Many Iranians pursue asylum to build a better future for their children. But sometimes, that decision brings more hardship than hope. Lana Silk from Transform Iran explains, “It’s a mental health crisis among children of Iran today — whether they’re in or outside the country — dealing with depression, anxiety, loneliness, and fear.”

Yet in the midst of that darkness, God gently knocks at their hearts, offering a peace no country or system can provide.

Kevin — name changed for security reasons — is the son of asylum seekers who ended up in Türkiye. When police took his father and led him into the unknown, Kevin’s world shattered.

Silk shares, “His father had been in deportation camp for 11 months already, and so he [the boy] was carrying a real emotional burden, for the distance from his father, and what that might mean for him and his family as a whole, whether their whole family would get forced to go back to Iran.”

(Photo courtesy of Transform Iran)

Kevin’s mother brought him to the children’s ministry of Transform Iran. There, weekly activities — carefully designed by a psychologist — help children break free from the mental cage they are trapped in.

“So our aim is to connect them straight to the source — to Jesus — who loves them, who is more able than any of us to fully help them, heal them, deliver them, restore them,” says Silk (to learn more about the ministry’s approach and the challeges they face — follow this story).

Though shy at first, Kevin quickly felt accepted by the community. He even danced to worship music! “He began to really change — come alive. You could say, find himself again and learn more and more about Jesus — how much He loves him, and the hope he has in Christ,” adds Silk.

A few sessions later, two miracles followed. First, Kevin accepted Jesus as his Savior. And second: “His father was released from the camp. Totally unexpected, a real answer to prayer,” says Silk.

Now, Kevin is inspired to bring hope to other children who, like him, might be going through hard times. Empowering children is one of the Transform Iran ministry’s key goals: “You’re giving them purpose and an opportunity to serve — and you’re showing them how needed they are in the body — because there are things they can do that we can’t.”

Silk encourages, “Love them — be that catalyst of change by drawing them into a community that embraces them and helps them feel safe.”

Header photo courtesy of Achraf Talha via Unsplash.

Author Greg Yoder says the book covers topics ranging from handling the behavior of young children to navigating when older children embrace sinful lifestyles or abandon the faith. 

“It’s always grounded in Scripture, always pointing families to have some quiet time or some family devotional time together,” he says. 

The devotional builds on the radio program Parent Minute, which helps parents and grandparents root their parenting practices in Biblical wisdom.

Courtesy of Keys for Kids via Amazon

“How do you share the gospel with kids – especially adult kids who don’t know Christ? Or maybe you’re new in the faith and you want to share the gospel with your kids. There are stories in there about that.” 

Included is the account of one of Yoder’s worst personal parenting moments: the time he fell asleep twice on a teenage daughter desperate for a listening ear. 

“To think that my daughter is telling me this horrible story in her life, and I couldn’t even stay awake to listen to it,” he says. “It was that moment when I realized, ‘Wait a minute. Maybe I’m working too much – maybe I’m doing something that is preventing me from being a great father.’”

In times when accountability is in order, Yoder calls parents to confession, drawing from his own experience and Scriptures like 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

Or James 5:16, which reminds us to confess sins to one another. 

“Those two verses really stood out to me as I had a major failure in my daughter’s relationship,” Yoder says, “and I hope that because of the failures in my own parenting, people can learn from them.” 

The book is available in paperback or hardcopy through Amazon. 

Beyond the book: 

“We’re always looking for new material for our Parent Minute Radio program,” Yoder says. Parents can reach out to Keys for Kids here with suggestions.

Featured image courtesy of Emma Bauso via Pexels

Instead, Americans find themselves joining the rest of the world in a lockdown to combat COVID-19. Nationally, authorities rolled out social distancing measures, schools and businesses closed, and many companies declared working from home necessary.

The never-ending stream of stories on our social media feeds surrounds us 24/7 with information on a global pandemic. Even if we choose to ‘cut the cord’ by disconnecting with most media, there’s constant witness to empty store shelves, stockpiling, profiteering, and general panic. The pandemic has infiltrated our collective consciousnesses.

An alternative message

(Photo courtesy of Keys For Kids)

That’s before you get to the isolation that comes with ‘social distancing’. The reality is that we are social beings. Anxiety comes with the insecurity, and fear, with panic. Unfortunately, both are contagious.

