MY STORY
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11
This verse from Jeremiah, gives great insight into the heart, mind, will and purpose of our Sovereign God. I can see the hand of God at work in all the events and circumstances of my life. I was saved at age 25 and began studies at Indiana Baptist College, now Heritage Baptist University. As a registered nurse, I believed that God wanted me to serve Him as a foreign missionary: At age 29 I received the news that I had malignant melanoma, a very serious form of skin cancer. My medical situation prevented the fruition of my anticipated foreign missionary service. Over the next few years, there was a second diagnosis, three major surgeries, two years of treatment, many additional biopsies, and close monitoring of blood work, x-rays, etc.
As the weeks and months unfolded, I was able to return to my nursing job and realized that the missionary service for which I had prepared was a shattered dream. I grew closer and closer to the Lord through the difficult times of my disease. God began to impress upon me the importance of taking His Word to other cancer patients who had seen their dreams shattered, too. They were facing the same fears I had experienced and were dealing with the same kind of struggles and uncertainties that God had taught me to deal with in a biblical fashion.
The first patient I visited was by a referral from a physician in the hospital where I worked. That first patient encounter was an intense training time over six months. There were daily contacts, development of rapport with the entire family, explanation of the gospel, seeing the joy of a new believer, doing discipleship, assisting with solving problems biblically, and seeing involvement in a local Bible-preaching church. Phone calls began to come from family members and loved ones of patients; and within a relatively short time, I was involved with evangelizing and edifying some 100 patients. It was then that God began to convict me of the need for being in full-time service.
I was commissioned in November of 1974 at Northeast Baptist Church (which is now Colonial Hills Baptist Church) and have been privileged to work with thousands of patients and families since that time. As a full-time missionary, I serve under the guidance of the board of deacons of Colonial Hills Baptist Church and under the leadership of my sending church pastor, Dr. Bob Taylor. I received my certification in biblical counseling from the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors in 1990 and received an honorary doctorate in Humanities from Indiana Baptist College in 1992.
Every lesson that God taught with that first patient is still used in the ministry of Hope In Crisis®, which is the training module of the personal missionary ministry with cancer patients. I am supported by 45 fundamental churches and am involved in regional training so that others may serve the Lord with training, tools and, materials that are designed specifically with the crisis individual in mind. The seven training sites include Indiana, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Colorado, North Carolina, Alaska and Nova Scotia. Those ladies who attend will return home knowing how to study the Scripture applicationally, how to evangelize the lost, exhort the wayward and encourage the faithful. In the local church they will be able to visit cancer patients or other crisis ladies in the community. They can also visit church member ladies who are going through difficult times or are shut in. They can do discipleship with new believers who have recently made decisions or with older believers who have never had personal discipleship and be available to do personal work at the altar during the invitational time.
I write daily Bible study materials and personally contact individual cancer patients who have referred by supporting churches or by others who have become familiar with the work from the gospel pamphlet Knowing Peace with God or the books The Valley Is Bright and To Glorify God, all available through my office. I develop a personal friendship with those individuals, explain the gospel clearly, disciple those who place their trust in Christ, teach biblical problem-solving skills, and involve them with a Bible-teaching church and pastor in their area. Additionally, I conduct biblical counseling sessions with ladies in crisis who are members of supporting churches and have been referred to me by their pastors. In this way, I hope to offer my gratitude to them in their ministry of giving to this missionary effort.
Although the first 25 years of my life were Iived as a "religious rebel," God used every situation and event, even then, to call me to Himself. Since that time He has continued to work everything together for good, to the end of conformity to Christ. It is my greatest joy and desire to live my life in His service, by His grace, for His sake, to the praise of His glory.
Dr. Nell Collins
Colonial Hills Baptist Church
8140 Union Chapel Road
Indianapolis, IN 46240
Voice Mail: (317) 409-3416
E-mail: [email protected]
Hope In Crisis® is the registered trademark of Colonial Hills Baptist Church, Inc. of Indianapolis, IN.
