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PHOTO: BRADEY, CINEVITA FILMS

NICOL SPONBERG’S LIFE cannot be classified as ordinary. She spent part of her growing-up years as a missionary kid in the bushland of Congo, Africa. She was one-third of the award-winning Christian group Selah, whose songs still permeate the hearts of listeners. She experienced a whirlwind courtship at age thirty-two, marrying her husband just over two months after they

met. And she’s known loss, as her second child died of SIDS only ten weeks after he was born.  

The threads of her life are woven into a beautiful tapestry that makes Nicol who she is today. Her family experienced great hardship—including troubling bouts with malaria—and great spiritual reward—such as witnessing the power of prayer through miraculous healings. Nicol said, “Growing up in Africa was like one of those expe-

E N C O U R A G I N G S TO R I E S & N E W S

I N S I D E Does God keep His promises?

Help for children in hospitals

Hope comes to Pennsylvania2 6 8

A WALK IN THE STORM

“The gospel was brand new to me

even though I’d grown up hearing it all my life. It was like this is the greatest news!

This isn’t the end!”

NICOL SPONBERG

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Devotional Thought

Can we always trust God to keep His word?

The Promises of God

HAVE PEOPLE EVER let you down? That question belongs in the same category as: Is water wet? But what about this question: Has God ever let you down? Before you answer, let’s put it another way. Have you ever felt that God didn’t keep His word? Have you wondered—even complained—that He didn’t come through in the

way you thought He should? We know that God has promised to protect and care for His children. He

has promised to make us strong, to fill our hearts with joy, and to give us peace. God has promised to answer our prayers. Yet at times those prom-ises seem empty. Our prayers for a rebellious child seem to go unanswered.

Inflation and bills gnaw away at our paycheck. Someone close to us dies of cancer. Neighborhood crime gets worse. Terrorists plague the world. And Jesus hasn’t returned to make things right. Joy and peace seem like dreams.

The Bible tells us, “The Lord is trust-worthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does” (PSALM 145:13). What happened to all the promises God has made? Perhaps we’ve misunder-stood. Or maybe we’re just expecting too much.

While we try to figure out how God is going to answer a prayer or fulfill His promises, He is calmly and powerfully working out His plans behind the scenes and in ways and for reasons that we may not comprehend. It should not surprise us that in Isaiah 55, the Lord described our inability to understand His methods: “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (ISAIAH 55:8-9).

Although His reasons may elude us, and His methods may surprise us, God always fulfills His promises. As the apostle Paul said, “For the fool-ishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 CORINTHIANS 1:25).

This is an excerpt from The Promises of God, a Discovery Series booklet by Kurt DeHaan.

Go to discoveryseries.org/q0105 to read the entire booklet online or to order a copy.

Although His reasons may elude us and His methods may surprise us, God always fulfills His promises.

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Keep Trusting!

‘‘A friend has been giving me Our Daily Bread for years and I never read them—they went right in the wastebasket! In April of last year,

probably holding a new issue ready to toss it, Jesus Christ tapped me on the shoulder out of nowhere and completely changed my life. I was born again. After 72 years of spiteful hate, rage, selfishness and hurting everyone, I left the darkness of despair and misery for the incredible joy of goodness! Now I read Our Daily Bread cover to cover!” —RAY

HEARING THE STORIES of people like Ray is such a blessing to us. Even though our mission is to help people all over the world experience a personal relationship with Jesus, we realize that it is the Lord who does the real ministry of moving in people’s hearts. Ray’s story is a good reminder to keep praying for those

friends and loved ones who have yet to trust Jesus as Savior. In this issue of the Our Daily Bread Ministries

Newsletter, you’ll also read Nicol’s story. Faced with many challenges during the various seasons of her life, Nicol has learned that her true identity is found in God who has proved Himself to be faithful in both the joys and the sorrows.

We are thankful for every prayer that is lifted up for Our Daily Bread Ministries and for the gifts we receive so we can continue to spread the Word of God to help change lives. Thank you for sharing Our Daily Bread and our other Bible-based resources. We couldn’t do it without you.

RICK DEHAANOUR DAILY BREAD MINISTRIES

A Message

from Rick DeHaan

Ray’s story is a good reminder to keep praying for those friends and loved ones who have yet to trust Jesus as Savior.

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riences that you wouldn’t trade for anything, but a lot of it you wouldn’t necessarily want to relive. There were exciting things. There were people of incredible depth spiritually.”

