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July 27. François Coillard. Coillard was a missionary from France. His life was embroiled with political intrigues; and his work was interrupted and redirected by nations at war, usurpers overthrowing the government, and rival peoples failing to maintain peace long enough for the gospel to be preached. 

Still, Coillard demonstrated strength of character as he did the job God had sent him to do. On this date in 1868, Coillard baptized his first convert in Africa. 

Disappointment can kill a man’s dream, but perseverance can revive it. 

In February, 1861, Coillard arrived in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to marry Christina Macintosh. But Christina wasn’t there. 

Due to a postal error, Christina had not received Coillard’s latest letter before she boarded her boat. Going by an earlier letter, she had traveled to meet him in Cape Town. Five-hundred miles away. 

The couple had first met in 1859, and Coillard fell in love with her at first sight. Christina felt strongly that God had sent her this man. But Coillard chose not to act on his feeling. He was poor and filled with self-doubt, and he feared that life in South Africa would be too difficult for Christina. 

A few months later, his feelings for Christina hadn’t gone away. He sensed the Lord calling him to write to her with a bold request: marry him and become a missionary with him in South Africa. 

But Christina came from a wealthy family. She read books, listened to orchestras, and socialized with the rich and powerful. Her family and friends told her to reject Coillard’s proposal. She looked at everything she had to lose and agreed with their counsel. She rejected his proposal. 

Coillard was devastated. But instead of allowing disappointment to cripple him, he focused on his mission in South Africa. He knew his highest call was not to be married, but to share Jesus with those who had never heard of Him. The Paris Missionary Society had sent him to the South African tribes of Basutoland, where the tribes worshiped every god but Jesus. Someone had to bring them the truth. 

Two years passed. But Coillard’s feelings for Christina only grew stronger. After much prayer, he was convinced God still wanted him to marry her. He summoned the courage to write her another letter. 

What Coillard didn’t know was that during those two years, God had been speaking to Christina, challenging her to give up her comfortable life and be with Coillard in South Africa. Not long after she surrendered to God, Coillard’s letter arrived. 

Christina wrote back. Yes, she would marry him. 

He was overjoyed. Christina felt a deep peace from God, but the pain of saying goodbye to her family and friends, who she might never see again, was awful. She spent most of her long voyage to South Africa in tears. 

So in 1861, when Coillard discovered that his fiancée had arrived at the wrong destination, alone, he set out at once to meet her. He jumped on a horse and rode as fast as he could to Cape Town. All day and night, he rode through the wilderness of South Africa, home to wild animals and hostile tribes who would not hesitate to kidnap or murder him. 

Coillard had no idea what Christina would say. They hadn’t seen each other in two years. Her first words to him were: “I have come to do the work of God with you, whatever it may be.” Deeply moved by her faith, he thanked God for giving him this precious woman. They married on February 26, 1861. Coillard never regretted waiting for Christina. 

“But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7 ESV). 

Are you willing to wait patiently for what God has promised to give you? Disappointment can kill a man’s dream, but perseverance can revive it. 

www.Christianity.com. “Coillards Merged into a Mighty Mission Team.” Last updated May, 2007. https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/coillards-merged-into-a-mighty-mission-team-11630527.html. 

Mackintosh, C.W. Coillard of the Zambesi. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1907. 

Story read by: Nathan Walker 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/ 

Project manager: Blake Mattocks  

© 2020, 365 Christian Men, LLC. All rights reserved. 

July 26. Dave Roever. Dave fought in the Vietnam War as a gunner on a US Navy riverboat. Then life changed. 

Dave went on to found the Roever Foundation, which has provided thousands of scholarships to students in Vietnam and other places. The Foundation has built a cardiac-care unit and a Digital Imaging Lab, which saves hundreds of Vietnamese lives—at no cost to them. 

The Foundation built a thirty-six-bed heart-monitoring system in Saigon and provides cataract surgery for hundreds of Vietnamese children. They’ve also provided clothing for about two million children in Vietnam, plus medicine, wheelchairs, bicycles, boats, and motors to the Red Cross in Vietnam. 

Their service extends to countries such as El Salvador and Mexico, with medical and dental support for the underprivileged. On this date in 1969, while he was manning the gun in the riverboat, a grenade exploded in Dave’s face. 

Hope. It can turn a tragedy into triumph. 

Hidden in the steamy Vietnamese jungle, a sniper centered the crosshairs on the head of a twenty-six-year-old American gunner. 

