Let's face it...everybody has a story.
How can we know God is real?
Is He working in our lives today?
We love being used by God to change lives. And there's nothing more exciting than hearing a story of someone who's life has changed as a result. Check out the stories below written by people just like you! For some, their story is about what led them to accept Jesus. For others, it is how God is working through them to impact others. Still for others, it is the life changes they've experienced since they began following Christ.
So what's your story? Here's your opportunity to share how you have encountered God in your life. Just click on "Share MyStory", and follow the easy instructions.
Debbie E. - Crown Point
I grew up going to church. We looked like the perfect family, but nobody knew the abuse I went through. All my life, I knew there was something different about me, but I didn't know what. So, in 1991, I started into therapy to help me figure things out. Six months into therapy, I was diagnosed with MPD- Multiple Personality Disorder. The MPD had developed when I was three years old.
In 1982, I started praying for healing, before I was diagnosed. The church I was going to at that time, became abusive to me because of my problems. They rejected me, so I felt God had rejected me, too. I quit going to church. I didn't feel it was a safe place anymore.
In 1998, God started the process of healing me, by beginning to integrate my personalities. In June 2008, I knew I needed to be in a church, in order for the final integrations to take place, so God led me to Suncrest. On July 21, 2008, after having had MPD for 48 years, God healed me. And now, He is helping me heal more through the readjustment period of getting used to life without it. In the fall of 2008, I started going to Celebrate Recovery. The people are awesome, accepting, and very healing to me. My blog for more on my testimony.
Brian Ferber- Crown Point
My story is the one of the prodigal son... I knew the teachings of the Bible as a young man but turned from them and argued against the truth it told, to the point that I didn't believe that there even was a God. I was living day to day, disliking my work, my wife, my lot in life. I was drinking too much and looking for satisfaction in an unsatisfying world. Luckily for me I had a caring friend that would always listen to my dismal outlook on life. He just happened to be a deeply religious man, who was up to the challenge and helped me to realize what my true problem was. The past few months I have been deeply humbled. I accepted Jesus as my savior in August of this year. How wonderful it is to have a gracious and loving savior to pray to.
In the beginning things were very difficult, but as time has passed, my marriage and relationship with my children have become more wonderful than ever before. My outlook on life has done a complete turn around on what is important. I owe it all to my wonderful savior, Jesus Christ. I wanted to get baptized very soon after making my profession of faith, but my wife, Betsy, and I didn't like the church we were attending...it just didn't feel right to us. We received an invitation to Suncrest and decided to check it out, we are so glad we did. What a blessing Pastor Greg is. I've gotten to know him through his small group and he is a true inspiration to Betsy and me. He baptized me on October 19th with my family and friends in attendance. What a wonderful day it was!
Ann Budack - Crown Point
For a short time as a child , I was “made” to go to church. I don’t remember any of the lessons or teachings, I only remember I really disliked going and I was the only person in my family made to go. When I was about 13, I started attending a church with my best friend. She babysat for the pastor and he invited us to attend. It was a small church and the pastor and youth leader reached out to us and I eventually was saved and baptized by them.
My first experience with Christ was on the day I was saved. I remember being very moved by the sermon from the pastor and feeling overcome with emotions. Once I accepted Christ in my life, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off of me and I had a new life.
I started coming to Suncrest in 2007 with my family. For the past 17 years, I had quit going to church and made a lot of bad decisions. My life was about me and what I wanted. From the first time we attended here, I have felt the need to change my life. As I have changed, I see the grace, joy and beauty that I had been missing. From the teachings from the pastors to the women in Morning Grace, I credit Suncrest for this rebirth.
To me Jesus means I have another chance. I stumble in life daily but I know because of Him I will be forgiven.
Karen Sigman - Merrillville
Have you ever sat on a fence and looked out at the horizon? Sometimes I can see myself sitting on a fence and looking out at a bustling city with people walking and cars moving down the streets. But I'm frozen to the fence unable to join the people. I'm watching the world go by. It's called Isolation or a better word is DEPRESSION. I have fought this illness since 1982.
But, God has allowed me to keep going and he is teaching me that I can serve others despite my infirmity. I use Paul as my example.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 states:To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I have found that I can serve God no matter what the circumstances and I would encourage all of you reading this to allow God to use your infirmities. I have led groups in Morning Grace and received such a blessing from getting to know ladies in our church. We've prayed for healing, hurts and we must not forget praises. I am currently leading a Community Group on Wednesday nights and we have become family. We really care for each other. We pray for each other’s needs, we thank God for each other’s praises and for spiritual victories. We are a Community Group!
