Dr. Frank Page, President of the SBC, answers our questions about his revised and expanded release, The Nehemiah Factor. 

NH: Do you feel that every believer is called to be a missional leader? Why do you believe that?

FP: I do believe that every believer is called to be a missional leader. Scripture is replete with examples of where the body is called to be witnesses, ministers, preachers, and persons involved in positive change. The division between clergy and laity is an unfortunate historical and denominational nuance which is not found in Scripture. While Scripture certainly calls some people to biblical roles of service, nowhere is the work of the church relegated only to a certain few. God’s command in the Great Commandment and God’s commission in the Great Commission remain steadfast for all believers of all ages.

NH: In your travels and ministry, what do you observe as the biggest obstacle to believers stepping into missional leadership? Is it lack of understanding of what’s involved, or apathy, or something else?

FP:  There are several obstacles to believers stepping into missional leadership. One is false information or a lack of proper information. Many believe that they are not biblically called to be involved in missional leadership. As I said in the earlier question, Scripture teaches total involvement among the people of God. While He does call people to short roles and uses spiritual gifts to enable people in certain capacities, He calls us all to be people of influence and people who are making a difference.

Not only is there a lack of information, there is also a fear factor. Many people are afraid that they do not have what it takes in the area of personality or training to truly make a difference. It may be trite as some have said before that God cares more about our availability than He does our capability, but the truth is He wants us to be ready to serve. Scripture teaches us that the Holy Spirit will help us know what to say in certain circumstances and will guide us into the truth. We need to be far more dependent upon our Father to lead us even when we feel we are not as capable as we ought to be.

Third, there is an obstacle because of apathy and lethargy. We have bought into lies that the culture is not responding or that people are not listening. Unfortunately, we have used those false beliefs to excuse a lack of action on our part. It is sad when we allow culture to determine our actions. As stated earlier, we are in a day and time of desperate need of involvement, of excitement, of passion, and simply a revival of concern and action.

NH: You say that the principle of prayer can make great leaders of any personality type. Many people may think this applies to people in the Bible or other people, but not them because they are too shy, have made too many mistakes, and so on. What would you say to them?

FP: I wholeheartedly believe that prayer changes one’s willingness. Missionaries have for years encouraged people to pray for missions for they knew that if they prayed earnestly and passionately they could not help but get involved. It is true that many people think this is applicable to others and that somehow their sin, their lack of dominant personality types, and their past failures have somehow put them on the sidelines of service. This could not be further from the truth. This is using an excuse to sideline oneself when God has not chosen to do so. If our past sin must always keep us from serving our Lord, Paul would never have been used, Peter would never have been used, James or John would never have been used, etc. We desperately need to know that people of every personality type, people of every background can be used by our Lord. Jeremiah 29:11 (HCSB) says “For I know the plans I have for you—this is the Lord’s declaration—plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” God still has a plan. John 15:16 (HCSB) says “You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.” God has chosen us to bear fruit. He does not put an expiration date on that call!

NH: In the Introduction, you recall a pivotal moment that Billy Graham had with John F. Kennedy, and you write, “These pivotal times come not only for individuals; they also come for churches, denominations, and even entire movements. I believe this country’s larger Christian community currently stands at such a moment.” Can you expound on that? What is our responsibility right now as a Christian community in the US?

FP: I do believe the country’s larger Christian community currently stands at a crossroads moment. Billy Graham said it well when he called it an “irrecoverable moment.” I believe that our country is truly heading fast for a moral abyss. Societal and cultural structures that have long encouraged morality are eroding with a rapidity that is frightening. The Christian community stands as the salt and light to keep this ongoing decay and decline from occurring. If there was ever a time the Christian community was more needed, it is now!

NH: Conflict seems to create so many problems within the church, even dividing churches, and many believers seem ill-equipped to deal with it. Conflict is inevitable—how can we as believers grow to deal with it more biblically?

FP:  Conflict is a fact of life in the church and out of the church. I cannot stress the following fact enough. The difference between every great leader and good leader is that leader’s ability to handle conflict in a biblical and appropriate way.  The difference between every good church, mediocre church, and a great church is that church’s ability to handle conflict in a biblical way. Conflict, by its very nature, is unpleasant. It is not easy to deal with hurtful situations. That is why many people simply choose to hide or to sweep under the rug those things which are less than pleasant. In every instance, the evil one knows how to use that inaction or inappropriate action to bring further disunity in the body. Great leaders and great churches know how to deal with issues in Christlike, kind, and compassionate ways, but deal with it and not run from it!

