Story of the Week: A Different Fire

This week's story features a young man who answered God's bold calling on his life.

“The Spirit was so present in the room. And in that moment, I felt this fire in my chest that I couldn’t ignore. It was unlike anything I’ve ever felt or experienced before. And the Lord clearly commanded me to do something that I could not disobey,” Brad shares.

While it may have seemed to come suddenly, this was a moment that the Lord had foreshadowed to him many years before.

A QUESTION AND A PROMISE

Brad grew up in a Christian home and came to Christ at a young age. But the security of growing up surrounded by Christian community left him with a nagging question: Was he really “all-in” on his faith?

Things started to change as he grew older. Brad recalls, “There was one trip, going into my junior year of high school — we were on vacation at Glacier National Park, and we attended this little church service with maybe eight people there. And I’m looking at the mountains, and I had this moment with the Lord, where He said, I made all of this. So I’ve got you. I’ve got a plan for you and your life.”

Brad continues, “There were no specifics in that moment, but I felt this sense of comfort and realness, that the Lord was with me and had something for me.”

I COULD LIVE HERE

Brad headed off to college, where he studied audio engineering. He had dreams of touring and worked for a production company until Covid changed everything in 2020. The realities of employment in a pandemic led him to move back home to Pennsylvania. He started serving his local church, where he developed an incredible, closeknit community.

In 2021, Brad and several friends from his community moved out to Colorado for the summer to work at Eagle Lake, a Christian camp. He recalls, “Colorado does this thing where, whenever people come out to visit or spend extended time here, they start to think, I could live here. So that’s what I did.”

Brad soon found his way to Woodmen, where he joined the production team. He was able to serve on several international trips with one of Woodmen’s trusted global partners. Yet there was still a level of comfort in his faith that left him feeling uneasy.

Brad shares, “Over the past year, I reached this point of praying, ‘Lord make me depend on you for everything.’ And yet I foolishly wasn’t expecting much to change.”

A CALL AND AN ANSWER

But on the last night of an international trip serving with a Woodmen global partner, everything shifted.

In that room full of people who had dedicated their lives to serving the Lord in difficult contexts, the atmosphere was charged with God’s glory. Brad observed people whose lives were fully surrendered to the Lord, brimming with a passion for the nations to come to know Jesus. For Brad, the night culminated when the speaker from stage said, “We still need a few more good men to go.”

In the next few moments, Brad felt a fire in his chest, more powerful than anything he’d ever known. And in the weeks to come, back home in Colorado, he couldn’t shake the feeling.

“I tried to make excuses and ignore it in moments, but there was a steady, clear, solid, sense that I needed to answer that call. As I processed with friends and started to talk to people in the global organization, it became clear that my strong sense to join their team and go was an answer to a prayer that many had been praying.”

A DEEPER DEPENDENCE

In the summer of 2025, Brad began training for his new role. He hit his annual fundraising goal in just two months, as others caught the vision and came on board to support and pray for the work. He packed up all his belongings and moved to the Middle East in August, to share hope and light with a group of people who so desperately need to experience it.

Following Jesus is a lifelong journey with peaks and valleys, and God is authoring a unique story for each of us. For Brad, God continues to grow his desire to serve others for the Lord’s glory. That feeling he’s been longing for since he was a child, and the purpose he’s been seeking, have evolved.

As he sets out on this new chapter in his story, Brad’s passion is clear: “The fire in my chest is different now — but I sense a weight of something I don’t even know how to describe. Deep inside, I feel His nearness and sense my purpose.”

He continues, “It hasn’t been something I’ve felt consistently at any point in my life, but it’s now been steady the last few months. And my prayer to depend more on the Lord has been answered.”

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For confidentiality purposes, elements of this story have been changed to protect the safety of those involved.

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