The Journey - Summer 2012

A Tribute to Peyton, Doc and the High Country

The Journey is a magazine with inspirational stories from people across the High Country of Ashe, Watauga and Avery counties. It is about individuals with their unique stories. As I write this introduction for this edition of The Journey, I want to zoom out to focus on our collective, High Country journey.

As a community we have had our world’s rocked with the death of an 89-year-old music legend Doc Watson and an innocent 4-year-old named Peyton Townsend. Both were Deep Gap residents and both will be sorely missed.

Like many people across the world, I appreciated the phenomenal music talent of Doc Watson. But, on a personal note, Doc is one of the most humble, authentic people I have ever met.

I had the privilege of meeting Doc personally through a mutual friend. At that very moment, in a grocery store parking lot, Doc and I became immersed in a deep conversation about spiritual matters. I got goose bumps as he told me about his faith. His story so fascinated me, I wanted more people to hear about it so I asked him if he would allow me to share his story in this magazine.

We first published Doc’s story in our inaugural edition of The Journey and we re-ran it again last year. When I called him for permission to run his story again, we talked on the phone as if we were old friends. As we were about to hang up, I asked him if I could pray for him and Rosalee (Doc’s wife). He gladly accepted the offer and then, to my surprise, he finished off my prayer by praying for me in a powerful, heart-felt way. That prayer and that moment was just one of many moments in Doc’s life where he touched someone with the love and humility and grace that accompanied his great talent. Doc, we will miss you.

Over 35 years ago, my wife and I moved to Boone, NC. One of the first couples we met when we moved here were Wayne and Carol King, who had just moved here as well. We became close, went to the same church, raised our kids together and developed a relationship that has stood the test of time. We, like the rest of the community, were shocked when we learned that our dear friends the Kings and Randall and Sarah King Townsend had lost their precious Peyton to a tragic accident. My daughter, Heather Cotten, wrote down her thoughts on how this tragedy effected her life. Because I feel that what she wrote encapsulates well the emotions that many of us may be feeling, I asked her to let us share this as part of our tribute to Peyton. You will find it on the next page.

As the publisher of this magazine, I am humbled to be a part of passing these inspirational stories on to you. Because of the diversity of writers, we are not always able to endorse everything that is said, nor can we be held responsible for the total veracity of every story, but we do count it as an honor and privilege to both hear these stories and share them with you.

In closing I want to communicate how grateful I am to be a part of this wonderful High Country community. The outpouring of love and support that you have demonstrated towards the Townsend family and the Watson family is just one more reason that the High Country is a wonderful place to live.

Ben Cox, Owner of Main Street Marketing

To read Doc’s story, go to www.highcountry365.com

c Copyright 2012

Perspective

You know those times when you are going through life and things are normal, boring, life is good for the most part? You get annoyed because the house won’t stay clean and the kids are getting under foot, the bills need to get paid, you have to grocery shop, your car breaks down or you have a lousy day at work and you begin to feel down…discouraged…stressed out and then something comes slamming into your life that suddenly puts everything into perspective.

Last week I was going through life, feeling the pressures, feeling down about a few things, worried and stressed about little things here and there. I sign onto facebook to see a close family friend that I have known from birth asking for prayer for her sister’s baby who has been in an accident. This feeling of panic comes over me and then my phone begins to ring and I am getting texts as I am holding the phone listening in disbelief to a voice on the other line telling me that our friend’s baby died. WHAM..now this is a reason to feel true sadness. Another call-she was at VBS and a large cemetery cross weighing over 1,000 pounds fell on her, her mom and dad tried to revive her but she didn’t make it. She is gone. She is in Heaven and everything suddenly feels like it is in a tunnel. How can this be? Certainly I must be dreaming. This can’t be real. Four year old girls don’t die from a large stone falling on them at VBS, do they? Certainly someone must just have the story wrong.

I watch facebook and hold my phone hoping that someone, anyone will say that she was rescued, but nothing. In fact I begin to see further proof that indeed this nightmare is real. I don’t have any words or even real thoughts. I feel totally numb. I keep having conversations with people where we cry and ask why and feel really awkward because there are absolutely no words that make any sense or can put definition about what has happened.

All of my problems seem like nothing and I find myself embarrassed that I was complaining earlier in the day about these petty things that mean nothing when you are staring in the face of such unfathomable grief. So, I sit there and I can’t even think “why God?” because really, there isn’t an answer and there won’t be. I don’t think we will know the answer until we get to heaven. I can tell myself that she is in Heaven, she is in a better place, but somehow that doesn’t make it feel better, it’s just sad. Her mom should be holding her and waking up to

middle of the night needs for water and bathroom breaks, her dad should be having to kiss a scraped knee, but we shouldn’t be having to reassure ourselves with the idea that little Peyton is in Heaven. But even at 4, Peyton’s little life impacted people. This tragedy awakened something in so many.

As I am going through the routine of life and seeing my kids run in the back yard and fight over silly things and make messes and giggle and get dirty, I hold onto these moments with everything. I see what matters and embrace these little ones that God has given me. I feel a gentle correction from my Heavenly Father to focus on those things that matter. I hold my kids closer and give them more kisses. I begin to realize that around this tragedy I get to see a community that has been scattered here and there gather around and be family, support and love. I see them cry and mourn this child that some had held dear and interacted with and some didn’t ever meet, but yet their lives were impacted.

So, now we all hold our loved ones closer, we re-evaluate our priorities and we seek to cultivate relationships that last so when the storms come (and they will) we can be there for each other, we can hold onto each other and we can be family. My prayer is that I can keep in perspective the things that really matter, the things that are going to last, and stop worrying so much about the things that don’t. I choose to cherish the moments with my kids and, love on them more, tell my husband I love him and pour into relationships that will stand the storms of life.

by Heather Cotten,

two, and one.

I’m also a daughter, a step-sister, a sister-in-law, a friend, a neighbor, a cat owner, a niece and a granddaughter. I was born and raised in Mississippi, but instantly fell in love with these mountains.

I recommitted my life to Jesus Christ the first year I moved to Boone through a campus ministry at ASU.

I like to run. I love chocolate. I enjoy hiking. I eat well. I watch movies and, occasionally, I find time to read a book. Mostly, I spend my days supporting my family in whatever they need. We are busy with preschool, groceries, dance class, bills, play dates and a part-time photography business. The point I’m trying to drive home is that I’m normal, and I’ve been healthy my whole life.

