Stories - Page 33 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?

Children Loss Of Loved One Overcoming Obstacles
THE SOLO PARENT SOCIETY

I was devastated when my wife walked out on our marriage, leaving me on my own to raise our three young girls. It was, by far, the darkest season of my life. I found myself just trying to survive and keep things afloat. We had been married 13 years and our girls were 9, 7 and 4. You lose so much of your world when you go from being a couple to being on your own. God made us for community and our community had been ripped apart. Now I found myself flying solo. I turned to my church for help. Surprisingly, I found very few Christian resources available to address the loneliness and struggle that single parents face. I decided to start something within my church to help single parents. Without even a mention from the pulpit, I was amazed to see 50 people at our first meeting. It showed there’s a strong need for single parents to connect. One of the biggest things for a suddenly single person is to know they’re not alone. I learned that single parent homes account for 34% of the nation’s households raising children. Census studies show 63% of youth suicides, 75% of chemically dependent kids, and 85% of incarcerated minors come from single parent homes. I felt led to write a book, published by Focus on the Family, called Going Solo - Hope and Healing for the Single Mom and Dad, and started a non-profit called Solo Parent Society. We do not want single parents to feel alone. It’s critical to keep the family grounded and focused on… Read More

November 16, 2021
Mission Work
MISSION WORK IN A FARAWAY LAND

Sometimes I’m amazed I ended up as a missionary with a wife and three kids in Southeast Asia. But we both felt a calling to bring the Gospel to some remote places of the world. I was raised in a Christian home and my family had some financial hardships. So my goal was to make as much money as possible and gain financial security. I worked hard in high school to earn a scholarship and wound up at Vanderbilt, majoring in economics and engineering. While at Vandy, I felt my first big nudge from the Lord. I worked with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), a ministry on 148 different campuses that reaches students for Christ and equips them to serve. I loved it and after graduation, I did an internship with RUF at Furman University. After meeting and marrying my wife, we ended up in Charlotte with me enrolling at the Reformed Theological Seminary. I took part in some lunches where students eat pizza and hear about life in the mission field from visiting missionaries. This fascinated me, and so my wife and I attended a Global Missions Conference where students are exposed to different missionary opportunities. We both felt a strong calling to serve as missionaries in Southeast Asia. It's one thing to go to a different part of the world when you’re on your own. But when you have a wife and a 10-month-old daughter, it’s a different game. Some friends thought we’d be overwhelmed to head to the other side of the world with a young family. But we both strongly… Read More

November 9, 2021
Children Hospital Senior Citizens
MAKING HATS FOR NEWBORNS

I may be 90 years old but I can still serve the Lord. So I’ve been making hats for newborn babies for 15 years. I’ve made over 11,000, and hope to continue making them until I’m 100! Jesus told us that we are to love and help one another, and this is one thing I can do at my age to demonstrate that love. I think they look cute on the babies but they also serve an important medical purpose: the hats help stabilize a baby’s body temperature and keep the child warm as they adapt to life outside the womb. This started for me back in 2006. My ladies group at church would stay after our meetings and take on a small project. One time, a nurse from the local hospital, UPMC Western Maryland, came and showed our group how to make an infant’s hat that looks like a toboggan. Our group did this a couple times, but I liked it and thought it was something I could keep doing at home. So, I did! It takes me about 10 or 15 minutes to make one hat and I do about 10 in an evening. I have a roll of white stockinette fabric and I cut them into strips the size of a cereal box top. I fold them into a dome shape without seams because those might hurt the infant’s delicate skin; then I turn up the bottom and tie a blue or a pink ribbon on top. Someone from the hospital now drops off the fabric to me each month… Read More

November 2, 2021
Labor Special Needs
BREW GOOD. DO GOOD

Purpose over profit. That is the mission behind The Red Porch. I was working at an organization that runs programs for developmentally disabled adults when they partnered with the owners of an old office building to create a very unique coffee house. This café would be used as a training facility for developmentally disabled adults. The project heads knew I had coffee knowledge, so they pulled me onto the project as manager. In the initial planning stages, I discovered how much God’s hand was involved in the project. The staff and I set aside a day to taste pastries and coffee drinks to determine which ones would become part of our menu. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door and found a sunburned, ragged-looking man at the door. He asked for water and a restroom. I obliged. The thought came to me to offer him more since we had all this spread of coffee and pastries. He gladly accepted, and explained he was walking across the country to give witness to God. “I don’t have the strength, but God has the strength to carry me through.” His words stayed with me. What an amazing witness to the faith. The man asked if he could pray over us. We joyously accepted the road warrior’s blessing, and the café, The Red Porch, has been a huge success ever since. We have the support of the community even before we ask them. I remember a time when someone out of the blue called to offer us an ice cream cooler. We were searching for one but… Read More

October 26, 2021
Hospital Overcoming Obstacles Unique Ministries
HOPE HEALS

Katherine and Jay Wolf had, what many would consider, a perfect life. They had a wonderful marriage, he was in law school, she was a model and they had just welcomed their son six months earlier. But everything changed on April 21, 2008. While preparing food for some people at their church, Katherine felt her hands, arms, and legs go numb and fell to the floor, as their infant son napped in his crib. Jay just happened to come home for lunch that day, and found his wife on the floor. She was rushed to the hospital and surgeons determined she had suffered a massive stroke in her brain stem, caused by a twisted cluster of arteries that had been there since birth. She underwent a 16-hour surgery where doctors removed 60% of her cerebellum, the area of the brain that controls motor functions. The surgeon described the mass of blood vessels in Katherine’s brain as “the largest he had ever seen, in the worst possible location, and with the worst possible amount of bleeding.” Her surgeons feared this would leave her paralyzed or possibly in a vegetative state. She was kept on life support for 40 days. When she woke from her coma, her right side was paralyzed, and she couldn’t swallow, speak or walk. “When I woke, I had IVs, a tracheotomy, a feeding tube and I had paralysis on my right side, including my mouth and tongue,” said Katherine. “I couldn’t articulate how I was feeling, so I’d use my left hand and type out letters on my letterboard… Read More

October 19, 2021
Labor Loving Your Neighbor Verbalizing the Gospel
A VERY DIFFERENT MISSION FIELD

My mission field is rather unique: it's my auto repair shop that I opened 17 years ago. Since it was God that blessed me with this business, I made a commitment that I wanted Him to be honored there. I needed it to be a place of worship and blessings. Many would say that working on cars and worshiping Jesus don't really go hand-in-hand, but Jesus was a carpenter and I wanted His presence there throughout the day. My goal was to have all my customers and suppliers also feel the anointing spirit of the Lord. I had trouble finding a station that consistently played praise and worship music, but after searching, the Lord led me to an Internet radio station called AllWorship. It totally transforms the atmosphere of our shop. Playing Christian music changes the mood; it just gives everyone that enters my building a feeling of peace. People are surprised to hear Christian music playing freely in an auto repair shop. So many times, I've seen people come in totally stressed because their car has broken down. But the presence of the Lord through this music calms and reassures them. If the Lord urges me, I take time to talk and pray with anyone that may need a touch from Him, no matter how busy I am. I can feel a nudge from God on whether something is troubling that person besides their car. That prodding leads to a personal discussion which sometimes yields some very amazing results. I've seen many lives changed, like the parts guy who… Read More

October 12, 2021

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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