Stories - Page 31 of 86 - 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?

Mission Work Verbalizing the Gospel
SERVING THE LORD IN UGANDA

I didn’t anticipate serving across the world would lead to my healing. But my God restores the broken by His abundant grace. When I first visited Africa in 2006, I was trying to put my life back together after a difficult 26-year marriage. I had emotional wounds due to physical abuse and my ex’s pornography addiction. But God began healing me in Northern Uganda as I served with a missionary friend. As a therapist, she helped those traumatized by the terrorist group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which has wreaked havoc for 35 years in four African countries. As a nurse, I provided medical help, but God blew my mind as I heard the people’s deep emotional needs. I unburied my pain and shared my story. God brought clarity to my experience as I saw its purpose---so I could share the hope and healing found in Jesus with others. After a decade of short-term trips, I moved to Uganda in 2016, leaving a 20-year nursing career and my three sons and their families. Today in northwest Uganda, I work among many refugees, displaced by terrorism, tribal conflict, civil wars, and ongoing drought. I serve alongside Africans to bring Jesus’ hope and healing using material from the Trauma Healing Institute (in association with the American Bible Society), the Freedom in Christ discipleship course, and an ongoing feeding program for refugees and villagers in desperate need. Bidibidi, the world’s second largest refugee settlement, accommodates 350,000 Congolese and Sudanese. It’s estimated 95% of those in northern Uganda have some form of PTSD due to abject poverty, conflict, and… Read More

February 9, 2022
Adoption/Foster Care Children Special Needs
ADOPTING 10 CHILDREN FROM CHINA

How we came about adopting 10 children from China, all with special needs, shows what can happen if you are open to listening to God’s calling for your life. It has made me realize that my life is not all about me but rather living out God’s will. And it has made me, and my entire family, a much more Christ-centered person. My husband, Rob, and I had never even thought about adoption. We already had a houseful of biological kids: two boys and two girls. But when our youngest was five, the Lord started laying it on our hearts in various, but separate messages, to get involved with adoption. Rob had a coworker who had adopted a child from China, and would come home telling me stories about their experiences. And when I was reading my Bible one day, I saw the passage in James about taking care of the orphans and widows. That jumped off the page at me since we weren’t doing anything along those lines. But I didn’t take it as us necessarily adopting a child; I thought we were supposed to help someone else that was going through the process. We had never talked about the two of us adopting, but one night, everything changed. A family from our son’s soccer team came over to our house, and they had adopted a child from China. We were fixated on that child and their wonderful experiences. Afterwards, Rob asked what I thought about us adopting, and I said I wouldn’t be against it. We committed to pray and fast… Read More

February 1, 2022
Loving Your Neighbor Unique Ministries
LOVING THROUGH LITTLE THINGS

To some Christians, how we are to go about loving like Jesus is a mystery. It seems like a massive task that we will never perfect. Some are worried they don’t do it right and others are concerned they won’t do it enough. As for me, a thirty-year Christian, I agree on both counts. We will never get it completely right and we will never do it enough this side of Heaven. As Matthew 5:16 reminds us, we are to let our good deeds shine so that those around us see it and glorify God as a result. While I am not perfect, I can say I accomplish showing love for Jesus through living out The Word. Not just talking about it and memorizing it, but doing it in such a way that others give recognition to the fact that my heart belongs to the Triune-God of the Bible. I text people randomly saying things like, “Hey, how can I pray for you today?” and “I want you to know I think you are a great addition to the youth leadership team.” Nothing fancy, no fanfare, just a quick note to offer prayer, uplift and encourage. In a world burdened with tension, economic uncertainty and pressures from all sides, those unexpected notes, letting us know someone is thinking about us, are very needed. It’s no wonder the Bible is filled with passages about being encouraged and encouraging each other, like Hebrews 10:24-25, Psalm 31:24 and Psalm 121:1-2. One of my favorite memories involves helping a lady friend whose vehicle needed some TLC. She didn’t have… Read More

January 26, 2022
Overcoming Obstacles Prayer Unique Ministries
MY NEW LIFE AFTER GOING BLIND

