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urfm You are the church
with racial and ethnic minorities who were not receiving
authority and recognition elsewhere. “We had really
deep prayer for each other.”
Even though CUE and FMUF are no longer active,
their work led to the launch of an African American task
force, which became the African Heritage Network, and
the Red Latina (Latin Network).
Brooklyn, New York
After finishing graduate school, Saylor moved to New
York City’s Brooklyn borough in 1976, the same year
CUE was held in the city. She served in Brooklyn in
such diverse areas as Christian education, discipleship
and prayer ministries. She worked with several pastoral
teams as she reached people of different ages by leading
a women’s ministry and directing a children’s day camp
and tutoring clinics. She became active in the New York
City movement of Concerts of Prayer International and
oversaw all of the Brooklyn churches’ involvement.
“I would ache with my love for the city. It was just
incredible,” Saylor said. “Brooklyn was really my
promised land.”
She connected with Brooklyn pastors such as
influential author Jim Cymbala, the senior pastor of
the Brooklyn Tabernacle, who shared from Jeremiah 29
and emphasized embracing the city and praying for its
welfare and prosperity.
Her work with children helped her reach people who
would otherwise not have come into contact with Free
Methodists.
“A program of mentoring and remediation is always
needed, and it is a door opener. I was able to get into
homes that nobody else could get into simply because I
was a teacher and cared about children,” she said.
Saylor began learning Spanish in seventh grade
and also took Spanish classes in college. She received
additional instruction at an institute in Costa Rica
that trained missionaries headed to Spanish-speaking
nations. Instead of going to a foreign mission field, Saylor
returned to Brooklyn where her knowledge of Spanish
proved useful.
One of the beneficiaries of her multicultural ministry
in Brooklyn was Maritza Leonhard.
“I first met Donna when I was a very young
child. I attended the Free Methodist Church
on 16th Street in Brooklyn,” Leonhard told
“I am so grateful for
her. Every aspect of my
adult life was positively
impacted by her love.”
— Maritza Leonhard
LIGHT + LIFE. “Some people say that in order for
someone to fully thrive in this world all they really need
is to be ‘seen’ by someone. I suspect that Donna was that
person for a lot of children and their families in our
neighborhood. She saw me, she saw my family, and she
loved us despite our many flaws. It was through her love
for others that I eventually came to know Jesus.”
Leonhard said that Saylor made sure she and her
family members were able to attend church events.
“She also made sure we had access to programs that
could positively impact our lives —programs like the one
that would eventually connect me to my ‘foster family,’
the family that would later become my main support
system in this life,” Leonhard said. “She opened doors for
me and my family, and then she proceeded to guide us as
we walked through those doors.”
Saylor ensured that Leonhard and many other children
attended a Christian summer camp in Pennsylvania, and
Saylor served as Leonhard’s counselor one year.
“I was very young when I had to take on a parental role
to my younger siblings. I had to be an adult when I should
have been a child. It was at camp that I felt the most free
to be a child,” said Leonhard, who recalled having to
do a chore for ignoring Saylor’s warning to stop talking
past bedtime. “Not only did I serve my consequence, but
she stayed with me while I did. I remember her lovingly
telling me why it needed to be done. I remember thinking
as a child that although I was being punished, she still
loved me, just like Christ loves us despite our sins.”
Leonhard said she and her family members would
sometimes wake up and find a bag of clothing and food
at their front door, and they knew the bag came from
Saylor and other church leaders.
“Our neighborhood had many of the well-known
problems that come with living in poverty, but as a child,
I wasn’t afraid of my neighborhood. My neighborhood
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