Four Inspiring Stories for Reflecting on Advent

Summary

Podcast Summary: GPS: God. People. Stories. – "Four Inspiring Stories for Reflecting on Advent"
Host: Jim Kirkland (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)
Episode Date: December 24, 2025

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Episode Overview

This special Christmas Eve episode revisits four powerful personal stories exemplifying the Advent themes: hope, peace, joy, and love. Through the experiences of a former street child, a military chaplain, a recovered hippie, and a grateful orphan, listeners reflect on Christ’s transformative impact and the true meaning of Christmas.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Advent Themes Framed Through Personal Stories

• The episode centers on four real-life faith journeys, each aligning with a core Advent theme:
  • Hope (Peter Mutabazi)
  • Peace (General Douglas Carver)
  • Joy (Mitch Glaser)
  • Love (Veronica Miranda)
• Host Jim Kirkland introduces the purpose: "Each carries a theme of the Advent season. Hope, peace, joy and love." (00:59)

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2. Hope: Peter Mutabazi's Journey from Streets to Serving Others

• Background: Ran away from home at 11, lived on the streets of Kampala, Uganda.
• Challenges: Felt dehumanized, believing he was “useless…nobody.” (02:07)
• Turning Point: Met Masiko, who provided both physical sustenance and hope.
  • “Somehow he saw a kid, said ‘No matter how far he is, no matter what he looks or where he’s been,…I would like to help this kid.’” – Peter Mutabazi (02:44)
• Transformation: Became part of Masiko’s family, exposed for the first time to Christian faith and loving fatherhood.
• Redemption: Accepted Jesus as Savior, now a foster parent himself, reminding foster children:
  • “[Christ] was the nobody that nobody wanted. Like he was born in a manger…Meaning he didn’t really have much…He was born for you. That you and I can inherit God’s kingdom.” (04:32)

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3. Peace: General Douglas Carver’s Calm in Chaos

• Background: Retired Chief of Chaplains, US Army, served during the Iraq war.
• Crisis: Under missile attacks, found miraculous inner peace while praying in a bunker.
  • “I wanted the troops to look into my eyes and not see fear. I wanted them to see peace and comfort and strength...” (05:41)
• Christmas in Combat: Spent Christmas 2003 in Mosul at a diverse interfaith service, then at midnight mass during a mortar attack.
• Memorable Experience:
  • “…the concussion was so strong that candles on the altar were flickering like they were going to go out. And here we are standing there worshiping the Lord... even though you’re in the middle of combat…these services were so important.” (07:17)

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4. Joy: Mitch Glaser’s Unexpected Encounter

• Background: Once described himself as a “drugged out Jewish hippie.” (08:32)
• Journey to Faith: Friends became Christians, curiosity grew, prayed for a sign:
  • “God, if you’re really there, show me and show me how I’m supposed to get to you...” (08:53)
• Divine Coincidence: Found a plain-English New Testament at a phone booth after praying.
• Revelation: Discovered Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, as prophesied.
  • “I had no idea Jesus was absolutely Jewish. And he claimed to be the Jewish Messiah in fulfillment of the prophecies...” (09:52)
• New Life: Accepted Christ, left drugs behind, discovered profound joy.
  • “I was cleansed, and I felt joy. It sounds almost cliche-ish, but it really happened to me...I felt like a different man.” (11:11)

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5. Love: Veronica Miranda’s Operation Christmas Child Moment

