In December 2003 I was looking for a church that had a service on Christmas Day and found Hope. I had moved to Des Moines that same year but hadn't found a church home yet. After the Christmas service, I knew I had to come back every Sunday. Hope provided me an opportunity to meet a prayer group of friends and Bible study groups who prayed for me and encouraged my faith journey. Sukeerthi and I were married in India, but due to the immigration process we were apart for almost two years. During that phase, I decided to move back to India because her immigration process was taking longer than we hoped. But God's plans are different than ours, and he never lets his children down. This challenge allowed us to grow in faith and root our relationship in Christ. We were encouraged by the word of God and blessed to have wonderful friends at Hope who would pray for us and witnessed God's goodness and miracles in our lives. Coming from a different country and culture, we felt very welcomed a...