We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Dunston. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.
Sarah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
God took me from a meth addict 9 years ago and began to use me for His Glory. The first two years after encountering Jesus, I humbly sat in bible studies, learning the Word of God and getting fed….but year 3, was GO. I didn’t wait for anyone to tell me to serve or how to serve. Out of embodying Christ and His love for hurting people, I started going to the streets. Equipped with physical and spiritual food, my daughter Corynn and I started feeding people out of the back of our SUV. We just showed up and loved on people, listened, and prayed with them. Word of mouth got around, and other believers wanted to contribute for the cost of meals or to give clothing donations. This went on for a few years, just quietly working to give hope.
In 2023, we realized we had a genuine backing and support. Now people were cooking meals for us and giving sizable financial contributions. Our initial goal to create a formal organization was simply to give donors tax write- offs. After applying for our EIN, we formed a 501(c)3 nonprofit called graceRIOT, whose mission was to find the lost and disciple the found. Our vision statement was purposefully broad, so we could give a hand up to others in any way possible- through mentoring, ministry opportunities, community work, teaching and trips outside Missouri. We did not want to put God in a box and limit what He could do or who He could help through us.
Next, we set up social media platforms to inspire others to do the same, which easily built a volunteer base from our friends and supporters. This was all organic. We have never paid to climb rankings or for marketing or use bots to build more followers. We just left the four walls of the traditional church to minister, and often those we prayed with, led to Christ, ministered to, became supporters. Our first fundraiser was in 2025. Prior to this, we never asked for money. We just told God our needs, and He nudged hearts. He supplied more than we could ask for, and not just financially, but creatively, as well.
God has given us a wealth of ideas: hit the gay parade and show God’s love to this crowd in a way the religious cannot. Open air preach to the nations at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Go to motels where kids are living and be the church. We would bring dinner for the whole complex, read the kids bible stories and play games, preach the Word of God to the community. Nine kids throughout our nine months there gave Jesus their hearts at different points. This is the Gospel in action. Church is not a place you go- a structure, a building. It is who you are to the world.
In 2024, we started releasing teachings online. In 2025, God took us from Alaska to D.C. Now in 2026, graceRIOT is focused on equipping believers in the heartland with how to evangelize through free teachings at gatherings and churches in the Midwest. So, this whole journey has been very fluid, letting Jesus lead us and being obedient to where He says to GO. I cannot survive on own cleverness. I am very dependent on Him. My time with God is where I get strengthened and inspired. It’s where I pray and God speaks. Your wit and intuition will only take you so far. There’s an African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” graceRIOT is going with Jesus every time.
Sarah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My personal story comes from being born into religion, indoctrinated, having head knowledge of God but lacking true encounter with Jesus. Jesus- the real person, not religion- came into my life when no one else wanted me, when I was at my dirtiest, most abandoned, most unholy state. When I said, “OK I believe,” He breathed life into me (neshamah chay). God began to undo the damage, the lies, the wrong beliefs and I became this new person. My mind changed. My heart changed. I started living out of that internal change, so my actions changed. Not because I tried harder. But because I believed Jesus was who He said He was. graceRIOT was born out of this belief and subsequent change.
We see a desperate need in this hour to wake believers up. So many check a box- go to church, put on the cross necklace, go to the next event- but what are we actually doing with our faith? How are we giving it away? Are we withholding salvation from our sleeping brothers and sisters? Are we so caught up in the day- to- day routine that we have stopped living for Him who called us out of the darkness? This is what we are invested in teaching to the church gatherings around us.
Imagine if believers actually lived consistently with the gospel they professed to believe! Catholics, Pentecostals, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodist- graceRIOT does not care what denomination people align with. Do they love Jesus? Has He changed their lives? If the answer is “Yes,” graceRIOT wants to equip that body in how to approach strangers, tell their stories, and lead people to Jesus. By bringing the lost to the saving knowledge of Jesus, this will revive churches and radically transform whole communities.
graceRIOT has spent six long years in the fields. We have led countless souls to Christ- countless because we don’t count. His children are not tallies. But what if we all did this across the nation? Isn’t that what we are believing for… the Harvest, a great awakening of souls? King Jesus is coming back, and graceRIOT does not intend to be empty handed when it happens! Join the RIOT!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Proverbs 3:3 says ‘not to forget kindness and truth and to bind them to yourself, write them on your heart, and if you do this, you will find favor and good repute with men.’ It seems this is what happened. graceRIOT is known for her love to the most broken, for her ability to minister to people that most would not dare touch or even interact with. Because of this, we have received a good reputation. Not because we were going for that but because a good reputation is simply a byproduct of reflecting Jesus and actually living for Him. Many we have blessed or our volunteers or other ministries left graceRIOT reviews because they believe in our work and have witnessed our character. Reputation flows from essence. Who do you flow from? God? Greed? Rightousness? Empty promises? This is what is said about you when you’re not in the room and it becomes public knowledge.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I don’t often speak of this. Early on in my Christian walk I was persuaded by well- meaning people to reunite with my ex husband who had committed adultery years before, whom I had been separated from for years, under the reality that God could restore everything. Yes, He can, but not everything gets restored. I knew the Bible gave me clearance to leave this marriage (Matthew 19:9). However, I needed grace to flesh that teaching out in my heart after trying everything to salvage that relationship. I’ll save you the breaking points that occurred, because I have a very good relationship with my ex- husband today.
When I finally felt the permission from God to exit my first marriage, a client whom I was a paralegal for let me move into her bedroom with my children. Her kindness allowed me to find my footing and a place to live a month later. That woman, Mahana, is now my beloved mother- in- law. Jeremy meet Sarah. Sarah, Jeremy.
Jeremy became my lifelong mission partner and nothing has been the same since. We married in 2022 and formed a small business, Ozarks Finish Carpentry. Side by side and bi-vocationally, Jeremy and I partner in work and ministry, in our home and family. He is the cofounder of graceRIOT and my deepest confidant and support. graceRIOT would not exist in the capacity that it does without his ability to build upon where Holy Spirit leads us. Jeremy brings wisdom and creativity on another level. He expounds upon the dreams I dream, so opportunities are more fruitful, more developed, more fully- possessed by graceRIOT. I honor this great man of God!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/riot4grace
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graceriot_sar?igsh=ZGxwajUydnJ4YzMz&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riot4grace?mibextid=sCpJLy
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@graceriot?si=AjfQe6HDgc4lpxoM
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@graceriot_sar?_r=1&_t=ZT-94AMhk0WZlV
Image Credits
Photographer/Videographer: Natalee Dewey, Jeremy Dunston