“You must be mad, Private Hasel!” Lieutenant Gutschalk bellowed—his face beet red. “This is the German army! We’re going to war, and you want Saturday off?” Under his breath he spat out, “It’s just my luck to be saddled with a religious nut!” Franz Hasel was a Seventh-day Adventist Christian who loved his country but […]
Nickolai Panchuk stood in front of the warden’s office for the second time since his arrival at a Russian prison camp. In their introductory interview earlier that week, he’d told the warden he would cooperate with his orders. Afterwards, he realized he’d forgotten to mention something important that might be a problem. It was a […]
Have I got a story for you! It’s about how God reached me through the eyes of a little boy named Caleb. My brother Rick and I were living in a small apartment in Seattle, Washington. We were attending college and trying to finish our education by working nights and studying days. Rick went to […]
“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten…. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered.” Joel 2:25, 32. What a vivid word picture God gives us. In my mind’s eye, I look back over the years the enemy […]
The year 2009 was difficult for us. My husband, Wylie, and I, along with our 15-year-old son, Jordan, had recently moved into a rental after losing our house to foreclosure in a bank scam. Although losing our home was very stressful and difficult, we still had our health, our careers, friends, and family, and we […]
In the late 19th century, over one million Russian intelligentsia were exiled to Siberia for freedom of conscience. Our Christian group had also been exiled for wanting to worship God in the way we felt best. The Khirgiz people we met there were kind, but for a long time the language barrier between us was […]
Emma* stood in my office doorway in the same tacky black dress she had worn for three days. Many washings had given it a gray cast, and there was a rather large mend on the front left-hand side of the skirt. Other older women might wear such a dress while housecleaning or gardening, but to […]
When I think about my childhood, family closeness is the first thing that comes to my mind. Together we went on camping trips and vacations, and on warm summer evenings, neighborhood children swarmed to our front yard to join our family in games. My parents were the pillars of our home, and I loved them […]
My story is not uncommon. Growing up as a child, I saw many terrible things—physical, emotional, and psychological abuse, mainly delivered from my father to my mother. It was very common for my two little sisters to huddle in my room, all three of us fearing the worst. After all the yelling and screaming would […]
The spirits had given me amazing success, and I was living the “good” life in Hollywood. I thought I had reached the pinnacle of spirituality until it all came crashing down and I hit rock bottom. It was then that I made the most surprising discovery of my life.
Beginnings
I was born in Iraq, […]