(dramatic music)

- [Announcer] The followingprogram is sponsored by CBN.

- [Gordon] Coming up.

- I'm a do some jokes.

- [Gordon] It turns out that laughter

is the best medicine.

- And then boom we'reright back to laughing.

- [Gordon] Funny manMichael Jr hits the streets

to give the world a double dose of comedy.

- I want you to give theman opportunity laugh.

- [Gordon] Plus achilling dream comes true.

- They pretty much told usshe was not gonna make it.

- [Gordon] And now her sisterwas fighting for her life.

- God, how do you wantme to pray for Valerie?

- [Gordon] Here what ended the nightmare.

- I was literally blinded by the light.

- [Gordon] On today's 700 Club.

(energetic music)

- Hello and welcome to the 700 Club.

For today's top headlines

let's go over to the CBN news desk.

- Gordon another day of protests

at the US Embassy in Baghdadafter protests was broken

to the compound Tuesday.

Hundreds of members ofmilitia backed by Iran

along with otherprotestors gathered outside

the embassy today.

(whoosh)

US Troops bracing for more chaos

outside the US Embassy in Baghdad.

Marines fired tear gas todisperse pro-Iran protestors,

who surrounded the embassy'scompound for a second day.

Defense secretary, Mark Esper,

announcing an infantrybattalion of about 750 soldiers

has been authorized todeploy to the middle east

after hundreds of protestorsattempted to storm

the embassy Tuesday,

trashing the receptionarea and smashing windows

in one of the worst attacks

on the US diplomatic mission in years.

From his Mar-a-Lago resort,

president Trump blamedIran for Tuesday's attack

and praised the US Militaryfor responding quickly.

- Well I think it'sbeen handled very well,

the Marines came in.

Soon as we saw there wasa potential for problem,

they got in and there wasno problem whatsoever.

- [Charlene] The president,adamant the incident would not

be a repeat of the 2012Benghazi attack in Libia,

that left four Americans dead.

- As you know this will not be a Benghazi,

Benghazi should never have happened,

this will never ever be a Benghazi.

- [Charlene] The protestorsare raging against

deadly US weekend airstrikes,

that reportedly killed 25 members

of an Iranian-backed militia.

Those strikes in retaliation

for an attack on an Iraqi army base,

that killed a US contractor last Friday.

Militia's in Iraq, backed by Iran,

have launched numerous rocket attacks

on bases housing US forces,

amid growing tensions in theregion between the US and Iran.

By early evening last night

the protestors hadretreated from the compound

but setup tents outsidewhere they planned a sit-in.

American apache helicoptersflying overhead,

dropping flares as awarning to protestors.

Many chanted death toAmerica and death to Israel.

Meanwhile according to astate department spokesperson,

there are currently no plansto evacuate the embassy.

President Trump could soon be facing

another foreign policy crisis

as North Korean leaderKim Jong Un is warning

of an unspecified shocking action

in saying his country willreveal, what he called,

a new strategic weapon to the world,

as it strengthens it'snuclear capabilities.

Kim is frustrated overstalled nuclear negotiations

and he said North Koreawas no longer obligated

to maintain a self-imposed suspension

on the testing of nuclear weapons

and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The congregation at the church in Texas,

where two people wereshot and killed Sunday

had repeatedly given food to the gunman

according to the pastor,

but they had declined to give him money

and that made him angry.

Jack Wilson, a member of the churches

volunteer security team,

shot and killed the gunman

after he open firedduring the church service.

Texas authorities and president Trump

praised the new state law thatlets licensed handgun holders

carry a weapon in places of worship.

CBNs Mark Martin spokewith the Texas lawmaker

two years ago who sponsored the law

a few months after ithad gone into effect,

here's a look at that story.

(whoosh)

- [Mark] Going to churchis suppose to be safe,

a literally sanctuarywhere people meet God

and find peace in a troubled world.

That tranquil image has taken a beating

after several shootings,

including the one inCharleston, South Carolina,

at Mother Emanuel AfricanMethodist Episcopal Church

in 2015 where nine people lost their lives

during a bible study.

- People I knew well,these are fine people,

it's all fine people.

- [Mark] And the Septembershooting last year

near Nashville, Tennessee,

where a gunman took the life of one person

and injured more than half a dozen.

And even more recentlyat First Baptist Church

in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

In November a gunman walked among the pews

killing 26 people,

ranging in age from 18months to 77 years old.

The Texas based churchsecurity organization

know as Sheepdog Seminars,

reports a record numberof 114 violent deaths

happened on faith-basedproperty nationwide in 2017.

So how should churches protect themselves?