Life-Altering, Faith-Challenging Moment

So in July of last year, when I was diagnosed with stage-two breast cancer, I can honestly say it was a life-altering, heartwrenching, faith-challenging moment for me. That day is what I consider to be the worst day of my life so far.

As soon as I heard the news, my world began to spin uncontrollably. I can still see Matt violently speeding home early from work to meet me down the street from our house so our girls wouldn’t see us panicked. With tears streaming, the look on his face was unforgettable. I sincerely hope our eyes never meet in that way again.

Fear, Loss, Confusion, and Deep Sorrow consumed us. We grieved the loss of my health and cried out in fear of the unknown.

Cancer. We couldn’t stop it, hide from it, ignore it, or control it. I had hoped it was a bad dream, but each day I woke up and there it was. Still real. Not a nightmare. We became busy gathering information we needed and tried to maintain a normal life with our girls.

It was the quiet times of rest that I would break. I cried myself to sleep at night and rose from my pillow every morning to one word -- Cancer.

Jehovah Rapha, the God Who Heals

We decided I needed a visual image to help change that pattern, so we contacted a friend from college who is an

Peace in the Midst of My Storm

by Ginger Powell, Watauga County

exceptional artist. I told her our drama and asked if she would be willing to paint a picture for me based on Exodus 33:22-23 referencing Moses and the Glory of the Lord.

It says, “When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back but my face must not be seen.” It’s important to me because I believe that verse shows both God’s compassion and power.

A couple of weeks later I received her picture. It’s her interpretation and has a woman in the image instead of Moses. She also felt lead to spell out Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. We had it framed, and it hangs on the wall across from our bed. I then woke every morning still thinking Cancer, but now I also saw the Lord’s provision and His glory to come.

That is when my perspective began to change. I wished my cancer would just go away. I prayed it would go away. Then I found myself daily begging the Lord to take it from me.

Instant Community to Pray and Serve

We were not private about my diagnosis. The news spread quickly, and I could see the Lord gathering an army of believers together on our behalf. I felt a sense of strength swarming around us. Little did I know this group would grow into a strong support for our family.

I firmly believe the Lord brought forth an instant community to pray and to serve however they could. This group includes our family, my doctors, nurses and staff and friends from this community and all over. Without this support we would have struggled a great deal more both physically and spiritually. Despite the devastating news of cancer, I had a lot to be thankful for and this support group that God provided gave us that reminder.

Matt was a rock, the glue that held our family together and my safe place. I needed him and, although he had his own fears, God gave him the grace to rise to this occasion. He is fearless, honorable, hardworking, constant, strong, honest, intentional, gracious and loving. He balances our life beautifully.

Could It Get Worse?

My world turned dark when chemotherapy began. It was sickening, and I was a wreck. I lost 12 pounds and was hospitalized after the first treatment. During my stay, I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics and then a frightening response to Benadryl. I would never recommend having liquid Benadryl shot into your veins, ever!

(Cont. on Pg. 8)

So we were off to a bad start and I was thinking, could it actually get worse?!?! That’s when our water went out due to an issue with the well pump. My mother had a stroke --one that she miraculously recovered from. My step-sister and her family were in a car accident in Honduras -- she suffered a spinal injury, but after months of recovery she is fine now. My brother-inlaw had a climbing accident -- he was released from the hospital with minor injuries and is also doing well now. I lost my hair (which I found a lot of my identity in) and the

Living a Life of Faith, Not Fear

Chemo -- it felt like a heavy pressure holding down every

stand up right, get out of bed or dress for four or five days at a time. My nails discolored and detached. My teeth and gums were stressed. My vision changed and I was so heavily medicated with anti nausea meds that I was not comfortable driving myself or my kids anywhere.

Jesus is for Our Sins and Our Sickness

Today there are a lot of questions left unanswered. What I do know is that God gave his son Jesus not only for our sins but also for our sicknesses. He came to save AND to heal. I trusted these truths day by day.

I found that I really needed to cover myself with scriptures about healing, positive images, worship music, and prayer whether I felt like it or not. It lifted my spirits and reinforced God’s truth for me.

These things along with our surrounding community of support, a group of excellent doctors and the power of God’s sovereignty brought me through to now where I find myself cancer free.

God took my impossible and is now developing it into a testimony of His grace and His loving kindness.

I have recently completed 30 radiation treatments and have started a five-year process of hormonal therapy. It’s all part of the plan to reduce my risks of a recurrence. I have more surgeries this year and will be watched closely and regularly for a lifetime.

I spent so long being convinced I was sick. Then after surgery and pathology, I needed to be convinced that it was gone. Now I am challenged to live a life that is cancer free without being paralyzed by the fear of it returning.

I read recently in “The Breast Cancer Care Book” by Sally M. Knox that “Courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s moving forward through fear.” Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified for the Lord you God goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Isaiah 41:10 says, “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and keep you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” So I will move forward and if life turns a corner and I end up with another “worst-day-of-my-life” scenario, I believe that God will give me the grace and strength to face that too.

It’s a fallen world and there are a lot of horrible things going on today both here and around the world. But we are called as Christians to walk in faith and trust the Lord completely.

I believe Jesus struggled going to the cross to do His father’s will. I have found comfort in that. He knows the fear of death. Thanks to Him and His ultimate sacrifice I have something to look forward to. Not life without pain, hurt, or fear. I don’t get a free pass to avoid hardships. There is work involved and discipline, but the reward is great -- life after death with my heavenly father and a fellowship of believers.

And while I’m here I have the privilege to see His glory come time after time. I am amazed at the miracle of life and blessings that come when we walk in obedience to Christ.

It’s certainly not easy for me, but I will continue to grow and trust and surrender daily my life to Him because He is worthy and His grace has been sufficient.

What’s Next

by Mitch Marlowe, Avery County

Life started out for me in Winston-Salem, North Carolina but I graduated from high school in Statesville. It was the training ground for my life in education and ministering to youth. The next stop was Mars Hill College. During my time at Mars Hill I felt God leading me into youth ministry. I graduated from Mars Hill College with a bachelor of arts in religion and psychology.

After taking a break from school, I eventually graduated with a master of arts degree in religious education with an emphasis on students and family from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Including college and seminary, I was able to spend 17 years in youth ministry serving churches in Texas, NC, and Missouri. From 1980 to 1997, my entire focus was on young people.

