We recently sat down with Joe and Donna and asked them for a quick testimony about their business path and the way God has worked in and through it. Below is the testimony from Dr. Joe.
“My Dad had a practice in South San Francisco for 45 years, and a satellite location in Redwood City – which I bought from him. Donna joined in 1999 when we got married, and what’s great is that Donna had a medical background to begin with, working for an oral surgeon in Palo Alto. So God really weaved us together to complement each other well.
At Awender Chiropractic, we look at the spine, which is essentially the central nervous system - so if your spine isn’t lined up, then your nervous system won’t work properly. Our chiropractic philosophy is: “The power that made the body, heals the body – which is God”. It’s a lifestyle is congruent with our faith, in that the body has a great capacity to heal.
My wife, Donna, and I were interested in making an impact in our community with our business and faith. Our prayer years ago - before our clinic was opened - was that we would be a light to the community. However, we didn’t know what that meant, or what it looked like. We were seeking a new paradigm to allow our faith to touch every aspect of our lives, including our business affairs. It just did not make sense to us to leave God out of our business/household interactions. We did not want to compartmentalize our lives, living in different boxes of what we call life.
We first came into contact with Rep in 2003, and went on the venture to South Africa in April of 2003. Rep has been an awesome blessing for our household since that time. When we came back to the United States with our 18 month old son, we had a spiritual and intellectual shift. We wanted to consciously and intentionally see God move in our business. We have seen God bless our business in many, many different ways. We have also seen God bless our staff, patients, family and businesses.
One of the ways The Awenders have shifted their focus and views of God in business, by having a Miracle Wall hanging in their office to record the miracles they experience both inside and outside the company. After watching ‘Finger of God’ and seeing miracles happen so often around the world, Dr. Joe explains, “I hadn’t seen any miracles, so I prayed to God and asked Him for a miracle the very next day and so I asked Him to bring in a patient who needed a miracle. To make sure that it was from Him, I specified that the patient wouldn’t be from around here. So a patient came in, and he needed a miracle. After chiropractic care and prayer, he said he felt better. Turns out he was from New Mexico!
Just like when the Israelites crossed the Jordan, God told them to put 3 stones to remember and tell their children, etc, we decided to write them on the wall and also keep stones in our “miracle jar”. So we’ve been doing this since 2008, and we’ve probably recorded up to 500 miracles – for our employees and clients along with all their families. We’ve found that it happens on a weekly basis!”
"The way we feel that we’re Kingdom-focused is by understanding whose we are, not who we are. Our Kingdom principles translate to our staff, the UPS man, the tenants in the building and to every aspect of what we do. A more specific example would be the way we pay our staff - we want to make sure they are compensated well and not living in a poverty state. Also for our patients, those are hurting financially and can’t exactly pay, we will take care of them through pro bono work.
We are truly grateful for the Rep community for their unconditional ongoing love and support. Lyn and Brett Johnson have been blessed with a vision and gift that has not only blessed countless businesses in including our household but carry a blessing for future generations."