Giving From a Place of Shared Grace

Meet James and Corie Culp

James and Corie are the kind of people who listen carefully.

They laugh easily. They speak thoughtfully. And when they talk about faith, it is clear that following Jesus is not something they have added to their lives. It is the lens through which they see everything.

Married for 26 years, with three children and five grandchildren, James and Corie carry a quiet steadiness shaped by years of walking with the Lord. Their faith has been formed over time through prayer, Scripture, community, and lived experience. Not perfection, but dependence.

They are quick to say they are no different from anyone else.

“We’re all one step away from a bad decision,” James admits. “We’re all the same.”

That humility shapes the way they live, the way they give, and the way they see people. Especially those whose stories look different on the surface, but not at the core. James traces that posture back to his parents. He watched them give faithfully and quietly, week after week, not out of excess, but out of trust. Their consistency left an imprint.

Now, James and Corie are intentional about cultivating that same faithfulness for their own family. They want their children and grandchildren to see generosity not as an obligation, but as a natural response to a God who has always been faithful first.

// Learning to See the Work Up Close

Their connection to JUMPSTART developed over time. Through church relationships, conversations with trusted leaders, and eventually tours of the program itself.

“Why not go and check it out and look at it a little bit further?” James recalls.

Seeing the work firsthand mattered. Walking through facilities. Meeting staff. Hearing stories directly from participants. What they encountered was not a program built on good intentions, but a ministry grounded in the gospel and sustained by structure.

“It wasn’t just one voice,” James explains. “Now it’s the voices of the men and women who have been through the program and have a story to tell.”

// Gospel-Driven Giving

Both James and Corie grew up around generosity. Corie remembers being a recipient of others’ kindness long before she understood what that meant.

“Growing up, we were the recipients of other people’s generosity,” she says. “I didn’t really realize that until much later.”

Over time, their own giving shifted. Instead of spreading resources thin across many causes, they felt drawn to focus on gospel-centered ministries. “We’re driven to support ministries now,” Corie explains. “Not just organizations that do good, but ministries that bring real, lasting hope.”

// One Step Away

One of the themes that continues to shape their generosity is clear humility in what the gospel has done for them. “I’m one step away from a bad decision,” James shares honestly. “We’re all the same.”

Hearing the stories of men and women coming out of incarceration has deepened his understanding of grace. “They know they were trapped,” he reflects.

“Sometimes I don’t realize the ways I’m trapped. But the same gospel that restores them is the gospel that restores me.”

Second chances are not theoretical for James. He remembers his own moment of hitting rock bottom. “God gave me a second chance,” he says. “And I think if we’re honest, He keeps giving all of us second chances.”

// Generosity as a Shared Practice

James and Corie approach generosity as a couple, but not as a transaction. They talk. They pray. They listen. “Our hands are open,” James says. “If Corie feels led to give somewhere, I trust that. And she does the same for me.”

Rather than waiting for perfect clarity or excess resources, they believe in starting where you are. “It doesn’t have to be ten percent,” Corie says.

“Give what you can. Whether it’s ten dollars or ten thousand, the impact matters.”

It stems from the principle of giving out of a right heart. For them, generosity has become less about control and more about faithfulness. “We plant seeds,” James explains. “We may never see the fruit, but we trust God to bring it in His time.”

// Why JUMPSTART South Carolina

When James and Corie talk about JUMPSTART, they speak less about outcomes and more about transformation. They have watched the ministry grow from a single house with squeaky floors into what is now known as Restoration Village. They have seen lives rebuilt. Leaders raised up. Stories multiplied.

“It’s not just expansion,” James says. “It’s redemption continuing to unfold.”

They are especially encouraged by the way participants now carry the message forward themselves. “That’s Jesus working,” Corie says. “Nothing else can serve their souls the way He does.”

James and Corie are quick to say that generosity does not require having it all figured out. God calls us to live with open hands and hearts, and He will direct you in the rest.

“You’ve got to get in the game,” James says. “Start somewhere. Follow it. See what God does.”

// Generosity that Bridges the Gap

At JUMPSTART South Carolina, generosity becomes a bridge.

It connects people who have been given second chances to the structure, community, and discipleship needed to live into those chances. It turns faith into pathways. Hope into stability. Stories into testimonies that ripple outward.

When you give to JUMPSTART SC, you are not simply funding a program.

You are providing tangible support to men and women in our backyard, learning how to live out the gospel. You are helping build the infrastructure that makes transformation sustainable. You are stepping into a story that God has been writing long before any of us showed up.

Taking that next step might be the beginning of a story you never expected to be part of.

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👉 Want to make an impact like the Culps? 👉 Discover how you can get involved by visiting us online at: https://www.jumpstartvision.org/get-involved-south-carolina

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