“Our once great western Christian civilization is dying. If this matters to followers of Jesus Christ, then we must set aside our denominational differences and work together to strengthen the things that remain and reclaim what has been lost. Evangelicals and Catholics must stand together to re-establish that former Christian culture and moral consensus. We have the numbers and the organization but the question is this: Do we have the will to win this present spiritual battle for Jesus Christ against secularism? Will we prayerfully and cooperatively work toward a new Christian spiritual revival ― or will we choose to hunker down in our churches and denominationalisms and watch everything sink into the spiritual and moral abyss of a New Dark Age?” - Mark Davis Pickup

Saturday, March 15, 2025

CURRENCY OF MY SOUL

Decades of suffering with aggressive degenerative disability (MS) caused me to deal in the currency of my soul. It has been tough slugging because it deals with the essence of my being and how I saw myself in the world and how I acted and reacted in and to the world. My first 30 years were healthy and athletic, and then I was disabled using cane(s), crutches and wheelchairs. Who was I? What had I become? Why? How was I to deal with the sorrow and grief that coursed through my veins, breaking my heart and the hearts of those who loved me. 

With God's help, I was able to cross my river of grief at my adult-acquired disability to discover a new self. The old self was gone as surely as if I had died. I needed to grieve my loss, then search for a new self and a new self-identity. A new Mark emerged—different to be sure—but no less alive or vital than the previous Mark. My soul answered Yes to the fundamental question: Is life worth living, even if it seems to be in hopeless circumstances? Victor Frankel was a survivor of Nazi death camps. In his remarkable book Man's Search For Meaning, he wrote:

    "In the consciousness of one's inner value is anchored in higher more spiritual things and cannot be shaken by camp life. But how many free men, let alone prisoners possess it?"

I could relate to this. My wheelchair was a prison for my broken body, but it also liberated me spiritually by driving me inward to deal with my inner brokenness. I had to deal with the darkness of sin. Frankel also wrote: "If there is to be any meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering."

This struck a full chord. My journey with the neurological degeneration of MS served as a purifying fire. Some men are guilty of sins of the flesh, gluttony, jealousy or envy, fits of anger, alcohol or drug abuse. I am guilty of the worst sin: Pride. Pride was what made the devil the devil!

I needed to be brought low and have that infernal pride crushed. I think MS was God's tool. There were times when I could not dress myself or tie my own shoes, times when I needed to be propped up in my electric wheelchair to keep me from sagging to one side or the other, times when I needed to be diapered, times when I couldn't speak and my hearing was affected. Times when my vision was impaired so much I couldn't read, times when my hands were too weak to cut the meat on my dish at meals. Someone else had to do it for me. Creeping paralysis made me triplegic (the loss of use of three limbs).  We had to build a wheelchair-accessible home. There were times when I was virtually bedridden and needed a hoist to get me out of bed. I needed to come to a necessary point where I was dependent on others to do many basic daily things. I needed humiliation and shame to understand that I was not in charge of my life and that my pride and independence needed to give way to humility of interdependence. My health was gone. My career was over at the age of thirty-eight then put out to pasture. The only thing left to me was love (both human and divine). I needed to surrender every shard of my life to Christ and be willing to accept whatever His will might be. I needed to become content in whatever state I found myself in because the Holy Spirit was with me and in me. It was in surrender that I found freedom. 

Then God released me from my wheelchair, seven years ago, to walk again as an old man.

I will be 72 in May. I've been married to the love of my life for 52
years. My wife and I love Christ. We have contentment and peace. If I had to go back into that electric wheelchair gathering dust in an unused bedroom, for whatever years I have left, I will still praise God. My every 'Why' has been answered in Christ.

MDP


AN UPDATE ABOUT A LITTLE ORPHAN WHO IS AN ORPHAN NO MORE

 This is an update to my previous blog post, "An Orphan Gets a Second Chance at a Forever Family." 

Our little one is here in Canada with us. She is absolutely enthralled with snow. She has made her first snow angel. 

