Honest Christian Conversations
A weekly podcast dealing with cultural and spiritual issues within the Christian faith.
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Honest Christian Conversations
Healing Through Acts of Love and Compassion
Have you ever faced relentless adversity and emerged stronger on the other side? Today, we have the pleasure of sharing an extraordinary story with you—one that will inspire and challenge you to view your struggles through a new lens. Sue Corl, the host of His Heartbeat Podcast and founder of Crown of Beauty International, joins us to share her journey of enduring 26 surgeries for a severe cleft palate by age 15, all while facing incessant bullying. Learn how a simple introduction to the gospel by a field hockey teammate transformed her life and even her family's, demonstrating the incredible power of faith and God’s love.
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https://www.crownofbeautyinternational.com/
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Sue Correl is the host of His Heartbeat Podcast, a show dedicated to giving people a safe space to share their encouraging stories of how Christ has transformed them. She is also the founder of Crown of Beauty International, a wonderful ministry dedicated to helping women all over the world find their worth in Christ. You will be so encouraged by Sue's story of living with the scorn of her peers as a child living with a cleft palate, and how a former field hockey teammate transformed her whole life and her family's life. Get ready to be empowered to go into your community and share the gospel with a new outlook on how to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Be sure to share this episode with family and friends so they too can be blessed by the contents of this episode. Hey, sue, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I'm very excited to talk to you today.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I'm really happy to be here with you.
Speaker 1:All right. Why don't you give us a brief summary of your testimony? Boy brief, how brief, Okay, why don't you give us a brief summary of your testimony? Boy brief.
Speaker 2:How brief. Okay, not like the Cliff Notes version. Okay, I'm not like a spring chicken here, but I can do this, okay. Well, it starts out dramatic. That's.
Speaker 2:The thing is that I was born with a very severe cleft palate and therefore I had no upper lip, no palate, no nose even, and so they couldn't figure out how to close the hole. It was a while ago and you know, actually the doctor was the number one doctor in the country, by coincidence, of where my mom worked for cleft palates, but he could not figure out how to close the hole and I couldn't get in any nutrition. So this was back in the day of maybe now they would do IVs, but they didn't do that on babies and so I was dying. So they told me to tell my mom take her home so she can be with her family to die, because kids weren't allowed in the hospital at that time and I had two older brothers, so she did, but not to have me die. She was a nurse from there who actually specialized in that doctor's kids. For two years I've been working with cleft palates and then I was born. So that's the beauty and sovereignty of God and how he knows everything right Before you're even in your mother's womb, because he's
Speaker 2:outside of time. So if you think about that, that makes a lot of sense, you know. So she took me home and figured out a way, with my brother's toys and things from the hospital to make a mask and attached the bottle She'd been pumping her breast and putting it in the freezer and I was able to eat. And in three months I was strong enough to go back and they did the first surgery, which was the first of 26 surgeries for that during the first 15 years of my life. So where my testimony comes in is, you know, it's kind of all that I knew as a baby.
Speaker 2:I'm sure there was trauma, you don't even realize, you know as a kid. But what happened more was when I went to school and the kids were pretty brutal teasing. I had a very severe speech impediment and now I'm a public speaker and a worship leader, so that's pretty cool and it, you know, obviously affected my speech and the way I looked and I was in and out of the hospital so much I was on liquid diets I would miss some of school, and so the teasing really got to me to where every day I'd be hearing words like hey, dog face, oh, you're so ugly, I don't want to talk to you and it was really coming from boys, because the girls I could win them over with my wonderful charm and I'm very extroverted and so I have friends. But the boys are pretty brutal and it put in me a real fear. I think um, I won't say of completely of men, like I was really close to my brothers and neighbors who got used to me.