“What happens now? What am I going to do?” I found myself constantly asking these questions. It had been a year of painful recovery and harsh reality. After an extensive series of unsuccessful eye surgeries, I was blind. A wife, mother of three, a classroom teacher. In a matter of weeks, my life had drastically changed forever. I chose to spend the endless days sitting and praying for my family and friends, my former students, those at church, missionaries. This became my ministry when it seemed to me, at the time, I could do nothing else. It was extremely difficult to find myself physically disabled and not able to live doing what I loved: taking care of my family and teaching. But I firmly believe in the power of prayer and continued to lift other’s burdens before the Lord. After that first year, I decided a new ‘normal’ had entered my life. My vision was no longer available to me. What was I going to do? I got up every morning and painstakingly taught myself how to relive life by touch. I cooked and cleaned, washed clothes, pretty much everything I had always done, at a much slower pace. But I decided I was going to do whatever I wanted to do. And I have. I taught myself how to crochet for those not-so-often-anymore endless days of just sitting. I make blankets and give them to those dear to my heart that I continue to pray for every day. Since I began five years ago, I have made and given away over 300 blankets and… Read More

January 19, 2022
Labor Unique Ministries Verbalizing the Gospel
THROWING THE JAVELIN FOR HIM

God gave me an unusual platform and I intend to use it for Him as much as I can. I throw the javelin, a gift I didn’t even know I had until college. And I’ve been blessed to compete in three different Olympic Games. I’ve worked incredibly hard on refining my skills and I practice every day to the best of my ability. Yet my identity is not attached to a number on a scoreboard; rather, it is found in Christ. I just do the best that I can and glorify God in that. When people see me, I want them to see Jesus shining through me. I’m just a vessel who has been given this unique gift. I can see how God was molding me into His vessel throughout my life. When I was in kindergarten, I broke my femur and chipped a growth plate, leaving doctors wondering if my leg would ever grow again. But my parents found a doctor who helped me overcome these setbacks. Growing up in a small town, I played every available sport in school: volleyball, basketball and different track events. Javelin wasn’t even an event in Nebraska high school track. When I went to college, I competed in the heptathlon and one coach noticed how much I excelled at one of the events, the javelin, even though I had no formal training. He convinced me to concentrate on that event. And in just 3 1/2 years, God game me the skills to become the NCAA National Champion, Collegiate Record Holder and make it to the 2016 Rio… Read More

January 12, 2022
Loving Your Neighbor
REALLY SEEING AND HEARING PEOPLE

Recently, someone asked me, “How do you show the love of Jesus on a daily basis?” I said I take the time to really see and hear people. They are not obstacles to overcome or items to check off. I stop to really see people. Like last night, at my place of employment, a woman came to me angry and frustrated. I stopped and heard her. I couldn't change the outcome of the situation, but I could hear and validate her frustration. It ended in me hugging and holding her. Nothing changed in her circumstance, but everything changed in her because she was seen and experienced someone truly paying attention to her. At the end of that shift, one of my coworkers belittled me for how I handled the situation. I explained that seeing and hearing the person was my gift. I have a softer, mild, compassionate approach. But my coworkers’ gift may be different because God purposefully made them different. They may be very straightforward, their words hitting you between the eyes. Both tactics have their place, but we must each flow within our own gift. She agreed and, thankfully, my managers also backed me up. I have learned one of the challenges of truly loving others is staying filled up. Galatians 6:9 tells us “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good…”. This can be hard because people are like emotional rollercoasters. They move from harsh, struggling and in pain; to gentle, vulnerable and open for healing. Thankfully, my degree in Occupational Therapy and my experience working for several organizations which help… Read More

January 5, 2022

Browse all categories

Adoption/Foster Care 38

Church Activities 60

Financial Help 18

Loss Of Loved One 43

Loving Your Neighbor 68

Mission Work 52

Overcoming Obstacles 130

Prison Ministry 12

Senior Citizens 22

Special Needs 48

Unique Ministries 176

Verbalizing the Gospel 79

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