Wendell Brown - Founder
Wendell Brown - Founder
From Crisis to Confidence: Faith Through Health Battles
From Crisis to Confidence: Faith Through Health Battles
From Crisis to Confidence: Faith Through Health Battles
Friday 27th March 2026
Pastors Chris and Kirsten share a long, painful battle with Crohn’s, doubt, surgery and sepsis, and how God’s presence held them together through it all.
71 minutes
Honest
Inspiring
Supportive
Hopeful
Authentic
About this podcast
Author:
Wendell Brown - Founder
Overview:
Categories:
Religion & Spirituality
Body & Mind
Spiritual & Personal Growth Journeys
Navigating Intimate Relationships
Entrepreneurship for Personal Growth
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Episodes:
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Get the buttons here!From Life-Support Fevers to Fierce Faith: Chris and Kirsten’s Ongoing Battle with Crohn’s
Episode Overview
- Suffering can be long and confusing, yet moments of God’s presence often appear in small, specific ways rather than dramatic fixes.
- Community support – texts, songs, prayers, meals, and financial help – can be the difference between despair and hope during crisis.
- Memorised scripture and worship songs can resurface at the lowest points and give just enough strength for the next step.
- Following a nudge to reach out to someone can radically impact their faith journey; those “small” obediences are often life-changing.
- Even when full healing doesn’t come, it is possible to come out of suffering as a different person with deeper joy, peace, and compassion.
Even if the rest of my life is on the couch and in the bathroom, I’m not going to let this be wasted.
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction, illness, and doubt while still clinging to faith? This conversation with pastors Chris and Kirsten Umphryes offers a raw look at long-term suffering and what it actually feels like to hold on to Jesus when nothing is getting better.
The episode follows Chris’s sudden health crash: unexplained weight loss, severe pain, a Crohn’s disease diagnosis, failed medications, sepsis, emergency surgery, and months of barely being able to get out of bed. He loses 90 pounds, spends hours a day in the bathroom, and ends up so weak that even sitting is unbearable. All the while, he and Kirsten are still parenting, pastoring, and trying to make sense of what God is doing.
You’ll hear how their faith shifts from theory to something very practical.
Chris talks about a night at home when a dangerous fever breaks degree by degree as he prays, saying, “If you help me here, I promise I’ll tell everybody about this.” Kirsten shares her own breaking point in the hospital, watching nurses rush to a code situation and hearing God whisper, “I’m with you,” while a song about the “fourth man in the fire” lands on her phone at just the right moment.
The episode is honest about fear, depression, and the frustration of unanswered prayer, but it also highlights community support, scripture that carried them (like Job 2:10 and Psalm 62), and a life-changing ileostomy that finally brings relief. This is especially relatable if you’re in recovery or living with chronic illness and wondering if God has forgotten you.
By the end, you’ll be asking yourself: what if this season of pain isn’t wasted, and what “flowers” might be growing in your valley?