I grew up in a small town of about 500 people in rural Minnesota. Both sets of grandparents lived there, and I grew up seeing them all the time. Both had a heart for missions but were involved in different ways. One was a businessman who gave generously to support missions. The other was a farmer/businessman that sold his farm/business at 51 to be a self-supporting missionary. He stayed in the mission field until his health gave way in his 60s and moved back to Minnesota but continued ministering in a drug/alcohol rehabilitation center until he died at 74.

In 1972/73, at 19 yrs old, I made a solo trip around the world. I flew, hitchhiked every type of vehicle imaginable and walked a lot. I visited many missions and missionaries in 34 countries. Some were very disappointing and a waste of resources, but most were very inspiring and accomplished great things. When I got back, I knew I wanted to be involved in missions, but I didn’t know how.

What I’m about to tell you is something I’ve never shared with any of the churches I have pastored. It embarrasses me to talk about it, but it’s all true. By the time I was twelve, I was a full-fledged drug addict. I never got arrested, I never spent time behind bars—probably because my drug was not illegal. I was hooked on winning. You see, when I was born on the day peace was signed in Tokyo Bay ending in World War II (September 2, 1945), they put a picture of me in the local newspaper where we lived in California. I was the longest baby they’ve ever had in that hospital: 24 inches long and just 8 pounds. I was ugly. But I was tall.

As with every growth company, financial capital is necessary to take advantage of the opportunities. Paul Thomas had been talking with many sources which were reluctant to provide investment dollars into a currently non-profitable business, even if it has tremendous upside. Listening to negative responses can be very discouraging and cause stress and anxiety.

A friend of Paul’s, Clayton, who is a medical doctor, approached Paul to say that he had experienced something that he had never experienced before. He was convinced that God spoke to him telling him to get Paul and his wife as well as, Clayton and his wife to fast and pray for 72 hours and the answer would come. In the 72^nd hour Paul receives a phone call telling him that an investment company wanted to invest a large amount in this growth opportunity.

My husband and I once accepted an invitation to an Astros game at the Houston Astrodome with a couple connected to the Houston Chronicle. Baseball had never struck me as a dangerous sport, and I certainly wasn’t expecting anything unusual that night.

Just before the game, I had finished reading a story called Where Miracles Happen by Joan Wester Anderson. In it, a father at Wrigley Field suddenly sensed a warning: “Janet is going to be hit in her temple with a fly ball. If you don’t take action, she’ll be seriously injured or killed.” He began quietly practicing sliding his arm in front of his four‑year‑old daughter’s head. Moments later, Pete Rose hit a screaming line drive that shot across the field like an arrow—straight toward Janet. The father reacted instantly, shielding her with his arm. The ball struck him with tremendous force, but his daughter was unharmed.

Scott Lewis grew up in instability and scarcity. After his parents divorced when he was a toddler, he bounced between homes and attended nine different schools before graduating. His father, a barber who struggled financially, often “borrowed” the money Scott earned shoveling snow. Amid the chaos, Scott longed to fit in and turned to drinking and drugs in his early teens, even as he pushed himself academically and athletically. He hoped a high ACT score would earn him a college scholarship, but when his father admitted he had never filed taxes—and feared prison if he completed the financial aid forms—Scott’s dream collapsed. Disillusioned, he settled for a small vocational scholarship and drifted deeper into substance abuse.

My life was headed on a seemingly predictable path—until I got an unexpected phone call from my doctor. I thought he was going to tell me my MRI revealed a disc injury in my back. Instead, he told me I had cancer.

Crushing fear gripped me immediately and would become my constant companion in the coming weeks and months. It followed me like a shadowy figure, an ever-present threat. It kept me up at night (my wife, too) and spoiled days that should have been enjoyable.

As a single mom living on a teacher’s salary, I had received a notice that my flower beds needed to be better maintained. One afternoon I was outside working on them — really just raking the dirt to make it look like it had been freshly mulched. While I was there, I remember asking God out loud, “Lord, if I only had $50 to buy a bag of mulch to spread on these beds, it would help me so much.”

I did the best I could with what I had. When I finally stood up, looked over the beds, and brushed myself off, I thought, hopefully this will be enough.

Prior to Wanda’s going Home to Heaven we traveled to 93 countries and all USA states, usually with pleasure and God glorifying purpose. Wanda’s heart was focused on people’s eternal destiny and one of the Vice Presidents of Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU) nicknamed her the “little evangelist”.

Wanda shared the Good News of Jesus Christ everywhere that we were. Usually on airplanes, she would sit in the middle seat with me on one side or someone that was getting ready to hear about Jesus on the other. Wanda was a gentle, kind, non-aggressive, and soft-spoken woman who offended no one in her evangelistic approach.

The Lord has allowed me to have many adventures in my walk with HIM.

One that is still so sharp in my mind was my going with Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, to Moscow Russia when the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Power in Eastern Europe collapsed and access to Russia opened up.

God is asking us to step out in faith and to include Him where it is certain that unless He joins us in our goal that it will certainly be a failure. Would we allow Him the opportunity to use us through His power to do exceedingly abundantly beyond anything that I could ask or imagine?