Blessing Through Beth

In 1997, I began to go through a period of doubt and struggled in many areas in my life. I began to think that my way was the best way. Greed, selfishness, and this way of thinking cost me lots, including my marriage. My wife and I divorced, but out of that marriage came a beautiful daughter who now is a senior at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois.

Eventually, God allowed me to meet Beth who was volunteering at a Christ-centered program for severely abused children through Harbor Christian Church in Tampa, FL. I was working with a child abuse prevention agency in Iredell County at that time. I felt unqualified for the job and beat myself up quite a bit, but then God brought Beth into my life.

Beth was a widow, born in Winston-Salem, with a beautiful daughter who is now a senior at Avery County High School. We got married on September 15, 2001, four days after the world fell apart. Piece by piece my world was coming back together. Today, we have a total of 4 daughters, a female dog, and a female cat. Needless to say, I live in a sea of estrogen!

God’s New Direction

Beth and I started our new life together by moving to South Carolina to live, work, and minister through a camp ministry called Awanita Valley Christian Camp where we worked with both the young and old. During that time, we attended a church just over the NC/SC line in Hendersonville where I was asked to help develop a Christian counseling center.

It seemed, at the time, and I know, now, God was leading me more in the direction of Christian counseling. To augment my prior education, I was able to pursue another degree through Liberty University where I graduated with a masters in professional counseling.

After that rewarding experience, I was given the opportunity to come to Lees-McRae College as the associate dean of students. This position was everything I had ever done wrapped up in one position.

Meeting Spiritual Needs on Campus

Because of financial difficulties on campus, the chaplain position was cut and the chaplain’s responsibilities were absorbed by the student development staff. To help meet the spiritual needs of students, we built a team of area pastors who was available to any student on campus.

The chaplain team is very effective as was especially evidenced on two different occasions when we as a community were devastated by the deaths of two students. Denomination lines were crossed in an effort to comfort students who had more questions than answers. This team truly has been a gift from God!

We also incorporated “WOW” (Worship on Wednesday) gatherings where students are able to worship with contemporary music and a local minister comes to teach the Word of God. Our campus ministry includes involvement from Intervarsity and College Life – Young Life’s college ministry. There are numerous student-led Bible study groups on campus and students are active in service projects throughout the year. An increase in the numbers attending WOW,

Bibles studies, and service projects is growing. It’s exciting.

There are many students who seek out spiritual help in the dorms. We choose our residential living staff after a rigorous selection process and then carefully train them to offer safety and care measures for students at Lees-McRae.

Building Relationships with Students and God

The main reason I came to Lees-McRae was to build relationships. In doing so, I have learned that God is reaching out to people all over the world from right here in Banner Elk. God sends these young adults to us and expects us to lead them into His truth with an ever-seeing eye that not all students desire or seek out spiritual guidance. But for those who do, we are available 24/7.

Since leaving Statesville when I was a youth and having seen and experienced all that I have, one of the main things I have learned is that God loves me just the way I am. But, to quote Dr. Billy Graham, “He loves me enough to not let me stay that way.” I have learned more and more about God’s grace, and I am learning how to show that grace to my family and to others.

God has been bringing me to the understanding of who I am in Christ. Society puts labels on us. These labels are based on where we live, the amount of money we have, our social status, where we fit in society. But God created us and is making us into the person He desires us to be.

An outcome of those revelations has been the desire to provide a place of worship off campus. Chad Rogers, a friend of mine and a former youth minister, has a heart for students and is the lead pastor in a new fellowship called The Journey of Banner Elk.

The Journey of Banner Elk met for the first time on a Sunday evening June 12, 2011 at Best Western. The Journey has contemporary music and encourages people to come as you are. We are about building relationships with God, and God building relationships with us. The theme of our fellowship is Love God, Love Others. Chad had the vision and we are helping that vision become a reality.

I have been fortunate be able to be part of the leadership team and offer insight from my previous experiences. All of this is very humbling. God has done some neat things at this college and in the community. I am anxiously awaiting to see what comes next.

God is the Fixer

by Danna Little, Ashe County

When I was a small child, my family didn’t go to church. My dad was in the Air Force and we moved around a lot. After dad retired, we moved back to Ashe County where he was from. When we moved back to the county, we lived in the Bethel Baptist Church community. My neighbor and school mate, Tammy Church, asked me to go to church with her. Pastor Ross Harless was the pastor and, finally, after begging mom and dad, they took our family to church.

Dad had been saved as a boy, but mom, at 35, accepted Christ. It had a powerful influence on her life and all our family. When I was about 11, a classmate, meaning well, told me matter-of-factly, that if I wasn’t saved I would go “straight to hell.” She wasn’t being mean; she was telling me a fact. After I talked to my pastor, I accepted Christ. But, at 11 years old, I didn’t know the true meaning of salvation.

The Lord Got a Hold of Me

At 19, the Lord got a hold of me. I’d been partying with friends, living the life of a 19-year-old college student. I’d stopped going to church since, to me, sleep was more important.

About that time, a college friend invited me to a full-gospel church. A

woman there came up to me and said, “God spoke to me. You are looking for more than you already know.” I had an unbelievable experience with the Holy Spirit. I felt Him come through my hands and arms like a fire. This experience wasn’t about the gifts. For me, it meant becoming more aware of what God gives to us as Christians -- Himself.

All my Christian life, I’ve been up and down, closer and further away from God. I’ve learned, the hard way, that living a consistent Christian life is only possible through God’s Holy Spirit.

My husband, Mike, came into my life when I was 16. We married when I was 20. Through our marriage, God gave us three beautiful girls who are now 17, 20 and 23. As hard as it is being a Christian, a wife, mother and a business woman, little did I realize that the greatest and most serious trial of my life was about to introduce itself to me last fall.

Flash of Light Changes Everything

I had a regular, healthy life. Then in September of 2011, I noticed a flash of light in my right eye. The light flashing went on until the end of October. I was calling the doctor’s office to set up an appointment for my daughter when I mentioned the flash of light in my eye to the nurse. She told me that it needed to be checked that very day!

I went to see my optometrist, Dr. John Ryan, that day. He detected what he thought was a freckle on my eyeball. He sent me to Dr. Williams, a retinal specialist in Hickory. I was a little nervous, but it still didn’t register that it could be anything to be concerned about.