NH: Besides releasing the revised version of The Nehemiah Factor, what is next for your ministry in 2013?

FP: The year 2013 will be a significant year for me. Another of our friends, B&H Publishing, will be publishing a book on suicide simply entitled Melissa. It is the story of my daughter’s death. It is my hope that her life and death will touch more people than I have ever touched in my life.

Also, Dr. Lavone Gray and I are working on a new project through New Hope on the subject of worship. It will come out in the spring of 2014. We are very excited about helping guide God’s people toward a more appropriate understanding of worship.

NH: For people who may be new to the concept, what is prayerwalking?

RS: The meaning of the word would seem obvious from the two words that are combined to create it. And at the most basic level that would be true. Prayerwalking is walking prayer. But to leave it at that, which most Christians do, is to doom this dynamic activity to some static point along a “that’s nice–that’s not for me” continuum.

Walking, in a general sense, presupposes some personal givens: We extend the effort (lace up the tennis shoes, head out the door), we want to go somewhere (walk to the park), we want to get something (walk to the store), we want to feel better (reduce stress, improve health). All of this is human activity for human purposes, and there is nothing wrong with it. But when we start from this commonly accepted experience of walking and just add prayer to it, we get off on the wrong foot. In real prayerwalking the orientation is not us and our desires but Christ and His desires. We can pray while we walk, but when we determine to do this (and call it prayerwalking), we find that we have to work up the will and make up the words. Before long we find that this is human-powered activity that doesn’t last long and certainly doesn’t create long-lasting results.

Real prayerwalking only comes naturally to those who walk supernaturally. And to walk this way they determine each morning not to walk through the day following their own desires but His. They walk with Jesus through the day and through life. And prayer, as they walk this way, is stimulated by Him out of His desires, and then enabled in them by His power. The results of this kind of prayerwalking are transformative and eternal.

NH: What made you decide to write a book on prayer walking? Also, the book lends itself very well to a small group setting. What are the advantages of studying it as a group?

RS: The more honest answer would be the “who” in the “what.” During the 1970s, in the earliest days of our ministry life, the Spirit of Christ directly led us into difficult, dangerous inner-city street ministry. We were in training for missionary service in Africa, but we quickly learned that not only could we not reach the people of that street culture, there was no way that we were going to reach the people of Africa with the love of Christ, either. We were not up to the task.

Once I asked a pastor who wanted to know Christ but was working hard to rationalize his resistance to His leading, “Do you know where you’ll meet Jesus?”
“No.”
“At the end of yourself.”

When we came to the end of our work and our prayer and our sacrifice for Jesus on the street, we met Him saying to us, “Follow Me, and I will do it.” We did, and He did.

In that abandoned, obedient new day we still found ourselves walking the streets, but now prayer flowed from us like we’d never known before as His heart beat in ours. Soon the lives of hopeless people began to be profoundly changed as His power filled us and flowed through us. We were walking out lives of prayer and abandon, and His Kingdom was being made real.

It was from that initial experience and then countless others during the subsequent decades that there came the Spirit’s compelling impetus to write this transformation tool that became Follow Me.

The book is best used together in a group because we were created for life together. Our current culture mitigates against this but the Spirit always works to bring us into community where we are affirmed, encouraged, and held accountable. We can learn about prayerwalking alone, but we really only become prayerwalkers when we journey together–with Him and with each other.

NH: In the book, you delve into how we were created to walk with God. Can you tell us a bit more about that? What is the purpose of walking through an area to intercede versus just praying for your neighbors, community, or city in your house or church?

RS: In 2002, when pastor Rick Warren published a 40-day devotional book, no one foresaw the incredible void that he was speaking into. But after 30 million copies and the distinction of becoming the best selling hardback book in American history, The Purpose Driven Life has revealed the enormity of human hunger for purpose. This need of purpose is so universal because universally we’ve all walked away from our purpose. In the beginning, we were created by God for fellowship with Him, and the way He chose to portray the actual living of that purpose was in the simple activity of walking. God came and walked with man and woman, and they willingly walked with Him. Life was all that our Creator intended it to be. It was the divine design.

