I’d like to introduce you to Samuel Bernard. He’s joining Hope Through Hard Times on this new venture of starting, Inspire Hope Podcast! Here’s a little background to Sammy and how this idea began.
How We Met
I had the privilege of attending a short-term mission trip to Haiti in the summer of 2008. This was a life-changing, faith strengthening experience for me. My parents had recently divorced, I was struggling with issues in my own life, and was headed to Haiti with a broken and confused heart. I had a passion for cultures and missions stirring since my time in Bible College and wanted to see what the Lord intended with this.
Sammy grew up in Haiti and had participated with Lemuel Ministries – the organization our mission Crossworld, partnered with. He was now a young leader helping with the youth camp we were running. Sammy and I began a friendship during my time there. I was open with him about the frustrations and hurt I was working through from my parents’ divorce. He also had difficulties with his father and explained to me how he handled it. I was instantly humbled and challenged to show love and grace to my parents by his response. I quickly grew respect for Sammy and appreciated his authentic and devoted love for Jesus. We remained in contact when I returned home.
We’ll save this incredible story for another time, but Sammy miraculously survived the earthquake that devastated a great part of Haiti in 2010. The Lord commissioned him to ministry from that experience. Sammy received a scholarship to join a Bible college in Canada in 2011 where he would move and complete his seminary degree.
It’s been exciting to have him in this country and serve our people with the love and wisdom he has received. Sammy is married to the talented Leah (@leahbernardart) and has two beautiful little girls – Eva and Sylvie.
How the Podcast Started
Sammy started a Creole podcast in January 2020 called, Inspire Chanjman (Inspired 2 Change).
He has always been a great encourager to me. He joined Hope Through Hard Times’ community from the beginning in January 2020 and then approached me with the idea of starting a podcast back in July of 2020. I was interested, but still figuring out a fair amount of the basics of running the ministry at that point, so I put a hold on the idea.
As I wrote Sustaining Hope and listened to many people struggle through COVID and heavy burdens, my passion for sharing testimonies grew. There’s nothing more inspiring than hearing God’s work in people’s lives through their stories, both in Scripture and now. The Lord is just as much present and active in our lives today as He was in Bible times. Sammy and I are both witness of this.
I reached out to Sammy in March this year and told him I was ready. We’ve been busy behind the scenes planning and recording since.
As we prayed and joined together, we came up with the name Inspire Hope, combining Inspire 2 Change and Hope Through Hard Times together. We created this channel because we believe that God uses stories to draw you closer to Him. He uses your story to strengthen others, hence inspiring hope. In this new adventure, we listen to your story, trace the biblical principles at work in your life, and apply it to our own lives!
We pray that you are inspired and encouraged by what everyone shares on this channel; that it draws you into a relationship and/or deeper one with Jesus. This is a branch of Hope Through Hard Times as our hearts desire is to, “plant hope for Kingdom growth.”
Alright folks, here’s the link!
Anchor: https://anchor.fm/inspire-hope
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3KtxEn7UQbB4TLMeptzIrj
It would mean a lot to us if you’d share the podcast with your family and friends. We’d love to spread hope and inspire everyone we can towards Jesus.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Or do you know someone that does? Please let us know! You can contact us at in****************@gm***.com or in**@ho******************.org.
There are two episodes to begin the show, which contains stories from both Sammy and I. We’ll be launching a new episode every two weeks so stay tuned!
Let the fun begin!
