Stories - Page 18 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?

Children Homeless Loving Your Neighbor
THE CIRCLE OF LOVE

The Circle of Love is not just a toy drive where we supply Christmas presents each year to 700 children in need. It is a way to give forgotten children a sense of worth and value, a way to give them an ability to dream. We started The Circle of Love in 2004, and over these 19 years, we have touched over 8,000 children who live in shelters and in impoverished areas. You can never fully explain to a child why Santa Claus will not come to visit him and his family. For children in transitional housing, having gifts to open on Christmas morning is not so much about the toys, but about reclaiming a sense of normalcy. So many kids in shelters or in poverty feel invisible or forgotten. I know this from personal experience. There were seven kids in my family growing up. We were extremely poor and went without in just about every area of life. I know what it’s like to be hungry or only wear hand-me-down clothes. I know first-hand that if you come to school in the fall without school supplies or return from Christmas vacation without something new, other kids can be cruel. And that is sure what all of my siblings experienced. But for me, there were two big turning points in my life which altered the way I see the world. And truly cemented my Christian faith. When I was nine years old, we were living in a house on a farm in Altoona, Alabama, the farm on which my parents worked. It was Christmas night and, as… Read More

December 21, 2022
Church Activities Senior Citizens
SERVING THE SENIOR ADULTS

Although I grew up going to church, I didn't take God seriously until I was 20 years old. There were always things that I let get in the way of my relationship with God. In my teen years, I never really decided to give my life to Him. My sister and I are the third generation of my family to attend the Salvation Army church in our city. Our mother and grandmother set the example for us as women of God. Even though I attended church three times a week growing up, I still held my full heart back from the Lord. When I was 20, I attended a special Youth Ministries conference and the call of God spoke deeply to my heart. I remember feeling the Holy Spirit touching my life that night over 50 years ago. Since then, everything in my life changed. In 1983, I began working with the Senior Citizens club at my church. I have been blessed to lead this ministry ever since. Back when we started, I had a group of 87 "Golden Chords". The Golden Chords would visit the local nursing homes and sing songs for the residents, a service very much needed in the lives of the elderly. Not everyone realizes that volunteering at nursing homes makes a huge impact on people's lives. Some residents get very few visitors. A smile and a listening ear can make all the difference. In my work with the Senior Citizens Club at my church, I take members on trips, we go to shows, camping in cabins, we do… Read More

December 12, 2022
Labor Overcoming Obstacles Recovery
A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE

I had a heart attack at age 39 and doctors in the hospital told me my heart stopped beating for 45 minutes. I was dead. But those amazing doctors worked hard to bring me back to life by performing CPR for that entire time. Doctors placed me in an induced coma for nine days. When I was awakened, my life was substantially different. I now have to live with a pacemaker that keeps my heart beating properly. A lot of my memories were gone. But fortunately, I remembered my beautiful wife, Tanya, who never left my hospital bedside for the entire nine days. I was also blessed in another way. I had been driving some foster children in a van from Flint to Detroit following a weekly visit when my heart attack occurred. I felt pain in my chest, and I transitioned from the fast lane to the slow lane. I passed out from the pain and the van ran off the side of the road, and smashed into a small tree. Thank the Lord that the children weren’t hurt. Some people, who had seen the crash, rushed down to the site and began performing CPR. God put them in my path in order to keep me alive. It was obvious that He was looking out for me. Just like He was during my first 30 years on earth when I had lived quite a turbulent life in Flint. I bounced around at various jobs. I was trying hard to make ends meet which was not easy because I had a six-year-old son… Read More

December 7, 2022
Church Activities Overcoming Obstacles
A CHANGED LIFE

When I was 16, I lived a life full of alcohol and drugs. I went through physical and sexual abuse, dealt drugs, faced self-harm, and honestly have no idea how I made it through alive. The year I turned 19, I was put in jail for the possession of multiple narcotics, and my mom put her house deed on the line to get me out of jail. I was only there for three days, but it was enough to shake me and show me what I needed to do to get out of this spiral. When I turned 20, I left my hometown and joined the army. I was no longer using drugs, but I was living in denial of being an alcoholic. It wasn’t until I had my third child a decade and a half later that I realized how short I was selling myself and my family. But I still was living in my guilt and my shame. On January 6, 2020, I went to a healing conference at my home church, Fullturn Church. I was able to learn all God had done for me, and what authority and power was available if I could just believe it in my heart. This was the night I decided to completely trust God with all that He purposed for my life. All the shame, guilt and bad choices lost their hold on me. None of it mattered anymore! I pressed myself into the Word of God and watched His plan for my life unfold. Since that night, I have not had a drop of… Read More

November 30, 2022
Hospital Labor Unique Ministries
THE NICU BEAUTY BAR

My daughter, Amelia, was born three months prematurely, and weighed only 1 pound 11 ounces. She was in the NICU for 125 days. It was tortuous, exhausting and scary. My husband and I were simply in survival mode for those four months. We totally relied on our faith to get us through. People surrounded us with prayer. I learned that the power of prayer is remarkable--there was a feeling of peace and calm that I can’t describe. I felt like the Lord was there with us throughout the entire ordeal. Remarkably, and by the grace of God, Amelia survived and is now a thriving four-year-old running around at preschool. When she was in the hospital, the doctors said she may have some cognitive and developmental issues, but she has not had any. She’s just small for her age. The last of her physical reminders, a feeding tube, was removed in August. It is amazing to reflect on how we were taken care of during all this. One of the most helpful things was the Ronald McDonald House family room located inside of Riley Hospital. A lot of people may be familiar with the free-standing Ronald McDonald Houses in certain cities but there are also family rooms located inside some hospitals which serve as a rest area for family members of NICU patients. Those family rooms have hot meals and coffee, and give parents a place to take a break from the stress. While we were going through our trial, we were actually served a Thanksgiving meal in that family room. I wanted to give… Read More

November 22, 2022
Children Food Labor
DELJEN’S SHAVED ICE

I never would have thought our family would start a Shaved Ice business out of a food truck, especially when it was our six-year-old daughter’s idea. But it shows what we all can do if we just follow God’s prompting. When our daughter, Della, was 6, we found ourselves doing virtual school due to the pandemic. One day, I looked at her daily journal they had to compose for school, and it said, "I'm going to have a shaved ice business one day and my family is going to help me run it." I was more than taken back by this, especially since she only had shaved ice once in her life, and that was when she was three years old. When I asked her about her journal entry, she was very clear that this was her dream, that she’d even been talking with God about it. She saw this as a way to bring our family together. She knew my husband and I were having some problems, and she thought this may make things better if we could all work together and travel to see her relatives in other cities. I started to pray about this, and it became clear to me that God was not going to give our daughter this vision and not see it through. I knew I had to listen to what God and my daughter were saying. I had no idea how to start this business, much less anything about shaved ice. But I decided to pour myself into this for three months. So for 90 days,… Read More

November 16, 2022

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