Debra Collins was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She attended Michigan State University and received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Social Science. Having the desire to help wounded and broken lives, she intended to pursue a career as a social worker. However, through an array of other opportunities, she entered into the field of Information Technology in the middle 70’s. For almost 30 years she progressed in this field into the ranks of management, always excelling in the people related component of the field, as well as the technical component.
As an eight year old child, Ms. Collins first surrendered her life to Christ. Through the course of growing up and in early adulthood, her walk with Christ lost focus and importance. Christ was put aside, but He never left her. Unacknowledged by Ms. Collins, Christ continued to work His purpose and desire in her life. He allowed her to have experiences, both wonderful and extraordinarily difficult, from which He would build on later in her life. In the middle 1980’s, Ms. Collins re-surrendered her life to Christ with a desire to understand and appreciate His power and presence, as well as accepting His preeminence in her life.
Growth in Christ has shown her two areas of work that have become simultaneously spiritual and natural gifts. Unknowingly, these gifts have pursued Ms. Collins for the predominant course of her life. Initially, the gifts were not recognized as gifts, but merely as quiet longings. Now, it is clear that the Lord granted the longings for the purpose of procreating, nurturing, developing and using the gifts for His glory.
One of the gifts is writing: Prophetic writing, poetic writing and general prose. Using words to impact lives, to impart wisdom, to project light, and to build faith and hope through revelation as a ministry and witness to the Lord. The other gift has been far more difficult to accept and appropriate. It is the gift to impart into the lives of women to build stronger mothers, better friends, loving partners, selfless givers, to show them the door of escape from abuse and to usher them into a loving appreciation of themselves as Christ so loves each of us.
Today Ms. Collins has been working for over eight years in the development of opening a house and support facilities for victims of domestic violence. The work is called Daughters of Abuse with Courage House (DAC House). From within this work Ms. Collins created the DAC House Domestic Violence Awareness Institute. The intended purpose of DAC House is to liberate victims of domestic violence and those around them through awareness, prevention and support services, as well as provide spiritual direction to and through Jesus Christ for a holistic perspective to healing the woman and society at large.