• Background: Grew up in a Christian orphanage in Mexico.
• Misconceptions: Saw Christmas as about gifts and fun, not Jesus. (12:20)
• Moving Gift: Received an Operation Christmas Child box with a heartfelt card:
  • “‘Merry Christmas. You have a family that loves you and is praying for you.’ And when I read those words, I just started crying.” (13:29)
• Healing & Community: Comforted by her director, accepted love from those around her.
• New Mission: Now shares Christ’s love with others, especially at Christmas:
  • “That gives us so much opportunity to minister in love... show your community that you are there, that you do see them and that they’re loved.” (14:12)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Christmas tells us what it cost God to save the world. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Christ is God’s great Christmas gift to the world.” – Billy Graham (01:04)
• “I remember sitting there praying, asking God to forgive me of every sin I’d committed or forgotten to admit…and I wanted the troops to see peace and comfort and strength.” – General Douglas Carver (05:41)
• “I prayed that prayer in the morning. Then at night...I find a New Testament in modern English.” – Mitch Glaser (08:53)
• “We’re your family too, and we love you. And I just knew in my heart in that moment that that gift was sent specifically for me.” – Veronica Miranda (13:41)
• “May this become the first genuine and real Christmas that they’ve ever spent…to seek and to save that which was lost.” – Billy Graham (16:07)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment/Theme | Speaker | Timestamp | | -----------------------------------|---------------------------|-------------| | Opening Remarks & Advent Overview | Jim Kirkland | 00:00–01:04 | | Billy Graham on the Gift of Christmas | Billy Graham | 01:04–01:17 | | Story of Hope: Peter Mutabazi | Peter Mutabazi/Jim Kirkland| 02:07–05:06 | | Story of Peace: Gen. Douglas Carver| Douglas Carver/Jim Kirkland| 05:06–07:49 | | Story of Joy: Mitch Glaser | Mitch Glaser/Jim Kirkland | 08:32–11:45 | | Story of Love: Veronica Miranda | Veronica Miranda/Jim Kirkland |12:20–14:46| | Billy Graham’s Prayer | Billy Graham |16:00–16:53 |

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Conclusion: Universal Message of Advent

Jim Kirkland summarizes:
“Whether you’re in need of hope, peace, joy, love, or all of the above, that’s exactly what Jesus Christ offers you and exactly why he came to earth.” (14:46)

Billy Graham’s closing:
“There must come a point in your life when you accept and appropriate his great Christmas gift. This is what Christmas is all about.” (16:07)

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Tone & Style:
The podcast is heartfelt, hopeful, and conversational, interweaving raw testimonies with biblical hope, aiming to uplift and encourage listeners at Christmas.

If you wish to learn more about starting a relationship with Jesus, visit findpeacewithgod.net.

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This summary captures the core stories and takeaways, providing a rich, authentic experience for those unable to listen to the full episode.

Transcript

[Jim Kirkland]

In preparation for Christmas tomorrow, we who follow Jesus Christ have been in a season called Advent, which means a season of waiting with anticipation for the arrival of our savior and rescuer, Jesus Christ, who, by the way, is going to come again. And as we wait just a little longer for Christmas morning, I hope you'll celebrate the final moments of Advent alongside us as we reflect on four stories from four very unique people. Though each has their own story of God's work in their lives, their story share something in common. Each carries a theme of the Advent season. Hope, peace, joy and love. Merry Christmas. I'm Jim Kirkland and this is GPS God People Stories, an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. It's hard to believe it's almost Christmas, but we want to stop and look back over the year because through the year we've shared many faith stories of how God has made a divine impact in people's lives. People from all around the world.

[Billy Graham]

Christmas tells us what it cost God to save the world. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Christ is God's great Christmas gift to the world.

[Jim Kirkland]

That's Billy Graham. There's more from him on this later in this episode. But if you find yourself right now wanting to know about Jesus Christ, the greatest Christmas gift of all, visit us at our website, findpeacewithgod.net when you're there, click where it says, begin a relationship with Jesus. That'[e-mail] as always, we've also got a link for you to get there through our show notes. God People stories during Christmastime 2020, we shared a story of hope, as demonstrated in the life of a man named Peter Mutabazi. Peter ran away from home at age 11, and from there lived on the streets of the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

[Peter Mutabazi]

As a street kid, you're treated more like a stray animal, like you're treated like garbage. You're nobody. And as a kid, you get to believe it. You know, I think you begin to hear what people said or what your parents said. Then you believe it. Like, hey, I'm useless. I'm nobody.

[Jim Kirkland]

The way Peter survived was by stealing and playing upon people's generosity. But then a man came into Peter's life that would change him forever. Masiko was his name. And Masiko committed to feeding Peter for the next year and a half. Not just food, but also feeding him hope for a future.

