Ministry Staff
The true character of ministry is a servants heart
Dissect My Soul Ministries
The Board Members at Dissect My Soul Ministries are actively involved and associated with the daily operations of Dissect My Soul Ministries. They do so because they are completely dedicated to the mission, goals and beliefs established by the ministry as directed by the LORD. They understand that all they do is for the LORD God Almighty. Most of them have been with the Ministry since its inception and have witnessed the mighty hand of God as His work is carried out.
We include brief testimonies of the spiritual journey of all our staff so all can see the mighty hand of God in their lives and the length of their work and involvement with Dissect My Soul Ministries. These testimonies also allow others to know and understand that they genuinely care about the work that we do.
Departmental Contact List
Zelma McKinney: Minister of God’s Word
Visit the “About Us” page to learn more about Minister McKinney, the founder of Dissect My Soul Ministries. She personally cares for and develops all of the following, as divinely inspired by the Lord God. She has a dedicated and loyal Staff that assists her carrying out her “Charge” from the LORD:
- Ministry Leadership
- Ministry Lessons
- Spiritual Teachings
- Private Lessons
- Counseling
- Retreats / Seminars
- Prayer Conferences
- Blog Content
Background: Minister McKinney holds a BS Degree in Speech & Hearing Pathology and a Masters in Mental Retardation and Learning Disabilities. She was a public school educator for 10 years and also has worked 25+ years in Insurance Litigation Management. Minister McKinney has also been a Consultant for Quality Enhancement Process and Procedures Development. Her commitment to detail and quality assurance fuels her drive to operate the Ministry ONLY by the standards presented to her by the LORD. When the LORD presented Himself to her, she walked away from everything she knew, including her job, and followed the path that He set before her. She was called as a Teacher, Preacher, and Messenger by the LORD Himself. She accepted her calling and has never looked back.
Melinda Brown: Director of Advertising & Ministerial Relations, and Personal Assistant to Minister McKinney
Melinda Brown is responsible for the following ministerial functions:
- Personal Ministerial Assistant
- Advertising Development
- Graphic Design & Development
- Student/Minister Liaison
Melinda graduated from University of Phoenix in 2004. She has worked in the commercial insurance industry for the past 14 years as an Account Administrator and is also a Travel Business Owner. She has been a member of Dissect My Soul Ministries for almost 20 years. Melinda is much more than a Personal Assistant to Minister McKinney…She is often called Minister McKinney’s “Joshua” in every aspect. She has a first hand view of all that God is doing in the ministry and of the many lives impacted by the ministry as a whole. She holds up Minister McKinney’s hands so that the battle can always be won.
Based on My Faith: “About 20 years ago, I met Minister McKinney. She delivered a message that was an answer to a question that troubled my heart. You see, I was in a physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive marriage with 2 children. My husband was a drug addict and alcoholic who didn’t want me to work yet, he refused to always provide for the family. I realized it was his way of maintaining control over me. I wanted to be a good wife, but I had become the kind of woman who stayed with an abusive husband. I NEVER thought I would become such a woman. The worse the marriage became, the more excuses I made for him, and the more I hated myself. I was an emotional wreck with NO self-confidence. I wasn’t a Christian then, but had been raised to believe that God was the Creator of all things. He expected me to be a “good” person, but I knew NOTHING of His love for me. I never learned that He cares about EVERY detail of everything that concerns me.
My husband finally allowed me to become a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant. I was invited to meet a member of the local Second Baptist Church to schedule a skin care class with some of the ladies at the church. I was to meet her at the Woman’s Day Program after the service. Minister McKinney was the Speaker that delivered the message. She taught us on God’s order of the family. You see, I grew up in a household where my mother was the head of the family. My husband grew up where his father was the head. I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t want to get a divorce. My parents had been married 40 years. My grandparents on both sides stayed married for life. “Until death do us part” was all I knew and what I wanted for myself. I didn’t know what to do…enter Minister McKinney and her message from God DIRECTLY to me! God answered the question in my heart. This was my introduction to Dissect My Soul Ministries.