As kids watch their parents, they mirror what they see. Keys For Kids Executive Director Greg Yoder says, “There are a lot of kids and even parents today that are dealing with those fears and anxieties.  The question is, how do we handle that?”  He considers briefly before adding, “I think it’s healthy to let our kids know that we’re struggling too and this is why we need Jesus because we don’t have all the answers.”

Finding the answers

He offers some tips on thriving, not just surviving, during this period. “One of the things that kids seem to struggle with is fear. And so a couple of years ago, we put together a ‘Conquering Fear’ seven-day devotional for YouVersion. It’s seven days of devotions to really help your kids deal with that feel that that feeling of fear and anxiety that they have.”

Kids need structure. Parents can set time limits on activities and take breaks in-between. Yoder encourages parents not only to utilize their daily Keys For Kids devotionals, but also engage their teens with the Unlocked series. The topics covered by the series can stir conversations leading to deeper faith discussions.

Cabin fever

(Photo courtesy of Keys For Kids)

WFH is a paradigm shift for many working parents. In this new normal, Yoder says, “Parents are home with their kids.”  Sometimes, kids need a distraction.  Keys For Kids also provides a downloadable resource kit to help.   “We’ve got a lot of activities for kids. It includes the coloring pages, four Keys For Kids stories, journal activities about encouraging others, and then there’s the Prayer Power page to let us know how we can be praying for you.” (Click here to download)

God sees the whole picture

Keys For Kids makes it a priority to pray for the needs shared with their staff, he explains. “Even though we are working from homes, we’re still having our prayer time with our Keys For Kids staff remotely, and we’re upholding your prayers before the Lord.”

The support the ministry offers goes round the clock through the programming they offer via their app.  “Just go to Keys For Kids in the App Store. You can actually listen to Keys For Kids Radio, 24-hours a day, seven days a week. It’s lots of great music, some great programs and obviously the announcers are talking about this little bit, but encouraging them just to pray and to rely on the Lord in this time of uncertainty.”

COVID19 provides an historic opportunity for parents to teach their children a Biblical approach to crisis. It’s a faith-building moment that will shape the next generation. To that end, Yoder finishes with this thought: “There are a lot of things that we can be praying about.  The things that I think are most concerning to me, this stress that’s happening on families. There are so many families that don’t have any income coming in right now; (be) praying for those who are sick; (be) praying for our churches.”

Headline image courtesy Keys For Kids.

This is the reality for North Korean Christian parents raising their children.

Open Doors USA’s Lindy Lowry reports there are very few Christian children in North Korea — if any. This is because a young child doesn’t always understand the danger and what could happen if they mention their faith to the wrong person.

(Photo courtesy of Open Doors USA)

We spoke with Kristin Wright, Director of Advocacy for Open Doors USA, and she says there truly is a lot at stake for parents. “To share the Gospel with your child or to teach your child about your religious faith or inform them of that would be really something that would not only put you in jeopardy but it would also really jeopardize your child’s future.

“For one thing, if you are a Christian in North Korea, chances are you’re going to be locked up in a modern day concentration camp…. Christians are actually targeted by their entire families. So when you become a Christian in North Korea or if you are a Christian, you can rest assured that not only you but your entire family is going to be relentlessly persecuted for that crime.”

Open Doors USA recently told the story of Lee Joo-Chan, a man who grew up in North Korea, escaped, and is now a pastor in China. Lee says in North Korea his Christian parents never told him about their faith.

Lee shares with Open Doors: “I knew my parents were different. Everybody called them ‘communist parents,’ because they took care of the sick, the poor and the needy. At night, they read from a secret book, which I wasn’t allowed to read from. But I heard them whisper the words, and I knew it was their source of wisdom. I also knew that if I ever talked about this to someone else, our family would be taken away.”

Eventually, Lee escaped North Korea, and his mother escaped after him. It wasn’t until he met up with his mother in China that she finally was able to let him in on the “family secret”. At long last, Lee’s mother told him about Jesus.

Open Doors points out that some North Korean Christian parents do reveal the truth of the Gospel to their children when they’re considered old enough. But not all feel the freedom to do so.

North Korea is number one on the Open Doors World Watch List with the top countries where it’s most dangerous to be a Christian.

