Mother Gloria Johnson-Rodgers. a family practice physician is the Supervisor of Women, South Central, Georgia, Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Church Of God In Christ, humanitarian, and author. She began life in a shotgun house in a small town called Shaw, Mississippi, and grew up on commodity food and a lot of love. According to Dr. Rodgers, her mom was an excellent mother but a fusser. One day her mother revealed that she had been raped as a child but never told anyone, once she released the secret her whole character changed, and she was no longer a fusser. On the other hand, she describes her Dad as a very calm, very loving, and giving man. “My Dad was the type of person who would give you the coat off his back, she states, anything he had he would give you. He was really the role model for the type of person I’ve grown up to be.” Unfortunately, she lost her Dad at an early age. She was only eight and in the third grade when he passed away. This was a changing moment in her life, and the first time she ever reached out to the lord. She spoke to the Lord directly that day and it was then that He revealed his presence to her. She stated that She was sitting in church and could suddenly see light everywhere. Even her hands were glowing from His power.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text wrap_with_class=”no”]She told no one about the experience until she became an adult, but from that day on she knew and could see things that nobody could. And as incredible as this was, it wasn’t the first religious experience that she experienced during childhood. The second one came when a young boy in her neighborhood died. She was able to feel and know that he had passed away before anyone else did. Again, the experience was so terrifying that she told no one, and even asked for the lord to take her powers away.
The Lord gave her what she asked for until she went away to college.
She had decided to become a physician at the age of five, after watching a man die because of a lack of adequate medical care and was sitting in the chapel at college when suddenly she heard a voice while praying. The voice told her, “Why are you so concerned about man’s faces when I supply everything that you ask me for.” She was shaken by this experience, and at that moment decided to give up on earthly ways and serve the Lord always and forever. She said, “Okay I give up and I’ll serve you, I’ll do what you want me to do!”
From this point on the lord opened every door.
Every time she would ask him for something, he would do it just like that (This is why Dr. Rodgers likes to tell people who are new in Christ that they really don’t understand what they have.) The first thing she asked him for was that he would help her go to the chemical research plant at Monsanto, DuPont. Not only did he let her go, but he helped her get her name onto the patent for every light-emitting dial that’s in America.
Yes, she helped to create the digital watch that millions of people wear every day of their lives.
The summer after that she wanted to do biological research and the lord allowed her to do that at Brown University, where she was able to work on many breakthroughs. And next, he allowed her to attend pre-med at Harvard, where she continued her success. From that point on and for the rest of her life the lord continued to open things up for her. But still, she didn’t tell anyone, because she didn’t want anybody to think that she was weird or religious. Remember, at this time she was at medical school, and that’s not a place where you can talk about these types of things.
At this point, she’s reminded of another story.
Once when she was little and playing outside in the yard, she cut her finger, and split it in half, just like that. She was bleeding everywhere but right before her face, the lord took it and put it back together without a stitch. She never told a soul until about four years ago. Never told anyone. Not a living soul. And as her life continued, she began to have a deeper and deeper hunger and thirst for the lord. She loved him and she loved people. She wanted to be like the people who oozed love and sweetness, not people who were mean and had no love for anyone. So, it was in college that she re-dedicated herself to the Lord. She decided that she was about him and him only. That’s when her ministry truly started, and she was given the gift of prophecy.
It was also when she started to teach bible study and met her husband.
She was so dedicated to the lord that for a whole year she refused to talk to him. But he persisted and called her every day that year until finally, she gave in. As it turned out her future husband’s father was a preacher in the church. They got married, finished school together, began their life, and five years later had a child. At that point, she was teaching bible study on Wednesday night and the place was packed. Just by praying, fasting, and teaching the word she was able to achieve this. She continued to teach, and the lord would continue to give her things. After college, her husband wanted to move back to Georgia, where he wanted to open a church, which he did.
She was at the medical center, where the lord continued to work miracles in her life.
People thought she was a great doctor, they told her she was the greatest doctor they had ever seen. She prayed for patients and they lived, including a set of triplets who were going to die, but managed to pull through. After she prayed for them the children began to thrive and were soon able to go home. After this experience, she was inspired to become a neonatologist and pediatrician, especially when a fellow Doctor recommended that she do this. Another miraculous experience she had was when there was a patient in her early 30s who was dying. She had no idea what was wrong with this woman and consulted every specialist in the hospital. None of them could come up with a solution, so she sat at her desk, prayed, and said, “God, I don’t know what’s wrong with this girl.”
