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700 Club

The Gift of a Kidney from an Unlikely Donor

Chazley Williams always had the dream of walking across the stage in her cap and gown, her Master of Education degree in hand. “One of my motivations is helping others reach their goals,” said Chazley. “That position for me, as well as wanting to get my master's and pursuing that, and helping others, was also that motivation.”

In Summer of 2019, Chazley, a newlywed, was well on her way to earning her master’s from Regent University, when she suddenly became ill. “I started experiencing issues with my urine,” she explained. “Also, my feet and ankles starting to swell really bad to the point where it was hard to even put on shoes.”

Chazley was diagnosed with stage four kidney disease. She desperately needed a kidney transplant but the wait could take as long as three to six years to find a match. In the meantime, she’d need eight hours of dialysis every day to stay alive. She turned to God for answers. “I honestly don’t think it really sunk in until I remember I was on my way somewhere and I couldn’t get shoes on my feet. I just remember sitting there crying. My feet were swollen to the point where it hurt to touch the ground,” recalled Chazley.

After seven months of enduring daily treatments, juggling studies, home life, and a full-time job, Chazley made the hard decision to take a leave of absence from school. “I have been through so much as a whole in life that I don’t want to go through something else,” she explained. “I was fighting through having to deal with this situation. I didn’t want to have to be tied down to dialysis. I’m not going to have to deal with this because I don’t have the capacity to deal with this.” Eventually, she gave it all to God, and prayed that she would soon find a match for a kidney transplant. “I was like, okay, like you know, God’s going to heal me. I’m going to heal through this,” she exclaimed. 

A year later, she made the decision to return to school to help give some normalcy to her life. “If I go back to school, that would put me back on my regular schedule so I don't have to think about everything else going on,” said Chazley. Two weeks into the semester, Chazley received an email from one of her online professors, Dr. Ryan Murnane, asking if he could call her. She assumed it was class related. “As soon as he called me,” she said, “he asked if I still needed a kidney donor and I told him yes!”

Chazley had relayed the information during her course work to Dr. Murnane. He didn’t think twice about offering her one of his kidneys. He expressed, “If somebody in my family needed something that I couldn't give, I would want somebody to step up if I was not willing to give. I figured, this is an opportunity to help somebody.”

Chazley recounted the conversation between her and Dr. Murane. “During that time, I’m listening but at the same time I was like, 'is this even possible to even happen?' I remember I was getting his information to pass onto my transplant coordinator, and at that time, I think when I got off the phone it was one of those moments where you’re thinking, is this real?  You know, can this actually happen?”

As it happened, Dr. Murnane had already been registered and tested as a kidney donor to help a young boy just months earlier. While it didn’t work out, he was still willing to make the sacrifice for someone else. “It was about following the journey, not necessarily understanding the destination,” Dr. Murnane said. “Because I felt called to donate to the kid, but it didn't happen. But it was because getting prepared to donate to the kid was just part of the journey.” 

Within a week, Chazley had been tested and had the results - they were a match! In November 2020, Chazley and Ryan went in for transplant surgery. It was a success, and within 48 hours of the procedure, Chazley went home with a new kidney. “I don't think, until after I actually came out the hospital that I was, I really had that knowledge of, okay, like this is like my life has changed in some capacity. My professor just saved my life,” she exclaimed.

In December 2023, three years after the transplant, Chazley fulfilled her dream as she graduated with a Master’s in Education. Dr. Murnane hooded Chazley in a private ceremony. “That opportunity is, kind of a reflection of the Regent culture,” Dr. Murnane explained. “If you work hard, we want to celebrate with you and be able to give you an experience, even if there are restrictions or accommodations that are needed.”

Chazley expressed her surprise to the private hooding ceremony. “That was a complete, complete surprise. It was tears and everything for me. I was more shocked than anything and so when I'm shocked and surprised I immediately cry. I never intended this to even happen.” 

Today, Chazley is working full time for a university doing what she loves, counseling and helping others in their career journey. Dr. Murnane is still at Regent as Assistant Vice President for Academic Policy and Compliance. Chazley is grateful for how God used Regent to answer her prayers for healing and fulfilling her dreams. “There is a God out there that continues to shine light on us to be able to help us,” she said. “He continued to change my mindset and change me, while also changing others. Continue to pray and thank God for what you do have and have hope that things will change.”


 

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700 Club

Will this be the storm that blows her house away?

Esther is a single mom. She lives with her two children near the Amazon rainforest in Peru. Every year when the rainy season starts, her greatest fear is that her house will not survive the high winds. Esther describes the vulnerable home saying, “We suffer a lot in this little shack. When it rains the house gets flooded and the roof lifts up.” 