Speaker 2:so it was okay, but overall I put up a wall, a protective wall, and that stayed with me into my adult life. So when I was 15 was the first time I heard the gospel. My mom was a Christian, my dad was not, but mom didn't know how to talk about her faith. It wasn't really encouraged in her denomination. It was more like live a godly life, which she did, and I mean I knew I had family prayers and stuff like that, but I just didn't know anything about Jesus and the cross and all that until a friend on my field hockey team shared the gospel with me and that was when I accepted Christ. So that obviously began. But there was still some rough roads ahead that I can share with you, if you like yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:How did you come to faith in Christ?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you know she was. She came, I was at hockey camp and this gal comes into our cabin and a lot of my teammates were Jewish, actually, but she was the best player on the team, so everybody respected her, you know. So she and another friend, they were both Christians and they would say born again Christians. That was definitely a term that was starting to be used at that time and I'm like what you know? That made no sense to me, but I was in my bunk and for some reason I just laid there and listened without them really knowing it. You know, I didn't engage.
Speaker 2:So a couple months later I had advanced biology class and the more that I learned about the complexity of creation and people, the more I'm thinking, okay, there's definitely a God, but what does that matter? What does that mean? And I? So that was kind of mulling in my mind. And one day I'm sitting outside and I'm looking at this beautiful tree, at our neighbors, and I thought, wow, I'm very entertained by this tree, but is that all that my life is? I'm just, you know, like a tree that lives, entertains, maybe multiplies, dies, that's it. And I, I remember, asking is is that all there is? And I heard no, god, there's more, and it was. It was my voice, right, but not in my thinking, not something that I was even remotely thinking. I wasn't thinking about God at the time, nothing like that, and I didn't know that God was personal, did not know that, so that tripped me out. I was like whoa.
Speaker 2:And so I hopped on my bike and I rode up to this girl's house because I knew where she lived, because her dad worked at the library. His house was right there and knocked on the door. She's like what are you here for? I said, can you tell me more about Jesus? So she did for an hour and a half or so and she's like do you want to receive Christ? And I said no, it's the biggest decision I think I'll ever make. So obviously I was really understanding. So I went home that night, went to bed and just laid there standing. So I went home that night, went to bed and just laid there and I was very aware that when she shared Revelation 3.20, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone opens the door of their heart, I will come in and dine with him. And I literally felt like Jesus was outside my door, that I just had to open that door. But she explained that door was the heart, and so it's like I have to open my heart to him.
Speaker 2:Okay, and what hit me and what she talked about is that I was a sinner and I didn't think that. Know that, whatever, but the way she explained it both that one. It's. You're not perfect, right, you're not, which is holiness. But also, we were created to know God and have a relationship, and when we don't, when we ignore God or disbelieve him either way, it's sin. And it's kind of like if a parent gives a, gives birth, if the child just immediately ignored the mother as soon as it had it's, you know, understood, and it just wouldn't talk to her, you know she'd keep making the meals but he'd just take him and go in another room and have nothing to do with her. Would that be okay? No, yeah, that's not okay. And so that that really hit me.
Speaker 2:And at that point I realized I was a sinner and that that was separating me from this personal relationship that Kathy was explaining to me. And so I asked for forgiveness and understood Christ died on the cross for my sin and asked him to come into my heart and begin a relationship with me. And I know not everybody has this at all, but I have heard of others. But I literally physically felt this energy just go through my whole body and I was like, whoa, that is so cool. And fell asleep. And the next morning woke up and I'm like, did something happen? And but I I was late getting up and normally when I get I'm late to get up and go down. My mom made big breakfasts.
Speaker 2:She was upset because they were warm, you know, and she, she would, she'd say something, and I was, I'd be a smart Alec, you know, and I'd be like, well, it's just too early, or whatever you know or?
Speaker 2:what's the big deal? I don't mind it, cold, that kind of thing. But when she came out and she was upset, I looked at her and I said, mom, I am so sorry, that was really thoughtless of me. I'm going to try really hard. And she just was like stunned and turned around and left the room, like what happened to my teenager. And I said the same thing and I'm like, yeah, what happened? Oh, my gosh, you are in me. It's like the presence of God was there and I was so happy. And then I sought out my friends and I started getting into Christian fellowship. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that probably really shocked your mom to feel like wow wait, what just happened?
