Women fulfill their ‘callings’ by joining the B-Team Angels ministries

By Jennifer R. Hill
Jennifer@athensnews-courier.com

April 04, 2008 07:20 pm

— If angels are among us, they do not look as if they fell from Heaven with halos made of gold, floating with wings that glitter when they flutter.
But they might look like the rest of us, normal, ordinary people with invisible, slightly warped halos. These ordinary people might be called the second-string angels.
In fact, there are groups of women who dedicate themselves to being angels on Earth and who call themselves the B-Team Angels.
The B-Team Angels is an interdenominational Christian organization. They are a group of volunteers who serve their communities by performing puppet shows, humorous skits, vocal performances and inspirational speakers.
They perform at nursing homes, hospitals, churches, senior centers, schools, community organizations and charity benefits.
The B-Team Angels will visit Riddle Chapel Methodist Church in Athens for a women’s conference Saturday. Registration for the conference will begin at 9 a.m., bunch will begin at 9:30 a.m., and The B-Team Angels will give a program after bunch.
Paula Joslin founded the group in 1994 in Arab. The group started with only seven original members, Joslin, Bonnie Isbell, the late Jean Cassady, Kay Jennings, Gini Caldwell, Nell Bynum and Sandra McNabb. Now, the Angels have chapters located in several places including Arab, Talladega, Center, Dolthan, Fayetteville, Tenn., and Largo, Fla.
Joslin and her friends had no idea the B-Team Angels would grow so big, she said.
When Joslin and her family first moved to Arab in 1992 she opened a small specialty shop downtown called Somewhere in Time. She and several friends ran the shop, dressed in “angel” clothing. They were mostly artists and needed a place to showcase their work. They sold their original artwork and angel-themed items at the shop.
When customers learned the shop workers were Christians, they would share their needs with the women, Joslin said.
It became obvious to Joslin that her “calling” was not in the shop but for a ministry. She said God spoke to her heart and called her attention to the fact that there were so many people out there who are broken-hearted.
“He said, ‘Get your friends and go to them,’” she said. “There are so many people out there who are so hungry for help and encouragement.”
The women had their doubts about being on the B-Team but those doubts were quickly dissolved when a stranger brought them a message.
Not long after the group was organized, Joslin and her team of angels were on their way to a senior camp opening for the Salvation Army in Stark, Fla. As they chatted in the car they began to doubt themselves.
“We were floored by how they knew about a little group from Arab,” Joslin said. “We started to think ‘We’re not qualified to do this we’re just ordinary people.”
The group pulled off at a Wendy’s restaurant to take a break from driving and to get a Frosty. They were discussing the doubts that had surfaced during the ride down when a man pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant.
The man walked in, but did not go to the counter to place an order. He walked directly to the women’s table and announced that he has a message for them.
“He said, ‘God does not call the equipped but He equips the called.’ Then he got back in his car and left without ordering a thing,” Joslin said.
She and the B-Team counted the incidence as nothing less than a message from God, the man perhaps being their own personal angel.
Since that day, the women on the B-Team have been going strong in their ministry.
To contact the B-Team Angels call (256) 586-TIME (8463) or visit their Web site at www.bteamangels.com.

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