(Photo courtesy of Open Doors USA)

Wright shares, “It’s been on the top for years and years now. I think there’s something to be said for that top position on the World Watch List because think about the terrible crises that are unfolding in many areas around the world. Think about what’s happening in Nigeria with Boko Haram targeting Christians, what has happened with ISIS targeting Christians in Iraq, and yet still North Korea holds that number one position. It is the worst country in the world to be a Christian.”

But there is hope.

“In the midst of this, we have found that there is a Christian community that is still growing in spite of the severe persecution.”

Open Doors supports and equips persecuted Christians all over the world, while also advocating for their religious freedoms and raising awareness.

Wright says she can’t share explicitly how Open Doors ministers to the North Korean Church, “But I can say that this is an area where Open Doors is at work [and] we are engaged. I can’t speak to the specifics, but I can say that there are miraculous stories and there are things happening that are encouraging where we’re seeing the growth of the Church and we’re seeing the strengthening of the Church.”

While not everyone can do everything, we can all do something to help our Christian brothers and sisters in North Korea. Click here if you’d like to support Open Doors ministry to the persecuted Church.

And please pray for Christians in North Korea. Pray especially for Christian parents there to be given wisdom on how to share Jesus Christ with their children.

“These are believers who are deeply in need of our prayers and of our support and I would also encourage listeners to pray for those who are attempting to flee North Korea and to start a new life over again in China or in [another] country.”

(Header photo courtesy of Open Doors USA)

(Photo courtesy of SAT-7 USA via Facebook)

Espenlaub shares, “The population I have worked with and continue to work with are people whose families are at-risk for a variety of reasons. These families may be coming from poverty. They may not have English as their primary language. They’re not highly educated and often have a lot of challenges in their families such as abuse, domestic violence, drugs, and so on.

“I saw a great need for just basic parenting skills such as knowing how to communicate with your children [and] understanding some positive discipline strategies. I saw that they needed help in knowing how to raise responsible children and children with moral character. And as I began to think about these needs the parents had, the Lord compelled me to leave my current position and he challenged me to begin writing a parent curriculum that would address the needs I saw in families.”

That’s how “Putting the Pieces Together” came about. “Putting the Pieces Together” is a parenting curriculum offering biblically-based lessons and practical tools for families from at-risk backgrounds.

Espenlaub says that while her parenting curriculum started off as a singular venture in the United States, God has taken this resource and used it in communities around the world as various ministries request it.

Ministries in Moldova and Ukraine have used “Putting the Pieces Together” in their outreaches to national at-risk families. And parents are seeing results from the curriculum. “I very recently went to Moldova and Ukraine and there were people there who came up to me and said, ‘I still remember what you taught us a couple of years ago, and I’m using these ideas!’ So that was really so wonderful to hear that God was using it.”

(Photo courtesy of Mohabat TV via Facebook)

Espenlaub adds, “Most recently, this curriculum has been translated into Farsi and was programmed by Mohabat TV to be streamed into Farsi-speaking communities.”

Mohabat TV’s programming presents the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout North Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula. It is also available to stream 24/7 online. Isolated, Farsi-speaking Christian parents in creative-access communities can often feel alone in their journey to raise children according to God’s Word. “Putting the Pieces Together” on Mohabat TV equips those believers in critical contexts for biblical parenthood.

“Putting the Pieces Together” is a great, free tool for any ministry to use as an encouragement and support for parents from at-risk backgrounds to know how to raise children with a biblical model. If you’d like to get this parenting curriculum and even have it translated into another language for your ministry’s needs, you can reach out to Espenlaub for more information.

“They can contact me of course at susan.espenlaub@gmail.com. I am happy to share this material. It’s God’s work, I believe it’s to his glory, and it’s free to you!”

Meanwhile, please pray along with Espenlaub for God to use this tool to raise up families as witnesses for his Kingdom.

“My prayer and my vision really is to build up the Body of Christ, to build up our Christian homes because our homes are supposed to be a testimony of who God is and what his character is like. Therefore, the curriculum is intended to strengthen and restore families, make them strong, make them influential in their communities so it gives them a platform to share the Gospel of Christ.”

This city made up of foster children would be bigger than cities like Miami, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Honolulu.  Over the course of a year, nearly 700,000 children spend at least some time in foster care and that makes this population of children and youth bigger than all but 18 U.S. cities.

