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Stories & Blog
Waking Up From a Nightmare
ITALY — Suzanne’s downward spiral started the day she fled her dysfunctional family to get married at age 18. What she thought would improve her life only made it worse as her nightmares became reality. Abuse, betrayal, poverty … now she faced them all without any support.
Eventually Suzanne and her husband moved back to her hometown to start over. This time will be different, she thought.
But it wasn’t. The violent threats and physical abuse only escalated now that children had entered the picture. Darkness surrounded Suzanne, and she began to fear for her life.
That’s when she met Crossworld worker Dan and began regular counseling sessions with him. Suzanne shared about her life, and Dan shared about God’s love and power to redeem. On days Suzanne didn’t show up for their appointments, Dan fervently prayed for her … even while questioning whether things would ever change.
One day Dan’s phone rang.
“I’m about to go into emergency surgery,” Suzanne said, breathless and frantic. “Will you pray for me?”
“Of course,” Dan said, trying to collect his racing thoughts while he prayed aloud over the phone.
For the next few months, Dan waited, hearing nothing from Suzanne. Then a phone call came.
“My health is ok, but there’s something else,” Suzanne said in a way that added mystery to her new lively tone. “I trusted in Jesus!”
Dan sat speechless.
“Every time you told me of God’s love, my heart raced,” Suzanne continued. “But I couldn’t trust myself or anyone around me because I had been betrayed by too many people too many times. I refused God’s salvation and wanted to get away from Him. But I finally surrendered as I was going into surgery and asked Him to save me from my sins. Had I died without asking for God’s salvation, I wouldn’t have been with Him forever. Now I’m full of joy!”
Not long after that phone call, Suzanne was baptized … along with her father and daughter. Many friends and relatives came to hear Suzanne’s story and witness three generations proclaim that Jesus does, indeed, transform lives.
Eventually Suzanne and her husband moved back to her hometown to start over. This time will be different, she thought.
But it wasn’t. The violent threats and physical abuse only escalated now that children had entered the picture. Darkness surrounded Suzanne, and she began to fear for her life.
That’s when she met Crossworld worker Dan and began regular counseling sessions with him. Suzanne shared about her life, and Dan shared about God’s love and power to redeem. On days Suzanne didn’t show up for their appointments, Dan fervently prayed for her … even while questioning whether things would ever change.
One day Dan’s phone rang.
“I’m about to go into emergency surgery,” Suzanne said, breathless and frantic. “Will you pray for me?”
“Of course,” Dan said, trying to collect his racing thoughts while he prayed aloud over the phone.
For the next few months, Dan waited, hearing nothing from Suzanne. Then a phone call came.
“My health is ok, but there’s something else,” Suzanne said in a way that added mystery to her new lively tone. “I trusted in Jesus!”
Dan sat speechless.
“Every time you told me of God’s love, my heart raced,” Suzanne continued. “But I couldn’t trust myself or anyone around me because I had been betrayed by too many people too many times. I refused God’s salvation and wanted to get away from Him. But I finally surrendered as I was going into surgery and asked Him to save me from my sins. Had I died without asking for God’s salvation, I wouldn’t have been with Him forever. Now I’m full of joy!”
Not long after that phone call, Suzanne was baptized … along with her father and daughter. Many friends and relatives came to hear Suzanne’s story and witness three generations proclaim that Jesus does, indeed, transform lives.
Your part in this story...
Crossworld worker Dan asks you to pray for these requests.
- Pray for continued security and wisdom for Suzanne and her children.
- Pray for the many others like Suzanne that I counsel and disciple. Pray they will grow in their relationship with God and put their faith in Christ.
- Pray for the national church my family is involved in. We have been focusing on discipleship relationships, and God has brought more than 20 new believers into our fellowship just this year.
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