The state of Texas recently passed a law

that allows them to usevolunteers as security guards.

The law went into effect in September,

a little more than two months before

this Sutherland Springs tragedy.

Texas state representativeMatt Rinaldi sponsored the law.

- It's tragic that churches,

that are suppose to be oursanctuaries are now so dangerous,

we need to have securityteams, sometimes armed.

But it's important we do,

it's important we defend them,

churches are increasingly targets now

in today's culture, unfortunately.

- [Mark] Rinaldi blames Texaslobbyist for a previous law.

- The problem with Texas lawwas that we actually passed

an occupational licenselaw prohibiting churches

from doing security functions

unless they paid somebodywho was licensed to do it.

It was senseless and Ithink a lot of churches

in the state of Texas

were actually violating the law knowingly.

- [Mark] The new lawrepeals that requirement

and Rinaldi believes it couldbe allowed across the country

unless the state has passed alaw banning church volunteers

from serving as security.

- If you have a small church,

especially that can'tafford private security,

you should be able to defend yourself.

- [Mark] Rinaldi tellsCBN News that in addition

to using volunteers as security,

the law allows churches tosetup active shooter plans,

patrol their campuses,

and train concealedhandgun license holders.

The Texas lawmaker adds,

the law does not requiretraining for these volunteers.

- But it's smart to do so,

actually what this lawallows the churches to do

is to coordinate trainingfor these individuals,

where it was previously prohibited.

So we're allowing them to betrained by passing this law

which is very important.

- But not everyone believes Rinaldi's law

is the best way to fortify a church.

The associate pastor here

at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas

has reservations aboutthe new legislation.

- Maybe there's some churchesthat are better equipped

to have access to trained laysecurity then other places.

And that would be a different factor,

but there's no training required,

there's no level of skill required,

from my understanding, theway the law is written now,

anyone can do that.

- [Mark] News reports sparked controversy,

pointing out that the law didnot require church volunteers

to undergo the licensing,training, and background checks,

required of professionalsecurity officers.

Critics expressed concern,

inexperienced volunteerswould suddenly face

life threatening situations.

- But the reality is most people

who have concealed carrylicense in the state of Texas

have never shot their weapon,

certainly in a defensive mode,

so they have no experience on that.

That's very different thanhaving a off-duty police officer

or someone who's ex-military or ex-police,

someone with some other level of training.

- [Mark] Wingfield helpspastor a large church

with professional security guards.

He tells CBN News that some volunteers

also provide some security.

In the midst there issome good to the new law.

- I think in some cases it will work,

I'm not gonna say it will never work.

I would hope that allchurches would be discerning

about how they do that.

There's some people who arevery wise and experienced

gun owners and users,

and there's some people who are novices.

- [Mark] State representative Rinaldi

says some is better than none.

- I would say it's betterto have individuals

providing security than not.

Especially in an armed situation.

It didn't change the laws

on who could enter achurch with a handgun.

What it did was change the law

on how the church cantrain these individuals

so they can do it more safely.

- [Mark] He now advises congregations

to take that next step.

- The law is in place,

I would encourage thechurches to take note of it

and to come up with a plan

on how to deal with these situations.

Sutherland Springs was a tragedy,

we're still healing as a state,

we'll be healing for some time now.

- [Mark] Mark Martin, CBN News, Dallas.

- And finally today theworld celebrated the dawn

of the new year last night.

The famous fireworks in Sydney, Australia

helped lead the way,

as more than a million peopledescended into Sydney Harbor

and surrounding areas tobring in the new year.

The celebrations continuedwith fireworks in Paris

and in the United Kingdom,

in the U.S, the famous balldropping in Times Square

as Americans also rang in the new year,

with confetti, fireworks, and of course,

new years resolutions across the country.

And those are today's topstories from CBN News,

Gordon and Terry are back with more

of the 700 Club, right after this.

(dramatic music)

(upbeat music)

- Comedian Michael Jr hasappeared on the Tonight Show,

Jimmy Kimmel live and then thesurprise hit film, War Room.

He brings the laughs everytime he takes the stage,

and still, Michael says,

life's passion is to be more than funny.

Efrem Graham has his story.

(upbeat music)

- [Efrem] When Michael Jr takes the stage.

- My name is MichaelJr, I'm a do some jokes.

(audience cheers)

- [Efrem] Laughter follows.

- Ultrasounds come in color now.

Which is ridiculous, Iknow it's a black baby.

(audience laughs)

- [Efrem] His talent hasput his name in lights,

landing appearances on The Tonight Show,

Jimmy Kimmel, and Oprah.

