The Unfolding

Marcus Rixon grew up in a 12' x 6' home with no running water in Kolkata, India. One of the challenges he faced was the box that kids like Marcus grew up in- a box that defined him and his potential, based on where he came from. But his parents prayed for a way out of poverty, and the first answer to that prayer was sponsorship through One Child that allowed him to go to school. It was the beginni...

Something was gnawing at David Zach. For years he had been performing with his band Remedy Drive, singing and telling people about hope and faith. But when he read scripture, especially the prophets, he felt challenged. He sensed a call to do more on behalf of the poor and the oppressed. That call led this lead-singer of a rock n'roll band to risk his life, working undercover with The Exodus Road...

When Tom Frye got married, he and his wife knew they wanted to be deliberate about creating a healthy marriage and family. They wanted to do life differently than their parents. But sometimes choosing to do life in a more healthy way, can create conflict. And that conflict can lead to strained relationships that seem impossible to mend. If you've struggled with healthy boundaries and strained rela...

Nobody sets out to be a failure. But what if failure is exactly what we need? Dallas Jenkins is the director of The Chosen. The first-ever multi-season show about Jesus. But long before The Chosen, Dallas wasn't interested in making faith-based films. He dreamed of making it big in Hollywood. What God taught Dallas through failure became part of the incredible story that led him to creating The Ch...

When Lana Vasquez met Jesus at 19, she knew she had been rescued to rescue others. Within a few short years, she was a full-time missionary with Life Impact International rescuing kids from trafficking in Thailand. It was a daunting mission, far beyond what she could do in her own strength. In fact, the work often seemed impossible. But when God asks us to do the impossible, and we're willing to s...

Growing up in Southern California, Lana Vasquez found herself looking for love in all the wrong places. By the time she was a teenager she was trapped in an abusive relationship, addicted to alcohol and drugs, and spent her nights as a dancer in the clubs of Hollywood. She was living a fast life, but even the glitz and glamour of Hollywood couldn't hide the fact that she felt desperately empty. Th...

When people ask Baylor Wilson, "What happened to you?", the best way she can sum it up is: Jesus happened. At 26, Baylor has lived a life that many only dream about. She thrived as a competitive cheerleader, starred with her mom on Season 29 of the television show Survivor, and landed a country music publishing deal, all before graduating from college. But success didn't translate into happiness o...

If your goal in life is to be happy, what do you do when your marriage makes you unhappy? For Jaime Crosier, the answer was to move on. When Kevin and Jaime met, their life of partying together was nonstop fun. But after marriage, a child and an affair- happiness was long gone. It would take a movie and miraculous intervention to change their path toward divorce.

Pray for our troops. It's a great phrase to post on social media, put on a bumper sticker, or a sign in your yard. But Captain Kyle Swanson lived it. During his time in the military, he watched prayer change things- change the weather, change the course of a grenade, literally save lives. When Kyle says prayer changes things it's not a trite phrase. It's his real-life experience, and he wants you...

Pray for our troops. It's a great phrase to post on social media, put on a bumper sticker, or a sign in your yard. But Captain Kyle Swanson lived it. During his time in the military, he watched prayer change things- change the weather, change the course of a grenade, literally save lives. When Kyle says prayer changes things it's not a trite phrase. It's his real-life experience, and he wants you...

Healing can be a mysterious thing. Sometimes God answers our prayers. Sometimes we don't see the miracle we are hoping for. For Emma Villanueva, both are true. As a young girl she was miraculously healed, saved from a surgery that would have left her wheelchair-bound for the rest of her life. Then as a teenager, Emma was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy. In the years since, she has watched her bo...

What if we looked at life as if everything was a miracle? That's much easier when life is going well. When Chris and Denise Benyo got married, they were looking forward to a bright and beautiful future. But within months, Denise was diagnosed with a progressive neurodegenerative disease, called ALS. How do you see everything as a miracle, while you're facing a terminal diagnosis?

No matter what you go through, as long as you are holding on to Jesus, you can stand. That seemed to be the recurring theme of the Bible stories Laura Piraino studied as she was leading a women's ministry. It's one thing to teach it, but it's another to live it out. How do you hold on to Jesus when you are robbed of your sense of safety; when the place that had been your sanctuary becomes a crime...

Jesus said everyone who hears his words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down and the winds blew, yet it did not fall. Adam and Christina Hannan were trying to raise their family on a firm foundation. For years they made a habit of reading Jesus' words and putting them into practice. But their faith had never really been tested. That all...

Sparkle Sanders was driven to succeed in everything she did. One of her greatest fears was failure. Nothing made her feel more like a failure than motherhood. When Sparkle became a mom, it didn't look anything like what she expected. Every day has hard, and the struggle with postpartum depression made her feel miles away from God.

When Tracy Hoth first met Jesus, it was fun and dynamic. Her life changed almost overnight. But as the years went by, faith became more of a responsibility than a relationship with the Creator. Prayer and reading the Bible felt like a duty, but didn't bring life or joy. But God continued to pursue Tracy, confirming she could trust him, even when her son was in a traumatic accident. ()

For so long there has been a stigma around issues of mental health, including among believers in Jesus. For many of us, we assume depression and anxiety are issues we can fix, if we read the Bible or pray more. Lydia Laird knew God was calling her to write and perform music about her faith, but she was struggling with depression, anxiety and panic attacks. For years she carried shame because she j...

What if you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that heaven is real and you could spend eternity with Jesus? If you could see it with your own eyes, would that change you? Dean Braxton was a normal guy, living a pretty normal life, when he had an out of this world experience that changed him forever.

Is there purpose for the pain and loss we experience? That's been a question that Marie Kuck has grappled with throughout her life. As the mother of a special needs child, she has lived face to face and heart to heart with the challenges of disability. She's been forced to ask tough questions, like how do you process grief, while holding on to hope? And how can God take heartache and work it for g...

After a sudden illness and 107 days in the hospital, Gary Miracle came home to a radically different life. He had lost all four limbs. Gary and Kelly held on to the belief that God would not allow something so big and drastic in his life, if He didn't plan to use it in a big way. Gary's story became the inspiration for MercyMe's song and video, "Say I Won't."

Gary and Kelly Miracle were living a very typical life when Gary suddenly became sick. He was admitted to the hospital, his kidneys began to fail, and he fell into septic shock. In a matter of days, life as they knew it changed forever. Gary is the inspiration for Mercy Me's song, "Say I Won't.

Mandisa is best known for singing powerful, upbeat songs of faith. When her close friend Kisha was diagnosed with cancer, Mandisa was confident God would heal her. When He didn't, she fell into a deep depression that nearly claimed her life.

Have you ever felt like the foundation of your faith was crumbling? It's a hard experience for anyone, but especially difficult if you are an artist who has built your career on songs of faith. Jason Gray shares his story and a song inspired by his journey in this episode of The Unfolding.

Many people thought Dani Burton was a lost cause. From the time she was young she was searching for love and affirmation in all the wrong places. Drinking and drugs led to shame, addiction and eventually prison. She would walk through heartbreaking loss before she finally understood that God saw her as worthy, beautiful and beloved.

Ryan Otto wanted the fairytale marriage and family he missed out on as a child. But he was paralyzed by the fear of choosing the wrong person or repeating his parents' mistakes. Mary Jane was confident of one thing, she would never marry a pastor. It seemed to be an impossible situation, but it was actually an only-God-could-do-this kind of love story.