The gunner—a Brown Water Black Beret—stood on the bow of a Swift Boat near the Cambodian border. He raised his arm to throw a grenade. 

The sniper was waiting. Aiming carefully. Waiting. The sniper squeezed the trigger. 

Six inches from the gunner’s head, the bullet hit the grenade. An instant explosion showered the gunner with 5000-degree hot-white phosphorus. 

Gunner Dave Roever was forever changed. Phosphorus burned his body inside and out. He looked down and saw his face lying on his boots, his heart pumping in his chest, and the blood pouring out his wrist where his fingers had been. The right side of his head—his ear, his eye, his lips—they were all gone. “I wanted to die. I was so afraid that if I lived, I would be rejected, and couldn’t live with that.” 

The medics marked him “Killed in Action.” 

But they were wrong. For Dave, God had a different plan. 

Waking up in the hospital with third-degree burns over 55 percent of his body, Dave struggled with hopelessness, wanted to protect his wife Brenda, and tried to end his life. He pulled out “the [life-sustaining] tube.” 

But the suicide attempt failed. 

Looking back, he laughs at the irony. “I pulled out my feeding tube by mistake, and in a short time, I got hungry! You can die that way, but it’s going to take a long time.” 

In dread, Dave waited for his wife Brenda to enter the room to see him for the first time. He was prepared for the worst, for her to turn around and leave. He’d seen other wives abandon their disfigured husbands. 

But Brenda walked over, leaned down, smiled, and kissed him. “Welcome home, Davey. I love you. You really weren’t all that good looking.” 

From that moment on, his tragedy became his triumph. His message became one of hope. And now Dave delivers his hope-message with a good dose of humor. He brags about his brand-new nose—“it’s a boy”—and laughs at the time the wind blew his hair off and a dog returned it—“How did it know it was mine?” 

But in the midst of all the laughing is the clear message: “The thing that takes low self-esteem and transforms it into positive self-esteem is when you take what you see as a negative … use it for something good. Lighten up on it! Use it. Make laughter of it! I don’t mean ridicule. People laugh with me and not at me.” 

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel” (Philippians 1:12 ESV). 

Are there scars in your life that God wants to use to help heal others? Hope. It can turn a tragedy into triumph. 

Daystar interview. https://www.daystar.tv/marcus-joni/season:2/videos/dave-roever-11-20-2019. 

American Snippets interview. “E029—Dave Roever And His Mission to Restore the Wounded.” Accessed June 5, 2020. https://www.americansnippets.com/dave-roever/. 

Mendoza, Jim. “A Grenade Blast Left Him Disfigured. Today His Scars Are a Message of Hope to Others.” Hawaii News Now. February 27, 2018. https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/37606497/a-grenades-blast-left-him-disfigured-today-his-scars-are-a-message-of-hope-to-others/#:~:text=%22When%20that%20grenade%20exploded%20it,and%20he%20endured%20painful%20operations. 

Wangrin, Mark. “Never Let a Good Scar Go to Waste.” Texas Co-Op Power. August, 2014. https://www.texascooppower.com/texas-stories/history/never-let-a-good-scar-go-to-waste#:~:text=%E2%80%9CGod%20took%20the%20experience%20of,good%20scar%20go%20to%20waste.%E2%80%9D. 

Dahmen, Jerry. “I Love Life: An Evangelist’s Triumph Over Adversity.” KXRB. September 20, 2013. https://kxrb.com/i-love-life-an-evangelists-triumph-over-adversity/. 

Story read by: Chuck Stecker 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter  

Story written by: Thomas Mitchell, http://www.walkwithgod.org/ 

Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/ 

Project manager: Blake Mattocks  

© 2020, 365 Christian Men, LLC. All rights reserved. 

July 24. Haralan Popov. Popov was an atheist until he was a teenager, when he became a Christian. Before long, he was a pastor. 

But when WW II ended, Bulgaria was abandoned to Communist control. All large-scale industries, banks, and insurance companies were run by the government, and high positions in the church were taken over by Communists. 

Sadly, many pastors fell in line with the new regime, but not Popov. He used every opportunity to spread the Word of God. And when the times changed again, he founded Door of Hope, International, a Christian relief-and-development organization. On this date in 1948, Bulgarian Secret Police kidnapped Pastor Popov. 

Instead of making excuses, create opportunities. 