Speaker 1:Not too many teenagers are so willing to be like that, so that was probably very encouraging for her and probably helped increase her faith. Knowing what happened and you weren't alone. You are not alone in thinking, you know, is this all there is? Everyone has questioned that at one point and there's a lot of people now who are probably still questioning because the public schools and other places aren't teaching them their worth. They're just being told you poofed here one day and one day you're just going to poof away and that's it.
Speaker 1:What's there to live for? If that's the way you think that you were here for, you were a happy accident, that's not fair. That's not. Nobody wants to be thought of that way. So it's great that you in your search, is this all there is? God revealed himself and you had a heart that was open and ready to hear it, because not everybody does. Revealed himself and you had a heart that was open and ready to hear it, because not everybody does, and I pray that they will eventually, because I can't imagine living this life thinking this is all there is, and I'm not here for a real purpose, I'm just here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, I was just going to say how I think just my mom being a believer and her presence and living a godly life, I mean I would have helped if she understood how to have devotions with your kids and pray with them. She just didn't. But after I came to faith, then my brother I shared with him. He was home on break from college. He went back and he was like, oh, my sister's a Jesus freak. And he told the guys on his dorm floor turns out they were all a part of Campus Crusade for Christ and so they just started going at it with him. And so then when he came home the next break, he prayed with me and became a Christian and then we started talking to my mom. He prayed with me, became a Christian, and then we started talking to my mom because my stepfather was not a Christian and he grew up in a Christian home but he had not accepted Christ. So the end of a little bit longer story.
Speaker 2:After a few years that he trusted in Christ my oldest brother. He had another brother trusting Christ, trusted in Christ my oldest brother. He had another brother trusting Christ. My father, my birth father, trusted in Christ and years later my father started to walk with the Lord and my stepmom became a Christian. So it all started from that. One friend being bold. That took a lot of guts to talk in high school to a whole cabin full of kids, her peers and then some of us who were younger and some who were even Jewish right and of course she wanted to be popular. She did. She had that typical high school feeling, but she set that aside. It was really cool.
Speaker 1:Who doesn't love free? I know I do. That's why I created a free 7-day devotional for those who want to go deeper with God but find themselves too busy. Being a mom of 5, my free time is practically non-existent, but I still want to give God my time because I know my day will be better for it. That's where this devotional comes in. It's a short daily devotional that will help fill in the gap between being busy and spending time with God. It's full of encouragement, guidance and impactful Bible verses related to the everyday struggles of everyday people. I know you will love this devotional as much as I enjoyed writing it, and since it's a digital devotional, you can take it anywhere and do it anytime Perfect for the person always on the go. Get the free devotional when you sign up for my mailing list. The link is in the show notes.
Speaker 1:That's encouraging, and there's so many Christian teens out there who want to share the gospel, but they are so afraid of the backlash and I don't want to say it's even worse now, but it probably is. But it's also a mixture of. It just looks different from what we grew up with too, but they do have a lot more issues. They're going through a lot more things being shoved at them and it's harder to stand on your faith. People are going to just throw all these awful comments at you and everything, and I think they're going to be really encouraged to hear that all it takes is just one yes. Just say yes to what God wants you to do once and who knows what he can do with that Because that one person said yes and did what God wanted them to do. Your life changed, your parents' life changed, their spouses changed, your siblings changed. I mean, god's word doesn't return void, it's going to have fruit?
Speaker 2:Yeah, now I'm like. I travel all around the world. I'm about to go to Nepal every two months, in another country, and I'm sharing the wonderful message of Jesus in Muslim countries and Hindu and.
Speaker 2:Buddhist countries and you know, hundreds thousands of women are being set free, even if they have accepted Christ. But it's been really hard. We help them to understand who they are in Christ and it really empowers them, because often in their cultures women are really demeaned and they feel like they're worthless or useless. Even in our country this can happen, not just because we're women, it just happens. Right. We hear all these like I heard all these negative things, and so helping people to see the truth of who they are, help them identify the fact that they've actually been operating under lies. What are those lies? And rejecting them in prayer, replacing them with the truth. But also the lies that we can believe about God. That's thrown in them too, especially in places of other faith or here, what you were just saying, being surrounded by. It's interesting. We say atheists, but actually I just saw the statistic the amount of atheists in our country is low. It's like 10, 15 at most. But agnostic, right that there's a god or there's some kind of power out there or whatever. But yeah, I think that, um, just being, we do need you can't just like go up and pass out tracks, yeah, and see much fruit these days, like we used to do in the old days, but, but just being caring for people and being open, that you are a Christian but not pushy in that, and being a good listener, being open to listen to, oh well, yeah, I'd love to hear, like, what's your spiritual journey? You know, that's a really good question.