Every time a storm approaches, Esther’s older daughter, Lexy, tries to plug any new holes that have appeared. Esther shares, “I don't have enough money to fix the house. The wood is rotting, and my children get sick from exposure. I suffer a lot when my little one suffers. When the rain and winds hit, my 7-year-old screams and says, ‘Mom, I don't want to die.’” 

Esther supports her family by weaving and making flour. Unfortunately, she can only make flour twice a month because she has to borrow a neighbor’s oven to dry it. 

When Operation Blessing learned about the situation, we built the family a new house with sturdy walls and strong roof. We added a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom along with furniture and a solar panel for power. Esther enthusiastically says, “I am so happy with our new house. My kids now feel comfortable and safe.”  

And thanks to you, we also were able to build Esther a new brick oven so she can make and sell more flour, of which Esther gratefully shares, “All of this is a wonderful blessing for me. Thank you!”   


 

700 Club

Praying in the Face of the Pandemic

Long before reality television star Eric Eremita (Ehrra-Meeta) appeared on set for HGTV, his signature style set him apart. 

“I appreciate the ‘wow’ factor and when I do work for my clients and my clients become friends,” says Eric. "They come into a space, they'll turn around and say, ‘Eric did this. I can tell. I know how he puts a job together. I know how he puts a space together.’" 

Appearing on HGTV shows like "Love It or List It," and "Brother Vs. Brother," the contractor and designer has always pushed through even the toughest jobs.   

“I try to run a smooth ship, but there's always a wave that's going to come that's going to knock you around a little bit,” remarks Eric. “You have to learn how to ride over those waves, get through it and make adjustments.”

The 52-year-old father of three would face a battle he could not fight on his own. With COVID-19 reaching pandemic proportions, Eric says he kept losing his focus. 

“Then the second thing was the - a flu-like symptom started coming on, fevers and things of that nature, thinking that I had the flu,” Eric recalls. “At the same time my wife started to get it.”

Immediately, Eric and his wife Joanne went into quarantine in their Staten Island home. He went upstairs while Joanne stayed on the first floor. Their three kids camped out in the finished basement.

According to Eric, “I started getting a high fever. My wife says my fever went up to over 104. We left it in God's hands.”
 
One day a week later, Joanne came to check on her husband. This time he was having difficulty breathing and was turning blue. "She came upstairs beause she didn't, you know, really know what was happening. And she turned around and says, 'You don't look good. Can you breathe?'" And that’s the last thing Eric remembers.

On March 30th, Eric was put on a ventilator. He wasn’t expected to live. Two weeks later he was taken off the ventilator.

"The first thing waking up in the hospital is that the nurse brought over an iPad and my family was on the other side of it," Eric recalls. "They were shocked and amazed that I pulled through.”

It was then Eric learned he’d been in the hospital for three weeks and wasn’t expected to make it. 

“You know, it's life-altering,” says Eric. “I couldn't wait to get home and see my kids and my wife and just hug them and squeeze them.”

Eric also learned what he and many others believe brought him from death’s door...thousands of people lifting him up in prayer.

“It's overwhelming, man. It's really, really overwhelming,” says Eric. “You're talking about fans, you're talking about friends, you're talking about family, you're talking about so many different people who were looking out for me.”

And Eric says God gave him another sign that He was the one who brought him through. 

“The number 13 has a history with me,” says Eric. “In the Italian heritage, 13 is a lucky number. Then I got married on February 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day. And now I’m starting a clothing line called Thirteen. And now I'll fast forward it to the day I got off the ventilator. The day I got off the ventilator was April 13th. Waking up off the ventilator on April 13th means a lot. You know, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, Philippians 4:13.” 

Ten days later, Eric was well enough to go home. His story of healing inspired a very special send-off. 

“They got everybody together, ICU, the emergency room. Anybody who worked on me or anybody that knew me, and it wasn't from being on television. They did it because I was a miracle to them,” Eric recalls. “I was the first person to leave having been on a ventilator. So, it was very uplifting to them. It gave them a sign of hope and it gave caught up in this pandemic, a sign of hope as well.”

Eric reunited with his family, and started regaining his strength. By then his wife had also fully recovered from the virus at home and his children were not infected. Eric is excited to get back to work, with a renewed faith that God is in control. 

“You start to look at life a little differently. You know, don't sweat all that stuff. It's going to happen anyway,” says Eric. “Don’t worry about what needs to be done next. God's got a plan. Okay. It’s going to happen. So if you put all that together and you leave it in His hands, you'll be in good shape.“

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700 Club

A God Turn-Around for Voice Actor

For over two decades James Arnold Taylor has been the voice of many beloved characters including one of his favorites, Obi Wan Kenobi in the animated Star Wars series. “I knew ever since I was a little kid I wanted to do voices in cartoons. I was very much pursuing that. And I had some opportunities to match celebrities,” says James. “And so some of my first work was doing voice doubling for people like Michael J. Fox and, 'Whoa, wait a second, Doc. Whoa, this is heavy.' And, 'And Christopher Lloyd, great Scott Marty.' And so, I started doubling people and then got the attention of agents and stuff and was able to get into a full-time career as a voice actor.”