The specialist told me there was a raised freckle on my eye with fluid on it. It could be cancer or colloidal melanoma. His words almost knocked me over. My whole being was shaken, especially my faith. After the tests, I was in shock. His nurse saw the state I was in and said to me, “I don’t know what your religion is, but just have faith in God. Everything is going to be alright.” I know she could have gotten in trouble for even mentioning God to a patient, but I am grateful she did; It was exactly what I needed to hear. Two weeks later, I went to Wake Forest Eye Center to see another specialist, Dr. Greven.

That was a long two weeks. During that time, I was devastated not only with possible cancer of my eye but also with the fact that my faith was so shaken. Those two weeks were very difficult, but I know, now, the Lord worked it out for me that way.

He Used Uncertainty to Strengthen My Faith

The Lord used those fourteen long days to strengthen my faith. He did it by sending some special people into my life. Pastor Rick Barker, husband of one of my co-workers, brought me the book

God’s Medicine about Christ’s healing. Rick talked to me about my faith in Christ. Ann and Dwight Kerr came in the shop and prayed with me. They gave me Andrew Womack’s book about healing, accepting our healing, knowing Jesus died on the cross for all our needs. My husband, Mike, prayed with me, for me, and hugged me all the time. Mike was such a rock for me. Most importantly, I got into the Word and prayed for myself.

The first two nights after I had gotten the diagnoses, I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t function and was distracted. I kept asking, “Why me?” Then I started getting into the Word.

When I could sleep, Satan would wake me up during the night telling me all the bad things that were going to happen. The fear was terrible. I prayed and read the Word all the more. The realization finally came to me that I had power over Satan. As a result, when I would wake up, I would command him to leave me alone in Jesus’ Name. I began accepting what Jesus did for me on the cross for healing. Then, I began to sleep. I knew lots of people were praying for me, and I could feel the peace of God all over me.

Uncertain Surgery, Certain God

Although a biopsy of the eye is not possible, extensive tests can be done. After the test, Dr. Greven told me he could not say 100 percent that it was colloidal melanoma, but I could watch or treat it. He also said if I wanted a second opinion he would send me to Philadelphia. He said if I were his wife he would go ahead and treat the freckle. I felt that God had put me on this path, so I chose to treat the freckle.

The Wake specialist used radiation plaque therapy on the freckle. The delivery system is like a tiny bottle cap with radiation plaques that attached to the eye. We were told there was a high cure rate for this procedure. I chose to go ahead with the procedure even though he told me I could lose my sight in that eye; there could be cataracts or a blind spot. I chose to take the 90 percent chance of it being taken care of once and for all.

The surgery was scheduled for December 5. I reminded the Lord that I had clients and needed to be back to work by the 19th. The surgery took place; the radiation plaque was placed on the freckle for five days. After a five-day hospital stay, I came home on December 9. I went back for a checkup on December 15. My vision was still 20/20 – praise the Lord – and I went back in my shop on December 19, the day I had told the LORD I needed to return to work.

I’m Letting Him Be in Control

This happening in my “okay” life let me know how powerful God is. I’ve always tried to do everything myself, but I couldn’t do anything in this situation. As a Christian, I didn’t allow God to use the power of His grace in my life. I’m a fixer, but I couldn’t fix this.

God allows things to happen but He is not the one who gives people cancer or any other disease. Things happen because we live in a fallen world with original sin. Miracles happen instantly, healings can occur over time but whether it’s a supernatural miracle or through the hands of a trained physician, the ultimate healer is God.

Among the many wonderful things I’ve learned these past months are the truths that God is good and that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. I’ve given up trying to be the fixer. I’m letting Him be in control.

The Priceless Gift

by Susan Call, Watauga County

My Grandma Zell Hamby was a praying woman. She spent more time on her knees than anyone I’ve ever known because she truly understood the power of prayer. Due to the circumstances in her life, she knew the only place she could go was to her Heavenly Father. I didn’t know at the time the spiritual heritage that would be handed down for generations to come, but now we see how God has blessed our family because of her priceless gift of prayer and trust in Him.

She Trusted God as Her Source

Grandpa Hamby died when my Mama was only eight years old and Mawmaw Zell raised my mama and three other children by herself. Her neighbors suggested that she give up her children, but she refused, trusting God as her source.

And the Lord was faithful to provide both physically and spiritually. My mama, Velma Hamby Greene, had to do a lot of the housework and help take care of the other children, because Mawmaw went into a deep depression, which lasted a long time. She went to a tent meeting held by Preacher Richard Hall. When Preacher Hall prayed for Mawmaw, she was healed and totally delivered from depression.

Another time, when my mama was a young girl, she had a growth on her neck. She went to one of Preacher Hall’s meeting and he prayed for her and gave her a prophecy that God would heal her that night if she would put a “prayer cloth” around her neck and believe God that the growth would burst during the night and be healed. The next day, the growth had burst and she was completely healed. Over and over, God supplied everything Mawmaw and her children needed -- from food to healings.

Rich Heritage of Faith

As long as I can remember, church has always been a major part of my life, and it came in part through my Mawmaw Zell’s love for God and His people.

Mawmaw enjoyed the presence of God and was not ashamed to praise the Lord whether she was in church or in a cottage prayer meeting in her home. The prayer meetings were held to pray for special needs within the family, and God always moved mightily. In addition to these prayer meetings, Mammaw and her children attended a shouting Baptist church. When we would sing, people would shout and some would come to the altar for prayer. Sometimes the convicting power of the Holy Spirit was so strong people would come under conviction and get saved.

On one occasion when we were older, Mawmaw came to church to hear my husband, Pastor Chuck Call, preach. He was ministering and praying for people when the Spirit led her to pray for him. He was in the middle of the building but the power of God pushed him all the way over to the other side. I knew my Mawmaw had power with God. She was a prayer-warrior and “knew in whom she believed”. This is my heritage and I wouldn’t take anything in the world for it.

She knew (and showed her family) that if she put Him first, everything else would work out. She “proved the Lord.” He was faithful to her until her death at 83 years old. She stood in the gap – in prayer – when

the cupboards were bare, and she had four children to feed. She had to believe God was able and He always was.

My Journey of Faith

When I was 18, I began to truly walk with the Lord and live out the faith that I had learned from Mawmaw Zell and my own mama.

God has been so good to me and my family. There are so many times He has brought us through hardships. He brought my Daddy through a massive heart attack, through cancer, and through the death of my brother, Ricky.

