By Dr. Jim Kok, Pastor of Care Ministries
Two of our most faithful volunteer helpers for the New Hope phone and online hotline have led a difficult life of which few can identify. They are twins, but that is not the hard part. Few are more happily involved in Crystal Cathedral programs and activities than these two native Southern Californians, born in 1952. Here are two beautiful women, Julie and Janet Abels, with their unique story…
Over the years, Julie held a variety of positions, mostly in the electronics business, doing assembly and related duties. 
Janet spent many years working for the Bank of America, invested wisely, and lives comfortably with Julie in Orange. Both are unmarried and retired.
Early in life, as young children, they both began exhibiting nervous tics. They were born with an unusual genetic syndrome that became increasingly more exaggerated as they matured. As young teens, their tics and twitches had become so conspicuous they ended up taking a lot of ridicule from their classmates, and rarely fought back. They just took it. They clung to each other through it all, pretty much by themselves outside the close-knit cliques, so common in their school in San Marino.
"We were awfully nervous and scared of everything," Janet said. "We felt very left out," Julie added. It was so bad that their loving parents took them out of the public school for one year, and they were tutored instead. "School was very difficult for us," Janet confides, "We were not very good students." Julie quickly added, "but Janet is an expert speller, anyway."
Treatment of their tics and twitches was futile, and they eventually were diagnosed as having Tourette Syndrome. Because of these difficulties, Janet and Julie's parents held their daughters very close, and even more so after their 19-year-old son, the twins' big brother, drowned in Yellowstone Lake and was never found. They were 15 at the time.
After high school, where they participated in the Pep Club, the Glee Club, and other singing groups, with much less teasing and ridicule, they attended Pasadena City College. The highlight there was singing with the college concert choir. They beamed as they recalled singing the "Missa Solemnis" by Beethoven at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. They also joined the Adelphia Service Club, which involved them in helping their teachers with all kinds of tasks that would lighten their loads.
They came to the Crystal Cathedral from the Santa Anita Church in Arcadia. Membership there was an early, rare, act of rebellion on their part. They had been born and raised in the Christian Science Church, but said they were always bored there. Nevertheless, they were followers of Jesus, so they found their own church. However, it was their mother's love for Dr. Schuller and the Hour of Power that nudged them in our direction, and into their happy helpfulness here.
Julie and Janet are two happy young women who, though they've experienced how tough life can be, harbor no anger or resentment, and cheerfully fill their lives helping others.
"I thank God for these two beautiful people"
By Barbara Barrientos, Hotline Supervisor at New Hope
In the winter of 2002, I met Janet Abels when she started her New Hope volunteer service. Two years later, after her sister Julie had a devastating accident, they moved in together. Soon Janet encouraged Julie to come and volunteer at New Hope. When I first met Julie, she just looked down at the ground, avoided all eye contact, and walked with assistance.
Gradually Julie began looking up and speaking to me, her self-esteem slowly climbing inch by inch. With a great deal of determination and a "yes I can" attitude, she started walking straight up instead of crunched over.
I also watched Janet blossom and grow. She realized that she could not change her sister but could support her in positive directions. Learning how to live together again was a growing part for both. As time passed, they began to share many stories with me. I felt privileged that they were willing to tell me the personal hurting experiences they'd endured in their childhood, teen years, and even today in their adult years.
The hours of service these two have given at New Hope and throughout the church is an enormous gift. They give from the heart. They know that they are different, and that not all people accept them for who they are. Tourette Syndrome is not an easy dysfunction to live with. Janet and Julie are good examples of learning to overcome the labels and stigma of being different.
They have taught me patience, and understanding as they have included me on their journey of healing and spiritual growth. I thank God for these two beautiful people.
