Amber and Her Children

Amber said when she was in the 7th grade, she was diagnosed with scoliosis, a curvature of the spine. Throughout her life, this condition has caused her great discomfort. Recently, however, the pain had become excruciating. Amber made a trip to the doctor and was informed that her left hip was shorter than her right hip. She would need to begin immediate treatment to relieve some of the pain.

I was so sorry to hear about this…yet excited inside because I knew God, my loving Father, was up to something BIG! He had just proven to her how much He loved her and her family by providing things that they needed…FREE of charge! Little did she know, that He is also known as Jehovah Rapha…the Lord Who heals you, the Lord Who is your HEALTH. I told her I would be back to pray for her because Jesus wanted to heal her. She looked at me with bewilderment but said ok.

A few days later, Papa Joe and I went back to pray with them and bring encouragement. We shared the Gospel of Jesus with them…it was their first time hearing the “Good News!” After sharing some of our personal testimony we ended with prayer. After I prayed, the power of God was so prominent I could barely stand. I asked her if she felt anything and she said, “YESSS, I felt something unscrewing out of my hip!!!! And the pain left…it is GONE!!!” She just giggled, and tears of joy streamed down her face. She kept saying she couldn’t believe what just happened. I told her that she just experienced the miraculous power of JESUS! I was delighted to then share with her how much she is cherished and valued in the heart of a loving Father. We praise you, Lord!!

A few days later, I received a letter from Amber. Here is an excerpt:

“…I have never experienced anything like that before. When you commanded all the pain in my back and hips to be gone, I felt the Spirt come over me. I felt awesome. I cried, thanking Jesus, because he lifted me up to stand up straight!! I felt where the pain was, where it should have been, and there was nothing! How could that be possible? It was like…just a few seconds ago…pain was creeping up my hip to my back, and then out of nowhere, poof!! I feel where the pain was, in its place, is the most amazing feeling! I went the whole day…not once did I take a pain pill or have to sit down. Not once did I complain! I feel awesome, and I thank God! God used you to heal me!! And I thank you, for letting God use you to get to me! I am hooked on the line of Jesus, REEL ME IN! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!”

Thank you, Lord!! She is sooo on fire and ready to learn more about JESUS! She now wants to tell the world about what Jesus has done for her. Praise His holy, matchless Name!!!!

Selah:  I stand in awe of God’s love…it’s ultimately unconditional. His love extends to all who will be open to receive it…it seems crazy to reject free gifts.

In an act of desperation, Sonya approached one of our team members and explained that she and her two girls had nothing…nothing at all in their home. Tears flowed down her face as she began to tell her story.

At the age of one, while Sonya was asleep, her father murdered her mother and grandparents. For these brutal crimes, he was convicted and sentenced to serve two life sentences in prison. As a result of this devastating situation, Sonya was left parentless and eventually was taken in to be raised by her aunt.

Though she grew up with a home, the loss of her parents left her with a deep sense of loneliness and unworthiness – the feelings of an orphaned child. A fractured view of her self and the world around her led her down a long path of destruction…a path that took her even further from the love and acceptance she so desperately needed. For the past 10 years, Sonya has wandered, homeless and directionless.

But as of this past year, Sonya has been doing all she can to get back on her feet…but finding her footing has proven difficult. In July, she and her girls moved into one of Nashville’s subsidized housing developments (aka: the projects). But she had nothing to fill it with…no furniture, no cookware, no beds…there was nothing but huge rats that crawled the concrete floors where they slept. However, despite having so little to her name, she was happy she had a place to call her own. Another encouraging event soon followed.

On her 34th birthday, Sonya and her father re-united. He was given one day to re-connect. And, incredibly, Sonya agreed to see him. This unexpected reunion filled her with a gratifying comfort; she felt loved and accepted as his daughter. She forgave him and loved him back regardless of what he had done in his past. All she wanted was a “Daddy.” Unfortunately however, this sensation was not lasting. Just 4 months ago, her father passed away, dying of Cirrhosis of the liver. And once again, Sonya was left without a father; that orphan feeling came back almost instantly.

But God, who is a Father to the fatherless, has a plan…a path for her to the Love she has been seeking so desperately.

When the Lord brought us to this precious woman and her children and we heard her story, we were compelled to do our part. We went on a search to find things for the family. Amazingly, we soon came into contact with a woman who was moving out of town and needed to get rid of her furniture. We shared a bit of Sonya’s story and the kind woman was touched and donated many of her possessions. Along with furniture and a bed, Sonya was blessed with a dinette set, cookware, kitchen utensils, drinking glasses, a lamp and other little items that meant so much to her. She even received a turkey with all the fixings for Thanksgiving!

