I was born on the island of St. Thomas into a big family—there were ten of us children. My mom owned a small grocery store and I was a mama’s girl, so I was with her at the store all the time. When I was about seven years old, all of a sudden, my mom changed. She started doing things I thought were strange, like going to church. And if anyone in need came into the store, she would give away groceries to that person. Sometimes they were not even in great need, yet she would pack up a whole bag and give it away. That worried me—I thought we might not make enough money if she kept doing that.

Though I was young, I decided to go to church with my mom to understand what had happened to her. No one else in the family went with us, and she would stop on the way home and buy me a little cake. That made me really want to keep going.

The church services were held in the home of Pastor Algernon Blyden at that time. They were simple gatherings, but the power of God descended there as the people prayed and praised God. Through that, I could see that these people had something real. At the same time, I found out that Pastor Blyden had worked in real estate before he was a Christian, and he had been wealthy. He had owned property and some stores, but when the Lord saved him, he gave them up to serve God. He began to preach in the streets and went door to door telling people about the Lord. I also noticed that sometimes his shoes had holes in them. He looked poor to me, and I felt that might happen to my mom too because of the way she was giving away groceries. As a little girl, the things I was seeing did not make sense to me.

I kept going to church with my mom but didn’t pray for myself because I was mostly there to find fault. Also, I had a reputation in the neighborhood for being bossy, almost to the point of being a bully. My mom was generous with customers, but I was not! I didn’t let anyone get away with anything, at the store or at school. Because of my reputation, I knew that if I became a Christian, the kids I usually bossed around would make fun of me.

When I was thirteen years old, one day the church workers held a street meeting at the town square market. That particular time, one of the vendors did not want the church service to be held, so he called the police to remove us. However, when the police arrived, they just stood and watched the meeting. After it ended they told Pastor Blyden, “We were sent here to remove you from this corner but something kept us back. We couldn’t do it.” The power of God was so real that it stopped them.

Even though I had seen God’s power fall among His people many times, this incident made an impression on me. I began to realize that the Gospel was bigger than just the church group—it was real even for the police officers. Not long after that, following a church service, a woman named Sister Stewart said to me, “Bernice, why don’t you just come and give your heart to the Lord?” That day, I surrendered to God, and He changed my whole being and the course of my life, for the better.

Our church had open windows, so everyone outside could see that I had been praying. Before I left the building, the whole neighborhood knew that Bernice had gotten saved, and they couldn’t believe it! The other kids teased me saying, “Ain’t no way you are a Christian. Anybody could be a Christian, but not you!” It didn’t seem real to them, but it was for me, and it only became more real as time went on. Because of what God had done for me, I was no longer worried about what the neighborhood kids thought of me. In fact, I started trying to encourage them to come to the Lord.

A voice captured for God

I have always loved to sing. As a child, in the evenings my dad used to ask me to sing for him to help him unwind after a tiring day at work. Sometimes I would be singing alone outside and then look up and find neighbors in our yard listening. In fact, later I found out that Sister Stewart heard me from her house, and she started praying, “Lord, capture this voice for You.” I barely knew who she was then, but the Lord honored her prayers.

One day, shortly after I was saved, a gentleman came to our house selling insurance. I was in the kitchen singing when my mother answered the door, and the salesman heard me. He was so impressed that he asked my mom if he could record me and send my song to someone he knew. We agreed, thinking nothing of it, and I sang him one of the love songs that I had written myself. A while later he came back and said a radio station liked my song and would pay me to introduce it on the air! It seemed like a big opportunity and I signed a contract. However, I soon learned that the man running the radio station was not a godly man. I thought, If I keep working with him, who knows where I will end up. God helped me to see that I couldn’t continue, so I backed out of the contract. As a consequence, I had to surrender the rights to my song.

Some months later, I heard that song on the radio. At first I was excited and told my mom that they were playing my song, but she corrected me right away. She let me know that type of music was not God’s will for my life, and since I had given my heart to Him, it was no longer part of who I was. I thank God for that now because at the time, I didn’t know anything about the world outside of our little island town. In the years since then, I’ve heard many stories of people who lost their way while seeking fame, but God had a definite plan for my life and He was there guiding me from the start. Instead of singing on the radio, I started singing at church services, street meetings—I even persuaded Pastor Blyden to allow me to sing at prison meetings. I thank God for the voice He gave me, and for helping me to use it for His glory.

