After being incarcerated, social media star Boonk Gang’s cellmate shares the Gospel and the love of Christ to him. For the first time, John experiences the love of God and his life is transformed.

Kitale, Kenya

Orphaned at the age of four, Billy moved in with his grandmother. He eventually ran away because of abuse and neglect. For two years, he lived in the streets of Kitale, Kenya. Billy said, “Life was hard. The older street boys bullied and hurt me. I had to do bad things just to survive. I snatched handbags and went to the supermarket to steal food. I slept outside, even when it rained. I often prayed to God to give me a home with a loving family.” 
 
A social worker found Billy and brought him to Embrace, a rescue center supported in part by CBN’s Orphan’s Promise. “God is with me, because when I was in the streets, He saw me and brought me here,” said Billy. “I was finally safe. I played without worrying about being bullied or being forced to steal. There was a lot of good food, and I ate until I was full.” 

This center helps children like Billy get on the right path and reunites them into families. Danson is the manager here at Embrace. “When children arrive here, we embrace them, we love on them, protect them, and teach them about God,” said Danson. “We also have guidance and counseling sessions where they have a chance to share their stories.”  

When Danson told his wife about Billy’s background, they decided to adopt him and welcome him into their family. Billy said, “I love my family and I know that I am loved. I am safe and happy where I am. When I grow up, I also want to adopt children from the street like I was adopted. I will love them and teach them to love God like I love Him.” 

Danson said, “To Orphan’s Promise, ‘Thank you for helping us to stand in the gap to rescue and change the lives of these children. Through you, we see hope growing.’” 

Billy said, “Thank you for helping children like me. I am so grateful, because you rescued me, and now I have a family.”
 
 

MAKING MUCH OF MIRACLES

Floating in a Miami pool one midwinter, Pastor Mark Batterson had what he calls an epiphany.  As he admired the shimmering sunlight on the water, “a question fired across my synapses: What’s really happening when what’s happening is happening?”  He was thinking about that sunlight, emanating from the star we know as the sun, which he later read is 93 million miles away, and 333,000 times the mass of Earth.  He also learned that sunlight travels incredibly fast – 186,282 miles per second – so the rays he saw shimmering on that Miami pool got there in only eight minutes and twenty seconds.  Miraculous! 

“Most of us take everyday miracles for granted.  This book is about taking them for gratitude.  Why is that so important?” he asks.  “Because whatever you don’t turn into praise turns into pride!  It doesn’t just rob God of the glory He deserves; it steals our joy.”  Mark points out that we praise God for anomalies and epiphanies, which is right, but tend to overlook and underappreciate everyday miracles.  “There is a fine line between the mundane and the miraculous.  If you see the miraculous as mundane, life becomes a bore.  If you learn to discern the miraculous in the mundane, welcome to wonderland,” he exclaims.     

GOD MOST HIGH (BIGGER THAN BIG)

Starting with the observations of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in 1592, and those of his protégé, Johannes Kepler, Mark goes on to emphasize the vastness of God’s creation, according to current data.  “Astronomers now estimate the existence of more than two trillion galaxies, only two of which are visible from the Northern Hemisphere – the Milky Way and Andromeda.  Each of those two trillion galaxies has an average of one hundred billion stars.

The very nature of our stunningly creative God is also a miracle, Mark believes.  “It’s not easy parsing God’s personality, but one undeniable dimension is playfulness.  This is the God who created us with the capacity to laugh,” Mark says. The fact that humans (and animals) have both the ability and desire to be playful is a miracle to be enjoyed regularly.  “Jesus pushed the playfulness envelope further than anyone.  He said that we can’t enter the kingdom of heaven unless we become like little children, and part of becoming like little children is recapturing what they are best at – playfulness.”  And just how do we do that in our serious world?  “Whether we’re playing with Legos, playing games, or playing music, God takes joy in our enjoyment.  It’s a reflection of His playful personality, which we greatly underestimate.  In the words of C.S. Lewis, ‘Joy is the serious business of Heaven.’”   

