((PKG))  FAITH DURING COVID   
((TRT:  12:45)) 
((Banner: 
Faith 
Evangelical Christian))  
((Reporter/Camera:  Arturo Martínez)) 
((Map:  Fallon, Nevada)) 
((Main characters:  1 female)) 
((Sub characters:  4 males;  3 females)) 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
My name is Wende Hook and I work at His Inspirations in Fallon, 
Nevada.  
((NATS))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
His inspirations.  How can I help you?  
Good.  I have your two Bibles in for your sisters.  
Okay, no worries.  It'll be under the counter for you whenever you 
get a chance.  Okay.  Bye.  Thank you.  
((NATS))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
This is a Christian book and gift store.  We specialize in honoring 
Jesus.  We sell Bibles mostly and books, lots of Christian gifts, 
wall art, kids’ books and all sorts of different things for all 
occasions.  
((Popup Banner:  1 in 4 US adults identifies with evangelical 
Protestant Christians, believing that a spiritual rebirth or being 
“born again” is central to receiving salvation.   
: Pew Research Center)) 
((NATS))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
It's a needed location.  It's a ranching community and a Navy 
base that's here and we have our churches, but I think having this 
outlet where people don't feel judged when they feel the love of 
Christ, when they feel accepted for whatever reason, I think 
they've needed it.  I know I did.  So, having it here has helped me.  
((NATS))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Yes ma'am.  I sure do.  
((NATS))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
I was a teacher for a few years and living a great life, a very 
blessed life at the time and God decided that my life needed to 
change.  
((NATS/MUSIC))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
My husband at the time was a pilot, flew the F-18s.  He had 
children down in California and he also had purchased a small 
Cessna to go down and pick up the girls.  So, he, on Memorial 
Day weekend of 2009, he flew down to get them on Friday night, 
flew over our house.  We lived a little bit out and he flew over the 
house and that's when I put the pizza in the oven because that's 
what they wanted.  And he waved at me like he always did.  They 
didn't make it.  They crashed right outside the airport, less than 
200 feet [60 meters] from the runway and they all perished.  So, it 
was him and three of my four stepdaughters that perished.  
((NATS/MUSIC))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
I was in shock for quite a while.  It seemed like it was just beyond 
hard.  My mind was being attacked by the devil.  But God was 
there too.  I could feel Jesus right beside me through all of it, even 
though some days my mind was less evident of it, but I know he 
was there.  
((NATS/MUSIC))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
My business partner, Carrie, she met with me and we went and 
had coffee and she said, “Hey, you've always loved books.  So, 
let's open a bookstore that will honor God.”  
((NATS))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
By November 23rd, we were open.  God just flew open doors.  
We just wanted people to have the availability to get a Bible, to 
walk into a store and pray or be prayed with.  
((NATS))  
((Caleb Szymanski, Lead Pastor, Oasis Community Church)) 
Lord, you meet us in the darkest places of our lives and I know 
you've done that for this woman and you've brought joy and light 
and hope into her life again.  We love you Jesus.  In your name 
we pray.  Amen.  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Amen.  Thank you so much.  
((Caleb Szymanski, Lead Pastor, Oasis Community Church)) 
Yeah.  Thank you. 
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
You are such a blessing to me.  
((Caleb Szymanski, Lead Pastor, Oasis Community Church)) 
All righty.  Back to work. 
((NATS))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Hold on.  29.11, right?  Jeremiah 29.11.  “For I know the plans I 
have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for 
calamity to give you a future and a hope.”   
That's my mantra.  That's everything I've based my life upon since 
2009.  Didn't know what was going on and then I found that verse 
and I thought, “Okay, he knows.  He knows what this is going to 
be, that he knows what he's going to do with my life and how he's 
going to use me.”  I will help you find Jesus.  You know.  I think 
that's where he took my teaching and changed it into this.  
((NATS))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Use us to be instruments of your word, Lord. 
Bring them to us and help us to help them, Lord. 
In your heavenly name we pray. Amen. 
((NATS))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Good morning.  How are you today?  Can I help you with 
anything? 
((Customer)) 
We are just looking for some Christmas gifts. 
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Okay.  Oh, this is this is the best time of year.  This is Christmas.  
This is when we celebrate the Lord's birth.  And with the virus that 
we've had this year, it's just been difficult for people, myself 
included.  Just feel isolated and distant from others and just the 
joy of Christmas and knowing that Christ is with us and hearing 
our prayers and knowing what's going to happen, knowing what 
the future is and just relying on him.  This is one of our specialty 
masks.  It says, “Faith over Fear”, because as a Christian, I 
believe we need to have faith in Jesus over the fear of this virus.  
((Customer)) 
So, I'm looking at this Bible.  Revelation 12.  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Oh, Revelation.  Yes. 
Okay, so the woman in Revelation 12.  Yes. 
((NATS))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
People are nervous.  And I've had people buying Bibles, you 
know, during the shutdown, “we need a Bible”.  People are 
searching and wanting to know what's going on and, you know, 
your Christian friends are going to be talking about Revelation.  
And if you don't know what Revelation is, you might spark your 
interest, you know.  So, maybe I better go get that.  Revelation, 
the last book of the Bible, where Satan, the Antichrist, comes and 
kind of takes over the world and then, Jesus returns and does his 
thousand-year reign of the Earth.  