Trained up by mighty men and women of God

It did not take long for me to receive my deeper experiences because Sister Stewart was right there encouraging me to take the next step. The Lord sanctified me while I was praying with her, and immediately she started telling to me, “You have to be baptized with the Holy Ghost.” I kept seeking God and soon received that experience as well.

The people in our congregation were persistent in the things of God. They stood for the Lord no matter what trials they faced. They had a zeal for God, and I did too. Everywhere the church went for ministry, I was always there. Pastor Blyden saw my passion for the Lord and he nurtured me spiritually. He would sometimes ask me to preach at the street meetings or send me with a friend or two to go talk to a person who had stopped coming to church. He would tell me, “Don’t come back without them.” That could be a real challenge, but God helped me.

At the time I was saved, there were almost no young people in the church, but I didn’t struggle over not having friends in the Gospel. My faith was strong because I had witnessed so much and then had my own personal experiences with God. I had no doubt that the Gospel was true and never thought of turning back. On the contrary, I had a mind to press forward. I loved the things of God and the Gospel became everything to me.

In time, more young people started coming to church and we began to hold youth services and other activities. Brother Clyde Penn and his wife, Sister Padecia, became the youth leaders, and they always encouraged us in the Lord. In the islands, every year there is something called “carnival”—it’s a big, ungodly festival with a party atmosphere that most young people love. On those days, our church leaders would organize a trip to the beach for the youth, to guide our spiritual lives and help us have fun in a godly way. We never lacked things to do for the Lord and with His people.

Our hearts were very hungry for God. We often spent Saturday evenings at church, just singing and praising God together. Many times, we stayed until people were arriving for the Sunday morning service the next day. When they opened the doors, the power of God was so strong that we couldn’t hold the church service—all they could do was go to prayer too.

The Lord did many miracles among us, and many souls were saved. I remember one woman in particular who had been involved in witchcraft and came seeking deliverance from a demonic spirit. She brought all her witchcraft tools to Pastor Blyden to be destroyed, and both she and her husband surrendered their lives to God. The Lord delivered them completely and it was a powerful testimony in the neighborhood.

Doors opened by God

After high school, I moved to Brooklyn, New York, for four years to attend college. Then I went back to St. Thomas and married a man by the name of St. Clair Pinney, who was part of the same congregation as my family. We lived in New York for five years, and then in 1978, God made a way for us to relocate to Houston, Texas. Along the way, God gave us three children.

In Houston, the Lord opened many opportunities for us. My husband got a great job as a plumber, which made it possible for me to stop working and be a stay-at-home mom. Eventually, when our youngest was a bit older, I decided to take a low-stress, part-time job at an insurance and notary company. Little did I know, God had a much bigger plan in mind. After a couple years, the Lord prompted me to buy the business. He provided the money to purchase it in a miraculous way, and over the next thirty-plus years, He blessed the company abundantly. Our clients were dear to us—I got to know about them and their challenges, prayed with them, and even attended their funerals when they passed away. That work supported our family through many highs and lows, until we sold it in 2020.

During those years, God also helped me to serve as the youth leader at our church in Houston. We did not have many young people in the congregation at first, but God gave creative ideas to reach children in our community. One day, my son suggested, “Why don’t we buy cookies and drinks for the kids?” So we went door to door with cookies and juice, inviting neighborhood kids to church. Children started to come, and soon they were inviting their friends too. We also held vacation Bible school, served special meals, took group trips to recreation centers, and encouraged them to go to our church youth conferences and camp meetings. It was a great blessing to see many of those young people come to know the Lord and become part of our church family. In 2008, I was asked to serve as the pastor of the Houston church, and God helped me fill that role as well.

Too much to tell it all

God has done so much in my life that I can’t really tell it all, but I can say that the Lord has done great things for me. In 1995, my husband was in a near-fatal car accident, but God spared his life and gave him a renewed determination to live for Him. God also carried us through a time of grief when our daughter passed away at age thirty, and then He helped us raise her two children until they were grown. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer, but God turned that into a testimony too.

Through all the twists and turns of life, I have learned that we can trust the Lord to handle everything we face. Each experience has been a steppingstone to the next, and I can look back now and see that God had a purpose for everything He allowed. It all fit into His plan. God has been so good and so real in my life, and I give Him all the praise.