Dr. Maria Khaleel has been facing obstacles since the beginning of her ministry. But she’s never allowed them to distract her from the work to which God has called her.

Khaleel is senior pastor of New Life Assembly of God in Pembroke Pines, Florida, a church she planted 25 years ago. Today, it is the largest church in the Fellowship pastored by a woman. But the church’s effectiveness is even more telling. Each year, an average of 300-plus people are saved at New Life. And more than 80 percent of the congregants are baptized in the Holy Spirit.

“The Holy Spirit has given me strength and boldness that no matter what, I can say along with Paul that the point of any suffering I’ve had was to make me a more capable minister,” Khaleel says.

When she was saved and called into the ministry at a young age, she wasn’t concerned about her gender standing in the way.

“Coming from a Catholic background, I didn’t know any women in ministry except for nuns,” she says. “But my family had heard Kathryn Kuhlman speak many times. So those were the only examples of women in ministry for me, but they were powerful ones.”

“I didn’t specifically set out to plant a multicultural church, just to reach my community.”                             — Maria Khaleel

Real obstacles came, though, when Khaleel stepped out. As a young woman looking for a ministry position, the only offers were for full-time work at part-time pay. And there were some who discouraged her from even seeking credentials. But faithfulness in those places gave Khaleel the confidence and favor she needed later.

“If I had not accepted that part-time position, the door wouldn’t have been opened to plant New Life,” she says.

The church started with Bible studies in Khaleel’s home, before launching with more than 150 people in the first service. Within one year, the church had grown to two weekly services, and within two years, an average of 400 people were coming through the doors every week.

New Life is incredibly diverse, with 30 different nationalities represented in the congregation.

“Our church was multicultural from the beginning,” Khaleel says.

Born and raised in the Caribbean, diversity seemed natural for Khaleel.

“I love diversity,” she says. “I didn’t specifically set out to plant a multicultural church, just to reach my community. And my community is multiethnic.”

Khaleel believes the congregation should reflect the community — so that the faces in church each week look as diverse as the ones in the stores, on the streets and around town.

Her advice for those facing obstacles in ministry is to rely on the strength of the Holy Spirit at every turn.

“The Bible says that faithful is He who has called you,” Khaleel says. “If God has called you, be faithful to Him, and He will bring every obstacle down.”

Khaleel’s ministry success is a testament to that faithfulness.

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2018 edition of Influence magazine.