriptures to offer hope and encouragement.

But she wasn’t actively studying God’s word or praying, so she was at a loss.

“That really bothered me,” she explained. “Naturally I’m a person who likes to know things. At my job if I’m not sure about something I ask a lot of questions until it starts to make sense.

“I had to go through that process with my faith as well. I had questions around ‘why am I here’ and ‘what am I supposed to be doing with my life’ that I couldn’t answer. I was the type of person who used to pray over my food or when I was in trouble, but my life changed for the better once I made that a part of my regular routine.”

Tomorrow, Mrs Crumpler will play the role of Crystal Love in Celebrating The Gift Of Love, alongside cast mates: Patricka Ferguson, Lauren Matthew, Milahn Powell, Denniqua Matthew, Andre Mussenden, Jermaine Jeffers and Nicole Smith.

The play tells the story of a family who is coming to grips with some big changes. The family matriarch, the one who holds everything together, is getting older and hit by pressing issues that need to be addressed.

“It’s no longer business as usual and everything is starting to blow up right around the holiday season,” Mrs Crumpler explained. “In the end, however, love prevails — as it always does.

“The Bible says love is patient, love is kind — it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres and it never fails. And that’s the ultimate message of this production. We’re celebrating the gift of love, the epitome of who God is.”

Mrs Crumpler admits she’s enjoyed taking part in the production — a majority of the cast starred alongside her in Troika’s rendition of The Colour Purple.

“We were like family already, which makes working together this time around that much easier,” she said.

“Altogether it’s a great story and a great cast. Bermuda is so talented and this is a display of the talent we have here and a testament to that. The plot as well is all about the power of love. Every family has their issues and a lot of times people just don’t address it, but I feel this is a story people can relate to and something where the lessons can be applied to their own lives.”

Rehearsing, and the time commitment that comes with that, has proven to be a big challenge for Mrs Crumpler. As a busy career woman, wife and mother, she’s struggled to wear so many different hats at once and keep everything in balance.

“I’m rehearsing so much my daughter, Jada, has become like an honorary member of the cast,” she said. “She knows all of my lines and really enjoys being around the production.

“On the flip side, though, the reward is getting the opportunity to be around some like-minded and super-talented individuals.

“I have a huge passion for the arts — singing, dancing, acting — so this is an outlet for me. It’s what I enjoy doing and I’m happy to get to meet and spend time with others who share that same passion.”

Mrs Crumpler admits she’s constantly learning new lessons in her faith. As someone who likes to be in control, God has gradually been teaching her how to submit and trust His plan for her life.

“He is the head of my life and my faith requires me to surrender to His will and trust wholeheartedly,” she said.

“Years ago I used to complain about teaching Sunday School because I was doing it almost every week and missing out on the service. I wanted to find some way out of that commitment. Now I laugh because it’s crazy how when you mature in your faith you see things differently.

“There are levels to your spiritual journey and I see now I was limiting God to just Sunday and because I couldn’t get him in on Sunday I was angry. I didn’t consider I have six other days a week when I can study and pray.”

She said she’s enjoying the spiritual space she’s in right now and how God continues to strengthen her walk.

“It’s amazing how great this journey is,” she said. “You can go from strength to strength when you decided to put God first. This faith walk never gets old, there’s always something to learn. You never have this ‘aha’ moment when you realise you have this Christian thing down, you are constantly learning and growing in your relationship and that’s a great thing.

“I’m at a point now where I just want to share the joy that I’ve found and I want my life to be a testimony of how good God is,” she added.

•Tickets to tomorrow’s play, $15 for general admission and $30 for patrons, are available at the door. The show starts at 6pm.