INTERVIEW WITH RHONDA SOLAND

by Rita Prochazka and Deborah Malone

QUESTIONS BY RITA:

Rhonda, can you share some of your testimony?

I was raised in a Southern Baptist church. I always enjoyed attending church and listening to the preaching and choir, but I did not develop a relationship with the Lord at the time. So, when I got older and left home, it was easy for me to leave church and God behind as well. As a young 20-something, I went into what I call “my wilderness years,” where I wandered in the wilderness; far from God, living my life on my own terms and according to my own choices and desires. After getting married and having three children, our family entered into a very trying time when our oldest son was diagnosed with several neurological issues. It was a scary and very stressful storm in our lives. We had nowhere to turn, no sure hope. All we had was what the doctors told us and that was not very encouraging at all.

But all the while, my mother had been praying for us, and I know that it was due to her prayers that the Lord came and showed up in the middle of the storm and captured the attention of my heart. It still continues to amaze me that after 20 years of me living with my back towards Him, with no thoughts of Him, completely disregarding Him, He still came with such love and tenderness and guided me to Himself. He gave me a deep desire to know Him and to study His word. And as I have followed Him step by step over the past few years, He has led me into a ministry where I serve Him as a correctional chaplain.

As the chaplain for the females in our local prison, God has given me such a deep desire to help women who are struggling; women who have been so bruised and beaten down by life, to let them know that there is a better life, there is a different way, and most especially, that there is a God who loves them and wants to have a life-transforming relationship with them. He has also led me to start a YouTube channel, called Faith and Knitting, where I feature those two things – faith in the form of a devotional teaching at the beginning of the podcast, and finishing off with a sharing of my current knitting projects, and a time of prayer.

What is your favorite Bible verse and why?

I have many, many favorite verses! But I think Galatians 2:20 is really my life verse because it reminds me that all of my life is dependent on Christ, and my goal is to increasingly lose myself and allow Him to live His life through me.

Briefly, what are some things you have learned in your walk with God in this season of your life?

I’ve learned that God will give us as much of Himself as we are willing to receive. He said in Jeremiah 29:13 that when we seek Him with all of our hearts, He would be found by us; but He wants us to seek Him; He wants us to make Him the thing we’re striving after, and when we do, He draws closer and opens our eyes to see more and more of Himself.

How have you prepared or been prepared for your ministry?

As I mentioned earlier, I studied and studied. I did Bible Study Fellowship for 4 years. BSF is an intense, close study of Scripture, in community with other believers, which I enjoyed thoroughly. I have also completed a two-and-a-half-year Chaplaincy Training course and am now about to begin a certificate program in Biblical Studies with the Moody Bible Institute, which should take me about two years to complete. This program will help me learn to better study and teach the Bible.

Would you share a time, recently, that you saw God working in your life, either in your ministry or personally?

Last month, I traveled to Kentucky, to Asbury University to experience the outpouring of God’s Spirit that was happening there. From the beginning to the end of that trip, I saw God do so many wonderful things for me; even just the decision to make the trip, in the people I met there, and especially in the way He provided for me to get into the auditorium, even though there was a HUGE line waiting to get inside. He is so amazing!

Rhonda, will you share something about yourself that most people would not know? It can be a fun fact or serious.

Maybe not very interesting, but I love to study and learn languages, and I can speak a little Spanish, a bit of French, as well as a modicum of German.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

If raising my children to be good, decent people of character and integrity counts as an achievement, then that would be it. If not, then becoming chaplain to incarcerated women would be my greatest achievement.

Would your life story make a good movie?

Ha, Ha! Good question. I think only the part about God taking an aimless, purposeless, life-wasting woman and making her into someone with a purpose, someone whose greatest desire is to love and serve Him by loving and serving others, that would be the only part worth any interest.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Hopefully, still a wife who loves and honors her husband, still a mom who is directing her children towards God, still serving in prison ministry, and still a woman of passionately pursuing a closer relationship with her Lord and all that He has for her.

