Faith News Network

Lori and Bryan Schumaker were sure they were in God’s will. They knew the little orphan girl in Bulgaria was the one God had created to be theirs—but His plan and His timing did not match theirs. Despite several affirmations and nudges that seemed to be from the Holy Spirit, so many obstacles came between them and their little one that the adoption they were longing for at times seemed hopeless. In fact, at one point they were told another family had adopted the child.

The Bible reveals very little about Jesus’s young life. Between his infancy and the start of his ministry, we only see him once–as a twelve-year-old in Jerusalem.

Why do we have so much dysfunction and brokenness within our families and communities? Rene Howitt, founder of COPE24, believes the way to break the cycle of dysfunction for the sake of future generations is through education and prevention. If 64 percent of children grow up in homes facing at least one long-term childhood adversity, then it’s likely the remaining 36 percent of children from healthy families will marry into dysfunction.* And many of these dysfunctional family members are associated with a church or faith-based community.

A recently released book titled “Giving Hope An Address” chronicles the lives of David and Don Wilkerson in the establishment of the worldwide rehabilitation ministry of Teen Challenge. Julie Wilkerson Klose, the niece of David Wilkerson and daughter of Don Wilkerson, takes readers behind the scenes in the lives of these two brothers and tells a powerful story of the power of prayer and the burden to reach those lost in addiction.

Most of us have heard the phrase, “God has big plans for you.” It’s nice to think about, but we often find it easier to believe God has big plans for other people, not us. Ministry leader and television personality, Danette Crawford, says this is the result of limited thinking.

Christ for All Nations (CfaN) is thrilled to release, Into the Unknown, a new book by Executive Vice President, Peter Vandenberg.