Still, with all his success,

the comedian changed hisapproach to his craft.

His focus is now on what he can give,

and not so much on what he can get.

- Normally when a comedian gets on stage,

we wants to get laughs from people.

And I felt like a shift took place,

or it felt like God was saying,

instead of trying toget laughs from people,

I want you to give theman opportunity laugh.

So this changed everything.

So I go on stage that night,we're having a good time,

but it's different, likeI'm way more relaxed,

the audience seems tobe way more responsive

and then when I walk outside,I see a homeless guy.

I never seen a homeless guyoutside this club before ever.

But that doesn't meanhe wasn't there before.

- Yeah.

- It's just means before my mindset

was to get laughs from people.

So I asked myself, what about him,

how can I give him theopportunity to laugh

and then four days later,this lady at one of my events,

came up to me, she said,

hey would you consider comingto the homeless shelter

where I work at to do comedy.

And I was like wow, no,

I'm like.- (laughs) No.

- No I never even thought of such a thing,

why would you do that.

So I actually went to thatshelter and did comedy

and then it was so powerful,

so what we decided to do,we added that to our tour.

So we would go to a city,we'd find a homeless shelter

or a prison, abuse children's facility,

and we would do comedy there,

before the big comedy show that night.

- [Efrem] Prisons, shelters,and children's homes

have been regular stops on Michaels tours

for about nine years.

Often sharing toughstories from those visits

on his larger comedy stages, even today.

- And then when it came timeto film my comedy special,

I was like, why don't I takemy camera crew, we go out,

we find the best threestories that we can,

and we put 'em in the middle of the jokes.

This isn't a Michael Jr thing,

this is about a family, thepeople you all never met before,

heard your story.

We decided to do a comedy show fundraiser,

so you all can have this.

- [Efrem] Michael's ideamade this movie, titled,

More Than Funny.

- We filmed in front of 4,000 people,

at Hope Community Church in Memphis,

but then suddenly, boom,

you're in the woods,helping homeless people,

and then boom, we'reright back to laughing.

- I'm John with Hands of Hope,

we're--

- Oh my god!

(mellow music)

- [Efrem] The movie is now a movement.

With a challenge from Michael Jr.

A comedian will use any resource,

any talent that he has,

to make an audiencethink in one direction.

When a punchline occurs, whenhe changes that direction,

and whether or not expecting,

and when they catch on to that change,

that's actually themreceiving the punchline

in result to revelation,fulfillment, and joy,

but it's expressed through laughter.

I feel like God is showing me

that life is very, very similar.

There's a setup, then there's a punchline.

Your setup is the factthat you're married,

you got a car, you got a house,

your setup is about what you've received.

But your punchline is aboutwhat you're called to deliver

and if you don't know your punchline,

and you just got all of this setup,

you'll think what you need tobe fulfilled is more setup.

If I could just get married,

if I could just make more money,

if I could just get more laughs,

but what you really need toknow is what is your punchline.

- [Efrem] In other words,

how can you make a positive impact?

And with punchliners.com,

Michael has created an online community

to help people find their own punchlines.

- When you catch on to this change,

you have received the punchline.

- [Efrem] It's a life changingconnection Michael seen

on stage and followingone show in particular.

- After the show, security says to me,

there's a guy who wants to talk to you

and he's really adamantabout talking to you.

Okay, so I go out to meet this guy.

And you can tell his eyes are puffy

'cause he's been liketearing up or something,

and then he says to me, hesays I gotta talk to you.

He said, the reason Icame to this comedy show

was 'cause my life is so heavy right now.

He said, I didn't know what to do

so I just came to this comedy show.

He said, but after listeningto what happened here

and what's going on,

he said, I'm a fugitive of the law

and I feel like I should turn myself in,

would you go with me to turn--

like I'm blown backlike what in the world,

I'm doing jokes andsharing a little bit of me,

and as a response this guy says,

I think I need to get mylife right, turn myself in.

Now the comedian in me is like,

was the comedy that bad?(laughs)

He said prison, what did I dowrong, you wanna go to prison,

instead of being here.- (laughs) To get out of here.

- But it was such a powerful moment,

and I realized, likelaughter, opens up hearts.

But if I'm gonna open up hearts,

I wanna make a depositthat's gonna make a change.

- [Efrem] Efrem Graham, CBN News.

- Michael Jr is one of my heroes.

He's really taking comedyto a whole other level

in finding purpose.

To find out where you can catch

one of Michael Jr's shows near you,

all you have to do is go to ourwebsite, cbnnews.com, Terry?

- Well up next, doctors have a grim report

for the sister of a woman

who's car was crushed under a semi.

