Stories - Page 17 of 81 - The Christian Heart

How Everyday People Live Out Their Christian Faith

Illustrating how men and women display their love for Jesus in their day-to-day lives.
Little things that may have an eternal impact. Might these stories motivate you to use your talents?

Homeless Verbalizing the Gospel
FINDING LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

Though I often live in darkness with no electricity, Jesus is my light. Though I may not have a fancy building or riches, Jesus dwells in my temple daily. I was born in Nigeria, but my parents both passed when I was young and I never received a proper education. I ended up spending much of my childhood sleeping on the streets, waiting for food, hope, and love. During my teen years, I was involved in a severe accident, where the bus I was traveling in rolled over six times. The details are blurry, but I remember a young girl placing a handkerchief over my head and praying for me. This is just one of the near-death experiences of my life, and I continued to try and find hope in the world, doing odd jobs and making some money. On Sunday, March 16, 2010, I decided to go to church. That day, it was like the sermon was made just for me. Jesus came into my heart that day, and following that, I was given many vivid dreams, one in which Jesus told me to be the first one among those I knew to enter the church. Surprisingly, when I started doing that, the church appointed me as one of the ushers and my life changed forever. I was now in charge of leading people into the house of the Lord, both figuratively and literally. I was still homeless, but Jesus continued to send me dreams and hope. These dreams led me to begin preaching to many communities in Nigeria, which is full of… Read More

February 8, 2023
Overcoming Obstacles Recovery
AN AMAZING TRANSFORMATION

I grew up in a very secular home, I didn't go to church, and I never saw my parents read the Bible. I thought that if I just did whatever I wanted, without any rules or restrictions, then I would be happy. That's what my friends did, and they seemed to be having a lot of fun. I saw no point in God, and instead of going to church, I would go to the local tattoo shop. The money I earned went towards my tattoos, alcohol and pot. By the time I was 22, my parents had disowned me and I was living on the streets. I could never seem to stay in a relationship for more than a few months. I craved attention from others and it never really seemed like I could fill that cup. When I met my husband, we immediately began trying for children. When my daughter was born, so much changed. I wanted to do everything right. For once in my life, I felt like I had a reason to keep waking up in the mornings. But we were broke, we were living in an apartment, we were jobless, and I didn't know where to turn. I still rejected God. Instead I would find myself reading tarot cards, or trying to "manifest" my happy ending. That yearning for fulfillment never ceased. I always felt like something wasn't quite right. I would often ask myself, “Why can't I just be happy?" I wanted to do better for my daughter but I felt like everything I tried to do to reach… Read More

February 1, 2023
Unique Ministries Verbalizing the Gospel
RANDOM NOTES OF ENCOURAGEMENT

I could not stop wasting time. It was crazy. I wanted to do something with my life. I wanted to help people, but instead, I went to sleep, sang in the shower, or sat and stared at the wall. I didn't talk to anybody. I was introverted from the moment I was born, it seemed. I wanted to reach people and show them the light of Jesus I had been shown as a young child, but I never had the right words to say. I felt there was no way to overcome my fear of talking and telling others about God's love. Every single person you meet has their own story. There are no exceptions. You become a part of it by how you treat them. We all have stories we won't ever tell. I learned at a young age that most people hide their hurt and traumas behind a beautiful mask. I have a gift for seeing through the masks, the pain, and the emotions they try to hide. That's what got me into writing random notes of encouragement. Perfect for me who never has had the right words to speak, but I have always had the words to write. I began to write words of encouragement and uplifting scripture on pieces of paper. I would always ask the Lord to give me the words to express to others how beautiful His love is for them. Then I would go throughout my day in the city and place them in library books, restaurant menus, coffee shops, airports; wherever anyone could find them. It… Read More

