Tim Grice - Congestive Heart Failure

In 2019 my wife, Sarah, gave birth to our son Gideon. When he was around 6 months old I experienced many sleepless nights and previous symptoms from a heart condition a decade earlier returned. Eventually, he learned to sleep and the symptoms left. That is, until two years later when our daughter Lela came along. 

Lela was born in January 2021. By the end of March (and more sleepless nights) I was having some serious issues with my heart. It took until May to get in to see a specialist and he ran a battery of tests over the next couple of weeks. On June 21st, the cardiologist called me and asked if I could come to his office that day.

I sat in his office and listened as he told me that the test results showed I had Congestive Heart Failure. Based on the numbers and my symptoms he indicated I was in Stage “C”. I asked him if that was serious, and he said, “Unfortunately, yes.” He went on to explain that there are 4 stages to Congestive Heart Failure (A through D).

He continued with the bad news by telling me that “Unfortunately, there is no cure. Treatment aims to relieve symptoms and slow down the progression to buy you more time.” I asked him what my prognosis was and he said, “About 35% survive for 10 years. It seems, however, that your heart has been in decline for some time now.” I left his office in a daze thinking that my two babies might grow up without a dad!” 

I decided I couldn’t go back to work, so I went shopping (which is testament to just how out of it I was). While aimlessly walking around a store, my phone rang. I looked at the caller-ID and it was my friend Stephen Kuert (one of the missionaries we support) calling from Africa.  

I remember thinking, “It’s the middle of the night there, why would he be calling me?” He said, “Tim, God put you on my heart and I wanted to see how you are doing.” Holding back tears, I told him about my appointment.  

He said, “We need to pray! God, I lift up my brother Tim to you now and ask these three things. Whatever Tim needs to do to help promote his health, please give him the courage and will-power to do them. I ask that you surround him with doctors with wisdom beyond their training to help him. Where man falls short, please Lord, miraculously heal my brother.” I knew the timing of his call and his faith-filled prayer was God-ordained. I hung up the phone with a renewed sense of hope.  

Soon, I found a specialist who worked with people to restore heart health. I lost 60 pounds in 90 days as my diet changed and exercise increased. By the middle of October, I realized I felt completely different. My symptoms were gone. My energy was back.

I called my cardiologist and asked if he would retest me. Initially he declined saying, “As I explained, with your condition, improvement is unlikely. But, any measurable change in 4 months is virtually impossible.” I pressed him again and he finally agreed.

On November 1st he scheduled my final test with a consultation to follow. When I came into his office that afternoon, he had a perplexed look on his face. He kept flipping between papers and his laptop.  

He looked up and said, “I can’t explain this. I’ve never seen anything like this before, but your heart is completely normal.” I smiled and told him that I could explain it, “God is a loving Father with the power to heal.” 

Monday, July 2nd - Friday, July 7th - Royal Family Kids Camp

Wednesday, July 5th

REMINDER: No family dinner, adult discipleship groups or chapel kids groups during June & July. Activities resume August 23. 

No Chapel Youth because of Royal Family Kids Camp

Wednesday, July 12th

REMINDER: No family dinner, adult discipleship groups or chapel kids groups during June & July. Activities resume August 23. 

6:30pm - 7:30pm I Chapel Youth

6:30pm - 7:30pm I Born To Lead - Chapel Men's Leadership Series

Friday, July 14th I Chapel Women Summer Social Games Night I 6pm - 9pm

Sunday, July 16th - Wednesday, July 19th I Chapel Youth Brazil Missions Trip

Sunday, July 16th

6:00pm - 8:00pm I Homegroups I Chapel Kids I Nursery I NO Chapel Youth D-Groups Due To CY Brazil Missions Trip  [get involved]

Wednesday, July 19th

REMINDER: No family dinner, adult discipleship groups or chapel kids groups during June & July. Activities resume August 23. 

No Chapel Youth because of CY Missions Trip

6:30pm - 7:30pm I Born To Lead - Chapel Men's Leadership Series

Tuesday, July 25th - Friday, July 28th I Kids Camp [sign up]

Wednesday, July 26th

REMINDER: No family dinner, adult discipleship groups or chapel kids groups during June & July. Activities resume August 23. 

No Chapel Youth because of CY Missions Trip

Our Wednesday night Adult Discipleship groups and Chapel Kids groups do not meet during June and July. We take this short break to create more time, space. and volunteer capacity for our summer events and activities. Our normal Wednesday night schedule resumes in late August. 

Eddie and Dawn Redden met and fell in love at Oral Roberts University. They began attending Christian Chapel in the Fall of 1992 and were married shortly after. They quickly became active members of the church and served as leaders in Chapel Youth. They soon found themselves volunteering at Royal Family Kids Camp (RFK). RFK is a free week camp for 7–11-year-olds in the foster care system.

In 2014, Pastor Chris and the Christian Chapel board asked Eddie and Dawn to pray about stepping in as the directors for RFK. The Redden’s followed Richard & Sharong Berumen, the founding directors of RFK at Christian Chapel. They shadowed Richard and Sharon for the 2015 camp and became official directors in 2016. They consider it the honor of their lives to spend their empty nest years leading this beautiful ministry. 

Royal Family Kids Camp exists to mobilize the local church to create life changing moments for children who have experienced relational trauma. There are over 100 camps throughout the United States and around the world. Christian Chapel’s camp is number 55 on that list. Our first camp was held in the summer of 1999, after Richard and Sharon Berumen along with Greg and Donna Davis attended RFKC training. Christian Chapel heard about the camp through its Founder, Wayne Tesch, who was a college classmate of Christian Chapel members, Carl and Carlene Quist. 

This summer we are celebrating our 25th year of camp. In 2017 Dave Paulson and Tamara Beasler began our Royal Family KIDS Mentoring Club which extends our ministry to these campers throughout the year.

Eddie says, “People often wonder if a week of camp can really make a difference in the lives of children who have experienced such deep trauma. We have witnessed it with our own eyes; the cares of the children lift off of them as they are allowed to play and ‘be children’ at camp. Story after story arises from camp. ‘Camp is the first place I heard about God,’ ‘I’ve never had a birthday party before camp,’ ‘the only Bible I have is the one I got at camp,’ ‘why is camp only 5 days? I want to live here,’ ‘I want to come back when I’m older and be a volunteer at camp.’ We have the beautiful honor of serving with 6 former campers this year as they have reached the required age to volunteer.” 

God is so good! Prayer is a vital component to the success of RFKC. Prayers for strength and guidance are much appreciated by our volunteers as they will give their hearts, souls, and hard work to the children. You can also pray for health and protection to surround our campers and staff. To learn more about RFK, join us for our 25th Anniversary Celebration on Sunday, July 9 in our Sunday worship services.