Check Out Sarah Dunston’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Dunston.

Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was raised in a small town north of Kansas City called Princeton, Missouri, where religion taught me that performance and achievement was love. You love your family? You work hard. You love God? You work hard. Relationship was missing. This took me down an empty path that led to self. I tried to find identity in men, drugs, alcohol but you would have never known it. I flew under the radar with my addiction, and by all accounts I looked successful. I graduated at the top of the Dean’s list from a private college. Took a job with the Attorney General’s Office. In May 2013, I walked in on my husband drunk, cheating on me. And my world unraveled.

I got into a bad relationship with a bad dude and lost everything as I absorbed his world. I woke up a meth addict at 32 years old and couldn’t stop the machine of addiction. It was terrifying to look in the mirror and not see “me” anymore. Something else- an automated force- was living my life for me and the real Sarah was chained and gagged on the inside. I could feel fire on my skin, on my brain. Suicide was a recurring whisper, “just end it.” I had DFS knocking on the door because I couldn’t get my daughter to school.

When it looked like all was lost, and my family thought I was going to die, a Jesusfreak showed up at my door and used the Bible to challenge every religious thought I had about who Jesus was. And he said one word changed everything: “Grace.” It was a riot in my soul. This man told me I didn’t deserve it and couldn’t earn it but God freely gave grace, because He was a good Father. For the first time in my life I had hope. The real thing. I made the decision to believe Jesus did die for me, could free me from the mess I had made of my life and that He would give me grace, favor and kindness to live out the rest of my years powerfully. And that’s exactly what happened and how our ministry began.

I would go on to have every chain of lust and addiction broken. He freed me from homelessness and hopelessness. Everything that I lost in my old life, God began to restore to me double for my trouble. That’s the God of the Bible. That’s what Jesus does for those who believe. And now we give everything we’ve been given away so others can live hope- filled, empowered lives by the grace of God.

Our ministry is called graceRIOT and has the goal of bringing “the church” outside the four walls and actively into the lives of the hurting and hopeless. graceRIOT crosses enemy territories to connect souls to the Kingdom of Light. graceRIOT is powered by the Good News to deliver hope and freedom. “…The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matthew 11:12

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wish I could tell you that I found Jesus and the trials ceased, but that’s not realistic. I had to deal with consequences and put out the fires set by “old Sarah” and her way of life. I became homeless for 10 and a half months with a baby. Being a Christian is not for the weak. But He held me in such a place of peace and joy through it! I was never walking alone. We hear “God is real,” but do we really grasp that He teaches and guides and directs us, empowers us? Like, He’s REAL!! I had no idea before I had a relationship with Jesus, before I chose to believe.

Life is always going to throw curveballs and pressure and try to get you to rush, but all you need is found in God’s presence. When you learn that and apply faith (choosing to believe- what He says, what the Bible promises), you hold the keys to victory. Seek Him, and everything will open up for you through Jesus. He will make every crooked path straight and give you the strength and desire to overcome every adversity.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our ministry was started on the streets, and this is where it flourishes. Recently I visited the Charles Spurgeon library in KC. He is quoted as saying,
“The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it—let it loose, and it will defend itself.”

Helping people find Christ is seldom done in a church. That’s where they grow as Christians. To save a soul you have to go and meet them where they are like Jesus did with the prostitutes and tax collectors. When you street preach, people are curious and will “come from miles to watch you burn,” as John Wesley, another street preacher famously said. Like moths to a flame, so are the lost compelled to the Word of God.

graceRIOT not only street preaches and feeds and clothes the prostitues, drug addicts and homeless, but we go into hospitals and nursing homes to bring Hope, or motels where children are living and bring dinner and games and Bible stories. We travel to disaster zones like North Carolina to help and pray with those in crisis. We will be traveling to Alaska in August to teach the people there how to evangelize their own communities and walk out their own stories with faith and power. If God says GO, we GO!

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I give all praise, honor and glory to Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. The man who first told me about the real Jesus, not religion, I owe my story to. His name is Tony Stafford. He was the only person who challenged my religiosity for 32 years. He’s an ordinary man with an extraordinary understanding of Jesus who saves. To my praying mama, whose prayers reached heaven for me. Lastly, I thank my husband Jeremy, my life mission partner. I better understand Jesus’ love for us through his loving example toward me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graceriot_sar?igsh=ZGxwajUydnJ4YzMz&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riot4grace?mibextid=sCpJLy
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@graceriot?si=krR6SAiiSsE9h9sf
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@graceriot_sar?_t=ZT-8vznH1O7aB9&_r=1