An estimated 3.6 million Americans fought in the Pacific Theatre in World War II, overcoming brutal encounters on island after island against Japanese soldiers burrowed into the hillsides. The late Jimmy Connelly was one of those Americans. The Navy made Connelly chief of a troop-landing Higgins Craft during the massive amphibious assaults at the outset […]
David Holland says his single mom raised him right. He went to church and knew about God. But when he got older, he “branched out into different areas.” Soon, he was mired in a life of crime and addiction. Between the ages of 21 and 40, Holland estimates he spent eight-plus years incarcerated for short-term […]
When Mike Cooper learned about the 2015 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally from his pastor in Alaska, he felt compelled to go. The veteran grocer had never been to a motorcycle rally, nor does he have a souped-up Harley-Davidson, but his determination wasn’t about the debauchery at the seven-day Sturgis rally. Cooper wanted to volunteer for evangelism […]
The Lakota children in South Dakota were rambunctious. School was out, and a team of teenagers and their leaders from Alabama had come to lead Vacation Bible School. When Ahbee Orton positioned herself in front of the class at First Baptist Church in Eagle Butte, the children became quiet and attentive. The 15-year-old ethnic Chinese […]
When Tommy Kelly was a 23-year-old seminary student, his life turned upside down after his father died from a heart attack. Kelly’s father, a strong Christian man, had been a deacon and church treasurer. He also served as the magistrate where the family lived. Kelly got a kick hearing local lawyers, who had vastly more […]
When Alan and Babs Dial arrived in Alaska, they were embarking on an extraordinary change in their ministry to native peoples in Africa where they had served with the International Mission Board. In Alaska, Alan would serve as the native church planter catalyst for the state Baptist convention; in the southern African country of Lesotho, […]
Mark Lashey had zero desire to live in Delaware. From his perspective, there was no sweet tea, no biscuits. Children there didn’t say sir and ma’am. The Northeast seemed both cold in terms of relationships and climate. Yes, he understood his wife Tammy wanting to raise their children close to her parents, but the state […]
Gabriel Revilla recalls a “Nike moment” when his college pastor in Miami approached him with a question. “What do you think about recruiting an actual team of students and allowing them to come to Miami to reach lostness here?” Gus Hernandez, collegiate pastor at Christ Fellowship Church, asked Revilla. The question was neither small nor […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: Jim Burton says he never set out to be a Korean church planter, but God orchestrated the opportunity with a multi-generation congregation in metro Atlanta. Burton shares his story of leading the church to plant new churches. Also see “ALS gripped him with life’s ‘big questions’” published Nov. 26. The question came early in my […]
Sometimes a critical health diagnosis may be short-lived and the patient returns to good health. Then there are times when the news forces an individual to face their mortality. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has had an extraordinary amount of exposure due to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge earlier this year. Today, more people are aware […]