Sharing Life Changing Lives

Sometimes opportunities to serve come with plenty of time to prepare. Other times, God puts an opportunity in front of us and asks us to step up.

Just two months before a mission trip to Costa Rica, Jason and Ashley Deffenbaugh accepted the responsibility of leading a team from the Henderson church of Christ—comprised mostly of high school students—to work alongside the church there.

During their time in Costa Rica, the team conducted personal Bible studies, held a Vacation Bible School for children, and helped with a gospel meeting for adults. They went hoping to encourage and strengthen the Christians there, but quickly discovered that the blessings flowed both ways.

On this episode of Sharing Life Changing Lives, Robert and Bill sit down with Jason and Ashley to talk about saying “yes” to leadership on short notice, preparing young people to serve in another culture, sharing the gospel across language and cultural barriers, and the lessons they brought home from the Christians they met in Costa Rica.

Their experience reminds us that mission work is more than traveling somewhere different. It is about people, relationships, service, and a willingness to go wherever we can help others know Jesus.

You don’t have to leave the country to enter the mission field.

Matt and Lauren Barker recently led a group from the Henderson church of Christ—including many of our young people—on a domestic mission trip to Bennington, Vermont. In less than a week, the team packed in an incredible amount of work: reaching out to people in the community, conducting a Vacation Bible School, and completing construction and maintenance projects on the church building.

In this episode, Robert and Bill sit down with Matt and Lauren to hear about their experience. They discuss what it takes to lead a mission trip, what they learned from the Christians in Bennington, the impact the trip had on the young people who participated, and how serving others can strengthen our own faith.

Along the way, we’re reminded that mission work isn’t just something Christians do somewhere far away. Wherever there are people who need Jesus, there is a mission field.

In this episode of Sharing Life Changing Lives, Robert and Bill visit with Matt and Aleshia Sokoloski about their experience helping with a church camp in Alaska. Over the course of three weeks, Matt and Aleshia helped lead several groups of college-aged Christians as they served, encouraged others, and experienced the beauty and challenges of ministry in a very different setting.

They share memorable moments from the trip, lessons they learned from the people they met, and the ways God used the experience to strengthen their own faith. Their story reminds us that when Jesus is our reason, we can use our time, energy, and abilities to make a difference wherever opportunities arise.

What does it look like to invest intentionally in the spiritual future of your children?

In this episode of Sharing Life Changing Lives, Robert and Bill visit with Randall and Bonnie Hendrix about the importance of helping children develop a faith that will remain strong throughout their lives. They discuss the influence of a Christ-centered home, the power of a godly example, and the everyday choices parents can make to place Jesus at the center of family life.

Marriage is one of God’s greatest blessings—but every strong marriage is built through commitment, sacrifice, grace, and faith in Jesus. In this episode of Sharing Life Changing Lives, Bill Wade and Robert Hatfield sit down with Milton and Laurel Sewell, who have been married for more than 60 years, to talk about the joys, challenges, and lessons they’ve learned through a lifetime together.

The Sewells reflect on how their relationship began, what they understood about marriage as a young couple, and how their perspective has deepened through the decades. They openly discuss seasons that required intentional effort and perseverance, emphasizing how faith in Jesus became the foundation that carried them through life’s challenges.

What happens when God’s people become more than a place you attend… and truly become your family?

In this episode of Sharing Life Changing Lives, Robert Hatfield and Bill Wade sit down with Alan Urda to talk about the powerful role God’s people have played in his life and faith. Alan shares how the love, encouragement, correction, and consistency of fellow Christians helped shape his walk with Jesus—and why the church is far more than a Sunday gathering.

Together, they explore the beauty of spiritual family, the importance of belonging, and how Jesus is the reason His people matter so deeply.

What if God is working… even when you can’t see it?

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Philly Nong, a student at Freed-Hardeman University whose journey to Christ spans continents, cultures, and questions. Growing up in South Africa in a religious environment shaped by spiritual ritualism and Old Testament sacrificial practices, Philly’s understanding of God was sincere—but incomplete.

What followed was a journey he couldn’t have scripted.

From traveling to the United States for school, to eventually finding his way—seemingly providentially—to Freed-Hardeman University, Philly’s story is a powerful reminder that God is always at work behind the scenes. It was there, through the influence of the Henderson church of Christ Campus Ministry and a pivotal retreat, that Philly encountered the gospel clearly and responded in faith, being baptized into Christ just over a year ago.

This episode is about more than a journey—it’s about learning to trust God’s timing.

Philly shares how seasons of waiting, uncertainty, and searching were all part of a bigger picture that only God could see. His story will encourage you to trust that even when life feels delayed or unclear, God is never late.

What does it take to change direction—especially when it means stepping away from everything you’ve always known?

In this episode of Sharing Life, Changing Lives, Robert Hatfield and Bill Wade sit down with Vincent Meninno to hear his powerful story of faith, courage, and transformation. Raised in Catholicism, Vincent’s spiritual foundation was deeply shaped by tradition and family. But during his college years, he began asking deeper questions about Scripture, truth, and his personal relationship with God.

Those questions led him on a journey that wasn’t easy—but it was worth it.

Vincent shares how studying the Bible challenged his assumptions, how he wrestled with what it meant to follow Jesus fully, and how he ultimately found the courage to change direction.

What does it look like to trust God… when it’s your child?

In this powerful and heartfelt episode, Ethan and Kara Darety share their journey as parents walking through the reality of their daughter’s diagnosis with cystic fibrosis. With honesty, vulnerability, and deep faith, they open their hearts about the fears, questions, and prayers that have shaped their family’s story.

But more than anything, this is a story about trusting Jesus in the middle of uncertainty.

Ethan and Kara remind us that faith isn’t just something we talk about—it’s something we live, especially when life feels fragile. Through every doctor’s visit, every unknown, and every long day, they are learning what it means to place what they love most into the hands of a faithful God.

This episode will encourage parents, strengthen your trust in God, and remind you that you are not walking alone.

Depression can shake the foundations of faith. For some, it raises painful questions about God’s nearness, goodness, and care. In this deeply honest and hope-filled episode of Sharing Life, Changing Lives, Robert Hatfield and Bill Wade sit down with Emily Hatfield to talk about why her faith endured—even through seasons of profound emotional darkness.

Emily shares her personal journey through postpartum depression and anxiety, the lingering effects that followed, and the grief of losing her mother. Rather than offering clichés or easy answers, she opens up about the real struggles, doubts, prayers, and spiritual wrestling that marked those seasons.

Throughout the conversation, Emily reflects on how Jesus met her in her suffering—not by removing every burden immediately, but by sustaining her, strengthening her faith, and anchoring her hope when she felt weakest. This episode offers encouragement to anyone who has battled depression, walked with someone who has, or wondered how faith and mental health intersect.