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God's Promise is that He Will Show Up
Chet recalls, “The doctor comes in to me and he says, ‘You need to go on a ventilator.’ He said, ‘If you don't go on a ventilator, you're gonna die.’” In August, 2021, Chet Chaffin and his wife, Renae, were having a great time on their 2,000 mile cross country retirement trip - horseback riding, going to the beach, and visiting family and friends. Then they reached Oregon. Renae remembers, “Chet was shaking so bad that he was just shivering and cold and miserable. He was having a hard time breathing and coughing.”
The Chaffin’s cut their trip short and went home. By the time they arrived Chet’s health had worsened. Chet shares, “And I was trying to get my air to my lungs to expand. And it's just like they wouldn't expand. I couldn't get any air in. Oh, it is terrifying.”
Two days later, Chet was admitted to the Clermont Mercy Hospital ICU with COVID pneumonia. Renae says, “And the doctor said to him, ‘Chet, you have two choices. You go on the ventilator or you're gonna die.’ And the doctor left. And he said, ‘Renea, I am scared.’ And I said, ‘I'm scared too.’” Chet says, “It seems like every story that you hear of people being on the ventilator, they don't come off the ventilator. They wind up dying. And I didn't want to die.”
Because of COVID protocols, Renae went home and asked everyone to join her in praying for her husband. Renae shares, “And I sent out over 200 emails and asked for prayer for my husband. I looked up scripture on healing. And the one that stuck in my mind was, 'I will send My word and My word will heal you of all your diseases.' And I would repeat that daily.”
Chet and Renae’s pastor, Daniel Lawson, and church elder, Mike Meyer, came to Chet’s room to pray. Chet recalls, “Before he came into the room to do this, I looked outside the door and I saw the Lord standing outside my door. Not as I see a man, but as I see the love of God, the aura of God, the brightness of His glory, His love is what I saw. At that point, I said, live or die, I belong to the Lord.”
Pastor Daniel Lawson shares, “I told Chet, I said, ‘We're going to anoint your head.’ And Chet said, ‘Anoint my hands and my feet too.’ And we prayed and we rebuked the sickness, the disease, the infirmity in the name of Jesus Christ. I knew Chet was fine no matter what anybody said.”
Renae called everyday so Chet could hear her voice. After 5 days, COVID protocols were lifted and Renae was allowed to visit her husband who was now in a medically induced coma. She took advantage of the 15 minutes she was given. Renae shares, “I started praying. I started rubbing his feet, I started rubbing his hands. I touched his face. I wanted him to know that I was there, because that touch is so important.”
Over the coming weeks Chet endured multiple complications including a hole in his lung and internal bleeding. For two weeks the staff tried several times to wean him from the ventilator but every time they tried Chet would struggle to breathe. They had to sedate him with additional meds to keep him calm. Renae says, “I was scared because I knew that he wasn't getting oxygen. And I said, 'well, I'm worried about brain damage.' And I came in the living room and I shouted. I said, ‘God, I know You're gonna bring him home.’ And he said, in this calm voice, and this peace went over me. And he said, ‘then why are you doubting Me?’ And I said, ’I won't doubt you.’”
The next day, a nurse called. They found Chet’s ventilator tube had been pulled out and he was breathing on his own. As Chet was still in a medically induced coma, no one could explain how it happened. Finally, they brought Chet out of sedation successfully. Tests showed Chet had no brain damage.
Chet recalls, “I know that I woke up because God let me wake up because God healed me and took care of me in that hospital room.” Renae shares, “I was just saying, 'thank you God for that, because You answered another prayer.'”
On October 20th after 27 days in the hospital, Chet was released and sent to a physical therapy facility. There he would have to renew his cognitive abilities and regain his strength and mobility in his arms and legs. He even had to re-learn how to feed himself. They expected his stay to last up to two months. It lasted nine days. Chet says, “God began to heal me. From that point, I began to be able to stand up. I began to strengthen myself. I began to walk around the room.”
