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In a time when sexuality permeates the culture, there is a woman who encourages women to find closure for previous relationships, live chaste, and be the kind of people they hope to attract. Using her own mistakes as a basis for her sermons, prophetess Juanita Bynum has dedicated herself to reaching others with a message from God, a message that offers healing and encouragement through suggesting celibacy for singles. Treading on territory where few women have ventured, Bynum has allowed herself to be God’s vessel, telling her colorful story to the masses, in hopes of saving souls from following the same dark paths she once walked. As a child in Chicago with her parents, Katherine and Thomas, and siblings Janice, Kathy, Regina, and Thomas, Bynum embraced the church as a distinct part of her life. The family were members of St. Luke Church of God in Christ, where the father was an elder. According to Ministries Today, Bynum was an outgoing child. Her charisma became apparent to those outside her immediate realm, when she landed a starring role in her middle school’s production of My Fair Lady. Her performance grabbed the attention of television show agents who wanted to cast her in programs similar to Julia, starring Diahann Carroll. Bynum’s mother, however, declined the offers. “I used to make her stop playing outside and come in the house and just sit still,” she told Ministries Today. “I wanted my daughter to listen to the voice of God,” she added. Though she later admitted in Ministries Today, “Every time I got on my knees I kept hearing [God] say, ‘Before I knew you, I formed you in your mother’s womb to be a prophet to the nations,’” she struggled in her youth to obey instructions from God. Still, Bynum had hopes of being a servant. She attended Saints Academy of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) high school in Lexington, Mississippi and graduated second in her class. Soon after her graduation, Bynum, still a teenager, began preaching at churches and revivals. Eventually, she traveled to Port Huron, Michigan, to minister for pastor William T. Nichols and his wife, and ended up on an unanticipated journey that changed the course of her life.

Juanita Bynum Ministries January 1, 2006 6:00 PM