Macaroni at Midnight

Dr. Don Bartlette is a Native American who was born with a severe cleft palate and heart condition. On this Focus on the Family broadcast, you'll hear his moving testimony of what it felt like to grow up unwanted, ridiculed, living in poverty, unable to speak, and physically deformed. He recounts the agony of being rejected by his disappointed and alcoholic father, by teachers who locked him away – assuming he couldn't learn – and by the merciless cruelty of his peers at school, which drove him to feel that he literally only had rats for friends. He vacillated between longing to be wanted and the desire to do violence to those around him.

But Don eventually met a woman who would change everything for him. She taught him to eat and speak, and to believe in himself. Her faith in Don as a person led to their whole community changing its views about him. She introduced him to the Bible, and he learned about its invitation to ask, seek, and knock – an invitation he would come to accept that led him into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

if you'd like a digital download of this broadcast, you can get it here.