Her first seven years were tumultuous and traumatic. It's going to be a long hard journey for her to heal. But with psychological help, a stable loving home, and God's healing touch, I pray she will be able to reconcile her broken heart with the past and move ahead to reach her full potential. Thank you Lord for answered prayers. 

With all the frenzy of raising two seven-year-old ex-orphans, it is such a blessing but also exhausting for my daughter and her husband.  They must take time for themselves. I've encouraged them to make time for themselves. They mustn't burn the candle at both ends. Rest is important to be at one's best as a parent (and grandparent).

MDP


Thursday, February 27, 2025

AFTER A FALSE START AN ORPHAN GETS A SECOND CHANCE TO HAVE A FOREVER FAMILY

 My daughter, Ronaele, is in the process of trying to take legal guardianship of another Haitian orphan whose American adoption failed. She has written that little girl's story and appeal below. (That would make both children in the photo my grandchildren!) My daughter has a heart for orphaned kids and I have a heart for grandchildren. Like arrows, I have a quiver full (to use a Biblical phrase. Psalm 127:3-5)

They were orphans from Haiti, who were torn apart by international adoption. Sophie (our daughter) lives in Canada, Alicha (her best friend & crib-mate from the orphanage), is in Texas.

The last time they saw each other was May 16, 2023 – in Haiti at their orphanage. We took a harrowing flight, to pick up our daughter (Sophie) as kidnappings and killings overtook Port-au-Prince. Once we were handed Sophie, we boarded our plane and white-knuckled it out of Haiti, hoping bullets didn’t pepper the plane. 

What was to come for Sophie’s best friend just 11 months later was another story altogether. She was evacuated in a now historic rescue of a few of Haiti’s orphans by a US military evacuation. Alicha was among six orphans who endured this particular life & death evacuation, however, her real fight would start once she reached US soil. Six days after her arrival, her adoptive parents were suddenly dealing with a family crisis that threatened the future of her life in Texas. We fought to bring her to Canada last May, but the process was too overwhelming for the parents and complications that forced us to back off. By August, it was clear that it was not meant to be (yet) and we tried to pick up the pieces of my daughter's broken heart. We lost contact with the family to preserve our hearts from further heartbreak. They would have to find each other later in life ... but God wasn't done.

THE BACK STORY:

SOPHIE-our daughter, was brought home to Canada in 2023 after an 8 1/2 year adoption process. To say the adoption program in Haiti is broken, is an understatement. Born in the slums of Cite Soleil, her mother somehow managed safe passage of newborn Sophie to a nearby hospital. Cite Soleil is a place that people go to, but they usually don’t make it out. When she had gained weight, she was brought to an orphanage in the hills above Port-au-Prince, where she remained until she was six.

ALICHA: Sophie’s crib and soul-mate, arrived at the orphanage two months after Sophie in 2017. She too, was abandoned by a similar fate. 

Sophie’s happy ending was supposed to end in Alberta, Canada.  Alicha would settle in Texas, USA after her evacuation last Easter. It was supposed to be a happy ending.

It was not. 

What was really strange was that Sophie AND Alicha’s story was unusually long. Almost a decade passed (our paperwork started before for Sophie's adoption before she was born!). The same was true for Alicha's original adoptive family in Texas. Both girls' files were persistently delayed…and almost simultaneously in how the central authority was processing their files. The other families matched to children at the same orphanage had left with their kids after four or five years in the process, so how these two best friends managed to “wait for each other” was a baffling phenomenon since the Central Authority is not involved in the friendships of kids, nor do they care. But this was not a friendship; they were crib-mates since birth—sisters in every sense, except genetics. It wasn’t long before I was able to track down the adoptive family for Alicha (the little girl that was always in on Sophie’s zoom calls in Haiti). 

All hell broke loose in February 2024, trapping orphans from freedom & throwing their adoptive families into mental anguish.

