United States Volunteer
For many years, friends of Our Daily Bread asked whether we had opportunities for volunteer service. They were not interested in financial compensation, but wanted to have a part in getting Our Daily Bread and other Bible-study materials into the hands of more people. So in the fall of 2003, a volunteer program called Service Partners was established. Since that…
Through the 60 years of my life, I have stumbled and backslid many, many times in my Christian walk. Heavenly hands were always there to catch me if I would only allow it.
I have always prayed. Growing up in the church, praying was an exercise I used to make requests for help and comfort. I was a seasonal Christian.
My life trials of losing two children, broken marriages, abuse, getting burned in a house fire (the list goes on), I realized God has no season. He is constant. My Lord's patience, grace and mercy are the only reasons I survived any of this life I made for myself.
In 2009, my seasonal worship came to a halt. While on a nursing assignment, a tiny leaky camper floor became my altar. Broken, exhausted, wet, cold & spiritually bankrupt from my own attempt at living my life on my terms, I knelt down & prayed. I reached out to my Lord, yet again.
These last six years have been remarkable. I am married to a wonderful Christian man. We are very involved in our church. I have daily devotionals with sincerity from my heart. The only seasons I experience are the weather. God has brought me full circle, a continual circle of love, worship and thanksgiving for His patience, mercy and grace.
When we stumble and backslide, God knows how weak and flawed we are. He loves us anyway. Bury yourself in His Word and not your circumstances.
Better seasons in this life are through the One who has no season.
Matt’s life was all about himself and his baseball career. Even as a Christian, he didn’t allow God into every aspect of his life. He took the advancement of his career into his own hands, and his heart hardened until a blanket of darkness was all he knew. Once his secret was discovered, the blanket lifted and he felt the full mercy of God. Now he lives to make Jesus famous instead of himself.
I was brought to Miami, Florida in October 1987 at the age of eleven(11). That was my first knowledgable memory of my biological mother because she had left me and three(3) other siblings-2 brothers and a sister-in Haiti shortly after I was born. I was the youngest until my mother had another son in the US.
Shortly after arriving in America, I fell into the delinquency system by hanging with the wrong crowd. My mother worked very hard to educate all of us despite the fact that she had no education herself. That was part of the reason why my family resented me even more. After many years of going in and out of shelter homes detention centers and state prison, I was finally deported back to Haiti in 1998. Fortunately, I had managed to get my High School Diploma while I was in state school in Okeechobee, Fl.
Throughout my life's jorney, there seemed to always be those little white 'Our Daily Bread' booklets wherever I ended up and reading them got me more and more interested in knowing God. I will never forget the woman named Jennifer Richardson who was an HRS counselor for me for many years. She was truly a sincere child of God and she never lost patience with me. She even took me into her home and I called her Mom as if I was one of her own children. The first thing she taught me was Psalm 139 (God knows Everything).
Even after being deported I had not really understood God's purpose for my life until I started losing my mind in early 2000. My family had just about given up on sending me the little support they could and the Haitian society was literally rejecting me because of my American street lifestyle. Mysteriously, I never lost hold of Psalm 139 that Mrs. Richardson had implanted in my mind. When all hope seemed lost and I was on the edge of losing my life, that was when the Lord called me to salvation. I left the city where I was living(Cap-Haitian) to go live with my grand-father in a small community in Milot. There, I turn my life completely over to Christ and slowly started a new life.
Finding hope in the midst of discouragement
Life can be disappointing at times. So where do we turn for hope? Today on “Discover the Word,” we consider our only true source of hope during dark times: the encouragement of Jesus’ resurrection!
Where Can We Lean?
