Stories - Page 63 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?

Church Activities Senior Citizens Unique Ministries
STILL SERVING THE LORD

I was a pastor of the same church for over 50 years. In that time, we moved from a small store front property to a large building that sat 500 in the sanctuary. And we ended up filling every seat on more than one occasion. By the time I retired, the church had grown to where it had two services to meet the needs of the growing congregation. The Lord certainly did some amazing work while I was pastoring. Since retiring, though, I have found that the Lord has even more for me to do. My days aren't as full as they once were, I am 90 after all, but I do what I can for the Lord. Most of my time on the weekends is spent filling in at churches without a pastor. I preach, counsel, and help these congregations as I am able. Many of them are small, rural churches that are hard-pressed to find a pastor willing to serve for so little salary. But they are wonderful people and I enjoy helping them. During the week, I visit shut-ins and people in the hospital to pray with them. We sing hymns and share old stories of what the Lord has done over the years. Then I will go to various auctions and farms around the area, picking up food for the food bank. There's never enough food for the number of people we serve each week, and this is a way I can contribute. I hop in my pick-up and make my rounds, knowing that the local farmers and auctioneers… Read More

April 6, 2018
Children Church Activities Unique Ministries
THEY CAN’T READ OR WRITE

It's so important that we pass on everything we have learned to our children. And that's because they are the future leaders. But can you imagine a bunch of leaders who do not have an education? I teach a Sunday school class of about 40 kids here in Ghana. The majority of them do not go to school at all and can't read or write. For that reason, it's hard to teach them Bible verses and English songs. It's sometimes hard to imagine what their future will be like with little or no education. This unfortunate situation makes me very sad. They will never be able to read and understand the word of God, which is the most important thing in life. So I decided to teach those who were willing to read and write. It was a bit challenging when I started. Most of them were interested. But some of their parents stopped them from learning because they are also not educated, and saw no value in it. There's close to a 70% illiteracy rate in our region. They simply want to take their children to the market to help them sell. But by God's grace, most of them know the English alphabet and that's a great encouragement to me. God is nudging me to continue despite these hurdles. So I'm putting together a team to help me teach these kids how to read and write so they, too, can benefit from the Word of God.

April 3, 2018
Church Activities Loving Your Neighbor
A WARM SMILE AND LISTENING EAR

About five years ago, I started volunteering as a door greeter at church. It was fun since my whole job was just welcoming people into church. Since my son was in high school and my husband served in a different ministry, it was a simple way for me to be involved at church without any added stress or preparation at home. About six months after I started working the doors, I realized what I was doing was an actual ministry. Before this, I saw myself as just opening the doors for people and helping them get to where they needed to go. But one morning that all changed when a young woman timidly walked up to my door. It was obvious she had never been there before as she tried to figure out where to enter and what to do. I approached her with a smile, ready to walk her to wherever she wanted to go. But something switched in my heart. I realized I wasn't just helping a new person find the auditorium. I was helping a lost soul find Jesus. I asked her about herself, and she began opening up to me. After the service, I tracked her down and we continued our conversation. She was all alone and just in need of a friend. That started my weekly journey to find one person that is all alone and show them compassion and love. It's been five years since I started, and I can't tell you the number of people I have stopped to talk with at church. I don't know what this… Read More

March 30, 2018
Adoption/Foster Care Children Mission Work
A NOT-SO-SHORT MISSION TRIP

My husband and I had finally finished the paperwork to adopt an American child. We discussed what we should do before becoming new parents. I had previously gone on several mission trips, and we decided to experience this together. Our church youth group was going to Haiti about six months after the massive 2010 earthquake. We had no practical or medical skills that could meet their needs but God was prompting us to go. I asked my husband, "What if our little boy is in Haiti?" But we both knew that would be crazy because we were prepared for a domestic adoption. On the first day of the trip, my eyes locked on a beautiful little boy, Izaiah. I can't explain it but I loved him immediately. He had tragically lost both his parents as an infant. We were told it would be impossible to adopt him since adoption of Haitian children had been completely closed because of the recent earthquake. But I loved him like my son, and so did my husband. God began making a way for us to move forward with pursuing the adoption of Izaiah. Doors started to open. But the journey was not without unbelievable trials. Paperwork that was supposed to be completed months prior had not been done. Numerous challenges came up that stalled the adoption. We wanted to preserve the special bond we had built with Izaiah so we thought I should stay in Haiti until the adoption was finalized. I ended up staying at the orphanage with… Read More

March 27, 2018
Financial Help Labor Loving Your Neighbor Overcoming Obstacles
HELPING IN TIME OF NEED

On the Sunday after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, I got up to go to church but I couldn't make it out of my driveway. I was stuck in my house for hours and saw television reports all morning about how fellow citizens were trapped in their houses with nowhere to go. I knew I had to do something. I decided we were going to use our two furniture stores as rescue shelters. We posted a video online and used our social media to tell people they were welcome to stay in our furniture stores as long as they needed. We let them sleep on our recliners, mattresses, sleeper sofas and couches. Some people couldn't make it through the flooded streets so we dispatched 10 of our trucks and rescued about 200 people trapped in their homes or stranded on the highways. We had over 600 people living in our stores. We've got a restaurant in each store so we cooked meals for them. We brought in portable showers. It cost some money to keep our stores open and for this furniture, but we can afford that. What we couldn't afford was to have these people lose hope. There was a lot of heartbreak caused by this hurricane. Being together during this time was helpful for all of us. People didn't feel like they were on their own. My parents always told me that you can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips, and I try to live that way. And I will until I’m no longer around. So I've got a… Read More

March 23, 2018
Mission Work Verbalizing the Gospel
THE HEART TO PERSEVERE

The Bible says it won't be easy to follow Jesus, that we'll be subjected to ridicule and scorn. I have sure experienced this throughout my life. When I decided to give my life completely to Christ thirteen years ago, this was strongly challenged by the people closest to me, especially my parents. "Why move to a different church?" "Why give your tithes when we are also in need?" The questioning was constant. The church I joined in the Philippines had very few members and rented a small space where the ceilings and walls needed significant repairs. Despite insulting remarks from people, I didn't allow anything to stop me from inviting everyone to come to church and worship Jesus. I held on tightly to God's word in Joshua 24:15 that says, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." I knew we would be serving the Lord together one day. I had to endure the times my parents kept rejecting God and my faith. But after five long years of praying incessantly and patiently ministering to them, God finally broke down the walls of what was seemingly impossible. My family accepted Christ and are still serving the Lord today! Challenges remained as we tried to bring Jesus' message to others. I had led a team of young people on mission trips to various rural areas in the Philippines where people would yell at us and even throw buckets of water to drive us away. From a worldly standpoint, it was so difficult. But as a Christian, it… Read More

March 20, 2018

Browse all categories

Adoption/Foster Care 38

Church Activities 60

Financial Help 18

Loss Of Loved One 38

Loving Your Neighbor 66

Mission Work 52

Overcoming Obstacles 115

Prison Ministry 11

Senior Citizens 22

Special Needs 47

Unique Ministries 165

Verbalizing the Gospel 74

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