Reap What You Sow: Royce King on Integrating Faith, Fundraising, and the Fruits of the Spirit

For years, Royce King lived a divided life — and she knew it. Sunday mornings looked one way. Networking events looked another. Faith was something she carried to church and set down when she walked into the marketplace. It wasn't dishonesty. It was compartmentalization. And it was costing her.

Today, Royce serves in donor development at Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, a faith-based nonprofit that educates Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith and provides humanitarian aid to Jewish communities around the world. The work is meaningful, the mission is clear, and — perhaps most importantly for Royce — she no longer has to leave her faith at the door to do it.

"I used to separate my faith from my worldly responsibilities," she reflects. "It was almost like I was two people. Today, I find that I'm very integrated. One really integrates well with the other."

That integration didn't happen overnight. It was the result of decades of honest reckoning — with God, with herself, and with the wisdom that comes only from returning home after a long detour.

The Prodigal Returns

Royce grew up in a Christian home, shaped by the steady influence of her mother and grandmother. But like so many young people, her teenage years brought a season of wandering. She stepped away from her faith and spent several years, as she puts it plainly, "running from the Lord."

The turning point came in her early twenties, when she became a mother. First a son, then a daughter. The weight of that responsibility — and the grace it stirred in her — brought her back. She returned to the church, immersed herself in Bible study, and became deeply involved in Christian women's ministry and youth work. Her faith, once abandoned, became the bedrock of everything she built afterward.

"My faith is stronger today than ever. God continues to build on what he's taught me and give me more wisdom and knowledge. And I continue to lean into him and spend time with him."

That journey informed her first book, Unwrapping Your Worth in Christ, available on Amazon — a devotional written for women navigating their own seasons of uncertainty and self-doubt. It also shaped her coaching work, where she spent years helping women entrepreneurs move from surviving to thriving.

From Marketing Agency to Ministry

Before joining Friends of Israel, Royce built 3 Waters Marketing, a firm that grew to serve clients internationally. She specialized in coaching early-stage entrepreneurs, helping startup founders develop the operational and strategic frameworks they needed to scale. It was good work, and she was skilled at it.

But when artificial intelligence swept through the marketing industry and reshaped the landscape almost overnight, Royce made a deliberate choice. Rather than pivot and pursue new clients in a disrupted market, she held steady, served her existing clients well as engagements naturally wound down, and began listening for what was next.

What she heard was a call back to the faith-based nonprofit world — and to a role where the conversations she has every day are rooted in theology, scripture, and a shared love for the people of Israel.

"I'm meeting with people who support our ministry," she says of her current work, "and we have faith-based discussions around theology and what Bible book we're studying. It's really integrated throughout my day — between work and home and with my husband and personally."

Praying Before You Pack the Moving Boxes

For Royce and her husband, faith isn't just a Sunday practice — it's the operating system for every major decision. When a significant professional opportunity presented itself, they didn't rush. They prayed. For four months.

At the end of those four months, God opened the door they had been seeking. They packed up their home in Florida and relocated to South Carolina so her husband could step into the role he had been called to fill. Then they prayed for a church. And they found one.

"We continue to seek the Lord and say, 'Are we still where you need us to be?'" Royce explains. "You never know if that season is for a very short time or a prolonged season. So we keep asking."

That posture of ongoing surrender — not just a one-time decision, but a continuing conversation with God — is one of the most practical and profound things Royce models for the leaders around her.

What Your Calendar and Checkbook Reveal

When asked how her faith shapes the investment of her time, talents, and resources, Royce cuts straight to what's concrete.

"When we look at our calendar and our checkbook, that can say a lot about where we invest. Resources and talents are a little more nebulous — they take some intention. So I sit down and ask myself: have you stewarded your time, your talents, and your resources well this month? If I'm reaping something I don't want, what have I been sowing to cause that? What do I need to change?"

It's a framework drawn straight from scripture — and it's Galatians 5 that has been most on her mind lately. The Fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. For Royce, these aren't just virtues to aspire to. They're indicators. Diagnostic tools. If the fruit isn't good, she looks honestly at the soil.

The Lies We Repeat Without Thinking

Perhaps Royce's most surprising piece of advice for Christian business leaders is this: she says she tells herself lies every day.

Not intentionally. But the trite sayings we absorb from culture — repeated without examination — can carry us quietly away from scriptural truth. She offers a common example: telling someone they're a good person and therefore deserve to be happy.

"Was Paul necessarily happy when he was imprisoned? Was Stephen, as he was being stoned? Was Jesus when he was sweating blood in the garden?" she asks. "Being a good person does not automatically equate to deserving happiness — at least not in the way the world defines it. So we need to examine those little sayings we find ourselves repeating, and ask whether they're actually aligned with scripture."

It's a call to intellectual and spiritual rigor that goes beyond devotional habits into the very language we use to make sense of our lives.

The Counsel That Changes Everything

For leaders who want to grow — in faith and in business — Royce's final word of encouragement is direct: find your people.

"Seek a mentor, a peer group, something," she urges. "You have blind spots. I have blind spots. Getting feedback from people you can trust to give you honest input makes a huge difference. And stay grounded in the knowledge of the Word — because the Word will correct the lies before they take root."

That's the life Royce King is living: integrated, examined, and rooted. No longer two people. Just one woman, walking with God through every season — calendar, checkbook, and all.

Royce King serves in donor development at Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. Her devotional book, Unwrapping Your Worth in Christ, is available on Amazon.