Tortured for Christ

Imagine a place where faith in God is forbidden and belief in a future judgment between good and evil is banned. What would people be like in such a world? How would they behave toward one another?

If you are having trouble visualizing such a place, it is only because you have been blessed to live in a time and place where Communism is not the state religion. For Lutheran pastor Richard Wurmbrand, such a world was not a world of make-believe. It was the cold, hard reality of what happened when a million Soviet troops poured into Romania in the aftermath of World War II.

Communism starts with the idea that all property belongs to the state, to distribute for the good of all. The idea of distributing things for the good of all is certainly appealing. But shouldn’t the one who decides between good and evil be the One who actually created all things? If God exists, how did the state come to sit in his place?

That’s the basic rub of the communist system. It is why every communist state, from Red China and the USSR to North Korea and Romania, must declare war on God. Human beings are not just material beings. They have, not only a body, but also a soul. This is just a fact of human life, an inescapable datum that hounds anyone who attempts to deny it.

Without saying so, the Communists themselves were forced to admit it. They quickly learned that, because of the unbreakable connection between body and soul, you cannot control all things without also controlling the soul. Atheism isn’t the natural outflow of Communism, it is the religion upon which it is built; and its orthodoxy must be brutally enforced.

That brings me back to the original question. What is the result in the hearts of men when Communism succeeds in snuffing out any understanding of eternal rewards and punishments? Wurmbrand explains in his book, “Tortured for Christ,” published in 1967: “The cruelty of atheism is hard to believe. When a man has no faith in the reward of good or the punishment of evil, there is no reason to be human. There is no restraint from the depths of evil that is in man. The Communist torturers often said, ‘There is no God, no hereafter, no punishment for evil. We can do what we wish.’”

A state cannot maintain absolute power without stamping out every idea of the soul, eternity and a God who creates it all. So, when the Soviets had taken over every other Romanian institution, they turned their sights on the Church. Organizing a “Congress of the Cults,” they seduced thousands of prominent churchmen to give speeches saying that Communism and Christianity were basically the same.

Wurmbrand and his wife, Sabina, were at the conference. Having grown up a self-described “militant atheist” and only coming to faith as a young adult, he ached to see his fellow countrymen deprived of the one thing that gave meaning and hope to his entire life.

Sabina pleaded with him to stand and tell the truth. He turned to her and whispered, “You do know that if I speak now, you will have no husband.” She replied with tears in her eyes, “I don’t need a coward for a husband.”

This exchange is portrayed in a new feature-length film produced for the 50th anniversary of “Tortured for Christ.” This powerful film, which I just previewed last night, portrays the life-long consequences of that pivotal decision. On February 29, 1948 (70 years ago Thursday) Wurmbrand was kidnapped on his way to church and spent the next 18 years in and out of Communist prisons.

It is a hard movie to watch. But if Wurmbrand could endure living it, perhaps we owe him the honor of hearing his story. There are hundreds of thousands of stories like his. But nearly all of them died with their authors in communist cells and torture chambers. Others were silenced by threats of atrocities against family and friends should they be told.

It was a sheer miracle that we have access to Wurmbrand’s story. In December, 1965, after a total of 14 years in communist prisons, he was ransomed by a payment of $10,000 to the Soviet government. They were confident that he would remain silent about his experiences just like many others whom they had threatened and released. But he was not like the others.

He spoke and wrote. He testified before Congress, stripping to the waist to show the marks of his torture. He broke down the wall of silence that hid the evils of Communism from the western world. “Tortured for Christ” has been translated into 65 languages, and has sold millions of copies around the world.

But Wurmbrand’s story is much more than an exposé of communist atrocities. It is an exploration of the power of divine love. Much to our amazement, he relates story after story of people who died under torture while praying for, and loving, the very men who were killing them.

One sequence of the movie tells of his bed-time routine. Each night when he heard the town clock strike 10:00, he knelt in his cell in forbidden prayer. Each night his jailer would look in to find him praying, and take him to the torture room for punishment. Then, bloodied and bruised, he would be brought back to his cell to sleep.