Minister McKinney introduced me to Jesus Christ for the first time in my life. Through my study with her, God began to show me how precious I was to Him. I wasn’t created to live a life in such bondage. God gave me back my confidence. Minister McKinney encouraged me to look for a job and trust that God would provide. I didn’t think it was possible, but God made a way. By this time, there were 3 children. I told my husband his addictions had to stop. He wouldn’t so I left. DMSM and my family were there for me. They often bought food for the family and even provided a bed for my son to sleep on. Minister McKinney DID NOT encourage me to leave my husband, but to work very hard at loving him so that God could honor and bless the marriage. We both went into counseling with her and she took no sides but rather spoke to us straight from the Word of God. My husband was not interested in changing his ways or his heart so he was not interested in hearing anything that required him to love the Lord. Not only did the abuse and drugs continue, but he started visiting prostitutes. One day, I came home and found his marijuana in the couch. He told me he wouldn’t stop smoking and dared me to do anything about it. It was then that the Lord confirmed for me that for the safety of my children and myself that I had to leave. After leaving, I did not immediately get a divorce but prayerfully waited 2 more years for him to change which he never did.
As a single mother of three I continued to grow professionally and was encouraged by Minister McKinney to go back to college and become all that God wanted me to be. I went back to college and earned a degree in Information Technology Management. Before DMSM, I didn’t think I was capable of living without my husband. After DMSM introduced me to Jesus Christ and He became the focal point in my life, I was able to work full-time, go to school full-time, and take care of 3 children WITH the help of the Lord God! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!
God has taught me over the years that He sees all, knows all, and is LORD of ALL! I have learned how much Jesus loves me. He is ALL in ALL and the Supplier of all my needs. I can trust Him with everything I am…everything I have…EVERYTHING! He’s taught me that the more I learn about Him, the more I realize how little I know. The more I love Him, the more I realize there’s so much more! My prayer is that I can learn daily to fall deeper, more madly in love with Him. My constant prayer is ‘Change me, LORD, and DISSECT MY SOUL!'”
Stella Gussman: Director of Marketing
Stella Gussman is responsible for the following ministerial functions:
- Marketing & Strategic Planning
- Vendor Relations
Stella attended Wilbur Wright College. She and her husband co-own and operate a Mortgage lending company. As the mortgage company is licensed in many states, it offers loan options to Dissect My Soul Members and Followers to assist them in securing financing to become homeowners. Check out our Business Resource page to obtain further details about their services. Stella met Minister Zelma in 1988 which is the same year that DMSM was established.
Based on My Faith: “When I met Minister Zelma, I was in a terrible life situation. I had low self-esteem and did not truly believe that anyone, not even God, loved me. I have now come to understand that my initial feelings of inadequacy stemmed from my mother not being in my life for my formative years and I was raised by my Aunt as a Catholic. As an impressionable young lady seeking love, I met my ex-husband who was a very accomplished and wealthy business man. He was also considerably older so I developed a false sense of love and safety. Only one month after being married, I became pregnant. Although my husband was a great financial provider, he was mentally abusive and cruel. I was often jokingly referred to as his “trophy wife.” Ironically, my husband is the one that introduced me to Minister Zelma. I started attending DMSM Workshops and Seminars and my knowledge of a real and loving God soon emerged. I will never forget the night that I attended an all-night Prayer Session sponsored by DMSM and I was very concerned and scared to go home because I had not told my husband that I would be out all night. I remember the kind confident words of Minister Zelma as she prayed with me and reassured me that all was in God’s Hands. Well, it certainly was because when I arrived at home around 6 am the following morning dreading the scene to come with my husband, I discovered that God had transformed him into helplessness. He was sick in bed with a terrible fever and greeted me with kindness! I immediately began to take care of him and he never mentioned the fact that I had been to a Prayer Vigil without his permission. Repeatedly, the LORD demonstrated His love and concern for me and my children.
