In her early 20's, Catherine Renfro received a phone call no one should have. In broken hopelessness, her brother, Barrett, called out with despair before taking his own life. She and her father would rush over to his home only to find out that he was no longer with them.
Catherine went through a season of grief that hundreds of thousands of people endure every year in America. But even in the midst of anger, suffering, and guilt, she would say that Christ never left her.
In Hope, Hurt, and Healing, Catherine Renfro addresses the reality of loss, the feeling of brokenness, the guilt of living on while also pointing to the hope of the gospel, the peace of relying on Christ, and the trusting in God even during the broken seasons. She offers a real look at suicide loss, but she does not simply live in the despair. Instead, she uses her own life to point people to Christ and lean on his goodness to discover hope for the present and healing for the future. Catherine Renfro is a pastor's wife, a mom, and serves as the National Director of Women's Evangelism at the North American Mission Board. She and her husband, Chris Renfro, were married in April of 2011 and have three awesome kiddos. Catherine graduated from The University of South Carolina in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications and from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2010 with a Master of Arts in Christian Education and Biblical Counseling after being called to vocational ministry at the age of twenty-two. She has been serving in full time ministry ever since. She has a passion for seeing lost people come to know Jesus and for saved people to live out their purpose of making Jesus known.
