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Falling Into Place–A Story of Overcoming

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Nez Perce, Author: Falling Into Place
Nez Perce, Author: Falling Into Place

For someone on the outside looking in, she had it all. Beauty, notoriety, influence, financial security. Millions of people regularly watched her news reports on the national TV show, CBS This Morning. She had won several Emmy Awards for her outstanding work, rubbed shoulders with Presidents, First Ladies, Actors and Musicians and covered human interest stories from wildfires to crimes. However, when her husband of seventeen years unexpectedly asked for a divorce, she was thrown into a deep emotional crisis, questioning her identity and value.

Growing up in poverty in Seattle’s “projects,” as the daughter of a Nez Perce woman and a German and Dutch father, she remembers her parents struggle with alcohol, neglect, hunger, and going without electricity and water. The rare times when she

and her siblings got to go back to Idaho to see their grandparents, were like an oasis for a thirsty traveler. There she experiencedbook-cover unconditional love, plenty to eat, comfy beds, forests to explore and rivers to swim. Another light during dark days was her Aunt Teddy, who deeply cared for her and her siblings. She would shower them with attention, take them on little discursions, and encourage them to memorize words from the Bible, such as the 23rd Psalm. Although the words didn’t make much sense to her at the time, somehow, her current crisis brought them back. She began to meditate on them and find encouragement and strength. As she reflected on her childhood and the seemingly random experiences she had made while covering news stories, she began to see a pattern emerge that showed her that God had always been near. One night while covering the Oscars Awards show in Hollywood, she felt drawn to a church near the auditorium and experienced a profound touch by God, coming to her rescue, blessing her in a powerful way.

By now you might have figured out that I am talking about Mrs. Hattie Kauffman. She has been telling her story in a newly released book entitled “Falling into Place—a Memoir of Overcoming.” During a promotional interview she was asked: “Did you find God or did God find you?” Hattie stated:

“God didn’t have to find me… He knew where I was all the time. He knew that I was a hungry girl, trying to control her world, scrambling to get somewhere and be someone. It was only when I was so broken in spirit that I could no longer even pretend to be in control…that I looked upward. God? Are you real?”

I hope you take the time to read Hattie’s insightful, deeply moving story, but even more importantly that you to realize God is there for you too, right now, waiting for you to respond to his extended hand.

Father, Faith & Family

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billpooie

Recently, (June 21, 2009) our local area newspaper, the Lewiston Morning Tribune published a great article on the Picard family (Nez Perce) from Lapwai. They share how Jesus helped them through the tragic events in which they lost two of their sons within a year, and how he continues to use them to bring wholeness to their sons friends. If you like to find out more about their journey see this document:


Father, Faith –

Who Do YOU Say Jesus Is?

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Paul and Colin found themselves next to each other on a flight from Denver to Boston. Their conversation quickly got to the “so what do you do?” question. Colin was fascinated to meet Paul, a real-life pastor in a Bible-believing church. Soon they started talking about truth.

Colin assumed that all religions are equally valid and that contradictions between the different belief systems are fully acceptable, because to him absolute truth does not exist. To him, exclusive truth about Jesus was a result of a rationalistic Western worldview. In contrast, Paul pointed out that the idea of one God and exclusive truth came from Middle Eastern thinking:

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Jesus, The Only Way?

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I am the Light
I am the Light

Jesus The Only Way?

“How incredibly arrogant of you Christians to say that the only way to God is through Jesus Christ!”

This objection is raised most often against Jesus’ statement: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father (God) except through me” (John 14:6) Critics have called it: “Absurd religious chauvinism”, “spiritual dictatorship”, and “an insufferable presumption of the Bible”. In our current culture of relativism, where no fact is considered universally true at all times, for all people and in all cultures, the exclusivity claim of Jesus is among the biggest obstacles to spiritual seekers.

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Follow in His Steps

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“If you go through the high grass where the elephant has already gone through, you don’t get soaked with the dew”. (A proverb from Ghana, Africa)

This proverb traditionally meant that young men should follow the ways of the elders rather than run off to the right or left, exploring new and untried ways. While this is an important lesson, Rev. Joshua Kudadjie, put a Christian spin on the proverb:

Christ is our “elephant.” He is bigger than we are, stronger than we are, He was here before we were, He went through more than we have to go through and He took on Himself all the bad things that should have fallen on us. I would like to add that He cleared the path for us to come into relationship with God the Father, after our sin separated us from him through his sacrifice on the cross.

It not only makes good sense to follow Jesus Christ, it is clear that the path he made is the only one leading to the Father. Jesus himself states: “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me”. (John 14:6) Since He cleared the way for us, why should we go through life on any other path than following in His steps?

Interestingly enough, many still think, we need to make our own path to God, through good works or other achievements. We follow the old but unbiblical adage: “God helps those who help themselves”. The Good News about Jesus is that he came to save, set free, heal and help those who could not help themselves.

Often it’s either pride or unbelief that holds us back from simply accepting what Jesus has done for us.

Once we have followed Jesus to the Cross, where he died for us, and experienced the new Life he gives, we follow Him, doing good works, because we have been saved, not to be saved! (See Ephesians 2:10)

Let us follow the Leader, Jesus, who made the path for us!

© 1998 Volkhard Graf, YWAM Native Ministries

(Permission to reproduce this material is automatically granted on the condition it will be used for non-commercial purposes, will not be sold, and will be distributed for the sole purpose of expanding the Gospel.)