January 25, 2023
Adoption/Foster Care Children Special Needs
THE DOUGHERTY DOZEN

Be careful what you pray for. We went through nine years of infertility and had at least 11 miscarriages. But I kept praying to become a mother. And God certainly answered my prayers—and then some—because now we have 12 children! When you have a dozen children, life is a little hectic. We do five loads of laundry every day. We spend over $1,000 each week on groceries and have four full-size freezers in our garage to store food. We recently purchased 12 lockers so the kids have their own space for their coats, backpacks and all their shoes. We need a 15-seat passenger van to go anywhere. I go to bed at 11 each night and wake up at 4 in the morning to get everything done. It's amazing what you can get done if you're on the go for 19 hours each day! Our days are loud and full of chaos, but they’re also meaningful and full of love. We became known as The Dougherty Dozen in a fairly unique way. During the pandemic lockdown, we were losing our minds because we were all quarantined together. Imagine all of us in the same house 24 hours a day for months on end. Since the kids were doing their school work from home, we were forced to upgrade the wi-fi in our house to a business account because we were using so much bandwidth. It was getting a little claustrophobic in our house and our nerves were frayed, so I started making silly videos to entertain our family and make them laugh. Just… Read More

January 18, 2023
Overcoming Obstacles Unique Ministries
OUT OF THE DUST

“I don't think I believe in God anymore and I no longer want to be married." What happens when the life you've built turns to complete dust? These are the devastating words I heard from my high school sweetheart and husband. He had been wrestling with his faith and had finally told me. Even though we were in ministry, he had been on his own quiet journey through addiction, doubts, and deconstruction. It is normal to wrestle with faith and fight to find truth, but his journey took him down a path that nearly destroyed us. After our painful divorce, he continued in this painful, isolating direction for quite some time while I slowly rebuilt my life with the support of my family. After such a deep hurt, I was so confused and frustrated. I had never thought that he would question his faith or question our marriage. But as I was on my own, I tried to pursue God while trying to heal and make sense of all I had been through. In time, the Lord graciously got a hold of my husband's heart and he experienced a true-life transformation, only to realize he had made a huge mistake when he left our marriage. He began to reach out to me. After some time, we took a long walk and talked. For several months, we met with a counselor separately and then together. But, honestly, there was nothing left, there was really no hope. But out of the dust, acting only as God can, He breathed life back into our story. Through God's… Read More

January 11, 2023
Overcoming Obstacles Prayer
A GRANDFATHER’S ANSWERED PRAYER

My life has been in shambles on a number of occasions. But Jesus, and my grandfather, have rescued me from the depths of depravity to make me the Christ follower that I am today. My father was a truck driver who fell asleep at the wheel and died in a collision when I was four, and my mom was eight months pregnant with my little sister. That was the first time my maternal grandfather stepped in to help guide my life and become our surrogate father. He was a solid Christian who became the anchor in our lives. From time to time, I would feel a closeness to God, an emotional bond, but emotions have a shelf life. If you don’t continue to seek Him, the world can crowd Him out. When I was a teenager, that certainly took place in my life. At 16, I started to experiment with marijuana and alcohol. That experiment quickly turned into a semi-addiction. On weekends, I’d get into some hallucinogenic drugs; by 18, I was into cocaine and heroin. After high school, I entered Auburn University but drank every day and flunked out. I returned home and fell back in with my heroin buddies. I was also deep into sexual promiscuity. I felt God could only love good kids, so I figured He was angry with me. Consequently, I ran from God as fast as I could. It was an ugly life. My best friend overdosed on drugs and died when I was 18. It didn’t do a thing to snap me out of this. I was living a… Read More

January 4, 2023

Browse all categories

Adoption/Foster Care 38

Church Activities 59

Financial Help 18

Loss Of Loved One 38

Loving Your Neighbor 66

Mission Work 51

Overcoming Obstacles 111

Prison Ministry 11

Senior Citizens 22

Special Needs 47

Unique Ministries 160

Verbalizing the Gospel 73

Submit a Story

Listen To Our Podcast

Support The Christian Heart

Sign Up For Our Inspiring Newsletter