But because we chose to walk away from that and from God, life has been hard and meaningless ever since. God, though, despite our rejection of Him, has not rejected us. He continues to pursue us, supremely, by making a way for us to return to Him and to the purpose for which He created us in the beginning: to walk with Him.

Regarding prayer for our neighbors and our world, certainly we can intercede from our own home, and we should. But what Jesus, our Lord, is about is “going to” not “standing back” from powerless people living hopeless lives. So He leads us out into the world and up close to those whom He loves and desires to draw back into fellowship with God, our Father. He calls us to follow Him in this mission, and when we do, we discover that prayer flows easily out of hearts in sync with His heart.

NH: You talk about three types of prayerwalking—devotional, incidental, and intentional. Can you tell us what those are? Is any one foundational to the other two?

RS: This modern phenomena of prayerwalking has been manifested in three ways, and from the preponderance of one–intentional–a logical assumption would be that it is the most important. It’s not. We are a people who always want to “do” something. “Don’t just sit there, do something.” When I see intentional prayerwalking as the primary expression in prayerwalking I know that things are not as they should be. Fundamentally, and always, prayerwalking is a call to “be” not to “do”. First we are called to be who we were meant to be, then we’re called to do what we’re meant to do.

So devotional prayerwalking is the foundation upon which the other two are built and out of which they are expressed.

Incidental prayerwalking occurs as we go about daily life. As we walk with Christ, He gives insight into a life or a situation we encounter, and we intercede with Him on behalf of those involved.

Intentional prayerwalking, by contrast, is planned, organized, enabled. It is our intention or our church’s intention to facilitate focused, combined prayer to blanket an area or event.

Both are equally powerful when our intent is first to be His follower, responsive and obedient.

NH: What changes have you seen in the church’s engagement in prayerwalking since your book first came out almost a decade ago? Has it evolved?

RS: Regarding the church, I have been encouraged and discouraged. So many churches and prayer groups have used Follow Me to expose their pray-ers to prayerwalking. That’s encouraging. But sadly, a lasting transformative reality seems to rarely result.

I recently called a local church prayer leader who, a few years ago, had facilitated one of the most marvelous transformations of prayerwalking intercessors that I’d encountered. When I spoke with her my heart was broken as I realized that she barely remembered the former fervor and instead could only sheepishly tell me about their latest “program” and how wonderful it was.

Far too often this has been my experience. Prayerwalking and Follow Me are viewed as just the latest, hottest, “thing” when actually Jesus is to be the only thing.

Where I am greatly encouraged is in the individual lives that have been profoundly changed by Christ as they’ve taken up this transformation tool and begun to let the Spirit work inside-out change in their lives. They now live abandoned to the Savior, and kingdom prayer and impact now characterize their daily lives.

NH: Obviously, you just released a book, which is quite a time-consuming accomplishment. What’s next for Randy Sprinkle and the Sprinkle family in 2013?

RS: That’s a question that I can’t give you a detailed answer to. I can share with you recent developments that have impact on our next steps. A lifetime in missionary service has taken a toll on my body, and so earlier this year I had to take early retirement from my missionary position in New England. During these first months I have been able to slow down and rest up as we’ve prayerfully sought the Lord’s mind regarding a next step. For decades, I’ve traveled and spoken constantly from place to place. In that ministry leaders have regularly asked me how they should describe me to their congregations, I usually say, “Just tell them that our speaker today comes to us from having followed Jesus all over the place.” That’s true and I intend for it to remain true, although I sense that His next step may be for us to follow Him to just one place. He knows. We’ll see.

 This devotional first appeared on Kathi Macias’ blog. She is kind enough to let us re-post it here.

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time (Col. 4:5).

The older I get the more I become aware of how each of our actions and words impact others. Years ago I was privileged to work with former NFL-great (and needlepoint aficionado) Rosey Grier. A mountain of a man with a heart of gold, he was always aware of being in the public eye. He once spoke to a group of NFL recruits about this very topic, and one of them replied, “I don’t want to be a role model.” Rosey told him, “Son, when you accepted the NFL draft, you stepped into that position. The only thing you have to decide now is what kind of role model you’re going to be.”

