Riley's Story

Hope for the World India - RileyI was raised in a family who knew God, and at the age of 8 years, I gave my heart to Him.  During my late teen years I drifted away from trying to live a righteous life and began doing things my way. 

The ways of the world seemed better than pleasing God.  I continued to go to worship on Sunday's, and even after I married, I made sure my children were in church.  There was no outward reflection that I knew the Lord.  My relationship with God had become a well-kept secret, hiding in the closet,  jumping out on Sundays and back in on Mondays.

In the spring of 1990, things changed.  I was in Atlanta, Georgia at Emory Hospital and my brother was dying in desperate need of a liver transplant.  My brother's condition was critical, and his body was frail.  Just before the surgery, I talked to the doctor.  I was told that my brother may not make it through 22 hour surgery and his only hope was to pray for him.  Except for praying for a blessing before a meal, it had been 25 years since I talked to God.

Outside, alone in the back of my father's van, I cried out to God to save my brother's life.  It was at that moment that I totally submitted my life to the Lord and committed to do the things that pleased God.  I don't believe God made my brother ill for me to get myself right with him, but it took that tragic incident to make me realize that I need Him first and foremost in my life.

I committed from that day forward to live a God-focused life.  Not a day goes by that I do not talk with God and praise His Holy Name.  

God saved my brother's life that day and gave me a new life worth living.  Because of God's mercy and grace, he has allowed me to be involved in things I never imagined.

Starting in 1997, with a trip to Uganda, Africa, my love for "helping the hopeless" was birthed in my heart.  In April 2004, in obedience to God, I "gave away" a prosperous transportation business in Atlanta and answered a full time call from God for the country of India.  All praise and glory to God.