Florida Teens Stranded At Sea Call Out To God, Rescued By Captain Of Ship Called ‘The Amen’
Two Florida teens are thanking God for their lives for after being stranded at sea and then rescued. Tyler Smith and Heather Brown were spending the day swimming at Vilano Beach when they realized they had drifted two miles from the shore. Being so far from the coast and growing tired, the two knew they were in danger, so they began to call out to God.
Captain Eric Wagner of a boat called ‘The Amen’ sailing from South Florida to New Jersey spotted the teens in the water. Wagner and his crew were able to pull Smith and Brown out of the water.
“Overall the wind, waves and engines, we thought we heard a desperate scream,” said Wagner. “Exhausted and near the end, the boy told me he called out for God’s help. Then we showed up.”
Smith said it was clear that God had saved them. He said, “From us crying out to God for Him to send someone for us to keep living and a boat named ‘Amen,’ there’s no way that it wasn’t Him.”
When Woman Shared Photo Of Anonymous Gift Found In A Book, It Sparked A Chain Of Good Deeds
An anonymous act of kindness has sparked a ripple effect of good deeds across Missouri after a woman bought a $17 book from Target in May. Ashley Jost (27) was shopping at Target looking for a book for a reading challenge she committed to with her friends. The challenge consisted of reading 10 pages of a book every day for 75 days. With this in mind, Jost grabbed a copy of Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals, by Rachel Hollis.
Upon returning home, Jost sat down on her couch and started reading when a $5 bill fell out of the book. Jost began thumbing through the pages of the book and found a pink sticky note tucked between the chapters. The note read: “To the person who buys this book: I am having a tough day. I thought maybe I could brighten someone else’s with this little surprise. Go buy a coffee, donut or a face mask. Practice some self-care today. Remember that you are loved. You are amazing. You are strong. Love, Lisa.”
Jost was touched by the note and wanted to share the sweet gesture with her friends on social media, so she posted a photo of the note and cash to Twitter. The photo garnered thousands of retweets and likes, and then various news outlets eventually publicized it.
Flooded with responses from people who have been inspired to do their own random act of kindness for a stranger, Jost has since left her own note and gift card inside of a library book, she gave a gift card to her friend going through a hard time and she paid for the coffee of the person behind her at the Starbucks drive-thru.
Jost said that she hopes the news stories and media attention will eventually reach Lisa, the author of the pink note so that she knows the full impact of her simple act of kindness.
I Can Only Imagine Film Being Used By God To Bring Gospel To China
The director behind I Can Only Imagine, the biggest faith-based movie of last year, has shared how the film is being used all over the world to bring people to God—even in China, where persecution remains severe. China actually funded the movie’s translation, despite its extreme opposition to Christianity and ‘Western’ influences on religion.
In the same year that China restricted Christianity, they paid for the right to translate the film and distribute it throughout China. Faith-based movies, especially those backed by an American audience, present an opportunity to spread the gospel through the medium of film. The Erwin brothers’ 2018 film grossed $85 million worldwide against a production budget of $7 million, becoming the fourth highest-grossing music biopic of all-time in the United States.