How true that is for all of us, particularly believers. The moment we were born into God’s family, we stepped into the public eye. Like it or not, people watch us. Their motivation for doing so is irrelevant; the fact that they do requires us to “walk in wisdom . . . redeeming the time.”

We never know who’s watching/listening and how that will play out in their lives one day. Case in point: I wasn’t raised in a Christian home, though I thought I was a Christian and occasionally went to church. Throughout my growing-up years, I did a lot of walking, and my walks often took me past the spot where a little church was being renovated. I watched the progress with interest until the work was done and the still-modest house of worship opened its doors. It was a COGIC (Church of God in Christ) church, and I have to tell you, some of the best music and singing I ever heard in my life came floating out of those walls into the street. At times I could even hear snippets of the preaching. Many times I longed to sneak inside and join them, but shyness held me back.

Years later, when I was part of a large church staff in the same town, I had the opportunity to get to know the pastor and his wife from that little church. They were the same ones who had refurbished it and preached and taught there ever since, raising their five children (all of whom ended up in ministry) in the small apartment above the church building. When they invited me to be part of their ministry to the homeless—feeding twice a week, providing emergency shelter, clothes, a place to shower and even put together resumes—I readily accepted. I was soon honored to be asked to sit on their board of directors and even to preach at a couple of their services.

Who would ever have thought that the scrawny, bashful little girl from a non-Christian home, who just happened to “pass by” and overhear that COGIC church’s worship, would one day stand behind that very pulpit and have the privilege of addressing the congregation? And yet, though it undoubtedly would never have crossed the mind of that pastor or his wife, even if they’d seen me lingering nearby, God knew—and He used that couple’s faithfulness to impact my heart for a future life-changing decision.

Our words and deeds and actions do not go unnoticed, beloved. Even now, this very day, we may impact someone’s life for eternity—even if we don’t know it until we step into that realm. May our prayer ever be that God would teach us to “walk in wisdom,” regardless of our situations or circumstances, and to redeem the time for His glory.

Kathi Macias is the author of 13 New Hope titles, including award winning fiction. Her most recent release is the The Moses Quilt.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Kathy Howard, author of the new release, Fed Up with Flat Faith, guest blogs for us today. To read more of Kathy’s personal blog, visit http://www.kathyhoward.org/. 

On my way to check out at Hobby Lobby I glanced down an aisle to my right. A young woman sat slumped on the edge of the bottom shelf with her head in one hand and a cell phone in the other. Her body posture, her tears, and the Holy Spirit revealed her distress.

I had a decision to make. My body and my mind were already headed for the door and the rest of my day. But the Spirit of God within me had different plans.

A year ago, I might not have stopped. I might have simply thrown up a prayer as I passed by. After all, I would have told myself, what could I really offer? This woman wouldn’t want help from a stranger. 

But God has been consistently pressing a truth into my heart and mind over the last several months. My whole life belongs to Him, including my time. He has shown me I need to hold my calendar more loosely. I can make plans, but also remember God has every right to intercept them for His purposes (Proverbs 19:21).

The Holy Spirit gently reminded me of this truth that day in Hobby Lobby. The to-do list could wait. Dinner could be a little late. Those things were insignificant compared to a divine appointment.

I approached the woman and slowly squatted beside her. “Is everything okay? You look like you’ve just gotten some bad news.” She glanced up at me and choked back a sob.

“Can I do something to help you?” She only shook her head.

Lord, I’m not sure what to do here. She won’t – or can’t talk with me.

Ask if you can pray for her now.

“Would it be okay if I prayed for you?”

She looked surprised, but nodded. I laid my hand on her arm and prayed for her out loud right there on the candle aisle.

After the “amen,” she mumbled a thank you and assured me once again there wasn’t anything else I could do. I paid for my purchases and headed home. I may have checked one less thing off my to-do list that day, but I surrendered the time to God and got to participate in His plans. It doesn’t really matter that I don’t know the outcome.

Lest you think me super-spiritual, I must confess that I don’t always give Him my calendar so freely. In fact, I tend to hold it tightly in my hot little fist. My type A personality likes to plan my day, week, and month, and then follow my plan to get everything accomplished. I cringe to think about the many opportunities I’ve missed to participate in what God is doing because I wouldn’t allow Him to interrupt my day.