We don't know what we can do in our lives until we let go and let God.
Cece McAgy - St. John
From the start Suncrest has been a good fit. I like being "USED BY GOD TO CHANGE LIVES." While I do serve at Suncrest frequently, my heart also has a passion elsewhere. A few years ago I was introduced to Kairos International, a prison ministry serving inside and outside of prisons throughout the world. Kairos Outside is one branch of this ministry with which I have become directly involved here in northwest
In the past few years, I have had the privilege of watching women walk thru the door on a Friday evening timid, angry, sad, or full of hopelessness. By Sunday afternoon anger has fallen to the wayside; forgiveness has been given, received, and hope and joy restored. The transformation is awesome and is all God's amazing work. To be God's hands and feet thru this process is a treasured gift. To have women who were strangers to me a few days earlier turn to me with tears in their eyes and say "I can finally breathe again", "my heart is no longer hurting", "Thank you for restoring my hope" is merely icing on the cake.
Dick & Judy Downs - Dyer
After reading Greg’s story about being in a fast food restaurant, listening to an irate customer… and then sharing that he hoped that the complainer wasn’t a member of Suncrest – I thought I should tell my story.
I have tried to be a good follower of Christ for many years, and while camping in
It’s exciting to see how God arranges things in life. Whether God placed us in that mom’s life or the mom in our life… it is great serving God at home, in restaurants or camping. We didn’t have an opportunity to say we were from Suncrest or that Christ had sent us to help, but just being able to serve God – at any time or any place – makes being a Christian, super fun.
Rachel Barbee - Merrillville
I have a history of depression; I have been abused, hurt and rejected. For most of my life I was under the assumption that I was worthless and unlovable. I grew up in church but I never grasped what God really had in mind for my life.
I love the Jeremiah 29:11… it confirms what I need to hear, that there is a plan for my life. Before coming to Suncrest, I had decided that suicide was the only solution. I didn’t have a plan but I knew I was officially doing it for sure this time. Then I met Greg Lee.
Greg has helped me a lot through my depression and recovery, and without knowing it at the time he literally saved my life. I have grown so much at Suncrest through allowing myself to get involved, not just through activities but also with people. I allowed myself to be known and risked the rejection that I thought was inevitable.
Through the years I have become a different person, a much more confident person. I have learned that I have a lot to share with others and a gift of understanding and listening. I have a great love for people, and I want to be able to help others to grow the way others have helped me. I was involved in Celebrate Recovery last year and continue this year as an emerging leader. I am excited to see how God can use me and others through this program.
I will be going back to college to finish my psychology degree and plan on continuing to help people and to be used by God to change lives.
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Greg Lee - Crown Point
Three cool experiences merged into one tonight.
First, after soccer practice, Jack and I decided to meet Jenny and Abby for dinner at Culver’s in Merrillville. We all love Culver’s and I love just spending the time out of the house together as a family.
Second, when we walked into Culver’s we learned there was a benefit going on for Matt Wesley. Matt was seriously injured last fall playing football for Lake Central. Though I don’t personally know the family, we got to meet them tonight and I told them just how much our church had been praying for them. Matt said he had received some neat things in the mail from our children’s ministry. I’ve had second hand connections to this point — some of my good friends at Suncrest, including my admin assistant, worked with Matt’s mom at St. Anthony’s. It was really cool to meet them.
Third, we got to see Fred Terpstra. Fred is a Suncrest attender and he owns the Culver’s (along with his son-in-law). Both my dad and Fred’s dad are fighting serious health issues and we talked about that for a while. Fred even bought our dinner for us (I seriously still have a hard time letting people do that, even though I know it is their expression of gratitude/generosity).
But here is the best part of the night for me…I see a Christ-follower from our church (Fred) just doing what any Christ-follower should do…letting God use him to help others. Anyone could host a benefit for Matt Wesley, but Fred did! His heart is so big.
I think church leaders get this one wrong all the time. We spend so much time recruiting and getting people to serve God and people in the church, when the best thing they could do is serve God and people wherever it is they find themselves. Way to go, Fred!
Kay Roberts - Cedar Lake
The story I have to share is actually multifaceted in that through one act of service, we have grown both individually and as a group.
One of the ladies in our group called me in response to an article she read in the Times about a family in need. Two days after the group discussed how to proceed, we received a Suncrest email about reaching out into the community - specifically, people who are far from God - along with some examples.
As the story unfolded, I was overwhelmed by the fact that God was using us in ways we had trouble grasping. We found ourselves reaching out to a family in a nursing home in
The one lady in my group continues to call and minister to the woman. Another couple attended a fund-raiser the family. And so the story continues, all because one woman was obedient to God's call in spite of her fear to step out of her comfort zone.