This went on night after night until one night when the exasperated jailer asked, “after having everything taken from you and no hope left, what on earth are you praying for?!” Wurmbrand’s reply was calm and warm: “I was praying for you.”

That’s the other-worldly beauty portrayed in this remarkable film. Time, and again, we are beckoned to see the beauty of self-sacrificial love. We are invited into the glory of passionately loving even those who hate you with the deepest of hatred.

In one particularly compelling passage, Wurmbrand writes, “Later, the Communists who had tortured us were sent to prison, too. Under Communism, Communists, and even communist rulers, are put in prison almost as often as their adversaries. Now the tortured and the torturer were in the same cell. And while the non-Christians showed hatred toward their former inquisitors and beat them, Christians took their defense, even at the risk of being beaten themselves and accused of being accomplices with Communism. I have seen Christians give away their last slice of bread (we were given one slice a week) and the medicine that could save their lives to a sick Communist torturer, who was now a fellow prisoner.”

On Thursday, March 8, Evanston will have an opportunity to see this film. Many of us have worked together to bring “Tortured for Christ,” to the biggest venue we could find, Evanston Alliance Church. Tickets can be purchased online at: https://new.tugg.com/events/tortured-for-christ-movie-f-a0. Every ticket purchaser will also receive a free copy of “Tortured for Christ,” and will be contributing to Christians around the globe who are being persecuted today.

Confusions, Certificates and Compassion

The following is my gracious wife's reply to a shorter version of this article published in the Uinta County Herald by Mr. Nate Martin of "Better Wyoming" and joined by representatives from "Wyoming Equality" and "NARAL Pro-Choice."




February 23, 2018

April Lange

Dear Editor:

In Nate Martin’s article “Senate Introduces Bill to Give Birth Certificates to Miscarried Fetuses,” there are some points of confusion that I think it would be helpful to address.

First, women already have the option of requesting a certificate if they lose their babies after 20 weeks. While state law requires that still births be registered in each district, women are not forced to obtain birth certificates. SF85 simply extends the option to those who lose a child at 9 weeks or later.

If Martin, Burt, and Burlingame are concerned about the “pressure on a woman who is under enormous stress,” they should rest assured that there is no “forcing” being suggested; to the contrary, the medical attendant “shall advise the patient that the patient may request” such a certificate, if desired. Burlingame said, “male politicians are using it for what feels like a political theater.” Having had 3 miscarriages of my own, I can assure you that this is not what it sounds like to a grieving mother’s ears. I would have gladly requested such a certificate for 2 of my unborn sons if I had had such an option.

Amadeus* Lange's heartbeat, 6 weeks gestation

It is important to remember that men also grieve during miscarriage. They lose sons and daughters, as well. There is no male vs. female in grief.  Mr. Martin states that Boner will never experience a miscarriage. Neither will Mr. Martin, but why pit men and women against one another? I commend Sen. Boner for bringing up this bill on behalf of women and men who are concerned about the lives lost and those grieving.  

One claim that Mr. Martin makes is that “a seed is not a tree. A fetus is not a child.” The seed of a child is an egg or sperm; no one is arguing that this is a child. A fetus is defined as “an unborn human baby more than eight weeks after conception.” If the term child is a hindrance, I concede that a fetus is a baby and not yet a child (“a young human being below the age of puberty”). Nevertheless, I have undergone births of live and dead babies and can attest that in both cases, a birth takes place.

Amadeus waving at 12 weeks gestation

I imagine it becomes easy in politics to get so caught up in winning or losing that one can lose sight of the people who are at stake. The connection between women and their babies begins very early on, and the loss of life is something that one really never gets over. At 6 weeks, I have seen the heart beating of all of my children; at 12 weeks, I saw my little boy wave before he passed away at 13 weeks. Being able to obtain a birth certificate for the little ones I lost would have acknowledged the life lost and would have helped me in the grieving process.

