What does it cost to serve faithfully when your mind works differently? In this deeply personal memoir, Rev. Dr. Marcia Neveu opens the door on a question that many ministers carry silently - and never dare to speak aloud.
Ministry in My Own Mind: A Story of Quiet Strength in Leadership is not a theological treatise. It is not a manual for ministry success. It is a mirror - honest, sometimes confronting, and ultimately liberating. With clarity and pastoral warmth, Rev. Dr. Neveu traces her decades of faithful service as a Pentecostal minister, exploring what it means to lead, preach, teach, and pour out when your brain is wired differently from those around you.
Across nineteen chapters, she writes candidly about literal thinking in a figurative church world, sensory overload behind the pulpit, the quiet exhaustion of masking in ministry, the grief of inconsistency when intention and capacity do not match, the long road to naming and understanding autism, and the slow, sacred journey toward leading as her whole, unedited self.
This is not a book about a diagnosis. It is a book about faithfulness - the kind that keeps showing up, keeps serving, keeps believing, even when the room does not quite fit. It is for every minister who has overthought a sermon long after the service ended. For every leader who has smiled through sensory overload. For every believer who has wondered whether their difference disqualifies them.
It does not.
Each chapter closes with a Closing Reflection and a Reflection Prompt, making this equally powerful for personal devotion, ministerial development, or small group discussion.
Rev. Dr. Neveu ministers between Birmingham, UK and Ghana, West Africa. She is the founder of the School of Ministerial Excellence (SME) and the Asantoa Foundation, and the author of more than twenty-five books in the areas of Christian living, ministry, and theology. Her ministry motto - Live Full. Pour Out. Die Empty. - defines every page of this work.
If someone had told her sooner that she was not broken - just wired differently - this book might not have needed to be written. But it does need to exist. Because someone is still waiting to hear it.
Neveu, Marcia: - "Rev. Dr. Marcia Neveu (also known as Ama Asantoa) is a Classical Pentecostal minister, Doctor of Ministry, and prolific author whose life and writing are shaped by a singular conviction: Live Full. Pour Out. Die Empty.A licensed minister within the Church of God tradition, Marcia has spent decades in active ministry spanning preaching, teaching, pastoral care, and international mission. She is the founder of the Asantoa Foundation, a UK-registered charity operating primarily in Ghana, where she has served communities for nearly thirty years through education, healthcare, and humanitarian outreach. She currently serves as educational lead for the School of Ministerial Excellence, where she creates the annual curriculum - researching and developing up to thirty detailed lesson plans per year that form the theological backbone of the programme's teaching.Her writing weaves together life experience, biblical insight, and practical wisdom - encouraging readers to grow deeper in faith, walk in purpose, and live out the truth of God's Word in everyday life. She has written books, Bible teaching series, and devotional studies, all designed to strengthen believers and equip the church for daily living. Her books are written from the front lines of ministry - honest, pastoral, and deeply rooted in Scripture.Alongside her ministry, Marcia is a creative at heart, expressing her faith through words, art, and craft. She divides her time between the UK and Ghana, where she is developing Peace Villa - a house of peace and prayer, and a place of rest and refreshing for others.Her work is gradually being translated into Twi, French, Spanish, and German, reflecting her passion for making the Word of God accessible to all. She believes that faith is not only to be taught, but to be lived - leaving behind a legacy of love, service, and obedience to God."