Nicol came from a musical family where music was always playing in the background, and as she said, “We just sang. It was kind of like breathing to us.” At twelve years old, while back in the States for furlough, Nicol was asked to sing for a Christmas concert. That performance hit her sweet spot. “That’s when I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

She came back from the mission field  at sixteen and attended high school and college. She majored in political science and French in college, but moved to Nashville, Tennessee, shortly afterward to find her place in the Christian music scene. Nicol said, “I just always had this insatiable love for music. It was so therapeutic. And it was something I couldn’t stop doing.” But “making it” doesn’t come easy on your own timetable. “Two years later I remember just pounding my hands on the steering wheel asking, ‘Lord, why have you not opened up opportunities? Why is this so hard?’” Shortly afterward, she got a call from

a producer who had heard her demo tape and wanted to hire her as a backup singer. She said, “That was the first time I realized this has to all be orches-trated by God. I could try as much as I wanted. I had my little tape, and I went down music row. And every door was shut in my face. Every single time I tried to manipulate it and make something happen, it didn’t work.”

She started singing hymns around Nashville with her brother Todd Smith, and that eventually snow-balled into the group Selah. She was in that group for about eight years before heading into a solo career.

While singing at the Founder’s Week at Moody Bible Institute in 2003, Nicol met Greg Sponberg. They immediately hit it off and eloped only nine and a half weeks later. Nicol said, “We’ve been married twelve years. And I think the greatest thing about our marriage is seeing him as a dad.” Their daughters are Summer (nine), Aliyah (three and a half), and Sydney (two). There are highs and lows in anyone’s life, and one of the lows that forever changed Nicol and Greg was the unexpected death of their baby Luke. This came just one month after the death of Nicol’s infant niece, the daughter of her brother Todd and his wife. Having seen miraculous physical healings firsthand in Africa, Nicol believes in the dramatic power of prayer. “I think that was why it was so hard for

A new view: Amidst loss, Nicol Sponberg has discovered God’s loving hand on her life and a fresh appreciation for the gospel.

I had seen God heal people . . . and [yet] they couldn’t bring my son back to life.

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(“A Walk in the Storm,” continued from page 1)

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me when we lost our son—because I had seen God heal people, including my own brother when he was sick. And here we are in America with all the greatest resources, and they couldn’t bring my son back to life. It was just indescribable horror. There are no words in the English language to describe the anguish that we felt.”

Walking through grief was a tremendously difficult process, yet Nicol and Greg felt the presence of God. Nicol said, “I think after losing our son it was this moment of real-izing ‘Okay, I know You’re good. I don’t always like what that means. I don’t always understand what that means. It’s hard to understand why things happen.’ And it’s hard to have those unresolved places in your life. And I think I’ve come to realize that He’s okay with that, and it’s okay to have some things remain a mystery. I guess that’s really what faith is

anyway. It’s not having it all figured out.” After the loss of Luke, the couple expe-

rienced the loss of three other children by miscarriage. It was a very dry season in their lives, until their daughter Aliyah came like refreshing rain. Nicol remembered, “Aliyah was like a turning point for our family. We had come out of four years of grief losing our son followed by some miscarriages. Her due date was Thanksgiving Day, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.” Although Aliyah’s Down Syndrome was a surprise to them, her life is a testimony of God’s love. Nicol recalled her sister’s comment, “She said, ‘You know it’s so much like our relationship with God. He accepts us and loves us because we’re His. We don’t have to do anything to earn His love. Look at Greg. He’s crazy over that little girl. And you could just tell every time you see them together. That’s a picture of God the Father’s love for us.’”

Nicol has walked through incredible joys and intense heartaches, but it all has brought her closer to her Father and her heavenly home—where Luke is now. She said, “We have great hope because of Jesus, because of what He did on the cross. My friend said, ‘Don’t gloss over grief, it’s horrible. It’s what makes the gospel so brilliant.’ I’ve always talked about heaven, but I never had to sit on that truth. I never had to put stock on it until a piece of us was there. And the gospel was brand new to me even though I’d grown up hearing it all my life. It was like this is the greatest news! This isn’t the end! If we can accept what Jesus did for us, there is so much to look forward to. The best thing you’ve ever experienced in this life will pale in comparison to what awaits us.”

Visit us at ourdailybread.org/story to watch more of Nicol’s story.

“Look at Greg. He’s crazy over that little girl. That’s a picture of God the Father’s love for us.”

