he Spirit of God can touch anyone at any point in their life, and Perri Costley believes she felt a calling very young. At age 13, she knew she had a message she needed to spread, so she started preaching.

“The Lord just started speaking to me, and if I didn’t let it out then I became really kind of depressed,” Costley said. “I needed to get some way to speak what the Lord was speaking to me.”

She spoke to her youth pastor at Grace Covenant Church in Carrollton about talking to the youth group and he agreed to let her. She preached her first sermon to the other students in January, just weeks after her 14th birthday, but it wasn’t enough. Once Perri was able to release the message that was burning inside her, she knew she had to keep talking, but she wasn’t sure how to get started.

That’s when Curtis Costley stepped in. He knew something was bothering his daughter and after talking to Perri about it, he promised her that she would be preaching in two weeks, although he didn’t yet know where or how that would happen. What he did know was he had to help her express herself.

“We recognized that Perri had a passion or zeal that was unusual for her age,” he said. “Without a vision all of us perish. So, our goal is to help our kids find what they’re interested in doing and trying to support them in that.”

Their idea was that Perri could talk to other youth groups in the area. Curtis got on the phone and started calling around to different pastors and one in Tallapoosa took him up on the offer. Bishop Darrell Gooden, offered Perri the chance to speak at the Rehoboth Church, not just to the youth group, but to the entire congregation during a service. Gooden, pastor of Rehoboth Christian Center and Bishop of the International Ministers’ Forum, invited her to speak thinking she might talk for 10 or 15 minutes, but she spoke eloquently and passionately for 50.

That was the first time Curtis Costley saw his daughter preach, and he was impressed.

“She really spoke with a wisdom and maturity that blew people away, with a message beyond her years,” he said. “She wants to see other people succeed, is the reason she does this and that’s the message she imparts and it’s really helping families.”

It might seem to an adult that Perri couldn’t have a message that applies to them, but her preaching touched the people in that church.

Gooden was surprised by her depth and understanding.

“The people were just absolutely spellbound by her,” Gooden said. “She ministered like an adult. She had great depth in her understanding of scripture and great depth in her love for God.”

He was so impressed, he asked her to return to speak at the International Conference of the ministers’ forum where more than 1,000 people were gathered including ministers from the United States and around the world. She again surprised those gathered with her depth and passion and the invitations to speak started coming. Through that engagement, Perri has been asked to speak at eight churches locally and in Douglasville, Jonesboro and Alabama.

Her message is one of love and responsibility; about living a Christian life.

“We’re created to be vessels of God’s glory,” Perri said. “We’re the only thing He created that has free will and free choice and is created in His image. So, I mean, that’s amazing to me.”

Perri’s parents are astounded by their daughter’s gift. Curtis and Alana have always wanted their children to learn to love God, that’s one of the reasons they started home schooling their five children nine years ago. They had never expected their daughter to start preaching, especially at such an early age.

“That’s the goal, to have our children have a heart for the Lord and live a godly Christian life,” Alana said. “I didn’t necessarily know that at 14 she would want to be out front and doing this, but she definitely has a talent. She’s very self-motivated.”

Perri doesn’t know what the future holds for her – whether she’ll marry and have children, become a pastor or follow some other path. But for now, Perri knows that she wants to continue to minister and hopes to become a youth pastor. She is wasting no time. She has started taking classes through her church at the Christian Life School of Theology, where she can eventually earn her degree.

“I really don’t know where this is going,” Perri said. “When I say I want to be a youth pastor, I don’t know if it’s because I’m young, but I really just want to help other young people find their goals and I just want to be an inspiration to them and let them know that God calls everybody.”