Making Faith Great Again: Wisdom from a Life with No Regrets

Does your life need more amazing adventures? Do you want more fulfillment and significance? Take steps to increase your faith starting with the story of Marlene Ostrom.

Marlene was twenty-two, a new baby in arms, when her husband said, “I think God’s calling us to give our lives to the Philippines.” Her response? “Sounds like an adventure!” But three years into their successful ministry, Marlene loses her entire family to a plane crash, and Don and Marlene must return home to run the family business. 

They’d planned on selling the business and returning to “God’s work” until a world-famous evangelist told them that they could do even more good for the Kingdom of God by running their business well and supporting missionaries. That conversation changed everything. Over the next sixty years, they planted hundreds of churches and touched hundreds of thousands of lives. 

In this book, Marlene tells her fascinating story and shares hard-won wisdom about prayer, prosperity, marriage, and generosity. Above all, she urges us to pursue an adventurous life of great faith.

★ FORWARD BY JOHN BEVERE ★

The life of faith truly is an adventure. In many ways, that’s what makes the journey of faith so great—the thrill of the unknown, the certain uncertainty, the laying hold of tomorrow, one day at a time. When you choose to fully follow God, you’re consenting to the fact that you will be a pilgrim, abandoning the comfort of being a settler.

Marlene has been a dear friend of mine and Lisa’s for many years. We’ve witnessed her and her late husband, Don, walk out their faith through many highs and lows, tests and trials, miracles and mishaps—all the while retaining a childlike sense of adventure. If I’m honest, I’m concerned we’ve lost that type of childlike faith in the Western Church. It’s possible we’ve been sedated by the pleasures and pressures of the day-to-day and have succumbed to merely existing rather than truly living. 

Two and a half years ago, I sat with Marlene as she was grieving the loss of her husband. In the midst of her heartache, I perceived it was a pivotal moment for her life’s purpose. Being a woman of profound wisdom, I encouraged her to start putting pen to paper as I could tell that she had a message brewing within her, and it was only a matter of time before it came forth. 

Now is that time!

The message contained in this book, combined with the many personal stories of a life well lived, will ignite your faith and shoot adrenaline into your soul so you, too, can embark on your own adventure with God. More than ever, faith needs to become great again! 

Sincerely,

John Bevere

Best-selling Author and Minister, Co-founder of Messenger International