Tragedy and Hope

David and Nancy Guthrie

Nancy and her husband, David, have faced the deaths of two of their three children, a daughter, Hope, in 1999, and a son, Gabriel, in 2001, both of whom were born with a rare genetic disorder called Zellweger Syndrome.

Nancy offered many of the lessons she learned from this sorrowful experience in her 2002 book, Holding On to Hope: A Pathway of Suffering to the Heart of God. She regularly hears from readers who have been touched by the book from all around the world as the book has been translated into German, Danish, Norwegian, Korean, Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese.

Nancy continues to write books that reflect her compassion for hurting people and her passion for applying God’s Word to real life. Her desire to grow in her understanding of God’s Word has prompted her to begin graduate work in theological studies at Covenant Theological Seminary. She speaks regularly at women’s retreats and evangelistic events nationally and internationally, and is a regular contributor to The Gospel Coalition.

Nancy and her husband, David, and son, Matt, make their home in Nashville, Tennessee where, according to Nancy, life is less about professional pursuits than about the ordinary aspects of being a wife, mother, friend, and follower of Jesus, with clothes to wash, e-mails to answer, and a friend to listen to.

David is an executive in church music publishing, and Nancy teaches a weekly Bible class along with operating a media relations business serving the Christian publishing industry.

Jerry Sittser

Gerald Sittser is professor of theology and a senior fellow in the Office of Church Engagement at Whitworth University, where he has served for 30 years.  Over the past few years he has worked with many partner churches to engage the culture and equip disciples with the good news of Jesus. He has written nine books, among them A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss and A Grace Revealed, The Will of God as a Way of Life, Water From a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries, and Resilient Faith: How the Early Christian “Third Way” Changed the World, which is being featured in the interview. Widowed for twenty years, he married Patricia in 2010.  They have five children between them, all married and with children of their own.