Speaker 2:A lot of people are very comfortable with saying they have a spiritual journey, or saying that I don't have one, and say, well, what's your journey? To feel hope or to get through each day, and they want to feel listened. And then you're not saying, well, let me tell you how that could be different. You're rather saying, yeah, I get that. Yeah, sometimes I've really struggled. Yeah, I get that. Yeah, sometimes I've really struggled. What helps me is I pray, and I pray to Jesus and God, the Father, and and I really find hope, and that can bring about some questions or response, or and it's like a first step, you know, and yeah, and so that's what you want to take is just like you do. In a lot of cultures overseas, like a Muslim country, they say it takes 10 introductions to Christ, 10 different conversations or meetings with people, typically, till someone comes to Christ.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of people, myself included, have thought that when you share the gospel, it's this quick thing. You have to share the gospel. You just go up to them and say hey, did you know? Jesus died for you, like you were saying. That kind of tactic doesn't seem to work with a lot of people because they don't want to be preached at with air quotes. They want to know that you care about them, that you're not going to hold up a sign that says you're going to hell if you don't know Jesus. That's not how Jesus did it anyways, and he's our example.
Speaker 1:He didn't go up to people and say, hey, you're a terrible person, change. He showed compassion. For example, the woman who was caught in adultery. He didn't go. You put some clothes on first. You know she was literally caught in adultery, so I'm assuming she wasn't clothed. He didn't do any of that. He didn't say make yourself look presentable. Do you know who I am? He went to her and he told the people who were ready to stone her and say hey, if you don't have any sin, go ahead do it. Stoner and say hey, if you don't have any sin, go ahead do it. And he sat there writing in the sand, nobody knows what he wrote. And then they all dispersed and it's just them two. She's still not dressed, she's still in her shame and guilt. He knows what she's done and she clearly knows that. He knows what she's done and he does not condemn her.
Speaker 1:He does not say you are a terrible person, ew, get away from me, go. He says your sins are go Go. Sin no more, sin no more. That was how he showed love. He did not do it in a hateful way. He just said you clearly see, you've done something wrong. I know you've done something wrong. Nobody's here to accuse you. I'm not going to do it either. Go and stop sinning. That's the gospel. That's what we're supposed to do. We are not supposed to call people out and say you're a terrible person, like the plank in the eye. Why do we think we're not terrible people? We're still sinning. We're still needing a savior. They need a savior too, and they're not going to find him by us shoving it down their throats or shoving it in their face with a sign, a terrible sign that is not godly at all. They will know you are his follower by his fruits, by your fruits, that's what the Bible says, by your love.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly. So I think we need to work on that. I think we need to work on that and I know I need to work on that because I've sadly, I can say it's probably maybe a handful or two that I've shared the gospel with in my whole life, because I grew up in a Christian home, so I was always surrounded by Christians my whole life, never really had non-Christian friends, but when I did go to college for a little bit, there were people I shared the gospel with. They were all guys who were trying to get with me, but I spent that time sharing the gospel.
