Heart Garden Ministry Staff
At Heart Garden Ministries, we are so proud of our highly trained and passionate ministers. They are called by God to this ministry and they long to see you healed and walking in the fullness of your God-given destiny.
Rose Spagnola
Ministry Leader
I realized right after I got married 42 years ago that my own issues were impacting my marriage in a bad way. I knew that if I was to have a healthy marriage I first had to be a healthy wife and mother. I was blessed that first year of marriage to find a great resource at my own church called inner healing. I myself have been through inner healing ministry numerous times since then. Today my heart's desire is to see all believers fully walking in their giftings and callings, without the hindrances of unresolved wounds. I love to minister to teens and women from all walks of life but particularly those who have suffered from abuse of all types, childhood traumas and low self-esteem.
Cindi Graff
Heart Garden Minister
I grew up in a traditional family as a pastor's daughter and granddaughter. My life was idyllic. When I turned 8 years old my life was turned upside down. The abuse started, and two years later my father left our family for another woman. I started looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. I also looked for anyway to numb the pain. It all left me broken, feeling worthless, and with health issues that seemed insurmountable.
Today I live with my high school sweetheart and our two beautiful miracle girls. I love to read, study, exercise, and garden. My heart’s desire is to allow Jesus to work through me to set the captives free and watch as Jesus heals the brokenhearted. He has done these things for me and I know He will do them for you. True relationship with Jesus is how this materializes in our lives. When our identity is founded in His love and promises, everything changes and we can walk in freedom.
Pete Spagnola
Heart Garden Minister
I was born into a dysfunctional, Italian family with an alcoholic father. I became a Christian at 21 and through Christ overcame self-esteem and drug problems. I have been married 42 years to a wonderful wife and we have 4 grown children and 6 grandchildren. I am enjoying my retirement by serving Christ through jail ministry, men's groups and Heart Garden Ministries.
I have compassion for others in pain and I want to see them get to the root of their problems and become all they were created to be in Christ.
Donna Farmer
Heart Garden Minister
I was born to a single woman who married a man with many children before I was two. He was abusive and crippled with alcoholism and drugs. By the age of 30, I had accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, but continued to have relationship issues. I lived in fear, confusion and worthlessness. It has been an amazing journey to finding my true identity. In 2013 I graduated from Destiny Leadership Institute and became an ordained minister, having worked in the private sector and in local ministries. I am happily married to my best friend, Barry, for 14 years. I am a retired horse trainer and riding instructor. I am fully blessed to enjoy my grandchildren, 2 horses, 2 dogs, 1 cat and a lovely rose garden. I love the outdoors, reading, writing and studying God’s Word. My heart truly hurts for those who have been wounded and traumatized by abuse, neglect, alcohol and drugs. For me, there is no greater service to the Lord than to minister to you, showing you the love, freedom and joy of our Lord, Jesus. He is my Redeemer and He is YOUR Redeemer! I will stand with you to help you find your true identity, as you allow Jesus to heal your heart and life and set you free, as only our magnificent Savior can.
Jessica Alsip
Ministry Leader
My past had a lot of abandonment from family and bad relationships that put me in a destructive cycle of pushing people away and building walls around my heart to try to protect it. I was rejected many times by family, friends, loved ones, and even my church. This brought anger, shame, guilt, and depression into my life. But God….changed everything with a real life encounter with Jesus. Jesus Himself tore down the wall I built around my heart, so I can be close to Him and others without fear of abandonment and rejection. Getting to know Jesus with a real relationship Changes EVERYTHING!
My heart is to bring the fatherless (orphans in the spirit) to the Father and the husbandless (widows in the spirit) to Jesus. (James 1:27) Help bind up the wounds of the broken-hearted and proclaim freedom to the captives. (Isaiah 61)
Marcus Smith
Heart Garden Minister
Marcus is a lover of Jesus, husband, and Father. He also loves the Braves and Tarheels. He enjoys playing basketball, laughing, and worshiping.
He loves to see other guys become vulnerable. It never gets old watching Jesus heal their identities as men and seeing them fall so deeply in love with the beauty of Jesus.
