Spotlight
Broken to Become New
By Dara Rasavanh
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalms 34:18, NIV).
I helplessly laid my head on my husband’s shoulder, staring at the hospital floor. I felt dead inside. The only thing that could comfort me was the thought that maybe I was just dreaming. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I held her and walked her around New York’s Central Park, my childhood dream place to visit?
This can’t be true, I thought. If I can close my eyes, allow myself to go to sleep, everything will be fine when I wake up.
Oh no. The doctor came out of the emergency room and walked toward us. I don’t like the look on his face. He and his team escorted us to a small consultation room, where we all sat in silence. I stood up thinking, I’m getting out of this dream. This is not happening. I need to wake up!
My husband, Mike, held me down. I didn’t want to hear. I didn’t want to listen to what the doctor had to say. I just wanted to shut down. Instead, I heard Mike say, “She’s gone; she’s with God.”
What? She’s with God? How can she be with God? She’s my baby, my firstborn. She was in my arms yesterday.
That was July 8, 1989, the day our two-year-old daughter, Samantha, was killed in a one-car accident.
Having arrived as refugees with our families in the U.S. in the ’70s, Mike and I had finally begun to live the American dream. We had just bought a new car and a home in Des Moines, Iowa. We had good jobs, an education, and were happily married with our first child. Life was going as planned. We were living our dreams. We were looking towards a good future. As a young couple in the greatest country in the world, we felt nothing could go wrong. Death was not part of our equation.
I can’t say that my walk with the Lord has always been rosy. I’ve had ups and downs, but I know He’s always near when I have allowed Him to take me to my broken places. I’ve learned that I must die daily to myself in order to live daily for God in Christ!
I felt like one of the walking dead as we planned for our daughter’s funeral. The possibility of this event had never crossed my mind. The only response I had for everyone was “That’s fine.” There were lots of people who came to pay their respects and give us their condolences. I wanted to cry. I wanted to laugh, but nothing came out!
After the funeral, I thought, Now what? What am I supposed to do? My hopes, my dreams . . . they’re gone. The pain in my heart was too much to bear. I wanted to pull my heart out and be done with it!
Mike and I were grieving in our own ways. We weren’t talking as much, mostly arguing. Some days I felt like I could live, and some days I wished to disappear. I wanted to die and be done with the pain!
I started questioning God, “Why are you doing this to me? What have I done wrong? I’ve been a good girl. I accepted your Son as my Savior! I made a confession of faith at age 17, married a Christian man, and go to church on Sundays. What else do you want from me?”
The more I questioned God, the angrier I became. I wanted to get away from everything. I told Mike I wanted to be alone. I didn’t want to be married anymore. I asked him to divorce me. His response was, “Never. I’d rather die than divorce you!” At least Mike’s words put an end to my crazy thoughts.
One Sunday evening I was so lost I thought about taking my own life. I kept driving and driving. Somehow I ended up at our church, First Church of the Open Bible, pastored by Rev. Ken Groen. The service had already started, so I slipped into the back pew and sat down. Pastor Ken was preaching from the book of Joshua on the faith of Rahab, the prostitute who hid the Israelite spies. She and her household were saved because of Rahab’s faith and courage. Rahab was the only woman who was credited by name into the Bible’s Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11).
At the end of the sermon Pastor Ken gave an altar call. I thought that was kind of interesting since I was brought up in a Christian Reformed church, and we didn’t have altar calls. I had nothing to lose because sometimes I wasn’t quite sure if I was dead or alive, so I went up to be prayed for, my first experience with an altar call.
When I came home after the service, Mike and I had a long talk, our first meaningful talk since Samantha’s funeral. I told Mike that I wanted to go back to college and live at the school. Surprisingly, he was okay with that and said he would do whatever he could to support me. That night, he asked me to pray with him, and we cried out to God, asking Him to help us get through our pain. We were young and immature both physically and spiritually. As we look back now, we credit that first prayer together as the beginning of our journey with God as the head of our house.
When we woke up the next morning, I felt as if a miracle had happened. I felt like living again. The desire to go off on my own went away. Instead, I decided to stay home and continue my college education in Des Moines. I continued to question God and to talk to Him about everything, spiritual things. The more I talked with Him, the more I came to understand I really didn’t know Him, and I wanted to know Him more.
I realized that the reason my relationship with God was so shallow was that I didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I had received Jesus into my life as my Savior, but I had put him on the shelf, so to speak. I worshiped Him but never allowed Him to be in my life. I repented and thanked the Lord for opening my eyes to see the Way, the Truth, and the Life through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
I can’t say that my walk with the Lord has always been rosy. I’ve had ups and downs, but I know He’s always near when I have allowed Him to take me to my broken places. I’ve learned that I must die daily to myself in order to live daily for God in Christ!