At his follow up with his pulmonologist, Chet remembers the doctor’s response. Chet remembers, “He said, ‘You know, this is just amazing. This is just amazing.’ And he said, ‘Chet, you are a miracle.’ And I'm like, ‘amen. I am.’”
Pastor Daniel Lawson shares, “I see Chet as this mighty tool, this wonderful testimony to the truth of what God can do and that God is still alive.”
Chet has defied all of the doctor’s odds and even has regained his long-term memory. He and his family know he is a miracle because of the healing power of Jesus through prayer.
Renae says, “I believe with all my heart that Chet lived because of faithfulness, because of prayer, and because God wants to use him to bring people to Christ.”
Chet says, “There's no limit to what God can't do or can do. He will come in and He will heal. That's God's promise.”
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Darryl Strawberry's Greatest Gift to God
His unique name helped distinguished a colorful career, thriving with baseball success while hurdling personal setbacks saying, “If I just identify myself as Darryl Strawberry, the Major League baseball player, I miss the whole mark of life.”
Few have achieved more than Darryl Strawberry, a top Major League draft pick and rookie of the year, a 3-time world champion, and 8-time all-star, adding, “That was part of my life. But that’s no longer who I am today.”
Nearly two decades sober, the imposing slugger watches his New York Mets jersey immortalized while kneeling for what’s redemptive and eternal.
Question: “A life of willing transformation. What do you see that’s honorable when the number goes up?”
Darryl Strawberry: “I see how God rescues, redeems, and restores. Not some things, but all things. His plan is like greater than anything we can ever imagine. Sometimes God needs to stop certain people to get their attention so you can recognize that He’s God. That’s what happened in my life. I had all this fame and fortune, but the promises over my life were greater than my baseball career.”
Question: “That Mets franchise is where you had most of your Major League success. Does it give you a sense of completion?
Darryl Strawberry: “Completion for me. To say thank you. Thank you to a city, the fans, thank you to the organization. So many other people, my family, my wife, kids! Had it not been for the guys I played with – it takes a great team to make you a great player! The teams I played on in seven years we had a chance to win.”
Question: “First or second place finishes.”
Darryl Strawberry: “Yes. So, I never finished under second!”
Question: “Back to Shea Stadium with a crazed clubhouse on some accounts. How do you now see the professional part of the success and the personal part of some the failure that came with it?”
Darryl Strawberry: “There’s two parts of life – achieving and the struggle. The Bible didn’t say some of us would fall short. He said we would all fall short of the glory of God. So, understanding falling short was a part of it. It doesn’t mean you stay there. And that’s when I was able to fall on my knees...Jesus was there! Seven years of discipleship, of learning God’s Word and learning who God is. I’m glad I took the time off to do that to become that man.”
Question: “Does it inspire you, seeing his life?”
Dwight “Doc” Gooden: “Definitely! It still inspires me. I know he’s a guy that I can call, not going to judge me. He can relate to the things that I struggle with and I can talk to him about anything, to be open with him, knowing it's not going to go anywhere. I remember 7 years ago now when my mom was sick, he went to visit my mom and spent like two hours with my mom, prayed over my mom, that’s when I knew it was for real.”
Question: “The pain of uncertainty. How has all that position you as an overcomer?
Darryl Strawberry: “We all have some type of pain, some type of hurt, some type of rejection, loneliness that we go through. I didn’t have a father. He rejected me. So, I had to battle through that. That was my own personal battle to get out on this field and make it happen. So, there was some major pieces missing in my life when I had my career of being a man. And I didn’t learn all of that until I went through the addiction, the sinful lifestyle, the cancer, losing my left kidney and now having a major heart attack at 62. He has extended me more time to complete His work.”
Question: “Darryl, do we underserve what and more importantly, those who've invested into us, along our journey?”
Darryl Strawberry: “I’m glad for the struggle because I probably never would have found the symbol of the cross. I’d probably still today still be chasing notoriety than being the man God wanted me to be. I’m living the legacy of my mom and what she prayed for. And I’m so thankful for that because that’s transformation because Christ is alive and Christ comes in you, now Christ lives in you.”
