Welcome to Anchor House

Welcome to Anchor House, your sanctuary of hope and healing. Rooted in Christian faith, we are committed to providing compassionate support to women navigating life’s most challenging moments. Through a blend of spiritual guidance, emotional support, and practical resources, we aim to uplift and empower you to reclaim your life’s purpose.

 

Join us on this transformative journey, hand in hand, as we fulfill our divine calling to serve and support.

Our Story

In June 2023, Pastor Lorenzo and Evangelist Helyn B. Williams passed the baton of Forerunners Christian Outreach Ministry to Melissa and Cleveland Johnson III. Helyn and Lorenzo started Forerunners on February 8, 1999 and they faithfully served the community by showing the love of Christ for the past 24 years.

 

12 years ago, God gave Melissa the vision for Anchor House, a ministry that focuses on mentoring lost and broken women to maturity. Melissa and her husband are committed to honoring the work Helyn and Lorenzo started while taking Forerunners to the next level as Anchor House Christian Ministries.

HEBREWS 6:19-20

“This hope we have as an Anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the Forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

 

About Melissa Johnson

President of Anchor House Christian Ministries

For speaking engagements, email Melissa

Melissa’s story is a powerful testimony of how God’s love, grace, and redemption can transform even the deepest pain into beauty and purpose. Her journey speaks to many of the difficult struggles facing our society today—surviving rape as a teenager, enduring the heartbreak of abortions and the loss of a child, battling alcohol and prescription drug abuse, engaging in promiscuity, and suffering both physical and verbal abuse. Yet through faith in Christ, Melissa discovered healing, restoration, and a renewed hope that only God can provide.

 

For sixteen years, Melissa ran from the Lord, desperately trying to numb her pain with alcohol, pills, relationships, and every other escape she could find. But one life-changing encounter with the Holy Spirit brought her to her knees in surrender. In that moment, she realized she could no longer circle the same mountain of brokenness—nor could she find freedom on her own.

 

Today, Melissa is a devoted wife and mother to three children—Gabby, Zachary, and Evan—and a loving stepmother to her husband’s eight children. What the enemy meant to use for destruction has instead become the very fire that fuels her passion. Out of her past, Melissa has found purpose: to help other hurting women discover their identity in Christ and embrace the hope of a redeemed future. Through Anchor House, Melissa now combines her experience as an entrepreneur, HR professional, and life coach to guide women in uncovering their true worth and calling. Her story is not just one of survival but of transformation—a living reminder that God can bring beauty from ashes

What We Believe

Anchor House is an organization dedicated to reaching out to the hurting, the poor and the disadvantaged. We do not judge, according to the Word of God, and only desire to share the love of God through Jesus Christ, His son. Our mission is to “mentor the broken and lost to maturity.”  We accept the Scriptures of the Holy Bible as the revealed will of God, the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice, and, for the purpose of maintaining unity, adopt the following as our Statements of Fundamental Truth and Doctrine.

 

We Believe
  1. THE ONE TRUE GOD: There is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I John 5:7
  2. THE DEITY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His resurrection from the dead by the power of God, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father and that He will personally return in power and glory.  John 1:14; Matt. 1:18,25; Phil. 2:5-6; 2 Thes. 1:10
  3. CHRIST’S BLOOD ATONEMENT: Christ’s blood atonement (payment and reparation) has affected mankind’s salvation and reconciliation with God. I John 1:7 
  4. THE SALVATION OF MAN: We receive salvation from sin and death by grace through faith in Christ. Rom. 10:9-10
  5. ETERNAL LIFE: In the everlasting existence of both those saved into the resurrection of eternal life, or those lost to eternal condemnation. Rev. 20:12-15; John 6:44,65
  6. THE SCRIPTURES INSPIRED: The Bible is the inspired and only infallible and authoritative Word of God that is granted for our faith and conduct on earth. 2 Tim. 3:16
  7. BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT: In the Holy Spirit baptism of believers, the present-day ministry of the Holy Spirit, and His gifts and fruit; and that by indwelling the Christian, He enables and empowers godly living. Heb. 2:4; I Cor. 12:1-11
  8. UNITY IN THE FAITH: In the spiritual unity of believers through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Eph. 2:21-22
  9. ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH: In the Scriptural ordinances of water baptism and the receiving of the Lord’s Supper. We believe neither is essential for salvation but serves as a living demonstration of our living faith in Christ. Rom. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 11:23-26; Luke 22:19-20
  10. MARRIAGE: The Biblical definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. Sexual intimacy is confined to marriage. Gen. 2:24; 1 Cor. 7:2; Heb. 13:4; 1 Cor. 6:9
  11. TWO GENDERS: There are only two genders – man and woman – as biologically defined at birth.  Gen. 1:27; Deut. 22:5