This verse from Jeremiah, gives great insight into the heart, mind, will and purpose of our Sovereign God. I can see the hand of God at work in all the events and circumstances of my life. I was saved at age 25 and began studies at Indiana Baptist College, now Heritage Baptist University. As a registered nurse, I believed that God wanted me to serve Him as a foreign missionary: At age 29 I received the news that I had malignant melanoma, a very serious form of skin cancer. My medical situation prevented the fruition of my anticipated foreign missionary service. Over the next few years, there was a second diagnosis, three major surgeries, two years of treatment, many additional biopsies, and close monitoring of blood work, x-rays, etc.
As the weeks and months unfolded, I was able to return to my nursing job and realized that the missionary service for which I had prepared was a shattered dream. I grew closer and closer to the Lord through the difficult times of my disease. God began to impress upon me the importance of taking His Word to other cancer patients who had seen their dreams shattered, too. They were facing the same fears I had experienced and were dealing with the same kind of struggles and uncertainties that God had taught me to deal with in a biblical fashion.
The first patient I visited was by a referral from a physician in the hospital where I worked. That first patient encounter was an intense training time over six months. There were daily contacts, development of rapport with the entire family, explanation of the gospel, seeing the joy of a new believer, doing discipleship, assisting with solving problems biblically, and seeing involvement in a local Bible-preaching church. Phone calls began to come from family members and loved ones of patients; and within a relatively short time, I was involved with evangelizing and edifying some 100 patients. It was then that God began to convict me of the need for being in full-time service.
I was commissioned in November of 1974 at Northeast Baptist Church (which is now Colonial Hills Baptist Church) and have been privileged to work with thousands of patients and families since that time. As a full-time missionary, I serve under the guidance of the board of deacons of Colonial Hills Baptist Church and under the leadership of my sending church pastor, Dr. Bob Taylor. I received my certification in biblical counseling from the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors in 1990 and received an honorary doctorate in Humanities from Indiana Baptist College in 1992.
Every lesson that God taught with that first patient is still used in the ministry of Hope In Crisis®, which is the training module of the personal missionary ministry with cancer patients. I am supported by 45 fundamental churches and am involved in regional training so that others may serve the Lord with training, tools and, materials that are designed specifically with the crisis individual in mind. The seven training sites include Indiana, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Colorado, North Carolina, Alaska and Nova Scotia. Those ladies who attend will return home knowing how to study the Scripture applicationally, how to evangelize the lost, exhort the wayward and encourage the faithful. In the local church they will be able to visit cancer patients or other crisis ladies in the community. They can also visit church member ladies who are going through difficult times or are shut in. They can do discipleship with new believers who have recently made decisions or with older believers who have never had personal discipleship and be available to do personal work at the altar during the invitational time.
I write daily Bible study materials and personally contact individual cancer patients who have referred by supporting churches or by others who have become familiar with the work from the gospel pamphlet Knowing Peace with God or the books The Valley Is Bright and To Glorify God, all available through my office. I develop a personal friendship with those individuals, explain the gospel clearly, disciple those who place their trust in Christ, teach biblical problem-solving skills, and involve them with a Bible-teaching church and pastor in their area. Additionally, I conduct biblical counseling sessions with ladies in crisis who are members of supporting churches and have been referred to me by their pastors. In this way, I hope to offer my gratitude to them in their ministry of giving to this missionary effort.
Although the first 25 years of my life were Iived as a "religious rebel," God used every situation and event, even then, to call me to Himself. Since that time He has continued to work everything together for good, to the end of conformity to Christ. It is my greatest joy and desire to live my life in His service, by His grace, for His sake, to the praise of His glory.
Dr. Nell Collins
Colonial Hills Baptist Church
8140 Union Chapel Road
Indianapolis, IN 46240
Voice Mail: (317) 409-3416
E-mail: [email protected]
Hope In Crisis® is the registered trademark of Colonial Hills Baptist Church, Inc. of Indianapolis, IN.