365 Christian Men | 365 Christian Men

July 31. John Knox. Knox was a Scottish minister, theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country’s spiritual Reformation. And he was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. But on this date in 1547, Knox was captured by the French Navy.

Speaking up against evil requires an ordinary man who trusts God.

The trouble started when Cardinal Beaton—a high-ranking Catholic church official—put out a hit on Reformer John Knox. The man would not stop speaking out against the Catholic church, who now owned fifty percent of Scotland’s real estate and collected eighteen times as much as the Crown.

Knox’s mentor got arrested and insisted Knox take refuge in a nearby castle.

Disguising themselves as masons, some other Reformers had already gotten into Saint Andrews Castle—which had its own soldiers. And Knox joined them. The gathered Reformers plotted against Cardinal Beaton. A battle ensued, and the Reformers defeated Beaton and formed the first Protestant congregation in Scotland.

But the authorities decided that the Reformers had murdered Beaton.

So three months later, Scotland’s French allies attacked the Reformers. Knox could have fled the castle before the bloody battle began, but he refused to abandon his duty as a minister. He committed himself to share in whatever fate lay ahead. Knox firmly believed, “If the Lord will, we shall live.…”

The weary Reformers bravely fought against the French Naval ground troops for more than a month. But the French surrounded the castle with soldiers from twenty galley ships. And guns were mounted on a nearby college roof.

England failed to send help, and French forces relentlessly bombarded the castle.

To save their lives, the Reformers agreed to a conditional surrender by which all 120 people in the castle would be spared; they could join the French army, or they would be allowed to relocate to any country, except Scotland.

But when the Reformers arrived in France, the French went back on their word, and the Reformers were branded heretics. They became prisoners-of-war and were forced onto a galley ship to labor as galley slaves. In groups of six, they were chained to benches and worked forty-five-foot-long oars. And if they slowed down, slave drivers lashed them with whips.

During the winter months the Reformers were exposed to extreme cold, and in the summer months, unbearable heat. At night, they had to sleep crammed shoulder-to-shoulder on the bench or beneath the feet of the other slaves. But Knox regarded his anguish of mind and intense physical affliction as a “trial sent from God” intended to build his faith.

Every effort was made to convert the Reformers to the Catholic Church. The Mass was offered daily, but the Reformers covered their heads and refused to listen.

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe” (Proverbs 29:25 ESV).

Knox’s unflinching faith was contagious. His fellow captives, once drowning in despair, asked Knox if he thought an escape was lawful and likely. Knox told them it was both lawful and likely for them to leave that galley ship. He said he had no doubt he would not die until he had preached and glorified the name of God again in the castle where he had preached his first sermon.

After nineteen months of degrading captivity, the Reformers were freed, and he went on to preach the gospel.

Are you clear about what you believe in? Clear enough to know when it’s important to speak up? Speaking up against evil requires an ordinary man who trusts God.

Lang, Andrew. Gutenberg. John Knox and the Reformation. Published November 10, 2004. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14016/14016-h/14016-h.htm.

Reid, W. Stanford. Trumpeter of God. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1974.

True, Charles Kittredge. The Life and Times of John Knox. Cincinnati: Hitchcock and Walden, 1878.

Story read by: Chuck Stecker

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks

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July 30. Frank Turek. Frank is a gifted man. He was a US Navy Aviator and has a master’s degree from George Washington University and a doctorate from Southern Evangelical Seminary.

Frank is also an award-winning author and the President of CrossExamined.org, a ministry he founded for defending the gospel.

Frank speaks clearly and honestly. He presents powerful and entertaining evidence for Christianity at churches, high schools, and college campuses. He also hosts a weekly TV program called I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist.

When others won’t stand for truth, stand alone.

As a paid business consultant, Frank understood what tolerance in the workplace should look like. He consistently interacted with people of all orientations and political persuasions, was fair-minded, cordial, and professional in every way.

He treated people well and respected their rights to their personal opinions, and he trusted the companies he worked for to afford him the same respect. He was a free man after all—free to hold a personal opinion in America without the risk of losing his job.

Unfortunately, Frank was wrong.