Mike and I felt led to take discipleship courses through INSTE Bible College. I’m proud to say that Mike was part of the first class of second level graduates, and I also graduated first level. We have two more children, Zach, age 32 (and daughter-in-law, Molly), and Bella, 28. We also have a two-year-old granddaughter, Vivian.
In 1996, God called us to plant the Asian Open Bible Church, now Lifesong Open Bible. After serving God at Lifesong for twenty years, the Lord called us to become missionaries to Southeast Asia in 2017. We are now working on getting Open Bible mission works going in Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.
It is a privilege to be part of God’s Kingdom and a great honor to serve Him. From my experience I learned that sometimes God must take us to a place of brokenness. There we will find Him because He is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. When we truly find God and have Christ in our lives, He can take what the devil meant for evil and turn it around for our good, just as promised in Romans 8:28 (KJV): “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” God is doing a work in us. Sometimes He takes us to the point of brokenness so that He can transform us into something new, something useful, something beautiful.
About the Author
Dara Rasavanh was born in Laos in 1966 and, at the age of thirteen, migrated with the rest of her family to the U.S. She and her husband, Mike, planted the Asian Open Bible Church (now Lifesong Church of the Open Bible) in 1996 and assisted in the building of the Lifesong Learning Center in Cambodia in 2007. After pastoring for twenty years, the Rasavanhs accepted the call to go back to Southeast Asia as Open Bible missionaries and have been living in Thailand since 2017. Dara, an INSTE Bible College 1st Level graduate, holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s degree in education administration. She is currently a PhD Candidate in organizational management from Christian University of Thailand.
On the fifth day of creation, our wonderful God showed himself in a brand new way. He began to create the living creatures that walk among us. This expression of His creation has shown itself throughout history; from Noah’s dove, to Balaam’s donkey, to Jonah’s whale and Daniel’s lions, God has continued to use animals in His grand plan and purpose.
We can still use these animals as a metaphor for God’s love and guidance. One notable example comes from Bob Sjogren’s book Cat and Dog Theology: “A dog says, ‘You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, you must be God.’ A cat says, ‘You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, I must be God.’”
As true as this may be, something wonderful happens when the molds break.
[God] certainly doesn’t want to drag us from one destination to the next. He would rather we follow Him willingly, eager to remain in His presence.
In our family, we recently experienced an interesting phenomenon when it came to our pets. To understand the story better, you need to understand our animals. Ralphie is our young, spirited Maltipoo. He has never met a stranger he didn’t love. He is sweet, loyal and in many ways the ideal companion.
Then we have our chihuahua, Sally. We found Sally roaming our neighborhood in 2014 with no tags and no microchip. She had obviously been mistreated, and when I took her to the vet, they found so many things wrong with her that I was advised, “Don’t be in a huge hurry to find her owner.”
We cleaned Sally up, and two weeks later she was legally ours. While she is affectionate to us and our kids, to this day, if I lift my hand to give her a pat on the head, she winces as if I am going to hit her (something I have never done and never intend to do).
Ralphie and Sally’s unique natures show themselves on our nightly walk around the neighborhood.
Ralphie tries his hardest to pull on the leash and run ahead. He so desperately wants to lead whoever is holding the leash that he nearly chokes himself on his collar. (We’ve had to switch to a harness.) He is unaware that he is only eight pounds, and his actions make little to no difference in the direction we are going.
Sally, however, must be practically dragged throughout the walk. She is timid and afraid to take a step that she isn’t sure is safe.
It’s quite a sight to have such different dogs reacting to the same thing.
Witnessing this phenomenon gave me pause, and I couldn’t help but think what a picture this is for the diverse ways we respond to the Holy Spirit’s leading in our lives.
So many people are like Ralphie. They try to tell God where they want to go without any regard to His guidance. They would rather choke themselves on their own will than listen to what He has to say. Others are like Sally and struggle to fully trust the Lord. For them to move, the Holy Spirit must practically drag them to the next place.
It sounds like a simple premise, but so many followers of God fall into these two opposite extremes. People miss their destinies when they act like Ralphie and Sally.
But there is another pet in our household whom I have not told you about. His name is Caesar, and he is an old, wise cat. We got Caesar the year we were married, and he lived up to his noble name every chance he got. Years ago, on our nightly walks with the dogs, Caesar began doing something amazing.
By his own free will, he would simply follow us on our walks. No need for a leash. No need for us to coax him. He just followed our gentle guidance every night for the mere purpose of being with us. Every now and then we would have to call his name, but he was always nearby.
I believe that in a world full of Ralphies and Sallys, God would rather we be like Caesar. The Lord doesn’t want us to tell Him where we are going rather than let Him lead, and He certainly doesn’t want to drag us from one destination to the next. He would rather we follow Him willingly, eager to remain in His presence.