(whoosh)

- They pretty much toldus she had, you know,

we had no hope, that she wasprobably not gonna make it.

There was no brain activity,

they kept her on life supportto harvest her organs.

- [Terry] See how thiswoman, on life support,

stepped into heaven and thenmade a miraculous recovery

back here on earth.

Plus we're gonna be prayingfor you and your requests,

so stay with us we'll be right back.

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

- Well doctors have givenup all hope for Valerie.

She was on life support,no brain activity,

but Valerie's sister refused to believe

the doctors report.

Instead she relied on ascripture for her sisters healing

and she also believed thatthe impossible was possible,

against all odds.

- In the dream I was driving in my car

and I came upon this accident scene

that had to do with semi-trucks.

And so when I startedwaking up out of the dream,

I was like, I could feel itwas a dream from the Lord

and I felt burdened.

And so I began to pray right away.

- [Robert] March of 2000,

two months after CherylSchuelke's dramatic dream.

Her sister Valerie Paters

was in a freeway pileup nearher home in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Valerie's car was crushed underthe weight of a semi-truck.

It took first responders several hours

to extract her from the vehicle.

A mutual friend was on the scene

and got word to Cheryl thatValerie was unconscious

and not expected to survive.

- We hung up the phoneand the minute we hung up,

I started praying.

I said, God, how do youwant me to pray for Valerie?

and He said, pray thatshe will live and not die

and declare the works of the Lord.

- [Robert] Those words,from Psalm 118 verse 17,

gave Cheryl hope as sheprayed for her sister's life.

- It stirred my faith to believe

that the impossible was possible.

Already, before I even saw her.

So when I did see her, Iwas not moved by what I saw

in the hospital, because Ididn't even recognize her.

But what moved me was the word of God.

- [Robert] A prayer chain quickly started

as word spread throughtheir church community.

But when Cheryl got to the hospital,

doctors gave her a grim report.

- They pretty much toldus she had, you know,

we had no hope, that she wasprobably not going to make it.

There was no brain activity.

They kept her on life supportto harvest her organs.

- [Robert] Cheryl would not give up.

She gathered friends andcontinued praying for Valerie

to wake from her coma.

- I want those that Ihave already prayed with,

who are one in spirit,

that will believe God's word

and we're going to go to war

and we're going to pray over Valerie.

And so we took a time one day,

I think it was on a Wednesday,

we went into the chapel andwe took over the chapel.

And the chapel became like a war room.

We went in there and we justbegan to speak life over her.

We prayed over her.

- [Robert] Their prayerscontinued for days,

but there were no visiblesigns of improvement.

Meanwhile, Valerie was experiencing

a very different reality, in Heaven.

- When I stepped into heaven,I mean, I hit the light.

And I was literally blinded by the light.

I'm blinded still today ofthe light of his presence.

I stood up, I turnedaround and there was Jesus.

And I don't know if I ranto him or he came to me.

I mean, all of a sudden we were there.

He just smiled at me andI felt all this emotion

that he had for me.

I finally felt like I was home.

It was like I steppedinto, finally I belong.

This is where I belong, I was home.

- [Robert] Valerie had been a Christian

for most of her life,

but says she never believedthat God really loved her.

- In my heart of hearts,

I did not believe thatI was worthy of his love

because I always feltlike I was never going

to measure up to what I thoughtthe Lord wanted from me.

So when I felt his emotion,

I felt how he felt about me,

and the things that Ithought about myself,

like my flaws or my issues,he never even noticed.

He just wants me, It wasn'tanything that I did for him,

It wasn't my performance, nothing.

It was, it was just me.

I wasn't just loved by him,but he was in love with me.

And I was his, that was it,I was done for. (laughs)

And I thought ah!

But then realizing this is howhe feels about his creation.

Those that he's created, whetherthey know him yet or not,

this is how he feels.

- [Robert] Valerie says she felt like

she was there for a thousand years

and experienced life and lovelike she never had on Earth.

Then Jesus told her she hadto go back, with a message.

- He said, you can stay if you want to,

and I said, well, if I canstay, I'm staying with you.

I'm gonna stay with you.

And he said, but your purpose isn't done.

And he said, I want you to tell them,

tell the people who I am, who I really am.

Because I thought hewas, you know, religious,

I thought he was mean, I thought he was...

I didn't think he was, you know, human.

And he's human.

He'll always be human, but he's God.

I didn't want to leavehim, I hated leaving.

But I had to come backand the next thing I knew,

I was making like mydescent back to the Earth.