QUESTIONS BY DEBORAH:

Rhonda what would be your advice to other “seasoned” women on ways to stay active in ministry?

I would say stick to the basics: Bible reading/studying and prayer; and never let go of them. I think these things tenderize our hearts more than anything else does. They keep us close to the Lord and able to hear Him and discern His guidance for us. Another thing: is don’t compare yourself and your ministry to anyone else and their ministry. God has a unique path for each of us. Comparison usually gives us a false sense of who we are and of the value of what we are doing; either making us feel over-important and full of ourselves or making us feel inadequate and insufficient.

Have you ever felt “too old” to be used by God? What made you decide He could still use you?

Yes, I have felt “too old,” many times, especially as I look at the much-younger women who I feel to be “far ahead” of me in ministry. At those times, I have to remember that it was God who called me to do what I am doing. If He thinks I am the right person for the job, then why would I ever think that I am not? It is His strength and ability anyway that gets the results. He just needs a willing vessel. The power and the ability to do is all from Him.

What seasoned woman in the Bible is an inspiration to you?

Not long ago, I might have answered “Sarah,” because of her faithfulness and devotion to the Lord, and to her husband, but more and more, recently, Anna the prophetess from Luke 2 has been on my mind, because of her fierce dedication to the Lord. Because “she did not depart from the Temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.” She practically lived at the Temple, so much was she focused on God, and she was rewarded by getting to see the Christ Child as He was brought to the Temple. Anna loved God and expressed gratitude to Him and spoke, “of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” She loved God and she talked about God, so she is a great inspiration to me.

Rhonda, can you tell us a little about your ministry?

As a chaplain for incarcerated women, most of whom have no spiritual knowledge or experience, I have the privilege of sharing with them about our Savior. The majority of the women are young and are there because of drug use or addiction. Many of them had a really bad start in life, with stories of all types of abuse, neglect, rejection, and many traumatic experiences. My desire is to give them hope and to help them realize that their past does not have to describe or define their future. I seek to introduce them to God and help them to correct any wrong ideas or beliefs they may have about who He is, what He’s like and what He wants from us.

Right now, our chapel services remain suspended, as we are still under Covid restrictions as far as gathering in groups, so I am only allowed to meet with the women one-on-one, which is not ideal, but it’s better than previously, when we were restricted from all face-to-face contact.

My greatest delight is when I see the Truth begin to dawn on the women, when they start to believe that there might just be a possibility of their lives being different; that they haven’t messed up so badly that God’s given up on them; and they begin to dare to believe that God does love them and that He does indeed want to have a relationship with them. Seeing the smile that slowly begins to spread across their faces and the hope that shines from their eyes, makes everything worth it.

What challenges have you had to overcome in this time of your “seasoned” ministry?

Well, the challenges presented by Covid and trying to figure out a way to still minister when we were restricted from seeing the inmates was huge. But other than that, I think a lot of the challenge has been in my own head. I have dealt with feelings of inadequacy and not being qualified for what I am doing. And also, being a person who is rather reserved naturally, having to get up in front of people to speak has brought with it fears and insecurities that I have struggled with. But as I said earlier, I try to keep my focus on the Lord, knowing it is He who has brought me to this, and He who will keep me through it. All the glory goes to Him.

Hi Rhonda, Deborah here, thank you so, so much for stopping by and sharing your testimony. I found great encouragement in your words. Especially the last question. I, too, have struggled with feelings of “not being good enough to share God’s word,” but I just keep telling myself it is not about me. It’s God’s truth and He is just using me as a vessel to share His word. I could hear your words of sincerity throughout your interview and your love for sharing God’s word!

BIO: Rhonda is a wife and mother of three young-adult children and lives just outside Philadelphia, PA. Rhonda is passionate about knowing God. Some of her favorite things to do, besides God-stuff, are knitting, quilting, sewing, and just being one who makes things. Reading, learning, and studying are also some of her favorites. You can find Rhonda on Instagram as faithandknitting. She also has a YouTube podcast called “Faith and Knitting” or you can contact her at faithandknitting@gmail.com.