GOD MOST NIGH (CLOSER THAN CLOSE)

That God is not only marvelously creative and vast, but is much closer than we often think, especially when we’re hurting, is another aspect of His character, Mark says.  “A Harvard study conducted in 2020 found that 61 percent of young adults ages eighteen to twenty-five experience serious loneliness.”  He refers to surgeon

general Dr. Vivek Murthy, who says that loneliness also has serious implications on our health.  “As modeled by the Trinity, relationship is what we were created for.  From the get-go, God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.’  Without healthy relationships, there are serious side effects.  Even Jesus had his disciples!  Our love for Christ overcomes racial tension, political polarization, and a dozen other things that divide culture. While we must acknowledge mistakes made in the name of Christ, the church has done more collective good than any organization on earth, and there is no close second.  And there is no backup plan. The transformational power of community is one of God’s most life-giving miracles – don’t miss it,” he implores. 

GOD MOST GOOD (GOODER THAN GOOD)

One of Mark’s many illustrations of God’s supreme goodness is the story of Joseph Merrick, born in 1862 in Leicester, England.  “Few people have suffered from more physical deformities and abnormalities.  All ten of his fingers were stubs.  His head was twice the circumference it should have been.  His disfigured mouth made his speech nearly unintelligible.  His right arm was twice the size of his left arm and his legs barely supported his body weight.  In nineteenth-century England, there was a perverse yet popular form of entertainment known as human novelty exhibitions.”  Joseph Merrick was the headliner in one such freak show, which promoted him as “half man, half elephant.”  

In a London hospital, Joseph piqued the interest of a surgeon, Dr. Frederick Treves.  “In a carefully orchestrated experiment, the good doctor arranged to have a woman walk into Merrick’s room, smile at him, wish him a good morning, and shake his hand.”  The effect was amazing.  ‘As he let go her hand, he bent his head on his knees and sobbed until I thought he would never cease,’ Treves said.  That single smile was the turning point of his life.  It unlocked the little boy within.  ‘He told me afterwards that this was the first woman who had ever smiled at him, and the first woman, in the whole of his life, who had shaken hands with him.’  Over time, Dr. Treves found Joseph Merrick to be more intelligent and articulate than he would have ever imagined.  Dr. Treves managed to smuggle him into private boxes of London theaters to watch plays and listen to operas.  He took him on field trips to the countryside, where Merrick loved listening to songbirds, chasing rabbits, and picking wildflowers.  Toward the end of his short life (at age 27), Merrick’s common refrain was this: ‘I am happy every hour of the day.’” 

Along with the call to look for, recognize, and celebrate miracles, which Mark terms, “Carpe Wonder!” he would have us turn that wonder into gratitude for and fellowship with our wondrous God.  “’You have made us for yourself,’ said Saint Augustine, ‘and our heart is restless until it rests in you.’  Seek the God who is seeking you,” Mark exhorts.  “As you do, I pray that you rediscover the God who is bigger than big, closer than close, and gooder than good.”

MORE ABOUT MARK

Born in Minneapolis, Mark grew up in Naperville, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.  When he was just five years old, his parents took him to see the 1975 movie, The Hiding Place, produced by The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.  The film chronicles the story of Corrie Ten Boom’s family hiding Jews during WWII and the consequences for all. The story significantly influenced Mark, who soon came to Jesus as his Savior.  By the time he turned nineteen, Mark realized that he had been asking Jesus to follow him instead of his following Jesus.

Mark attended the University of Chicago on a scholarship, playing basketball and majoring in pre-law.  After a prayer walk through a cow pasture, he felt called to full-time ministry instead of law, and the next year transferred to Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri.  Mark later married Lora Schmidgall and eventually earned a Doctor of Ministry from Regent University.  He’s now the author of 25 books including his first published title, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and The Circle Maker, one of many New York Times Bestsellers.

The Battersons moved to Washington, DC in 1994 to direct an inner-city ministry.  Mark has served as Lead Pastor of National Community Church since 1996.  Their first service in 1997 was attended 19 people, today, the church’s two campuses see 4-5 thousand coming weekly.

For more information on Mark Batterson click the LINK! And for more information on National Communiy Church click the LINK as well! 