Question: “In a career linked to statistics and performance how do you hear His approval, not for what you do but for who you are?”
Darryl Strawberry: “You receive His approval when you know Him. Every day. Even in the hard times. You talk to Him. He’s your Father, and He speaks to you, and He lets you know – ‘I got you!' I live for the Kingdom. I don’t live a brand. I don’t live for applause. I live because of what Jesus has done and I know what the light looks like. The light is greater than the darkness. And people need to understand that.”
Brandon Nimmo, Mets Outfielder: “I knew his story and gravitated towards him. He welcomed that right away and we’ve been able to have great conversation of the radical change that Jesus can bring into your life when you accept Him and bring Him in. For me it's an incredible story that’s really inspiring.”
Jay Horwitz, Mets VP Alumni Relations: “You know everybody says, ‘Well, should he have made the Hall of Fame – maybe, probably, but for me what he’s doing now in his ministry work, helping people, traveling around the country, when he had his heart attack what he said to me was, ‘every day I’m off the road it's one less person I can help.’ To me is much more important than a plaque in Cooperstown.”
Question: “The term immortalized. You’ll have your number on that. I just wonder how it brings you into that image of God that He call's us.”
Darryl Strawberry: “That’s more important, the radical change that my life has taken. I’ve had an incredible encounter with God, and it has been the greatest gift I’ve ever received. Have I had an effect on people’s lives and bought a lot of cheer from a ball game? Yes! That’s baseball. But being in ministry, and preaching the gospel, and having an effect on people’s lives – that’s eternal! It’s a whole different destiny. I look at how great God is. Nobody’s like God. Nobody can do what He does!”
Question: “For Darryl Strawberry, why should the jersey, the number, the banner of Jesus Christ be raised?”
Darryl Strawberry: “Well, because He’s the King. We don’t crown ourself. We crown the King. I need to crown Him for what He has done. Because Darryl Strawberry, the great baseball player in the flesh of who I was, he no longer lives. Jesus Christ is the miracle maker. Not us. Not a uniform. Not a number hanging up. Jesus Christ is the miracle maker. And His love for people is to spare people and to save people.”
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His Only Wish Before He Died
In a quiet village in Myanmar, the birth of a little girl named Khaing became a source of whispers and ridicule. Born with a cleft lip, her name—meaning "pretty"—was mocked by the people around her. Instead, villagers cruelly referred to her as "the cleft girl," leaving her parents, Kyu Kyu and her husband, heartbroken.
"My heart sank when I heard what people were saying about her," Kyu Kyu shared. Despite their love for their daughter, they felt powerless to change her situation.
As day laborers earning less than three dollars a day when work was available, Kyu Kyu and her husband struggled to provide even the basics for their family. Saving for Khaing's surgery seemed like an impossible dream.
"I want my daughter to have surgery," Kyu Kyu’s husband said. "I don’t want her to feel ugly when she goes out. My only wish in life before I die is that she can have surgery to repair her mouth."
But hope found its way into their lives when a local pastor told the family about Operation Blessing. Thanks to the generosity of donors, Khaing received the surgery she desperately needed to repair her cleft lip.
The results were life-changing. "I am so happy," her father said. "I almost didn’t recognize her after her lip was repaired."
The transformation wasn’t just physical. The very villagers who once mocked Khaing now spoke of her in admiration.
"Now everyone calls her ‘The Pretty Child’ and they call her by her name," Kyu Kyu said, her face lighting up with joy. "That makes me so happy."
Through the kindness of strangers, Khaing’s life has been forever changed. Her parents are filled with gratitude, and her mother expressed it best: "Thank you so much to the people who made this possible."
Today, Khaing walks confidently in her village, her beautiful smile a testament to the power of compassion and the gift of a second chance.
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Descendant of Thomas Jefferson Shares Her Roots
For Gayle Jessup White, landing the job of Public Relations and Community Engagement Officer at Thomas Jefferson’s historic home, Monticello, was more than a chance to share her passion for American history. It was the result of a lifelong search for the truth about who she was, and America’s third president.