[Peter Mutabazi]

Somehow he saw a kid said, you know what? No matter how far he is, no matter how what he looks or where he's been like. I think he's got potential, that I would like to help this kid.

[Jim Kirkland]

Eventually, Masiko earned Peter's trust. He helped Peter get an education and invited him to live with his family during seasonal breaks from school. As Peter got to know Masiko, he learned a little bit about what made him different. He learned the source of Masiko's hope.

[Peter Mutabazi]

He was a believer. So I began going to church and began, you know, hearing the gospel. I had never seen the Bible before. I began to really learn about what Christ means to us and the sacrifice he will make in life for us, why he was born, and the joy that he brought to the sinful world. I'd never seen a dad talk kindly to his kids. That was my first time to see that, you know, at first I thought it was fake because, you know, when you've never seen a dad who's kind, that they sit on the table and talk, that they smile, they love you. Like, is this real? You know, because I didn't have an example. I had never seen that before. So I began to really see his life and I realized that's how they live their lives. That they were kind, they were sweet, they were happy to have me there, that they treat me like their son, you know, they didn't treat me different.

[Jim Kirkland]

After a few years of being a part of Masiko's family, Peter found the ultimate hope that lasts far beyond a good meal or warm shelter. He came to know Jesus Christ as his lord and savior. Today, Peter has taken the example Masiko set in his life and has become a foster parent. During the Christmas season, Peter has observed that children who have been in the foster care system tend to feel forgotten and like they are nobodies. To help them, Peter reminds them of something we should all remember.

[Peter Mutabazi]

That's how Christ was, that's how he came on earth, and that's how he was seen, you know, it was the nobody that nobody wanted. Like he was born in a manger. Think about, like, where nobody goes. Like where you keep cows and cattle and sheep. That's where he was born, you know, Meaning he didn't really have much, as much as you don't have. And so to instill in them of what? Who was born? Why, in what condition was he born? Well, it wasn't pretty, you know, that. Yes, he might not be pretty in our lives right now, but to know that he died for you. He was born for you. That you and I can inhale.

[Jim Kirkland]

God's kingdom A GPS guest who Experienced the next theme of Advent peace is retired general Douglas Carver. He served over two decades as the chief of chaplains for the United States Army. He is also experienced in situations that are the polar opposite of peace.

[General Douglas Carver]

We had a particular day when Iraq, Saddam Hussein and his forces fired about 12 theater ballistic missiles all over near our units in Kuwait.

[Jim Kirkland]

Chaplain Carver remembers squeezing into a bunker with a crowd of people, and you.

[General Douglas Carver]

Only have about two minutes once a missile is coming for it to be destroyed. And I remember sitting there praying, asking God to forgive me of every sin I'd committed or forgotten to admit. And then I started praying for those around me. And I remember I wanted the troops to look into my eyes and not see fear. I wanted them to see peace and comfort and strength. And I don't know what I hope that's what they saw. But there was a peace that came upon me in that bunker which really kind of gave me my first taste of what war was all about.

[Jim Kirkland]

Chaplain Carver deployed with the first wave of troops at the start of the Iraq war. It was in that country he spent Christmas of 2003, I remember, outside of.

[General Douglas Carver]

Mosul near the Monastery of Elijah. We were at this particular cathedral or this huge Catholic church, and I go in this room, and they had a traditional Christmas program that was being filmed for posterity, filmed for tv, I don't know. So if you can imagine, there were Muslims there, there were Yazidis there, There was every kind of a religious faith that was there. There were some of the tribe of John the Baptist who were still doing some of those rituals. There were obviously Christians there. I was included in the program as Luke chapter two was read in Arabic and spoken. Then I came out and read the Christmas story in English, and we spent a Christmas service with these people, really, of all the nations.

[Jim Kirkland]

Reading the Christmas story wasn't Chaplain Carver's only job that night. He had also been assigned to serve as the escort for the military archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church.

