Again and again young Christopher, child number eleven, accompanied his mother to the hospital and this particular evening proved to be no different than the others. While in a drunken stupor Mrs. Wade developed a severe nose bleed and woke up in bed covered with blood. The family rushed her down the street to the emergency room and she was immediately placed into intensive care; there she slipped into a coma and was not expected to recover. Christopher panicked at the thought of his mother dying and began to call on God as a good Catholic was taught to do. He prayed, “Lord, if you will let my mother live; I will do anything that you want me to do.”
After days of lingering between life and death Mrs. Wade woke up, and to everyone’s astonishment, she fully recovered. Life continued, mom sobered up and Christopher eventually married Renee, the love of his life. He worked for United Parcel Service and Renee was an accountant for Pepsi. The Wades had it made but something was missing; they were not content. They began searching and visited several churches. Finally, they planted themselves in an Assembly of God fellowship. There they committed their lives to Christ and were baptized in the Holy Spirit; the Wades discovered what they had been missing—a personal relationship with God through Christ. Things were good and the family was growing; they had six children in ten years.
Christopher went on a short-term mission trip to El Salvador and while in that country the Lord spoke to him in a dramatic way. He heard God’s gentle whisper in his heart, “Do you remember the promise you made to me when your mother was dying? It is time for you to live up to your word.” That night Christopher felt that God was asking him to become a missionary. After returning home he talked with Renee. To his amazement, the Lord had spoken to her in a similar way. They earnestly prayed and committed themselves to helping the unfortunate of the world.
Many felt they were insane, “God would not ask a family with six kids to go overseas. You would be fools to leave your jobs and risk your lives pursuing this ridiculous and impossible dream. Such a thought is ludicrous!” But they accepted the challenge, quit their jobs, sold their stuff, left Ohio, moved to Lakeland, Florida, and Christopher enrolled in Southeastern University—his major—MISSIONS. Ten years later all eight Wades boarded a plane and headed to Croatia as newly appointed missionaries to the Balkans. The Foreign Missions Department of the Assemblies of God had never appointed a missionary with more than three children—but the Wades were an exception. Christopher kept his word. Even though Christopher’s mother was not happy with his decision; she is proud of her eleventh child and she is alive because he prayed.