Another time when we felt led to leave the church Chuck was pastoring to start a new one, He made a way where there seemed to be no way. Chuck felt led to start a new ministry in Ashe Country, so he left a full-time salary at another church and stepped out without any financial support because he knew we had a call from God to start Ashe County Worship Center.

I learned then how my Mawmaw felt all of her life. God was all the support we had and all we needed, and he continued to supply all of our needs. Although at first Chuck’s salary was cut drastically, we never went without. It is so awesome today to see where God has us in ministry just by learning to trust in Him. I’ve “tasted and seen that the Lord is good,” and I know He is faithful.

It was hard to leave the comfort of the known for the unknown, but we knew when we started Ashe County Worship Center that if we would surrender to His will and His calling, He would be all we’d need, and He’d be our source. We both always knew and believed just like my Mawmaw there was more and finally we decided to step into it. Today the church is growing, and our financial needs are being taken care of because God and His people are faithful.

A Priceless Gift

Mawmaw Zell, a woman with no worldly goods, handed down a priceless gift to me: A deep and spiritual Christian heritage. And just like my Mawmaw, I can tell you God is faithful. I’ve failed Him so many times, but God always forgives me. I want to walk out this Christian heritage as my Mawmaw did during her lifetime. I want to pass this heritage down to our son, Will.

Nothing in this world lasts but God. He is the one we are to cling to, trust in, and rely on. By His grace I am going to do that until I see Him face to face.

Trusting an Unseen Hand

by Dave Calvert, Avery County

I’ve got three boys at the house and two daughters who are grown up and moved out. On January 2, 2011, the youngest one came in and said “Daddy won’t play with me” cause I was laying on the couch and it looked like I was falling asleep. One of the other boys said “Mom, you might want to look at dad.”

She came in and thought I was fine. But, when she got about 10 steps away from the area of where I was, she said she felt like something actually just wrapped around her. In the process she stood still and she said it was almost like she had a mini-stroke (she’s had one before). It was very internal -- like something was there, stopping her. She ran back to me and at that point my face was turning blue. I wasn’t breathing.

She kicked the coffee table out of the way and I just kind of fell onto her on the floor. She started barking out commands to the boys. One of them went to get Tia, her sister who lives across the street and one of them called 911. She instinctively did a terrific job to go ahead and work on me. She noticed it was 3:42 and the time stuck out because she wanted to know how long she had.

She got on the phone with 911. She put me in front of the couch and started CPR. After so many times of doing compressions, I came up with a big breath of air. She didn’t know what was going on.

She was still on the phone with 911, and they told her someone was on the way. Tia came over and got ahold of the family. The whole family was at the house in minutes and the EMS arrived.

While they’re working on me, cutting my clothes off and everything, Jenn ran into the other room to get clothes for the hospital. She was in the bedroom and when she heard them say “Clear.” She came running out and as she’s running out, one of the guys grabs me and “Pow” they hit me.

So, I’ve already died once in her arms. My heart stopped again. They hit me and they shocked me and they brought me back up. And I’m in cardiac arrest or flat-lined or whatever you want to call it, so in a matter of minutes, I had died twice.

I was bucking and screaming and giving them a hard time. They flew a helicopter in to take me to Johnson City and Jenn took off in her car so she could get there quickly.

Our preacher called Jenn as she was racing to Johnson City and said “The helicopter hasn’t left yet.” Apparently I was in the back of one of the ambulances and had flat-lined again. So, I died three times in a half an hour.

They hit me again, and I came back to life, but was thrashing wildly about. One of the guys who I know came in and said, “Mad dawg, calm down.” I recognized his voice and chilled out. I sat up and almost tore the sleeve out of the gurney and said “I’m going home.”

They flew me to Johnson City and took care of me for the first 24 hours. They say in a situation like mine that 10 in 100 are able to survive. Six of those 10 have brain damage of some kind. I managed to avoid both death and brain damage.

It took me a couple of days to get better. What had happened is I was potassium depleted, dehydrated, and I have an arrhythmia which I’ve had for years and known about for the past four years. So my heart had stopped.

Out of the Mouth of Babes . . .

But there are a couple catches. About six months before this happened, my son Elijah, four-and-a-half at the time, was in the garage with me. We’re on the workbench and he said, “Daddy you’re going to die.” Just completely out of the blue.

I said, “Excuse me?” and he repeated “Daddy, you’re going to die.” I said, “Why do you say that?” and he just shrugged his shoulders and went back to what he was doing. I thought it was odd, but it was like switching on a light switch and then switching it off; he just wasn’t interested in talking about it.

So, about three weeks later, a similar situation happened again. We were just piddling around the house and Elijah looked at me again and said, “Daddy, you’re going to die.” And I said, “Why do you say that, son?” and he said, “I don’t know, daddy, but you’re gonna die.” And at that point it spooked me. So I said “Elijah, when they first found out that I had arrhythmia, I almost died then.” (He would have been two then and wouldn’t remember). But he said, “No, Daddy, that’s not it.”

So, I thought that was really odd. And I talked to Ron Greene a pastor friend of mine after that happened with Elijah. And we talked about it, but never made any sense out of it.

God Was Holding His Hand

About three weeks after my heart failure, we were sitting at the dinner table and we were trying to help them through the traumatic situation they’d seen. So we were talking about it when Jenn said something about “Your daddy dying.” Elijah said, “No, Mommy, daddy didn’t die. God was holding his hand.”

And she said, “Excuse me?”

And Elijah got up from the table and he took me by the hand and took us all out to the living room where this had happened. He said, “Mommy,” and he points down to where I had fallen. And he said, “Mommy, daddy was lying here, and God was here and God was holding daddy’s hand.”

My son knew that I was going to die, and he also knew that God was going to be there to save me.

I’ve always felt that children are innocent and children have blessings that we as adults rationalize everything we do and, because of that, we fail to see things that are probably just gifts in front of us.

God Shows Up, Again

After my heart failed, Jenn got involved in nursing immediately because if something like that was going to happen again, she wanted to be prepared. She ended up getting her phlebotomy license and started working at Watauga Medical Center.

After the holidays last year, our oldest boy Austin started getting sick. He couldn’t hold anything down and kept talking about soreness in his stomach. After about nine days, we went to the doctor. She couldn’t find anything wrong, so she ordered blood work that would take about 24 hours to complete.

Jenn looked at me and said, “Take him to the hospital, now.” I didn’t understand it, but since they knew Jenn we were able to do blood work at the hospital in about 20 minutes. Nothing was conclusive, so the doctor told us to bring him back in the next time he threw up. Forty-five minutes later, he threw up.

