“[True vocation] is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” (Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking)
One of our unique roles is to tell stories of ordinary people discovering the special place where their deep gladness meets the deep hunger of the world around them. They don’t often get highlighted in our mainstream media, and when they do, they subtly get placed on a pedestal that prevents the rest of us from believing we could try to write and live similar stories with our own lives.
We believe the following examples of “ordinary” people living extraordinary stories demonstrate an important reality—anyone who has a passion to help meet a need and to write themselves into the stories of others can do likewise. If you know of similar stories that need telling, please let us know. In the meantime, please take a few minutes to “listen” as we share the stories of:
- The Heldts — “Open arms, open hearts” (June 30, 2011) — Enjoy some special edited excerpts from the blog of our good friend Brianna Heldt. She has a great way of helping you feel what she feels as she relates the latest chapters of her family’s journey into adoption. Brianna and her husband, Kevin, have five children and are in the process of adopting two girls with Down syndrome from Ethiopia.
- Carina Martin — “Filling the gap” (May 20, 2011) — In just two years, Carina Martin has seen her non-profit A Precious Child go from start-up to integral part of her community’s social safety net. “People come [to A Precious Child’s warehouse] for more than just clothing,” Carina says. “They come here to know that someone cares about them. We listen to them and let them know that we’re here for them no matter what.”
- Emily Malloure — “When God gives you” (April 21, 2011) — Emily tells the compelling story of her recent spring break trip to South Asia with a group of nursing students from Regis University.
- John Buechner — “$12,000 and a horse” (March 23, 2011) — Many of the stories we’ve told so far on our website are about people who are in quite far down the road of living out their calling of service. John’s story is a little different in that he has a dream — of building Colorado’s first aftercare safe home for girls who have survived sex trafficking — but he’s in the early stages of garnering support to make that dream a reality. Maybe you have the expertise or resources to help it happen!
- Claude & Kelley Nikondeha — “‘Amahoro’ means more than peace” (February 3, 2011) — Claude Nikondeha grew up in the middle of a civil war in his native Burundi. Now he and his wife, Kelley, help bring “Amahoro” to Africa by facilitating a network of emerging grassroots leaders who are serving their communities in extraordinary ways.
- Andy & Jody Landers — “The Landers’ Song” (January 31, 2011) — When their fourth son needed major surgery soon after he was born, the Landers’ perspective on the world changed. Soon their lives changed with it. They’re some of the most remarkable people we know. Despite, and perhaps because of, the brokenness in their own family, they continue to learn how to embrace brokenness in the world. Their story is definitely worth hearing, and we mean that literally. (Hint: Click on the highlighted subheads in the story itself.)
- Shawn & Christine Jones — “He said, She said — Adoption Style” (January 25, 2011) — Shawn and Christine used to joke about adopting kids. That was before they brought home two kids with medical needs, one from Liberia and one from Ethiopia. Enjoy their fun and down-to-earth banter, presented like a transcript from a reality TV dating show.
- Bryan Decker — “The Daily Bread Man” (Nov. 30, 2010) — Bryan and his wife, Marilyn, first got involved in feeding needy families through their church’s local food pantry. When the church decided to discontinue its relationship with the pantry, the Deckers kept up the work on a completely volunteer basis, and through a new partnership they have expanded their efforts. They organize a host of volunteers from their community, maintain a fleet of trucks and equipment and give out a million pounds of food each year.
- Jose Escobar — “From the Cockpit to the Courtroom” (Nov. 15, 2010) — Jose went back to school to become a lawyer and got hooked on helping people. He went through law school while working full-time as an airline pilot and trainer, and is now the associate director of the Justice And Mercy Legal Aid Clinic (JAMLAC), which provides low-income clients with legal representation.
- Barb Murphy — “A Wink and a Prayer” (November 2, 2010) — A school bus driver by day, Barb started a non-profit helping survivors of sexual trafficking, slavery and abuse, after she learned there are only 49 beds in safe houses in the entire United States for freed victims of sex trafficking. Buckle your seat belts because Barb is working to help re-write that story.
- The Conahans — “The Healing Eyes Family” (Sept. 28, 2010) — Jim Conahan, a board-certified ophthalmologist, had been going on short-term medical mission trips to Mexico for years, but in 2007, his family’s concern for the people of one particular town in Mexico took on a life of its own.
- Joe & Mame Starke — “The ‘Next Right Thing’ in Niger” (July 5, 2010) — After 25 years of marriage and six children, Joe and Mame decided to leave Joe’s thriving surgical practice in Columbia, Mo., to learn French and serve a five-year term at a mission hospital in Galmi, Niger, in Western Africa. Why? Because they wanted to, in their own words, “do the next right thing.”
- Dave Rierson — “MacGyver H2O” (Sept. 29, 2010) — Dave makes his living as an airline pilot, but the best way to describe him might be “a real-life MacGyver.” He’s good with his hands, gets things done and loves a challenge, which, with his passion for helping provide access to clean water and sanitation for people in The Gambia, West Africa, among other places, puts even MacGyver to shame.
- Leah Pauline — “Ugandan Sunshine” (June 1, 2010) — Leah was a college student when she visited Uganda during the summer of 2008, and along with her sister and a friend (also college students), helped start an orphanage for neglected Ugandan children. They had little to no experience with Ugandan red tape, administration, educating, fund-raising, or management, but they had a passion for those kids, and that passion continues to fuel the remarkable story of the Musana Children’s Home.
