She Magazine APRIL 2016 | Page 133

TELLING OTHERS ABOUT GOD’S GOODNESS is what Nefrateri believes she was created to do. She always knew that God had great plans for her life even though it did not always appear to be so. Those whom she comes in contact with are in awe at Gods power at work in her life. However, humility and her love for God remains her focus. Aside from her gift to write, Nefrateri accepted the call of God to preach the gospel in February 2005 and has been sharing God’s word ever since. She currently serves alongside her husband, Oddie Smalls who is also an ordained minister. Nefrateri’s charismatic approach to the gospel is nothing short of compassion for Gods people to be free, and a sincere desire that others will come to know God through her service to the body of Christ. This desire led to her vision for her upcoming film Escaped To Tell. This film, based off of her first book, Cries From Within, will make you laugh, cry, and leave you inspired to go the extra mile to live life on purpose. Nefrateri is completing her Bachelor of Social Work degree while spearheading a non-profit organization entitled Healing Hurts. The vision for this outreach offers hope, support, and restoration 吀伀刀夀 䈀唀刀䌀䠀 to those dealing with emotional and mental trauma with a direct emphasis on individuals and families alike. She is an active speaker for RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network), an authorized facilitator for Darkness To Light/D2L’s Stewards of Children curriculum which promotes prevention and response to child sexual abuse. Nefrateri is also a certified victim’s advocate for domestic violence and sexual assault. Though she wears many hats, none of them hold a candle to her role as a homemaker. She is the proud mother of five (Allen, Clifton, Christy, Olivia, Alexis) and grandmother of two. This Proverbs 31 woman seeks to “turn the world upside down” (Acts 17:6, KJV) by Gods word and her life-living, bringing as many lives to Christ as she possibly can while on the way. While Nefrateri’s puzzle is far from completed, its safe to say she has only just begun. The last few pieces are quite simple, even in the most difficult puzzles. I personally have found that to be the case in life as well. There is a lot of strategic planning and hard work in the beginning, but at the end of the project things seem to fall into place quite effortlessly. You look everywhere, to no avail. It’s not to be found. But when you clear everything out, empty every bag, like magic you immediately rid yourself of all those negative thoughts now, and realize, that project, my marriage, my life, my health, my family, my past decisions, this puzzle wasn’t a failure after all. The truth is, that the piece, the answer was there all along, if I had just been patient. Sometimes we push for a desired result, simply because we’re attached to an outcome. Once a puzzle is completed we often start another puzzle. We might take that puzzle apart and put it back in a box to do again another day. In life, there are often parts of the puzzle that we’d like to take apart and start over too. The puzzle may go back in the box, but the lessons we learned from doing that particular puzzle will help us complete the next puzzle more efficiently. By publicly expressing her challenges and road blocks along the way, Nefrateri Smalls uses this platform as her opportunity to help others connect the pieces of their own story. In doing so, just as with a finished story, her story is complete. SHEMAGAZINE.COM APRIL 2016 133