Ministry Leadership Team Testimonies
Miranda Embry
Founder, Ministry Vision & Spiritual Formation Director
I am a wife, mother, writer, entrepreneur, redeemed sinner, and wholly dependent follower of Jesus. The foundation of Formed Through Fire Ministry is rooted in my personal testimony — a life marked by addiction, trauma, rebellion, and the relentless mercy of God.
I was saved by grace at fifteen, yet for many years I ran from the very God who called me. I knew at sixteen that I was called to ministry, but I believed the lie that I was unworthy — unworthy of His love, His forgiveness, and certainly unworthy to speak His truth. That lie led me into seasons of drug addiction, alcoholism, sexual trauma, homelessness, criminal behavior, church hurt, divorce, and repeated loss.
I have survived molestation, rape, assault, rejection, abandonment, and life-threatening violence. I have lived in sin and in shame. I have lost everything more than once.
But God.
When I finally cried out for help, He met me in the wreckage — not with condemnation, but with mercy. He restored what I thought was beyond repair. He healed what I believed would always be broken. He did not discard me; He refined me.
Formed Through Fire was born from that refining.
As Founder and Ministry Vision & Spiritual Formation Director, I steward the theological direction, discipleship framework, and spiritual formation strategy of this ministry. My calling is not to perform or impress, but to disciple — to raise women who know the Word, walk in the Spirit, and refuse to remain in the ashes.
I am not a polished scholar, nor did I follow a traditional path into ministry. But God does not always call the qualified — He qualifies the called. And I now stand firmly in the truth that what the enemy meant for destruction, God has redeemed for His glory.
If He healed me, He can heal you.
Love in Christ,
Miranda Embry
Jamie Carey
Ministry Leadership & Spiritual Alignment Director
I was born into a family of Baptist preachers and raised surrounded by the message of Jesus from the beginning. I accepted Christ as my Savior at a young age and rededicated my life at twelve, but like many believers, I eventually drifted — searching for identity in places that could never sustain me.
When I was eighteen, my world fractured. My parents’ very public divorce ended our family’s evangelistic ministry, and I watched the foundation I had built my identity upon crumble. In the aftermath, I lost not only direction, but a clear understanding of who I was apart from performance and position.
In my early twenties, unexplained health issues emerged, followed by depression and weight gain that deepened my struggle with identity and worth. I married out of fear and insecurity rather than wisdom, and soon found myself in a painful and abusive marriage marked by addiction, imprisonment, and grief.
Our son, Remi, was born sleeping. His life, though brief, forever changed mine. In the depths of unimaginable loss, I was also diagnosed with a rare lung disease, LAM — a progressive condition that placed the possibility of a double lung transplant in my future.
Yet even there, God did not abandon me.
When I fully surrendered my life to Him, He delivered me — not only from a destructive marriage, but from the lies that had shaped my self-worth. Through His Word, He rebuilt my identity, restored my confidence, and strengthened my faith. I lost over 120 pounds, but more importantly, I lost the belief that I was unworthy of God’s best.
I stand firmly on the authority and sufficiency of Scripture as the unchanging Word of God. I believe salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. I believe in one God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — and that the Christian life is lived in daily surrender, empowered by the Spirit and rooted in biblical truth.
As Ministry Leadership & Spiritual Alignment Director, I steward doctrinal alignment, leadership oversight, and the relational health of Formed Through Fire. My heart is to help women find their identity in Christ, remain anchored in truth, and walk forward in obedience — no matter what fire they have endured.
This journey has been marked by loss, healing, discipline, and grace. And I now serve from a place of strength, not survival.
— Jamie Carey
Sandy Patterson
Discipleship Development & Inner Healing Minister
I was raised in church and gave my life to Christ at six years old. From the outside, my family appeared spiritually strong, but at home I was being raised by a narcissistic mother who needed the spotlight while I was trained to live in the shadows. I learned early to be seen and not heard. What I did not understand then was that this was not just family dysfunction — it was an attack on my spiritual identity. My voice, my confidence, and my sense of worth were being shaped by silence instead of truth.
At sixteen, I became pregnant, got married, and moved out. What could have been defined as a mistake became the beginning of God’s redemptive work in my life. Through my husband’s family, the Lord showed me what a healthy, loving family looked like. My husband and I have now been married for 30 years. Our journey has not been without struggle, but God has been faithful through every refining season.
Through those years of fire, the Lord began healing the places where silence and fear had once ruled. He began giving me a voice. He stirred in me a deep hunger to move beyond foundational faith into true spiritual maturity. He entrusted me with greater spiritual assignments that stretched and prepared me. I learned how to confront spiritual strongholds, renew my mind, and stand firm when the enemy attacked. What once silenced me, God transformed into spiritual authority.
Today, I carry a passion to help my sisters in Christ move from milk to meat — from survival to spiritual strength. Through prayerful discernment and intercessory ministry, I guide women into deeper healing, freedom, and Christ-centered wholeness. I fight in prayer. I stand in the gap. I help women recognize spiritual strongholds, reclaim their identity, and walk in the authority that is already theirs in Christ.
My heart is not only to see women set free, but to see them mature, stand strong, and lead others into freedom as well. We are called to more than surface faith. We are called to spiritual depth, courage, and Kingdom impact. And I am honored to walk alongside women as they discover the voice, identity, and authority God has always intended for them to carry.