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To Becky and Dave McMoil, Brian Nelsen is an amazing example of Christ's love in action.

Becky met Brian in a "Focus on the Family" chat room on the World Wide Web in January 1996. A teacher, Becky saw an article about education in a copy of "Focus on the Family" magazine. Noticing an Internet address, she thought the Focus chat room would be a "safe place" to visit.

Becky was experiencing rough times emotionally and wanted help. Every night after the children went to bed, she questioned Gail, the chat room host, about God. Brian, a chat room volunteer, noted Becky's questions and offered to help Gail reach out to Becky. Gail put the two in contact.

For several months, Brian and his wife, Patty, ministered to Becky by phone and computer. The Nelsens live in Minnesota; the McMoils were in New York. They ran up huge long-distance bills. "We both talked to Becky a lot," Brian said.

Brian and Patty explained how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Becky made that commitment.

One day, Brian escorted Becky on a "virtual tour" of his church, Evergreen Community Church, in Bloomington, Minnesota. From her New York home with husband Dave and their four children, Becky jokingly said, "When can we visit?" Brian extended the invitation—"Come anytime, we have plenty of room."

The McMoils began planning a Minnesota trip—part vacation, part job search. Dave knew his job was going nowhere, and he thought the Twin Cities area might offer more hope. In June 1996, the McMoils set out for the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

It was not a hassle-free journey. In Pennsylvania, their 1986 minivan blew a tire, and they had to be towed to a service station. In Indiana, the power-steering belt broke. The McMoils made it safely to a hotel; the repair would wait until morning. "We kept saying, 'Is this really what we're supposed to be doing?'" Becky recalls. Then the worst happened; halfway through Wisconsin, the engine seized.

In tears, Becky called Brian. He told Becky not to panic; he and Patty would be there as soon as they could. The McMoils were stunned by the offer; the mechanic at the garage where they had been towed was flabbergasted—a stranger was going to drive six hours one way in the middle of the night?

Brian rented a tow-bar. At 1:30 a.m., he and Patty arrived in Wisconsin, and met the amazed McMoils face to face. Heading back to Minnesota, Brian towed the McMoils' van behind his 1973 pick-up truck while Dave drove Brian's van.

The McMoils stayed almost two weeks with the Nelsens, a week longer than expected. They watched Brian, a former mechanic who at the time operated a machine shop from his garage, replace their van's engine and transmission (for free) in miserably hot weather.

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