In 2008, and again in 2010, Frank had done leadership training for managers at a well-known company. He was a gifted and dynamic speaker. Employees looked forward to the privilege of sitting under his leadership.

One of the trainees Googled Frank and complained to Human Resources. Frank had published a book titled Correct, Not Politically Correct—How Same-Sex Marriages Hurt Everyone. As a result, that individual felt Frank needed to be fired.

Suddenly, the dynamo consultant, who had exercised his right to think and publish his own thoughts, became a political pariah that the company couldn’t tolerate. Since Frank didn’t “live up” to the company’s values, the Googler insisted, “He can’t work here.”

Frank alerted the manager who had helped him get hired and explained that trouble was brewing. The manager assured him, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

The manager showed up at one of Frank’s training sessions, long enough to hear a participant tell Frank it was the best session she ever took.

Afterward, Frank was escorted to a separate conference room. The news wasn’t good.

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” the manager said, his eyes tearing up. “Frank … I have to fire you.”

“You have to fire me—why?”

“Because you wrote that book about same-sex marriage, and the HR director doesn’t think your views live up to our company’s values. You need to go.”

Even the liberal-minded workers thought Frank was being treated unfairly and wanted to be billed for the rest of the course he’d been fired from teaching.

Frank decided to go public with the injustice, not just for himself, but for conservative values in general. Two days before he did, he got another call. This one was from an HR representative at a nationally known bank where he’d presented.

The rep informed Frank someone had just Googled his name and found out he wrote a book against same-sex marriage. Yep. It happened again.

“We’re going in a different direction. You can’t work here,” the caller stated.

Two days later, Frank went public about his firings and the intolerance shown toward his conservative values. He became a voice for the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance.

Not surprisingly, some people scoffed at the idea conservatives needed “protection” that wasn’t already in place. Yet, both companies that fired Frank eventually promised not to discriminate against those who opposed same-sex marriages (as reported by Equality Matters—A Campaign for full LGBT Equality blog.)

As it turns out, Frank’s voice did matter.

The Bible says, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small” (Proverbs 24:10 ESV).

Are you willing to let your voice be heard? When others won’t stand for truth, stand alone.

Outreach: Show God’s Love. “Frank Turek speaker profile.” Accessed June 8, 2020. https://www.outreach.com/events/christian-speakers/Frank-Turek.aspx.

Story read by: Nathan Walker

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

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July 29. Anthony Ray Hinton. Ray was arrested, convicted, imprisoned, and sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit. Here’s his story.

When life is unjust, turn your pain into purpose.

Ray had a message, and he taught that message to his neighbor Henry, though they only had one thing in common. They were both convicts on death row.

Ray had been a Black miner in Alabama, and Henry was the son of a Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. But on death row, differences disappeared. Or more accurately, Ray disappeared them.

In prison Ray didn’t talk much, but he listened, especially to Henry who had been taught to hate. He had been a Klansman and was sentenced to death for beating a Black man to death and then hanging him.

Some people couldn’t understand how Ray and Henry could be friends, including Ray’s niece.

“Henry was born Henry Francis Hayes, not ‘KKK Henry Francis Hayes.’ I explained to her … [that] as he got older, [Henry] went to Klan meetings, teaching him more hate.… but once Henry came to death row, the very people that he was taught to hate taught him love and compassion. Henry changed, and I saw the change.”

Ray changed, too.

Convicted on circumstantial evidence, Ray had grown angry, but he refused to condemn other people. Instead, he treated Henry and everyone on death row the same because the same Jesus loved each of them.

Love gave Ray a reason to live. He loved the men who sent him to prison—the officers, the prosecutor, the jury, and even the judge who overruled the life sentence handed down by the jury and instead sent Ray to death row. Ray prayed for the men there, including the guards. He prayed for Henry.

Ray remembered what he had learned from his mama: the only thing God can’t do is fail. He knew that God is love and that love never fails.

He didn’t just tell others that God loved them; he showed God’s love to them. He started a book club, and Henry joined in. Ray told jokes so others could laugh.

