work hard, get assignments in on time, and be supportive of her fellow students. Her work ethic and positive attitude have already found favor with some of her toughest professors—including ones whose beliefs are strongly opposed to her own. She’s found a mentor too—an NYU instructor who has observed her diligence and believes in her talent. That association led to her first paying job as an artist—a summer internship as an office/production assistant on an MGM film featuring Steve Martin as the Pink Panther. It was Norah’s first film industry paycheck, and she was pleased to have had the opportunity to earn it.
Norah will finish her studies soon and wonders what the future will hold. She’s chosen an industry that she admits is not at all sympathetic to her beliefs, and she knows the way will not be easy. “But this is the dream God has given me,” she affirms, “and I’m going to follow it.”
She offers this advice for other aspiring artists who might come after her: “Work hard. Don’t be afraid to go for your dream. Find a group of friends whose support you can count on, and be an encourager for them too. Most of all, trust God, and put your focus on following Him.” She says, “I learned this verse a long time ago, and I’m finding out every day how true it really is: ‘Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world’ [1 John 4:4 NASB ].”
Norah not only believes it—she’s counting on it to sustain her in a world that hates the One she loves.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
(1 John 4:4 )
2
brett trapolino
God’s Open Door
T he assignment: move with your husband of eight years and your three young children to a place you’ve never seen. Adjust to the unfamiliar rhythms and practices of a Third World country, and learn a language completely unknown to you. Live at first with a young pastor, his wife, and
their
small children in a home barely big enough for them. And for an added challenge, prepare for the birth of your fourth child in a place where modern medical facilities are severely limited and infant mortality is high.
This is not a nightmare. Instead, it’s the very scenario that causes Brett Trapolino’s eyes to sparkle with joy, and the corners of her mouth to turn up in a shy but easy smile. She confesses that while she is unsure about what God might have in store for her, she’s thrilled at the prospect of following Him into the unknown.
When Kirby and Brett Trapolino married, neither had any idea that they might one day live in Ongole, India, partnering with local believers to support and serve an orphanage, a Bible college, and a church-planting ministry. Kirby met Pastor B. Samson, head of what is now Peace Gospel Ministries, when he was single, and Samson was the twenty-year-old son of a beggar, preaching in the slums of Southern India. But the two men formed a bond that would change both their lives.
“Kirby helped me by raising funds in the United States,” says Samson. “He encouraged me to press on in the Lord, to dream big, and to believe that the Lord could do it, even though I was living on three dollars a week as a slum pastor.”
Kirby continued to support Samson’s work and to visit India, even after he and Brett married and began their family. In the States, the young couple launched a business together, moved to the suburbs, and began to serve in their local church. But over time, the land and people that had captured Kirby’s heart nearly a decade before began to call Brett too.
And the time seemed right to go. Peace Gospel was supporting thirty orphans in three temporary shelters and had trained seventy-six full-time ministers and planted forty-two churches in remote villages. Bible studies were being translated into the Telugu language for the first time. The Trapolinos’ treasure had been invested in India, and their hearts were ready
Norah will finish her studies soon and wonders what the future will hold. She’s chosen an industry that she admits is not at all sympathetic to her beliefs, and she knows the way will not be easy. “But this is the dream God has given me,” she affirms, “and I’m going to follow it.”
She offers this advice for other aspiring artists who might come after her: “Work hard. Don’t be afraid to go for your dream. Find a group of friends whose support you can count on, and be an encourager for them too. Most of all, trust God, and put your focus on following Him.” She says, “I learned this verse a long time ago, and I’m finding out every day how true it really is: ‘Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world’ [1 John 4:4 NASB ].”
Norah not only believes it—she’s counting on it to sustain her in a world that hates the One she loves.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
(1 John 4:4 )
2
brett trapolino
God’s Open Door
T he assignment: move with your husband of eight years and your three young children to a place you’ve never seen. Adjust to the unfamiliar rhythms and practices of a Third World country, and learn a language completely unknown to you. Live at first with a young pastor, his wife, and
their
small children in a home barely big enough for them. And for an added challenge, prepare for the birth of your fourth child in a place where modern medical facilities are severely limited and infant mortality is high.
This is not a nightmare. Instead, it’s the very scenario that causes Brett Trapolino’s eyes to sparkle with joy, and the corners of her mouth to turn up in a shy but easy smile. She confesses that while she is unsure about what God might have in store for her, she’s thrilled at the prospect of following Him into the unknown.
When Kirby and Brett Trapolino married, neither had any idea that they might one day live in Ongole, India, partnering with local believers to support and serve an orphanage, a Bible college, and a church-planting ministry. Kirby met Pastor B. Samson, head of what is now Peace Gospel Ministries, when he was single, and Samson was the twenty-year-old son of a beggar, preaching in the slums of Southern India. But the two men formed a bond that would change both their lives.
“Kirby helped me by raising funds in the United States,” says Samson. “He encouraged me to press on in the Lord, to dream big, and to believe that the Lord could do it, even though I was living on three dollars a week as a slum pastor.”
Kirby continued to support Samson’s work and to visit India, even after he and Brett married and began their family. In the States, the young couple launched a business together, moved to the suburbs, and began to serve in their local church. But over time, the land and people that had captured Kirby’s heart nearly a decade before began to call Brett too.
And the time seemed right to go. Peace Gospel was supporting thirty orphans in three temporary shelters and had trained seventy-six full-time ministers and planted forty-two churches in remote villages. Bible studies were being translated into the Telugu language for the first time. The Trapolinos’ treasure had been invested in India, and their hearts were ready
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