 Reconcile, that's what this season is all about. Jesus coming to reconcile us back to God. Welcome to Hope Today. We hope that you're having a wonderful day and we know that this program is gonna be part of that. I'm Tom Hollis. I'm here with Amy Schaefer. Amy Tulsa, what's coming up? Oh, if you are a believer, you know the scripture. I can do all things through Christ, which gives me strength. But our guest today has actually lived that out and her life is so incredible that they have built a movie around her life. Caitlyn Pavey is here with her new movie called I Can. And talk about an inspirational, full of faith story. Tom, just wait. I know, it's gonna be great. And you know, you know how much we love movies. And have you set the record for a homework movies yet or Christmas movies? I've watched so many Christmas movies that it's just coming out of my brain. Hopefully I don't go into the lyrics of a movie or song today. Oh, that's lovely, fine, not a problem. Well, and coming up a little bit later, we're going to have Jeff Zito with us. He is part of a ministry called Israel Lives and he is, his ministry is doing amazing things on the ground in Israel during this time. And we're gonna hear all about that as well. Yeah, I love how God is doing so many stories. We have to take time and we have to sit and we have to listen to people. We have to listen to their stories. We have to hear what God is doing in their life. We have to hear even the hunger in people's lives that maybe don't even know God. You know, I'm an atheist, but you can just almost hear them crying out. Well, there's always a cry, there's always a cry for the things. God's put that eternity in our hearts. God says that is crying out for him. And you know, I just want to mention this. We had a powerful time praying for Israel yesterday with many pastors, Rabbi Jeff Kipp was here. And that actually is going to play this evening. If you're watching this at eight o'clock in the evening, it's going to play right after this. Yeah, we had some friends that watched that are Jewish and they just texted and said, thank you so much for praying for Israel and standing with Israel. And so I hope you catch that tonight, right after this incredible program hope today. You know, with God, all things are possible. That verse speaks to so many of us, and especially to our next guest, when Caitlin Pavey was born with only one arm, she didn't let that stop her from becoming an all American college softball player. Yes, her story is so powerful that a new film was recently released about her life. It's called I Can. And it's currently the number one best selling movie on Amazon for faith based films and number 10 in dramas. Come on now, check out this sneak peek of her incredible new movie. Found the best play I've seen in a long time. Wait, is this the girl with one arm? We did not bring her into this world the right way. She shouldn't come out the right way. Let's call it what it was, an affair. You have an incredible gift from God. You think God is punishing you for what we did through our daughter's arm? People already look at me differently. Why didn't God stop that? I know lately it feels like you've been on the losing street. Maybe all of us, huh? You can't keep living your life like God is punishing you. You carry so much burden on your shoulders that you clearly can't handle. Look around and see how much God, he's blessed you. God don't make mistakes. He's got a plan in all of this. He always does. The movie looks amazing. And it's currently available on DVD and all streaming services. Caitlin, it is so great to have you with us on Hope Today. Thank you for having me, I'm so excited. Tell me when your softball career began. I started playing softball when I was at the age of three years old. My dad was my first T-ball coach and it was just constant back and forth play in the backyard, just kind of figuring out and adapting to the sport and learning how to grow from there. What challenges did you face? Well, having one arm, the biggest challenge was to figure out how to catch and throw with the same hand. So that was one and two was hitting because first I started with on the right side and then I switched to the left side. But the most challenging part was overcoming other people and other people's negative comments and saying that I can't do it or I can't hit or I can't throw and just overcoming all that negativity. I was thinking about you, particularly not what you've accomplished in softball and your career, but like who you are on the inside, that like how you spoke to yourself, how you saw yourself, how you believed God's best about yourself. What was going through your mind? What were you saying when somebody would attack you with negative words or language? What would you think? What would you say back? Well, that was just fuel to my fire. It made me wanna prove to them that I could do it. From the youngest age, obviously the movie's called I Can. I was always told to never say I can't do something. I mean, there was always a way that I could do it. Maybe it just looked a little bit different than someone else, but I could always adapt and find a way to do something. So in my mind, I was just thinking, I can do this and obviously with Christ, I can do this and just watch me. Just watch me. I love that attitude. Just watch me. That is just fuel to my fire. How did you know there's something special about me playing softball? Well, growing up, going through Little League, and then eventually I went to travel ball where I was playing way more competitively. And at the age of 10 years old, I felt I had all the confidence in the world. Like this sport gave me that confidence, it gave me that platform to shine. And I knew that I wanted to play at the next level. And that's where I told my dad, I think I'm good at this and I want to continue it throughout college. I mean, your story is so incredible. Can you believe like they made a movie about your life