God is amazing and I consider it pure joy to be serving Him!
Sarah P. - Crown Point
I have been attending church on and off for many years. I had always walked away feeling less than, unworthy, useless and judged by the other "Christians" that attended these churches. Still the Lord came to me in my emptiness and need and said "Keep searching for Me and you will find what you are looking for." After a half-hearted 3 year membership at another local church, I was still not sharing in the fellowship and had no feeling of belonging to Christ’s family. I was invited to attend Morning Grace by Chrissy Book.
In the spring of 2006 I attended my first session of Morning Grace and I loved the studies and the fellowship of the other women. This is first time in my life that I felt a Christ connection to other women in a church setting. The childcare was a blessing because this was the only time that I had away from my 2 & 4 yr. old children during the week. Two years later I have become more active in the church and I am an emerging leader for the Celebrate Recovery Ministry on monday nights at 7:00. I love the support, understanding, heavenly blessings and faith that the Lord has given to me through the people, ministries and many opportunities for fellowship at Suncrest. Everyday my prayers begin with praises to the Lord for sending me the blessing of a home church that gets me and knows what I need to succeed and to be the person that GOD wants me to be.
Barb Meier - St. John
There was a woman who came to our group where everything spiritual was new to her. She had no Bible, so I gave her one. She even asked where the Old Testament was.
She would do the lesson and get so excited about it. It was so neat to watch what God did in giving her a love for His word. Even if nobody else received anything from the study, it was worth everything to see her discover truths from God's word. She loved it when we would take prayer requests and then the following prayer time.
I'm thankful that I was able to be in a group with her.
Amanda Huber - Lowell
As a child, my family went to church often but I never "got it". As adults, my husband, Jeremy, and I did not attend church and were not even married in a church. But one day, Jeremy came home and told me about this church that he was working on (during the ANNEX addition) and thought we should check it out. We had discussed going to church but never really braved getting up and going on Sunday mornings so when he actually proposed us going, I was all for it!
We came and we have never left. We love it here. I was baptized last year after Bobby Jackson came to our house to answer my somewhat stupid questions that I was too embarrassed to ask anyone else regarding faith and communion and Jeremy is also on his way there. We have two amazing boys that are loving the GO/Starting Line areas and we are all so blessed to have this amazing church family in our life (I'm actually tearing up here - which isn't unusual for those that know me).
I have also been co-leading in Morning Grace with the wonderful Sheri McConnell and Jeremy and I also work the newborns/walkers area Sunday mornings during the 8:00 a.m. service. How did we live without this church? How did we even attempt to raise our children without His hand? God is here people, and he wants you to seek Him!! This is definitely where it's at and I'm so grateful to my husband for tuning in to God calling us here!
Jeff Sanford - Merrillville
I came to Suncrest in 2001 as a broken, young man searching for answers that I had searched for in many other places but never found. I was facing some very difficult decisions and felt despair over some of the choices I had made earlier in life. I was also disappointed from past church experiences and expecting to find much of the same. But that is exactly where God and His amazing grace met me.
God has administered his grace to me through many people and in so many different ways. He has blessed me with an awesome family and a church to call home. Not a place filled with perfect people, but a place where everyone is on even ground: broken and seeking to know and follow Jesus. At Suncrest, God has also blessed me with the opportunity, through Men’s Fraternity, to meet with other men of in all stages of life, who are seeking to live lives of authentic manhood as modeled by Jesus and directed by God’s Word. Every Thursday morning, I look forward to Men’s Fraternity and an environment where I am challenged, strengthened and encouraged in my journey.
Chrissy Book - Crown Point
Barb Meier -St. John
I have been a coach for Morning Grace for two sessions now and I'm loving it. As a coach I get the privilege of seeing young women step up to lead a group. They begin rather reluctantly and grow right into the role of leader.
Brian Scanlon - Crown Point
I grew up going to church, but wasn't in a close relationship with God. My friends and I did not discuss religion. This trend continued into adulthood.
As I became more involved at Suncrest, I spent some time with my friend from another area church. He would ask one or two questions about Suncrest and my faith from time to time, but was clearly not comfortable discussing it much. Over time, he would probe a little more each time we talked about faith, and he seemingly grew more comfortable each time. Where he once would look at me as if I had become a religious zealot, he now realized that I was still the same person he had known for 30 years. Knowing that I had become comfortable expressing my faith to others allowed him to do the same.
Today he teaches CCD to children in his church. I believe that God worked through me in a small way to reach my friend, and allowed him to take the next step in his spiritual journey.
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