Kyria

The Smallest Ministry

It was the smallest of ministry opportunities.

Mary, the pastor's assistant at my church, called one evening to ask if I'd be part of a new group that would stay late on Sunday mornings to straighten pew racks and prepare the sanctuary for the following week. I was one of several single women she was calling to solicit help, she said, explaining that she hoped to provide an opportunity for the women ...

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'My Name Is Snake'

"My name is Snake," the young man growled when I called him into my office. His appearance certainly did justice to the nickname. He had a mass of black hair hanging to his shoulders, metal studs in his eyebrows, and rattlesnake tattoos slithering up his forearms. He was wearing ripped jeans and chunky motorcycle boots, and on his black T-shirt was a grisly skull with rattlers poised to strike from ...

Related Topics: Acceptance, Judging others, unconditional love

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Helping Abused Women

Joyce Holt never expected to be a victim of abuse. Twice.

At age 22, she married a man who wasn't a Christian. Within weeks of the wedding, he began to tell her she was worthless and stupid. In the midst of arguments, he would punch her with her own fists.

Feeling she had nowhere to turn, she stayed with him. Until one night when he pulled out his pistol. Joyce watched in disbelief and panic as he toyed ...

Related Topics: Abuse, Beginnings, Domestic violence, Freedom, Hope

A Purpose-Driving Life

Years ago someone asked me what I wanted on my tombstone. I replied, rather flippantly, "She drove girls."

At the time I had a 1989 red Ford Tempo with 189,000 miles on it, of which I was sure 188,000 of those miles had been used to drive girls—to the mall and volleyball practice. To softball games and the mall. To the mall and church youth group. To the beach. To Taco Bell. To school. To the ...

Related Topics: Evangelism, lifestyle, parenting, Teenagers

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The Words that Changed My Life

Elisabeth![*] John needs to be changed again." My mother-in-law's voice filtered through my fog of exhausted sleep.

For the fourth time that night, Agnes and I tackled the foul mess in my father-in-law's bed. John was a large man and cleaning him, changing his diaper and bedding, was difficult. It took all my strength to roll him from side to side, holding him in position with one hand while washing ...

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A Library for a Needy Neighborhood

In her affluent Chicago suburb, Sandy Welch's children attend excellent schools. They have access to more books than they can read, and the majority of students in their district read at or above grade level. The high school graduation rate is a stunning 97 percent.

In an urban neighborhood just 20 miles away, three out of four children read below their grade level—if at all. Most have little ...

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A Hope for Broken Marriages

Heart pounding, Linda Rooks watched her husband's car disappear around the corner. Through 27 years of marriage, she and Marv had always agreed divorce would never be part of their vocabulary. Though their marriage had become increasingly turbulent over the past two years, including a brief separation, she was shocked that he'd not only packed and left but stated the unthinkable: "I want a divorce." ...

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A Smile for the Elderly

Linda Cook just needed to get out of the house.

A stay-at-home mom to three-year-old and five-year-old boys, she missed interacting with people in her teaching job. With her sons past the baby stage, she wanted an activity they could share outside their home—hopefully a ministry opportunity.

Since she'd always had a heart for seniors, Linda called the local assisted-living facility and asked to ...

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A Home for a Teenager

"I met a girl."

They were the last words Annette Friesen expected to hear from her husband, Rick, as she picked him up from the airport in June 2005.

Whoa, Annette thought. Twenty-nine years of marriage and you meet someone.

Rick explained that, traveling home from a business trip in California, he'd been seated next to a teenaged girl. Small and thin, dressed in bobby socks and a denim skirt and carrying ...

Related Topics: Adoption, Foster care, Marriage, Motherhood, parenting

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Serving in the Suburbs

Rushing out of my local grocery store parking lot, I check my watch. I'm running late; I have 5 minutes to drive a distance that requires 15. While calculating whether I can make it through a yellow light, I spot a thin, weathered man standing on the median. Without enough time to accelerate past or enough space to switch lanes, I reluctantly pull up beside him.

Before I even read his cardboard sign, ...

Related Topics: Comfort, Compassion, Middle Class, Outreach, Service, Suburbia