12/Jul/2009
Banquet Speaker Commends Central For Supporting, Motivating Children
By Emily Faget
Bruce Van Natta of Sweet Bread Ministries has never heard of a city quite like Central. When Van Natta was invited to speak at the July 29 Central Prayer Banquet at 6:30 p.m. in the Central High Gymnasium, he admits his surprise at the invitation.
“I’ve never done anything quite like this and I just think it’s incredible. It speaks so highly of this community that the people rally behind their schools in this way,” Van Natta said.
Now in its 10th year, the Central Prayer Banquet offers students a non-denominational worship service where they receive encouragement and motivation for the new school year. Van Natta hopes to provide his special brand of inspiration through personal lessons on good decision making.
“If someone is taught to make good decisions at an early age, they have a lifetime of good decisions ahead of them. Every one of them could change the world,” Van Natta said.
Multiple Miracles
Van Natta made his own good decision to start Sweet Bread Ministries in 2008. After a series of medical miracles, he found himself led to inspire others with his story.
“The beauty of my story is that I was never a perfect church person, that star who made all the right choices in life,” Van Natta said.
In fact Van Natta made very poor choices for the majority of his adult life. He struggled with drug and alcohol abuse for many years.
But in 2006, the first of many miracles occurred. Through no fault of his own, Van Natta was flattened by a logging truck in his home state of Wisconsin and five arteries to his heart were severed. The left side of his body was left less than an inch thick.
“By all accounts, I should have bled to death within eight minutes. But I made it to surgery alive two hours and forty minutes later,” Van Natta said.
He credits this recovery to two angels who came to him after he lost consciousness.
“I cried out as best I could, ‘God help me,’ and there they were. Two angels came down from the roof and put their hands on my body. I’m positive that’s what kept me alive,” Van Natta said.
After this first miracle, Van Natta had another brush with death. After losing much of his small intestine to the accident, he was slowly starving to death.
As he lay in the hospital, a man from New York he’d met once before arrived, saying God had sent him to help Van Natta after praying for him at church. He placed his hands on Van Natta and asked God to help his small intestine grow.
“I felt a snake uncoil in my stomach but I thought, ‘No way, that’s impossible.’ But then I started to gain weight, a pound here and a pound there. When I went back to the doctor, my small intestine had grown to six feet. They said it was impossible,” Van Natta said.
Calling All Students
Van Natta felt that these unexplainable miracles were the work of God. For this reason he now travels the country to teach about what God can do.
“I wasn’t anything special, but God saved me. This shows that if God would send an angel to save me, he’ll save anyone. None of us are undeserving,” Van Natta said.
This is the very message he will bring to Central next month. He plans to tell students that God cares about them on an individual level and that they are never alone.
“I only hope to show students that their decisions matter. God can save their soul and their lives. There’s not one of us that He doesn’t care about,” Van Natta said.
Van Natta will continue traveling the country before and after the Central Prayer Banquet, but this event is not something he will soon forget.
“If only all communities could make the choice Central has to support their schools and realize the power of prayer. Everyone in this town should be commended,” Van Natta said.
To purchase tickets for the Central Prayer Banquet, visit Crossroads Animal Hospital or the Chamber office on Hooper Road. Tickets are free for students and $10 for adults.
To learn more about Bruce Van Natta, visit www.sweetbreadministries.com or purchase his book “Saved By Angels,” available at www.amazon.com or his website.
By Emily Faget
Bruce Van Natta of Sweet Bread Ministries has never heard of a city quite like Central. When Van Natta was invited to speak at the July 29 Central Prayer Banquet at 6:30 p.m. in the Central High Gymnasium, he admits his surprise at the invitation.“I’ve never done anything quite like this and I just think it’s incredible. It speaks so highly of this community that the people rally behind their schools in this way,” Van Natta said.
Now in its 10th year, the Central Prayer Banquet offers students a non-denominational worship service where they receive encouragement and motivation for the new school year. Van Natta hopes to provide his special brand of inspiration through personal lessons on good decision making.
“If someone is taught to make good decisions at an early age, they have a lifetime of good decisions ahead of them. Every one of them could change the world,” Van Natta said.
Multiple Miracles
Van Natta made his own good decision to start Sweet Bread Ministries in 2008. After a series of medical miracles, he found himself led to inspire others with his story.
“The beauty of my story is that I was never a perfect church person, that star who made all the right choices in life,” Van Natta said.
In fact Van Natta made very poor choices for the majority of his adult life. He struggled with drug and alcohol abuse for many years.
But in 2006, the first of many miracles occurred. Through no fault of his own, Van Natta was flattened by a logging truck in his home state of Wisconsin and five arteries to his heart were severed. The left side of his body was left less than an inch thick.
“By all accounts, I should have bled to death within eight minutes. But I made it to surgery alive two hours and forty minutes later,” Van Natta said.
He credits this recovery to two angels who came to him after he lost consciousness.
“I cried out as best I could, ‘God help me,’ and there they were. Two angels came down from the roof and put their hands on my body. I’m positive that’s what kept me alive,” Van Natta said.
After this first miracle, Van Natta had another brush with death. After losing much of his small intestine to the accident, he was slowly starving to death.
As he lay in the hospital, a man from New York he’d met once before arrived, saying God had sent him to help Van Natta after praying for him at church. He placed his hands on Van Natta and asked God to help his small intestine grow.
“I felt a snake uncoil in my stomach but I thought, ‘No way, that’s impossible.’ But then I started to gain weight, a pound here and a pound there. When I went back to the doctor, my small intestine had grown to six feet. They said it was impossible,” Van Natta said.
Calling All Students
Van Natta felt that these unexplainable miracles were the work of God. For this reason he now travels the country to teach about what God can do.
“I wasn’t anything special, but God saved me. This shows that if God would send an angel to save me, he’ll save anyone. None of us are undeserving,” Van Natta said.
This is the very message he will bring to Central next month. He plans to tell students that God cares about them on an individual level and that they are never alone.
“I only hope to show students that their decisions matter. God can save their soul and their lives. There’s not one of us that He doesn’t care about,” Van Natta said.
Van Natta will continue traveling the country before and after the Central Prayer Banquet, but this event is not something he will soon forget.
“If only all communities could make the choice Central has to support their schools and realize the power of prayer. Everyone in this town should be commended,” Van Natta said.
To purchase tickets for the Central Prayer Banquet, visit Crossroads Animal Hospital or the Chamber office on Hooper Road. Tickets are free for students and $10 for adults.
To learn more about Bruce Van Natta, visit www.sweetbreadministries.com or purchase his book “Saved By Angels,” available at www.amazon.com or his website.