“What a wonderful funeral!” Cindy remarked as we walked out. Helen, our friend, had died. And friend after friend celebrated her by sharing stories of her all-around fun behavior. But Helen’s life wasn’t all jokes and laughter. Her nephew spoke of her faith in Jesus and her care for others. She had taken him into her home when he was young and struggling. Now in his twenties, he said of his Aunt Helen, “She was like a mom to me. She never gave up on me in my struggles. I am sure that if it wasn’t for her, I would…
As I grew up, I knew my grandma as a saint. She didn't just get her bible out of the closet on Sunday, go to church and then come home and do her own thing the rest of the week. She went to church every Sunday morning and night, every Wednesday night, until they passed, she did ladies hair for church every Saturday. She was also on the prayer chain at her church. And every morning, she read Our Daily Bread (which is why I started reading it too :) ). But I went too church when I had too, at her house on any weekend. I was baptized at her church at the age of 9, but nothing changed. I kept living the same (not sinful, but not saintly), kept watching the same shows, sleeping in on Sunday mornings, normally, etc. But, at the age of 16, I was in a bad accident that almost, should of, killed me (fell off a bridge off a motorcycle 30 ft; shattered pelvis, broke a leg, arm, a finger and my collarbone and sustained a traumatic brain injury. Spent 4 1/2 months in the hospital, a year in a wheelchair and shattered dreams (Air Force Academy was no longer an option.) But then God orchestrated events that brought me closer to Him. Met a kid in High School at lunch who inspired me to read the Bible, at CU met my current best friend (who's currently a missionary in Spain to North African Nations) who led a Bible Study and with whom I started attending church regularly. Baptized in 1984, bad accident in 1991, started reading the Bible in 1993, attending church regularly in 1994. (Also started reading Our Daily Bread in 1995.) Maybe, not the right way, but better late than never!
Are We Any Different From The Bali Nine Duo?
Photo Source Written by Wendy Wong On 29 April this year, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran died, after what has been a highly fought and watched case involving two big nations that has dragged on for the past 10 years. In 2006, the Bali Nine duo (as they are also known) recruited seven other Australians […]
My husband was involved in a vehicular accident March 2010. A sleepy motorbike rider collided with Fier from behind and they both crashed in one of the busiest sections of EDSA. It was the first miracle that he had that day, no other vehicle was behind him and he had a chance to get up and walked to the side of the road. Second miracle of that day was he never lost consciousness - he was fully alert of what was happening and even had the chance to call and inform me of what happened.
He underwent surgery to put a metal plate to support his shattered right collarbone.
The other guy fled the scene and the third miracle that day was that a fellow motorbike rider helped my husband and they were able to get the license plate of the guy who collided with my husband. After a few months, I was able to trace the guy who collided with him.
We met with him and his mother. He explained that he was up partying all night and fell asleep on the wheel.
If you know who I am, you would expect that I will burst out throwing expletives to the guy for all the trouble that he'd caused. We were neck-deep in hospital bills and my husband wasn't able to work for 2 months. Everyone who knew me back then would expect me to file a lawsuit and wrung-dry the guys family for moral damages.
But lo and behold, I was able to keep calm and let God do all the work. My husband and I agreed to forgive him - which I think surprised both him and his mother. We just told him to be careful next time and that he should not be behind the wheel if he's not in a condition to be. We parted ways and my husband and I both had this heavy weight lifted from us because we have given forgiveness.
The Lord indeed moves in mysterious ways. His love and mercy can soften even the hardest of hearts. There is blessing when we forgive just as the Lord had forgiven our sins.
Thanks be to God!
Discover the most important ingredient in a Christian’s life
It’s been said you can live 40 days without food, 4 days without water, 4 minutes without air. But you can’t live 4 seconds without hope. Join our brand new series on “Discover the Word” as we discover our hope of Christ.
God Amid Tragedies in My Life
Written By Charlotte Diana, Indonesia It was sometime in the middle of 2010, just after I welcomed my father back home. He had just arrived from Borneo in Indonesia, where he had been working as a broadcast consultant and technician at a radio station. Giving me a big hug, Papa came into the house and […]
Tell Your Story
Michael Dinsmore, a former prisoner and relatively new Christian, was asked to give his testimony in a prison. After he spoke, some inmates came to him and said, “This is the most exciting meeting we’ve ever been to!” Michael was amazed that God could use his simple story.
No Need Is Too Trivial
Several mothers of small children were sharing encouraging answers to prayer. Yet one woman said she felt selfish about troubling God with her personal needs. “Compared with the huge global needs God faces,” she explained, “my circumstances must seem trivial to Him.”
Remind The People
In a typical week, many of us receive a number of emails reminding us of appointments or upcoming events or requests to pray for someone. All of them are needed reminders.