[General Douglas Carver]

He had midnight mass back at Baghdad airport, and so I was standing with him in a standing room only service, and we had incoming mortars and rockets, and the concussion was so strong that candles on the altar were flickering like they were going to go out. And here we are standing there worshiping the Lord. And I was the escort for the priest. And he was a Vietnam veteran, so he did not flinch. And since he wasn't flinching, I stayed with him. But it was just amazing that even though you're in the middle of comment that these services were so important, that.

[Jim Kirkland]

Kind of peace is only found in Jesus Christ. You can face trials and even wars knowing that Jesus is actually with you. That promise is embodied in one of Jesus's names that we often state at Christmas. Emmanuel. God with us. So far in this episode of gps, we've covered examples of the hope and the peace only Christ can give. Now let's look at the joy he provides. If you need a testimony to joy, just ask Mitch Glaser. He can tell you all about it today. But back in 1970, Mitch had a completely different life. He described himself as a drugged out Jewish hippie.

[Mitch Glaser]

I just got involved with drugs. It was what everybody was doing at the time. So I began smoking marijuana and doing other things like that.

[Jim Kirkland]

But when some of Mitch's friends started following Jesus Christ, he was curious to learn more. While working as a camp counselor in the Redwood forest of California, Jesus began to occupy his every thought.

[Mitch Glaser]

I couldn't shake the Jesus thing. And one day I just said, God, if you're really there, show me and show me how I'm supposed to get to you. Because I didn't know Eastern religions, Moses becoming an orthodox Jew, I had no idea. And so I prayed that prayer in the morning. Then at night, one of my kids wanted to call his mother. So I brought him down to the one phone booth in the camp, public phone booth, about midnight probably, and the moon was kind of piercing through the redwood trees and one of the moonbeams landed on the ledge where there should have been a phone book, but instead was a copy of another book called Good News for Modern man, which I eventually realized was a modern English version of the New Testament. So just imagine, I pray God, show me and show me how I'm supposed to get to you. And then I find a New Testament in modern English. It was great because my reading skills were a little bit down. It was the drugs.

[Jim Kirkland]

Mitch began reading the New Testament he found at the phone booth and was shocked to learn that Jesus was Jewish just like he was.

[Mitch Glaser]

I had no idea Jesus was absolutely Jewish. And he claimed to be the Jewish Messiah in fulfillment of the prophecies that God gave to the Jewish people about the coming Messiah. It's just that there was a two step process that Jewish people didn't really understand. We thought he would come once reign as king in Jerusalem and bring the Jewish people back to the glory they had under King David. But we didn't read the other part, which was in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 and other passages where he would come humbly, like in Zechariah 9. And he would die for the sins of the Jews and the Gentiles. So that slowly began to dawn on.

[Jim Kirkland]

Me with this new realization. It wasn't long before he knew it was time to make a very important decision, one that brought joy like he'd never known.

[Mitch Glaser]

So one day I was on a hike with our kids, and I was just looking at the sky, looking at the ocean, and I just said, if you're there, I'm going to believe in you. And you've shown me that you're there. And so I accepted Jesus as my Messiah. The last thing I ever expected to do in my life, believe me.

[Jim Kirkland]

After he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, Mitch began to see immediate changes in his heart and in his life.

[Mitch Glaser]

That day I stopped doing drugs. Never touched a drug again. And he began transforming my life. My sins were forgiven. I was cleansed, and I felt joy. It sounds almost cliche, ish, but it really happened to me. I guess when you're really very far from the Lord and you then make that decision and your sins, you know, your sins are forgiven and you have this new relationship with God and everything was settled. I mean, I really felt like a different man. And then my life just began transforming a mile a minute. God is a good and gracious God.

[Jim Kirkland]

The source of joy Mitch Glaser found is only found in a relationship with God through his son, Jesus Christ, who was given to us as a baby and is celebrated at Christmas. God is a God of joy. He's also a God of hope and of peace and love. That's what GPS guest Veronica Miranda discovered when she received an Operation Christmas Child box while living in a Christian orphanage in Mexico. One Christmas, the director of the orphanage told the story of Jesus in a way that Veronica had never heard before.