Nicol’s latest CD, Awake My Soul, is filled with hymns centered on the One who is always faithful. dhp.org/nicol

Through the highs and lows: Nicol with her girls Sydney, Summer, and Aliyah, and husband, Greg.

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LUKE AT THE HOSPITAL is an evangelistic book created by Our Daily Bread Ministries in Brazil that is given to children while in the hospital. It presents the gospel message and helps children cope with their hospitalization. Around 30,000 Portuguese copies were distributed in Brazil, and a Spanish version is being distributed

in Argentina, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru. The Caribbean is also now distributing some 10,000 copies of the English edition.

Through chaplains and other programs, such as Helping Hands in Honduras, these books are distributed to comfort children and their fami-lies during their time at the hospital. Children ages four to ten enjoy the colorful book about the story of Luke and are encouraged by the volunteers who distribute the booklets and spend time with them during this difficult time in their lives.

Please pray with us that these books will continue to comfort children and their families as well as give them hope through the gospel message.

Evangelistic book of comfort for children

Luke at the Hospital

Stories

Ministering in Brazil

Hope in hospital: These Honduran children have something colorful and fun to read during their hospital stay: Lucas en el Hospital, or Luke at the Hospital.

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Our Daily Bread for Brazil’s police and firefighters

Caring for the Protectors

Saturday, April 30

Plan NOW to Attend!TAKE A DAY AWAY from the hustle and bustle of your normal routine and join us for a time of encouragement and inspiration from Our Daily Bread. We’re hosting the Second Annual One-Day Bible Conference at the Detroit World Outreach Christian Center Church in Redford, Michigan. You’ll enjoy Bible teaching, wonderful speakers, and dynamic worship! Register at ourdailybread.org/events, mark your calendar, and come worship with us on April 30!

RECENTLY, the military police force and the fire brigade in Curitiba held celebrations honoring over 100 years of service. Part of the celebrations included a religious service, and Our Daily Bread Ministries partici-pated by developing special editions of Our Daily Bread designed to minister specifically to the police force and the fire brigade. Everyone

who attended this celebration—including police and fire brigade personnel, as well as civilian dignitaries—was given a copy of Our Daily Bread.

As firefighter Lt. Rafaella told us, “Our training without God’s inter-vention cannot fully protect us. God needs to be in our hearts so that we

can do our best to help others. This devotional will help us to get closer to the Lord and to better understand our dependence on Him.”

Please pray that these special devotionals will impact the lives of police and fire brigade personnel as they risk their lives each day to protect others.

Hope for the helpers: Firefighters in Curitiba, Brazil were given Pao Diario (Our Daily Bread) by Thais Soler and other Our Daily Bread Ministry staff members.

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MY WIFE AND I came to Columbia, Pennsylvania, as church planters with the expectation of starting a church in town with oversight from the Grace Brethren Church in York, Pennsylvania. As our Bible studies began, we soon realized everyone God was sending us

struggled with an addiction. God changed our plans. We became a Friday night ER—a church for those struggling with addictions like alcohol, drugs, sexual issues, anger, or food, or with any hurt, hang-up, or habit. We are in our ninth year and have heard many stories of abuse, rape, anger, mental-health issues, along with death by heroin, abuse of alcohol, use of opiates, and synthetic drugs.

Our message has been to bring hope, mercy, and forgiveness using the Bible, a 12-step program, the Celebrate Recovery lesson and small-group materials, and the Our Daily Bread. The foundation of complete, lasting recovery is a personal and ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. In order to get those coming to discipline themselves to be reading their Bibles daily, the Our Daily Bread became that tool. With this devotional, you can read through the Bible in a year, check on each other for questions about the reading that day, or hold each other accountable.

Now our “regulars” who use the Our Daily Bread also pick up copies to give to others when sharing their recovery testimony. We encourage testimonies and discipleship, as well as using the Our Daily Bread and Bible.

Thank you for being part of what God is doing here in Columbia, Pennsylvania!

Pete Petroski, Pastor of Prison & Recovery Ministries Vision Columbia Church, Columbia, PA

“Thank you for being part of what God is doing here . . .”

You Can Make a Difference!MANY PEOPLE, making even the smallest of donations, enable us to reach others with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible.

Visit us online at ourdailybread.org/donate to discover how you can help.

We are not funded or endowed by any group or denomination and are grateful for the support given to Our Daily Bread Ministries.

Stories

From our readers

PO BOX 2222 ourdailybread.org GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49501-2222© 2015 Our Daily Bread Ministries AG1601

Pete and Brenda Petroski

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