That’s exactly why God keeps reinforcing the lesson that everything I have is His. I have been bought and paid for with the precious blood of Christ (1 Cor. 6:19-20; 1 Peter 1:18-19). My soul, my body, my mind—and yes, my time—all belong to God. He has plans and purposes for my life far more important than mine.

I long to be increasingly more sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading. I want to completely surrender my life—and my calendar—to Him. Lord, keep teaching me . . .

Total surrender to our Savior opens our life to God’s exciting activity! What is that one thing you have the most trouble surrendering to God? Why do you think that is?

Kathy Howard is the author of five books including Fed Up with Flat Faith: 10 Attitudes and Actions to Pump Up Your Faith. You can find out more about her books, speaking, and find free resources on her site.

We at New Hope are excited to welcome our Marketing and Sales Manager, Maegan Roper! In addition to her prolific marketing work, she is starting a ministry to women who’ve lost a child.

 Here, she agreed to let us post an excerpt from her personal blog about stories. So much of what she shares reflects our heart as a publisher.

We all have a story, in some way or another. Some may not seem as interesting, adventurous, or wide ranged as others, but we all have them. And it’s our resource God gives us for sharing our experiences with Him. It’s the personal element of experience that people want to sit down and listen to over a cup of coffee or in the pages of a book curled up on a Sunday afternoon. I love that our Father gives us that gift to share with others and that as the author of our story, He is always perfect, although our stories are not. It highlights the amazing Savior we have, in spite of the chapters of our story that are raw or flawed. Each of our stories are tainted along the way carrying their own element of drama, tragedy, mischief, or suspense, because that’s where God’s glory shines the brightest. It is the goal of our story that is most important. It’s how we steward our story and how we tell it that makes all the difference.

He is teaching me this through trying to write my own.

Lately, I’ve been hearing stories of several women who have suffered the loss of an infant or child. While they share the same tragic end, all of their stories are unique and different. Each one, woven together for their own personal good and God’s glory. It’s compelled me to start a local ministry group that I feel the Lord will eventually grow and expand, but right now its just me and four other women If you know of a woman, be it friend, sister, co-worker, or family member that has or is currently struggling with the loss of a baby I’d love if you’d share this blog with her. To be honest, before I even felt led in this direction the Lord was already using this small little space on the world wide web to impact and change women’s hearts in their journey toward healing. And now, having been made more aware of this, I am certain He wants our story to live on and to be poured into others lives.

Janet Thompson guest blogs for us today about her new release, Dear, God, He’s Home! A Woman’s Guide to her Stay-at-Home Man. To read more of Janet’s articles, visit her blog at www.womantowomanmentoring.com. 

5 Things You May Not Know About Dear God, He’s Home!

1. It’s humorous.

When I was writing the book and telling people about it, there were always laughter and chuckles. My husband noticed this, and asked me if it was going to be a funny book. I told him there would be some funny parts . . . but the book wouldn’t portray husbands in a negative light or poke fun at them.

Sometimes the best way to handle a transition or new situation is to laugh—at yourself and the circumstances. The humor comes from our humanness and some of the crazy things we do and say. God will turn your tears into laughter and your mourning into dancing if you let Him (Ecclesiastes 3:4).

2. It’s serious.

The book had to include serious moments because the circumstances that bring a husband home are often very serious—illness, accidents, disability, layoffs, PTSD, and unplanned retirement just to name a few. And the transitions that the wife and husband experience can at times be serious. God takes our problems and trials seriously (Matthew 11:28), so the book includes personalized Scripture and prayers.

3. It’s raw.

I am open, vulnerable, and real when sharing about myself, but I ways make sure to give God the glory for the amazing things He has done in my life. I do discuss my fears, inadequacies, anxious moments, and difficulties in adjusting to our new 24/7 lifestyle, as do the women sharing their stories in the book. In our weakness, God’s strength prevails (1 Corinthians 4:10).

4. It contains questions for couples, small groups, and readers’ groups.

My vision for the book is that it will encourage husbands and wives to talk about their “issues.” Often problems escalate from lack of communication. It also can be advantageous for women with stay-at-home men to form support groups, small groups, or couples’ groups; there’s a leader’s guide included to help facilitate the group. This would be a perfect book for book clubs. God tells us to meet together and encourage each other (Hebrews 10:25).

