There is a higher purpose than just sales at the Heaven Sent Gift Shop located at 2269 Pleasant Ave. in Lindenwald.

Owner Debbie Doerflein knows she has more work to accomplish, she just doesn’t know what that work is yet.

“I’m just a visionary,” Doerflein said. “I see things how it should be rather than how it is and I’m going to keep moving forward and helping people until God tells me, ‘no more.’ ”

Doerflein’s vision includes “reviving” the neighborhood in which she grew up. She considers herself old fashioned because she wants to return to the days when there was plenty of small businesses in which to shop.

“Everyone says small business is dead,” Doerflein said. “I certainly hope that isn’t true.

“We just need to go backwards a little,” she said. “We need to treat people the way they should be treated. You have to get to know who they are and what’s going on with them.”

Doerflein had worked in retail most of her life, but decided to open her own business when she felt she was “called” to be a light in the Lindenwald community where she grew up.

“I did what God told me to do and I’ve been growing ever since,” Doerflein said.

The Christian gift shop originated at 2221 Pleasant Ave. in 1995. Two years later the 25-seat chapel opened next door and hosted its first wedding.

The chapel has now expanded to hold 100 people, and Doerflein has continued to expand the rest of her business as well with a coffee shop inside of the gift shop. Doerflein also opened a second coffee shop location at the Miami University Hamilton campus.

But all the growth has not been without adversity. In 2005, a fire gutted the gift shop

“I thought I was going to be going home after the fire,” said Doerflein, adding that it took 10 months to rebuild the business. “Lots of people came to help and I just stayed.”

“It took a big bite out of us because some people thought we were gone,” she said. “But I believe I’ve helped the neighborhood and I don’t want to give up. I want to leave a legacy of compassion and help for others.”