Stories - Page 33 of 82 - 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?

Adoption/Foster Care Children
WE ARE CALLED TO LOVE THEM

We’ve always believed the Bible is clear that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Our faith was first tested in that 17 years ago when we were expecting our third child. I’d had some health issues which should have made pregnancy impossible. Several doctors advised us to terminate this pregnancy that was deemed potentially deadly for both of us. We refused, and our daughter was born healthy and beautiful. We knew our biological family was complete but we still felt a call to care for the orphans among us. So, in 2014, we became foster parents. It wasn’t long before God put the first of many girls in our lives. She was in our home for four years before she would officially become ours. Within a few months, we adopted another placement that had come into our lives. So we quickly went from a family of five to seven! Yet God wasn’t done with us. While we were out of state visiting a family friend, we came across two more girls that were in need of a family. Through God’s amazing provision, we ended up bringing those girls home the summer of 2018. We finalized their adoption March 2020, just before the pandemic closed down the courts. We have always sought to be used by the Lord, so when a call came in August for a “temporary” placement of a healthy baby boy, we felt we could manage something short term. Were we in for a surprise! Not only is that little boy still with us after eight months, but he came with… Read More

June 8, 2021
Children Labor Mentoring Unique Ministries
A ROLLING CLASSROOM

Kids need to be loved, but also taught responsibility and respect for others. That’s what I try to teach them on my school bus. I approach it as my classroom but those kids have become my family. It all started a few years ago. I owned and ran a home repair business when my mom was diagnosed with COPD. She needed someone to take her to and from her medical appointments. I had driven trucks before, so I decided to become a school bus driver since it gave me the flexibility I would need. When I started, I saw some of the same ugliness on the bus that was in the outside world: intimidation, segregation, mean words, bullying. Things that shouldn’t exist anywhere, much less on an elementary school bus. I knew I couldn’t change the world but I could change the culture on my bus. After a lot of prayer, I formed a set of rules for the bus that dealt with respect, compassion and acceptance. Then, I set up certain jobs for the kids that mirror the outside world: police officers (to enforce kindness), fire department, doctors & nurses (if a kid scrapes a knee), a translator, even a president and vice president. Next, I thought of a way they could earn some things they needed for school to make it more like the real world. So I came up with a form of pay called bus bucks. I decided to pay each kid at least $5 in bus bucks each week (handled by the banker, one of the students on… Read More

June 1, 2021
Food Labor Loving Your Neighbor
BEING A VESSEL HE CAN USE

Ministry is nothing more than being willing to do the work that God calls a believer to do. Sure, you can try to do it in your flesh. But the result will never be what could have been if His hand is not leading. That is why everything I have ever focused on in God’s work had to have His stamp of approval. Whether that was my work as a Pastor or reaching others though providing a food bank and Thanksgiving dinners. As the shepherd of a flock, God ordained my steps to preach the Word and see many come to Jesus over the years. I was out of the pastorate for a few years when God spoke to me to do more in reaching out to the homeless and needy in the Denver area. In 1998, my wife and I started a work in providing food for the local low-income folks at the East Denver YMCA. Not only was it God's blessing to be able to provide Thanksgiving meals each year, but the outreach of the Foodbank became a reality. The Foodbank of the Rockies continues to be our “partner” in being able to physically feed the many in this area of urban Denver. The Lord truly has done amazing things over the years in allowing us to reach out to our community, both in feeding the flock and in seeing the Word touch many lives. Many individuals and families have come to know Jesus and His redemptive work simply by needing a meal. One thing we do at… Read More

May 25, 2021
Labor Mentoring Recovery Unique Ministries
PRODIGAL POTTERY

God led me to be part of a ministry I never imagined. Located inside a women’s shelter, Prodigal Pottery teaches women who may have been victims of abuse, addiction or trafficking to make pottery. It’s amazing to see how God put all the pieces of this ministry in place. I majored in fine arts and went to Rwanda for a year to work with women's craft cooperatives and teach art to children orphaned from the genocide. When I came home, I wondered what doors God would open for me. The King’s Home, a faith-based women’s shelter, had been given an industrial-sized kiln to make pottery. They had no idea what they would do with it, but someone associated with the home knew me and asked if I’d be interested in starting a pottery program for women who lived there. At first, I said no; I just didn’t feel equipped to work with women that had been through such rough experiences. And I said no a couple other times before finally saying I would just visit to see their equipment. But when I got there and toured the home, I knew God was calling me to work there. I started in 2014 with three women coming to learn how to make pottery. It became a time when I could minister to them, love on them and talk through anything that was on their minds. We made some pottery pieces that we brought to a small art show a few months later. To our amazement, we sold every single piece of pottery,… Read More

May 18, 2021
Children Labor Loss Of Loved One Verbalizing the Gospel
MAKING MOVES WITH GOD

We were making plans. The plans that ambitious teenagers make. The sky was the limit. It was the foundation we stood upon to reach our mega dreams. My brother had recently graduated from high school and I was excited to walk that same corridor to a brighter future. We felt like we deserved hope after enduring many hardships during childhood and adolescence. Then, a typical fun day at home with friends quickly turned into a fatal tragedy. I watched my brother slip away from me right before my eyes. Life seemed pointless. I managed to graduate and enroll at the University of Tennessee at Martin with a basketball scholarship. That opportunity was my access to college, but I did not have the ticket to sustain me. I was living my dreams, yet I felt alone and empty. I became depressed and was making plans not to live. Circumstances caused me to transfer to Union University located in my hometown of Memphis. My new college coach would have devotion every Monday with the team. One evening, I was in his office and his discernment prompted a profound question, “LaTesa, are you a Believer?” No one had ever asked me that question. He planted the seed that later gave me the strength to call out to God with a bottle of pills in my hand. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I received my ticket that granted me access to a new game! I started making moves with God on my side. Today, I serve as the district social worker for Millington… Read More

May 10, 2021
Children Food Mentoring
PROVIDING MEALS IN TIME OF NEED

When the devastating winter storm hit Texas in February of 2021, many of my high school football players and their families found themselves in a critical situation. Some didn't have heat, water, food or even transportation to get anything to eat. I texted a number of them to see what they might need and they told me of their dire situation. As their head coach, I knew I had to act. I’ve always made the foundation of our team be “Love Each Other. Serve Each Other.” It’s a way for me to share my Christian beliefs. But this was a time to live it out and show them how this looks. So my wife, my parents and I started making sack lunches for our kids, their siblings and their families. The four of us made a production line where we put a ham or turkey sandwich, chips, a granola bar, fruit, a pop tart and bottles of water in as many paper sacks as we could find. We got in the car and drove through some fairly challenging circumstances to deliver the 65 meals to our players and their families. The next day, our superintendent, Conrado Garcia, wanted to open up our high school gym as a warming station and shelter for the community. He asked us to make meals for anybody that needed some food. So we did. It was a blessing to have an opportunity to serve others. We can all talk about what we should do to help others, and we do as their coaches at every opportunity we get. In fact,… Read More

May 4, 2021

Browse all categories

Adoption/Foster Care 38

Church Activities 60

Financial Help 18

Loss Of Loved One 38

Loving Your Neighbor 67

Mission Work 52

Overcoming Obstacles 116

Prison Ministry 12

Senior Citizens 22

Special Needs 47

Unique Ministries 166

Verbalizing the Gospel 76

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