The Sunday, October 5 episode of the popular ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition featured the Akers family of West Chester, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. The family was selected to receive a new home, in part because the family’s two daughters, Brooke and Faith, suffer from spinal muscular atrophy. Also, their dad, Greg, and brother, Christian, have Crohn’s disease.
Heather Gims is with Standard Publishing, which is headquartered in Cincinnati. She says the Christian publishing firm wanted to help out.
“When we found out that they were going to be able to be a part of that, Standard Publishing was very encouraged by that story and wanted to get involved,” Gims explains. “So we donated a library of books to the family, which were placed in the home during the build and during the reveal part of the show. [And] we also donated books to all of the volunteers who were there helping out.”
Gims shares that among the greatest parts of the program are that the family made no secret of their Christian faith and that they give glory to God for all that was provided for them.
“As a matter of fact, at the press conference that they held after the family returned…they were interviewing [the Akers] about what they were feeling, …how overwhelmed they are with, not only this new home, but how the community gathered around them and…blessed them with a lot of gifts,” says the publishing company spokeswoman.
“…[A]nd they asked this family, how do you feel about this? And the first thing that the father said is, ‘We give praise and glory to God for all of this, and how He has blessed us through this experience’ — and [he shared] how he prayed that he could use this blessing to glorify Him and to bring others to Him….”
And while the spirit of service emerged from the community, notes Gims, “seeing where this family places their values [was] a very excellent testimony.”
According to Gims, an organization in the Cincinnati area even donated funds to pay for the children’s college expenses. “So there’s a lot of needs that are being met for their family that are astronomical,” she adds.
(Source: OneNewsNow.com)