My name is Kathy Schinhofen and I love Visionwriters International.  As I have often said through the years, I am a lifer!!!  I have come from brokenness to abundant life through Jesus!  

I first came to Visionwriters in January of 1981.  I was very hurt and broken.  I was abandoned by my father, raised by an abusive stepfather and an alcoholic mother, and I had no hope of ever being whole.  I was miserable in every aspect of life. Jaque Banas Shank, the founder of Visionwriters International, was teaching a class in Whittier, California.  I remember, during the Hope lesson of Miracle In the Mirror, crying as I stood up and said, “No way. God couldn’t possibly love me and have a future and a hope for me. No way!!”  Jaque came over to me and held me.  I cried and cried!  Then she looked at me lovingly and spoke sternly and said, “Listen, my dear sister!  You will hear God speak to you and you will experience His love that will change your life forever.”  I sat down, feeling calm and peaceful.  She showed me the unconditional love that I had never experienced before.  I have been involved in Visionwriters International ever since. 

Knowing God’s relentless love for me, while knowing I was nothing but a sinner, motivated me to press in and to seek God.  There is nothing more amazing and more powerful than knowing God and hearing His voice bring revelation of the truth that sets us free. 

In 1985, Cyndi Van Meter Smith and I began teaching Visionwriters classes.  We both became Visionkeepers and took the very first Visionkeeper training. I became the Vice-President of Visionwriters International during 2007, I think. (I am terrible with dates.) I took online training and I have learned to absolutely love online classes.  I am so blessed and thankful to God to be a part of this ministry.

In 2019, I was asked to be the Spiritual Advisor of the ministry.  Jaque Banas Shank, the founder of Visionwriters International, and the initial Spiritual Advisor, had passed away in 2017. And no one could ever fill Jaque’s shoes!   But I am honored to be a part of the ministry.  Brothers and sisters, Jaque became my mentor and my dear friend.  She was a powerful woman of God who lived humbly before the Lord!  I am here today because Jesus in Jaque loved me and walked alongside me, teaching me how to intimately know God through His Word and through hearing His Voice.  Jaque loved God first, with all that she was, and then she dedicated her life to love others.  Luke 10:27 – ‘So He answered and said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”’  Friends, Jaque lived her life being a Visionwriter and a Visionkeeper!!!  As a Visionkeeper, I have committed my life to love others and to walk alongside them.  What a privilege it is to be a part of this family and to be a Visionkeeper!

A Bible verse that God laid on my heart to share is one that I have lived by through the years:   2 Timothy 3:16-17 Amplified:  ‘All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ 

I thank God that the Word of God is transforming my life.  Friends, our lives are a finished work on the cross of Christ Jesus!  What a peace it is to know that there is nothing to do but to seek our Lord and to see!