It started when she was a young girl growing up in 1970s Washington D.C.
“At the time Jefferson was my favorite president because he'd written the Declaration, and I believed and still believe in the principles put forth in that document,” says Gayle.
She was thirteen when her sister shared a bit of family lore regarding the main author of the Declaration of Independence…they were related.
Gayle recounts, “Well I was shocked. And I went to my dad first, ‘Daddy, how could we be descended from Thomas Jefferson? This doesn’t make sense to me.’ All Daddy said to me was, ‘That's what they say.’”
For years, Gayle would dream of one day finding out if what “they said” was true.
She says, “I always felt that if I could determine my ties to Jefferson, I could find out more about my family. We are the sum total of our backgrounds of our ancestors, and I didn't know who mine were. I needed to know that to feel whole.”
In the 90s, when Gayle was out of college and building a career in journalism, she got serious about her search. But finding records of enslaved people from the 1700s wouldn’t be so easy. The biggest clues came from stories passed down through her father and his family.
“Oral history matters because for many Black people that's all we have,” Gayle explains. “They were treated as possessions. They were possessions. So you might find information about them on tax records, on wills, but you won't find them in the census record for the most part until 1870.”
As Gayle followed her own leads, DNA research confirmed the long-told rumor that Jefferson had children with an enslaved woman named Sally Hemings. She says, “For many years I assumed I was descended from Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Little pieces were coming together, but not enough for me to understand how we could have been descended. It was just enough information out there to keep me aware of the possibility.”
Gayle would spend years following clues, tracing her family tree, and scouring historical records. Then in 2010, while with her son on one of many visits to Monticello, Gayle says, “We go on the tour and the guide says, ‘Well, Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson had children together.’ And I raised my hand as I always did, ‘We're descended from Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson.’ And the guide says, ‘Well, you're dignitaries, you're family.’”
Unlike previous guides, this one took an interest in Gayle’s story, and connected her with Monticello historian, Cinder Stanton. With Cinder’s help, Gayle’s four decades of research would soon culminate: Thomas Jefferson was her 5-times great grandfather, and Sally Hemings, her 4-times great aunt.
Gayle explains, “I'm actually descended from her brother, Peter Hemings, who was a cook at Monticello.”
The kitchen where Peter worked came to be one of Gayle’s favorite rooms at Monticello. “When I'm in that space where I feel the presence of my ancestors. That's sacred ground for me,” says Gayle.
In 2014, Gayle was selected for the fellowship program at the international center for Jefferson studies. Her discoveries there opened a window into who her ancestors were: overcomers who helped build America while being oppressed by slavery.
Gayle says, “I’m proud of my relatives who were enslaved because they were up against so much. They survived. They were strong. They were tough. They were able to pass down character, dignity, strength, humanity, love, joy, pain, resilience, to their descendants. That's why I'm here, because of them. If we are going to heal as a country then we have to be honest about our complicated history, and it is very complicated and it's very painful.”
It was in 2016 that Gayle came on-staff at Monticello, educating the public about the legacy – the good and the bad – of one of America’s Founding Fathers.
She says, “I recognize Jefferson now as being a human being. He was a flawed human being who made some horrible decisions, sinful decisions. Owning people is sinful. On the other hand he gave us those soaring words that I amend to say ‘All humans are created equal’ that have served as inspiration for hundreds of years now, for people to fight for their freedom and liberty, and justice for all. So Jefferson represents the full complexity of this country and how it was founded.”
In her book, Reclamation, Gayle chronicles her journey to find her heritage, and more.
“It serves at a metaphor not just for my family,” Gayle says, “but for Black families in America to understand - and for all people to acknowledge - that our ancestors helped build this country. I found not just the history, but I found my family. And I've made those connections. And I've found my wholeness.”
A wholeness she hopes all Americans will soon share. She says, “We are one people. We have more in common than not. It’s important to look at each other and to work through those differences and see ourselves as Americans and recognize the kinship. It’s an American story.”
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