I know … I was on a chat with Alicha’s adoptive mom. As the US Embassy was trying (after multiple failed attempts) to land the helicopter in the night— bullets were flying. Would any of these kids have to take one? Alicia’s evacuation could have easily been our reality, it was luck of the draw who you were matched to. Alicha could have just as easily been ours—but, our little angel, Sophie, was fast asleep in her bed, while Alicha was fighting for her freedom and life. I assure you, with every word, I tried to console the mother. It futile. An adopted home-bound orphan is a valuable asset to Haiti’s gangs. We were acutely aware of this and the dangers the child was facing. It meant foreign money was attached to that child. And so is love. 

What price do you put on love? And what about the price of freedom? What would you pay for that? What’s it worth? Angels were perched on each tiny shoulder that night. Whisked away after the helicopter’s third attempt—bullets flying like skittles. Critical documents, however, were left behind in the ordeal—which would prove to be a major hurdle for us. MAJOR. 

February 11, 2025: “The Text”. The day life changed for us. The adoptive family was once again in an impossible situation. Plus Alicha's trauma of losing her old life in Haiti, her loss of Sophie, her nannies, plus whatever she saw in the 3-day evacuation, had spiralled into the reality we have now! It was clear the girls couldn't do life apart. We are scrambling to pick up the baton, ANY baton to get her reunited with Sophie before we lose her forever to the re-adoption program in the USA. This must not happen! I will fight till the end to not let this happen.

The girls are lost without each other. like peanut-butter-and-jam. I cannot fill the hole in my daughter’s heart from the loss of Alicha either. This seems to be an impossible situation, with many wheels turning;  we are working with four lawyers to find a resolution to this tragic circumstance. The GoFundMe funds raised will be used for legal fees, agency fees, medical expenses and trauma therapy. (To help click HERE). 

Simply put, we do not want to have to ask the former adoptive parents for any further financial assistance once Alicha is here. They have been through enough. We will pick up the pieces as best we can for all involved, God willing.

The path ahead is a heavy one, but this will be Alicha's chance at healing—together with Sophie. We’re humbly asking our global Christian village to assist so we can concentrate on Alicha and not the costs that we and her adoptive family are facing to pull this off. We are honoured that their story has touched so many hearts across (at least) three countries and we beg that you please share, far and wide. These girls are living a testament to the power of love, loyalty, and friendship. 

There are still miracles playing out in the land most have given up on. Haiti's children, with their futures lying in the balance between gunshots and lullabies. If you listen carefully, the children have lessons for us all. Hope is never lost. And we need our Christian village in 2025. Despite our fear and worry, we brace for the fight of a lifetime, to reunite two orphans after a very VERY long & broken road back to each other.

“ I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.”  
—John 14:18

Help us be the Lord's vehicle for Him to come to them, now and forever. Thank you and God bless. — Ronaele Pound

Saturday, February 15, 2025

MY CHRISTIAN PRO-LIFE MOVIE SCREENPLAY HAS A NEW WEBSITE

 

The website for my screenplay TRANSCEND is up and running. I still have some tweaking to do, but it's up. To view it, click here. You can also link to the website by Googling "Transcend to love movie" (or www.transcendtolovemovie.com)". Click my name on the cover page of the website for some background about me. 

Please send this link to fellow Christians in your circle of influence.  Thank you. (Click on my name on the cover page to see the second page.)

TRANSCEND has an evangelistic mission. Not only will this movie speak to women considering abortion, but it will also speak to people whose marriages are impacted by a catastrophic disability. It concludes with an actual miracle experienced as an old man! Here's a story synopsis. It's loosely autobiographical.

Logline: A young couple experiences a devastating degenerative disease that teaches them to trust God even when the stakes are horribly high.

 

Genre: Christian romance. 