If Martin, Burt, and Burlingame are truly concerned about women, then they will reexamine their positions about this bill.

Sincerely,

April Lange 


*Amadeus means "loved of God," and he is. He is also loved by us.

What's Wrong with Us?

AP Photo: Joel Auerbach



An Associated Press photo by Joel Auerbach is imprinted on my memory. It captures a scene from the mass murder in Florida where 17 students and teachers were killed last Wednesday.

Among a crowd of parents awaiting news of their kids, two women embrace. You can almost hear the red-haired woman with open mouth wailing in grief. Another holds her while choking back her own tears. Around the neck of the second woman, is a silver heart locket. On her forehead, is a cross of ashes.

Anyone who has ever worn the cross of Ash Wednesday can tell you at a glance what she had heard a couple hours before the picture was snapped: “Remember, O man, that you are dust; and unto dust you shall return.”

In this single photo, three events converge. The heart locket hangs in the center of the frame, suggesting St. Valentine’s Day, but romantic love is strangely out of place next to the overwhelming grief of the women. But above it all, as if giving meaning to the whole scene, are the ashes of repentance in the form of a cross.

Grief dominates the picture.

There is no explaining it away. Even the most callous materialist who has no earthly reason to be bothered by death, is horrified by it. PETA may argue that human life deserves no more respect than animal life. But such sophomoric rhetoric dissolves in the face of actual human tragedy. Human slaughter is different than animal slaughter, and we know it.

Darwin teaches that people are mere cosmic accidents, with no meaning or purpose. Even more, Darwinism teaches that the violent death of our forebears is the happy reason we have progressed to our current evolutionary state. For over 150 years we have been told that death is our friend and ally. So why should 17 more grieve us?

But they do grieve us, and no one escapes it. In an instant everyone can perceive Darwin’s lie. The deaths of students Alyssa Alhadeff, Martin Anguiano, Jaime Guttenberg, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Alaina Petty, Alex Schachter, Luke Hoyer, Peter Wang, Carmen Schentrup, Nicholas Dworet, Joaquin Oliver, Helena Ramsay, Meadow Pollack, and teachers Scott Beigel, Aaron Feis, and Chris Hixon have not made us a better race. We are the poorer for it.

In fact, human death evokes such a powerful loathing that we are tempted to harness it to advance our selfish agendas. CNN broke the news at 2:39 p.m. Within minutes, partisan political memes were pasted on social media. Seventeen victims became mere props to advance gun control, mental health spending, pharmaceutical responsibility, or just to bash the opposing party.

That’s a shame. The universal hatred of human death is a unifying force. Let’s not use it to divide. Instead, let’s take some time to rejoice that there is common ground upon which we all can agree. Then, let’s see if recognizing that common ground might help us build a common foundation.

When people die, we instinctively know that something is wrong. Before we start beating each other up about a thousand policy squabbles, we should simply let those words sink in. “Something is wrong.” That is a singular noun, not plural. Somewhere, at the root of it all, lies a singular problem.

Does anybody really believe that having a perfect health system will fix it? Does anybody really believe that a world with no guns would be a world in which nothing is wrong? If we were all armed to the teeth, would the world be all sunshine and roses? Of course not!

The only way that you could claim them to be even marginal improvements on the world, is if you could show that they contributed to fixing that one thing at the root of it all. So, again, what is the one thing that would cure the whole world?

John Lennon thought, “All you need is love.” By that, he meant romantic love. So, he left his wife, Cynthia, and his son, Julian to take up with Yoko Ono. All three of them needed love. But one sought it out at the expense of two others.

Here is Valentine’s Day gone awry. “Be mine forever,” dissolves into a hookup culture. The vow, “’til death us do part,” becomes a lie, and the promised cure-all becomes a fraud.

Nikolas Cruz was conceived in romantic love, too. But those parents did not continue loving him. By the time he was about a year old, he and his younger brother were adopted by Lynda and Roger Cruz. One bond of love was broken and he and Zachary were forced to form a new bond.