When it came to sharing his faith, Popov was a master of opportunity. For thirteen years he was a political prisoner in Communist Bulgaria—not a place well-known for faith-sharing opportunities. 

First came intense police interrogation. At the first interrogation, Popov disappointed the Communists when he failed to confess to espionage. In some countries, the government assigns a lawyer for the defense, but in Bulgaria, the authorities assigned a lawyer to build a case against Popov. 

A guard escorted him to a room and gave him pen and paper, and his lawyer instructed him to write everything about his life, his work, his friends, etc. He was forced to write all day and all night and allowed only short cat-naps three times a day. 

The lawyer dropped in nightly with a new guard and a new assignment. And this process went on for a month. With the skill of a seasoned evangelist, Popov wove the gospel into everything he wrote. Whoever monitored his writing would get the gospel message. He kept this up until the Communists caught on and made him stop. 

Was it a waste of pen and ink? Popov didn’t think so. 

“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the LORD. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths. You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands” (Psalm 119:1–6 NLT). 

The next opportunity Popov made involved a tin cup and a lot of patience. Through the walls of their cells, the prisoners communicated using a series of taps. Popov stood with his back to the wall using a tin cup behind him and—in Morse code—secretly tapped out the good news of Jesus Christ to the prisoner on the other side. 

A young man responded, wanting to hear more, and as a result of this “tin-cup evangelism” the young man gave his heart to Jesus Christ. And he wasn’t the only one touched by Popov’s soul-winning zeal. When a young, extremely panicked man named Mitko was placed in Popov’s cell, Popov’s calm demeanor and faithful testimony eventually cut through the man’s inner turmoil, and together they knelt in prayer, and Mitko tearfully placed his faith in Christ. 

One day, Popov was startled to come upon a prisoner rolling a cigarette with a page torn out of a small New Testament. Page by page the book was in danger of going up in smoke. 

“How did you find that book?” Popov couldn’t contain tears of joy. 

The man said he had found it digging through a trash bin. 

Popov asked he if could purchase it with the amount of money he had left in his possession, and the prisoner agreed. Thrilled with the chance to read God’s Word, Popov memorized forty-seven chapters before the prison guards confiscated it. 

Next, Popov made an opportunity to teach English classes to prisoners in the exercise courtyard. He knew the guards didn’t speak English, so Popov used those times to share the Word of God with prisoners, who were willing to “learn English better.” 

Are you in a situation where it’s difficult to share your faith? Instead of making excuses, create opportunities. 

Bibliata. YouTube Video. “A presentation of Evangelism to Communist Lands.” Accessed June 10, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYzoeRfA-uY. 

Popov, Haralan. Tortured for His Faith, an Epic of Christian Courage and Heroism in our Day. Pretoria, South Africa: Promedia Print, 1978.  

Story read by: Stephen Holcomb 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter  

Story written by: Toni M Babcock, https://www.facebook.com/toni.babcock.1 

Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/ 

Project manager: Blake Mattocks  

© 2020, 365 Christian Men, LLC. All rights reserved. 

July 22. Desmond Tutu. Desmond went to a segregated and underfunded all-Black school in South Africa, where he excelled, by the way. 

He once told an audience, “… many of the people who taught us … inspired you to want to emulate them and really to become all that you could become, … They gave you the impression that … even with all of the obstacles … in your way; you can reach out to the stars.” 

Desmond reached and reached for himself and others and fought so hard against the evil discrimination of apartheid, that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Every action done in the name of justice can inspire big changes. 

Desmond was a young man when he received permission from the South African government to study theology in London. He arrived in London in August 1962, almost shell-shocked at how different England was from apartheid-controlled South Africa. 

At Heathrow Airport, lines weren’t segregated by skin color. Police officers didn’t zero in on his African heritage, but treated him with kindness and called him “sir.” He could eat at any restaurant or go to any hotel. He could live in whatever neighborhood he wanted. He could even preach at a church with a white congregation. 

England was like a completely different world. 

The way he had grown up, segregation was the norm. But as he saw how different and better things were in England, he wondered if things could be different and better in South Africa, too. 

Desmond moved to Golders Green, a suburb in northeast London. One day, as he went to the Midlands Bank to do some business, he got in line like all the other customers, waiting for his turn with the teller. But as his turn came up next, a man rushed to the counter in a hurry, cutting in line so he could go next. 