Suddenly a book opened on her desk to this very disease.
It was a rare disease, and she needed to do total blood exchange if the woman was going to live. No one at the hospital believed her, but she persisted and turned out to be right. After the doctors performed tests, they discovered that this woman did in fact have the disease, and once they did a full exchange of this young woman’s blood her life was saved. Now every year she sends Dr. Rodgers a card saying thank you every year. After this, so many things happened. At this point, she had no plans to enter the ministry. Her husband was leading a ministry, and she was going to be a pastor’s wife and sit in the front row. She was more than happy to be a Doctor and a great surgeon and deliver babies and make lots of money.
But then an incredible experience happened.
It all happened when a man she knew died. He was 95 years old; he had no heart rate and no pulse. They covered him up, but his wife wasn’t ready for him to go. So, we prayed, and God sent him back. It was a miracle from God. Dr. Rodgers went on to say “I cannot do any miracles without His power. Furthermore, she states “I have been in ministry for 30 years and I have seen God perform countless miracles.”
Suddenly she realized this was true and she had to give up medicine and give her life to the Lord.
This sounded impossible because at that point she had 500 patients. These patients loved her because she spoiled them. She treated them really, well, and even gave them free medicine. But then her husband came over and told her that he had heard the lord tell him the exact same thing in the car on the way over. At that moment she took the stethoscope off her neck, hung it up, and moved her stuff over to the Church, where she’s been ever since. This was a good choice because she was able to heal even more people in the church than in the hospital. The biggest happened in 1993 when she was praying at the altar with her husband. One of her people had lupus for 27 years, and she was able to heal it simply with prayer. Nobody touched this patient, she simply came in and kneeled at the altar, and the lord healed her completely. Other women were cured of cancer, and after five days went to their Doctor who couldn’t find a single trace of cancer remaining. And this woman is still living today. Her greatest miracle was when her husband fell down the stairs and had a subdural hematoma. Her husband was rushed to the hospital and after an MRI they discovered that he had a blood clot on his brain.
He was going to die, and there was almost no chance that he could pull through.
So, she called a city-wide interdenominational fasting prayer. They met at the church at 6 o’clock every day. And in six months the lord had completely cured her husband and he was back preaching. While her husband was in the hospital he couldn’t walk, couldn’t talk, couldn’t even go to the bathroom. During this time, she needed someone to take over at the church. Once again, the lord intervened and commanded her to become the pastor of the church, and from that day on she and her husband were pastors at the church. Not co-pastors but joint pastors together. They’ve now been working together for more than 30 years, have performed countless miracles, as well as overcoming many challenges.
Mother Rodgers is a giver, She did so much for the senior citizens in her Jurisdiction who had no one else to help them, as well as assist other women. The Jurisdiction was in search of someone to head the women’s Department.
Finally, she became the new supervisor of Women for South-Central Georgia, with an overwhelming 90% of the vote. She was appointed by Bishop Norman O. Harper. According to Dr. Rodgers, “Bishop Harper took a vote, but the decision was his, he said he prayed, and God told him I was the one.”
She says that the only reason that she was able to reach this point was by placing her full faith in the lord and because he was able to fight every battle for her, repeatedly. Anytime anybody has come up against her, the lord has struck them down. Even the people who were jealous of her success. And even when this happened, she continued to show love and was able to overcome what life threw at her. She has kept her faith from being a little girl and has always done exactly what the Lord commanded.
Another secret to her success was her love of people, and willingness to share whatever she had with them. This included cooking for everybody in the neighborhood. She would cook for the church and for the dorm, when she was a counselor and when she was married. She made homemade cheesecakes for everybody at the Married Student Housing at the University Of Iowa including 15 cheesecakes at a time. She just loved to cook, and it was her way of showing love. In 2017, Dr. Rodgers was appointed as the Facilitator for the Caregivers Prayer Line giving hope to those who care for others.
Dr. Gloria Johnson-Rodgers has been blessed with an impeccable professional career and has received numerous awards.
However, her first love, the elderly, has brought her full circle, and now she is doing what she enjoys most, providing care to those who can by no other means support themselves through the Gwendolyn Wilkes Rainbow Centre founded in 1993. Mother Rodgers has served as a member, Vice-President, and President of the Examining Board for the International Women’s Department, Church of God in Christ, INC 2001, 2006, 2015-2017 respectively. She serves on the highest board in the International Women’s Department, Executive Board, as a member and secretary in 2007, and 2011 respectively as well as a member of the McGlothen House Board 2000-2017.
