Meet Candace Thomas

We recently connected with Candace Thomas and have shared our conversation below.

Candace, so great to have you sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our readers and so let’s jump right into one of our favorite topics – empathy. We think a lack of empathy is at the heart of so many issues the world is struggling with and so our hope is to contribute to an environment that fosters the development of empathy. Along those lines, we’d love to hear your thoughts around where your empathy comes from?

I’m a survivor of four brain surgeries. From November of 2019 to September 2020, every 3 months, I was undergoing surgery to have a cyst drained on my pituitary gland. Three times through my nose and once they cut my head. I didn’t understand why I was having to be in the Neurological ICU, but I accepted my circumstance. Surviving that season of my life, helped me to encourage others daily. Being a survivor with no scars developed my empathy skill to understand others. As I left the ICU, I would see others that were in worse conditions than I was in. I learned to listen effectively to others when they were hurting. I learned quickly that the same letters in silent are also in listen. That helped me to listen with intentions to share the healing that I received. As a singer, missionary and evangelist, I have been equipped to share the love of God with others, causing my empathy sensor to be activated in a great way.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I serve as co founder in ministry with my husband at our church, More Manifestation Church Gainesville. I lead the worship ministry and also teach in the word. I also lead a weekly prayer focus on Facebook called “Wakeup Wednesday”, at 6am, which is a time of prayer and worship through the word. Last year I started Yes I am HER Conference, (healed, empowered and restored). This year, we will focus on being a forerunner! In the Bible, John was the forerunner of Jesus Christ, paving the way of salvation for many to be saved. Many women have launched out with being the first of their generation/family to start embarking in areas of success. We want to reach women where they are and encourage them that anything is possible to all that believe. We will meet June 28 & 29 at More Manifestation Church, 4000 Newberry Rd, Suite F Gainesville FL, 32607.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in my journey were patience, faith, and love. Although I didn’t know that the surgeries were going to repeat themselves every three months, I had a great deal of patience in the recovery and healing process. I found myself saying “any day now” each day at the end of my prayer as I went through the healing and recovery process. I realized that my NOT YET was greater than my RIGHT NOW. I also exercised my faith in God, knowing that His word remained true, that God would do exceeding, abundantly, above all that I could ever ask or think (Eph. 3:20). Lastly I learned to not only give love, but I allowed myself to receive love. As a person that is always giving of myself, I learned that it was okay to receive love. I learned to allow others to do things for me so I could heal.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

The most impactful thing my parents, James and Linda Wiley, did was cultivated my life to love God. Doing so, I learned to serve others in the community yearly by feeding the homeless. My mother had us participating in our church group called the HELPS. We did just that. I also completed several hours of community service by helping the elderly with their daily chores in their homes. We were taught and raised to respect our elders with addressing them properly when speaking to them. I’ve remained faithful in keeping God first in all things. My day begins and ends with prayer. I am thankful that the seed they planted remained and has been carried over to my seed.

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