Be the salt

Hope gives us joy and peace. Romans 12:12 says – Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer. This episode features Bintu Thomas, who shares her daily walk with her beautiful daughter – Hannah. Bintu says that her biggest challenge in this journey is to continue to hope in the Lord. She seeks to find that joy and peace by being in constant prayer. She finds strength in her relationship with God that she explains as a Father – daughter relationship, that she could go to her father and be real and raw, to complain or be angry or to find comfort. Bintu also lost her earthly father at a very early age and relies on her heavenly father to fill that gap. Bintu is married to Sinju Thomas and currently lives in Oklahoma. 

No one has control over life’s surprises. No matter how we try to resist it, those realities strike everyone at some point or the other. In this episode, Christy John (Elza John) talks about her experience during an unexpected diagnosis of breast cancer and explains the battle that she walked through. Christy affirms that God remained her refuge and strength in the middle of those trials and how she overcame fear when she received peace in the midst of the storm. Christy is a living witness of answered prayers and she urges everyone to live life to its fullest and love people around you. Christy is married to Reji John and is the mom of two beautiful souls - Nathan and Nisha. She loves music and explains how in those low moments of her dark days she listened to worship music all day that strengthened and spoke to her soul bringing comfort and peace. 

“I have always dreamt of being a mom” – says Jency. In this episode, Jency Mathew talks about her journey through 8 years of ‘unexplained infertility’ that led her and her dear husband Jerry Mathew to Mila – who is the joy of her life today. Mila celebrates 11 months of being home! Jency shares her experience of how the Holy Spirit planted the seed of adoption in their heart very early - while they were planning a life together. She says that it took daily surrender to the heart of God while she was in this journey of waiting for a promise. Jency is confident that when she finally laid eyes on Mila, she knew in her heart that it was the best yes of her life! Jency lives in Houston with her husband Jerry and their beautiful daughter Mila.

Life brings us all surprises at unexpected moments. And if not for these surprises, we would be in control of our lives and not God. In this episode, Regina Matthew shares her experience with the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. She believes in the supernatural strength and power of prayer. Regina says that God fills her heart with peace that passeth all understanding daily. Regina works as a therapist and loves listening to people and helping them. She is the proud mom of Micah, Michaela and her fur baby - Buddy and she is married to Tony Matthew. Her advice to anyone who is walking this path is to be vulnerable, ask for help and believe that you are not alone. She encourages us that the weapons formed against us will not prevail when you trust in God. 
Check out the link below for more about Regina

 https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/876031

What do you do when you are faced with a question - what if God doesn’t answer your prayers? Where do you go from there? How do you move forward when each new day could bring doubts and questions? Illness could take a toll on anyone especially when you have to deal with it for a prolonged period. But when it comes to dealing with your child being ill, it could be devastating, while some days you don’t even see a light at the end of the tunnel. In this episode, Princy John talks about her journey while taking care of her daughter Zara - her challenges through the years and how she overcomes and continue to do so daily. Princy calls herself - a believer in Christ who is also a work in progress. Princy encourages the listeners to never stop trusting in God. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours and He continues to work on us through the valleys that He allows in our lives! Princy is married to Elvin and is the mom of 2 beautiful girls Zoey and Zara.

Many of us have walked through seasons where everything looked perfect on the outside, but we are falling apart on the inside. The feeling of ‘hanging by a thread’ where you constantly feel you are slipping, and the final fall is inevitable. In this episode I am introducing a hero – Blessy Rajan Mathew – who has walked through such a season and according to her, continues to go through those trials where she battles post-partum anxiety, which turned into sometimes facing a never ending wave of fear and anxiety. Struggle with a mental battle is frowned upon in several communities, but here in this podcast season, we are being real and raw to share our battles so that we may bless someone else who is walking the same path. Blessy challenges everyone to – be yourself and God will use you to be a blessing to someone else. She urges anyone who goes through this struggle to seek out strong women/men of God as mentors who will battle with you through this trial, to be plugged in to small groups and communities that can soothe your soul. She reminds us that Jesus is near to us and His arms are always open. Blessy is the mom of 3 beautiful children – Luke, Lilly and the new adorable addition Leia and she is married to Sean. 

God’s promises are ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’. He never forgets His promises even when we forget them. He is always faithful to bring them to pass in our lives for our blessing and His glory. In this episode, Minu Kurian – Today’s hero talks about what God promised to her 20 years ago and how He brought that to life even when her circumstances did not appear favorable. Minu walked through her life truly experiencing God’s ways are higher than ours and that He makes all things beautiful in His time. She strongly believes that we overcome the trials of our life by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Minu is the mother of 3 adult children, AJ, Ashlin and Aaron. Minu is a powerful prayer warrior and a living testimony of how God will always remain faithful to His promises and He will make a way through every impossible situation. Her words of encouragement for anyone who is facing a difficult situation is to trust in the Lord with all your heart and He will see you through.

Most people naturally tend to be anxious around new surroundings and unknown culture. Moving to a strange country that you have never been to, far away from family and friends can add to your stress level. In this episode, I am presenting Finny Joy- today’s hero, who shares his experience of a season when he not only moved to a new country, but also came to the US as a full time student with the added stress of school and education. Finny walks us through his journey of learning to trust in the Lord, believing that the one who called him is faithful. He talks about his anxiety and insecurities during this season and how he learned to let go of his fear by trusting in God. Finny is passionate about missions and is always excited to share the word, meet and interact with students from different nations and ethnicities and to see their lives transformed through the word. Finny is married to Christy- his beautiful and talented wife of 6 years! He is now serving as a Program coordinator and staff minister with ICPF international Inc.

Surviving an acute illness can change your life in so many ways than you could ever imagine. Especially when it affects our physical health with long term remnants. In this episode, my friend Biju Anil talks about a season of her life - 3 years ago when she was diagnosed with brain tumor and later suffered from one sided paralysis enduring rehab for over a year. Biju explains how her faith and trust in God allowed her to survive this season. She encourages the listeners to yield to the will of God- because everything in life happens as it is within the will of God for your life. 
        Biju’s testimony inspires us as she explains how this experience led her closer to God and how she uses these life lessons to encourage other people to trust in God and lead them to His saving grace. Biju motivates us to ‘choose to be happy’ as it is our choice to decide how we want to come out of a rough season. Biju is married to Anil and is the mom of 2 beautiful children Aksah and Elijah. She resides in San Diego, California and serves with Indian Christian Fellowship in San Diego 

Life as a Pastors kid - PK - has its own challenges.  This is not a season but a lifestyle. No matter what stage of life you are in you are always a PK. Today’s hero is Leslie Cherian.  Leslie talks about his life as a pastors kid- he explains this lifestyle as ‘larger than life itself’.  Leslie’s passion is to guide and mentor teenagers and young adults in their walk with Christ along with the challenges that they face in  schools, colleges and even in church. Leslie is married to Jennie and is the father of 2 adorable girls Rebecca and Kezia. In this episode, Leslie unpacks the expectations  placed and the challenges surrounding this fact  on a child growing up in a pastors family which is most often overlooked by members of the church body, friends, family and relatives.  Leslie advocates hope in Jesus and trusting in His promises that  guided his journey and continue to manifest in his life