A Welcome by our Founder
Through everything I've experienced in life, including working in the funeral industry for over 20 years, nothing ever prepared me for the death of my brother on November 8, 2015. I only made it through because of my relationship with Christ and the strong grounded Christians who surrounded me. I cried out to God that I had to find something good to come from his death and that is how Cook Ministries was birthed.
According to Newton's third law, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I believe that to be true in the spirit realm as well. I believe that for everything bad that happens, we must look for the good. Sometimes it's easy to find, sometimes we have to look extra hard, wait on God and even have doubts. In "finding the good" that is actually part of what built this ministry. There are details and events of our ministry that were created based upon the opposite reaction.
Through all the hurt, the grief and loss, I've finally learned to be thankful. I'm thankful that God has placed so many wonderful friends in my life, as well as my brother's life. The largest portion of our volunteers are personal friends and that always makes every event that much more special.
The name Cook Ministries has absolutely nothing to do with me, but everything to do with my brother and his life. It's all about helping others in memory of my brother, Johnny.
The Bible tells us in Luke 15 the parable of the Lost Sheep, my prayer is that this ministry can reach out to just that one person who's feeling lost and overwhelmed - just one! I pray and believe there will be many more, but the most important thing is that we treat everyone as if they are the only one.
Perhaps it's still my personal grief of what I couldn't do for my brother, I can try to do for someone else but most importantly I'm learning to allow God to use me, no matter what the circumstances are that surround me, God use me to make a difference, use me in the midst of my own faults and failures, use me and I'll go.
Thank you God for my brother's unconditional and protective love I had for 43 years - may my next 43 years be used to serve you, to show that same love my brother showed me and to be a reflection of the true love of Christ!
Karen
Esther 4:14
Our Team
John and Kathy Lackey
John and Kathy Lackey
John and Kathy Lackey
Hanceville, Alabama
John and Kathy are from Alabama and lifelong family friends of the Cook's, as well as Kathy’s entire family.
John serves as Vice President and pastor of our ministry.
Kathy serves on our Board of Directors.
They are both leaders and volunteer where and when their help is needed, and you'll see Kathy at almost all of our events, greeting people and running our table.
Pastor John Skinner
Pastor John Skinner
Pastor John Skinner
Brent, Alabama
Bro. John serves as Mentor and Advisor to our ministry.
He founded Compassion & Hope Food Basket, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides hot meals for the hungry.
He has been going to the streets actively feeding the hungry since 1996 & in 2019 opened the Soup Kitchen in Brent.
It was on the streets in Birmingham, AL, in 2011 where Bro. John and our founder, Karen first met as she began serving alongside Bro. John's team and it was then that God bonded a friendship.
It was Bro. John who helped spark the vision for our program, The Food Basket. and he continuously gives guidance and encouragement not only for that program, but our ministry as a whole.
He continuously teaches us that "we get to serve", not that we have to serve, and how to love others.
Miranda Murray
Pastor John Skinner
Miranda Murray
Jasper, Alabama
Miranda serves as our Intercessory Prayer Warrior.
She has experienced firsthand God's miraculous healing power from a sickness that doctors could not explain or treat; it was then through her physical healing that she realized the importance of prayer for others, and her desire to pray for others deepened.
Gene Anderson
Pastor John Skinner
Miranda Murray
Cold Springs, Alabama
Gene has been a lifelong family friend of the Cook’s and serves with our team as a volunteer.
He is always ready and willing to facilitate in any manner that he can, he has a heart to help others & always first in line to see that needs are met to help families
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Alabama
Kelly Jo is a faith-driven voice with a heart for discipleship, restoration, and real-life transformation through Jesus Christ.
Through ministry and storytelling, she encourages others to hold onto God's promises in the middle of life's chaos, reminding them that no situation is beyond His redemption.
She is founder of @covenantinthechaos and also Voices of Redemption, a podcast of real conversations about real struggles and pointing people to freedom through Jesus Christ.