James' career soon took off and he achieved his dream of voicing cartoons. “I was the voice of, you know, everything from Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, Fred Flintstone at the time, Leonardo the Ninja Turtle, this video game series Ratchet & Clank,” says James. “I was in full bore in those productions being done right then. And I woke up one day and I had no voice.”

The Taylor’s discovered black mold in their new home. “Went to the doctor, got some blood tests and realized there were six different types of mold in my bloodstream and one of them being black mold, Stachybotrys, which is the very dangerous one. And I had been, you know, having everything from brain fog, memory loss, all these things, but particularly that my voice was going,” he recalls. “So, I remember very vividly on that day, it was February 13th, 2005, and I went and just got back from the doctor and he says, 'You got to stop speaking.' And I said, 'God, God, please don't let this be the worst day of my life.'"

James and his wife felt overwhelmed and relied on their faith to carry them through.

“We were in the process of adopting our daughter at the time. So we've got this house with this black mold. We're in a lawsuit with people with the house. We're adopting a child from China and I can't speak and I'm a successful voice actor. So those couple months in we were like going, 'Wow, this is... I don't know if it can get much worse than that.' And so we were really just on our knees every day,” says James.

The Taylors trusted God as James began extensive therapy to regain his voice. He remembers, “I was going to doctors and they all wanted to put me on various medications, some indefinitely. And they said that my voice would probably not be the same. It would be less than. So, I took a very proactive approach and a holistic approach, changed everything about my diet, my exercise, the way I lived. Went on a whole foods diet and just really did the best I could to cleanse my system of the mold. I had this wonderful gift that God gave me since I was a child to do these voices and to mimic them, but I wasn't doing it right. And He needed to correct that. And He needed to correct it through something that was shocking to my system in every possible way. And so, I learned and retrained my voice to be even stronger than it was before.”

The Taylors eventually moved out of their house. As they completed the adoption for their new daughter, James was going through the paperwork when something caught his eye.

“I see her birthday is February 13th 2005, so the day that I thought was the worst day in my life, God made the best day in my life. He turned it around and what He showed me is that He's always listening and the...the things that we think are our hardest journeys are there to build us up for the next journey and to make us stronger for the next...the next hurdle that's going to come up in life.”

James states, “I've worked in Star Wars. I've worked in some of the biggest movie franchises. I've worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, and yet I'm so grateful that I get to wake up in a normal home with a wife and a daughter that love me and a peace that cannot come from any of the stuff I get from my work, but can only come from the love of Christ, and family, and just true love.”

Fully relying on God has inspired James to make a film. “I've had a passion for storytelling and I love the parable of the prodigal son,” says James. “So, I recently wrote a movie called Hidden Blessings about a painter that's kind of a reclusive painter and a documentary film crew comes in to document his life and they stumble across the story of the prodigal son in the process of it. And so we have been very blessed to get that movie out there and it's getting a lot of good attention at film festivals and we're hoping to get it out to the world for everybody to see it and kind of help share my story as well.”

James is thankful God restored his voice and enjoys using it to share the love of Jesus. “I'm a high school dropout. I came from a very broken home and I've been blessed with this amazing career. And then He gave me the gifts to be able to share that with people. He gave me a voice. And so, I've always been very open about my faith in my career,” says James.

“I've tried to be a light in a dark place in Hollywood and such, as well and just be open. I love Jesus. Jesus saved my life. So, I'm gonna say it. I'll say it in whatever voice you want me to say it in.”
 

CBN’s impact around the world

USA

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CBN’s prayer team prayed with over 1.2 million callers in 2022 alone, while also praying with people through email, social media channels, live chat on the website, and written correspondence.

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Highlighting testimonies of God’s faithfulness

Vida Dura or “Hard Life” stories are sourced throughout Latin America and produced in Spanish to reach a region with testimonies of people who hit rock bottom and turn to God for change. CBN has a prayer center in Latin America to support people through prayer and faith resources.

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Serving in the wake of natural disasters

CBN's Operation Blessing was on the ground quickly in the wake of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey, providing much-needed food, relief supplies, and medical aid. After large-scale natural disasters, Operation Blessing strives to be the first to arrive, and the last to leave, tending to the needs long after the news cameras leave.

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Projected 135 million* watched a CBN program in 2022

CBN partners are reaching children around the world with the Gospel of Jesus through Superbook, a Bible-based animation series. In 2022 alone, children in 139 countries watched at least one episode of Superbook.

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