((NATS/MUSIC))  
((Popup Banner:  Some evangelicals interpret current events as 
foretold by the apocalyptic Revelation.  Some also hold the more 
recent end time belief, called the Rapture, that they will rise 
together to meet Jesus.)) 
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
I just can, you know, common sense can kind of see the signs.  
There's the microchips that they're using, is spoken about in 
Revelation with the sign of the beast.  The one world order that 
we're hearing talk about on the news, is spoken about in 
Revelation.  The son against father, mother against daughter, 
that's happening right now in the family units.  That’s scripture.  
That’s prophecy.  If you've read Revelation, you can't deny it.  
((NATS))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
With the whole virus, the coronavirus going on, how has that 
affected you?  
((Sarah Dowling, Customer)) 
Quite a lot.  I've been staying home, basically.  We did not go 
anywhere for Thanksgiving.  We are not going to go anywhere for 
Christmas.  You know, it’s been tricky. 
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Have you been praying a lot?   
((Sarah Dowling, Customer)) 
Of course. 
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Yes.  
((Sarah Dowling, Customer)) 
Absolutely, yes.  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
It’s difficult.  We don't get to fellowship anymore and church has 
been canceled.  I think God's trying to get our attention.  I think 
he's trying to say, “Quit focusing on everything else.  You need to 
come back and focus on me”, like when we were shut down, 
nothing was open.  People were staying home.  People were 
seeing each other for the first time.  They may live together but 
they don't see each other because they're too busy running off to 
work or whatever.  And I think through this, it's brought the family 
unit back.  
((Cameron Hook, Wende’s daughter)) 
Lord, I just thank you for this wonderful day.  I thank you for this 
time I get to spend with my mom and to read about your word.   
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Lord, I just thank you for your blessings.  I pray for your blessings 
upon us, Lord.  In your heavenly name we pray.  Amen. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
Joy to the Earth! the Savior reigns….   
((NATS/MUSIC))  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Hi, how are you?  Doing well, thanks.  Hanging in there.  Glad to 
be back.  Good to see you, Pastor Bill.  
((Nettie Vaughn, Associate Pastor’s wife)) 
I have a great-grandson, six years old, prayed for me when I had 
the virus and he says, “Dear God, don't let grandma Nettie die of 
the virus.  We don't want her dead, yet.”  Yet.  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Yeah.  Yet.   
((Nettie Vaughn, Associate Pastor’s wife)) 
So, I’m not asking when.  I don’t even want to know.  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Don’t even want to know. 
((Parishioner)) 
Got over the COVID, turn around and catch a cold. 
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Oh boy.  Of course.  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Popup Banner:  Nevada state directives, at the time of filming, 
allowed houses of worship to hold indoor services for up to 50 
people, if they observed social distancing and mask guidelines.)) 
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Okay, we're back at church today, finally, at Oasis Community 
Church in Fallon.  We had to close down for a little bit.  We had 
some cases of the virus, so, they kind of closed us down for a bit.  
We were online and today is our first day back in person.  So, 
we're very excited to be here.  
((NATS)) 
((Caleb Szymanski, Lead Pastor, Oasis Community Church)) 
Let's pray before we get started this morning.   
Lord Jesus, thank you so much for the opportunity that we have to 
gather together.  We pray that you be with us, that you comfort 
us, that you give us peace.  In your name we pray. Amen.   
Take it away, Sam.  
((Sam, Band signer)) 
Alright.  If you’re at home, feel free to turn to one another and say 
hello.  If you are in the building, give a friendly wave, a wink, an 
air hug, an air five.  Just some way to say, “good to be here”. 
((Caleb Szymanski, Lead Pastor, Oasis Community Church)) 
Yeah, I think just like any other faith community, we’ve struggled 
to balance the physical health needs of our people with their 
spiritual and emotional needs.  You can see kind of awkward 
interactions with people, where even if we are wearing masks, 
we’re not sure if we are supposed to hug each other or not.  The 
experts say not to, but our hearts say we should.  And so, we 
have an internal conflict there that is not easy to answer.  And 
we’ve also experienced the virus hitting us personally.  I myself 
came down with it about a month ago and had to struggle through 
recovering there as well.  So, yeah, we struggled through it, but I 
think we've also found some joy and some victory in it.  When you 
have a virus that could potentially lead to death for so many 
people, our mortality comes to mind, especially in loneliness.  And 
the one fact of the matter is, every single one of us will die one 
day.  And I think once we truly understand that and take it to 
heart, we begin to make different decisions and act differently 
because of it, hopefully in good ways, but not always.  
((NATS)) 
((Caleb Szymanski, Lead Pastor, Oasis Community Church)) 
Our goal during the four weeks leading up to Christmas is to 
prepare ourselves for the coming of the Messiah.  That's what we 
celebrate on the 25th of this month.  
((Wende Hook, Owner, His Inspirations – Christian Books & 
Gifts)) 
Well, I'm on my knees a lot and praying.  Praying a lot and 
trusting in God and if he decides to return right now and rapture 
us, then please.  Because then I get to see them again.  So, you 
know. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Popup Banner:  Wendy believes that the recent violent riot at 
the US Capitol Hill is another sign of the end of times reflected in 
the Book of Revelation.))