5. It features my husband as the hero of the book, but he says he’s the sacrificial lamb.

My husband graciously allowed me to share our lives and hearts with the readers. He also wrote the epilogue to give a window into his experience as a stay-at-home man. He is my helpmate and my biggest encourager. I could not do the things God has led me to do without my husband cheering me on. As God has ordained for marriage, we truly have become one (Mark 10:8).

Find out more about Dear God, He’s Home!, or read an excerpt.

Sammie Barstow guest blogs for us today about her experience with the extraordinary book Delivered.

Several years ago, I was asked to write a cover story for Missions Mosaic magazine about the relationship between Janet Gillispie and June Whitlow, Janet’s CWJC mentor. After my first conversation with Janet, I knew this story was bigger than a magazine article.

Janet and I built a friendship, and over several months I learned more about her amazing journey with God. Poor choices as a young girl had ensnared Janet into a life of drug and alcohol abuse. Marriage at 15, the death of her father, pregnancy with her first child, and the unfaithfulness of her husband were more than she could bear.

Her path into the dark pit of sin, homelessness, and, eventually even prostitution came to a dramatic turning point with the birth of her fourth child. In that moment, Janet came face-to-face with the redeeming power of God’s love for her, despite the circumstances.

But the story doesn’t end there. No, it had just begun. Now, almost 13 years later, Janet works as an x-ray tech at a local hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, and is the loving parent to her daughter, Brittany Anne. She speaks frequently at churches, civic clubs, women’s shelters, and rehabilitation programs where she always tells the amazing story of God’s redemption.

God impressed on me that surely many women could be encouraged by hearing how He had transformed Janet’s life. Also, I thought that families of prodigal children could find hope in knowing that God had touched Janet’s life in such a radical way, and that the same could be true for their loved one.

So Janet and I began our journey of telling the story—“God’s story,” she calls it. I gave Janet a tape recorder and a box of tapes, and asked her to begin at age 13 and tell her life story. I encouraged her to remember as many details as possible—sights, smells, feelings, and emotions.

This process took almost two years. As she sent me tapes, I transcribed them word for word. At the end, we had more than 800 pages of notes! It was my job to sift all this information and help Janet tell her story concisely and accurately.

Janet and I have prayed—and continue to pray—that this book will find its way into lives that need this encouraging message of God’s love and redeeming, saving power. May many lives be changed and may families be blessed as they read Delivered and realize that God is mighty, awesome, and willing to save to the uttermost.

Read an excerpt of Delivered: A Memoir.

Janet Gillispie, author of the powerful new memoir, Delivered, answers our questions about her new book and her experiences. She recorded her story on tape for Sammie Jo Barstow, who wrote down the work.

NH: What was the experience like for you, retelling your story over all those hours on tape? Was it emotional for you?
JG: Telling God’s story, or you could say the adventure I was on, was like reliving it. God took me back in time, in my mind and even my body. I could see, feel, and remember it all. The years, the days, the nights, the pain, the hunger, the fear and at times, the desperation and hopelessness I went through again, but I was also freed even more as I relived it. And I could see God’s mighty hand there even when I didn’t want Him or believe in Him! Telling it brought me to tears at times as I saw the pain I caused so many others, especially my mother Barbara, and all my children as I allowed them to slip away from my life, or what life you could say I was living. I thank God for my mother’s love that never died and God’s love that never gave up on me.

I think for anyone who has a story of any kind that could help someone else, that it doesn’t need to be buried away, but shared for not only yourself to see what God has done and where you were without Him, but also to help you see how mighty He is. To relive the road traveled again on those tapes helped me to be even more in awe of the Lord and His amazing grace! It also helped me to see just how lost I was and how blind I was.

NH: You’ve had the opportunity to share your story to groups around the country. What kinds of responses have you gotten?
JG: In sharing what God has done and the way He saved me, and the many years I was dead, I have had beautiful responses. Some folks would be in tears and come up to me afterward and share how their loved one was lost in the same things I had talked about—sin, drugs, alcohol, relationships, jail, all kinds of personal things. I feel God uses the story to give hope to so many.

Several times some have said to me, “If you can do it, so can I.” But I’m quick to say to them, “It wasn’t me—it was God! I trusted in God for the first time, and He saved me and will save you, too!”