Lynda Cruz and Nikolas

Then, when he was only six, his new father died of a sudden heart attack. His stay-at-home mom had to leave the home to put bread on the table. Thirteen years later, in November of 2017, his mother Lynda died suddenly of flu complications, and once again, he was without family.

I am not claiming that Ash Wednesday’s tragedy was caused by a broken home. There are countless children who endure similar troubles and don’t respond with mass murder. Perhaps psych drugs, video games, or being bullied contributed to his decision to kill the innocent.

The only point I am making is that love failed him. It’s a nice song, but something stronger is needed than a flutter in the heart. Valentine hearts are a good start, but what’s really needed is an examination of our own hearts.

Even the lack of love in this world is not the root cause, but only a symptom. The root cause is sin. Ultimately, the problem with our hearts is not what others do to them. The problem is what is inside of them.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote, “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

But destroy it, we must. It is the only path to sanity, the only cure for what ails us.

What’s wrong with us? We are.

That basic insight is the meaning of the cross of Ash Wednesday. The ashes remind us that we are destined to die, but they do so without diminishing the horror of death. They also mean repentance. If we were to spend even half as much time examining our own moral failings as we do examining the sins of others, we would all be better off.

But the death and repentance of the ashes, are reformed into the shape of a cross. That cross makes everything right. It is the symbol of One who neither approves of evil, nor hates the evildoer. The cross is about the One who dies that you might live.

Assistant coach, Aaron Feis, and Geography teacher, Scott Beigel, and Athletic Director, Chris Hixon became living examples of Jesus last Wednesday. All three teachers sacrificed themselves for their students. That’s stronger than the Valentine kind of love. It’s the Ash Wednesday kind.


Further Reading:
The Federalist: How Ash Wednesday Answers Our Grief at the Ashland Park Murders
Wyoming Tribune Eagle:
Uinta County Herald:
Kemmerer Gazette:

The Federalist: How Ash Wednesday Answers Our Grief At The Parkland Murders

 

The universal hatred of human death is a unifying force. Let’s not use it to divide. Instead, let’s take some time to rejoice in common ground.

An Associated Press photo by Joel Auerbach is imprinted on my memory. It captures a scene from the mass murder in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and teachers were killed last Wednesday.

Among a crowd of parents awaiting news of their kids, two women embrace. You can almost hear the red-haired woman with open mouth wailing in grief. Another holds her while choking back her own tears. Around the neck of the second woman is a silver heart locket. On her forehead is a cross of ashes.

Continue reading on the Federalist.

Religion and Politics

Increasingly, I am noticing the open and unapologetic use of religious ideas and arguments in political debate. This is quite a departure from recent decades.

For the last 50 years we have seen signs and bumper-stickers from “Free Love” to “Keep your laws off my body.” Such slogans opposed the “intrusion” of biblical morality into policy debates about sexual ethics—from birth control and abortion, to divorce and child-rearing.

James Carville ran a successful 1992 presidential campaign on the slogan, “It’s the economy, stupid.” This mantra was repeated during the Lewinski scandal in 1998. Defenders of the president fanned out across the media outlets to explain that the moral failings of politicians were of no consequence, so long as the economy was booming.

During these decades, much of the morality, ethics and character that came into Western culture via Christianity has been stripped from legal code and public expectations. They have been overthrown, not by sound arguments that they are bad for human society, but by raw claims that all religion should be driven out of politics.

Since 1947 (Everson v. Board of Ed.), the phrase, “separation of Church and state,” has been drummed into the ears of media consumers. By sheer repetition, many perceive this phrase to be “constitutional,” even though it is only found in a private letter of Thomas Jefferson.

So why is it, after all these years, we are seeing a resurgence of religion into public policy debates? It’s not Christian conservatives who are leading the charge. Rather, those seeking to overthrow historic Western morals are claiming a superior moral ground—calling their political opponents “haters,” “discriminators,” and “bigots” – all morally charged words.

