Serving God through song and service By Katie Roiger | Submitted photos
I
f doing the Lord’s work is the story of pastor Kathy Einan’s life, music is its primary language. “I was kind of a quiet, shy person,” Einan said about her early years. Growing up on her parents’ farm, she hummed and warbled while doing chores, but was too bashful to perform in front of an audience. “I sort of sang behind the scenes,” said Einan. “No one knew except for my little brother.” Two major events pushed her talent into the open. Many years later, Einan was a young mother going through a painful divorce. Struggling with the dissolution of her marriage, Einan was also afraid that she would not be awarded custody of her son, Jason. “At that point in my life, I was calling out to God,” Einan said. “I really needed intervention of God.” It was at that point that she made a life-altering decision. In prayer, she promised to give God her whole life to serve him with if she became Jason’s primary guardian. The courts awarded Einan custody of her son and she was as good as her word. In a few years, the small family had moved 10 • MARCH 2021 • Women
to the Mankato area and Einan enrolled at the then-Mankato State University. She took courses on chemical dependency, drug education, family dynamics and sociology among others, in preparation for a life of doing God’s work. At Mankato State, Einan met the Vietnam-vet-turnedsubstance abuse counselor Mark Einan. Like her, he had a passion for Christianity, service, and music, and drew Einan out of her shyness. They married, and decided to turn their love for God and song into a mission. Together, they founded Spirit and Truth, a traveling praise and worship band. Kathy wrote songs and acted as lead vocalist, and Mark played several instruments. Spirit and Truth served as the moneymaker for their second enterprise, a counseling service called MiddleGround Ministries. The Einans took MiddleGround’s inspiration straight from a favorite Bible passage. In Isaiah 58, God instructs his people to share their bread with the hungry, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, and release the captives. The verse could have been MiddleGround’s mission statement. The Einans and their volunteers offered short and long-term shelter for more than 65 people over 25 years.