Ray didn’t think that what someone else did or didn’t do was any of his business. He knew what Henry had done, but that didn’t matter. He figured that Henry’s daddy cheated him. “My mom told me, no matter what one does in life, he or she deserves some compassion, and I knew [Henry] deserved compassion more than anybody.” Ray said hatred was a cancer.

In 1997, the State executed Henry Hays.

“On the night of his execution he finally admitted that all his life his father had lied to him, and that now he knows what love is,” said Ray.

When the Supreme Court of the United States finally and unanimously overturned Ray’s conviction, he told the waiting press: “I want you to know, there is a God … He [defended] me.… I will continue to pray … just as I have for 30 years.”

Now Ray crusades for compassion. He believes anyone can learn to love if they know they are loved.

“Now, who of us would dare to die for the sake of a wicked person?We can all understand if someone was willing to die for a truly noble person. But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly!” (Romans 5:7–8 TPT).

What can you do when others mistreat you? When life is unjust, turn your pain into purpose.

Segura, Liliana. The Intercept. “Anthony Ray Hinton Spent Almost 30 Years on Death Row. Now He Has a Message for White America.” Published June 17, 2018. https://theintercept.com/2018/06/17/anthony-ray-hinton-death-row/.

McGreal, Chris. The Guardian. “I went to death row for 28 years through no fault of my own.” Published April 1, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/01/i-went-to-death-row-for-28-years-through-no-fault-of-my-own-.

Story read by: Chuck Stecker

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks

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July 28. Jesse Irvin Overholtzer. Jesse started out rebelling and determined to have all the fun he could. But Jesus intervened, and Jesse’s life became productive. And he didn’t tolerate obstacles.

When Jesse was 60, although he had no administrative experience, he founded Child Evangelism Fellowship with stations in 51 countries, and he directed its international operation for 15 years, up until 3 years before he died.

Where might and power failed, the Spirit of God succeeded. CEF is now the largest evangelistic outreach to children the world has ever seen. As of 2020, CEF operates in 175 countries.

Grace can break stubborn thinking and free a man to walk with Jesus.

When Jesse turned 18, he broke free from the strict religious control of his Brethren family and lived out the story of the prodigal son. For a long time.

He thought if he wasn’t going to have their religion, he ought to have as much fun as he could. And he could have a lot.

But fun doesn’t buy groceries, and being hungry all the time was hard. When Jesse finally came to himself, he realized that his prosperous father loved him and would take him back and would send him to college. In fact, Jesse’s father was one of the founders of the college.

Samuel Overholtzer did welcome his son home and sent him on to study. But right away, Jesse let it be known that he had no need for religion. He said, “Come on. We didn’t come to school for religion.”

But the school held a special week of evangelistic meetings. And Jesse didn’t want to attend, but in the end, he chose to honor the college’s request.

While people spoke, “… one after another of Jesse’s grounds for rejecting Christ was swept away. Finally, when the invitation was given, he was the first to respond.” He was no longer interested in studying law; missions became his goal.

Jesse was baptized and truly believed he’d been forgiven, but it didn’t last. And more than anything, he wanted to feel forgiven. He wanted to feel peace. He wanted to feel like God was happy with him. So he tried to please God by doing everything right.

He grew up to be a pastor, but he was still rigid about obeying every rule of God just so, and of course, this brought him no peace. Grace was not in his vocabulary.

Then God intervened: Jesse won a box of books. And one of the books was about DL Moody, a man Jesse did not respect. But eventually, he did read the book.

Jesse thought Moody was not a believer because he didn’t meet the high standards about always obeying every rule and doing everything right.

But the truths in the book bored deep into Jesse’s thoughts. Those same truths were part of Moody Bible Institute’s Doctrinal Statement which states, “… Salvation is the free gift of God’s grace through faith alone, in Christ alone …”

God was still working in Jesse’s life when scarlet fever overtook the family. Farm work devoured his daylight hours. And he devoted evenings to deeply studying grace. He discovered Bible passages that talked about Christ’s work on the cross—saving mankind at no cost to them. They didn’t have to do everything right to be forgiven. He got to the place in his life that whatever God revealed to him, Jesse accepted.

While pruning trees, Jesse’s eyes were opened, based on the verses he had found on grace and other events in his life. The Holy Spirit spoke to his heart. “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Romans 10:9–10 NIV).

