I JUST REALIZED I WON THE LOTTERY! The Real Joy of Christian Life
Dr. John LaNoue • September 6, 2019
Oh, not the one with millions of dollars, but the one with millions of blessings!
When I asked Jesus to forgive my sins and to save my soul, I really hit the jackpot!
Until then, I was a mess! My family life included three divorces, living in three states, five cities, and that was all before I finished my fourteenth year of life.
Like an old slot machine, my wheels were spinning!
Shortly after my sixteenth birthday, two laymen came to my home and led me to faith in Christ. As they left they said, “Second Corinthians 7:14 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, The old has gone, the new has come!”
At that moment, the wheels stop spinning and all three came up JESUS! He is the jackpot!!!
I began a deep dive into the Word of God! The sermons and Bible studies at church spoke to me as never before, I found godly friends who ended there dating and fellowship times with prayer.
I really believed that Jesus meant everything he said. I began to interpret my experiences by the Scripture, instead of trying to interpret the Scripture by my experiences!
A wonderful transformation began to occur! God began to transform my terrible life experiences from being wasted years into years of “in service training”!
God was preparing me to minister to people with broken hearts, broken homes, and broken lives.
A part my experience as a child of divorce helped me write the book “Divorcing? Remember Me.” The first part speaks to a child’s reaction to divorce and how it affects them.
The second part deals with biblical teachings on love, courtship, and marriage.
My wife and I were both from broken homes and had no good example of how a successful marriage worked. We decided , since God invented sex and marriage, we would search the Bible to find His directions for making our relationship and marriage work His way.
We have been happily married 64 years and 38 weeks…so I think it is going to work!
That is a part of the jackpot’s contents!
There is more, much more!
Things that are beyond my ability to express adequately.
Things like inner peace, peace with God, with your life, and joy! A joy that remains strong through cancer, heart attack, strokes, bypass surgery, serving God in places where you face hate filled interrogators, while looking at the business end of an AK 47 assault rifle.
WOW! The joy not only remains, it has intensified!
I hit the Jackpot with Jesus!
If the pot was only filled with money or “things”, I could not take it with me. You never see a U-Haul trailer behind a hearse!
BUT, my joy in the LORD is not only transportable, it is INTENSIFIED!
YAYHOOO! I hit the jackpot with JESUS!
Categories
In a small rural village in Tanzania, a man sits quietly outside his home. His body is thin. His shoulders are tired. And rising from his back is a painful tumor that has slowly stolen nearly everything from him. His name is Zakaria. For years, Zakaria worked as a boda boda driver, carrying passengers from village to village on his motorcycle. In East Africa, a boda boda is more than transportation. For many families, it is survival. Every ride meant food. Every mile meant provision. Every long day on rough roads meant another opportunity to care for his wife and continue moving forward. But suffering often enters quietly. What began as a hitching pain in Zakaria’s back slowly became swelling. At first, it was manageable. Like many men trying to provide for their families, he pushed through the discomfort and kept working. But the pain continued. The swelling grew. And over time, the tumor became impossible to ignore. Today, Zakaria lives with constant pain and uncertainty. The disease has robbed him of strength, dignity, income, and peace. The motorcycle he once depended on has already been sold in a desperate attempt to find healing. And yet, in the middle of suffering, something unexpected happened. Hope arrived.
In many parts of the world, turning on a faucet is so ordinary that it barely deserves a second thought. A glass fills. A child drinks. A mother does the dishes. A shower runs before work or school. Clean water is simply there. In Northern Uganda, that reality still feels distant for thousands of families. In many villages scattered across rural East Africa, water is not found in a kitchen sink or flowing from pipes beneath the ground. It is carried in yellow jerrycans across dusty roads and narrow footpaths. It is gathered from muddy ponds, shallow holes carved into the earth, or stagnant pools shared with livestock. Sometimes it is brown. Sometimes it smells foul. Sometimes it makes children sick. For families with no other option, it is all they have. The water crisis in East Africa is not only about thirst. It affects health, education, safety, opportunity, and dignity. It shapes how children spend their mornings and how mothers spend their days. It determines whether girls attend school consistently or remain trapped in long daily walks carrying heavy containers of water under the scorching sun. At Amigos Internacionales, this reality is not theoretical. Staff and partners have sat beside families in remote villages. They have watched children scoop water from contaminated pits after rainfall. They have seen entire communities transformed when clean water finally arrived. That transformation is why water remains one of the most urgent and powerful parts of the MissionPoint model across Northern Uganda.