But at the same time I’ve heard other remarks, not many, but some over the years. For example, while speaking concerning the children I had, someone shouted out, “Gosh, how many times did you get pregnant?” Or sometimes folks have whispered a remark or two. But I’ve been through that while I was in sin and lost, and it can’t hurt me anymore—I’m a new creation!

Sometimes while speaking I catch a facial expression in the audience and feel something might be wrong—not sure what and it’s not for me to figure out. I just try to be obedient and go where I’m invited to come, because He arranged it, and so I go tell it.

NH: You say in the book that you were responsible for your choices, but as a child and teenager, you didn’t have a lot of strong Christian influence in your life. What are some things that people who read the book can do to make an impact on young people who may be in similar circumstances? And how can we even find these young people if we don’t know any?
JG: I never knew I had made the choices that led me to the dark, lost life I was living until the Lord exposed it all—all the sin. I realized all the excuses, all the blame on others, and all the hatred were part of the lies of Satan has us to believe so we can keep going into the darkness. The lust, pleasure, selfishness, self-centeredness and the addictions—God showed to me that it was my choice and no one else’s.

As a parent I go with Brittany to the movies or the mall or the skating rink. I don’t just drop her off and go do my thing. Brittany is my plan, and that’s why God gave her to me and gave me another chance to be a mother, so I could be involved with her and her life and her plans. And everyday I ask God to help me become that Godly mother He would have me to be, and that I could help Brittany become a woman after God’s own heart, like King David, and to keep her pure and holy for Him.

To find young people to help, all you and I have to do is look around. You see kids out playing late when your child is inside eating, ask them if they’ve had supper yet and invite them in to eat. I do this a lot in our neighborhood; some of the moms are still at work or go in later than I do. Sometimes moms will give them a few bucks and we all go to the dollar movie, and I buy the popcorn. Rent a family movie, and invite some kids over and make a movie night. If you look around, you can see someone out alone, or the child that never has anyone in the bleachers cheering for them at a home run, and you know that’s the one you need to get to know. Talk to them, and talk some more, and they’ll keep coming back because you’re offering your heart to them. And then invite them to church, too, to camps and fall festivals and egg hunts and all the happenings, and get them involved.

Also Big Brothers Big Sisters, foster parenting, and other organizations in town all have opportunities to volunteer and make a difference. Ask God and He will show you where and how and when you can make a difference in other lives for Him!

NH: Will you let your daughter read the book now, or have her wait until she’s older? What will you tell her about it?
JG: Brittany can read the book whenever she’s ready—now if she would like. I’ve talked to her a lot about it. We’ve discussed how there could be some peers or others that may have something to say about me or her or my past life. She understands they may say unkind things and is prepared. I have asked God many times to protect her as He has for all these years. This book is His idea, and I believe He will take care of Brittany—after all, He saved her. She has been with me on occasion to speak and has heard it all more than once. I asked her permission to go forward with God’s story, also. She knows I carried her through a lot in pregnancy, but that since the day God delivered us both—our lives have been totally new because of the Lord Jesus Christ who died so that we could have this new life and give a new life to her mother! We were born together, and God has been by our side and will continue to be.

NH: You mentioned that several Christian speakers and Christian literature had a profound influence on you after you began your relationship with Christ. You mentioned Adrian Rogers and Charles Stanley. Who were others whose writing or speaking influenced you?
JG: I listened to Charles Stanley and still catch his TV and radio show on occasion. I think while at treatment he came on early in the morning along with Adrian Rogers, Dr. Jeremiah and Joyce Meyers. I also was very much influenced by and taught the Word of God by two important preachers while in treatment. Even after I graduated Olivia House, I became a member at Grace and Truth Mennonite Church pastored by Steve Longnecker and Richard Trucks, pastor of Third Presbyterian Church, is also a member there. Dr. Trucks feeds me the Word on Wednesday nights and Sundays and has been there for me and Brittany over all the years and even today.

Read an excerpt of Delivered: A Memoir.

A thrilling personal story you don’t want to miss! Delivered shares a raw and candid document of how one woman’s life was radically changed when she experienced the ultimate delivery—hers and that of an unexpected daughter. The greatness of God is so miraculously displayed that you’ll be inspired to believe that if God can change Janet’s life, He can change anyone.

Read an excerpt.