and story? Do you ever just lay there in the morning thinking, oh my gosh, there's a movie about my life? Every day, it's so surreal. I never would have thought, but I'm so glad they did because if I can just help one person, it's well worth it. This story is not just about you, but your dad, your parents play a significant role in this movie. Can you share their story? Correct. So I was conceived out of wedlock due to an affair. And for the longest time, my parents, especially my dad, struggled with thinking that I was born with one arm due to his sins. And my grandma, when I was born, told my dad, God doesn't make mistakes. God does not make mistakes in what he curates. God does not make mistakes in what he does. And my dad just really still struggled with that idea. But the story is a redemptive story and it's a story of how I overcame adversity through the game of softball and how God's love overcomes all things. Caitlin, with all that you've gone through and overcoming that adversity, how has your relationship with God grown? What have you learned about God? Well, for the longest time, I first was just, I thought my identity was solely in softball because I continued to find my identity in that and I thought that was everything that I needed. In the movie, you'll find out that I had a traumatic injury where I tore my ACL and that really opened my eyes to let me know that I was losing sight of God. And when I had that, I learned that it wasn't me that got me to this point. It was God, he gave me all the talents, he gave me all the abilities to do this. Why not glorify him and use it as a platform for his kingdom? So it made me realize that all the talents and abilities that he gave me was from him and that I needed to use it to glorify him. Caitlin, what position do you play in softball? I played center field. Wow. That's like the most athletic, that's one of the most hard positions, athletic positions to play. You're running all over the place. I mean, I talk about catching and throwing like continually, I played second base and you know, in my whole life, my dad's like, step on the back, throw it to first. I mean, I can hear his voice yelling at me as a teenage girl right now. I've heard it said, you don't mess with softball players. Is that true? That is true. I was actually, I was actually recorded 0.2 seconds slower than someone with two arms with my glove transfer of getting the ball out of my glove and throwing it. That's incredible. Tell us some more like crazy cool statistics that you beat. Oh, I don't know. I mean, I never thought I would ever hit my first home run and I've ended up hitting one in high school and then I hit two in college, so pretty cool. Wow. Through this movie, somebody's watching and what do you want them to walk away with? Well, obviously one that you can do all things through Christ, you know, it doesn't matter what you look like. It doesn't matter where you come from. God has a plan for you in Jeremiah 29, 11. I don't take lightly, you know, God knows who you are, who you are before he created you in the womb. So he has a plan for you and you just need to trust in that and trust in him to get you through that. That's a good lesson for us all to learn, Caitlyn. So let me just ask you about your future. What do you see as your future involved in softball? What do you see as your future career? I definitely see myself involved in softball. Right now I'm working at the National Fast Pitch Coaches Association. We're based in Louisville, Kentucky and what we do is we help educate coaches, we help grow the game of softball. So hopefully I see myself finding a job here, if not coaching somewhere. Talking about softball and movies, I can't think of another movie that's based on a true story about a softball player. Are you the first? Yes, we are the first softball movie ever distributed. So. You are breaking a lot of records and I'm just thinking about somebody that's watching that, you know, maybe they just felt like they were set back in life. Maybe they're super discouraged right now and they need to get up tomorrow and they need to hit a home run in life and they need to see a win, they need to see a victory and they need to overcome something. Do you have a scripture or a thought or a prayer that you would encourage them in just our last minute? Yes, I have to. So my scripture would be John 1633. You know, in this world you have trouble, you know, adversity, you have obstacles, but take heart because Jesus has overcome the world and you already had that victory because he already died for you and he loves you. So that's my scripture I leave. Two, I never knew I had a purpose and I didn't know why I was born with one arm but I saw a verse in John chapter nine where Jesus was walking with his disciples and he came across a man born blind and they asked him was he born blind because of his sins or was he born blind because of his parents sins and Jesus said neither. He was born blind so that the work of God could be displayed through his life and that's what I believe I was born for just to show people God through my actions and through my words. Caitlin, that is so perfect and so beautiful and so well said. Where can we find this movie? It is currently streaming on Voodoo right now and it is also on Amazon where you can purchase and hopefully it will be coming in Walmart soon. All right, thank you Caitlin. Thank you for your story. Thank you for your softball passion and we cannot wait to watch the movie. I can. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I love her. I do too. I mean what a personality and what a drive. What a story. Well and she said one of my core scriptures, one of my top three scriptures in the world you will have troubles, trials, tribulations but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. And Tom, that was my favorite scripture before I had any troubles, before I had any trials. I have shared that scripture with so many people when I used to pray on the prayer line when I was in charge of the prayer line to see that, people calling of course cause there's problems but to see that he said I have overcome the world. I have overcome the world. So if he did and he lives in you, then you can also. Absolutely, that is great. Great conversation with Caitlin. Well, we're gonna take a quick break after that. We're gonna hear about what's happening on the ground at Israel from Jeff Zito. Hope happens here at Cornerstone Television. All this month we're offering a joy filled DVD, Christmas with the Chosen, the Messengers for your best gift to the ministry. Gather around the manger with loved ones and experience the first Christmas through the eyes of Mary and Joseph. Follow the young couple as they take the long road to Bethlehem and prepare for Jesus' birth. Plus, enjoy an extraordinary lineup of musicians performing both new and classic Christmas songs from the set of The Chosen, such as Phil Wickham, Brandon Lake, Maverick City Music, Cain and many others. Thank you for your generosity that makes the ministry of Cornerstone Television possible. Request your Christmas with The Chosen DVD when you give this month. Call 888-665-4483 or give online at ctvn.org slash donate. From all of us here, we wish you a very Merry Christmas. We love being involved with ministries around the world through Cornerstone Cares and one of those in Israel, one of the places we love being involved is Jeff Zito with Israel Lives Ministries. Jeff, so good to have you on the program. Awesome to be here, Tom. So tell me about Israel Lives and how did you, I mean, you're a Pennsylvania guy, right? How'd you end up in Israel? Born and bred in Pennsylvania, I am a graduate of Kiske area, class of 2008, got saved when I was a junior in high school, went to Bible school and North Point Bible school in Massachusetts and it was there that I took my very first trip to Israel and fell in love with the land, with the people. God put a calling on my life. He said, Jeff, one day you're gonna come back here and live and minister among my covenant people. Wow, that's a lot from your junior year in high school too. Wow, that's tremendous. So what is Israel Lives Ministries? What do you do in Israel? So Israel Lives Ministries is the name of the ministry that I started five years ago and the name is very powerful in Hebrew. In Hebrew, it's Am Israel Chai and basically when an Israeli thinks of that phrase, they think the Jewish people are now living back in their homeland again after 2,000 years of exile. But biblically, that name means so much more. Ezekiel chapter 36 verses 24 and 25 have to do with Israel first living in their homeland but then the next verse says that the Jewish people are gonna be then washed with clean water and they'll be very clean. So that has to do with the revival. So our ministry exists so that one day all Israel will live in their Messiah. And we do a bunch of different things to reach Israelis with the gospel, everything from street outreaches to we have an internet evangelism ministry where Israelis can come on our website and find answers to their questions, get in touch with our team in Israel and we can do discipleship with them. And my favorite way of ministering in Israel, this sounds really odd and interesting but I actually play ice hockey in Israel. That is an unusual ministry. We would not think of ice hockey in Israel. Who would have thought there'd be ice in the desert? But there's a pretty big league in Israel. I've been playing hockey since I was little and some of my best friends in Israel are because of hockey and God has done miracles for some of my friends, healing miracles and has given me opportunities to share the gospel with all kinds of teammates, coaches and along with it just being just a fun thing to do, it's been an incredible platform to share my faith. That's really, I just love that. I love when God brings that kind of thing, an unusual thing that just opens up the door for the gospel but let me ask you, because obviously we're in a situation now in Israel. You're actually stuck here in the United States right now not able to get back but tell me what's going on there with your organization. So since the October 7th massacre of 1200 innocent Israeli civilians, our ministry has responded in a powerful way. God has been using us to bless two major groups of people. One are the survivors of these attacks. We sent food to a Kibbutz, which is like a town in Israel. It's called Nahal Oz and we sent enough food to provide meals for over a hundred families. The major thing that we're doing though is helping IDF reservists, the Israel Defense Forces. Israel has called up over 400,000 reservists. They've not called up this many reservists since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. So the budget for the government is stretched beyond what they can reasonably do to provide supplies and food. Yeah, that when you shared that with us, that's amazing to me, probably to us here in the West. It's amazing that they would really be basically strained for resources. So you all are providing resources for the soldiers and you have, I think you have some pictures, don't you? You wanna share with us what we're seeing? Sure. So this is cool. This is one of my friends on the right in uniform. His name is Levav. Levav and I play hockey together on one of our teams. I told you hockey's been a great way of ministering. And on the left is Debbie. Debbie is our staffer with Israel Lives Ministry. She lives in Carmel. Her and our team, they have been buying thousands of dollars in supplies for Levav's unit. I sent a text to my hockey team and I said, listen guys, I'm directing a nonprofit. If anybody needs help, let me know. Levav contacted me. We've been able to purchase thousands of dollars of supplies like warm clothes for their soldiers, like mats for them to sleep on because otherwise they'd be sleeping in the dirt and like bulletproof vests, which