Miles and Evelyn Bowler have made Church on the Hill home. They moved from San Diego in 1997 and experienced a level of care from the community that marked them right away. Evelyn shared, "We knew we had found our church."

Part of the care they received early on was for their special needs son, Brian. When Brian became very sick at the end of last year, Miles and Evelyn realized just how important the Church is for them as a support system. "At first we thought he would get some IV antibiotics for a couple of days and he would be OK. When they said ventilator, we were scared. It brought back all the horrible memories after his head injury accident when he was 15 months old. We even thought the Lord may take him home this time after allowing us to have him for 40 years. We started contacting all our friends and family to pray."

Despite the difficult situation, they had a feeling of peace. Evelyn shared, "Even with all the hospital noise and the beeping of the monitors, there was such a peace in the room. We knew God’s presence was with us from all the prayers that were being said." 

Knowing that people we praying with them made a huge difference, as did the presence of church family. Throughout Brian's hospital stay, there were crucial times when visits from friends and family made all of the difference. Multiple friends from church came to meet their basic needs. They brought meals every night, stayed at the hospital to allow them to get some sleep and simply sat with them to offer prayer and encouragement. "They were such a calming presence. They prayed over Brian and cried with us."

Thankfully, Brian recovered after 15 scary days in the hospital. But through this hard period, Miles and Evelyn learned even more about the power of God's Church. "Without the loving help of the others, I don’t know if we would have made it through this rough time," shared Evelyn. "It has taught us that we need to be ready to jump in and help others in need." 

The Bowlers have experienced the fact that the church is not a building, it is people. Visit https://hubs.ly/Q02jPwt50 for more stories of impact and reminders that We are the Church!

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