I’m a 53 year old Navy Veteran, who works in a factory for the last 28 years. I’ve been married to the love of my life for the last 32 years. I have two amazing successful children and three beautiful grandchildren. One might say that I have a perfect life, but until about six months ago, there was something missing. I couldn’t tell you what it was or put my finger on it exactly. I was just going through the motions in life with my head down. I was struggling with some personal issues and seeing a therapist to help me deal with these issues that were weighing me down. Until, one day my son came to me with a prayer and a bible. That day my life changed. My wife and I started attending services here at The River. After hearing pastor Matthew speak one Sunday morning, it felt like he was speaking directly to me. Something inside of me told me to go up to the stage and give myself to Jesus. And so I did. It awakened something in me that has filled me with so much joy and excitement for the Lord. I have likened it to being a sleep before and now I feel wide awake. I’ve started going to a life group with my wife and I read the bible and pray regularly, which I never did before. I’m so thankful for all that God is doing in my life. Every aspect of my life has changed. My relationship with my wife has never been better, my friendships have improved, I’m more present in the lives of my children and grandchildren, and I feel I’m just a better version of myself. I feel that I’m being called by God to be baptized so that I can publicly proclaim to all that I have accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and savior and will live my life loving him and doing what I can to honor him and the sacrifice he made for me. My relationship with God is new, kind of like and infant, but I feel it growing and strengthening every single day. I’m so excited to see where my journey in faith goes from here and I can’t wait for all the good things to come. – M

I showed up at Indiana Wesleyan as a freshman in 2020, only focused on baseball. Baseball, lust, selfishness, and comfort were the controllers of my life. I was super lukewarm and had a lot of different idols. I was a “Christian” when it was convenient. To summarize, my freshmen year was a HARD year of God pulling back the veil and undoing many strongholds and false illusions I thought were my foundation. My sophomore year was when things started to make sense and God began to fill me with His Word and I started to live it out! Two years later I’m still walking this walk, growing and learning. God’s Word has been the substance of my life since, and it’s never returned empty-handed or void; it’s filled me to overflowing. -A

I recently went on my first mission trip to the Dominican Republic. While there, we attended church services and witnessed baptisms. It doesn’t matter the language spoken or the geographic location, it’s a beautiful experience to worship and praise God with fellow believers. To know the Holy Spirit is the same for everyone and to feel His presence there! I encourage you to consider going on some kind of mission trip. You will be stretched, your faith will grow, and you will leave with your cup filled to overflowing. -L

In the span of 15 months, the Lord has performed a tremendous miracle in my life that has given me a complete physical healing! Toward the end of July 2023, I found out I would need emergency heart surgery to fix a severe tear in my aorta. Doctors told my family that my diagnosis often has a very low survival rate. I know that the many prayers lifted on my behalf were heard. I came through the surgery and complications. There were months of hospital and physical rehabilitation centers that spanned three states. Due to the length of surgery, my kidneys also experienced trauma and were not functioning well. Dialysis became part of my life 3 times a week for 9 months. Specialists were cautious and told me not to expect kidney function to return, and yet we all kept praying and believing! God was not finished healing me. In April 2024, I was told kidney function was back and I no longer needed dialysis! Isn’t God AMAZING?! During my time in the hospital, I kept telling people who would visit, “I feel like God is giving me a reset—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.” When I think about all that God has done in my life in recent years, I think about the key verse from RESET— Isaiah 43:19. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. -K

I grew up going to church every weekend with my grandma. I loved church, kids ministry was my favorite because I got to serve in the 2-3-year-old class and the nursery. As I got older I got out into sports and we had games every weekend so church was a back burner thing. I remember one time in the 5th grade a girl said she had never heard me say a bad word and I kept telling her I don’t say them. However, she kept on pushing me, and from that bad word on, I knew the devil had a grip. My relationship with Christ was broken and in high school, I got a boyfriend who I found my identity in. I didn’t think I could live without him. We went to college at different universities. I was so sad at my school because I was on the softball team, but the coach hated me. She made fun of me for being short and skinny, she did anything she could to make my life miserable. I thought how could God love me and give me people like this?? How could God love me and have me under the wings of people who just frown upon me? My boyfriend convinced me to move to Bloomington, so I did. He was my whole world, but the day I moved in he broke up with me and my whole life no longer was worth living. I got into relationships with people who were living for the devil and I came to know that lifestyle. Drinking, drugs, meaningless hookups, parties. My life was in shambles and I thought this was all I deserved. In one of my classes, I met a girl and she had a youth group. She asked me to come and I said yes, but backed out later that night because I wasn’t ready(or so I thought). She then showed up at my apartment and said come on let’s go, it will be fun. I walked into the house and all of these girls were excited to see me, me! I was like why are you guys so excited to see me you don’t know me, I’m a mess, I don’t deserve God’s love, but they told me I do! Those girls changed my life for the better, not only did they help me out of the trenches, but God sent them to save my life! I no longer drank or partied, I no longer did drugs or had meaningless hookups. God used them to show me love. Love that I longed for, for so long. My relationship with Christ deepened and I have come to be on fire. When I moved back home I had a friend who brought me to the river and I fell in love with Christ more through worship, friends, and a sense of community. I’m blessed God left the 99 to find me, a lost, broken sinner. I’m in awe that he loves me and sees me as worthy. My God is my rock, my strength, and my Life!!! Thank you for taking the time to read this and God bless! -T