Foster care family (Photo courtesy of Bethany Christian Services)

Bethany Christian Services’ Jenny Reister outlines the connected crisis: “Unfortunately, we have a real shortage of foster families.  It’s not uncommon, especially with the older kids, to end up in residential treatment.”  These 31 days are meant to help raise awareness about foster care and encourage people to get involved in the lives of these kids — as foster parents, volunteers, or mentors.

But, let’s face it: foster care gets a bad rap.  Movies and television shows have mainly depicted the most challenging situations.  “Usually foster [care] is portrayed as workers coming in and taking children from their parents.  Really, our goal is to work with birth parents to help them rectify those barriers.  We’re very pro-family and advocate for reunifying those kids with their parents.”

That has led to a lot of misconceptions, says Reister.  “Probably the most common misconception is they think a lot of our kids are going to have a lot of behavior issues.  That’s not necessarily the case.  The kids, obviously, have experienced some sort of trauma, which is why they’re in foster care in the first place.  Being in foster care is a trauma, in itself.  But most of our kids are just like the kids that go to school with your kids — that are like the kids in your neighborhood.”

(Photo courtesy of Bethany Christian Services)

The goal of Bethany’s Foster Care program is to provide temporary care for children with the ultimate aim of reuniting them with their biological family, explains Reister.  “Whatever barriers they have to parenting, which is what brought the children into foster care in the first place, the case managers will work with them on establishing a treatment plan and set goals for them.”

Who can be a foster parent?  It’s a wide open field for anyone who has the heart for loving kids.  Aside from passing a background check, Reister says, “You have to be an adult, single or married, live in a house or an apartment.  You don’t necessarily have to have parenting experience.  We have foster parents come to us who have never parented before, and that’s okay.”

It is also helpful to know and understand childhood development, but foster parents work with staff from community agencies toward helping the children in their care.  She emphasizes that foster parents are normal people just like you and me.  “A lot of families that we get, originally, they had never considered doing foster care, but they may have had a relative come into care and became licensed to foster their relative and then decided, ‘I would like to do this for other children, also.’”

(Photo courtesy of Bethany Christian Services)

In the process of loving kids through a traumatic time in their lives, there is an opportunity to share a unique worldview they may never have been exposed to before.  Reister clarifies, “A lot of times, the kids that we have come in — they have never experienced church before they lived with their foster family.  They might have not even heard about God until they were in their foster families.  There’s definitely an opportunity there, even just demonstrating by how they live, what it means to be a Christian. “

Exploring this option starts with prayer.  “Pray for the kids, but also pray for people who are considering foster care to maybe take that first step to learn more about it.”

Checking out that next step starts here. 

TWR’s Dr. Peggy Banks explains, “It’s an audio program that brings hope to women in places where they are struggling — in their marriages, in their relationships, how to raise children — very practical issues that they deal with, and then we also deal with a soul issue in that program.”

When TWR Women of Hope began in 1997, it first had the name Project Hannah. “It started 20 years ago with the founder Marli Spieker when she was called by God to just minister to women who find themselves in very difficult and desperate situations. She answered the call saying to God she would do whatever it takes so women would know they are loved and cherished and God hears their prayers.

“So Project Hannah actually started as a prayer movement. Women were praying together in small groups. We have a prayer calendar that women pray through every day. Every month we have over 50,000 intercessors who are praying for women all over the world.”

While TWR Women of Hope has changed a bit over the years, they haven’t forgotten their Project Hannah roots. “The foundation, of course, remains prayer. We are a media ministry, so we also have programming — digital and audio programming. We’re all about awareness and bringing information and education on the plight of women around the world, but not just leaving them with information; giving them ways they can engage and helping women in their own community as well as communities around the world.”

(Photo courtesy of Vision Beyond Borders)

TWR Women of Hope is available in 125 different countries to impact countless women with the hope of Christ in their lives. Banks also adds, “Our prayer calendar is translated in 85 different languages. Our Women of Hope program, like I mentioned, is translated into 71 different languages. So yes, we are reaching women in all different parts of the world, seven different regions of the world, as well as here in North America.”

There are various programming options and resources available for spiritual growth. So why does TWR focus on Christian programming specifically for women?