When we delivered the stuff, tears once again streamed down her face…this time, however, a smile and a heart full of gratitude accompanied them. She beamed as she told us how excited she was to be able to cook her first Thanksgiving meal for family. Such a wonderful moment. God is sooo good!!

Regarding Sonya and her family, we know that mere “things” alone will not bring lasting comfort, but in our time with them we were able to plant seeds of Love into their precious lives. And God the Father, who watches over everything, knows how to make those seeds grow.

Please join us in prayer for Sonya and her two girls!

Donations to Elijah’s Heart help enable us to reach families such as this.

Thank you for your much need support!

During the evening, we will be presenting gifts to many inner-city children brought together by Elijah’s Heart and other non-profit organizations throughout the Nashville area. Check out our Christmas Gift Registry to see how you can take part.

Admission will be free. Donations will go toward Elijah’s Heart programs including the Walk of Love. More details on the event coming soon. Please stay tuned!

Any youth from 1st – 12th grade are welcome to join with the Unity Choir for this special performance.  Please contact unitychoir@elijahsheart.com if you are interested!

They have a 4-month-old baby boy, a 2-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy. Currently, the mother stays at home to raise the children while she works to get her GED. The father is a security officer for Sophia’s Heart Ministry – a ministry that houses and feeds homeless families. Despite their best efforts, they are often left without enough money to pay bills and often fall behind on diapers, food and other necessities.

The father, 24-years-old, works 8 to 12-hour shifts every night making $8 an hour. Every other day, he sells his plasma for $20. Despite how exhausted he feels at the end of the day, he said how grateful he is for the time he has with his children. That love fuels him to stay awake for hours after work, just hugging and playing with them.

As he was telling me this, I was absolutely blown away. I felt the very heart of the Father beating for him. I saw that he is a treasure of a man – a struggling but entirely loving father.  A hard worker trying to provide for his family in an environment of drugs, poverty and violence – a world just inches away outside their front door.

He went on to say many touching things about his children, but one statement resounded in my utter being. He said he refused to let his children grow up fatherless. When he told us that, the young mother’s hands clasped against her face, and she began to cry.

Her tears flowed like a fountain as she told us she daily prayed to Jesus for something different than her unstable childhood for her kids…that they would grow up happy, safe and “ok.” She told us she wants to be able to buy them toys and take them to parks…to fill their lives with the little joys she rarely experienced while growing up. And she had faith that God heard her and had a plan. Despite the way things currently appear, she believes Jesus has something wonderful in store for her and her family. This is her hope.

Over the course of this special meeting, the Lord revealed to me such a powerful truth. The children in the communities we serve are not the only ones longing and begging for the love of a father and mother. These dear, precious adults are also yearning to connect with people who have the hearts of fathers or mothers – mighty warriors of love and ambassadors of hope.

After connecting with this family, our hearts became so moved with the compassion of Jesus. We feel compelled to make a tangible difference in the life and destiny of this family. And we want to ask YOU to link arms with us!

The Family’s Needs (updated 11-13-12) :

• living room furniture (couch etc.) 
• baking and cookware
• food (frozen meats, non-perishable items, etc.) 
• gas cards 
• washing machine
• toys for children (to put smiles on their little faces)
• size 2 and 5 diapers

If you are able to donate or procure any of these items, please contact Tami at finder@elijahsheart.com.

Even if you don’t have any of these items, donating to Elijah’s Heart helps enable us to give towards the many precious families in need such as this one.

Please join with us in the fight against poverty and hopelessness - one family at a time.

Thank you for your support!

Nicky, a Family Relations Team Member

On October 6th, 2012, Elijah’s Heart hosted an unforgettable Walk of Love in the CWA apartments – a low-income community here in Nashville. CWA houses over 250 families, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet financially and have great difficulty obtaining even the most basic necessities.

For this Walk of Love, we were excited to partner with Feed the Children, who generously donated hundreds of boxes of food, hygiene items and personal care products for us to distribute to the community!

On Saturday morning, the event began with a special “thank you” to Tanga and Andre for their years of service with the CWA community and for graciously opening doors for organizations like us to bring aid to many families in need.

After this heart-warming presentation, the Elijah’s Heart team and over 200 volunteers from all over the U.S. rolled up their sleeves, broke up into three teams and walked door-to-door delivering the boxes of goods. It was such a wonderful sight to see volunteers of all ages and demographics coming together with a unified purpose to show love in action.