- [Robert] At the hospital,days after the accident,

the medical team beganreacting to new signs of life.

- And the doctor's checking,he's flashing the light

in her eyes, and helooks at me and he said,

get ready, I think yoursister's coming back,

I see some brain activity.

I just began to rejoice,rejoice and I said,

Thank you Lord!

- [Robert] Valerie soon woke up

and experienced a miraculous recovery.

Two and a half months after the accident

she walked out of the hospital,

healed both physically and spiritually.

- I know who I really am.

And so when I had to deal with, you know,

coming back with the suffering,

my time with the Lord

is what carried me through my recovery.

- While Valerie was inHeaven getting a revelation

of the love of Jesus,

I was on Earth getting arevelation of the love of Jesus.

There's a love that I've, inexperiencing Jesus's love,

that I've never experiencedbefore as a Christian.

- [Robert] Cheryl and Valerie

look back on their experience,

amazed and thankful forthe answered prayers

and love they each receivedin their time of need.

- I was worth the price thathe paid, that blew me away.

We are worth the pricethat he paid for us.

- [Cheryl] It was the power of prayer

to see God bring forth a miracle.

Believe the word of the Lord.

Stand on his word.

Get a scripture and stand on that word.

And continue to pray, nomatter how bad it looks.

Even when the doctorsgive you the bad report,

believe in the report of theLord, which is a good report.

And stand in faithbelieving for your miracle,

and I know God will give them a miracle.

- Well that is a miraclestory for the ages.

Here you have the testimony ofthe sister who prayed through

and I know how hard it is to pray through

when the machines are going in that room

when you're on life support,how do you pray through?

But she prayed through,

she says this is the reportI'm going to believe.

And then from the sister being prayed for,

here she is in thepresence of God Almighty,

and finally understandinghe's not just an idea,

he's not just somethingthat is angry at you,

you're not good enough for him.

But his love and his lightand he has a personality

and you can get to know him.

What a wonderful testimonyof what Jesus is who he is,

what he does, how much he loves you,

and yes you are worth theprice that he paid for you.

We go life thinkingsomehow we're unworthy,

that we're unlovable.

But he comes to you and hesays you're worth everything.

If you were the only one to ever believe,

I still would come for you.

That's how much he loves you,

he leaves the 99 to go look for the one.

Is that you today?

Are you ready, finally, to meet him,

and understand the greatness of his power,

towards us who believe.

Where we don't consider thedeadness of our own bodies,

but we act strong infaith saying he is able,

he who has promised is able.

Now Terry and I are goingto pray for you right now.

Before we pray we want to encourage you

with some other miracles,

because you need to getit through your head,

what he's done for othershe will do for you,

he has infinite ways to perform miracles,

all he's looking foris that little belief,

that little mustard seed of faith to say,

God can do it, I'll pressthrough, God can do it.

Now here's Joyce, from New York,

she couldn't hear normally.

She had a frustrating poppingsound on a regular basis.

Then one day Joyce waswatching the 700 club

and here's what Terry said,

You have a condition in your ear,

you've had it for a long time,

you get this crinkling andpopping sound in there.

You are going to hear clearly.

Well Joyce was healed immediately.

And that's what God does, he heals.

- [Terry] Well this is David,

he lives in Vancouver, Washington.

For 15 years he dealtwith severe nerve pain.

It got so bad he actuallyhad to quit his job.

One day David was watching this program

and Gordon you said,

there are people with nerve conditions.

The nerves are irritated and it's painful,

God is healing that.

David claimed the word of knowledge

and he has been pain free since.

- Hallelujah.

Doctors will say these thingsare impossible to hear,

that if you have poppingsounds in your ear

they can't do anything for you.

That if you have nervedamage and nerve pain

they'll sell you the,there's nothing we can do,

we can't go in and heal that.

But with God, all things are possible.

So just hold that, he isthe God of the impossible.

Start thinking this thought,

how big is possible?

How big is that?

And let that thought encourage you to say,

all right I'll come to Jesus,

I'll come to him right now.

And I'll ask for my need,

knowing that he loves me, he cares for me,

he died for me, and hewill provide for me.

Let's pray.

Lord we lift the needsof the audience to you

and as faith is arising to you,

we just claim that word over everyone

in the audience that the eyes of the Lord

go to and fro over the whole Earth,

to show himself strong to thosewho hearts are loyal to him.

So Lord God turn our hearts to you,

let us receive your love,

open the eyes of our understanding,

open our ears, open oureyes that we may see,

the greatness of your power.

Open our ears that we mayhear your words of comfort

and encouragement and healing.

