Bridge of Love by Pamela Ann Walck

30 True Stories Of Faith In Action

Have you ever spoken to a Hindu, Muslim, Jehovah Witness, or agnostic about how their views differ from Christianity? Such interactions bring a variety of interesting conversations. This book encompasses multiple such exchanges along with stories of the homeless, patients in hospitals and nursing homes, everyday meeting of friends at parties or stores, experiences on the mission field in Africa, and more. In addition, Bridge of Love describes the miraculous healing of Crohn’s disease, colitis, and severe back issues through prayer and acting in faith.

It takes study and determination to know what you believe and how to apply what walking with Jesus looks life in your life. Reading these faith-filled stories will encourage and inspire you. They will light a fire showing the powerful influence that God’s Holy Spirit can have in everyday circumstances.

Just like Hell Gate Bridge in New York City, depicted on the front cover of Bridge of Love protects people from the dangerous waters below, this book will hopefully show you the way to God and how to live for Him.

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Excerpt from Bridge of Love © Copyright 2025 Pamela Ann Walck

CHAPTER 1

Love Requires Courage

HIS HAND FELT COLD. “DAD, wake up,” I cried. I turned on the basement light. “Dad,” I yelled a second time. He sat slumped in his chair, with one arm around the back of the chair, eye glasses down on his nose, and no response from him. A blood-curdling scream came out of my throat, “Mom, call the ambulance.”

I found my father dead years ago. A decade later, my phone rang at home on a Friday night. My brother’s son, Jay, spoke with a quivering voice. “Aunt Pam, my father’s dead.”

“What? I don’t believe it!”

“They found his crashed car with him inside, upside down with a broken neck. I have a Niagara County Sheriff standing right here.”

The Sheriff got on the phone with me and confirmed what my nephew had said. They had identified the man as my older brother, Donnie. Hospital doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

I got off the phone, crying uncontrollably. “Why, God, why?” Tears streamed down my face. “Lord, please accept my brother into Heaven. I do not know whether Donnie believed in Jesus as his Savior.”

In that moment, I felt the tender comfort of a God who promised to never leave nor forsake me. God didn’t tell me where my brother ultimately ended up, of course, but He immediately reminded me that we cannot pray someone into Heaven after they’re gone. Each person must decide to accept or reject Jesus while alive. God does not force Himself on anyone.

Both of these sudden deaths impacted my passion for sharing the Gospel. Through my work as a physical therapist, I often see people dying. Sometimes, a lingering illness makes their death long and drawn out. Others, like my dad and brother, die instantly, without warning.

After my father died, I thought about the effect of his passing on my own life and my mother’s. I assumed my dad went to Heaven because I mistakenly thought everyone who went to church ended up there. His death prompted my searching. I checked out many books from the library and read about the white light, reincarnation, anything I could get my hands on about the after-life. I read everything except the Bible.

By the time my brother died, I had trusted in Jesus and understood from reading the Bible that “We are saved by grace, not works lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). It doesn’t matter what anyone did during their life—church attendance, baptism, confirmation. No person could earn his or her way into Heaven. The only thing that matters is whether we have repented and trusted in Jesus Christ.

I didn’t know my brother’s beliefs. Donnie had not attended church in a while; however, two months before his tragic death, I invited him to my church, and he went. Unfortunately, though I told him my story of how I came to trust in Jesus, we never had a conversation about his faith and whether he had trusted in Christ or not.