My childhood was far from normal and tainted with abuse, poverty, and dysfunction. Having never known a father’s love, I gave my heart away to the first boy who treated me nicely. As a result, I got pregnant at sixteen. The relationship became toxic, so after splitting up, I went back to school and started working. I graduated high school and a few years later, I graduated from Nursing School. Working and studying gave me a sense of pride. I had a business, my degree, money, my son, and a new boyfriend, I had everything. And yet, I lived with an annoying emptiness that would not go away. One day, a woman walked into my business and invited me to her small group. I had no idea what that was but agreed to go because I was desperate for more than all I’d known. That first night is all it took. Jesus took hold of my heart and filled me with the peace I had been longing for. I began my walk with the Lord and one day, He asked me to leave it all behind to serve Him. Much like Abraham, I obeyed without really knowing where to go, but I had peace and a purpose. For the last eight years, I have been a nomad for the Gospel in my city of Bogota, Columbia. God has always provided a bed to sleep in and food to eat. I am always ready to share the love of Jesus with others. We only have… Read More
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?
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Our daughter, Jessica Joy Rees, was 11 when doctors discovered she had an inoperable and incurable brain tumor. They told us we would have 12-18 months with her. We were all devastated. We entered her into a very difficult clinical trial where she was subjected to 30 rounds of radiation and a daily dose of chemotherapy. Despite this grueling regimen, Jessie maintained an incredibly positive attitude. After her treatment one day, we were driving away from Children’s Hospital Orange County and she asked about all the sick children in the hospital that didn’t get to go home each day like she did. And then she asked something that would change our lives forever: “How can we help them?” My wife and I didn’t really give her a good answer to her question since we were so focused on helping her through this battle. But later that day, we found Jessie in the kitchen with five paper bags. She was decorating them with stickers and positive messages, and filling them with toys, colored markers and her beanie babies. She asked if she could give them out to kids like her who were going through cancer treatments, but were unable to leave the hospital. During our next visit, I talked with members of her care team and they gave her the approval, as long as the items were new, age appropriate, and were not sharp or edible. They also asked that we replace the paper bags with something else. Over the weekend, Jessie asked about using a “jar” to put her toys in. We loved… Read More
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Chasing after the wind, I was a high schooler who longed for ‘the moment,’ whether it be a concert, sporting event, or school dance. Underneath it all, I knew I was living in the shadows; distracting myself from the consequences of my sin. I was addicted to my lusts, which were distracting me and only adding to the tab of consequences. The pandemic in 2020 was a shelter to the wind I was chasing. I had no wind to chase, and as a result, I longed for renewal with the God I was distracting myself from. I ended up giving my life to Jesus; only to discover his unimaginable grace that was nothing short of a miracle. Not only was I a new creation in Him (and He in me), but the Lord began to sanctify me of my sin. He led me across my own Jordan River, overcoming a previous harmful addiction that I had struggled with for over four years. Three years later, I am now a student ministry leader with Cru, where I lead campus evangelism and an apologetics study group. While studying Human Communication Studies, I utilize the curriculum to converse and build relationships with students where I share the Gospel with them, and answer their questions to the faith we have good reason to fight for. It is a nerve-racking step out of my comfort zone, considering my campus is increasingly hostile toward God’s Word. I also lead an apologetics study group, which is an outlet for the students in our ministry to continue to learn to provide a… Read More
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In the depths of my heart, a fire burned—a calling that could not be ignored. As a single mom, life had dealt its blows, but my faith in Christ remained my anchor. With trepidation and trust, I opened my home to foster children, answering God's whispered invitation. Jamal and La' Velle were the first, their laughter filling my once-empty rooms. Together, we journeyed—a dance of laughter, tears, and victories. In doubt, I turned to prayer, finding solace in God's unchanging love and His call to care for the vulnerable. More children came, each carrying their own stories of shattered dreams. In our togetherness, love became our tapestry of healing. Weariness threatened, but Christ renewed my spirit, reminding me of His purpose in my labor of love. My home became a sanctuary, where laughter mingled with tears. Some found permanence through adoption, forever etching themselves upon my heart. In reflection, I am humbled by the transformative journey, a testament to Christ's love and the power of redemption. As I continue, I carry the torch of love, blessed beyond measure. Each life touched is a recipient of grace. In our shared space, they find healing and a glimpse of the Divine. In the symphony of life, my role as a foster parent is but a verse, a melody harmonizing with the grand symphony of creation. Driven by my soul's whispers and guided by Christ's love, I trust that my labor makes a difference—one child, one heart at a time.
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My dad did something every month for nearly 10 years that impacted countless people in our community. And he kept it totally quiet until a few weeks before he passed away. He gave a $100 bill every month to our local pharmacist, Brooke Walker, to help people in our small town of Geraldine, Alabama that needed assistance in paying for their critical prescriptions. He never wanted anyone to know where the money came from or how it was used. He just asked Brooke to use her judgment and to tell the recipient that “this is from someone that felt led by God to help another”. My dad grew up in Geraldine, so he knew the people in the community. He was pretty sure that some people were having trouble paying for their medicine. He’d been down that road himself. Our mom had suffered with MS and passed away in 1999. She had been prescribed a lot of different medicines to deal with her symptoms. My parents were not well off since they were farmers, and were astounded at the high price of her prescriptions. I know they must have struggled to pay for those medicines. He likely noticed others struggling in the pharmacy to pay for their prescription. My dad heard the Lord saying “I’ve got a mission for you.” He slipped Brooke a crumbled up $100 bill and instructed her to give it to someone who needed help paying for their medicine. And he’d go to the pharmacy every single month and give Brooke another $100; sometimes a lot more. Brooke said, “I always… Read More
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After teaching personal body safety to over 1,000 kids, I was inspired to write the Say NO! and TELL! books. Child sexual abuse is prevalent and increasing nationwide. I know too many friends and family who have experienced this trauma. The intervention, sharing a survivor story and recovery parts are growing strong in this movement, although I saw a gap in prevention education. Almost instantly, I had a vision about the butterfly telling her story plus scenarios to role-play. I wanted to create something light, bright, colorful and positive with an animal character delivering this prevention message. I realized that children across the nation and world-wide could benefit from a boundaries approach to help prevent child sexual abuse with child-friendly language and age-appropriate content. And, body boundaries do not need to include reproduction so we can begin training very young children during those teachable moments. In January of 2015, I began researching prevention of child sexual abuse for about 1.5 years while writing the read-aloud children's books of Maisie Monarch for girls and Daxton Dolphin for boys. I also researched the tactics of an abuser and identified eight common ones, which I turned into positive life skills to role play. I also trained about 80 children’s church volunteers one summer, which led to writing the training workbook. During that time, my great concern was that our pornified culture and society was trying to lower the age of consent and normalize pedophilia. Sadly, it seems that it is already on our doorstep today. My husband and I have fully funded this endeavor and we… Read More