by Claire Goudy Henderson
I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home. My dad was a pastor, my mum a social worker, and from a young age, I knew about Jesus.
But when I left home for university, I walked away from my faith. After growing up in a conservative home, I wanted to experience the life I thought I had missed. I also carried hurts from church and, as a pastor’s daughter, often felt people treated me differently. Little by little, I drifted further from God.
But while I was running from Him, my parents never stopped believing that God wasn’t finished with me. My dad fasted for forty days, taking only liquids, and my mum fasted for twenty-one days. They believed in a God of second chances.
Then, on July 21, 1997, I attended a conference with my dad—if I’m honest, probably because I wanted to borrow his car! That evening, the preacher spoke about coming back to God. My cousin leaned over and whispered, “Isn’t it about time you came back?”
That was all it took.
I walked to the front, and before the speaker even reached me, I had already cried my way back into my Father’s arms. I asked God to forgive me and prayed a dangerous prayer:
“Lord, use my life… just not with children!”
I also told Him I didn’t want to be just a Sunday Christian. I wanted to serve Him for the rest of my life.
Exactly one year later, I arrived in the Philippines as a missionary. I’ve now been here for twenty-eight years.
It hasn’t always been easy. There have been betrayals, abandonment, grief, and serious health struggles. But through every season, I have seen that God’s grace is greater than my weakness. I was determined not to let the enemy have the final word. Mine has often been a hard-fought hallelujah.
And God certainly has a sense of humour!
Three years after arriving in the Philippines, He called me to start Helping Hands Healing Hearts Ministries to serve vulnerable, sick children.
One day, a hospital asked me to see a newborn baby who needed a home. She had been born without hands, feet, or a mouth. The doctor told me to take her home and let nature take its course.
Instead, I said, “I’ll take her home… and see what God does.”
Our team fed her through a tube, loved her, prayed over her, and believed God had a purpose for her life.
Years later, after surgery gave her a mouth, she entered an art competition. The theme was, “What makes me whole?”
She didn’t draw her disability. She drew a forever family.
She won first place nationally and third in the world, and a loving family in America eventually adopted her. Today, she is eighteen, has graduated high school, passed her driving test—and she loves Jesus.
That’s what second chances look like. Not just for one little girl.
For me, too.
The girl who once ran away from God became someone privileged to help children find healing, hope, and families. Today, we are even building a Children’s Village near Baguio so we can say more yeses to children who desperately need a chance.
Along the way, God has allowed me to adopt children of my own, serve thousands of vulnerable children, and even receive an award from King Charles. When I met him at Buckingham Palace last year, I told him:
“What an honour it has been to serve the King of Kings for the past twenty-eight years in the Philippines, and what an honour it is today to meet my earthly king.”
He smiled. I knew I had planted a seed. I’ve never forgotten something Pastor Peter Tan-chi once said:
“If a commission from an earthly king is considered an honour, how can a commission from the Heavenly King ever be considered a sacrifice?”
Maybe today you’re carrying regret. Maybe you’ve wandered or think you’ve missed God’s plan for your life.
I stand here as living proof that our God is a God of second chances.
He doesn’t simply forgive our past—He redeems it and uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things for His glory.
So, if God is offering you a second chance today…
Take it with both hands.
CLAIRE GOUDY HENDERSON is the Founder and Director of Helping Hands, Healing Hearts Ministries Philippines Inc., an NGO based in Baguio City that supports sick children and their families. She is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, a mummy, daughter, friend, missionary, and DGroup leader, among many other roles God has entrusted to her.
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