The children and families in this community were overjoyed to receive the supplies. Many of them reported the assistance came just in time. Margaret, a 92-year-old resident, told two of our volunteers that she wasn’t sure where her meals would come from that week. The sweet lady said she had prayed just that morning, telling God about the situation…and just hours later, Walk of Love volunteers knocked on her door with boxes containing the very supplies she needed! Praise the Lord!

After the boxes were delivered, the families in the community as well as the Walk of Love volunteers were invited to gather in the CWA parking lot for a tasty barbecue treat – generously donated by Neely’s Barbecue. We all had an incredible afternoon together…a great time of fellowship and encouragement.

We’d like to say a sincere THANK YOU to the wonderful volunteers who helped on Saturday, to Feed the Children for partnering with us, to Neely’s Barbecue for your delicious donation and to the accommodating staff at CWA! We look forward to the next time we can all unite together.

 If you have attended a Walk of Love and had an amazing experience, we’d love to hear about it. Please share your story here.

Denise Bradford

Story by Denise Bradford, co-founder of Elijah’s Heart and wife of Papa Joe

On Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012, D3 Entertainment sponsored a “movie day event,” giving over a hundred children from Nashville’s inner city the opportunity to see Unconditional in the theater.

The heart behind the film, Unconditional, is to raise awareness about children, like the ones who were invited on this day, who are desperately searching for hope, acceptance and value. This special event, a cooperative effort by multiple organizations, was meant to be a gift of kindness and loving affection toward these children. The experience and the responses were truly mind-blowing!

Initially, Elijah’s Heart was asked to invite the Unity Choir and other children from the low-income communities we reach, but Papa Joe felt led to include children being served by other inner-city ministries in the Nashville area as well. Youth from Rocketown, Youth Life Learning Center with Yolanda Shields, Family Affair with Pastor Glenda Gleaves Sutton, and various YMCA programs with Amber Jackson were thrilled to participate.

The day began with the children being picked up from their communities and bussed to the theater together. When the children arrived, they were greeted with love and received popcorn, drinks and candy to enjoy during the film…all graciously provided by Mt. Zion Baptist Church and Bishop Joseph Warren Walker, III.

As the film began…as I sat in that theater, I could feel the tangible presence of a loving Father filling the atmosphere. It was like waves of peace, comfort and healing sweeping through each row…flowing over the children who were so deeply engaged in the story and its message of hope and unconditional LOVE.

As they watched, the children and adult chaperones laughed, shouted in excitement and cried at the dramatic representation of the life of their “Papa Joe.” By the end, the young ones were cheering like we were watching a football game and our team had won!

After the film, I had a chance to speak with a few children about their experience. Many of them said they were thrilled to see themselves actually in the movie (the producers had cast a number of inner-city children in the film). Others, having learned more about their “Papa Joe,” felt special to get to be in his life and to be loved by him. Without exception, they all said they loved the movie and a few even declared their favorite parts were… “EVERYTHING!”

For many of them, the movie hit very close to home. During a scene where the young boy asked Papa Joe to be his dad, an Elijah’s Heart team member said she could hear a little boy behind her crying and his words, “I know what it feels like…to not have a dad.”

There was one man who came along who was an actual father of a child who was cast as one of “Papa Joe’s kids” in the film. Before he said a word to me about his experience, I could tell he was blown away and very deeply affected. With a smile from ear-to-ear, he explained to me how he never opens up to anyone about the time he had spent in prison. But after seeing that Papa Joe had a similar experience, he felt connected with him. He was not only inspired but was given a sense of hope that penetrated through his heart, overriding the feelings of failure and rejection. He told me he now felt there was hope for a future in spite of his prison background. Sounds to me like yet another incredible story in the making!

On the way home, one of the bus drivers reported how much she enjoyed listening to the kids talking about some of the exciting highlights of the movie. They were raving over the fight scenes, the suspense and mystery. One of the adult chaperones on the bus asked them their take on the whole point of the movie…and with ONE, collective voice, they ALL yelled, “LOVE EVERYBODYYYYY!!!” The bus driver was so moved she almost cried as she told me. She exclaimed, “They got it…they really got it!”

I could go on and on about that day. There was no mistaking the loving presence of God intimately saturating even such a public place. The hand of the Father caressed the hearts of these precious, captivated children…and even the adults. I am forever thankful for the producers and director/writer for allowing their gifts to be used by God. Blessings upon this film…BLESSINGS upon the hearts opened to receive the anointing that flows from it.

