Burning Bright

Amanda operates on all cylinders. She burns for souls to know Jesus. She burns for the healing of souls through Jesus and Friends. And she burns for justice in a world that outlaws the best clinical care for those in need of it. She reflects His glory, brightening up June gloom with fiery good news.
- Andrew Comiskey

June gloom broke for me in 2007 when my same-sex relationship collapsed. That heartbreak threw me into the arms of Jesus, Who loves me with unfailing love.

Skipping ahead to June 1st, 2024, when I married Rich. He is patient, kind, brilliant, steady, and handsome—an unexpected gift who gives unlike any other.

In between these two events, I immersed myself in Jesus, Who summoned deep love in me for Him and His Bride, the Church, where I found refuge.

I needed Jesus’ holy healing community! I still do! Thank God for Living Waters, which became an arm of the Church for healing my unwanted same-sex attraction. I discovered profound insecurity about my femininity. Through members of His Body, Jesus began to untangle lies and gave me space to grieve relational wounds. At His Cross, I laid down distorted perceptions of myself, God, and others; alongside others, I received new life from Jesus that has transformed me.

I needed focused clinical help. For this, too, I am passionate. The complexities of my relationship with my mother were a primary source of my conflict. I committed to two years of attachment-based therapy. This type of counseling is what political leaders in Kansas City are currently trying to restrict. New attempts are being made to ban therapy that helps to restore persons like me at the root of their distress.

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Christians, we need to be heard today! Anyone should have the freedom to pursue counseling that aligns with their convictions. I respect others’ right to choose their own paths, and I ask that they respect others’ right to pursue care aligned with their goals. It is also puzzling that therapy addressing the roots of same-sex attraction is demonized, while therapy that affirms rainbow lives is not subject to the same scrutiny.

More than anything, I am an impassioned evangelist. My deepest desire is for those who identify as LGBTQ to encounter the same Jesus I have found—to experience the fullness of the love and mercy He extends to every lost soul. I long to be a part of His redemptive work in the world today.

Many are crying out for Him. Last year at a Pride parade, I saw a young woman clinging to another woman. I shared briefly how Jesus transformed me. As I looked into her tear-filled eyes, I told her that this Jesus was pursuing her and that He had so much more for her than what she was settling for. It was a seed planted that I trust God will water and coax into new life within her.

This is why I continue to serve in Living Waters here in Kansas City and to train others to do so among the nations. I burn to help people of all ages and struggles take ground in robust, dynamic chastity.

This summer, I am excited to be leading an open healing group—CrossCurrent—sponsored by our local Catholic Church. I love to gather like this because it combines my twin passions of healing and evangelization.

Jesus enkindles me. I burn for the saving of many lives. I burn for the healing of many lives. I burn for the justice that frees people like myself to get the clinical help they need.

Every June, I grieve to witness rainbow ‘pride’ seducing vulnerable adults into living “their truth.” But the only truth that brings real life is the truth God has written on our bodies.

St. John Paul II writes: “The body, which expresses femininity ‘for’ masculinity and masculinity ‘for’ femininity, manifests…the communion of persons. It expresses it through gift as the fundamental characteristic of personal existence. This is the body: a witness to creation as a fundamental gift…”

This is the truth that has been upheld by faithful Christians since the dawn of the Church, and it is the truth for which I will continue to burn.

Every day during Pride Month, we will be lifting up parents and any LGBTQ+-identified children. Please email Abbey at afoard@desertstream.org to be included in our daily prayer.