They did x-rays and saw a mass in his intestines. Jenn wrote on Facebook, “Pray for my son; we’re in the hospital and they don’t know what’s going on.” A simple request, but God moved through it.

The doctors were about to take Austin in for an MRI, when Jenn got a

strange call from sheriff Kevin Frye. He’d watched a show that morning about a young man who’d swallowed magnets, so he called and said, “Jenn, I know this going to sounds strange, but I feel like God is asking me to ask if you if there’s any chance that he ate magnets?” Jenn discounted it immediately, but Kevin said, “I just feel compelled to ask you.”

Suddenly, something clicked for Jenn. An MRI would suck any metal right out of his body and kill him, so she ran up to the doctor and said, “Magnets.” She had realized at Christmas her mom had given the boys a game that had gemstone looking things that had magnets in them. The doctor looked at the x-ray again, saw the pattern of the magnets, and called off the MRI.

It turns out Austin had swallowed 25 of these and they had grouped together in his intestines. They were slowly shredding his intestines and causing pain and a slow death. They did exploratory surgery that evening, and did surgery the next day. His colon was cut in two, the magnets had kept everything together, but he’s still healing.

Trusting an Unseen Hand

My story is about the way that God has a plan, even in situations we don’t understand. So, had my heart failure not happened, Jenn would have never gone into the medical field. And had she not gone into the medical field, we’d have waited 24 hours for the blood tests to come back and Austin would have died.

Things happen in life and it’s easy to say “Why me?” I have no idea what God’s plan is. The only thing I can tell is, when he speaks, you gotta listen. We believe in God but because we can’t see him, feel him, or touch him, we sort of believe, but there’s always that small part that doesn’t fully trust.

But, because of what I’ve been through, that part isn’t in me anymore. I know when I die, I die. But I got to experience, for a very brief time, a peace that I cannot explain. I’m completely at peace with God. So, having faith means you get to experience something greater than anything on this world. I’ll share this story anytime. If this brings hope, if it brings 1 person closer to God, then it was worth it’s weight ten fold.

Jesus is My Protector

by Helen Marie Reavis, Ashe County

From early childhood I believed God protected me. When I was a child, he protected me from abuse from family members. During those terrible and frightening times, my hiding place was either in a closet with lit Christmas lights or in the back of the church, which was about 12 or 15 blocks from where we lived.

Thwarted Expectations

By the time I was 18 years old, I was married with two little boys. I was searching for safety and protection from my dysfunctional home life. I was so proud and so stupid that I thought marrying this young guy would bring me a house in the country and children. But because of our youth, his drug use, and other problems, we both got involved with other people. Our youth and sins prevented us from having a life together. Sadly, the protection I was seeking from my young husband wasn’t going to happen. We got divorced and I was alone with my two small boys. Some time later, I met a man who I thought just maybe would be the one to protect me and take care of me and my boys. We married, and, although my doctor told me I couldn’t have more children, the Lord gave us a son. Both my husband and I became believers in a little Baptist church in Elmer, New Jersey.

We were having a rough go of it and decided we needed a new beginning in a new place. That place was North Carolina and in 1984, on Easter Day, with three kids, furniture and great expectations we moved to the country in Ashe County, a place I had always longed for. My new husband and I were convinced the Lord was going to use us in this new location; however, a year later he left me.

He Alone Is My Hiding Place

Hiding in the church down the street as a child didn’t protect me; hiding in a closet didn’t protect me; two different husbands didn’t protect me; even kneeling at an altar didn’t protect me. I was at the lowest point of my life.

It was at this low point in my life that God mercifully opened my eyes to the truth: I had not put my trust in Him. I was trying to find safety and protection in a place, at an altar, a family, a man, a new place to live or a trusted best friend. God, and only God, could and would provide safety and protection for me. He showed me that He alone was my Hiding Place.

Time of Growth and Enlightenment

Even though my family asked me to return to New Jersey, I knew I was to stay in North Carolina. After my husband left, my three boys and I had to depend on God and each other. It was hard but it was a learning time in my life.

A couple years later, my husband returned, but we again came to see our marriage wasn’t going to work. Our youngest son chose to stay with his dad, which was very painful for me. I asked the Lord to find me a little basement apartment with sliding glass doors and with owners who lived upstairs so I wouldn’t be afraid. I found exactly what I had prayed for in a newspaper ad. The night I moved in, I cried and sobbed into my pillow all night long -- not because I was afraid, but because I was so overwhelmed with emotion and the sorrow that my boys were no longer with me – one was in the military, one was with family in New Jersey, and my baby was with his father – it was all too much for my broken heart to fathom.

My husband had told me for years that I was stupid and he denigrated my heritage, which is Polish. He told me that I was “a nobody” and that no one would ever want me. But, day by day, hour by hour, the Lord proved

He was truly my Protector. He turned my life around.

Hope for the Abused

Sometime later, the Lord brought James into my life. He has loved me and worked to provide for me and protect me. His care is something I’d never known in my life.

Now, after all these years, trials, heartaches and illnesses, which included cancer, celiac disease, and fibromyalgia, God has shown me in numerous ways that He is the one I can truly count on as my Protector.

When the opportunity came to manage Threads of Hope, a thrift shop to support a domestic abuse shelter, I jumped at it. As a former mentallyand emotionally-abused woman, I knew what the women in the shelter felt and thought about themselves.

For me, managing the shop is a ministry. It’s my chance to help domestic abuse victims and let them know they have worth and can have a life worth living.

As I look back at my life today, it is amazing to see how the Lord has turned everything around. James and I, together, have seven children, 15 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I feel protected and safe and my heart has been healed. I have no bitterness toward people in my past who contributed to my pain. I’ve come full circle. I now minister to those whose suffering I know all too well.

God, at my “over-50” age, has answered the prayers from when I was a little girl kneeling at the altar. I asked to know Him. He is my life and Protector.

The Authority I Always Needed

by David Davis, Watauga County

I was six years old and had fallen asleep easily despite my siblings and me being at a neighbor’s house. I hadn’t been told why. Awakened in the middle of night, a policeman escorted the five of us home. We entered the front door of the house and smashed furniture lay in four of the six rooms of the house. Wasn’t much Dad could wreck in the kitchen or small bathroom, I guessed. The radio, 1950s lime green and plastic, now had a shattered front dial, and all its guts could be studied through the splintered side and rear. I stood where we usually sat as family listening to that radio. A red light from a police car traveled across the wall repeatedly every few seconds and fascinated me. Mom and my oldest brother, who was nearly twenty talked with the police. Mom sat in one of the two surviving dining room chairs with a look on her face I didn’t understand.

