Vivian Mabuni has come full circle with Our Daily Bread Ministries. Forty years ago, the Our Daily Bread devotional was an integral part of developing her faith journey as a teenager. And now, she’s one of the hosts of the God Hears Her podcast.
Vivian’s story began in Boulder, CO, where she lived with her culturally Buddhist family. She had no real knowledge or understanding of Jesus or the Bible. One day in high school math class, she noticed that her friend was “glowing,” and the noticeable change aroused Vivian’s curiosity. She asked her friend, “What happened to you? Did you become a vegetarian?”
When her friend responded that she had become a Christian, Vivian wanted to know more. Her friend explained that she had a personal relationship with Jesus.
“As I sat next to her day after day, it was undeniable that God was real and active in her life,” Vivian recalled. “So that started me on a spiritual journey. I placed my trust in Christ in high school and tried to do Christian things.” Although she’d go to church by herself and tried to read the Bible, it was challenging without a support system.
After 17 years of living in Boulder, right before her senior year of high school, her dad moved their family to Hong Kong. “That’s what God used to really get my attention because all of my securities were taken away,” Vivian said. “I had one of those moments where I sat on my bed and had a very honest prayer with God.” Her heart yearned for a church family, a youth group, and some Christian friends. Vivian bargained with God: “If you do that, I will give you my whole life. I’ll hold nothing back. Otherwise, I’m going to go and do something I’ll probably regret, but I’m never talking to you again.”
God answered her teenage prayer and provided Vivian with what she needed to grow her faith, including someone who introduced her to Our Daily Bread. She would read the devotions and, with the help of her Christian community, she became a student of God’s Word. God became a real part of her life, and she was able to start sharing her faith with others—something that is still her passion today.
Vivian loves connecting people to Scripture and learning in community. She and her husband, Darrin, have served on the staff of Cru for 35 years and currently serve with Family Life ministry, which is the division of Cru focused on marriages and families. She’s also an author, a national speaker, a Bible teacher, and the newest cohost for the God Hears Her podcast. As a lifelong learner, she’s currently working toward her master’s degree at Denver Seminary in Biblical and Theological Studies.
“I feel like the education piece has really enhanced what I already do. It’s wonderful to be able to have it be applicable quite immediately in the things that I’m doing with God Hears Her,” Vivian said. “I’ve found that seminary has been such a great addition to our conversations.”
Vivian has loved her time with God Hears Her cohosts Eryn Eddy Adkins and Elisa Morgan. The trio laugh together and enjoy the lighter life moments just as easily as they offer support during their challenges. It’s the same community and friendship they’re creating online with their guests and listeners.
“We were created to bear one another’s burdens, so when I think about the God Hears Her community and the potential for women to connect and utilize the internet to form real relationships—it’s really possible,” Vivian said. “God Hears Her is a great resource for women who want to be encouraged in their relationship with God and to be exposed to other amazing women.”
These conversations and stories always lead to the understanding of reliance on God through Scripture. “Bible engagement is so important,” Vivian said. “I am continually amazed that a child can understand something as simple as the gospel, but we will spend the rest of our lives digging into those very same truths, and they just go deeper and become sweeter and even more profound.”
She continued, “I need to get a holistic picture of who God is. Otherwise, I can create God into my own image. The challenge for all of us as we engage with the Bible is to really gain a comprehensive view. The Bible isn’t like a fortune cookie or a horoscope reading. It’s really coming in with eyes like, ‘What does this passage teach me about who God is?’ ”
The more we get to know God, the more we understand His love for us. “I mean, isn’t that just amazing that God would want, more than anything, to be with us and have a relationship with us?” Vivian marveled. “That blows me away!”
One way that Vivian maintains that relationship, especially with her busy schedule, is to practice regular rest or a Sabbath day. “I have found what has been helpful in my life is a time to just rest and be renewed on a weekly basis,” she said. “Sabbath is something that’s a gift from the Lord.” Although it varies for everyone, Vivian’s schedule includes a time to be more intentional about savoring God’s goodness—from sundown Saturday to sundown Sunday. “God is the one that is the provider of everything, and my resting requires a certain amount of discipline to not have to keep striving to do more. It’s actually just letting God be God.”
From a searching teenager to a grounded woman of the Word, Vivian has experienced the closeness of God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture and directed her path. “From that time I sat on that little bed in Hong Kong, where I had said, ‘God, I will give you my whole life. I’ll hold nothing back,’ ” Vivian remembered, “it’s been 40 years from the first time I cracked open one of the devotionals to being a part of Our Daily Bread Ministries. I get a little welled up when I think of God’s faithfulness.”
Want to learn more about Vivian and her heart for Jesus? Check out the video below.