Lord God stretch forthyour hand to heal now

what doctors say is impossible,

is always possible with you.

We're never too deadfor your resurrection,

so Lord God do miracles today,

for we ask it in Jesus name.

There's someone, you've got a infection

in the lining of your brain,there's just this like,

it's causing multiple problemsand there's just severe fever

and God has just healedyou from all of that.

He's taken it all away,

you're feeling that comedown on your head right now,

that's the anointing, thepower of God moving in,

he's able to do it now,in Jesus name, Terry?

- There's someone else, you're pregnant,

and you have an issue with your placenta

that is of concern foryour baby and for you,

God's healing that for you right now,

your baby is going to beborn perfectly healthy

and you're going to have a fine pregnancy.

And someone else, you have aproblem with your shoulder,

you've had like a serious surgery on it,

actually it's like shredded,

like the muscle there is shredded

and it's had to be stitched back together

and you can't imagineyou'd ever feel normal

because it's just not there to work with.

But God is miraculouslyreplacing that and healing you.

Just be to move your shoulder around

and turn your head back and forth

the pain is going tobe gone in Jesus name.

- Someone you've had a procedure

where there was a punctureinto your spinal cord,

and it didn't heal properly andyou're leaking spinal fluid,

God is able, he's able to heal that,

he's able to restore that,

he's able to heal the underlined condition

which started the procedurein the first place.

You are healed now just dowhat you couldn't do before

begin to move that spine,

just receive it into your body right now,

don't let any doubt orconfusion, is this for me,

come in the way, it's for you,

and receive it right now in Jesus name.

- Someone else hasneuropathy in your feet,

so painful, just like pinsgoing in your feet all the time,

right now in Jesus name be healed.

- Now we just pray for theunderlined circulation problem,

we pray for the underlinedsugar imbalance problem

in Jesus name, be healedfrom the source of that,

and be every bit whole,

just get up and startwalking around on those feet

and realize all of thatpain has just left you now,

in Jesus name.

Lord we just thank you,

we thank you for your sacrifice,

we thank you for who you are,

for you are the same,

yesterday, today, and forever.

When we receive you, we receivethe answer to all our needs.

Now be with us now, for weask it in Jesus name, Amen.

And amen if you have been touched by God,

share your good report.

Let us know how God has touched you.

Call us 1-800-700-7000

and I just remind youthat we're here for you

and the reason we're here for you

and you'll have a 24-hour prayer line,

is that problems don'tjust happen nine to five

and if you need prayerany hour of the day,

it's our honor, ourprivilege to pray with you,

all you have to do is callus, 1-800-700-7000, Terry?

- Well, still ahead, a babywho was constantly hungry

but couldn't eat.

And before long he was half the size

of other children his age.

See how partners just likeyou, rescued his life,

when we come back.

(energetic music)

(dramatic music)

In China, a babydesperately needed surgery

but it would have taken his widowed father

10 years to save enoughmoney for the operation,

and by then it might be too late.

- [Zsa Zsa] Mrs. Dong died

two days after her son was born.

- The last thing she said was,

I'm not going to getto see our boy grow up.

I was devastated and wanted to give up.

But everyone I knew said,come on, your son needs you.

- [Zsa Zsa] So Mr Dong did his best

but it was hard because YuPing

was born with a cleft lip and palate.

- He was constantly hungry,but he could barely eat,

so he was weak and thin.

- [Zsa Zsa] YuPing was only half the size

of other children his age.

He cried all the time andwas often sick with fevers.

Once, it was so bad thathe went into a coma.

- I was worried that Iwas going to lose him

just like I lost my wife.

I really wished she was by my side

so we could go through this together.

I felt useless as a dad.

A lot of people said myson's mouth was so bad

that it wouldn't be possible to fix it.

But I knew that my wife wouldhave made cleft lip surgery

a top priority so I honored that.

- [Zsa Zsa] As a shoe repairman,

it would take him over ten years

to earn enough money for surgery.

But he was willing to do it.

Mrs Dong had been a Christian

and had encouraged him to trust God too.

But Mr Dong didn't believe.

- I thought, If there's aGod, why is this happening?

How is my son ever goingto make it in the future?

- [Zsa Zsa] He was sodesperate that he prayed anyway

and was surprised when heheard about an organization

that did free cleft lip surgeries.

Shortly after applying for help,

he received a call from CBN.

- For the first time,

I felt like somehow Godhad heard my prayer.

- [Zsa Zsa] The freesurgery we provided YuPing

put a smile on his face

that his father had never seen before.

Now he's healthy and looksmore like his mother than ever.

- My son is cured, Ithas changed our lives.