[Veronica Miranda]

I thought Christmas was about celebration and the gifts and Buddy the Elf and the cookies and, you know, all those kind of things. Not about, like, Jesus. So then he was like, okay, we have some gifts for y', all, and. And they start handing out the shoe boxes.

[Jim Kirkland]

But these weren't boxes of shoes. They were Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. Operation Christmas Child is an outreach of our sister ministry, Samaritan's Purse. People pack these boxes with gifts to share the love of Jesus with kids around the world.

[Veronica Miranda]

When I opened my shoebox, I mean, there's lots of great things in there. In my box, there was some school supplies. There was a calculator, like one of those, you know, fancier ones. There was a 12 pack of these super glittery Pencils, lots of great things in there. But when I grabbed my box and I'm taking everything out and I got to the very bottom of my shoebox and I read out a Christmas card, and it said, merry Christmas. You have a family that loves you and is praying for you. And when I read those words, I just started crying.

[Jim Kirkland]

The words that family wrote were the very words Veronica needed to read. Her childhood had been marked by a series of traumatic events, all of which led her to become angry at God.

[Veronica Miranda]

And the director of the orphanage, he came up to me and he hugs me and said, look around. Look at all these kids. We're your family, too, and we love you. And I just knew in my heart in that moment that that gift was sent specifically for me.

[Jim Kirkland]

Now Veronica sees Christmas as a perfect time to tell others about Jesus Christ and his love for them. And today she gets to share her story of God's love on behalf of Operation Christmas Child.

[Veronica Miranda]

Christmas is such an important time and holiday. I think that a lot of people's hearts during the holidays soften a little bit. And that gives us so much opportunity to minister in love and like showing, like your community that you are there, that you do see them and that they're loved.

[Jim Kirkland]

Veronica Miranda's story is a picture of the Christmas story. Jesus Christ came into her broken heart just as he came into a broken world. I hope the story of the boundless love Veronica Miranda now knows has encouraged you. Hope the same from the story of Hope by Peter Mudabazi. The peace experienced by General Douglas Carter and Mitch Glaser, and the joy he found in Jesus that he couldn't find in drugs. Whether you're in need of hope, peace, joy, love, or all of the above, that's exactly what Jesus Christ offers you and exactly why he came to earth. If you'd like to know more about Jesus Christ, now is a perfect time. Visit our website, findpeacewithgod.net and when you're there, click the link that says begin a relationship with Jesus. Once again, that'[e-mail] and the easiest way to get there is the link in our show Notes. You're listening to GPS God People Stories, a podcast production of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

[Billy Graham]

It's my prayer that if you don't know Christ as your Savior, you will come to know him today.

[Jim Kirkland]

Billy Graham.

[Billy Graham]

Therefore, there must come a point in your life when you accept and appropriate his great Christmas gift. This is what Christmas is all about. I'm going to ask you to join me in prayer. Our Father and our God, we pray that all of those that have been listening might come to know, in real life, reality and in a vital, personal way, the Christ of Christmas. And may this become the first genuine and real Christmas that they've ever spent. And to those of us that know Christ, may we on the morrow have a Christmas that will exemplify the spirit of what our Lord Jesus Christ came to do, to seek and to save that which was lost. For we ask it in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, whose birthday we shall celebrate tomorrow. Amen.

[Jim Kirkland]

Amen. Thank you for listening to this special Christmas eve episode of GPS. If you haven't yet, please subscribe to GPS on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube. We have all of the GPS episodes, over 300 of them, available for you to browse and to listen to on demand in your podcast app, YouTube [e-mail] GPS in the days ahead. Like you, hopefully we're taking time with our families for Christmas and to close out 2025. We'll start up GPS again with our first episode of 2026 on Wednesday, January 14th, three weeks from now. Between now and then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Our Savior has come. Jim I'm Jim Kirkland, and this is GPS God People Stories. It's an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Always good news.

[Mitch Glaser]

Sam.