From the time Jamie and Maureen Cannalte were married, they were reaching out to children, throwing birthday parties for neighborhood kids and working in the children's ministry at their church. But when they tried to start a family, they faced the heartbreak of three...
At the end of an exhausting day at work in a small Wisconsin town, diesel mechanic Bruce Van Natta needed to take one last look beneath the logging truck he was fixing. Little did he know it could have been the last thing he did—ever.It was Tuesday, Nov. 16,...
Why did 10,000 adults volunteer as camp counselors at Royal Family Kids (RFK) camps across America last year? One volunteer sums it up: “Because it’s a vacation away from myself.”“We’re really about engaging adults in discovery of what it’s like to be a foster child,”...
Despite a desperate need for foster and adoptive families across the nation and worldwide, many advocates recommend getting acquainted with children and their needs first. Good intentions without follow-through are often more hurtful than doing nothing at all, says...
After experiencing the instantaneous repair of his small intestine through healing prayer in 2007, Bruce Van Natta has since been privileged to play a part in the healing of many others—including the healing of another young man’s digestive system.Christopher...
It started out as a typical day—at least a typical day for those living at the Children’s Vision International (CVI) compound in Bogotá, Colombia. One hundred children got up for school. The babies were fed and played with. Six hundred meals were cooked. And the...
Growing up in rural Alabama in the 1960s, Dr. Reggie Anderson’s childhood sounds like a script from a Hallmark movie. He was raised in a Christian home, and life on the farm was innocent and honest. God was as real to him as the clay beneath his feet, he says.But the...
David Watson had a good problem. The church he’d been pastoring in Girard, Pa., Bethel Assembly of God, needed more space for its exploding youth ministry. Though they had just built a new sanctuary, the church agreed as a step of faith to build a new youth center...
Little hands raised toward the sky, some steady, some shaking. Little feet moving swiftly, dancing, marching. Tearful eyes pressed shut with visions and dreams. Small bodies bowed low in worship and prayer. Tiny voices silencing entire congregations, warning and...
Why a modern-day Indiana Jones and former soldier is venturing into a war-torn region for what could be his riskiest expedition yetThis is a world of contrast, where barefoot children meet roaring military trucks, and tangled jungles meet satellites. It’s a world...
What do you say to a sister in Christ who can’t get pregnant?
I said something stupid today. Trying
to offer a word of wisdom without casting false hope to a woman with
a high-risk pregnancy, I made a comment that went over like a lead
balloon. Although Maria has two children, she has also lost two
babies to the same physical complication currently endangering her
unborn child, and she is afraid to bond with the seven-month-old baby
in her womb because she knows the baby could die during childbirth.
“I have another friend who lost three
babies,” I told her, “and when they learned during one of the
pregnancies that their baby wouldn’t make it, they just decided to
love that child for whatever time they would have her in the womb.”
That couple’s love for their unborn child provided some meaning
during their time of grief, but it wasn’t exactly a word of
encouragement to Maria, whose legitimate fears have robbed her of any
joyful feelings about her pregnancy.
Samuel Rodriguez is more preacher than politician. These days, however, the leader of the nation’s largest group of Hispanic Christians is caught in the crossfire of immigration reform.
Lady Liberty has always lifted her lamp to the tired, the poor and the huddled masses, but Americans have not always welcomed immigrants with open arms. Today the climate is as hot as ever, as the need for border security and economic recovery clash with the vast number of illegal immigrants living among us. Only recently has the evangelical church taken a stand on the issues.
Now a man has emerged as another torchbearer, his leadership drawing millions out of the shadows. Top politicians and media moguls are paying attention, saying Samuel Rodriguez is a political rising star, and they’re watching and courting him as our nation wrangles over culture wars and immigration reform. Although the 40-year-old pastor and evangelist denies being a politician, he has embraced the call to represent a growing political force of evangelical Latinos, including 12 million illegal immigrants.
Samuel Rodriguez is more preacher than politician. These days, however, the leader of the nation’s largest group of Hispanic Christians is caught in the crossfire of immigration reform.
Lady Liberty has always lifted her lamp to the tired, the poor and the huddled masses, but Americans have not always welcomed immigrants with open arms. Today the climate is as hot as ever, as the need for border security and economic recovery clash with the vast number of illegal immigrants living among us. Only recently has the evangelical church taken a stand on the issues.
Now a man has emerged as another torchbearer, his leadership drawing millions out of the shadows. Top politicians and media moguls are paying attention, saying Samuel Rodriguez is a political rising star, and they’re watching and courting him as our nation wrangles over culture wars and immigration reform. Although the 40-year-old pastor and evangelist denies being a politician, he has embraced the call to represent a growing political force of evangelical Latinos, including 12 million illegal immigrants.
What do you say to a sister in Christ who can’t get pregnant?
I said something stupid today. Trying
to offer a word of wisdom without casting false hope to a woman with
a high-risk pregnancy, I made a comment that went over like a lead
balloon. Although Maria has two children, she has also lost two
babies to the same physical complication currently endangering her
unborn child, and she is afraid to bond with the seven-month-old baby
in her womb because she knows the baby could die during childbirth.
“I have another friend who lost three
babies,” I told her, “and when they learned during one of the
pregnancies that their baby wouldn’t make it, they just decided to
love that child for whatever time they would have her in the womb.”
That couple’s love for their unborn child provided some meaning
during their time of grief, but it wasn’t exactly a word of
encouragement to Maria, whose legitimate fears have robbed her of any
joyful feelings about her pregnancy.