In Matthew 8:18-22, two men express a desire to follow Jesus. The first is overly eager, not knowing what he is getting himself into. Jesus gives him a stern warning, explaining that he doesn’t know what he’s asking. The second man hesitates and says he needs to bury his father first. We never learn the fate of either man, but I hope they both abandoned their natural tendencies and learned to faithfully follow.
Whether you struggle with being too aggressive on your journey with God or whether you’re entirely too scared to take another step, I believe we can all grow in learning to be led
After sixteen years of being our cat, Caesar died peacefully this past March, but not before we had gotten a kitten named CJ. CJ is full of life and extremely playful. She was always so intrigued by our old friend Caesar that she started following him everywhere he went, even if it meant a walk around our neighborhood.
Caesar indirectly made a disciple with our young kitten, who now follows us on our walks every night. Despite how aggressive Ralphie wants to be or how timid Sally is, we now have CJ, just following along wherever we go.
Whether you struggle with being too aggressive on your journey with God or whether you’re entirely too scared to take another step, I believe we can all grow in learning to be led. If we will stay close to Jesus, we cannot help but fulfill His destiny for our lives.
About the Author
Bill Francavilla
Bill Francavilla is the lead pastor at Living Hope, an Open Bible church in Williamsburg, Virginia. Having lived in Virginia nearly his entire life, he attended Lynchburg College, where he studied history and theater. In 2017 Bill received his master’s degree in theological studies from Liberty University. He has been active in missions to Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. He and his wife, Jessica, have four children: Alex, Liam, Rita Grace, and Gino.
I am Shane Blackledge, and my wife Amber and I are the founding pastors of Cultivate Church in St. Louis, Missouri. My story is one of transformation and God’s grace, showing how He can use anyone to build His kingdom.
I was born in Colorado at the Air Force Academy Hospital. My father served in the Vietnam War, and while stationed in Taiwan, he met my mother and they got married. When I was six, my parents separated, and my mother moved back to Taiwan, leaving me devastated. As a kid, I faced racism and extreme poverty. I battled depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide. I started smoking and drinking at eight years old, joined a gang at age thirteen, and was using meth daily by the time I was fourteen.
At age seventeen, I was arrested and sentenced to thirty years in prison for selling drugs. I found myself in my jail cell wanting to end it all. On my night stand I found a Gideon Bible, and I opened it right to John 3:16. As I sat there reading, I realized I was a sinner, but that God created me and I had a purpose to live. I repented and asked Jesus to forgive me. I felt the Father’s love and the presence of the Holy Spirit in an indescribable way.
After my release, I struggled transitioning back into society (finding a job, paying rent, and finding a church that would accept me). I was discouraged and soon relapsed on meth. During the years of my addiction, I was sent to five prisons and was incarcerated for over six years. In 2006, after nearly dying from an overdose, I woke up from a coma and realized God had saved me from death. That day I fully surrendered to Christ, and that’s when my real transformation began.
In 2006, after nearly dying from an overdose, I woke up from a coma and realized God had saved me from death
God restored what addiction had taken from me. I have now been clean from meth for seventeen years. In 2013, I married Amber. We started attending Waverly Life Church, served as youth leaders, and eventually started a Celebrate Recovery program. In 2022, God called us to plant Cultivate Church in St. Louis, Missouri. We resigned from all ministries and jobs and sold our home. In April of 2023, we started house church gatherings which quickly grew in Christ and numbers. We launched our first Sunday gathering in October of 2023.
Today, we are a church without walls, modeled after the early church in Acts. We have regular church gatherings geared towards discipleship, street ministry, addiction recovery, Christian hip-hop events, prison ministry, and nursing home visits. We work with local treatment centers and recovery programs to support and mentor people. We have partnered with churches and ministries to organize monthly inner-city mission trips.
One way God has used my story is with my podcast: “Kingdom Minded,” which streams into 1000 prisons across the country on over one million inmate tablets. In partnership with the Edovo learning app, the podcast focuses on sharing testimonies and teaching Biblical principles.
Looking back, I am amazed at what God has done. In just a year our church has grown from a small group in our living room to a thriving community, passionate about sharing God’s love. Amber and I are excited about the future. We believe God is just getting started with Cultivate Church.
He can use anyone, even a former addict and convict like me, to build His kingdom.
My story and the story of Cultivate Church are really about God’s faithfulness. He can use anyone, even a former addict and convict like me, to build His kingdom. All the glory goes to Him.
To donate toward our prison ministry and homeless outreach, visit wearecultivatechurch.org or check out our Blessing Bags Gift Registry at HERE.