God wants to challenge us to allow Him to use us in supernatural ways. He wants us to get out of the boat and be stretched in our faith to do something supernatural with God. In our giving that may even mean ADDING A ZERO.  ''With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'' ~ Matthew 19:26 With this “Add a Zero” faith challenge you have to involve God.

Recently I attended the Celebration of Life memorial service for Anet Jackson. She and her husband, Jerry Jackson, founded the worldwide ministry, Faith Comes By Hearing, for which my family has been involved for years. Anet has been used in travels around the world to record the dramatized Word of God in over 2400 languages. In fact, Anet was named Annette throughout her life until God put it on her heart to describe her ministry by changing her name to “A Net” (A fisherman catching fish for the Lord).

Prior to her going Home to Heaven she recorded a video which was shown at the service. It was a God Story that happened in their early years of marriage with 4 kids, prior to the founding of FCBH.

I was raised on a farm near Enid, Oklahoma with my parents and two younger brothers.  On the farm we primarily raised beef cattle, milk cows, poultry, and harvested hay and wheat.  This setting provided a very rich and fulfilling youth.  My mother is a strong religious person who attended a Christian denominational church and made us kids attend church on a regular basis.

During my junior year at Oklahoma State University, I had come to the conclusion that I did not see any purpose for living. I prayed to God that if He were real then I would like to know Him.

Looking back after many years but not realizing at the time, I see God's personal relationship with me as an adopted son (Romans 8:15 “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him, we cry, Abba, Father”). His loving Fatherly hands were all over my life (Jeremiah 29:11” For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”). I will highlight a few of the God Stories in my life.

The Church Age began in Acts 2 around 30-33 AD when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. Empowered by the Spirit, Peter preached the gospel and 3,000 people were saved that day (Acts 2:41). This marked the beginning of the Christian Church as a spiritual body distinct from Judaism. The early church experienced rapid growth as the apostles continued preaching, performing signs and wonders, and writing Scripture (Acts 2:47). The expansion of the church is fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission that the gospel be spread to and beyond Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)

In John 14:16-17 Jesus tells his followers prior to his death “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity, alongside God the Father and Jesus Christ. He is God present in the lives of believers, and He works in various ways.

After the resurrection, Jesus did not immediately return to the Father. Instead, for forty sacred days, He remained with His disciples—teaching, restoring, strengthening, and preparing them for the mission that would soon be placed in their hands. These were holy days filled with divine purpose. Jesus unfolded the truths of the kingdom of God, helping His disciples understand what His death and resurrection had accomplished and what their calling would now require.

Before He ascended into Heaven, Jesus gave His followers a commission that still echoes across history: “You will be My witnesses” (Acts 1:8). He promised them the power of the Holy Spirit—the same Spirit who had filled His own earthly ministry—so that their words, their lives, and even their suffering would testify to the reality of the risen King. In Matthew 28, Jesus grounded this mission in His own authority: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” Every command that followed flowed from that divine authority: go, make disciples, baptize, teach.

From the very beginning, Satan has opposed God’s redemptive plan. His final and fiercest attempt came at the cross, where he stirred both Jewish and Roman leaders to crucify Jesus—believing, perhaps, that death would silence the Son of God. But what looked like defeat was, in truth, the very path God had ordained to redeem humanity.

Jesus endured unimaginable suffering: scourging, beatings, a crown of thorns, and ultimately death by crucifixion—reserved for the worst of criminals. Yet, even in agony, His words from the cross—echoing Psalm 22—reminded all who heard that this was no ordinary execution. He was fulfilling prophecy, not succumbing to defeat.

Jesus’ earthly ministry—though brief in time—forever altered the course of history. Lasting just over three years, His public work began around the age of 30, marked by His baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. As He emerged from the water, the heavens opened and the Father declared, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). It was a divine affirmation that echoed through the ages.

Immediately following this moment, Jesus was led into the wilderness where He fasted for forty days and resisted every temptation Satan hurled at Him. In doing so, He not only demonstrated His sinless nature but modeled spiritual resilience for all who would follow Him.

Before Jesus stepped into public ministry around the age of 30, His early life quietly fulfilled promise after promise spoken long before His birth. Though His early years are covered in only a few Gospel chapters, they are rich with meaning, divine orchestration, and prophetic fulfillment.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem to Mary, a young virgin engaged to Joseph. This miraculous birth fulfilled Isaiah’s ancient words: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son…” (Isaiah 7:14). His arrival was first announced to humble shepherds and later honored by Magi who traveled far, recognizing in Him the long-awaited “King of the Jews.”

When the final Old Testament prophet, Malachi, put down his pen, a remarkable thing happened. For the first time in centuries, the voice of prophecy—the voice that had guided, warned, and comforted God’s people—went quiet.

From the days of Elijah and Isaiah through Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve Minor Prophets, God had spoken through chosen messengers—His navi, or “mouthpieces.” These men and women carried the weight of divine truth, calling Israel and Judah to repentance, justice, and faithfulness to their covenant with God. They were His covenant enforcers, reminding the people that blessing came through obedience and that rebellion led to ruin (Deuteronomy 28).