The first thing we should notice, is that today’s trends are not replacing morality with amorality. They are replacing one morality with another. Put more starkly, they are replacing one religion with another.

The second thing we should notice is that this is a natural human impulse. Nature abhors a vacuum. When one religion is chased out of the front door, two more slide in the back.

Human beings simply cannot live without religion. The relationship between human beings and the divine is unbreakable. Whether or not you, personally, believe the words of Scripture, “God created man in His own image,” you live by this creed.

We all justify our desires, aims, and behaviors by appealing to the nature of God.

• Those who think the Bible infallibly describes the one, true God, seek to conform their lives to every word of the biblical text.

• Those who think that there is no God, set “nature” in His place. This religion seeks to live as though matter, energy, and instinct should guide them at every step.

• Those who think that God is always changing along with the culture, then treat the latest cultural changes as being sacrosanct, and the only civil opinion allowed.

The thing to notice here is that these three opinions (and there may be more) do not offer the possibility of no religion. They force us to choose one.

This may rankle Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, but even they operate by this principle. Their recent lawsuit, filed in Wisconsin, challenges an IRS rule going back to the 1954 Code 107(2) by claiming a clergy tax exemption for themselves. That's irony.

So, why is religion unavoidable? Because the Latin root of the word “religion” is “ligio,” “to bind or tie.” It is about how human beings are tied together in human society. The prefix, “re-,“ means “again.” Religion recognizes that people who were once bound together have been cut apart and need to be re-connected – i.e. religion.

That’s exactly what American society needs right now. As we spiral apart, everybody is seeking a common religion to bind us back together. The bad news, is that there are at least three distinct opinions. The good news is that only one of them can be true.

Ultimately, there is one God capable of binding all mankind together. There is a truth, and a way, and a life that is common to all of us. To find it (or, to be found by it) can re-establish the bonds of love.

Notice here that society is all about bonds and ties. It is not, and can never be, about radical freedom which recognizes no duties or permanent relationships to other people. When people say, “Civil society demands that we not make any moral judgments,” they are speaking utter nonsense.

The very word, “demands,” speaks of a duty to behave in a certain way towards a certain person. Anybody who utters it, no matter from which side of the aisle, is proving my main point. Justice demands recognition of the truth—truth about God and truth about man.

In fact, denial of the truth can only lead to injustice. When Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment, He replies: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).

Love for our neighbor flows from our love for God. Without the love of God, no love of neighbor is possible, and vice versa. Love for both begins by recognizing the bonds between us. To acknowledge that we are all tied to God as creatures, is to recognize that we are also tied to one another and have duties toward one another that are given by our Creator, and not subject to our wishes or feelings.

For the past century, Western society has been hacking away at natural bonds between people. Beginning over a hundred years ago, the bonds of husband and wife were weakened by making divorces more and more simple to obtain. This was kicked into hyperdrive with so-called “no-fault divorce” in 1970.

When a society denies the duties that a man has toward a woman in marriage, the duties that he has toward women, in general, are also denied. The main culprits in the “#MeToo” movement are Hollywood moguls who have made millions undermining marriage on the silver screen and powerful men and women who have been undermining marriage in law and culture. Are we supposed to be surprised?

Also, we have seen the denial of natural bonds and duties between mother and child / parents and children. The breakup of the modern family has neither benefitted children, nor society at large. Can anybody argue that our neighborhoods and towns are stronger as a result of more broken homes?

As we enter a new phase of political debate, where religion is more openly discussed, I am encouraged that we have a renewed opportunity to talk frankly about the things that matter most. In a sense, James Carville was right. It is about the economy.

But we have forgotten that “economy” comes from the Greek word “oikos,” meaning “household.” We will never get the economy right if all we can think about is wages and prices, Wall Street and Main Street.

