Jane's Story

Blessed by growing up in a Christian home, Jane spent many warm summer days at Mount Elim Bible Camp. It was there she met and embraced Jesus as her Savior.

Camp is the kind of place where decisions for a lifetime are often made. After meeting a missionary at camp who graduated from Moody Bible Institute she was so impressed that she knew Moody was the place the Lord was calling her. She enrolled in foreign missions.

At Moody, God brought a doctor into Jane’s life who encouraged her to use her gifts in medicine. After Moody, she decided to go the University of Kentucky medical school. A promising career serving the Lord as a medical missionary seemed to be her destiny.

The day came to start her medical studies. Eagerly she got into her car and headed for school. Then, the unthinkable happened . . . a car from the other side of the road careened across and rammed into her. Jane was badly hurt.

She spent months in the hospital. Her left arm was paralyzed, she could hardly walk, but worst of all her memory was affected. The dream of med school was now lost.

Eventually Jane went home to live with her parents. No doubt she asked herself questions:

"Is this all there is for me?"
"Don’t you want me to serve you, God?"

Jane’s sister lived in Chicago and by "chance" learned about Inspiration Ministries, just over the border in Wisconsin. They had a sheltered workshop but also a residence where Jane could live independently. Jane fell in love with the place and how God was working in so many ways there. She decided to move in.

Maybe God’s plan was different than she thought . . .

Soon after she arrived, Jane’s new roommate decided to move into an Independent Living apartment at IM. Now Jane was alone. She turned to God again and prayed for the other bed in her room to be filled with someone she could help.

The prayer was answered with Bonnie, an enthusiastic Chicago woman who needed all the help she could get to live with blindness. Jane and Bonnie fit together like hand and glove. Bonnie says, "Jane’s the best for me."

Jane says proudly, "The Lord had a different thing for me to do than I planned." She knows sharing in His suffering is more important than her own goals.

The wonderful workings of the Lord are like that. But the rest of the truth is people like Jane rely on others, too. Every year they need around $8,000 in financial assistance from the Bread of Life Fund just to cover their basic expenses at IM. Even though they may work hard in the workshop to make ends meet, it’s rarely enough. Often family funds run low and it’s only a matter of time before they are more dependent on the Fund.

That’s where friends of the ministry come in. Over the last year, the amount IM gives away has increased 10% or to over $195,000, and it will probably keep rising.

Many residents like Jane have experienced sad circumstances in their lives. Today they have a place where they can minister and be ministered to physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually.

Click here to request more information about residential opportunities at Inspiration Retreat Center.

Go to the Residential Homepage.

Learn more about the Bread of Life Fund.