“The only thing I remember when I woke up was that I was already screaming…I was in a full scream, and I thought I was on fire.” By all reports, Kelly Kopp and his band mates should have been killed when their van crashed into a guardrail in 2007.  At 23 years old, Kelly had strayed far from God, and attributed his and his band’s close call to luck. “I was taking the credit now,” Kelly stated. “Now I had this awesome story to tell. More people are going to pay attention to me, more people are going to be interested in what I have to say…because now I have this story.” Kelly grew up in a Christian home, was homeschooled, and went to church every Sunday with his family. Overall, it was a happy childhood. “I don't remember a time where I didn't know Jesus.” He said. “I was in love with God from right out the gate.” 

Then at eight years old, he found out that the woman he called ‘mom’ was not his biological mother. “I felt rejected from my mom. My stepmom never treated me any differently, but in my mind, I was different.” He stated. “I was an outsider, an outcast, and I internalized that and thought that they didn't love me as much…my mom didn't love me…I wasn’t her son. So now I'm in the middle. All I wanted was for somebody to love me. I want somebody to like me.” Despite feeling rejected, he started spending time with his biological mom, who wasn’t a Christian. It opened a different lifestyle to him. At 14, he asked his parents to be enrolled in a public school because he wanted to be a part of what the other kids were doing. “I would see all my friends and they were partying or doing different things that I wasn't allowed to do.” He spoke.  “It looked like they were having a blast and that they were having more fun than me.” So, Kelly decided to join in on the fun by smoking weed and drinking. He also got into rock music and playing guitar. Still, he couldn’t shake God’s call on his life. “Every single night when I would lay down in bed, I would hear his voice saying, ‘Kelly, I have a plan for you. I have a call for you.’ Since I was 14-15 years old.” Kelly spoke. “Every night that I was away from him, I would hear him say that before I went to sleep, ‘I have a plan for you. I have a call for you.’ So I never really ran from him…I just ignored him.” 

Throughout high school, he lived a double life. On one hand, he was constantly fighting with his parents and at times, getting into trouble. On the other, he was the good Christian kid who went to church. In fact, when Kelly was a senior in high school, his pastor tried to convince him to go into ministry, but Kelly had other plans- to start a band and hit the road. “The next day after I graduated, I left. I was gone, and that was it.”  “All I wanted was to be a rock star! I wanted to be famous and wanted people to love me…because I felt empty on the inside. I thought that if everyone in the world loved me, then that would fill that hole.” 

Although his attempt at starting a band failed, he landed a job as a tour manager for a punk band and started his life on the road. “I was living the dream at that point. I mean, everything that I thought that I wanted, I had it…it was going amazing.” By now, he was even further from God. Then, in 2007, his band’s van crashed into a guardrail splitting open the side of the vehicle. Amazingly, all survived with non-life-threatening injuries, although Kelly suffered a back injury and cuts on his arms and face. By the time he recovered, the band had replaced him. Kelly, now 23, was devastated. One night while sitting in his truck, he says again, God spoke to him. “I heard his voice so loud in my truck, say, ‘Kelly, I'm waiting on you. I have a plan for you.” He spoke. “I remember yelling out loud back to him, ‘I'm not doing this again. I keep going back to trying to make it happen on my own. I keep going back to trying to make people love me.’” “I said, I'll make a deal with you. God, if you really want me, you change me. I said, I'll open my heart to you, but that's it…you can have my heart, but I'm not changing anything.” 

“The next day when I woke up, something happened, and every desire I had, had changed. I didn't want to talk the same, I didn't want to go to the same places, I didn't want to do the same thing, I didn't want to listen to the same music. All I wanted was to listen to sermons, to read the word, get the word in me to go to church, it was crazy.” Having rededicated his life to Christ, Kelly started posting videos on Facebook of him preaching. Before long, his videos were going viral, one even had 3 million views! Eventually, Kelly went into full time ministry and became a pastor speaking at churches and conferences. He also married his wife, Lindsey, and they have five children.

Today, Kelly is a best-selling author, pastor and evangelist who travels the world telling people about the love and grace that comes through faith Jesus Christ.  “Press in, run to the Father, go to him and just tell him, I need fulfillment. I need a joy. I need a peace that lasts…He'll give it to you. What he does for one, he will do for another. Let me just be an example and say, if He did it for me, He'll do it for you!”

Not long after Zunaisha was born, her parents realized something was wrong with her eyes.

Her mother, Salaha, explained, “She was a very active baby, but she couldn’t see properly.   She listened to everything very carefully and navigated through the world by sound.  When I held her in my lap, and looked closely, I could see something white in her eyes.” 

Her father, Syed, said, “We took her to the hospital and the doctor said without immediate surgery she could be left permanently blind.  We were devastated and wanted to help our daughter, but we had no clue how we could raise enough money for surgery.”

