Huddle Leader Don Roberts learns decades later of his impact on Jill Stluka

A survivor of three cancer surgeries, Don Roberts didn’t back down when he faced more health challenges after a stroke in April 2015.

But Roberts had no way to prepare for the blessing God had in store for him one morning at a transitional care facility in St. Paul.

Jill Stluka, a registered nurse, recognized his face but couldn’t quite place from where.

Watch the video below to see how Stluka knew Roberts, a member of the FCA’s state leadership board.

A talented athlete and student at Simley High School in the 1980s, Stluka admittedly struggled with depression.

"My teen years were pretty horrible," Jill said. "I was an overachiever, but I was very unhappy in my life."

Jill ended up at an FCA meeting, along with 15 to 20 other students, in the basement of Don and Ardi's Inver Grove Heights home. They talked about sports. They talked about Jesus. 

And they prayed.

Led by Don, Jill and other female students headed to an FCA camp in Fort Collins, Colo.

She reveled in the beauty of the area, she learned more about Christ, and she found something she desperately needed.

"Hope," Jill said. "In a way, it saved my life, not only spiritually but perhaps physically."

Ardi said it's hard to know how many students have been influenced by Don, who sometimes had 80 students in his basement for FCA meetings.

And though Don doesn't seek anything, he was thankful to hear Jill's story, especially as he's rebounding from his stroke. 

"It was very moving," he said.