 

Story Synopsis:  Mark Davis is a senior high school student in the fictional city of Leedsborough, Colorado. He is the pampered only child of George and Betty Davis who are prominent citizens in their small city.  George is a gentle adoring father who indulges Mark too much. Betty is a domineering, strong-willed mother.  She’s also a snob. Betty thinks Mark spends too much time with his new high school girlfriend from “across the tracks,” LaRee Picton. This causes family friction. After an acrimonious exchange between Mark and Betty, his father suggests he and Mark go downhill skiing. (His father is the peacemaker of the family.) While Mark and George are skiing, George has a massive heart attack and dies in Mark’s arms. 

 

After the funeral, LaRee tells Mark she is pregnant with their baby. Betty is very angry and provides no support, only condemnation. Mark feels trapped and pressures LaRee to have an abortion. LaRee comes from a broken home and has few resources. Feeling alone and abandoned by Mark, LaRee sadly and reluctantly has an abortion, after which they break up.  

 

A few years later, LaRee and Mark meet at college and fall in love again. They decide to marry but Mark’s mother is adamantly opposed—especially if her son is going to marry LaRee Picton! Mark and LaRee elope. Betty is infuriated and stops talking to them. After 6 months, Mark finally makes overtures to his mother, and they visit Betty at her home in Leedsborough. Unfortunately, the attempt at reconciliation goes badly. Mark and LaRee get into a bitter argument with Betty over the abortion and abruptly leave.  

 

Mark finishes his college course and begins working for The Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis Research and Client Services. LaRee begins sidewalk counselling outside an abortion clinic to try and assuage her guilt about her own abortion.  Mark and LaRee become Christians and reconcile with Betty. Things could not be better! They start a family and buy a house in the suburbs.  

 

Suddenly and without warning, Mark develops aggressive multiple sclerosis and descends into severe disability. Mark and LaRee grieve the onset of an incurable disease. Their hearts are broken. They feel abandoned by Betty and abandoned by their church. Mark and LaRee nearly break up! 

 

Mark finds a new purpose to his life advocating across North America for disability rights, inclusion, and life with dignity. But his disease progresses to the point where he is eventually placed in a nursing home. Mark prays—just as he has done so often before—that God would allow him to walk again. He does not care if it's only for a short time and with crutches, a walker, or canes. He thinks that his prayer is too late: His brain is riddled with plaque, and his legs are useless, withered from years of paralysis. Then something unexpected, inexplicable, and wonderful happens. Long-lost function returns! God raises Mark out of his electric wheelchair to walk again!

 

LaRee and Mark learn another lesson. Never presume the future. That is for God alone to know.  Nobody knows what lies beyond the present. All they know is that God’s love is there too!  Mark and LaRee discover that the only thing that really matters in life is love. They are finally at peace with God and themselves.


 

Mark

Thursday, January 23, 2025

STEPHEN'S REDEMPTION (A Christian 3-episode family-friendly TV or streaming series)



 


Logline: An autistic teen flees from his widowed alcoholic father and troubled home with nothing but a bag of clothes and his rusty old truck, leaving behind his champion horse,  in search of somewhere he belongs. Friendless and jobless in a new town, he eventually finds purpose, meaning and where he truly belongs with the help of a pastor’s daughter.


My grandson, Carson Pound (23) has Asperger's syndrome (high-functioning autism).* Despite this, God has given him an exceptional talent: Acting. (see his IMDb here). He has been in the acting industry since the age of 10. He recently developed an excellent story idea for a Christian family-friendly 3-part series for TV or a Christian online streaming service. Carson made a short video called Stephen's Redemption to help flesh out the idea in his head. See here

We are looking for someone to produce Stephen's Redemption. Investors are also needed. I can be contacted at HumanLifeMatters@shaw.ca or by telephone: (780) 929-9230.

Carson can be contacted by email at carsonpound100@gmail.com or by telephone: 1-403-470-2226. 

His agent is Diane Newton with City Talent Management in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Tel:  (604) 683-3990

* According to Iowa-based Autism Speaks, autism rates have been dramatically rising. One in 36 children and 1 in 45 adults are affected by it. Stephen's Redemption would be a timely and powerful evangelism tool. 