For seventeen years, Bridgette has carried a burden no child should ever bear. What started as a small red spot on her face when she was just a baby grew into a massive vascular tumor that doctors across Uganda refused to operate on. Too risky, they said. The tumor could bleed too much. She might not survive. Come back when she's older. Come back when it's smaller. Come back, come back, come back. Bridgette and her mother, Rose, heard "no" for seventeen years. But today, something has finally changed. Bridgette is now on medication that is actively shrinking her tumor. Dr. Paul Mulyamboga, Amigos Internacionales' Director of Medical Services and founder of Doctors on Mission, is monitoring her progress. When the tumor reaches an operable size, he will refer her to Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala for the vascular surgery that could change her life. There's just one problem: surgery can only happen if the funding is already in place . If we don't raise $12,000 before Bridgette's tumor is ready for surgery, she will have to wait again. And after seventeen years of waiting, we cannot let that happen. How It Started — A Small Red Spot
Baby Godfrey couldn't eat without pain. His family couldn't afford surgery. The Bethel Smile program gave him free cleft lip surgery at 4 months old.
Free Medical Camps in Burundi: What Happens When a Doctor Walks Into Gisuru | Amigos Internacionales
Inside the Gisuru medical camp in Burundi — surgeries, eye care, and spiritual ministry delivered by volunteer doctors. See the full impact report from 2025.
East Texas journalist Jennifer Scott traveled to East Africa to cover Amigos Internacionales. Read the full Tyler Morning Telegraph feature from April 2026.
Learn how church missions in Africa, through partnerships with Amigos Internacionales, can bring lasting change to communities in need. Get involved in education, healthcare, and development projects.
Discover the resilience of refugees in Northern Uganda and how Amigos Internacionales is providing medical care, education, and empowerment to help rebuild lives.
Deadly floods and landslides have displaced families in Malawi’s Mulanje and Phalombe districts, leaving them without shelter or food. Learn how emergency tents and food relief can bring hope—and how you can help today.
Missionpoint Malawi aids flood victims in Mulanje & Phalombe. Help us provide food & support to families in need. Join our efforts today!
Perpetua’s story in Tanzania reveals the daily reality of living with sickle cell and how compassionate medical care and faith bring hope to vulnerable children.
Learn about the water crisis in rural Uganda and how Amigos Internacionales is providing sustainable, clean water solutions to transform lives and communities.
Social Media
In a small rural village in Tanzania, a man sits quietly outside his home. His body is thin. His shoulders are tired. And rising from his back is a painful tumor that has slowly stolen nearly everything from him. His name is Zakaria. For years, Zakaria worked as a boda boda driver, carrying passengers from village to village on his motorcycle. In East Africa, a boda boda is more than transportation. For many families, it is survival. Every ride meant food. Every mile meant provision. Every long day on rough roads meant another opportunity to care for his wife and continue moving forward. But suffering often enters quietly. What began as a hitching pain in Zakaria’s back slowly became swelling. At first, it was manageable. Like many men trying to provide for their families, he pushed through the discomfort and kept working. But the pain continued. The swelling grew. And over time, the tumor became impossible to ignore. Today, Zakaria lives with constant pain and uncertainty. The disease has robbed him of strength, dignity, income, and peace. The motorcycle he once depended on has already been sold in a desperate attempt to find healing. And yet, in the middle of suffering, something unexpected happened. Hope arrived.