I feel like CBN is an angel of God.

Now, I believe in Jesus, he saved my son!

- Wouldn't you like toknow that God could use you

to be the answer tosomeones desperate prayer?

That's what happened forthis man and for his son,

and it happens for 700club members everyday.

Because when you join the 700 club,

you are speaking right intothe middle of peoples need.

They're praying to God

and God sends you to make a difference

at that place and time in their lives.

You can do that by joiningthe 700 club today,

it's $.65 cents a day,$20 dollars a month,

if you haven't joined yet,

what a wonderful time of theyear during this holiday season

when we express our gratitude to God,

so much for what he's done.

He invites us to be apart of what he continues

to do around the world.

And so we wanna ask you tojoin with us in that endeavor,

our number is toll-free 1-800-700-7000,

just call and say Iwanna join the 700 Club.

Oh and here's a way

that you can make yourgift go even further.

If you do it using pledge express,

that's the electronic monthly giving,

it means your bank does all the work,

I think it's pretty wonderful,

no stamps, no envelopes, no remembering,

it's all done for you.

But it does save us someadministrative costs

so we can put even more of your gift

right into the lives of people,

like this little family you just saw.

So when you do that,

when you use pledge express when you call,

we wanna send you Powerfor Life teachings.

You're gonna get one of these every month,

I think they'll be agreat blessing to you,

but more importantly, you'llknow that you are being

a big blessing to someone else.

So here's that numberagain 1-800-700-7000,

just call and say Iwanna join the 700 Club

and I'd like to do itusing pledge express,

we say thank you, Gordon?

- Well up next a young mom loses custody

of her five children.

- I wanted to die.

I hated who I was, Ihated what I had done,

I felt like everything thatI loved was just taken.

- [Gordon] Hear how she restored her life,

when we come back.

(energetic music)

(upbeat music)

- Kayla Diaz spent herchildhood wanting a family.

But when she finallyhad children of her own,

she spent her timechasing her next drug fix.

Soon that addiction cost her everything

and Kayla was left tryingto pick up the pieces.

- [Ed] Growing up onCalifornia's central coast,

Kayla Diaz longed for a family.

- My childhood was pretty lonely.

My dad got murdered when I was one

and so I always grew up missing him

and wanting him and I hada pretty hard childhood.

- [Ed] As a single parenther mom struggled to cope.

- She tried to be thereas much as she could

but drugs had a hold on herand alcohol had a hold on her

and relationships withmen had a hold on her

so she was never really fully there.

What I was afraid of as a child

is that my mom would gettaken from me how my dad did.

I was afraid of being alone.

- [Ed] Kayla found somesecurity and acceptance

with her peers but they weren'tthe best influence on her.

By 6th grade she was using marijuana

and getting drunk on a regular basis.

- Drinking and smokingmarijuana led to me fighting,

led to me not caring aboutschool, ditching school.

It led to me having angertowards other people.

- [Ed] After one particularfight in 8th grade,

she was ordered to angermanagement counseling.

- I remember telling my counselor

that I wanted to have a baby.

And she asked me why.

And I said that, because Iwant to be able to love someone

and have them love me,

and nothing could ever take that away.

So I was already in mymind trying to build

the family that I always wanted.

- [Ed] So at 14, Kayla got pregnant

but it didn't turn out like she planned.

She moved in with her boyfriend,

who became physicallyand emotionally abusive

toward her and her child.

Kayla saw no way out.

- I had tried to leave a fewtimes and he wouldn't let me.

He told me he would kill me if I left.

He would just put so much fear in me

and I feared that I wouldn't be able,

even though it was suchan unhealthy relationship,

I felt like I wouldn't be able to make it

if I wasn't in that relationship.

- [Ed] Since he was also a meth addict,

Kayla hoped she could stop the abuse

by using drugs with him.

- Once I started usingthem, especially meth,

it took everything I had.

It took all of my self-respect,

I stopped caring about myself completely

when I started using meth.

That's when I felt thatI deserved to get hit,

like I felt like I was doing wrong,

so I deserved wrongthings to happen to me.

- [Ed] The next fewyears were a chaotic blur

of drugs and abuse.

By the time she was 23,Kayla and her boyfriend,

had five children together.

But she was too busy trying to get high

to take care of them.

- I didn't care aboutany kind of family then.

I stopped even caring fully about my kids

and what they were thinking or feeling.

And I just turned to usingdrugs and drinking alcohol

to fill any kind of void that I felt.

- [Ed] Kayla was 25 when the drug use

and neglect caught up with her

and she lost custody ofall five of her children.

