About a month ago, President Donald Trump spoke at a church rally in Miami, where he announced his coalition of Evangelicals for Trump. One of the speakers at that event was evangelist Angel Belcher. She shared about a side of Trump that many people never see.
“I pray for my president every day,” she said at the rally. “The Bible says we’re supposed to pray for our leaders. … I have found out not everyone is going to get along. You can try, you can pray, you can speak. But I will tell you this: God told me to pray for my president. And I’m going to continue praying for my president. And I’m going to continue standing for my president because my president is there for me.”
Belcher first met Trump when he gave her a gold medal for her work after Hurricane Michael. I had the privilege of speaking with her on my podcast today about the work she did that gained the president’s attention.
“When the hurricane came, a lot of the surrounding small counties were without water, they were without light—some of them for months, some of them for weeks,” she says. “So I just got those generators going and pulled out the drills and the crock pots and started setting up and talking a lot and serving people. God just multiplied it.”
Soon, people were signing up to offer money, food and basic provisions with Belcher. The National Guard even joined in and gave up their food to help those suffering.
“So I asked the head colonel if I could feed them every day, and he gave me that privilege of doing so,” Belcher says. “And what really touched my heart is when they got ready to leave, to go further down to Mexico Beach after being here a couple months, he tore his patch off his uniform and gave it to me. And he gave me a hug and a kiss. He said, ‘You are now a part of us. You are one of our troops.'”
What’s so incredible about Belcher’s story is that she was just an ordinary citizen at that time. She didn’t even have a big ministry yet, and even now, her ministry runs strictly off donations and money her husband offers.
“There are still a lot of people who need my help,” she says. “Right now, I’m working more in the Panama City, [Florida], area. There are still people down there who are living in tents, living outside.”
I asked Belcher why these people were still living in tents instead of in trailers, which FEMA provides.
“You cannot take care of all those people—there are too many,” she responded. “Panama City is a big city. “
Thankfully, the city’s government is working on a project that could provide better shelter for thousands of people, helping them get off the streets.
One of the hardest things about this ministry, though, was when Belcher—who is African American—spoke at the Trump rally. After speaking, she says, some of the very people she had invited into her office and given food and provisions started saying they wanted both her and Trump to die and go to hell.
“It was like a knife just went through my back,” she says. “I was so hurt. All I could do was cry. And I shut down for about four days. I have a war room, so I went in my war room and I was praying to God. God spoke to me, and He said, ‘What makes you think that you should be exempt? They talked about Me. What makes you exempt? I want you to get up, hold your head up high.'”
Soon after receiving that word, Belcher called her dad and told him the situation. He told her he wanted to send her something.
“He sent me probably about 100 emails and stuff—all spam—and people were saying, ‘I thank God for listening to you in Miami. You touched my heart. Your message was powerful. You’re awesome,'” Belcher says. “And then [my dad] said, ‘How many ugly things did you read?’ I said, ‘About nine.’ He said, ‘What’s nine compared to over 80,000-plus I’m looking at? Take the good and run with it. Ignore the haters.'”
I find this advice incredibly helpful as Christians take a stand this year during the 2020 election. It doesn’t matter what insults others throw our way. We have to be willing to speak up for what we know is true.
I encourage you to listen to my full interview with Belcher and hear her many stories and insights into Trump’s presidency. And as always, share this article with your friends and on your social media.
Stephen Strang 