Follow her on Instagram @covenantinthechaos
Susan McDonald
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Birmingham, Alabama
Susan serves as a Legal Advocate and certified counselor with a passion for justice, restoration, and second chances.
She is the founder of One Touch Freedom, a faith-based initiative dedicated to empowering women in recovery and helping individuals rebuild their lives with purpose.
Since November 2025, Susan has worked within a law firm setting, continuing her advocacy in the legal field while pursuing her legal education. She brings firsthand experience, compassion, and practical insight to the cases she supports.
Susan is also the author of Extraordinary Love, a powerful reflection on faith, redemption, and the transforming grace of God. Through her writing, advocacy, and ministry, she shares her story to inspire hope and courage in others.
A certified ministry leader, Addiction Recovery Christian Counselor, and ordained minister through Joan Hunter Ministries and Heaven of Earth Ministries, Susan combines faith and law to advocate for those who often feel unheard. She is especially passionate about standing in the gap for individuals navigating the legal system and believes deeply in redemption, accountability, and hope.
Korey Burris
Kelly Jo Kennedy
Korey Burris
Orange, Texas
Korey serves on our team as a Suicide Prevention Advocate and Motivational Speaker.
He is the president of Suicide Prevention & God's Helpers, a Chaplain, and a Certified Clinical Christian Counselor.
He is a suicide survivor and has a heart to help others.
Susan Daniel
Susan Daniel
Korey Burris
Tyler, Texas
Susan serves on our social media team.
She facilitates our Facebook page and our Facebook support group.
She has a heart to uplift and encourage others, and we are so very thankful for her faithfulness to God, to our ministry and to help others!
Keith Waters
Susan Daniel
Keith Waters
Crane Hill, Alabama
Keith serves on our team in several aspects, including, but not limited to, mentoring those in recovery, including SAA meetings, as well as those struggling with suicide ideations.
Born in 1959, he would barely qualify as a “baby boomer”. Born a Methodist, raised theologically Baptist, and spent time in the Church of God.
His family was in church every time the doors were open. His mom sang in the choir & his dad was a Sunday School teacher and a prominent lay leader in every church they attended.
The middle of three boys who are all less than three years apart and have a sister who is 10 years his elder. The three boys attended a Christian school for 6 years, where he first drank liquor and smoked his first marijuana.
After Christian school and high school, he graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in Accounting.
After that first taste of liquor and marijuana in 10th grade he was mostly abstinent until after college, when he then got hooked up with the wrong crowd and drank and smoked off and on for 10+years.
He became VERY adept at balancing himself with church on Sundays but smoked and drank the other 6 days of the week. His family was mostly unaware of his double life. By the time he was in his late 30’s he was a mess, and eventually received a foreclosure notice on the house he had bought, which was a major wake up call and he began a 2year stint in Alcoholics Anonymous. He basically only attended meetings but no work on himself at all, eventually stopped going to meetings all together and spent almost two years being high literally every waking hour until he found himself in the back seat of a police car with his hands handcuffed behind his back.
He began to take AA and the 12 step seriously and within the next two years got completely sober and met his beautiful wife, Jackie.
The rest, as they say, is history. He now takes God seriously and daily sees how God has begun to do marvelous things with his life.
Byron Hunter
Susan Daniel
Keith Waters
Winnsboro, Texas
Byron serves on our social media team, facilitating our Facebook page, Facebook support group, and Instagram.
Life Coach Byron is a dedicated mentor and visionary behind H.E.I.R.S Institute, committed to helping others grow beyond their circumstances.
With a heart for service and a passion for prison reform, he mentors individuals on mindset, discipline, and purpose.
Byron helps amplify messages that inspire change, growth, and real transformation.
Volunteers
We have many volunteers who help on a regular basis and some who help periodically, including UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Mental Health Interns; but no matter how often they are with us, they are family, we love & appreciate them and couldn't do all that we do without each one of them!