Dad had been arrested for public drunkenness and domestic violence, and I was beginning to learn about authority or the lack thereof. Mom tried certainly. However, in a few short years just she and I lived at home. My older siblings had all moved out, and Dad had ended up in a VA mental ward in Tennessee. She struggled with her secretary’s pay to keep the roof over us and food in the fridge. My parents divorced and mom remarried; in part, she told me so that I could have a dad. Pop, as I called him, was nice enough; but true of many blended family situations, he and I just didn’t connect. I kept to myself and did enough right through high school that my parents pretty much left me alone.

At thirteen I started going to church on my own--Mom and Pop weren’t interested but were willing to provide me transportation there and back. We had moved in with Pop in a different suburb of Atlanta than had been my childhood home. I made new friends in school and followed them into their activities, which meant Fairburn United Methodist Church youth group. The message of the gospel of love from God resulting in salvation didn’t make into my understanding until I attended a summer church camp two years later before my junior year. There I made a commitment to Jesus Christ, yet I never seemed connected with school or the folks in church. I tried or thought I did. I did all the correct stuff: attended school and caused no trouble (well, nothing serious), went to football games and dances, joined clubs, attended youth group faithfully, did church volunteering. I went to Sunday School and 11:00 church service, Sunday night worship and Wednesday night choir practice regularly. Most folks, my parents included, thought I was headed into Christian ministry. Inside my head, though, an odd mix of thoughts about the world around me swirled non-stop. In my heart stirred a lethal mix of what has plagued humans since the Fall; fear, pride, lust. I hadn’t placed the issues of my heart into the hands of God. The teaching I received in church did not instruct me on how to submit my heart to the authority of God. It did mention His authority, I guess. Despite my profession of faith, I don’t think I had a heart to listen. I thought I was doing okay.

My Lack of Authority Lifestyle

As a high school senior, I won a drama scholarship competition that paid for the first year of college at a private, Christian college in north Georgia. Attending there, I spent time with Christians at a nightly event called Vespers, and I took a world religion course which

examined Judaism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. I decided all world religions carried a common theme--the Golden Rule. I looked in my still sinful heart and decided Christianity’s teaching was too narrow. I needed to be a kind person, but I was free otherwise to do as I pleased. By my second year at college, I hung out regularly with my drama department friends and took devil’s advocate positions in classroom discussions picking at my Christian classmates’ values. Near the end of that second year, I couldn’t pay tuition for another quarter. With my grades showing the effect of not caring about much of anything, I dropped out of school and took off for Wyoming. Three months there, then on to San Francisco; and five months later, I moved again, this time to New York City. From dropping out early in 1975 through half of 1979, I never stayed any one place longer than a few months. I would get a job, get a few hundred dollars ahead, then move on. I lived in Wyoming, San Francisco--twice, New York, N.Y., Atlanta, Key West, Washington, D.C., and on two occasions, away from the big city in rural settings of Georgia and Arkansas. There wasn’t an answer to my snarling questions anywhere I went. Some of the time, I was just “on the road”, sleeping in campgrounds if I had some extra money, beside the road if I was nearly broke.

I figured out I was having trouble connecting to people--the fear, pride, lust thing I’m sure--and at the time; I always blamed my dad. I tried visiting him. He had been discharged from the hospital, but he remained locked on the other side of his mental condition. I lived around the “party.” I swung back and forth between withdrawn from others or partying with many people for a good time. However, that lack-of-authority way I lived developed into my own substance abuse. I headed directionless into a lonely, empty manhood in which I took insane risks for no good reason. An early grave entered my thoughts as a probable destination.

To Boone in 1979

I started reading the Bible again in January of 1979 in the midst of a growing fear and anxiety over life. I sought solace. I had tried escaping and it wasn’t working. A friend along the way had mentioned once that Boone was a beautiful place. Nearly out of money again and not working, I looked at a map to find Boone. I liked the location and bought a bus ticket to North Carolina. The Greyhound bus stop was the parking lot of the Long Vue Motel in June of 1979. (About where the Holiday Inn is located.) I stepped off the bus and noticed a huge windmill on top of a nearby mountain. I started walking in the direction of that windmill. Everything I owned in life was in a back pack, and my wallet held $65.00. I told myself if I didn’t get a job within a week, I would head to Asheville since it was a bigger town. I found work my first full day in Boone working in a restaurant kitchen.

I hung out for the summer not sure I would stay in Boone. In August, I ended up going to a Christian concert held in I. G. Greer at ASU, put on by a small independent, fellowship known then as Watauga Christian Center. The first person greeting me on the steps as I entered the concert met my eyes and something in my heart stirred. I could not remember ever seeing such stability and peace in a person’s eyes. The songs these people sung pulled awake inside me a desire to be with God. An altar call at the end created a huge conflict in my heart; and I resisted the call to the front strongly. However, I did not want to resist my curiosity about this group. A deep feeling that God was my only hope and these people knew the way to Him pushed me to meet them on their turf and experience more of what I had seen and heard at ASU. A week later on Sunday morning, I hitch-hiked 421 East toward

Winston-Salem. I decided that was the correct direction and figured, I’d find it. I did because a young man named Mark picked me up as he headed there for worship!

That first morning I was amazed. WCC proved to be a passionate, dedicated, and lively group of about 25 young married couples, some with small children, a smattering of middle-aged couples, and a bunch of college students. They called themselves nondenominational; the pastor was from a Bible school in Alaska (Alaska has Bible schools?) When they worshiped, the radiance on their up-turned faces competed with the sun streaming in the big, plate glass windows of the converted pool hall.

This is Church?

The meeting literally rocked with excitement. This is church!? I realized after thirty minutes or so, that I had been fully engaged emotionally without ever determining any reason to be so.

For two weeks I attended everything these people did: three meetings a week, nursing home visitation, choir practice, building maintenance, hiking with college students and dinners-hanging out in homes. On my third Sunday when Tommy Gable, the pastor gave the altar call, I faced my first quandary. Was I saved in that Methodist church at fifteen? Did I need to respond to the altar call? The music played softly; he beckoned for decisions for Christ, and my thoughts deepened into a theological musing over what is “salvation.” He moved on to an invitation to be water baptized. My hand shot up! Thus began my journey of walking out life in submission to the loving Spirit of God.