It was through Minister Zelma’s teachings that I came to trust and know Jesus Christ more profoundly. She has taught me how to believe the Word of God and trust Jesus Christ alone. With this new understanding of Christ, my faith-filled journey began. I was able to cope with my marriage and endure the mental and emotional abuse inflicted by my husband until my children were fully grown and could understand the Biblical Principle of being “unequally yoked.” Since they had witnessed the abuse I endured all of their lives and knew how much I wanted to be free to serve my LORD, it was an easy decision to make. I have since remarried and also have 2 beautiful grandchildren. Finally, the LORD gave me a Christian man that shares my love for Him, and someone that showers me with the love that I had been seeking all my life.
I have found that the teachings in this ministry are brought forth just as God instructs and that they are always backed up by Biblical Scriptures. Dissect My Soul Ministries has redirected my spiritual understanding of what it means to be a Christian. Being a member of Dissect My Soul Ministries has been such a blessing to me and my family.
I now know that Jesus Christ is the ONLY Way, the Truth and the Life, and that He is a free gift to me by the grace of God. My love for Jesus Christ has not yet reached the “peak of the mountain,” but my spiritual maturity is growing. I make the request for God to “dissect my soul” a part of my daily prayer. My prayer is that the Lord will search my heart and enable me daily to crucify my flesh. It is my honest desire to submit to Him with an absolutely surrendered and obedient soul. I know that only by the blood of Jesus Christ can I overcome the enemy. Oh LORD, have mercy on me! I know that Jesus loves me with an everlasting love and protection and I Love Jesus, who is my Lord and My Savior.”
TaiVon Koryn Brown: Director of Global Missionary Outreach
TaiVon Brown is responsible for the following services:
- Missionary Planning and Outreach
- Ministry Over Seas Travel
- Conference and Seminar Operations
- Management and Oversight of Missionary Outreach Team
TaiVon is a young alumna of the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a degree in Psychology. Tai, as she is affectionately called, speaks fluent Spanish and is currently studying Hebrew. She previously served as the Assistant Director of Youth Ministries at a local Presbyterian Church, where she organized and chaperoned community outreach events as well as mission outreach events and trips. She enjoys working with all ages, but has an affinity for working with the youth and helping them realize that living for Jesus can begin at any age. At the young age of 10, she was teaching and managing the “Children’s Church” at a local church where Minister McKinney was on staff. She is truly an organizer and loves to help impact the lives of the youth to effect true spiritual change.
TaiVon is the daughter of Minister McKinney and grew up witnessing the constant intervention and guidance of the LORD in her life. She later became aware that the ordinary occurrences and movements of the LORD in their lives were considered to be “miracles” to the outside world. She learned at an early age that trusting the LORD at all times is the only way to live.
Based on My Faith: “I was born and raised in a family where God had always been at the head of our family. I do not remember a time when the love of Jesus was not a part of my life. However, at the age of 15, a journey began in which God and I began to have a profound relationship with one another. He became my best friend, confidant, and constant companion regarding all things, and I realized that there was no matter too big or small about which He could not be consulted. It was at this point that I began to truly know God for myself and by myself.
I know what it means to be in the will of the LORD. I truly love Jesus Christ and align my life around His will and desires for me. I am not ashamed of my Lord, and all my friends know that I will not compromise on my principles or knowingly do anything that will disappoint Him. I know that I am truly blessed to have been taught by Minister McKinney (or “Mom,” as I call her) all of my life, and to have been raised in a family whose daily mantra is centered around loving, trusting, and obeying the LORD. I am even more blessed to have witnessed first-hand the impact of the spiritual, divine revelations given by the LORD.
I have lived a life characterized by going against the tide, and have often been viewed as the anomaly when compared to others, because of my beliefs. Yet, I have found that being an anomaly, for Christ’s sake, is a blessed place to be. To literally be the one person diametrically opposed to the crowd, is to be counted all joy, for it is what is required to be a true servant of God. A life devoted and completely abandoned to God will most certainly be difficult, and will not always be filled with rainbows and sunshine, but I know from personal experience that the crosses and trials borne in the hand of God, are more precious and blessed than any rainbow or bit of sunshine felt outside of God’s hand. DMSM is a ministry full of believers and knowers of God who want to spread His love and the truth of who He is and has been to us, and we welcome all who sincerely desire to “know” Him more.”