By KARAN MINNIS, Guardian Lifestyles Reporter, karan@nasguard.com

God has the power to help people overcome challenges. He can provide healing in times of injury and give guidance in times of distress. In the case of Deaconess Marie Roach, 45, God had to provide the courage needed for her to follow an unmarked path to the Anglican ordained ministry.

Born on Mar. 25th, Roach is the fourth daughter born to Canon Neil and Joan Roach, and even though she now serves in religious life, this was not always her goal.

"People sometimes think that because I'm a pastor's daughter that this choice was easy, but for me being a pastor's daughter had nothing to do with it. This is about me and my walk with God," she said.

"My journey to this point started about 10 years ago. I always wanted to learn more about the church and to study theology. I wanted to find out more about the Bible, to find out more about God and to look further into Christianity because I had questions. I wanted to go off and do a degree or a course in this area because I was always interested in different ministries in the church — out-reach, praise and worship, Bible study, and teaching Bible study. But 10 years ago it wasn't feasible. That didn't stop people from asking me if I ever wanted to become a priest. But I always declined because at the time we didn't ordain females."

In 2003, a lecturer from Oxford University, who came to The Bahamas to do a mission with the Anglican Diocese, planted that seed in her during a day she drove him around town.

"During that day he had asked me what I was interested in, church-wise, and at that time I had become more interested in evangelism, so he told me about a course that they we're having at Oxford on the subject. It was a certificate course in Evangelism and Apologetics and that sparked my interest." She was still not interested in becoming a priest.

By 2005, that changed. Every time she read the Bible she says she felt a call to the ordained ministry. But she just kept saying "no." Each time she did this she felt even more miserable. It was to the point where she became dissatisfied with her work in the church because she felt it was time to move on to something else.

She asked for a year's sabbatical to do the course in Evangelism and Apologetics, and at the same time, it was also recommended that she use the time to pray about ordained ministry.

"I said that I would think about it, but I didn't mean it at all. I thought my mind was made up and although the objections we're become less and less, there were still objections about women becoming ordained. But I still went off and the course was prefect. We got to do a lot of mission work and a lot of evangelism but my mind was changed completely due to an evangelist event in a pub. "As a class, we went up to the northern part of England and were told to hold an evangelism event in a pub. I didn't want to do it because I thought that I had nothing in common with the people. I heard the Lord urging me to do it. He was telling me to step out into new areas. I did it, and surprisingly it went extremely well.

"As I was walking out of the pub I once again heard the Lord talking to me. He asked, 'What objections do you have now for not entering ordained ministry? I saw you through this, and you can do so many other things. You know that if you can minister in these situations, with God's help, you have no excuse.' So I made up my mind and I said okay, I'll do it."

Roach said her father and mother still objected.

"They really didn't understand what was going on at the time, but they came to accept it. My mom took it the hardest, but she is now one of my biggest supporters. She understands that God works in many ways and through everyone — just in different ways."

She was officially admitted to the Holy Order of Deacons on Wednesday July 11, 2007, and became the fourth ordained female in the Diocese of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands despite much opposition.

The member of St. Ambrose Anglican Parish, Carmichael Road, was presented to Archbishop Drexel Gomez, Coadjutor Bishop Laish Boyd and Assistant Bishop Gilbert Thompson by her parish priest, Fr. Colin Saunders, Archdeacon James Palacious and her dad, at a concelebrated service at Christ Church Cathedral, downtown Nassau.

After taking her ministerial oath, she sat with her dad, an associate priest at St. Matthew's Anglican Church, who has served as a priest for 50 years.

Her ordination was historic, as it was the first father/daughter team in the Diocese.

Roach, who is unmarried also serves as an advisor to Alpha Bahamas, (a 15-session/10-week practical introduction to the Christian faith), and has introduced the course to over 25 churches across denominations throughout The Bahamas. She also coordinated the first Alpha International Conference for The Bahamas and the West Indies.