In fact, the economy is about Elm Street and Center Street. It is about supporting the household of fathers, mothers, and their children. To recognize and protect those natural bonds between persons, is to advocate for a just society. For, when these bonds are recognized and protected, so also are the bonds and duties of all other human beings toward one another.

America’s founders were not all Christians, but they were realists. They didn’t agree on the nature of God, but they did recognize that there is only one, and that the more perfectly his nature is recognized, the “more perfect [will be] the Union” (Declaration of Independence). That’s “re-ligio,” a binding together of society. “One nation, under God.”

The Federalist: 4 Ways Moms And Their Children Remain Physically Bonded For Life

 

Every mother is a chimera made up of her own genetic cells living side by side with the cells of every child she has ever carried.

The miracle of birth is always a sacred moment, but it is not the first moment of your existence. You did not suddenly come into being on the day you were born. Your birthday is the day you first showed your face to the outside world, but it was already your face for months before anybody saw it.

During those months you were not a part of your mother’s body. Your growth and development were self-directed. Your mother provided a safe place and nutrition, but she didn’t add anything to your being.

Continue reading on the Federalist.

 

2918 Miles

From time to time, seemingly random events intrude into our predictable routines. These occurrences, unbidden and unanticipated, give opportunity to reflect on profound matters otherwise unnoticed.

For the past nine months, I have been totally unaware that a couple from Utah had undertaken to hike across America. Then, last Sunday, our paths crossed right here, in Kemmerer. Kolton and Amanda began their journey at Tybee Island, Georgia on May 1, 2017 and spent the last weekend of January right here.

It’s worth knowing how we came to meet. It starts with a heart open to others. T.C., a pipeline operations supervisor from Kemmerer, saw the two. More importantly, he noticed them. How many thousands of eyes have seen them over the last 2,200 miles is anybody’s guess. But one pair of eyes didn’t just see them. He noticed them.

He turned his attention to them. He learned their story. His wife joined him in opening their home. By inviting strangers into their world, one loving couple gave St. Paul’s Lutheran Church an opportunity to share in the love. In our day of busy and insulated lives, it is profound what can happen when a single person simply notices other persons.

As it turns out, while it only took one caring couple to bring them into our orbit, Kolton and Amanda have been eyewitnesses to hundreds of similar acts along the way. A trucker stopped to give them his lunchbox. A woman gave Amanda a pair of shoes. A store-owner gave them a shopping spree. A homeless man pressed a ten-dollar bill into her hands and would not take “no” for an answer.

All across America they have benefited from the kindness of strangers. This is not how they planned it. Their intention was to work their way from town to town. They planned to earn their keep. Instead, the generosity they encountered took them by surprise.

For me, their story is very heartening. Following the 24-hour news cycle, it is easy to get the impression that heinous crimes, fake news, and acrid politics define American life. The fearmongering that sells products and garners votes contributes to a culture of self-defense. The more we give in to our fears, and assume our fellow citizens will do the same, the more America becomes a hostile place.

That narrative is blown away by the constant stream of care and protection that Kolton and Amanda have received from strangers. American generosity and love are still alive and well from coast to coast, even if doesn’t often make the evening news.

For them, personally, crossing America on foot has worked a deeper appreciation of our dependence on God and others than most of us are aware of. When all your worldly possessions are carried on your back, priorities must change. Like the character, Christian, in Pilgrim’s Progress, they have learned that an accumulation of worldly possessions is far more of a hindrance than it is a help.

You cannot possibly carry enough stuff to meet every possible problem that life could throw at you. It would be enough to crush and paralyze you. They have learned by experience what St. Paul taught in plain words, “We brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (1 Timothy 6:7-8 ESV).

A small change in weather, in surroundings, or within your own body, can suddenly take you from a blissful stroll through nature to an agonizing struggle for survival. In this situation, you are reminded, daily, of twin truths: 1) life is far more fragile than you ever imagined; 2) God’s gracious providing is far more reliable than you ever dreamed.

