Once Upon a Time - My Story

Once Upon a Time...

Our lives are like a book,  full of words and stories. Every day from when the sun comes up till the time it goes down, we are writing another page, the end of one chapter or the beginning of another. You can’t judge a book by it’s cover, some one will look happy, together and even cocky, but there story can be one of tragedy and pain. What’s so beautiful it that no matter what has been written in our book, the next chapter can be different, we can change. 

My name is Ruth, and I’d like to welcome you to my story.
I have been blessed with a really cool

family. I have three brothers and two sisters.  My daddy played football in America. He met the Living Jesus in the football stadium at the University of Norte Dame. My mother was a cheer leader and after five years of solitude and prayer my father decided to get married. His story, became their story, which began our story, a dream I am privileged to call my story; and maybe some part of our story would inspire you as you write your story.

As the word of God teaches, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it (Prv.22:6,29:15,17)...” My father and mother spent much hard work and discipline every day to teach my brothers and sisters and I, not only how to read and write, but what it really means to serve the Lord in this generation. Just like Tiger Woods dad taught him from a very young age to play golf or the parents of gymnast and ice skaters start their kids at age four or five, our parents raised us in the truth. Like David said, “From birth I have relied on you...Since my youth, oh God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds(Ps.71).  

As I grew I began to see God actually hear my prayers even at a young age. I realized I could know God all on my own and He would teach me about Himself. I built a foundation by studying the Word and learning what it meant to please God. I chose to make a commitment to follow Jesus.  As each one of my brothers and sisters and I grew to adulthood we could choose to do what we want and go where we want. I have worked different jobs and received various offers to follow many courses for my life. I have chosen to give my life to Jesus Christ.

I remember standing next to my dad when he was sharing with a large crowd of people. I was twelve or thirteen. I wanted to share the gospel as well but I was so nervous. I shared John. 7:37 and once I started talking I got over being nervous and realized I wanted to keep going and had much to say. I still feel that same anxiety when I face a crowd. I have learned that that feeling will never go away, I choose to obey Jesus despite myself. As my love for Christ has grown, so has my boldness and desire to stand for Him. Jesus said a “mustard seed” of faith is all it takes. Start with something small, it will lead to something big.

I learned and continue to learn, that I can write my own story, my life is in my hands and I can love God like no one else can. “Losing your life” to follow Christ does not leave you void of creativity and personality like a robot. When someone is born again, they have access to endless creativity and the motivation to lift up Jesus. 

I learned how to paint banners fairly well so I can write whatever message I want for Jesus. I painted six matching neon signs so my brothers and sisters and I could run with them together. We ran all through New York with them and it was really cool, (and fun).  I figured out how to put a large flag on my bike so I could ride through cities, football games and big events.

 In Costa Rica when I was riding around the city, I met this homeless guy who had cut his hand really bad with a power saw and barely had it bandaged.  His attitude was incredible. Pretty much no matter where I go I always carry a back pack. My family always gives me a hard time about it but it pays off. I had a first aid kit in it and was able to bandage this guy up a little better. Once in South America I was able to borrow a horse and carry my flag for a parade. Now that was cool!

The ideas my family and I have used are just things we have come up with to try to communicate the Gospel in so many situations. Like Paul said, “The love of Christ compels us (2Cor.5:14)....” Have you ever seen or seen a picture of the huge banners we carry? We designed them and made them from scratch. It takes work to think of effective ways to communicate the Gospel. Some things work out and some don’t (like using roller blades, a big sign, when there’s a strong wind down hill and tuns of people would be one of those things on the “not work out” list.)

We painted messages on those pop out sun screens and use them in airports, subways and places where space is limited. Some countries the metro system is so packed with people we ride it getting off at each stop to share with the people. You have to literally push yourself onto the train (oxygen mask highly was cool!

 Stories from my story - 

Jesus never said, “Sit therefore...” He said, “Go therefore, into all the world...”  

In Europe we had to be very creative in order to communicate because obviously we don’t speak all the languages. The Lord gave my daddy the idea to use music and dance to teach the people. My mom sewed costumes, my dad wrote the music and we all helped write a program and learn different talents. I remember once when we were in Hungary and my dad was acting out the death and resurrection, I saw a lady in the crowd crying, deeply moved. Another time in Italy we were doing a skit of the prodigal son and I saw a father explaining it to his sons. It was very exciting to so effectively communicate despite the language barrier.

My dad would use a mask to convey the real power that Satan has on this earth. We did a lot of creative skits with it. He would also wear a golden bear costume and make a lot of people smile.  I remember trying to help my mom get groceries in Poland. We were trying to figure out what kind of meat we were buying and my mom was making the sound of a cow to ask if it was beef. The lady shook her head and made the sound of a horse. We got chicken.  

