The Story Behind Overflow Ministries

In 2004, Theresa was studying Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater when she had a life-changing dream of Jesus returning. During that time, she began attending a church in Whitewater, where one day the pastor said, “If you feel like God is telling you to do something, go do it.”

In her spirit was a call to Africa. She joined a short-term missions trip during the summer of 2007 to eSwatini. While there, her team felt led to South Africa for the remaining two weeks, where she networked with a group of believers at Alabanza, a launchpad for missionaries.

The head of Alabanza, Dini, prophesied of Theresa that “that one there, she’ll be back.” And it was true. Theresa felt a call to return to South Africa to an orphanage the team spent time at during those two weeks. It was here she felt led to return, and did so in 2008 for a year. During her time in South Africa, there were several smaller missions, including a trip to Zimbabwe, the UK, and two trips to Zambia, the second of which her life-long friend from UWW, Michelle (now a board member), joined her on.

It was on her initial trip to Zambia, that Theresa met Helen, a Zambian who was serving as a missionary to Botswana. Theresa and Helen have maintained contact ever since.

Eventually, the time of missions abroad came to a close, but this didn’t mean it was over. For Theresa, the calling remained, but the location changed.

Over the next 18 years, she took ministering in the workplace and to the people around her seriously.

When Theresa returned home, she began work in a laboratory in Madison while working to pay off her student loans. Shortly after the loans were paid, Theresa had a dream of becoming a nurse. She couldn’t shake the notion and obtained a nursing degree through UW-Oshkosh in 2012, the same year she married her husband, Josh. Josh had his own faith resume including several years at a Bible school in Kansas City, Missouri, where he studied scripture and participated in their prayer room.

Theresa and Josh met through Global Presence Ministries in an environment of prophetic worship and prayer. Once wed, the Smiths spent their honeymoon travelling to Ghana on an outreach with GPM. They later returned twice more to Alabanza in South Africa to visit Dini and eventually joined them on an outreach to Moscow, Russia, in 2016.

Shortly after Russia, the Smiths relocated to a rural area just outside of Theresa’s hometown. They led a prayer group for several years and taught classes. During these years, Theresa changed jobs several times, but maintained a ministry focus while working, which led to a harvest among co-workers and a few special patients.

In 2018, the Smiths welcomed their long-awaited son, followed by a daughter in 2020. In 2022, they found friendship in Mark and Briana Harmon, a couple who were leading worship in a neighboring church and are now board members for Overflow Ministries.

The Harmons had a special anointing for prophetic worship and ushering in the Presence of God, something the Smith’s had craved since their time with Global Presence. They maintained connection with their local body, but joined the Harmons in weekly worship on Wednesdays and later Saturday evenings. This is also where they met their other board member, Cindy Ott.

The Lord showed up powerfully during the services led by the Harmons, and Theresa has been healed multiple times there in God’s Presence.

In December 2025, Theresa read a newsletter from her friend Helen in Zambia, aloud to Josh. With that, she felt called to go, and he agreed. It is difficult to describe all that happened on that trip succinctly, but, suffice it to say, it was a pivotal moment as she came alongside this woman of God and her family.

In the fall 2025, God had been leading Theresa to form a ministry, but she didn’t know why. However, upon returning from Zambia, this notion God had placed inside of her took shape, and in the spring of 2026, Overflow Ministries was formed.