For instance: while travelling through Missouri, Kolton’s ankle grew steadily worse. A previous injury, repaired by surgery was becoming aggravated and forced him to use crutches. That was nearly five months ago. Why he is still walking over 1,000 miles later, only God knows. But God does know.

A second instance happened as they were crossing the southwest corner of Iowa. Amanda was feeling an unknown sickness which slowed her pace in the early autumn air. Then, just before crossing the Missouri River into Nebraska, she found the joyous reason for her illness. She is no longer walking for herself alone, but she carries another person within.

Such are the wild swings of emotion on the trail of life. Forced to rely on others and to trust in God, we come to know the world in a different way. Amanda wrote about it this way:

“It’s extremely humbling to rely so heavily on others. And it’s faith-building to have to lean on God daily to provide for needs and comforts others have without thought. We are also having a unique approach in that we are intentionally trying to learn to manage ourselves well enough to not fear or worry. And it’s been beautiful. During moments that look so helpless, we usually end up talking about the fear trying to creep in and then start talking about how God has kept us safe this whole way. It’s been interesting to be more aware of our fear than ever before.”

Kolton and Amanda are not alone in their journey. Thousands of people from around the country are following them on Facebook (2918 Miles) or following their progress at site.2918miles.com. They walk to raise awareness of the Make A Wish Foundation and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

However, in some sense, their story is not unique. It is just like yours. The things they have learned about humility and thankfulness, trust in God and peace of mind, are lessons that God also wants to teach you through your daily walk (even if it’s not as many miles).

As we see Kolton, Amanda, and their child walk out of Wyoming and into their Idaho adventures, let us not only see them, but notice them. We send them with our prayers into the care of God through loving hearts of friends they have yet to meet. They hope to make it to Oregon before the baby is born. God will take care of that, too. If you want to help them too, send a note of encouragement or contribute to gofundme.com/2918miles.

But above all, we can let their story remind us of the God who watches over them and us. He has promised the same to you as He has repeatedly shown to them: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26 ESV).



P.S. - April 19, 2018 - https://www.facebook.com/2918miles

As we have walked across America we've learned to let go of fear. The more we seemed to let go of the more incredible things we saw. When we found out we were carrying a hitchhiker it was a totally different level of fear. Once again feeling in our hearts the best thing was to keep going we got to be amazed at what decided to unfold.

On April 19th, 2018 at 5:27 am we saw our little stud for the first time. Onyx Wolfric Rackham made his debut bright and early weighing in at 6 ...LBS 3.5 OZ and was 18 inches long. Onyx had perfect timing. We had dreamed of a natural birth at home and we got one. Our little man showed up while we were staying in the home of a retired midwife, our little genius knew when to come so his mommy and daddy would know they had support to keep him safe. We couldn't have planned it better if we had tried. We had received a birthing kit the week prior and had just bought a couple things in case baby came "early."

Delivery went smooth. Onyx is doing amazing adjusting to this world. He is healthy and strong. Momma is doing well, after an intense workout getting Onyx here her body is already having great recovery. She's feeling really good. Papa is doing great too, he was supportive through the birth and continues to support mommy and Onyx with so much love and tenderness. Our little family is adjusting to this next chapter and seeing what we can do to get ready.

Onyx showed up just in time to walk across our last state border. After a bit of recovery we plan to complete the last 12 miles of Idaho and see how Onyx feels about this trek. If he is on board we will finish our last state as a family.

We can't begin to express the graditude we have in our hearts for every person who was involved in keeping Onyx safe while his momma was still carrying him, and the support we are receiving to keep him safe now that he's here. Miracle seems too small a word and thank you's don't seem nearly enough. Just know we are full of awe at how the people across America came together on behalf of this couple from Utah who has now become a family of 3. The people are what make things beautiful, thank you for allowing us to be front row center to see that masterpiece.

#2918miles #Onyx #safeandsound #youmadethedifference #divinetiming #Babyboy #hesaboy #healthyandstrong #proudparents #overcomefear #faith