We were staying at this campground outside of Mexico city and had gone to the center to minister all day. When we came back we were planning on packing up to leave the next day. We pulled up and the entire road leading to the gate is gone! There’s a huge pile of dirt blocking the drive way, a wheel barrel, four guys and one shovel. Panicking we asked them A: What they were doing, and B: How long were they going to be doing it. They cheerfully reassured us, “Rapido, rapido, no problemo, solo uno, dos meses (one or two months)! We ended up having to take this super narrow back way and almost getting super stuck.

They say it’s not the destination it's the journey. Very true. Especially when the journey takes 7 hours to go 150 miles and there’s like 9,000 potholes and speed bumps.  Or the road just happens to be called, “Graveyard Pass”. Oh, wow that’s a neat name!    

At some point in our years of traveling most everything that can break in a vehicle has and usually at a very dangerous time. But every single incident has ended in a glorious testimony to God’s power and leading. He really does work all things out for the good (Rm.8:28)!

We were driving down a steep mountain pass in Pueblo Mexico when our breaks locked up. We pulled over to let them cool and saw this guy walking down the highway. He was like a phantom. After talking to him we learned his name is Mark and he is American. A number of bad circumstances landed him here. His clothes smelled so bad you could hardly be near him. Because we had our motor home we were able to give him new things, a meal and a ride to a motel. If we did not have to stop for the breaks we would never have met this man.

My brothers and I took a bus in South America from one city to another about an eight hour trip. On the way back however, a bridge was down and it turned into a 25 hour bus trip.  We had a profound witness in both cities and this just added to the adventure. When we finally passed the bridge the bus exploded in applause. There were like three guys working on it and two were on break, oh yeah.

In Austria there were wild horses on the road stopping the traffic. We didn't mind this one so much especially since the horse came to us and let us pet them.  

In Guatemala we climbed a volcano and talked to so many people that live on the side of the mountain. One lady told us how every time it rains her floor turns to mud and rats come in. Her husband has Alzheimer disease and it’s up to her to take care of them both.

Once on a run, I found a horse ranch way back in the mountains. The owner let me ride a 250,000 dollar black Frisian horse who he had trained to “dance”. His name is Rebuela (whirlwind) and I think he is the most beautiful horse in the world.

Here's a weird one for you, In Venezuela I saw two cops on one motorcycle (big cops little motorcycle like) and one of them was hand cuffed to a guy who was walking. Yes you did read that right. The guy who was walking, wanting to escape, kept pulling away and almost causing the motorcycle to fall. The motorcycle needed speed to make it up the hill, while the bad guy walking could not keep up. I mean how far are they going like this? What if there were two or three criminals? I guess they would make a little handcuff chain.

The Destination. Yes! We finally arrived! Now where are we?

We were in the Chezq Republic for fathers day and my mother had cooked a chicken dinner. Someone invited us to do our presentation at a park and we ended up sharing our meal with the homeless who lived  there. My sisters and I did a magic show for them and used puppets to make them smile. It was a beautiful experience.

In Frankfurt Germany we had no idea we were there on the exact day the soccer team returned from winning the world cup. We came around a corner and saw a massive crowd. We walked into it and shared Jesus using the phrases we had memorized in German. Like David said, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people(Ps.3:6)”

In Morocco, we went out with a sign declaring Jesus as God in a pretty empty square. Out of nowhere people came and formed a mob, furious at our message. The police came, arrested us and interrogated us for nine hours. We thought we were getting permission to minister in the country, but quickly found out we were getting permission to leave the country. The general interrogating us was so taken by father that he wanted to hear

the Gospel.  He had never seen people who really lived for Jesus. The next day it was in the USA Today newspaper “Casablanca Christians”! 

In Colorado E.U, My brothers and sisters and I were playing football one afternoon against some other kids when I was tackled and broke my leg in four places. I had to have a rod and seven screws put in my leg. The pain each night was unbelievable and taught me patience. Spending a lot of time in a wheel chair allowed me to see things from a different perspective.  Literally a lower one were everybody is looking down at you. I will always have a respect for those I see in wheelchairs.  In the recent years I have learned Irish Step dance and incorporated that into our performance over seas. I really love dancing this style and everything about the Irish culture (our family has Irish roots). Before I dance, I share the story of when I was in a wheel chair not sure if I would fully recover. Now here I am pounding my feet to the beat. There is real healing and hope in the arms of the Father. No matter how bad your past, the next chapter can be beautiful. This has been especially impactful in prisons.

