Testimony Tuesday: Trusting God as her shepherd

by Bella Agnello

Rachel Kimble is an adjunct professor at Cedarville University and teaches a women’s ministry class, but most students know her as Dr. Kimble’s wife. Growing up, she aspired to be a missionary overseas, but God slowly drew her heart back to the United States, where she engages in ministry alongside her husband and lives out her dream job as a mom.

Mrs. Kimble grew up the second youngest of four kids, with parents who were passionate about loving God and serving him. She gave her life to Christ at 5 years old with the help of her older sister. She was baptized the next year, publicly proclaiming her decision to follow Jesus.

God put ministry on Mrs. Kimble’s heart very early on in her life. At 7 years old, she resolved to become a missionary when she grew up. Part of her decision was prompted by watching her parents engage in ministry. Her mother received biblical counseling training when she was little, and her dad decided to change his career from an electrical engineer to a pastor when she was born. While in seminary for most of her formative years, he spent many years teaching Sunday school classes at their church.

“To see both of my parents submit their lives to the Lord was so faith-building for me,” Mrs. Kimble said. “Engineers make a lot of money and pastors, especially pastors of a small church like my dad was at, didn’t. It just neat to see the Lord’s faithfulness to them.”

Mrs. Kimble’s relationship with God strengthened when she learned how to study her Bible in middle school. Her youth pastor gave the students devotionals to go through each day leading up to their Wednesday night services. For the first time, she was able to develop a regular habit of reading her Bible.

“It was life changing […] to have a structure to actually have time with the Lord and to know him personally,” Mrs. Kimble said. “Just to know that the God of the universe wants me to know him and knows me [was] always very comforting to me.”

Mrs. Kimble loved this time with God. It gave her peace when her dad moved their family to finish seminary and pastor at a smaller church; and, it gave her wisdom as she lived out her faith in public school.

By the time college rolled around, Mrs. Kimble was ready to attend a Christian school. She attended Baptist Bible College—closed in 2024—to prepare for overseas missionary work.

In college, Mrs. Kimble wrestled with her desire for marriage. Never having dated before, she struggled to reconcile her confidence in her identity in Christ with her desire for a husband to partner with in ministry.

Mrs. Kimble said, “I just remembered wrestling with the Lord like, ‘I would love to be married. I would love to have kids and there’s nothing I can do about it—what am I supposed to do here?’”

God began to teach Mrs. Kimble how to entrust her desires to her good shepherd. As he taught her to fight for contentment, he was leading her closer to the one she was praying for.

“I met Jeremy, and that was exciting,” Mrs. Kimble said. “But then that also brings up all these other questions because you don’t just bull through with your plan. You have to join a team and figure out what God is asking you to do.”

Dr. Kimble was studying to be a pastor. While Mrs. Kimble saw God drawing them together, she still believed God was calling her to be a missionary.

“I struggled with the question, ‘What if I am not doing my calling?’ But I really believe that the Lord used that desire in my heart to be overseas to shape everything about my choices,” Mrs. Kimble said. “It determined where I went to college and even the mindset of life like, ‘Do I have to have a lot of money or do I have to live really close to my mom and dad or will I be okay with being away?’”

The couple married once Dr. Kimble graduated from college, and God blessed them with two healthy children. More than becoming a missionary, Mrs. Kimble had always dreamed of becoming a mom. Yet, she began to feel a disconnect between her vision and her reality. God was again revealing things about herself to strengthen her trust in him.

“‘I feel like I’m not doing anything that matters because today I kept two humans alive and made food that got eaten.’ So you’re just like, ‘How’s this meaningful?’” Mrs. Kimble said. “The world doesn’t value what I’m doing. But [God] sees faithfulness, and Jeremy would always remind me, “You have got to have the long view.
It’s not just about today—it’s about the future.’”

The Kimbles decided to homeschool their children to maximize discipleship and to spend time intentionally teaching them how to be faithful to God. As Mrs. Kimble fulfilled her role as a mother and teacher to her kids, God blessed her with more ministry opportunities. The family moved to Cedarville when Dr. Kimble was hired as a professor. Living close to the school meant having the ability to start mentor relationships with girls on campus.

“If you’re looking for ministry opportunities, [God] always brings them,” Mrs. Kimble said. “My kids would take a nap and some Cedarville student would come over, and while I cooked dinner, we’d chat about life and pray together.”

Looking ahead toward empty-nester life, Mrs. Kimble began asking God what was next for her. As she prayed for wisdom, God led her and Dr. Kimble to attend a biblical counseling training conference, which ignited in her a desire to pursue biblical counseling and help women put their trust in God during difficult circumstances.

“God’s Word has the answers for people’s problems in their life,” Mrs. Kimble said. “Young ladies always come with all these huge question marks hanging in the air around them. The huge blessing is they learned to follow the Lord, to trust the Lord, to take the next step.”

Pointing young women back to God is not only a ministry but an encouragement to Mrs. Kimble as she gets to closely observe the work God does in the lives of others. She knows firsthand the joy of trusting God to be her good shepherd, and her joy is fulfilled as she helps women see God in this way, too. She gives thanks to the God who has proved his faithfulness to her and uses her to draw his faithfulness out in others’ stories.

Mrs. Kimble said, “[God’s] just woven a story together that I wouldn’t have written for myself, but as you look back, you’re just amazed at his providence, sovereignty, faithfulness and wisdom.”

Bella Agnello is a senior Broadcasting, Digital Media and Journalism major with a concentration in Journalism and the On-Campus editor for Cedars. She enjoys antiquing, listening to records and reading classic Russian literature in her spare time.