About the Author
Shane R. Blackledge
Shane R. Blackledge is the co-founder and senior pastor of Cultivate Church. He and his wife Amber started Cultivate Church in their home in 2023. Today, the church is known for spreading the Gospel and being the church without walls. Shane’s podcast, “Kingdom Minded,” is available in over 1000 prisons on inmate tablets on the Edovo Learning App. Through testimonies and Bible principles, the podcast aims to teach, inspire, and equip Christians to live their best life now. Shane is an author and speaker, and his books From Prison to Purpose and Overcoming Codependency are available on Amazon. Shane and Amber have four children and live in St. Louis, Missouri.
When my husband and I married in July of 2019, it was with a firm understanding of our shared life goals and dreams, and kids were a big part of our plans. In our minds we would have our biological children first, and then when we were ready, we would pursue adoption. But the Lord always has a better plan than ours, doesn’t He?
After we had been married for two years and still had not conceived, we discovered that I was having fertility issues. I saw multiple doctors and was prescribed several medications to help with conception. During this time, I remember telling my husband it felt like we were living in “limbo,” not getting anywhere closer to having a family. Because of our powerful desire to start a family soon, we decided to divert from our original plan and become foster parents.
“Had I conceived when I wanted to…we never would have met Noah and Leif, our precious sons.”
After an entire summer of preparation, our license went active, and we took a couple of short-term placements. These were our first experiences as parents and had us seriously questioning our parenting abilities! But in December of 2022 we got a call about a four-month-old boy named Noah. Noah was in the ICU with significant health concerns. We weren’t given any idea how long he would stay with us or what his life would look like, and we were scared to commit to taking on a placement that held so much uncertainty. After visiting sweet Noah in the hospital and spending considerable time talking and praying about it, we decided we wanted to take this baby and give him a loving, nurturing home — something he had not yet experienced in his short life.
Noah joined our family on December 16, 2022, and immediately, I became remarkably busy caring for him and taking him to all his appointments. We were so busy, in fact, that thinking of my own fertility was put on the back burner; it just wasn’t my priority anymore.
On January 18, 2023, after a routine follow-up for Noah at Blank Children’s Hospital, we got a call from a surgeon informing us that Noah’s brain was bleeding and we needed to rush him to the hospital for emergency brain surgery. The surgery was successful, and I stayed with Noah during his recovery in Iowa City, two hours from our hometown. We were finally discharged and returned home on January 22. During my time in the hospital with Noah, I did not have any of my fertility medications or supplements (but like I said, I wasn’t focusing on that so much anymore).
So many children have endured brokenness and trauma, and they need to be loved. If we as the church do not show them the Father’s love, who will?
Little did I know that the Lord had everything perfectly planned. On February 2, just eleven days after our hospital discharge, I found out I was pregnant. We were overjoyed!
But God wasn’t done surprising us. A few short weeks after discovering my pregnancy, we received word that Noah’s biological mother was pregnant as well, due to have a baby boy in a few months. We knew immediately that if this baby also needed to be placed in foster care, we wanted him to be with his brother, so we told our social worker we would care for him. Noah’s baby brother Leif was born in May, and just five months later, our son, Sven, was born in October. Overall, when we brought Sven home from the hospital, we had Noah (fifteen months), Leif (five months), and Sven (newborn).
In December of 2023, we were able to officially adopt Noah and Leif, ending their days of foster care and guaranteeing them a safe, loving family for a lifetime. It has been a crazy and chaotic year, but I would not trade it for the world. At the time of this writing, their ages are twenty months, ten months, and six months. Our days are filled with exploring new things and reaching new milestones, and our home is brimming with baby gear (think three car seats, three highchairs, a triple stroller…you get the picture).
I honestly believe God planned our entire story. I couldn’t see it at the time of infertility, but had I conceived when I wanted to, we never would have entered foster care, and we never would have met Noah and Leif, our precious sons. Going through this experience has given me so much assurance that God’s timing is always perfect.
If you are in the midst of infertility, I know it can be hard to hear “God has a plan!” But as someone who has seen His perfect plan come to fruition, I encourage you to go to God in prayer. Tell Him your desires, your frustrations, and your hurts, but also consider asking God what He wants from you in this season of waiting. Maybe He has called you to foster, adopt, or minister to the next generation through your church ministries.
Perhaps you haven’t experienced the struggle of infertility, but you do have a heart for the next generation. How might God use you to help disciple and love on kids around you? So many children have endured brokenness and trauma, and they need to be loved. If we as the church do not show them the Father’s love, who will?
About the Author
Natalie Larson
Natalie Larson has been a registered nurse at MercyOne in Des Moines, Iowa, for eleven years, working in both pediatrics and surgery. Her primary role now, however, is being mama to her three active sons. Free time has been hard to come by recently, but when Natalie finds a few moments of it, she enjoys baking, reading, and crocheting. Natalie and her husband, Alex, can be found at Journey Church in Urbandale, Iowa, on any given Sunday, where their boys are some of the most popular congregants.
