On this particular morning, I felt led to pray for my husband before I left for the day. I don’t remember the words that came out of my mouth, but I knew he was stressed at work. Normally, I would check in with him by text throughout the day and get a quick response. But I didn't hear back from him all day long. When I got home and he wasn't there, but his car was, I knew something was going on and immediately called the police. After two days of searching and praying, there was a knock at the door. The officer said that they had found him, that he wouldn’t be coming home, and that it looked like suicide. I was a new mom gearing up to celebrate my son’s first birthday and the most traumatic moment of my life happened. There was no inclination that suicide was on my husband’s mind. We were in a sweet season of life with our son. I’ve tried looking back to see what I had missed, but at some point, I had to decide to stop trying to figure it out. I’ve concluded that I will not ever fully understand suicide or mental health. I decided to turn my gaze to Jesus and the Word for truth. My understanding of this broken and fallen world deepened, and it caused me to run to Jesus. The Holy Spirit opened my eyes and gave me new hope as I read James 1:2-4 over and over again. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet… 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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God has blessed me to be the shepherd of some of His hurting children who have survived life-altering burn injuries. He’s allowed me to become the Executive Director of the Connecticut Burns Care Foundation. We put on a Children's Burn Camp every summer: about half of our campers have minor burns, but the other half have very serious burns over parts or all of their body. Our week-long camp in July is free to any child who has suffered a burn. The camp allows these burn survivors to have fun and just be kids. It's a beautiful location on 176 acres with our own pond for swimming and boating. They enjoy hiking, fishing, archery, and campfires. Our camp’s goal is to build self-esteem and confidence through physical and social activities so the kids can overcome their anxieties and help them move beyond their scarring and burn injuries. We hope the time at the camp gives these burn survivors a chance to experience something that is fun, empowering, energizing and full of self-discovery. We want to provide them with memories that will sustain and inspire them. We don't turn any child away and we average about 70 kids each year. We’ve had burn survivors come from several countries including Russia, Jamaica, Peru, Croatia, and Vietnam. Our foundation pays for their lodging, meals, arts & crafts and all the activities for every camper. Each one of our counselors donates their time. They are either active or retired firefighters, medical personnel trained in treating burns, burn survivors themselves, or just caring individuals. Almost every one of… Read More
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I am a man who has a strong passion for the less fortunate. What I prefer to call it is a God-given burden for people. The city in which I live is one of the most impoverished and crime-ridden cities in the country. For the past 39 years, I have given my time and efforts to the homeless people of Flint and Detroit, Michigan. I donate whatever I can to them. More than clothes or food though, the most important thing we can give is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are so many in this world that feel hopeless. But we have this hope in God that can literally save their lives. If we have God, we have everything. This past holiday season, I made and handed out 19 meals to homeless men and women on the streets of Flint and prayed with them. What's incredible is that three of them received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 says, “Then Peter said unto them, repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Although I give food and clothes to these people, those things are only temporary. We must keep our eyes on what is eternal. Matthew 6:25, 33 says “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? But seek first his kingdom… Read More
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When I woke up that day, I was completely unaware that my life was about to change forever. I was in college at Texas State University and was visiting my hometown in Haiti on New Year’s Eve of 2017. I was on my way to help in an orphanage where I had been a volunteer for several years when I saw a crowd of about 20 people around a trash can. There was an infant child crying hysterically and lying naked in the trash, covered with fire ants. The people around the trash were just staring at the child. There is a lot of voodoo in Haiti and since this was the last day of the year, people thought this baby was evil or cursed, and were reluctant to pick him up. But I could see the pain in his eyes and I knew I had to do something right away, even if something were to happen to me. I picked him up, and he immediately stopped crying. I brushed him off, comforted him and hurried back home to my mom’s house. We washed him, clothed him, fed him some milk, and took him to get some medical help. The police started an investigation and asked us to keep the baby as they tried to find his parents, but no one could be found. It appeared they had left the baby there to die. The next day, a judge showed up at our house and asked if I would be open to keeping the baby and becoming his legal guardian since his parents… Read More
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When I was 13, I started going to a new church. I was hesitant to get involved. Like most teens, I didn't enjoy being the new kid. As time passed, I began making a few acquaintances. One day, I overheard a girl inviting everyone over to her house for a sleepover. I noticed that I wasn't included, so I jokingly interjected. As much as she apologized and begged me to come, I couldn't help but feel it was a forced invitation on my behalf. But I went, and it was a night filled with typical girly activities. We had a blast! Yet, I couldn't shake the feeling of, "Was I really meant to be here?" I just started to pray and forced myself to ignore it. The next day as I was packing, I was in the room with the girl that invited everyone, just the two of us. We started talking, about everything. Before I knew it, she shared how excited she was that I wanted to come. She said she had a lot going on in her life and she just needed a real friend. So we decided to become friends. I didn't think much of it that day. But 15 years later, we are still best friends. That whole night, I'd felt I didn't belong there; I'd felt I intruded. My friend recently shared with me how that night was an answered prayer. She had asked God for a true best friend, someone she knew would be there for her forever. I had no idea God was going to use me that day or in that way. I was… Read More
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Every part of your life depends on you having good health. When most people think of health, they consider only their physical condition, but as a doctor, I repeatedly see that our spiritual condition is also a huge factor. Hope Health Center was started so that, like Jesus’ examples in the Gospels, we could address both the physical and spiritual needs of those who come to us. Our mission is to share the hope found in Jesus Christ while providing excellent whole-person healthcare to a very medically underserved community. That’s why we placed our medical clinic in the heart of our city in order to make excellent health care as accessible as possible since many of our patients don’t even have reliable transportation.
Hope Health Center came into existence a few years after our family returned from the Ivory Coast in West Africa. My wife Connie and I, with our three kids were medical missionaries there for 10 years. In that area, the medical needs were tremendous but the resources to meet those needs were almost non-existent for the poor. When God called us back to the United States after finishing our mission work, my heart’s desire was to do the same thing in the U.S. that we had done in Africa. I wanted to be a medical missionary in the States. So in 2003, we opened the doors of Hope Health Center. For eight years, I was the only doctor. Another doctor joined us in 2011. We also have a counselor since so many people we… Read More