Then a team from Operation Blessing found out about Zunaisha.  Thanks to your support, this precious little girl received life changing surgery at no cost to the family.  

Salaha exclaimed, “We did not have to pay for anything!  The operation was a great success, and she sees everything clearly now.  She plays with her toys and enjoys walking and running around outside.”

Syed said, “Soon, she will be old enough to go to school, and she will be able to see well like other children.  She will study new things and lead a successful life.” 

Salaha said, “I want to thank Operation Blessing and everyone who helped us in this journey." 

“I had things happening to my body all over, knots coming up. (I) Didn't know what was going on. And then finally, they did a biopsy on me and they found out that it was cancer,” said Jim Burgett. He and his wife Janet lived an active life tending to their property in Middle Tennessee, until one day they received terrible news.

Dr. Shipley with Tennessee Oncology states, “He had stage four malignant melanoma.

It had metastasized to his brain and his lungs and subcutaneous tissue along his chest wall.”

Jim reacts, “I knew there was something going on, but I didn't expect that. And that's a pretty good little jolt when you get that.”

“When he first told me that he had melanoma, I just lost it. I knew I would probably lose him quicker because it was growing fast, and it was all over him,” said Janet.

Dr. Shipley comments, “There are a lot of treatments that are unable to penetrate the brain.

And it was terrible. It really was an aggressive disease.”

“She said, "There's too much. We can't cut it. It's everywhere." And she said, "Standard chemo won't help it,” said Jim. “There's really only one chance you've got.

They've come out with something that's fairly new. It's immunotherapy.

And I'm sitting there, I'm just kind of like in shock because, you know, it's a lot to throw on you at one time.”

Knowing the treatments would be hard on Jim’s body, the couple prayed and decided to trust God with the results.

Jim remembers, “I told her, I said, "Dr. Shipley, I've turned it over to the Lord." I said, "You just do what you have to do, and it'll be between you and the Lord." She said, "That's good." She said, "Attitude is everything." And she said, "I'm glad to hear you say that."

As he began the aggressive therapy, Jim’s friends and family surrounded him with prayer.

“Before you'd go to bed every night, you'd say a prayer. You'd go ready to lay down on the hammock outside, he'd say a prayer,” said Janet. “People always came to the house when they did, and they'd say, you know, "Let's just say a prayer."

Jim continues, “I talked with the Lord almost constantly.  I said, "Lord, I don't know." I said, "I'm not ready to die. I don't want to die, but I'm going to have to have You to show me what to do, get me through it."

“He had to have radiation first to his brain,” said Dr. Shipley.  “Then he had dual immunotherapy also, and he had a lot of toxicity from his immunotherapy.

But he stood firm on the Word of God, despite being weak and tired and wore out.

He wanted to live for his family, but there were days, I believe, he thought he wasn't going to make it.”

Janet remembers, “He was really frail. He'd lost so much weight, and he couldn't walk good.”

“I was about to give up. My common sense was telling me that I wasn't going to make it,” said Jim. “I said, "Please, if you'd just give me a sign, let me know that you're hearing me." I said, "But I'm at the point." I said, "Your will be done." I said, "I don't want to die, but I accept it if it's my time to die."

Feeling like there was no hope, Jim was wheelchaired into his monthly scan, and then he got the most unexpected news.

Jim smiles, “The next day, I got a call from Dr. Shipley. She was just so ecstatic.

She was just almost screaming. She said, "It's gone. It's gone." She said, "It's God's work.

It's got to be God's work because it's gone." I wasn't saying anything, and she said, "James." She called me James. She said, "James, do you not hear me?" I said, "Yes, Dr. Shipley, I hear you. I'm so weak, I can't respond, but I hear you." She said, "It's a miracle." She said, "If I had not had the scans to look at, I wouldn't know that you had the cancer at all." I got up out of that chair, and I started walking through that door. Janet said, "What is it? What is it?" I said, "It's good. It's good. I'll tell you in a minute. I'm going in here to pray." I went through that door, and as I went through that door, I felt like a hand was on my shoulder.

I heard a voice in my head say, "That's your sign." I have never felt anything as powerful as that in my life.”

Jim has been cancer-free for over seven years, and gives all praise to God.

“It's just unbelievable what He did for me. Now I don't have any doubts at all.

He can do anything He wants to do. You've got to ask,” said Jim.

Dr. Shipley warmly states, “I call him Mr. Miracle, because it's wonderful to see him with his family and his friends. He just lives life. It's great, completely different.”

Jim said, “I thank God every day for being able to do the things that I do, to have my wife with me, to be able to be with her and spend time with her. He really blessed me, no doubt about it.”