One of the orphanages we have visited was in Guadalajara. We threw a birthday party for the kids and

played games. They were so desperate for love and attention. Almost the entire time I had this same little girl in my arms. Putting her down and saying goodbye was one of the hardest things I have had to do. At another half orphanage in Pasto, we each took a group of kids and taught them the same dance and then competed.  We later realized the reason kids kept competing with each other to hold our hands, was that they wanted to try and claim us so we would take them home. It’s a really sad thought.

In South America we visited prisons both for men and women, from temporary holding facilities, to maximum security . They were so overcrowded that in some of them seven, lived in a cell for four. A prisons built for 3,000 guys now hold 6,000.  I know the natural response when you think about prisoners is, they get what they deserve, but you

got to realize that they suffer  horrible injustice especially in Latin countries. Some of the prisoners have been there for years and never seen a judge! I talked to one lady who is serving even years for not paying her rent and did not even get to say bye to her kids. Another guy named, Eder, committed petty theft, but because his file was mistakenly switched for that of a drug dealer he got 50 years! 

The first time we went in a prison, I guess I was kinda thinking the guys would be behind bars, or back from us but they were all right there just starring at us waiting, kind of intimidating.
We started by just greeting them and shaking their hands.
Once they saw that we were not a bunch of

self righteous Americans who were going to condemn them, but rather simple people bringing them hope, they greatly respected us and listened to all we shared. Sarah and I do a magic routine where I steal flowers from her and she makes them reappear. You would think guys in a prison would be too cool for this but they got into more than any other crowd.  Once in Brazil we went to A prison way outside the city up in the mountains. Super long, bumpy ride in a little bus that barely made it up the hills, but it was so worth it. These people are completely forgotten of by society. One time we performed in  a huge prison on my birthday and at the end the guys sang me happy birthday and gave me this beautiful tree they had made out of wire. Really touched me.

In Nicaragua, we were only going to be there a short time and wanted to get a witness to the country. My sister Sarah and I took flags on bikes down a parade route. My brother Joshua and sister Elizabeth took a motorcycle to the start of the event. Out of no where a camera crew met them on the road and led them through all the security so they could minister at the event. They then filmed them live on national tv saying the whole message of Christ Jesus. That night in the motel we saw it replayed on the nightly news. Similar things like this happen to us in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Greece, Spain, Costa Rica, Honduras and Brazil.

Dealing with such large crowds does not come with out risk and danger. We have been robbed, set up for kidnapping,  endured serious sicknesses such

as whooping cough, chicken pocks and yellow fever. We have been in danger from earthquakes, floods, highways, mobs, gangs and people that pose as friends (2Cor.6,) as well as a constant onslaught of persecution from people who do not want to deal with the offense of the Gospel and so direct hatred to my family. However the price, does not compare to the joy of living for the Living God.

Happily Ever After

In the eyes of the world, the priority is to get an education, get married, get a house and good job, raise a family, send your kids to college and start the cycle again. Is that all you want? Don’t you

want your life to matter? Jesus says to find your life you have to loose it. I am not looking to find a husband. The love and purpose I have found in Jesus fulfills my every need. The joy of seeing God actually use my life to effect other people with His love is beyond compare.

You have to see beyond the fairy tale bubble of a romantic love waiting just for you. The reality is divorce, broken hearts and devastated children. I mean there are online services saying they can match you with that perfect someone. Sure, who would know you better than a computer?! Who would not want their entire future to be

determined by a machine? You are lonely and empty because you are separated from God because of sin. The answer is Jesus, period. Paul says it is better to remain unmarried (1Cor.7:28-35).

I read a quote from some one that expresses my perspective. It was quoted by an American spy before he was to be hung by the British. -“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for MY country.” My country does not compare to this country. My God gave everything without withholding the life of His only Son. He is worthy of my short life (2Cor.5:15). He is worthy of your life.

A lot of kids tell their parents they’re the best in the whole world. My daddy and mommy gave me the key to access another world. They gave me their time, love and discipline every day of my life. My mother shows me the inner beauty of a quite and gentle spirit (1Pet.3:4ff). She taught me by example the reward of being a servant and what it means to be a women like the women of old. She is my sister and my best friend.

My daddy taught me to be courageous in a world full of cowards. I have had the privilege to stand by him and learn from him. We have laughed together, cried together and shared moments too big for words. The greatest compliment I receive is for someone to say I am like my father. He is my hero, my big brother and best friend.

Today you have this wonderful gift of a blank page, an empty chapter. You can write whatever you want. Don't lose any more time. Make a commitment to follow the Living Jesus. Get out there and live! Write a story that will go down in history.