Girl Matters

I'm sure many of us, if not all, have heard of Oprah Winfrey and the impact she is making around the world. Not only do millions of viewers watch her show, but she has other mediums of influencing people with her thoughts and values. I sometimes think about the impact she can make for the Kingdom of God if she was a Christ-follower. But, even if we are not to the level of Oprah, I was reminded of how we can still make an impact for the Kingdom of God from a recent Oprah Show.

A few weeks ago on the show, two families came on to share their stories about the mistaken identity case which occurred a couple of years ago. The daughters of the two families, along with other students and staff from their university in Indiana, were involved in a tragic car crash. Whitney Cerak, one of the daughters, initially believed to have been one of five people killed in the crash, actually survived. Laura Van Ryn, the daughter of the other family on the show, was thought to have survived the crash, but was actually dead. The Cerak family had believed their daughter was dead, while the Van Ryn family believed their daughter was fighting for her life in the hospital. After about five weeks in the hospital, the Van Ryn's came to the realization that the girl in the hospital was not their daughter.

Can you imagine what might have been going on in the hearts and minds of both family members?

On the show, rather than sharing about any anger, bitterness or frustration with all that they went through with the mix-up, it was so encouraging to hear the families share about how their faith in Jesus Christ got them through everything. Imagine the millions of people watching and hearing, along with Oprah Winfrey, about Jesus Christ and the impact He had made in the lives of these families!

It was definitely a challenge to me to be a verbal and visible witness of Jesus Christ to those around me, because you never know who will be watching and listening in.