Changes began. He relaxed his severe dress code and shaved his beard—which had been required by his self-inflicted religion. Through his newly found freedom, many heard his message and came to know Christ as their Savior.

This man of God continued telling people about Jesus and was eventually led by the Lord to reach out to children of all denominations. In 1937, Child Evangelism Fellowship® was organized. In 2018, “CEF workers presented the life-changing message of the Gospel to over 25.4 million children.”

Have you given your life over to Jesus Christ? He loves you; surrender. Grace can break stubborn thinking and free a man to walk with Jesus.

Moody Bible Institute. “Doctrinal Statement.” Accessed September 4, 2019. https://www.moodybible.org/beliefs/.

Rohrer, Norman. The Indomitable Mr. O. Warrenton, MI: Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc., 1970.

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks

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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

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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

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July 25. Justin Searle. Justin knew how to work hard and learned there was more to life than he could get by hard work alone.

If life feels driven but empty, take faith to work with you.

The perks and pains of overwork drove investment banker Justin Searle to say, “No more!” Compelled to succeed, he often clocked 110 hours in a week. Once, for 3 months straight, he worked 18 hours a day, 7 days a week.

At three in the morning, Justin went home, woke his wife Deb, and told her, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” Despite his drive, his work ethic, and his success, life felt empty.

Justin and Deb moved halfway across the country, where he found a good job as Director of Strategy and Special Projects for a health-care company. And soon he was promoted. Justin and Deb didn’t have children, but they bought the house they wanted to raise a family in. It was near a church, which they passed often.

Justin was raised with faith, but “the world got in the way.” Now the church near their home called to him, and Justin and Deb started attending. It changed how Justin viewed everything: God didn’t want pieces of him. He wanted the whole package. Justin couldn’t compartmentalize faith. This meant Justin needed to take his faith to work. He would serve a “bigger boss”—God.

Justin led a team of 500 people with 2,000 patients under his supervision. He prayed, “You put me in this position of influence. What do you want me to do with it?”

He asked the Holy Spirit to make him discerning, wise, and discreet. He wanted to further God’s Kingdom and principles, so he set out to “love God, love people, lead by example,” and to “extend truth and grace with wisdom.”

Jesus “went first,” when He led others to love sacrificially, so Justin served his team and taught them that “leaders go first.” At church, Justin heard that God was for him, not against him. He showed his team that he was for them, not against them. And he encouraged them to be for—not against—each other.

When he told his team, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful,” he didn’t tell them he was quoting Proverbs 27:6. But his team took the message to heart. Justin didn’t bludgeon people with the Bible, but he shared the wisdom of God’s Word.

Since authentic, caring relationship is part of Kingdom living, Justin wanted his team to enjoy that kind of community. Everyone has struggles. Since leaders go first, Justin chose to be vulnerable. When he shared that he and Deb struggled with infertility or that his mom had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or that he had confronted his dad about alcoholism, it gave others permission to be vulnerable, too. Co-workers asked, “How are you dealing with this?”

Justin told them he prayed.

Then Justin was passed over—twice—for a promotion he and his team believed he deserved. He could feel his team watching his response. “To be honest,” Justin said, “I was pretty bummed … I’ve had to push into where I really get my value … I get my value from who [God] says I am, not these worldly achievements.”

Justin’s dull spiritual life no longer existed. A new passion had taken over. “Work is part of the kingdom God has given me as a custodian for a piece of time,” said Justin. “Faith has permeated my ‘worldly’ pursuits, and so it’s less about accumulating accolades and more” about sharing God’s “love in an otherwise secular setting … I still feel like I’m working hard, but my cup is fuller. I’ve got a sense of peace and joy that combats the grind.”

Do you need a new passion? If life feels driven but empty, take faith to work with you.

Based on an interview with Justin Searle, 2019.

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks

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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

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July 23. Mincaye. Mincaye is a man with a history.

Here’s what happened: missionary pilot Nate Saint, with four other missionaries, was killed when they tried to befriend the Waodani tribe, at the time, known as the most violent society on earth.

