My Story and the Origins of Broken and Mended (updated 2026)

When you are first diagnosed and suffering from a chronic disease, confusion rules the day.  How am I supposed to feel when I experience pain, fatigue, and physical limitations daily? Before all of this started, I had never had an injury that didn’t get better quickly. So, how honest should you be when you are asked, “How are you feeling?” and you get tired of giving the same answer every day?

My story progressed from what I thought were muscular hip injuries in Taekwondo (2011) to the point of having nerves burned in my back because the pain was so unrelenting (2016). Those hip injuries (both hips) led to three surgeries, including right hip replacement, and further discoveries about a more sinister underlying cause. I remember the first X-ray of my hips and the report mentioning an arthritic bone spur. I remember well the puzzled look on my first orthopedist when he saw the X-rays of my hips and said that “something is not right,” and again I heard the word “arthritis.”  My surgeon first mentioned the word “ankylosing spondylitis” (AS) when viewing the X-rays.

Spine with Ankylosing Spondylitis

An early test came back negative and put it out of my mind, but I still had to follow up with a rheumatologist after my first hip surgery. She wasn’t in the room with me for five minutes before she told my wife and me that I had AS. I knew a guy from our church who had that disease. Though I didn’t know fully what it meant, I had never seen anyone in more pain than him. When I confirmed with his wife that what the doctor told me was the same as what he had, she lamented, “Oh, David, please tell me you don’t have that.”

But I did have that. Fortunately, my situation was not as bad as his, and the treatments are much better today, but I wasn’t all the way down the rabbit hole yet.  It was August of 2012 when I was diagnosed. By the Summer of 2013, I began to have significant gastrointestinal issues. I already had two close family members with Crohn’s, but tests said I had something even rarer. I had eosinophils (white blood cells that react to allergens) in places they were not supposed to be, a potentially life-threatening matter. I was sent to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, near the end of 2013.

Thankfully, God spared me from the worst outcomes. Crohn’s turned out to be the right diagnosis. My G.I. symptoms were responsive to medicines, but the arthritic symptoms would always come back after a while on a new medicine. The pain was usually present in my hips–even after surgery–and my lower back. 

Sitting became the most difficult thing to do. I would sit in my office, and the pain would build all day.  All I could think about was going home and lying on my side. Besides my hips and back, my shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, knees, and feet hurt at different times.  Some part of my body was always in pain, and the back pain worsened in 2015.

That year, I made a 15-hour trip to Shanghai on a mission trip.  It was almost too much. When I returned to the States, I started the process of having the nerves in my SI joints burned (radio ablation) to reduce the pain, but the insurance would only pay for four nerves, and I needed six! The other nerves grew back too quickly. In October of 2016, facing another hip surgery and in constant pain, I began to struggle with depression.

I began seeking out online communities of people with chronic pain for support. I found a few helpful places to go, but nothing that approached a full-fledged Christian support group. We have grief groups, divorce recovery groups, addiction recovery groups, etc., but why was there so little for those struggling with chronic pain?  It was then that an idea to start a group was planted in my heart. About this time, I preached a sermon about dealing with chronic pain and our relationship with God.  Five people came forward that morning to ask for special prayers. I was one of them. 

Since moving to Oklahoma, it has been an up-and-down battle. I had a couple of years where the pain was greatly reduced, but it flared again, and on and on we go.  I took a class called “Strategic Futuring” at the beginning of 2018 and began to work on a plan to start a support group. That group met as the initial Broken and Mended support group for nearly two years, until we were shut down by the pandemic. However, in 2020-2021, we continued to meet virtually and were joined by wonderful hurting people from all over the U.S. and abroad.

In February of 2021, we became a not-for-profit organization. Leader’s and Reflection Guides were first published in 2021 and updated with additional sessions in 2024. We now have over 300 support groups worldwide, with most of these concentrated in East Africa, especially Kenya. Additionally, a Spanish translation of our Leader’s and Reflection Guides was published in 2024 to reach an entirely new demographic. If you are interested in starting your own Broken and Mended Support group, e-mail me at info@brokenandmended.org. In March of 2025, I stepped down as president of the board of directors to become Broken and Mended’s first full-time employee and executive director.

I want to connect hurting people to Jesus through the local church. If you are reading and don’t struggle with chronic pain, then be thankful, but listen to others. There are probably dozens of similar stories in your sphere of influence. Try to listen. Withhold judgment and advice. Someone who is hurting sometimes just needs to tell their story.

David Heflin

Executive Director

David Heflin is the founder, former president, and current executive director for Broken and Mended. He is married to Katie and has three kids. David was a preacher for over 20 years until he stepped down to focus fully on the mission of Broken and Mended. He started Broken and Mended in 2018 after being inspired by his own battle with chronic pain to connect other hurting people to Jesus and each other. David has a B.A. in Bible from Oklahoma Christian University and a Master of Arts in Religion from Azusa Pacific University. He resides in Woodward, OK.

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