Speaker 1:But I've always expected, I guess and I don't know why I expected it, but I always expected it was going to come with the fruit of they're going to accept Jesus right away, and I don't know why I ever thought that way. I don't believe anyone ever told me that's how it's going to be. But I think that's why a lot of people might be hesitant to share the gospel is because they think that way that if I share my testimony, if I share the gospel, this person's going to want to hear what I have to say. And I think that's one reason why a lot of people don't do it because they have that nagging feeling what if they don't Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it takes time, I think more and more in America, you know, because they're not coming from that Christian culture anymore, you know, and there's a lot of negative thinking out there about Christians, so I think all the more have to. Part of our mission is to represent the love of Christ. Yeah, christ, yeah, you know. And if, if more and more of us are spending more time caring, and you know, for, like, if, for example, if you're, I'm, some of my neighbors are elderly and so when it snows, my brother and I or my husband were out there shoveling their walk, you know, I think that says a lot and that changes their idea about Christianity. In fact, I've had people say to me, in fact I was on another show where the woman is new age and so she was interviewing me and she was precious, she really was open to ask just questions, you know. But I didn't come across like, well, what you believe is wrong, you know, I just I just answered oh well, from the Christian faith, and she had some misconceptions and so I said, well, actually I can see where you think that because of things you've heard, but actually it's this, or at least for me, that helps too when you kind of bring it back to yourself. I think those are all helpful things.
Speaker 2:But also, I think she felt respected and I know a lot of Christians would think, no, you shouldn't have been telling her she needs to get out of that. You know, god is the one that draws us to himself. Okay, and we have to be culturally aware. And your neighbors, I mean shoot, I have neighbors from India. Here right across the street and down a little ways, I've got a neighbor who's from a Muslim country, palestinian and Moroccan. You know, I have Jewish neighbors, that kind of thing, and so I think we need to take an interest in them, right, and tell me about your holiday and tell me how you celebrate, or how has I have a lot of people who have a Catholic background but are not practicing quite a few and I'm like, well, yeah, I'd love to hear how that has impacted you. And if they're not practicing, it often was in a negative way, and if they are practicing, it's in a positive way. We talked about that, right, so maybe that helps people to think about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that is helpful. So you've mentioned that you've traveled the globe to preach and share the word. Where have you gone and do you consider yourself a missionary or just a follower of Christ going and sharing the gospel?
Speaker 2:No, I actually work for a mission organization for 42 years and I actually just left that a year and a half ago to start what I was already doing with that group as a nonprofit Crown of Beauty International. So you can go on our website, crown of Beauty International, and a video of me pops up that you can learn all about it's a really cool video my testimony and some other testimonies and what our ministry is all about. And so I was in closed East Asia for 25 of those years. I was in the Philippines a couple of years, hong Kong. A year Started in Hawaii actually doing youth ministry, which is a really great prep because it's very Asian right.
Speaker 2:So now our organization we go every year to Uganda. We were going every year to Lebanon, but I'm still working with the Lebanese ladies online. Armenia we've been going to Fiji the last couple years. We're just starting. Nepal this year. People internally in China are helping reaching out Korea we have a big team there We've gone to.
Speaker 2:Bangladesh is one of our biggest ministries and we do humanitarian aid along with that. It's a 90% Muslim, 8% Hindu country country and so one of the things that the believers do that helps them from getting horribly persecuted is they do some aid. They bring goats into the villages to help them economically. They do a little bit of medical help like basic stuff. We help them build a cow farm to help support the milk. We'll help support the pastors. So that's a huge part of our ministry is Bangladesh. So we keep expanding and I'm just trying to keep up with it. You know so, honestly, if you guys can like buy a goat for Christmas I know you'll get in the mail other things, but go on Crown of Beauty and scroll under donate to buying a goat for $50. It's really cool and I actually you know I go there every year, going there in March, and just to share. This cool testimony is very typical. So this woman was a Hindu and they have a church nearby, and so they're doing this goat distribution right.
Speaker 2:So we we bought 10 goats for and when we arrived they had already purchased them and they brought them to the village and they invited 10 families, 10 of the most needy families, and one was a widow. There's a lot of widows.
Speaker 2:Men die really young there and so they brought these people and they actually share the gospel and then we pray for them and then we distribute the goat. We pray for each person for blessing, and they were all Hindu, Okay, so this one woman gets the goat and she has little children and she was living in utter poverty, like just barely having food to feed her kids. She had two or three and it's just a shack, okay, mud shack. So we went back the next year and they said would you like to visit some of these people? So we went to her place. She had improved her shack so it no longer had rain coming through ceilings and all that. She had a decent bed for the kids. That's how they get a huge bed they all share.
