Gina Hopkins and her trusty pooch sidekick, Willie, are truly a unique pair. On their own, they may be limited in how effective they can be in their efforts to spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Together, however, they have proven themselves to be quite the team, reaching literally thousands of people throughout the region with their message of faith and hope.
Hopkins’ home church is Community Christian Church in London. Her husband was a deacon at the church prior to his passing seven years ago. The couple raised three sons up in the church, and two have gone on to become ministers themselves.
“I didn’t become a Christian until I was in my thirties,” Hopkins recently explained. “When I did, my husband was baptized less than a year after I was. We made sure that our kids were raised in church. I’m still on top of them about it. God has to be at the center of everything.”
Hopkins lost her husband to cancer. It was a trying time, but she says she believes that the Lord used a tragic situation to accomplish something good in the long run.
“The last ten years of our marriage was a really hard time,” Hopkins said. “He was just changing, and didn’t know why. We found out he had cancer in his brain, his spine, and his lungs. It had altered him so much, but as I stayed with him and worked from home, God gave us perfect clarity. We were able to come to terms with everything that had happened in the history of the marriage. God healed us. He knew it was what we needed, and He was preparing us.”
Throughout the difficult final days of her husband’s life, Hopkins said that people would often ask her what kept her so calm and understanding regarding the situation. “It was because of the people that we got to talk to about God,” she said, adding that there were many opportunities to minister to other people who were also suffering at that time with various health-related challenges.
Enter Willie
Not long after Hopkins’ husband passed, she said she knew that she needed to do something that would continue allowing her to approach people about developing a personal relationship with God.
So, she got a dog.
“She was born 15 days after my husband passed,” Hopkins said of her soon-to-be special companion. “I have had her since she was eight weeks old.”
Hopkins trained Willie to be a therapy dog, and began taking her to hospitals and nursing homes, or anywhere where she thought they could talk to people about God.
“I don’t have to worry about being able to talk to people anywhere that I go,” Hopkins said. “Everywhere that I go, people will come up and talk to me because of Willie.”
Hopkins estimates that she has been able to directly communicate with nearly 3,000 people since she brought Willie home to live with her. “Do you think I would’ve had that kind of opportunity without having a big, fuzzy dog with me,” she asked. “No way.”
Hopkins and Willie go into town on supply runs almost daily. Whenever they go, she said they typically will get the chance to speak with somebody, and they are often able to provide encouragement to people in some small way.
In addition to their daily treks into town, the duo regularly appear at church camps, Sunday School classes, youth group meetings, or anywhere else they are invited to go.
A true “wonder dog”
Willie is not your average dog. In fact, she is anything but.
“The training that I had to put her through to become a true service dog was intense,” Hopkins said. “I thought I could even take it a step further, so I taught her sign language. She now knows her commands in sign language. I took it even further, and now she can read her commands on paper. There are about 45 words that she can recognize.”
As if that isn’t amazing enough, Willie is also trained to recognize drugs, explosives, and has the ability to assist with missing persons. “She does a little bit of everything,” Hopkins said.
When asked to describe what is discussed during their presentations, Hopkins said, “Life is not necessarily fair, but it doesn’t matter what you’re going through. If you depend on God, He will get you through anything. If you trust in him during hard times, it will work out, but you can’t sit around and be lazy and expect God to show you exactly what to do.”
“You have to be available,” Hopkins continued. “And when you make yourself available and look for opportunities, God will find something [for you] every single time. You have to have that faith and that commitment. Those are the two biggest things that I talk to people about.”
Obeying commands
While visiting with young people at church camp, Hopkins likes to use her relationship with Willie to illustrate how they should view their relationships with God and their parents.
“When I talk to kids, I tell them about how Willie obeys me, and how that is how they are supposed to obey God and their parents,” Hopkins said. “You have got to listen. You may not understand it, but it doesn’t make any difference. You have to listen and obey.”
“I will have kids call on Willie and try to get her to come to them,” Hopkins added. “But I will tell them that she isn’t going to come to them, because they are not her master. She only obeys me, and we are only supposed to obey the Lord. I tell them that they are going to be pulled in every direction in the world by things that they aren’t supposed to be doing. I tell them that Satan is going to try to get them into those things, because he knows our weak spots, but we have to keep our eyes focused on Christ. When we do that, we will stay on the right path.”
Hopkins also likes to point out that Willie will sometimes make mistakes when she is in training. “Does that mean I love her any less,” she asked. “No. Absolutely not. But I am going to correct her for her own safety.”
Hopkins said that she plans on continuing to reach out to people with Willie by her side every step of the way. She is thankful for every opportunity to do so, and hopes to see even more opportunities open up to them in the near future.
