Summary

SummaryI ran away at 15—angry, ashamed, convinced I was broken. After drugs, truancy, and a string of crimes, I fled Oklahoma and hitchhiked toward “anywhere.” In Monroe, Louisiana, a country pastor bought me a hamburger, opened the Bible, and told me about Jesus. Later, locked in a juvenile cell—with one salmon-colored table and one Bible—I cried out to God. On that cold floor, He met me, and I was born again. Back home I faced charges and an eight-year sentence pending probation, but God opened an unexpected door through relatives who took me in. Even amid hidden pain—years of abuse and the lie that I wasn’t worth loving—Jesus kept restoring me through church, discipleship, and wise friends. I married, and our son Jordan battled severe heart and lung disease: surgeries, a heart-lung transplant, joy…then grief when he passed at 21. Yet God carried us. In time He called me to write Bible stories in rhyme for children—books now reaching families in many places. What I thought disqualified me, He redeemed. Jesus found a runaway and made me His—on mission, by grace.

At age 15, Catherine Zoller was sentenced to 8 years in prison for grand theft auto, larceny, arson, truancy, and more. But when she escaped custody and started hitchhiking across the nation she was picked up by a country pastor who would share a message with her that would transform her life.

Show notes and detailed description available here: https://compelledpodcast.com/episodes/catherine-zoller

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Compelled is a seasonal podcast using gripping, immersive storytelling to celebrate the powerful ways God is transforming the lives of Christians around the world.

These Christian testimonies are raw, true, and powerful. Be encouraged and let your faith be strengthened!

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Time Chapters
 
01:12 Season intro & guest setup
03:26 Childhood pressure & school struggle
08:59 Stroke, loss & anger at God
12:58 Sunbeam Home & car theft arrest
15:31 Hitchhike & pastor shares gospel
19:04 Detention cell: surrender to Jesus
20:12 Court: suspended eight-year term
23:26 Delaware move; hidden abuse begins
28:28 Discipleship and slow change
31:58 College, marriage, unexpected pregnancy
33:42 Jordan’s diagnosis & surgeries
40:47 BO diagnosis; Jordan declines
42:56 Call to write Scripture in rhyme
45:36 Books published; ‘You’re a missionary’
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Compelled Podcast
A weekly podcast with unique stories from the Kingdom of God, told by the people Compelled to live for Him.
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