Cameras and smartphones are poised, ready to shoot. Models sporting hairstyles that defy gravity and wearing trend-setting fashions wait to walk the runway. A high-end fashion show in New York City is about to begin.

If you listen, you can hear Christian music playing in the background. And if you peek backstage, you’ll see the woman running the show pray with each model before sending them down the catwalk.

Meet Isabelle Donola, a high-end fashion designer in New York City. She has competed in the American television series Project Runway and rubbed shoulders with well-known fashion designers and celebrities. But what stirs her heart most is the ministry at Bryant Park Life Hope Center, an urban center of influence where a new church is being planted.

Raised as an Adventist, Isabelle was taught that the world is a ripe field of souls for God. Whatever she has done—ballet, modeling, skateboarding, and now fashion design—she does for Christ. But since God cured her from a debilitating injury, her desire to serve Him has intensified.

When Life Hope Center began in 2021, she had recently been healed. “At that moment, I had experienced so many miracles in my life I wanted everybody to know,” Isabelle said. “When the Life Hope Center leaders asked for volunteers, I said yes. I volunteered for everything.” She passed out flyers for evangelistic meetings, attended nightly community Bible studies, and supported every event that Life Hope Center and area churches offered the community.

But Isabelle’s impact reaches beyond the doors of Life Hope Center. Because God has blessed her with success in fashion, she can influence an industry where few, if any, Adventists mingle. She leverages her design concept, fashion show themes, and personal interactions to point people to Christ.

Isabelle’s design concept is based on the foundational belief found in Genesis 1–2 that humans are stewards of the earth and its resources. So, her clothing line is designed to reduce waste common in the fashion industry.

“I started doing fashion shows inspired by the Bible and my experience with God and His power in my life,” Isabelle shared. In one of her shows, the models were all draped in a chain, except one with a broken chain in her hands, like one bringing hope because she had been set free.

Fashion shows are highly conceptual, but Isabelle issues a press release with an explanation of the inspiration behind each show, so no one misses the message. “In every collection of clothing I present, I’m always pushing the same button, asking the audience to search their hearts, investigate their actions and motives, and ask themselves, is there a God out there? Should I change? Is there hope for me?” Isabelle explained. “I’m always trying to put a question mark in people’s hearts to open the gate for the Holy Spirit to work in them.”

Isabelle also reaches out with her warm personal touch to share God’s love and peace. “After Fashion Week, the people who worked with me would call just to listen to my voice because they said it gives them peace,” Isabelle said. “I know that’s God because I speak too fast to be peaceful!” She prays with the models, the organizers, and anyone in this highly competitive industry who appears anxious. “Because I can see their stress, I say, ‘Can I pray with you?’ Then, they start asking me to pray for them,” Isabelle shared. “Some people ask me what church I go to. They say, ‘Wherever you go, I want to go.’”

Then, Isabelle brings them to Life Hope Center for a program or Bible studies or to one of the Adventist churches in the area.

Isabelle finds joy in volunteering at this center of influence. But wouldn’t you say that as she intentionally uses every aspect of her life to win people to Christ, she also is a center of influence?

What would happen if every follower of Jesus saw themselves as a center of influence?

Urban Centers of Influence

Global Mission supports wholistic mission to the cities through the ministry of dozens of urban centers of influence. These centers follow Christ’s method of ministry to meet people’s needs and start new groups of believers. Please support urban centers of influence by visiting GMsda.org/Give.