Audio Introduction
Please click the link to play the audio file. Chrystal
Funderburk Testimony
Chrystal Funderburk has an extremely unique and powerful testimony that has helped draw many people to Christ. She has spoken to a variety of audiences such as large Sunday School Classes (300 plus) at Central Church of God (a Charlotte mega church where she used to attend), Ridgecrest (a Baptist retreat in the mountains of NC), and at several dozen local North and South Carolina churches and ladies groups. She feels led by the Lord to take her testimony public and we believe that her testimony can be life-changing. The audio on this website is of Chrystal speaking to a Baptist Women’s group. If you would be interested in having her speak to your church or group, please contact us using the contact information below.
Here is a brief outline of her testimony:
 | Chrystal was a pastor’s kid. But her father was only a
man of God when in the pulpit and was a horrible father figure. He physically
abused his wife, even holding a gun to her head and threatening to kill her
several times in front of his children, he was involved in illegal activities,
and committed adultery with several church members. All four of his children
had to drop out of school at 16 years old, in order to help support the
family. Chrystal’s Dad left his family after 24 yrs of marriage and moved in
with his mistress and their illegitimate child. Chrystal’s mother and the
children were so publically humiliated they had to leave town. Her father is
unrepentant to this day and is still involved in an immoral lifestyle. His
behavior caused Chrystal to completely turn away from God. |
| Even though she had dropped out of high school, another
pastor saw qualities of high intelligence in her and worked to provide her
with a scholarship to a Christian university in Chicago, where she graduated
Magna Cum Laude’ (but she was still lost). |
| During college, she married a man that admitted to
struggling with homosexual desires and having had past homosexual experiences.
When he later became a practicing homosexual, they divorced. |
| Chrystal later committed adultery with her sister Dana’s
husband. Dana’s marriage was destroyed and to make matters worse, Chrystal
ended up marrying her former brother-in-law. To nobody’s surprise, their
marriage eventually came to an end. But Chrystal was now a pariah to most of
her family, and she had undergone her 2nd divorce at less than 30
years of age. |
| Chrystal later lost her job, went bankrupt, and lost her
home. She was then penniless and had to move in with her brother and his
family. |
| Her brother invited her to attend church with his family
and she accepted Christ. The Lord then began His incredible transformation of
her life. (Listen to the CD for details.) |
| Chrystal developed a
serious relationship with another man (a Christian), but after dating for 4
years and planning to get married, he died suddenly from spinal meningitis.
|
| The Lord restored Chrystal ‘s relationship with her
sister, Dana, who was already a Christian, though it didn’t happen overnight.
They are now best friends and have a speaking ministry together. |
| After reading a story about abandoned children in
Readers Digest, Chrystal felt God call her to Romania to work in one of
Mother Teresa’s orphanages for three months (she is not Catholic), serving the
orphans and the community. She went alone with no money, but God provided for
that trip in miraculous ways. |
| While in Romania, Chrystal feels called to help an
abused, handicapped orphan with severe birth defects to both legs.
Because of abuse and neglect he had not spoken until he was four years old.
|
| Chrystal works to get Viorel (who we now call Joey) to
the United States for surgery and adoption. Expenses were extraordinary (for
example, prosthetic limbs cost $18,000 each and he needed two every year!).
She had no money but God provided in miraculous ways. |
| After two years of not giving up, fighting government
red tape and having to win the approval of the Catholic church in Romania,
Chrystal brings Viorel/Joey home to the United States and gets his surgery.
She is broke, single and received no government financial assistance…Viorel
speaks no English and she speaks no Romanian, but God provides all the
resources and has continued to do so to this day. (Joey now walks with two
prosthetic legs, is about to enter his senior year of high school and feels
called to the ministry.) |
| Chrystal and her husband Joe married in 2003, and adopted Joey together when he was ten years old. They now have two other natural born children. Chrystal home schools the minor children. |
Chrystal was born in 1968 and her husband was born in 1959. They belong to a small Southern Baptist church in York, SC. Many people want to hear her testimony, because they want to hear all about Joey’s birth defect, how he got here, they want to know all about his legs, etc. (the Joey Story, they call it). It’s a perfect opening to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a lost and hurting world.
Let me be clear. Chrystal’s testimony is not a do-gooders story. Instead, it’s about how God can clean you up and wash you white as snow, no matter what you’ve done. It’s about how God can use anyone and has a plan for each of us! And it’s about how God can restore broken relationships—no matter what you’ve done or how bad you’ve been.
Please take the time to listen to this audio and let us know if you think it might be something your audience would benefit from hearing.
Sincerely,
Joe &
Chrystal Funderburk
jdf3834@gmail.com
803-925-2317
Please click the link below to play the audio file.
Chrystal Funderburk audio testimony (click this link)