We Give Too Because #WeGoToo

Today is Giving Tuesday, and I am reflecting on the journey God has carved out for me as a Black female startup founder and a female apostle in the Body of Christ. It is a road marked by grace, but also by a double struggle that many will never fully understand.

Statistics paint part of the picture. Women-founded companies receive less than 3 percent of U.S. venture capital funding, and women of color receive under half of one percent of that amount (Pitchbook, Fearless Fund). Black founders overall receive around 0.48 percent of all U.S. venture funding—a number that has declined in recent years. These numbers are not abstract. They mirror the barriers I face in real time, in real rooms, with real gatekeepers.

In ministry, the landscape is just as sobering. Although Black women make up the backbone of many Black church communities, only a small fraction of Black Protestant congregations are led by women. Black clergywomen continue to report systematic barriers, subjugation, and dismissal because of both race and gender. So when I say I am both a founder and an apostolic leader, I am naming an intersection that is rarely celebrated, often challenged, and frequently misunderstood.

And the hardest blows have not always come from the predictable places. I’ve faced attempts at exploitation, deception, and dishonor from people who look like me, talk like me, and worship like me. Research shows that women of color experience discrimination even within environments committed to diversity and equity, and I have lived this truth. Some of the most painful opposition has come from other people of color, and shockingly, from women of color who saw me as competition instead of covenant.

These experiences could have caused me to walk away. But instead, they have become the reason I continue. They are the reason I refuse to shrink. They are the reason I build.

One expression of that building is Sawubona House in Durban, South Africa—an apostolic house led by an all Black-female leadership team. Sawubona means “I see you,” and this House is a prophetic declaration that God sees Black women, affirms our leadership, and releases us into assignments that the world may not understand but heaven endorses.

Giving Tuesday Globe

The vision of Sawubona House is day and night prayer, worship, and evangelism. We believe prayer is governance. Worship is warfare. Evangelism is the heartbeat of God. From this altar of devotion, a School for Emerging Leaders will soon launch, raising up BIPOC missionaries, apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists, teachers, and marketplace leaders who will plant mission bases across the globe.

We will build this school. We will expand Sawubona House. We will launch additional hubs—even in the face of opposition, even when systems say no, and even when warfare intensifies—because heaven has already said yes.

So on this Giving Tuesday, I am calling on women and BIPOC leaders who know what it means to be discounted to stand in partnership with this work.

Your seed matters.Your agreement matters.Your presence matters.

Ways to partner:

• $25 — a seed of agreement• $50 or $100 monthly — sustaining day and night prayer• $250 or $500 — supporting missionary housing and outreach• $1,000+ — fueling the School for Emerging Leaders and future mission bases

Partner today at www.thewellencounter.org/partner.

Whatever your amount, your “yes” declares:

We give too because #WeGoToo.