Desmond didn’t blink or get angry, because that was the norm back home in South Africa. White men could cut the line without question. Instead, he stepped back, letting the man get in front of him. But the teller saw what had happened, and instead of waiting on the man who cut the line, she scolded him. Her eyes remained on the man, and her voice was firm yet polite. She apologized that the man would have to wait longer, but reminded him that Desmond was next. 

She pointed at Desmond, and she waited until the man, who cut the line left and went to the spot he was supposed to be in. When he did, the teller went on to wait on her customers, but as Desmond watched the scene unfold, he stood there shocked and amazed. 

Such displays of fairness weren’t heard of under apartheid. Desmond almost didn’t know what it was like to see true justice be done, whether big or small. And after he left the bank and went about his day, he found himself awed by what had happened at the bank. 

The teller stood up for him when no one else would. She didn’t hold his skin color against him. She saw that he was a man just like the other men there, and he deserved to be treated equally and fair like any other customer. 

The revelation shook him to his core, and he returned to the bank that evening to speak with her. She didn’t remember the incident. Such things happened at the bank all the time. But he told her how much it changed his life, and even decades afterwards, her show of justice was one of the big stepping stones for Desmond in becoming an activist for justice himself. 

He would promote fairness and equality in South Africa and other parts of the world. He would make sure anyone suffering under apartheid or inequality knew that they deserved to be treated fairly, too. In God’s eyes, he was a man just like any other. The teller reminded him of that, and he was determined to remind others of that, too. 

“Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice” (Psalm 112:5 NIV). 

Change is only possible if people speak up and step out. Every action done in the name of justice can inspire big changes. 

Allen, John. Desmond Tutu: Rabble-Rouser for Peace, the Authorized Biography. Chicago, IL: Lawrence Hill Books, 2008. 

Sparks, Allister, and Mpho A. Tutu. Tutu: Authorized. Harper Collins Publishers Limited, 2011. 

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/ 

Project manager: Blake Mattocks  

© 2020, 365 Christian Men, LLC. All rights reserved. 

July 19. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower graduated from West Point, commanded the Allied Forces in North Africa in 1942, and on D-Day, 1944, he was Supreme Commander of the troops invading France.  

After the war, he became President of Columbia University, and before long, he was President of the United States.  

A conviction is a belief that moves you to action. Be a man of action. 

Prayers at presidential inaugurations are not unusual, but it is usually not the new President doing the praying. In addition to three invited clergymen, Eisenhower prayed. 

He had had faith from a young age and prayed regularly, and he had recently devoted himself to his wife’s denomination. So now, when he wanted faith to play a major part in his presidency, as he did with many things, Eisenhower took command. 

Of the original inaugural speech, several more drafts and redrafts were crafted; some he disliked because they sounded too much like sermons. He gathered his staff and told them, “You want every person there to carry home with him a conviction that he can do something.” 

Eisenhower didn’t mince words, and he wouldn’t in his inaugural address. He disliked words that drew attention to themselves. The average person needed to grasp the message and act upon it—a quality a leader had to have. 

On the morning of the inauguration, he changed the opening of his speech. For the oath, Eisenhower placed his hand on the same Bible George Washington had used. He opened to this verse from the Old Testament. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV). 

He turned to the crowd of people, who waited in the chilly weather. President Eisenhower asked them to bow their heads while he uttered a private prayer. He asked God to make his team’s dedication to service full and complete, and to grant them discernment between “right and wrong.” Later in the speech, he returned his focus to the country’s need for faith as the “abiding creed of our fathers.” 

Within days, he ordered that every cabinet meeting begin with a moment of silent prayer, where each person there could respond according to his own faith.  

A week later President Eisenhower was baptized. He meant what he had said at his inauguration. While he never demanded anyone pray or share his faith, he sent a strong message that prayer played a major role in his life, and his faith would guide him in how he led the nation. 

Your influence matters. A conviction is a belief that moves you to action. Be a man of action. 

Baier, Bret. Three Days in January: Dwight Eisenhower’s Final Mission. New York, NY: William Morrow, 2017. 

Hitchcock, William I. “How Dwight Eisenhower Found God in the White House.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, March 20, 2018. https://www.history.com/news/eisenhower-billy-graham-religion-in-god-we-trust. 

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter  

Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/ 

Project manager: Blake Mattocks  

© 2020, 365 Christian Men, LLC. All rights reserved.