“Here’s the thing I believe, is that women connect when they hear a woman’s voice, and they hear a woman’s voice talking about issues that women are discussing, women are struggling with…. They talk about…what it means to go through a time of depression, what it means to go through a time of loneliness, a time of singleness, a time of differences and difficulties in our marriages, or maybe in the workplace, what it means to work together as women to know how to lead in a ministry or in a corporate environment as a woman. So I think it’s important that women have programs that are created by women for women so they can connect with one another and their hearts connect together as women of God as they connect their hearts to the Lord.”

You can tune in to TWR Women of Hope’s audio programs online, or even share a program’s episode with a friend. Click here to check out TWR Women of Hope.

“In the book of Isaiah 40:8, the Bible says, ‘The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of God stands forever.’ So I would love women to take away from TWR Women of Hope to know that when we acknowledge God’s rule in our lives and we set our minds on things above, set our minds on things of Christ, God enables us to be women of hope,” Banks shares.

(Photo courtesy Bethany Christian Services)

Kim Offut, herself a foster mom, is also the National Director of Foster and Adoption for Bethany Christian Services. She says the month is set aside not only to acknowledge foster families, volunteers, and others who help children in foster care stay safe, but it’s also a time to talk about getting involved.

According to the U.S. Children’s Bureau, there are more than 400,000 children in foster care. Says Offut, these children are traumatized and emotionally fragile.

“Our kids are removed from their birth families because of abuse or neglect. In so many ways, we’re looking for families who are open to loving and helping these kids really heal from some of their hurts.”

Routine is a new ‘normal’ that helps a child feel safe.  Normal family life is involved, she says, like the typical parent things. ”Getting kids to their doctor’s appointments, getting kids to school, helping them with homework. You’re doing everything that a parent would and should (do).”

The goal of Bethany’s Foster Care program is to provide temporary care for children with the ultimate aim of reuniting them with their biological family.  What kind of people make good foster parents?  Offut says they’re looking for people who want to provide a loving home for children and provide them with ample space to grow.  They need to have positive parenting skills, patience, stability, maturity, and a love of children.

(Photo courtesy Bethany Christian Services)

As she shares the need for more foster families, a question often comes up about the challenges posed by integration.  Yes, there are horror stories, admits Offut, but that’s why she focuses on the positive stories.

“You don’t hear about that child who never knew a safe touch before, and now is a wonderful loving adult and parent. You never hear about the kids who never had any type of education and now are excelling in school, or the foster families who just love these children—the ‘failure to thrive’ kids who come in…and now they’re thriving and being successful!”

Having experienced all the ups and downs of being a foster parent, Offut says that a consistent faith walk makes a big difference to the kids.  “I remember one child that I fostered. He was 13 years old and he was Buddhist. He had grown up in the Buddhist community. We still celebrate with him when he gave his life to Christ and got baptized.  It wasn’t because we just took him to church, but we lived out our Christianity and he wanted that.”

That’s part of what Bethany Christian Services hopes to do: disciple and mentor these kids from spiritual hurting to healing.  How often does the Gospel come into play?  She responds, “Daily. I say that with the utmost surety because I know that the kids that I’ve opened up my heart and my home to, may not have even known about Jesus, and daily, we’re living that out for them.”

(Photo courtesy Bethany Christian Services)

Imagine what could change if more people stepped up to love these kids into wholeness.  Right now, says Offut, “30-percent of our kids end up homeless or incarcerated, on the streets, on drugs, having babies and the cycle continues.”

You can make a difference, even if it’s only to one child.

She asks more one question to consider at the close of this story: “It can change generations.  If not you, who? And if not now, when?”

ENGAGE stands for Equipping the Next Generation to Advance and Grow through Education, encouragement and example, and it shows moms how positive parenting can break the cycle of poverty.

Author Karol Ladd came up with the idea for ENGAGE after learning about the connection between parenting and poverty.

"God was really working in her heart to go back to the communities and work with parents," says Sandra Martinez of Buckner International. "She wanted to know if we could give her an opportunity to come and teach some classes, and work with ladies in our community."

In September 2012, Buckner came alongside ENGAGE in Dallas, Texas. Their Wynnewood Community Services Center helps impoverished families overcome difficulties with a variety of programs and services.

"She came up with her own curriculum, we looked it over, made some revisions and it's just taken off since then," says Martinez.