- I wanted to die, Ididn't, I hated who I was,

I hated what I had done.

I felt like everything thatI loved was just taken.

- [Ed] With her dreamsof a family shattered,

Kayla left her boyfriend.

She still hoped to change

but couldn't break free from drugs.

After two years offailing to quit her habit,

a friend suggested she try aChristian-based rehab program.

It was there she startedlearning about Jesus.

After a couple months, avisiting pastor came to speak.

Kayla finally put it all together.

- And I don't rememberexactly what he was telling us

about Jesus that day,

or I don't remember evenreally why I wanted to,

but I knew that I wanted to accept him

'cause Jesus was good and hewould help me and he was love

and so I accepted Jesusinto my heart that day.

And then that's when I felt loved

and felt like I was justaccepted and cared about

and that's when I began my journey

to really understand what God can do.

- [Ed] Kayla continued her treatment

at another programwhere she found healing,

and freedom, through Jesus Christ.

- It was there that hejust cleaned my heart off

and put forgiveness in my heart

and put love in my heart.

And like the firstprogram I accepted Jesus

and I fell in love with Jesus.

And then the second programI got delivered and healed

and set free and cleaned off

and just became evenmore in love with Jesus.

- [Ed] Kayla has been free

from all addictions ever since.

She was also awarded visitationrights with her kids,

who had all been adoptedinto loving homes.

- When I'm with my kids now,

I'm teaching them about God,

and I'm just encouraging themwith the love that God gave me

and now the time that Iget to spend with them

I can truly be the woman of God,

the mom of God that hewanted in their lives

from the beginning.

- [Ed] Today Kayla's married

and says God has truly restored her.

- He's provided for me every single thing,

the husband who came intomy life, he's provided.

My mom being clean andsober, he's provided.

Peace in my heart, he's provided.

He provides it all.

I no longer am searching

or trying to makesomething happen on my own,

I'm just trusting him that he'll give me

every single thing that I need.

- Jesus said he came toset the captive free.

Maybe that's you today.

You know, when you watch Kayla's story,

aren't you thankful thatGod does give us a redo,

we get to start over with him.

We get to have a fresh beginning.

I love when she saidthe second programming

just wiped my heart.

You know we need heart surgerywhen we come to Christ.

We're wounded, sometimes by the world,

but lots of time by ourown hand, aren't we?

You know we start being hurt by things

and then we start making foolish choices

and we're lost, we'relike a boat untethered

it's just out there in the ocean,

at the whim of the wavesand the wind and the storms.

And yet, in the middle ofthat craziness comes Jesus.

And he comes in different ways you know,

sometimes it's a friend telling you

about a program you can attend.

Sometimes it's somebodyinviting you to church,

sometimes it happens right there

in the quiet of yourown home, your own car.

God is always coming after us.

He is unrelenting inhis desire to know us,

to forgive us, to set us free.

We're his kids and despiteall that we've done

to mess our lives up he lovesus too much to let us go.

When the Bible says he leavesthe 99 to go after the one?

That means you, if you're lost today,

that means Jesus is out to find you,

to let you know who he is, to redeem you,

to give you a start over, a new beginning.

We all have within us a desire to belong,

you know it's just created in us,

we're suppose to belong tohim but even in this world,

in Kayla's life she wascreated to be part of a family,

to be safe, to be secured, to be loved,

to help her understand who she was

and what God's love for her was.

When we're alone the Bible says

God puts the lonely in families,

he wants us to belongbut first of all to him.

Today if you are desperate,

today if you have lost your way,

and you've made so many foolish mistakes

that you feel like youcan't even come to him,

you're ashamed and embarrassed.

Stop, he's come to you, he'sright there with you now

and he's saying, will youopen your heart to me,

will you give me your mess

so I can make somethingthat matters out of it,

will you let me heal the things

in you that have been wounded and hurt,

I've come to set you freeso what's your answer?

It's as simple as a prayer,pray with me right now.

Jesus I am sick and tiredof being sick and tired,

I'm fed up with myself andthe way I've maneuvered things

and misused things.

I don't have anything leftthat I see as worthwhile

but I'm giving you all of me.

Come into my heart today, teachme more about who you are,

set me free from the choicesI've made, heal me God.

I'm asking you to give me eternal life

and a new beginning withyou, in Jesus name I pray.

If you've just prayed that prayer,

call and ask us for this packet,

it's all about how you growin your relationship with him.

Our numbers toll-free it's 1-800-700-7000.

Thank you for watching today.

We wanna leave you witha word from the Lord,

Matthew 21, and all things,

whatever you ask in prayer,believing, you will receive.

God bless you.