The Waodani culture was changed by the Gospel of Christ, brought to the tribe by a small group of missionaries and a Waodani woman who had fled the tribe and later returned to teach her people about Jesus. Mincaye was one of the spear-wielding tribesmen who had killed the missionaries. On this date in the year 2000, Mincaye was in the US with Steve Saint when tragedy struck.

When your life has been transformed, be intentional. Give back.

Deep in the jungles of Ecuador, Mincaye—a Waodani warrior—befriended a skinny nine-year-old boy named Steve Saint. And Mincaye called the boy “Babae.”

Four years before, Mincaye—and some other warriors—had surrounded and murdered the boy’s father, missionary Nate Saint. Now the boy had come back to the jungle to visit the current missionaries.

“[The boy] can’t make poison darts or use a blowgun,” Mincaye told the boy’s aunt. “He can’t pole a canoe. He can’t build a house, or climb trees, or track animals. He doesn’t know anything. Who’s going to teach him to live?”

The boy’s aunt looked Mincaye in the eye and asked him—in light of the fact that Mincaye had speared the boy’s father to death—“Who do you say should teach him to live?”

Mincaye walked away.

When she had first told Mincaye about the Creator’s Son, Mincaye had said he could not see the Creator’s trail. Then Jesus’ blood cleaned him, and Mincaye began to see like a clear sky with no clouds in it.

Mincaye returned and told her, “I having spear-killed his father, I myself will teach Babae how to live.”

During school vacations, when Babae visited, Mincaye treated him like family. And Babae learned to hunt monkeys. To climb tall, palm-like trees, his ankles wrapped with a vine. To spear fish. Mincaye helped Babae become a man.

Later, Babae married and brought his family to live with Mincaye and his people. Mincaye adopted Babae’s children as his grandchildren—and helped baptize them. They called him Grandfather Mincaye. And Mincaye “saw it well.”

When Babae’s family moved to Florida, Grandfather Mincaye visited them. One day, while Mincaye stayed with Babae, a hard, hard thing happened. Babae’s only daughter Stephenie (called Nemo) was rushed to the hospital. She had suffered a brain aneurysm.

As medical personnel rushed about, Mincaye became agitated. Babae was in despair. Mincaye grabbed him and said he “saw what was happening well.”

“Don’t you see? [The Creator] [who loves Stephanie] … is taking her to live with Him now.” Mincaye said, “Being an old man, I will go live there, too, very soon.… Stephanie and I will be there waiting. Happily, to greet you.” The raw grief on Babae’s face remained, but the hopelessness faded.

When it was time to return to the jungle, it was hard for Mincaye to leave.

One day, Mincaye had a premonition that Babae had been hurt. People said Babae was fine, but Mincaye asked people to phone America.

Mincaye was right.

He and his wife traveled to Babae’s house and stayed six weeks. Babae’s wife cared for Babae as a quadriplegic and for Mincaye and his wife. Mincaye and Babae talked and laughed as Babae struggled.

One Sunday Mincaye went to church with Babae’s family. Babae sat in a space reserved for wheelchairs. When it was time for communion, Mincaye rushed to help him. He grabbed one handle of the wheelchair, and Babae’s son, Jaime, grabbed the other. Three generations—made family by the blood of Jesus—celebrated Communion together.

As Mincaye prepared to return to the jungle, Babae was sad. Once he had longed for the presence of his dad, who Mincaye had killed. Now he yearned for Grandfather Mincaye’s presence.

After all, Mincaye himself had taught Babae how to live.

“And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2 NIV).

When your life has been transformed, be intentional. Give back.

Based on an interview with Steve Saint.

Saint, Steve. End of the Spear. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005.

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?

Missionary pilot Nate Saint, with four others: Jim Elliott, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian, was killed when they attempted to befriend the Waodani tribe, then known as Aucas—or “naked savages.” At the time the most violent society on earth, the Waodani culture was changed by the Gospel of Christ, brought to the tribe by Nate Saint’s sister, Rachel, Jim Elliot’s wife Elisabeth, and Dayuma, a Waodani woman who had fled tribal killing and later returned to teach her people about Jesus.

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks

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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

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