Many ENGAGE participants are single moms in poverty trying to raise a family with little to no support. Martinez says the transformation she sees in these women is a great blessing.

"We come across a lot of moms that are in depression, low self-esteem, [and] just don't have anyone to turn to for help or have anybody to encourage them," she explains. "A lot of them would come in here just sad, or with a sad demeanor, and now they come in here and they're smiling."

That someone would enter into their lives and offer so much encouragement and support, Martinez says, speaks volumes to the women. And it's changing how these women live their lives.

"A lot of the moms are putting into practice what they're learning here," says Martinez. "The moms [are] encouraging one another and giving each other advice of things that they've tried and how it's working for them."

Ladd plans to expand the ENGAGE program by training more volunteers in April and launching it on a broader scale this fall. Visit the ENGAGE Facebook page for the latest updates.

Buckner's community ministry serves inner-city, low-income children and families through an after-school program, food pantry, counseling services, GED/ESL classes, job readiness training, and much more. Martinez says they've seen increased participation in Buckner classes from women who've attended the ENGAGE class.

"A lot of them have been faithful about coming to class," she states. "To that class (ENGAGE), but also making it a point to participate in other classes, such as our GED classes or our Jobs for Life class."

ENGAGE also offers women prayer and support they don't get in other places.

"Miss Karol addresses the Word of God and how God loves them, and we always end up with prayer," Martinez says. "Karol is a great prayer warrior, and so they know that she will pray for them. And then she follows up [by asking] 'what's going on?'."

One woman gave her life to Christ and many are going to church again. Ask the Lord to bless and strengthen women who are trying to get out of poverty.

"Pray for them as leaders of the house, that they make wise decisions for themselves and their families. But also, as they participate in our programs, that they follow through and complete them."

You can help with this program by volunteering with Buckner. Click here to serve at-risk kids and families.

"If there are people out there that do want to volunteer," says Martinez, "they should take advantage of the opportunities that we have in serving others.

"We have a wonderful volunteer coordinator that would be happy to speak with them and guide them in the right direction to where we can use their skills and talents."

According to the World Bank, "poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being." While poverty is largely seen in monetary terms, it also refers to a lack of resources–whether or not people are able to obtain specific commodities: food, shelter, water, health care.

As the inability to obtain is prolonged, the cycle of poverty continues.

Poor parenting perpetuates poverty ,too. That's why it's the focus of a new initiative called ENGAGE: Equipping the Next Generation to Advance and Grow through Education, encouragement and example.

"It is a program that engages moms, asking them questions: 'What's hard? What's difficult for you?' and 'What do you see as solutions?'" says author and speaker Karol Ladd. She created ENGAGE in response to the staggering reality of poverty.

According to the 2013 Human Development Report, approximately 50% of the world's population–3 billion people–live on less than $2.50 per day. In the United States, the official poverty rate stands at 15%, and 46.2 million people are impoverished.

With the help of friends who came from impoverished backgrounds, Ladd built a parenting curriculum focusing on several areas of a child's development: mental, physical, social, spiritual, and emotional.

However, "ENGAGE is not just a program that comes in with a set curriculum of rules and 'here's how you do it,'" Ladd clarifies.

It's about discussions and group interaction. Women talk about values and the challenges they face, brainstorm solutions, and encourage each other.

"I always end with helping them figure out the action points: How can I encourage my child? How can I be an example to my child? How can I equip my child?" says Ladd.

Moms also learn about Christ and what it means to follow Him.

During the first lesson about education, "We began to talk about how important it is that God has given us this mind, and that we would use it for His glory," Ladd states.

"We continued to build…pointing to God just naturally through the lesson."

Ladd then started incorporating examples of people in history who lived out the value discussed during the week.

"I look for a Christian example, so I'm pointing not only to their example of integrity or their example of education, but I'm also pointing to their example of their love for the Lord," Ladd explains.

She says this methodology is making the Gospel easier for women to understand. As a result, many women began going to church and several re-committed their lives to Christ. Some became new believers, and one woman was baptized.

They told Ladd, "Miss Karol, we have decided to follow Jesus, and our lives have changed! We are going to do things differently now."

Pray that more women would be drawn to Christ through ENGAGE.

Buckner International recently came alongside ENGAGE in Dallas. We'll hear what they experienced in the upcoming days.