Bonnie was born in Newport News, Virginia in 1949, to James and Dorothy Stoup. She is the oldest of six siblings. Bonnie and her family grew up on the James River, where they could walk out of their front door and go swimming, fishing, crabbing and digging for oysters.
Today, Bonnie is a licensed ordained minister and has been in the ministry for the 40 plus years. She has ministered on the streets, traveled in full time evangelism and served in the pastoral ministry with her husband of thirty-five years. They met at college in the cafeteria lunch line, started talking and never stopped.
Bonnie served as missionary to Thailand for eight years, where both of her children, Jeremy and Jessica were born. While in Thailand, she and Gary were granted an audience with the Crown Princess of Thailand for their work with /for refugee children.
Bonnie has served as Women’s Ministry Director in Thailand, as well as varied ministries in the states where her husband served as Overseer. She has conducted retreats, children’s revivals and has been/is a conference speaker for local, state, national and international conferences. Bonnie is a published author and she and Gary received the 1985 Distinguished Alumni Award from Tomlinson College.
Today Bonnie is the facility chaplain for the Women’s Community Correctional Center in Kailua. She feels her greatest charge and gift from the Lord is the privilege she has to pastor the nearly three hundred women incarcerated in the state’s only women’s prison.
Bonnie is a licensed ordained minister and has been in the ministry for the past 40 years. She currently serves as President of Fishnet Ministries International.
In 1987, Bonnie came to Hawaii with her late husband, Bishop/Chaplain Gary Holcombe. Together, they trained leaders and organized new churches throughout American/Western Samoa, Tahiti, Fiji and Hawaii.
She has conducted retreats, children’s revivals and is a speaker for local, state, national and international conferences. Bonnie is part of the State planning team dedicated to developing transitional faith based housing for women returning back to society.
In 2003, Bonnie founded the Total Life Recovery Program and became the facility chaplain for the Women’s Community Correctional Center in Kailua, Hawaii. In 2010, Bonnie was invited to present the program at a national level at the National Juvenile and Female Offender Conference in Jackson, Mississippi. She later received the Jefferson Award recipient for her work with incarcerated women.
She feels her greatest honor and gift from the Lord is the privilege she has to provide the pastoral presence for the staff and three hundred women incarcerated in the state’s only women’s prison.