CREDITS

New York Times best-selling author of 25 books, latest: A Million Little Miracles,
Multnomah, 2024 / Lead Pastor of National Community Church (NCC) in Washington, DC,
since 1997, with two campuses; the other in Springfield, VA / NCC owns and operates
Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse, The Miracle Theatre, and The DC Dream Center, and is currently
developing a city block into The Capital Turnaround for events, a child development center, a mixed-use marketplace, and co-working space / Doctor of Ministry degree, Regent University / Married to Lora, three adult children: Parker, Summer, and Josiah

Tuesday, February 22, 2022. As the world braces for a Russian invasion into Ukraine, Tony and Sarah Witbrod board a flight headed to the port city of Odessa. Sarah said, “The government knew that we had plans to be in Ukraine and had sent us an email that said, 'do not travel.' That we are evacuating all Americans out of Ukraine. 'If you choose to go to Ukraine, you're flying on your own. No one will come and get you.'" 

The couple had a compelling reason for ignoring the dire warnings. Lives were at stake. Two Ukrainian children, both with special needs, were waiting for Tony and Sarah to adopt them. Three of the couple’s 6 children at home in Douglas, Wyoming, had also been adopted.  

“From the second we pursued them, they were my children and they were my responsibility the same as any of my other, my other children,” said Sarah. “And so to choose not to get them would be like losing your children. And it wasn't an option.”

Tony said, “The moment you say yes during that process and you see a child and you see that face and you're like, no matter what, like we're, we're bringing that kid home and that kid's going to live here forever.”

The couple made it to Odessa, and the next day took custody of the children; one year old, Caius, a boy who needed surgery for a condition affecting his joints, and two year old, Junie, who was born with a rare genetic disorder and desperately needed a bone marrow transplant. They were scheduled to fly to Poland the next day, Tuesday, the 24th. That morning at 3 am, those plans would change. Sarah said, “Like the loudest boom. I can't even describe it unless you've, it's just the loudest boom. And then everything just kind of, the air, the walls, everything just shakes and you just, like, it takes your breath." 

“Russia had invaded,” said Tony. “It was real. We get an email on our phone that says, 'your flights have been canceled, find other means of transportation.' And then right with that, the state department saying, 'where are you? We need to know your location. If you move like what's going on? Tell us your plan.'”

By then, all Ukrainian airports had been shut down, and the Wibrod’s needed a new plan to save themselves and the children. “I thought, next step, what do we do now?” said Sarah. “We knew what their future held. We know we knew that if they didn't get out, that was it. There was nothing for them there.”

The couple prayed, contacting friends stateside to pray as well. The closest, and safest, airport was in Bucharest, Romania, 400 miles and two countries away. So with the help of their interpreters, they crossed into the country of Moldova on Ukraine’s western border. From there, they drove all day and night, racing along dirt roads. 

Finally, they reached Bucharest, but by now their funds were depleted, and airline tickets had quadrupled in price. Tony said, “Just the exhaustion has really kicked in and that...that nervousness of like, man, if anything goes wrong, like we're not leaving these kids, but we got to get home to our other six kids. And just going forward like blindly through that faith in that like, next step, next step, whatever we can do, whatever we're allowed to do, we're going to do the next step and we'll get going.”

Within a day, supporters from the US had come through and Tony and Sarah had enough money to purchase the last two seats on a plane to Warsaw. Tony said, “Like you literally felt the power of prayer from across an ocean in the middle of a war when everything was just chaos and unknown.”
“There's this, a picture that I have of, of Sarah, she's holding Caius when we landed in, in Poland after like a flight that we shouldn't have been on. Like how, how it all worked out like that at the last minute and with everything being so chaotic. But the hardest part for me is a picture of my wife looking more tired than I’ve ever seen her in her life, clutching a baby in his blanket, and that was the hardest part.”

A week later, they were back home where Caius and Junie were welcomed with loving arms. Sarah said, “I had a faith that if, if I’m supposed to go there, then the way will be made for me to get there. And so that's kind of the faith that I was traveling on.”

Ever since then, Caius and Junie have lived a life surrounded by a family who loves them. Even though both continue to have medical needs, and they’re still looking for a bone marrow donor for Junie. Sarah and Tony have never questioned their decision. “When you are called to something you really want to show up because really amazing stuff happens,” said Sarah. 

Tony said, “So, I would say to someone who, to someone who was considering adoption, but thought it might cost too much or it might be too hard or too difficult, it, it'll change your life. Our lives are so much richer and so much grander and amazing because we said yes.”  

“When God invites you to live something that's bigger than you could ever imagine, you show up because it's going to be awesome. And it is, it has been every time,” said Sarah.