Alex Highsmith is a Pittsburgh Steeler, playing for a traditional steel-tough defense in a steel-built city! The veteran linebacker utilizes his skill, stature, and leadership to disrupt opposing offenses! Alex also disrupts the predictable, with a steel foundation to willingly embrace a soulful transformation that ongoingly impacts his life, his game, and what he brings for others! 

Question: “Iron-City, steel, foundation laid, crucibles, fire, turning metal into liquid, shaping and reshaping.  How critical for you, Alex, has that transformation in your life become?”

Alex Highsmith: Yeah, I mean, it's, it's huge. I just thank God that I'm not where I was before. And I just think that's the process of sanctification is an ongoing thing. It’s just an ongoing process, of wanting to become more like Christ. Just like the word says, you know, if we draw near to God, he'll draw near to us and when I start my day in the word and come into work, I have a heavenly perspective in a way to impact someone’s life, to serve him, serve the kingdom.”

Question: “From soul to your game mindset on the field. Is there a correlation and a connection?”

Alex Highsmith: “Yeah, I mean, I think, absolutely! I think just having the perspective that my work is my worship and going out there, it’s always just a reminder to me that He’s blessed with the talents and abilities that I have. The way that I play, the intensity, the passion, the effort that I play with – that’s my worship back to God.  So, I think having that perspective is key.”                                         

Question: “When you express that intimacy to him, how do you feel his back to you?”

Alex Highsmith: “Hmm. When adversity hits and it strikes in a game, it's easy to, you know, you can freak out and could be something going wrong or something like that. But He really keeps me calm and steady throughout the game. And, He’s intimate with me just in the game.”                                                                                                  

Question: “Is there a deep soul satisfaction that mirrors winning?”

Alex Highsmith: “Ultimately, nothing can truly satisfy us like the love of Christ. It is awesome and, and satisfying to, to win games in the NFL and have the goal of the Super Bowl.  We want to get to it, and we, and we want to win. But I think ultimately knowing as a follower of Christ that our ultimate satisfaction, uh, comes from Christ. Football is an amazing game, but it's a terrible God. If we put all our identity in it, it'll let us down at times. And so, continue to rely on him. Through the ups and downs of this game. What matters most is know that I know that I'm a child of God. Because of we we're followers of Christ, he gives us that drive and that passion to want to do great things on the field, go out there and make plays to help the team win.”

Question: “Alex, what do you think is most valued in contagiously bridging relationship with others, in being present with them unconditionally in both their struggle and their success?”

Alex Highsmith: “Just being intentional, uh, with others. Just the way that this business is. Guys are in and out. There are new teams every year. So, in some cases you only have a six-month window with some guys, uh, to be able to build a relationship with them, share Christ with them. So, I think just being really intentional with the time that you have, especially your locker mates, the ones to your left and to your right. I think God places those people beside us for a reason and ¬building relationships is huge. And especially to, to be a great team, you, you got to be tight.”

Question: “The locker cubicle on your left and your right. That's like loving your neighbor?”

Alex Highsmith: “Absolutely. Uh, and like every single day, just knowing that, you have a chance to impact them not just in a football way, um, and help them in way, but also from a spiritual way as well. God has made us to, to, to be in relationship. We're not, you know, the devil thrives in isolation. And so I think God going before us and knowing that he's already there.”

Question: “What is it about being a professional football player that has uncommonly rushed you forward for both a need and desire for divine relationship?” 

Alex Highsmith: “Yeah, I know that I've been given this platform. I've been blessed with this platform to be a blessing to others and not for our own personal gain. Something that, um, I always try to keep in mind. I feel like God is revealing to me, um, day in and day out, that's the reason you're here is to impact souls, you know, for, for the kingdom and to be a blessing to others.”¬

Question: “And when you say God revealing, who, who has Jesus Christ become for you?”  

Alex Highsmith: “He's everything. He’s my savior. He's Lord. I'm not perfect. I mess up daily. But like I said, ‘thank God that I'm not where I was’, that he continues to work in me and refine me. And so, but I just know that if it wasn't for Jesus, I wouldn't be where I am or doing what I'm doing today. I know that he's laid every step for me. I love how we always meet after the game and pray on the 50-yard line. We get the opportunity to go out to the field after the guys that we just battled against and just went to war against. We get to come together, uh, and deflect that glory back to God.”

Question: “What does that look like?” 

Alex Highsmith: “Being bold in in our faith is, is so important. One of my favorite verses is Romans1:16, you know, ‘For I'm unashamed of the gospel’, knowing that especially in this business and this platform, that it's not the popular thing to follow Christ. But we know that's the best thing to do. It's the best way, it's the best road, is through Jesus. That's just the mindset that we have to have is just to be unashamed, especially when trials and tribulations come our way. Um, just be unashamed.”