Monday, January 13, 2025

SOME GRIEFS FROM WHICH WE NEVER TRULY RECOVER

 I want to share a short testimony by Dr. Sheila Harding to the Catholic Health Association of Saskatchewan about Canada's descent into euthanasia acceptance. Her desire to see medicine return to its Hippocratic tradition reflects her optimism for the future. I am proud to call Sheila and her husband Terry personal friends. She refers to their son Ross whom I knew. 

A couple of years after Ross died at the age of ten, Dr. Harding met another Canadian stalwart against assisted suicide and euthanasia, palliative care nurse Jean Echlin. Jean was a beautiful old woman who lost a son decades earlier in 1962. Sheila asked the white-haired old woman when the grief subsided. Jean replied, "I'll tell you when it happens." 

There are some griefs in life from which we never truly recover. 

 Click the link below.



Saturday, January 4, 2025

KNOW THAT YOU ARE LOVED!

 My family has been unduly impacted by physical and mental disabilities. Multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease,
schizophrenia, bipolar and autism. Why? Why must we be brought so low, Lord? Maybe we are not “unduly” impacted by disabilities; perhaps they are necessary. God is not cruel. All I know is “that all things work together for good to them that love God, 
to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8.28)

I tell myself, "Look for the good in life. It’s all around you. Look for the purpose of the heartache and heartbreak." It's one thing to say and accept it for myself, and my physical disability, but what about those I love who are being hurt and excluded due to mental disability? 

In some ways, non-visible disabilities can be worse than visible disabilities. See a man in a wheelchair and it’s apparent his legs don’t work and so allowances are made for him. See someone acting odd, or bizarrely and people pull back and distance themselves from the odd person who suffers from a mental disability. My long history of physical disability does not carry the same stigma as the mental disabilities of my child or grandchild. They are like two solitudes made apparent by level of visibility. 

That is the bad news, now for the good news. It is love (human and divine) that can build a bridge between the two. It is always love (divine and human) that genuinely builds bridges between people regardless of their state. 

It is love (human and divine) that desires to make room for others. It is love (human and divine) that builds human connection and solidarity despite heartaches and heartbreaks—especially then. It is love (divine and human) that makes it possible to find purpose and meaning despite suffering (perhaps because of it).

I know there is an epidemic of mental illness and depression amongst young people. The world can seem bleak. I know. We may not be able to change our circumstances but we can control how we respond to them. Imagine how things could be and may yet be. Assume an attitude of gratitude. Gratitude for what? 

Even with all their warts and blemishes you live in the greatest countries in the world. Millions of people want to be in America or Canada. They risk their lives to be here. You have access to clean drinking water, education, health care and education. Millions of people do not. 

If you think you are unloved, I want you to understand it’s not true. You are loved by the author of love and life. You have been loved since you were only a thought in the mind of God. He knit you together in your mother's womb and endowed you with His image and likeness because of His desire to love and be loved by you and spend eternity with you through His Son Jesus Christ!

Put a smile on your face, and in your heart. Assume an attitude of gratitude. Look outward not inward. Who can you bless, even if your own heart is breaking? Make the warm sun shine on someone else even if you are in the shade. 

I know it doesn’t seem to make sense. At 72 years of age and more than 50 years of my own suffering I have discovered that helping a fellow sufferer not sink beneath the waves of their circumstances was my best therapy. I discovered my pain paled compared to someone who had given up on life. 

With God’s grace, your heart can still smile again even in fear and sorrow. Clear your tears and put that internal smile on your face. Share it with those whose tears cloud their way forward. Help somebody see that the same sun that sets also rises for a new tomorrow. 

Life is worth living, regardless of age or stage. Look for life's sweetness. If you look, you will find it. As Josh Groban said in his song: "You are Loved (Don't Give Up)." If you do not feel loved or even wanted by anyone, you are loved by God. Click the link below.

Mark