July 2022
FROM DISCONNECTED TO VITALLY CONNECTED
“When my parents divorced, my mother sent me to an Adventist school, and our church family took very good care of us.” Amber Andrews remembers how the good times outweighed the bad during her early childhood years. “I was a tom boy, had a horse, a 4-H cow, and I had all the dogs and cats a girl could want. I loved living on a farm in Saskatchewan with my mother and her new husband.”
Six years later, at age 13, Amber decided to move to Kelowna to live with her dad and stepmom. “Dad would have parties at his house while I was trying to focus on school. My dad protested about me attending an Adventist school, so I was sent to public school and was bullied for being tall and geeky. Being a teenager, I found a group of friends and started rebelling: smoking cigarettes, then marijuana, and eventually tried cocaine. Looking back, I think I felt left behind when my parents broke the bonds of our family and remarried. At 16, my dad kicked me out of his home, and I dropped out of school.”
Amber met her husband when she was twenty and married him at age twenty-five, but this was a bad combination. “He was an alcoholic, and I was a druggie. I became very depressed and attempted suicide twice. I now see how God wanted me alive, kept me alive, and had another purpose for me.”
Hitting rock bottom, Amber went home to Saskatchewan to stay with her mom and stepdad. “I quit smoking cigarettes at that time, got cleaned up off the pills, started going to church with my folks, and I actually ended up getting baptized. I had thirteen piercings at that time, and I knew I didn’t want to go under water with those, so as the day drew closer and closer, I took out more and more piercings until the night before; then, I took out the last piercings and never did put them back in.”
Although she fought to stay clean, Amber fell under the temptation to use pills again. “I wish I had stayed with my mom on the farm, but I didn’t. The temptation is real; it’s powerful; it’s all-consuming. Once you feel the relief that it gives you, it’s very hard to forget that, and it turns into your coping mechanism, your security blanket. Later, I had started using needles, letting whoever I could find put the needle into my neck. I was up to a forty-dollar dose of meth, looking forward to a fifty-dollar dose of meth.”
That’s when God threw Amber another lifeline. “It was my dogs, my love for my dogs turned it all around.” When she realized she had to get clean to keep them, she cried out to God for help. “Little did I know that I had a whole church behind me praying. My mother never gave up praying, and she asked her church family to join her, and they did.”
Thanks to your generous contributions, It Is Written Canada’s film crew was able to visit Amber’s workplace in Alberta and capture her story.
If you wish to watch Amber’s entire captivating story of how she has become a vibrant leader within her community and beyond, you can see it on It Is Written Canada this month on CTV, 3ABN, Hope Channel, Yes-TV, Miracle Channel, or many of the other networks across Canada and around the world where It Is Written Canada is featured. Or simply go to itiswrittencanada.ca or It Is Written Canada’s YouTube and Facebook videos and click on the programs entitled: “From Disconnected to Vitally Connected – Part 1 & 2.”
~ Mike Lemon
Upcoming Episodes
July 2: From Disconnected to Vitally Connected
- Part 2
A life transformed: from “dumpster diving” and hunger pains to grocery shopping and preparing meals for others. From homeless shelters to mission stations. From waiting to get to wanting to give. This is the transformation Amber Andrews experienced being bathed in God’s love and grace.
July 9: Joyfully Living on Purpose
Bob and Christina Martin, immigrants to Canada from Bulgaria, found their purpose in helping others by starting an online radio ministry in the basement of their church. Find out why and how they were able to start this online ministry, which is now followed by thousands of people around the world.
July 16: Love at Home
When we dedicate our lives to the LORD, we see a magnificent mosaic of colourful events, which may not always be easy, but when we see God’s hand in it, we would have it no other way. This was certainly true for Paul and Raquel Antunes.
July 23: Seeing God's Hand in Their Lives
Clay and Sarah Weppler excelled at the highest levels of Canadian winter sports—Sarah as a figure skater and Clay playing ice hockey. Their lives were challenged by a longing for much more than their ambitious sporting careers offered. Together they followed God leading them through the Bible and prayer, where they faced challenges causing them to, at times, sit in darkness where the LORD became their only light.
July 30: The EPIC Dream - Part 1
Ruben Dias and Mischa Gelb shared an epic dream, a passion for flying helicopters, and they united their interests, launching the EPIC (Empowering People & Inspiring Change) Global Heli Tour, which would carry them over sixty thousand kilometres, with one hundred and seven stops, traversing at least forty-five countries on five different continents. This was A Round-the-World Helicopter Adventure of Risk, Reward, and the Power of Nice. Ultimately, it was a journey of faith.
From Our Viewers
“You folks bless me so very much Sunday after Sunday. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your programs showing what a difference Jesus makes in our lives. May our loving heavenly Father continue to bless and use you special people.”
– Mary Ann
Prayer in Action
We would also like to pray for you, so please send us your personal prayer requests, and we will add you to our prayer list here at It Is Written Canada.
Ministry in Action
We are so excited to be starting our fourth season with It Is Written Canada in the fall. Please, pray for our team as we seek God’s guidance and go on the road to film the programs for this next season.
THIS MONTH'S FREE OFFER – APPLEBLUE Duet: Summer Feelings CD
You will be inspired as you listen to the creative sounds from the APPLEBLUE Duet instrumentals. You'll hear combinations of Classical music blended with Hymns. Features include: “At the Cross,” “Nearer My God to Thee,” “Amazing Grace,” “Into the Woods My Master Went,” “Holy, Holy, Holy,” “Londonderry Air,” “I Surrender All,” “O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” “Nearer Still Nearer,” “How Great Thou Art.”
Health Nugget
“It is His life that we receive in the sunshine, in the pure, sweet air, in the food which builds up our bodies and sustains our strength. It is by His life that we exist, hour by hour, moment by moment” (Education, pg. 198-199).
STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRISP
Ingredients for the Filling:
● 4 cups rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch pieces
● 4 cups strawberries, tops removed
● ½ cup coconut sugar
● 2 tbsp lemon juice
● 4 tbsp oat flour, heaping
Ingredients for the Crisp:
● 3 cups rolled oats
● 2 cups almond (or wheat) flour
● ½ tsp salt
● 2 tsp vanilla extract
● ¼ cup coconut oil
● ¹⁄₃ cup maple syrup
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Wash and dice rhubarb and strawberries into a large bowl. Add sugar, flour, and lemon juice. Mix well. Pour into baking dish. (You can split the recipe between two dishes).
3. Use the same large bowl adding all the dry ingredients for the topping. Mix well, then add the vanilla extract, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Mix well.
4. Pour topping evenly over the Strawberry Rhubarb filling.
5. Place uncovered in the oven to bake for approximately 35 minutes. Check frequently and remove once topping has turned golden brown!
6. Serve after it has cooled slightly, topping with vegan whipped cream or ice cream!