is one of the biggest needs among Israeli reservists. Can you imagine that? These soldiers are fighting and they don't have the most basic defense material to be able to protect them from bullets. Wow, that's amazing. Show us what else we're seeing here. So we're also going to the south, the front with Hamas and the Gaza border. This is another one of our team members, Yossi, with a soldier delivering supplies. And this is what we do. We deliver the supplies in person and we pray for opportunities that we're able to pray with some of these soldiers. This picture is of some soldiers that received Bibles. In every package that we send soldiers, we're putting Bibles in there. These soldiers in particular are religious, as you can tell by the keepas on their head. We told them up front that these Bibles contain the New Testament and they still took them joyfully. We actually have a video of some people thanking Israel Lives. Thank you so much for your generous donation. We really appreciate it and yeah, go IDS. That's really awesome. The awesome thing is we have almost a dozen of these kind of videos from all around Israel. IDF units thanking us for the supplies that they're getting and they're also getting Bibles. So the Word of God is going out all over Israel and unprecedented ways and ways that never would have happened if this war hadn't happened. Well, we're so thrilled to have been able to help support you all. And I know we were recently able to release a donation to your organization to help with this. How can someone proceed right now? What would be the way that someone can help Israel? Yes, thank you for bringing that up. I do wanna say thank you so much to Cornerstone Ministries. You guys have been a partner with our ministry for many years and have recently sent a very large donation and that went immediately to helping needy families and soldiers on the ground. So we thank you for that. To folks who are watching and listening to your program, we have two major needs. The first one is prayer for Israel. If they could commit to praying for the peace of Israel, that the Prince of Peace, Jesus, the Messiah, would make peace in the hearts of every Jewish person, every Israeli, every Arab and save them, pour out his spirit. And secondly, we have an emergency relief fund that all one-time donations are going towards and this is going to help get some more supplies, more Bibles in the hands of Israelis. And secondly, we're looking for partners that can support our ministry on a monthly basis so that we can add to our team in Israel. And when we add to our team, we're adding disciple makers, people that are looking for Israelis they can share the gospel with so that more and more Israelis will hear the good news about their Messiah. So if that's something that your viewers would like to do, partnering with our ministry through monthly support, through prayer, it would be a great blessing. And they can go to your website which you have on the screen there. And you can also go to ctvn.org and you can pick up the, we'll have a link to Jeff's website there as well. Jeff, thank you so much for everything that you're doing and everything that Israel Lives is doing. My pleasure. Wow, I love that conversation of Israel Lives. We know as believers with our Judeo Christian faith without our roots, we have no fruit. And they are the root that we are so grateful for, the land of Israel, the covenant that God made with the very dirt of Israel. He said, I will be your God and you will be my people. And I just think it's important in this culture where there are so many different narratives and things we have to see, what does God say? What does the Bible say? And we have to do our own research, Tom, to figure that out. Well, absolutely. And I love even the name of his organization, Israel Lives. Because everything seems to try to mitigate against Israel surviving, every nation around it. Sometimes the world's, quite often, the way the world views Israel as the aggressor. Amy, that's something we've had to deal with in this present crisis. But I also love the name of the movie with Caitlin's movie, I Can. So Life and I Can, those are the kind of words that God has for you today. Yeah, those are the words that God has for you today. So if you're in a place at all questioning, should I keep going? Am I stuck? No, you're not. And just like Caitlin said earlier, she said, listen, you have trials, troubles, tribulations, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. And also, we wanna remind you that after this program tonight, if you're watching at 8 p.m., we are going to actually have a show dedicated to Israel, to praying for Israel, talking about Israel Lives. And we are wishing all of our Jewish brothers and sisters happy Hanukkah and shalom. Absolutely, and maybe you're watching us, and maybe you caught us on YouTube, maybe you're watching this program, throughout the day, as it airs on Cornerstone. And you're hearing this message that God is for you, not against you. God desires life for you. God desires that overcoming nature of Caitlin, where she says, I can. You can overcome the situations that you are going through, but mainly and completely through his power and through his strength. So you know what? Take this time, take this moment. Maybe you could call our prayer line and get a prayer partner in. And it has someone to agree together to give you that strength that you need during this time. It can be difficult for so many, but God loves you. God cares about you. God wants to see great things happen in your life. And remember that he is Emmanuel, God with us. He is with you in the pit. He's with you in the palace. He's with you in the hard times. He's with you in the strong times. He's with you when you're going through the struggle and the trial. He's also with you when they're making a movie about your life. So we just pray that this program encourages you today. And we want to remind you there is hope today.