Speaker 2:And she was an entrepreneur at heart. She took that goat, she bred that goat with the other goats in the village she already had 10 goats was getting milk, selling milk to feed her family, so she was able to support her children. And then, I think, with this entrepreneurial spirit that the lord gave her oh, she received christ. I probably say that after she got the goat, she immediately started going to their church. See, that's what happens. Yeah, I feel so blessed. And she started learning and she became a christian and her kids are now in the church with her and, um, so she gets, the lord gives her this entrepreneurial spirit and kind of leads her how to do this. So she goes to this guy that had just birthed a cow Obviously, not the guy, but his cow.
Speaker 2:And she says, hey, I have on her property. It's just like dirt, right, I can tie up this cow and take care of it for you. And so he agrees like, hey, but you have to give me the first calf. And so they bred that cow, they breed them pretty quickly and had a calf, and now she owned a calf too, which is huge, make good money from that. So that's just an example of kind of how humanitarian aid can really help in evangelism. But on a microcosm of that in our country, you know, for me sometimes I will carry grocery bags to an older person's car. Yeah, If somebody's car, you know a woman, has her hood up, I stop, you know.
Speaker 1:and not that I'm too great with jumper cables.
Speaker 2:But I've done that on a few occasions, you know, and not that I'm too great with jumper cables, but I've done that on a few occasions, you know, and I see someone pushing their cart in the rain. I stop, I only do that for women, but, you know, can I take you home and then we get to talk, not preaching, they're just like, oh, you're so nice, oh, my gosh.
Speaker 2:And I said I said, well, it's because god is jesus is so nice to me. You, you happen to have a faith. That's a really safe question, by the way. You have a faith rather than are you a christian? Yeah, faith, and we talked about. And then I have my books. I have seven books now to have them in my trunk, and I have a couple that are devotionals and I give her a devotional. I've also. I have, like Bibles. You know, if you get to that point that that would be good. So there's examples of ways that you can really minister to people and even humanitarian ways with the gospel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's so many different ways that we can share the gospel with people. We just have to be more open-minded to figuring out what works best for our personalities and what we can handle and do in our communities and everything. So thank you, Sue, for sharing that, because that does give perspective. There isn't just one right way to do it. There's many different ways and I've really enjoyed our conversation. Before we come to a close, why don't you tell us? You mentioned that you have some books that you've written and you have a new book that's going to be coming out.
Speaker 2:So go ahead and talk to us about that it's my pride and joy because I finally put together my whole life story. It's my journey. It's called Shaking Off the Shackles and I integrated my life story with Nehemiah's story, and so I go through my journey and the journey that Nehemiah took to be able to build a wall and renew and restore a whole community, and how God renewed and restored me. And so I've only given you the little tip of the iceberg in this conversation, the beginning part, because you know it was years of finding God's healing from all of those lies. There was some, you know, abuse in college, sexual abuse that he really brought a lot of healing in my life. But in it I know that you'll be blessed because it goes through like how rebuild, restore, renew and how you can be renewed in Christ. So it's called Shaking Off the Shackles and at the point that you release this it will have been out just a couple weeks on Amazon.
Speaker 2:So just look up Sue Corll without an A C-O-R-L, or that'll show all my books. I have an amazing Bible study that we've translated into nine languages that we use around the world, called Crown of Beauty, which we named our organization after. So love to have you guys come on board. We have a monthly newsletter. If you just sign sign up on our website and you'll get to hear all these incredible stories. I usually share different testimonies of what happened when we go to Nepal or when we go to Bangladesh or these places.
Speaker 1:Nice, wonderful. Sure, thank you so much for coming on again, Sue. I've enjoyed our conversation, yeah it was great, I look forward to hearing more stories from you about nepal yeah, get on that newsletter.
Speaker 2:All right, you probably already are. Thank you, and, and everybody, she's on my show, uh, so you can look for me. I think you're on a little later, though, because I have a bunch so around christmas time. I think yeah, okay all right, thank you.