And the fruit of reaching out to other organizations was a remarkable sign of unity – a sign that was witnessed by all the leaders involved. They unanimously agreed that this is just the beginning of more cross-organization events to come.

In closing, I can tell you with certainty that this movie will indeed have a lasting impact on all those who saw it…and that this wonderful day will be one I will never forget.

Story by Nicky, an Elijah’s Heart team member

Anna, a 10-year-old girl, sings in our Unity Choir, a group composed of children from both Nashville’s inner city and the Elijah’s Heart team. Despite her young age, she has lived a very complicated, very painful life. Under the constant strain of poverty, Anna’s home life was not only unstable but turbulent.

From the age of 2, Anna had been subjected to sexual abuse by her grandfather and father. Her grandfather was eventually imprisoned for his many crimes against her. Anna’s drug-addicted mother, having issues coping with the cruelty of the men in her life, took it out on Anna – inflicting severe mental and emotional trauma upon her.

Recently, her step sister, with whom Anna was very close, was forced to leave their home because her father (Anna’s step-father) had been deported. This heart-breaking situation came suddenly, leaving Anna’s family without proper financial support. Soon after, they were evicted from their apartment. She, along with her mother and brother, had to move from their home to live with her grandmother. Anna was devastated.

Nia, my 10-year-old daughter, sings with Anna in the Unity Choir. The two girls had become friends; and over time, Anna felt safe sharing some of her story with the two of us.

Every morning, Anna said she would wake up feeling heavy and sad. The burden of helplessness had grown over time and now her depression had become almost too heavy to bear. To numb the pain, Anna admitted she had been using drugs and drinking rubbing alcohol. The relief was, of course, fleeting. The same pain returned every morning.

After hearing all this, Nia and I, with tears, cried to the Lord and prayed for Anna’s dear life. Through our time connecting with God, we knew He had not abandoned her….despite how the situation appeared. We knew that He created this precious girl and had a great plan for her life.

During their time together, Nia told her about the love of Jesus. She explained to Anna that she didn’t have to be sad and cry all the time – that she could ask Jesus into her heart, and He would give her joy…a joy she had not known. He would protect her in the hard times and connect her to Father God. Anna wasn’t sure about Jesus or trusting any “father figure” after what she had been through…but she took her friend’s words to heart.

About a month ago, Anna learned that her grandmother was extremely ill. This news came as a blow to Anna since her grandmother had become a rare point of stability in her life. As she began to feel her world was about to be turned upside down yet again, Anna remembered her friend from the Unity Choir….she remembered the promise of joy that could be found with Jesus. Desperate for help, Anna literally ran to our house. There, she poured out her heart to Nia and me, explaining how scared she’d been and how much pain and anger had lived inside her for so long.

Anna asked about Jesus, and if we could introduce her to Him. The answer was YES!! Anna prayed and accepted Jesus into her heart and asked Him to be Lord of her life from that day forward.

As soon as the prayer left her mouth, Anna’s entire countenance was different…profoundly changed. She stood giggling in amazement, saying over and over how happy she felt! She simply could not believe it! She danced and twirled around the room, saying she felt so “light”. For the first time in her life, Anna was experiencing the Joy of the Lord. A deep joy, that lifts one out of their circumstances and into the safe and loving arms of the Father. I told her the angels in Heaven felt that joy too and were having a huge party to celebrate her new life with Jesus!

Before she left our house, Anna prayed for her Grandmother’s healing and for her family’s salvation. She spoke with a new found trust in a Father who hears her and who is ever so close to her…a Father who can give her a hope and a future. To commemorate the moment, Nia made a small cross out of popsicle sticks and gave it to Anna. Though just a few sticks of wood, Anna grasped it as if it were gold, a small token to remember what Jesus did for her and how much He loves her.

Anna said about that life-changing day:

 “I knew it was just the right thing to do [so I asked Jesus into my heart]. I was so tired of being so sad. I needed Jesus to help me. I feel so different. I feel happy and warm inside.”

Though her home life still has instability in a few areas, the abuse has been stopped. And when tough times come, Anna has reported that Jesus has been with her, giving her peace and joy.

Thank you, Lord, for your saving grace and unfailing love! Thank you, Lord, for using us as instruments to bring YOUR LOVE to Your children. Thank you for this precious girl, this precious family…for which you have such a mighty plan. Thank you, JESUS!!!

Name of girl featured in story has been changed to protect her identify.