DONIPHAN — Serra McCabe needs no cape to be recognized as a super hero.
She has become known as the person to call on when someone is in need; and, to the countless individuals and families she has ministered to, she is most certainly a hero.
McCabe is not a wealthy philanthropist. She is simply a charitable person whose life has been touched by God. She will tell you that his spirit changed her nature into someone who is compelled to share whatever she has with others.
She gives the way Jesus Christ wants all of his followers to give: cheerfully and with genuine love.
It’s not only tangible resources McCabe gives (although she does do that). She also donates countless hours of hard work, seemingly boundless energy, talent, ideas and service into anything she undertakes.
For these reasons Serra McCabe is widely recognized as someone who gets things done.
Born and raised in Ripley County, McCabe lost her father at age 12. She talks about her teen years as being a bad phase in life when she lost her way, while struggling to make sense of it all.
“I went through a really difficult time. I was trying to figure out how to feel complete, but I searched in all the wrong places,” she says.
Her testimony reaches to a broad audience of broken souls who have lost hope. She is positive proof that anyone can, at any time, turn his or her life around.
“I finally realized only Jesus can make us whole. He is my joy and my strength,” she says, with a smile that lights up her face, and an enthusiasm that is contagious. She energizes people to share her belief that, with God, anything is possible.
She doesn’t see herself as a miracle worker, but she doesn’t deny that who she is today is proof that Jesus Christ is the ultimate Miracle Worker.
Some years ago, while working at Southern Bank, McCabe says she would hear people talking about all the things that they felt were wrong within the community.
McCabe had a revelation.
“It just came to me that I couldn’t keep expecting other people to step up, or wait until I was older to do something. The time to make a difference is now,” she says.
Inspired, she started working toward change. She says in 2018, things “started to happen.”
McCabe took her idea of a city-wide clean-up to Doniphan City Treasurer Chasity Mathis. The two teamed up to organize Unity for Our Community, which has since become an annual event.
On the heels of that success, the two organized the now familiar Doniphan city-wide spring and fall yard sales.
McCabe’s involvement in community projects has had a domino effect.
She has become the poster woman for Ecclesiastes 9:10 which states: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”
Mathis, (who is not just a sidekick but a civic treasure--a hero within her own right), often works with McCabe toward their common goal, which is to improve the quality of life for the Doniphan community.
“Her heartbeat is similar to mine,” McCabe says of Mathis.
She doesn’t skimp on praise for Mathis and others who have been active in her projects.
“Whenever I do anything, I always spend time praying about it first. I won’t move forward until I know I have God’s approval. And, I always have a partner. It’s never a one-woman show,” she says.
McCabe enlisted the help of Colton and Tasha Buchanan of West Point Children’s Ministries to take on a back-to-school clothing drive, another effort that has become an annual event.
That led her to also start the Ripley County teacher’s supply drive in 2020.
No problem once presented to McCabe, is ignored.
“When I hear of a need, whether it is a domestic situation, or illness, or fire, or something that has happened and a person or family has lost the means to live, that’s heartbreaking,” she says.
Nancy Raposo, a church family member once told her, “I see you working in some type of ministry that includes a warehouse, with tons of items to help people in need.”
McCabe made up her mind that, with God’s help, she would find a way to help people, but on a larger scale.
Ultimately, Raposo’s vision came to fruition. McCabe founded Ripley County Resource Ministries.
“God just worked everything out. I needed a place to store resources. A friend, Carolyn Dusza, offered the use of a building on Walnut Street. We filled it,” McCabe says.
Then one day His Place Pastor Rev. Dan Craig and his son, Ben, a real estate broker, went on a tour of the Walnut Street building.
Ben stated, “You need more space!” McCabe replied, “I know we do, and when the time is right, God will open the door. For now, I’m being content with what He has provided.”
“A year and a half later Ben called me. He told me had a larger building with better storage and accessibility,” she says.
At first McCabe thought he meant he would sell it to her, and she told him she had no funds for the purchase of a building.
“But he wasn’t offering the building for sale. He was letting me know he had it for us to use,” she says.
In that way, Craig also became a supporter of the work of Ripley County Resource Ministries and the reason why she is able to expand services to more people.
“I enjoy networking with so many agencies, law enforcement, other churches, and high school counselors. No one gets paid, everyone volunteers and I think because of that our efforts are blessed by God, says McCabe.
Today, RCRM hosts monthly distributions to provide food, diapers and wipes to 200-250 households.
God spoke to McCabe again in March of 2021, calling her to use her amazing fundraising skills to help her church raise more than a half a million dollars owed on its building.
“He asked me a question, ‘What will you do?’
She kept the matter to herself for two full weeks before going to the pastoral leadership of the church.
She organized (and energized) the congregation in a series of fund raising efforts that included everything from online auctions and yard sales, to a golf tournament and beef raffles.
Exactly one year later West Point Pentecostal church was able to burn its mortgage.
In addition to that, McCabe leads the Saved to Serve ministries at West Point, and she also serves on the Borne of 4 Missouri District ministries of the United Pentecostal Church.
More recently McCabe again teamed up with Mathis, area churches, businesses and other generous donors to host the city’s first Community Christmas Dinner.
She says, “This will be Christmas provided by the community, for the community.”
It should come as no surprise that McCabe would answer another call of God, to preach. She became a licensed Pentecostal minister this past year.
She holds an associates degree in business management, but is working to finish with a bachelor’s in business administration and a minor in psychology. She has plans to become a Christian counselor.
She and her husband, Steve operate Greener Pastures Angus.