Denise Grizzard
Heart Garden Minister
My parents divorced when I was in fifth grade. At that point, my dad took my two sisters and I to Tennessee while my mom stayed where we had grown up, in Florida. This created a deep sense of shame, guilt, condemnation, rejection and unworthiness that I could not overcome by myself. The Holy Spirit and a friend helped me get set free from all those lies that I had allowed to come into my life. My heart had pieces missing out of it from past trauma and hurt. Jesus went and got the pieces of my heart that were missing and brought full healing and restoration to my heart and made it whole.Through what I went through the Holy Spirit has given me a heart to see everyone encounter the presence of God to bring complete healing and restoration to their heart, mind and physical bodies. I deeply long to see everyone get set free like I was.
Today, family is very important to me. My husband Mike and I have been married almost 39 years. We have a son and daughter-in-law and two granddaughters that we love spending time with as often as possible.
Diana Jackson
Heart Garden Minister
The beginning of my life I started out with a Mom and Dad and an older brother. We lived on a ranch outside of Golden, Colorado. My Mom left me alone at the age of 2 1/2 in the house. She took my brother and ran off with the ranch hand. Things from that point spiraled downward. My Dad 6 months later was murdered after a fight at a night club and died in the Denver jail at the age of 28. My Dad's parents raised me and then later raised my older brother.
Many years later, and through my own personal trauma God put those in my life that were involved in trafficking and I have seen God miraculously change their lives. I knew I needed to learn more about deliverance and inner healing. So many hurting people, so many who need to know there is a very loving heavenly Father who desires for them to experience healing of heart and soul. He is the God of the whole man. I now am available to be used in any capacity he desires for my life.
Andrea Smith
Ministry Leader
Andrea has been married to an amazing man, Marcus Smith for over 25 years and served in full-time ministry almost as long. During that time they have lived in seven different states as well as spent three years as missionaries in Asia. She is blessed to be the mother of 6 kids, 5 of whom are adopted. Her passion is to teach people to encounter Jesus in the garden of their heart and receive healing and freedom. She loves how Jesus always shows up and does incredible things when we get still and wait on Him.
Kristi Jared
Heart Garden Minister
I grew up in a traditional Christian family. Painful childhood experiences led me to believe my only value was in my body, I didn’t deserve anything good, and the world would be a better place without me. I looked to others to tell me whether I was loved or accepted. Over time, the rejection, shame, guilt, and condemnation became more than I could bear.
Today, I know the Truth: I was loved by Jesus even before I was born. He created me for Himself, not for anyone else. He tells me I am accepted, safe, and worthy of His love. My value is in my heart, not my body.
My heart is to strengthen, encourage, and love others. I want to help others experience the same healing Jesus is working in me. I know what it’s like to be imprisoned and tormented by lies, and I want to help others experience the freedom that Truth can bring.
Renee Whited
Heart Garden Minister
My passion is to see people healed, delivered, restored and set free to walk fully in their God-ordained purpose and destiny. My husband, Ronald, and I are active members of First Church in Livingston, TN, and are also Healing Room ministers at Restoration House in Cookeville, TN. I am so very excited to now be a part of Heart Garden Ministry and I look forward to the impact the ministry will have in this region for the glory of God.
Christi Mueller
Heart Garden Minister
Growing up in a loving Christian home, I was unaware most did not live like I did. Both parents loved the Lord with all their hearts and lived for Him. Although there were struggles within the household, as is expected, divorce was never a word I heard. How surprising it was for me when I discovered situations in my marriage that were irreconcilable. Walking through the decision of divorce was extremely difficult with all the voices in my head yelling I was a failure. After walking through some healing, I chose to remarry. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was repeating a similar pattern. After 22 years of battling for my marriage, I found myself in the same position, moving toward to divorce. This time, I chose to do something different. I dug deeper into the roots of this pattern. After finding Heart Garden Ministries and walking through the healing steps myself, I know without a doubt this is what I am called to do. I get the awesome opportunity to walk through the garden of Father’s heart with others, helping them recognize their true identity. I cannot wait to share in this experience with you.