God is in the business of restoration. He does not merely call the qualified, he qualifies the called, allowing the most unexpected people to carry out his miraculous work.
When we make ourselves available to the God story happening all around us, we get to see God’s kingdom unfold on earth as it is in heaven. That is exactly what brought the Irvine PD to the Village of Hope to pay a visit to a certain resident in our program yesterday.
Christina Schulz is a single mother in our program at the Orange County Rescue Mission. Before she walked through our doors, Christina was living in her deceased mother’s mobile home for a while, but when she couldn’t keep up with the payments Christina fell into a deep depression and got hooked on drugs. That’s when she ended up in a cockroach infested drug house where she cooked on a camp stove in her bedroom and washed her clothes in a plastic tote. Knowing she needed help, Christina reached out to OCRM and began a new life in our program.
After having progressed into the job search phase of our program at OCRM, Christina has been taking the bus to various interviews throughout Orange County. After what she felt was a failed interview she headed back to the bus stop to return to the Village of Hope, but she noticed a younger gentleman dressed in a suit passed out at the bus stop. When she asked if he was ok without a response, she turned him over and his face and fingers were blue.
Christina immediately called 911, but the dispatcher was not able to trace her basic phone to an address and without knowing the exact address of where she was, they were having trouble sending an ambulance. The dispatcher began walking her through the steps of CPR to help sustain the gentleman until they could get paramedics to the scene. Crying out for help to passing bystanders, no one would stop to help. Finally a gentleman traveling on business from Dallas sprinted across the street to help her. Paramedics finally arrived to whisk the man away to the emergency room.

Yesterday, the cops knocked on our door and asked to meet with Christina. She was terrified, running worse case scenarios through her head. The incredible back story is that Christina’s last run in with the police involved them throwing her to the ground and cuffing her in front of her daughter. But this visit was different. Barely cracking a smile, the two responding officers to the scene of this most recent incident handed Christina a medal for her service as an outstanding citizen.
The latest news is that the 26 year old gentleman is in critical condition in the hospital, but Christina saved his life. Apparently he has a substance abuse issue which led to his near death. Nevertheless, Christina referred his family to the Orange County Rescue Mission.
Well done Christina!!! We are not surprised by your attentiveness to answer the call of need based on your genuine love of Jesus and care for his children, but we sure are so very proud of you!
WATCH Christina’s story here.
READ more of Christina’s story here.