Families are Encountering the Love of Jesus at Family Retreat

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13

Hao Long is eight years old and has autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He can’t remain still for more than a few seconds at a time, and because he’s non-verbal, he oftens communicates by pushing or pointing. He requires minute-by-minute attention in order to keep him safe.

Through a Chinese interpreter, his mother, Cui En, explains daily living with Hao Long.

“He runs around, he snatches things up, he just does a lot of damage wherever he goes, and people look at us very differently. Many people don’t understand him. But I’m so grateful to be here at Family Retreat. Because all of you – every one of you – understands us.”

At Family Retreat, Hao Long is accepted, embraced and free to experience God’s unconditional love.

But Hao Long wasn’t the only one who had an encounter with Jesus at Family Retreat, because Family Retreat focuses on bringing entire families closer to Christ.

Hao Long’s whole family felt the peace of Christ at our Chicago Family Retreat.

Hao Long’s father, Ting Man, became an active participant in the men’s group discussions. He was not yet a believer when he arrived at Family Retreat, and so he had lots of questions about Christianity, which seemed strange and complicated to him at first.

But when their interpreter shared the Gospel with Ting Man, he realized that trusting Jesus as his Savior is actually a very simple act of faith, and right there at Family Retreat Ting Man gave his life to Christ!

He shared his new-found faith with everyone at the retreat during our closing ceremony saying, “I am sharing from my heart, and I believe this is God’s power. What I see and what I feel is real and it is coming from God. That much I know!”

And when one of the other special needs dads heard Ting Man’s testimony, he received Christ into his heart, too!

Two families living with profound special needs now have fathers who have decided to follow Jesus Christ. Their lives and the lives of their wives and children will never be the same, and it all happened through Family Retreat!

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:9-13

There are so many more special needs families in Chicago who desperately need to hear the Good News of Jesus, and God can use you to share the Gospel message with them – through your prayers and gifts!