Help & Hope

Gary Episcopo joins us on the Help & Hope podcast to share how God used his love for motorcycles and the brotherhood and comradery of motorcycle clubs to lead him into a life of demonstrating the love of Jesus to the "one percenters", or outlaw gangs. Growing up, and even into adulthood, Gary struggled with many of the same temptations of these men and women, and his understanding of the deep mercy God extended and continues to...

Sharon Betters interviews GRAMMY winner Laura Story, who shares details of how her life took an unexpected turn when her husband, Martin, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The fairytale life she had dreamed of was no longer possible, yet Laura found a "better broken" with Jesus. Laura's story will remind listeners while your situation might never change or get better, with Jesus, YOU can.

The Help & Hope podcast is produced by M...

Thousands of families quietly and lovingly care for children with special needs. Though the days are often long and hard, many find joy in their calling and would not trade their calling for anything. Kara Dedert and her family reflect this joy in the ordinary and extraordinary moments of caring for their son and brother, Calvin. In her introduction to her blog, Kara writes, “You’ll find me writing about the good, gritt...

In this inspiring podcast, former baseball star, Dave Dravecky, and Dr. Chuck F. Betters talk about how cancer destroyed Dave’s successful baseball career and Dave’s struggle to deal with not only the loss of his career but understanding his true identity.

In the 1980s, Dave Dravecky was a long-sought-after relief specialist. His pitching helped key the San Diego Padres' Word Series run. After a few years in San ...

Jim and Karen Weaver’s international adoption journey led them to welcoming not one, but two boys into their family, making them parents of four daughters and two sons. In this transparent interview, Jim and Karen share the highs and the lows of their journey, from how they began their adoption adventure, to the realization that life would never go back to the normalcy of raising four daughters, to how the extreme emotional m...

When you first meet Sue, you sense she is a woman who lives life through a kind and steady grid. Yet, still waters run deep, and for over thirty-plus years Sue and her husband have parented three sons, one of whom was born with Down Syndrome and a brain injury. Joseph will never care for himself in any way. He is totally dependent on his parents for his well-being. In this conversation, you will hear the story of a mother who has e...

When a son, sister, or grandchild begins to behave in unexpected and disturbing ways, family members hope it is simply a phase. For some, it is instead a life-time illness – schizophrenia. The diagnosis of schizophrenia can bring shock, fear, and worry to everyone involved. But in the midst of the numerous challenges, hope doesn’t have to die. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Simonetta Carr shares the story of ...

The words “You have a mental illness” bring fear, uncertainty, sometimes shame, loneliness, and even hopelessness. Christine Chappell heard those words as a young woman. They helped her understand many of her struggles with depression and self-harming behavior, but they also took her into a foreign land where she had no road map. Christine talks to Sharon Betters about how her journey began as a young adult until she kn...

How do you face each day after a diagnosis of ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, knowing you will not survive longer than eighteen months – two years? Pastor Dale Meador joins Sharon and Chuck Betters to answer this question and more as he describes how each day reminds him that he cannot beat this disease. He knows his time on this earth is short. But, for Dale, this disease has renewed his confidence in heaven and God&rsquo...

There is so much we do not know about mental illness, including deep depression that results in the inability to even get out of bed, let alone function in daily life. Many more people than we realize struggle every day to do the next thing with their will because of sadness, a lack of joy and purpose reigning in their hearts. They have tried everything to get better, but nothing helps. Add to this equation the spouse who watches h...

How do you find purpose when you are excruciating pain 24/7, survived 7 surgeries, and most likely face more? Add to that your status as a double amputee. In this interview, you will meet Warrior Woman Gracie Rosenberger, who was 17 when she was in an almost fatal car accident. In our conversation, Gracie freely shares what life and marriage is like with such challenges. Gracie’s story reveals a woman of strength and determin...

Corie Weathers, author of Sacred Spaces: My Journey to the Heart of Military Marriage, transparently shares some of her own marriage struggles as the wife of a military chaplain in this far-reaching conversation. Corie was the 2015 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year. One of her responsibilities was to travel on a one-week overseas holiday trip with US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. Corie’s personal goal f...

Andrea Herzer, a woman well acquainted with long term debilitating health issues, having spent the last twenty years with multiple illnesses, including regional pain syndrome and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, joins Sharon Betters for this Help & Hope podcast. Numerous times Andrea experienced moments of hope only to have it dashed by another diagnosis, another setback. Certainly, her heart was a fertile place for bitterness and...

Lucy Malmberg’s grand adventures in life began when her parents hid her in a blanket-covered box as waited in line to board a plane to America from Ukraine after World War II. Her parents passed on to her a legacy of not only love for America but a passionate love for Jesus. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Lucy freely shares how her faith guided her beloved husband George and her in the co-founding of Wedgewood Phar...

Marriage can be difficult under any circumstances, but adding a child with special needs adds a whole new level of challenges. In this wide-ranging conversation, Steve Demme shares his passion for helping build strong marriages, but in particular wants to offer help and hope to fathers, and even more specifically to fathers of children with special needs. Steve’s special relationship to his son, Johnny (who has Down Syndrome)...

Bryan and his wife Sharon say the diagnosis of severe autism for his son Matthew confronted them with the reality that the future they had planned would never come. In this transparent conversation Bryan touches on how he and his wife went into survival mode, how he initially thought he could “fix” his son, the spiritual struggles they experienced, and the impact of Matthew on their other children and their marriage. Th...

Paul and Jill Miller welcomed their sixth child, daughter Kim, into their home in 1982. It became apparent at a young age that Kim was behind in her developmental milestones. She was also nonverbal. Kim was diagnosed as having autism, a diagnosis that was just beginning to be recognized by doctors. Kim’s diagnosis not only created enormous stress on their family, but also isolated Jill as she learned how to parent their preci...

In this interview, two sets of parents speak honestly about how their children with an autistic spectrum disorder impacted their dreams, challenged their marriages, and created chaos in their homes. They also describe their special joys in parenting their children. If you are parenting a child with special needs, you will relate to their transparent descriptions of parenting children with a form of autism. These interviews will als...

Nearly aborted, graciously adopted, and later abandoned, Lori Sealy has traveled the road of atheism and lived a life of autism. Lori was diagnosed with Autism as an adult, and not long after that diagnosis, learned her son had autism as well. Lori is a classical pianist and songwriter whose music gives a transparent view into the intimate struggles of faith and life that she experiences.

In this interview, parents of a youn...