In many parts of the world, turning on a faucet is so ordinary that it barely deserves a second thought. A glass fills. A child drinks. A mother does the dishes. A shower runs before work or school. Clean water is simply there. In Northern Uganda, that reality still feels distant for thousands of families. In many villages scattered across rural East Africa, water is not found in a kitchen sink or flowing from pipes beneath the ground. It is carried in yellow jerrycans across dusty roads and narrow footpaths. It is gathered from muddy ponds, shallow holes carved into the earth, or stagnant pools shared with livestock. Sometimes it is brown. Sometimes it smells foul. Sometimes it makes children sick. For families with no other option, it is all they have. The water crisis in East Africa is not only about thirst. It affects health, education, safety, opportunity, and dignity. It shapes how children spend their mornings and how mothers spend their days. It determines whether girls attend school consistently or remain trapped in long daily walks carrying heavy containers of water under the scorching sun. At Amigos Internacionales, this reality is not theoretical. Staff and partners have sat beside families in remote villages. They have watched children scoop water from contaminated pits after rainfall. They have seen entire communities transformed when clean water finally arrived. That transformation is why water remains one of the most urgent and powerful parts of the MissionPoint model across Northern Uganda.
For seventeen years, Bridgette has carried a burden no child should ever bear. What started as a small red spot on her face when she was just a baby grew into a massive vascular tumor that doctors across Uganda refused to operate on. Too risky, they said. The tumor could bleed too much. She might not survive. Come back when she's older. Come back when it's smaller. Come back, come back, come back. Bridgette and her mother, Rose, heard "no" for seventeen years. But today, something has finally changed. Bridgette is now on medication that is actively shrinking her tumor. Dr. Paul Mulyamboga, Amigos Internacionales' Director of Medical Services and founder of Doctors on Mission, is monitoring her progress. When the tumor reaches an operable size, he will refer her to Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala for the vascular surgery that could change her life. There's just one problem: surgery can only happen if the funding is already in place . If we don't raise $12,000 before Bridgette's tumor is ready for surgery, she will have to wait again. And after seventeen years of waiting, we cannot let that happen. How It Started — A Small Red Spot
Baby Godfrey couldn't eat without pain. His family couldn't afford surgery. The Bethel Smile program gave him free cleft lip surgery at 4 months old.
Free Medical Camps in Burundi: What Happens When a Doctor Walks Into Gisuru | Amigos Internacionales
Inside the Gisuru medical camp in Burundi — surgeries, eye care, and spiritual ministry delivered by volunteer doctors. See the full impact report from 2025.
East Texas journalist Jennifer Scott traveled to East Africa to cover Amigos Internacionales. Read the full Tyler Morning Telegraph feature from April 2026.
Learn how church missions in Africa, through partnerships with Amigos Internacionales, can bring lasting change to communities in need. Get involved in education, healthcare, and development projects.
Discover the resilience of refugees in Northern Uganda and how Amigos Internacionales is providing medical care, education, and empowerment to help rebuild lives.
Deadly floods and landslides have displaced families in Malawi’s Mulanje and Phalombe districts, leaving them without shelter or food. Learn how emergency tents and food relief can bring hope—and how you can help today.
Missionpoint Malawi aids flood victims in Mulanje & Phalombe. Help us provide food & support to families in need. Join our efforts today!
Perpetua’s story in Tanzania reveals the daily reality of living with sickle cell and how compassionate medical care and faith bring hope to vulnerable children.
Learn about the water crisis in rural Uganda and how Amigos Internacionales is providing sustainable, clean water solutions to transform lives and communities.
Learn how child sponsorship in Africa transforms lives in Uganda through education, healthcare, and long-term community impact.
Support community efforts in Loyobo, Uganda, for a medical camp. Join us in fostering care, unity, & youth engagement.
Discover why children in rural Africa lack access to life-saving surgery and how Amigos Internacionales is providing hope through medical missions.
Learn the severe effects of not drilling water wells in East Africa. Act now to improve health, education, & economic stability.
Understand the costs of clean water in rural Africa. Join us in making a difference for communities in need.
Clean water transforms lives in Northern Uganda. Join us in supporting health, education, & economic growth. Get involved today!
“Discover how Amigos Internacionales brings life‑changing surgery to vulnerable children in rural Uganda, bridging the healthcare gap with compassionate care.”
Learn about the barriers deaf children face in accessing education in Malawi. Support inclusive education initiatives today!