I have now lived in Boone for 33 years. I met and married my wife over 30 years ago, and we have reared our five children here. I have learned clearly that the authority I have always needed is found in the yoke of Jesus, an easy burden of being a loving person, freed from my own undisciplined selfishness, by the redemptive work of the Cross and the power of His Resurrection.

God Holds Our Future in His Hands

by Mitch Poe, Ashe County

My story is like a lot you hear about here in the Bible belt. I was raised in a Christian home and it had a great effect on my life. I always went to church. My parents taught my sister and me the basics of being a Christian. We had a Leave It to Beaver kind of life. We ate meals together, spent time together. It helped me realize the importance of a Christian family.

At nine years old, I made a profession of faith. I tried to live the Christian life on my own and did pretty well at it until I faced the big giant of peer pressure in high school. It was during this time that I began to struggle with “did I have faith?” This struggle continued in college where I struggled with whether to be a “good boy” or “bad boy.”

God Was Dealing with Me

Despite not walking with God, He never left me, even though I didn’t deserve His oversight. The whole time I was growing up, I looked at my parents as an example of a Christian family. They weren’t perfect, but I knew where my roots were located.

After college, we had moved from Mill Creek to Bald Mountain and were attending the church there. In 1991, Pastor Lawrence Goodman became the pastor, and God began to use his preaching to bring me to Him. At that time, I also worked Ashe County Motor with Howard Turnmire and Russell Vannoy. They weren’t perfect men, but they were men of faith who ran their business in a godly manner. God used the move, Bald Mountain Baptist Church, and working with two Christian men to influence my life to begin the process of bringing me fully to Him.

In 1992, Pastor Goodman was preaching a revival in a nearby church. His daughter, Kim, and I had started dating and she wanted to go so we went. As I listened to Linda Blackburn’s testimony, I realized it was my testimony. Linda tried to live the Christian life but God wasn’t in it. The first key touched on the piano found me at the altar. I believe that is when I was really saved. It’s been a difficult journey at times but a good one. In January of 1993, Kim and I were married and I am very proud to have her as my wife. The Lord has given us three wonderful children. Our first was a daughter. Her name is Savannah.

God Was in Control

On June 19, 1999, I believe with all my heart that Satan wanted to destroy Savannah. One Saturday morning, I was mowing the yard on the riding mower. Kim, who was nine months pregnant with our second child, was laying with Savannah in the yard. Kim went back in the house, and I thought Savannah went with her.

I heard Savannah scream. I looked around and saw I had backed over her. I grabbed her up and yelled at Kim to call 911. I was pleading with God to send someone to help us. I ran into the garage, and when I turned around, our neighbor, Bob Furches, was standing there. He had heard me screaming and had run up to our house. He asked what he could do.

I told him we had to get her to the hospital, and he drove all three of us to Ashe Memorial about 10 minutes away. God had Bob standing in our garage at the very minute we needed him. God was in control even though it seemed like everything was out of control. The Lord brought us through those terrible hours at the hospital.

After Savannah’s surgery, I was in her room. In my mind, I could see Satan point his finger at me and say, “You did this.” At just the right moment, Kim came and took me by the hand. She told me that I was not to blame, but that Satan wanted to hurt Savannah and our family, and it wasn’t my fault. Kim told me that God had saved two toes, and the scar on her leg could have been much worse. She will never know what her words at that moment meant to me.

I worried that Savannah wouldn’t want to wear flip-flops, that she’d be embarrassed about missing toes. But she loves wearing flip-flops! God has used that horrible time in our lives to teach us about Him and His faithfulness to us. It also increased my faith immensely.

Asking “Why Not Us” Instead of “Why US”

Savannah’s injury put everything in perspective. Kim and I came to the place that we asked “why not us” rather than “why us”. That time was a major faith builder in my life. After we brought Savannah home from the hospital, I looked at the shorts she was wearing when she was hurt. There was a big hole in the side of them. The mower came close to cutting her entire leg off, but God said, “That’s enough.” Satan could do no more than God allowed. We will share that testimony the rest of our lives. God has been faithful to us in every way.

Seven years later, our second child, Malachi, was diagnosed with WPW (Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome), a heart condition that affects the electrical pathways in the heart.

We took him to the Boone satellite office of Brenner’s Children’s Hospital for treatment. We also fell on our knees asking God to heal him. We truly believed God had healed him but when we went back to the hospital for further tests, we learned he still had the heart condition. We had a difficult time with the fact that Malachi wasn’t healed by God’s hand. It made it difficult for either of us to pray. But God used all of that to draw me closer to Him and to increase my faith. Malachi still has episodes with his heart, but there are surgical procedures that can be done to help him in the future. We are continuing to pray about those possibilities.

Pray For Your Children

Sometimes I think a trial should have an evident and immediate result. But that is not always true. My dad and I were talking about prayer as we drove down the road some time ago. He said, “Prayer works, son, no doubt.” He went on to tell me about his mother praying for him and his brother and sister when they were children.

Mamaw Poe had learned that getting sunburned as a child could cause skin cancer when people became adults. She took Dad and the other children to a place “up the hollar” and got on her knees. She asked God to forgive her for allowing her children to get sunburned. She asked that none of them get skin cancer.

About 25 years ago, Dad got melanoma. It was removed and he was declared cancer free. Seven years later, he found a lump under his arm. Again, it was melanoma. His doctor told him he shouldn’t be alive, but his body had encapsulated the cancer and kept it from spreading. Dad took some shots at Duke Hospital and, finally, was pronounced cancer free. God had answered his mother’s prayer.

Dad used this story in his own life to tell me to pray for my children even when they are young. God will answer those prayers in years to come. I’ve done that for our three kids, Savannah, Malachi and Titus. I know God will answer those prayers because He is faithful to His word.

Trusting a Faithful God

My number one goal in life is the one Jesus gave me. That goal is the responsibility to lead my children down the same path of faith in God that my parents led me. I’ve failed many times. It’s taken me 19 years of marriage to learn that, without God, nothing works. My wife and I have made a commitment to pray together as a couple and have devotions with our children every day. When we started, we hadn’t prayed but for a few days and God began breaking down barriers between us as husband and wife and telling us what to do in our business.

It’s been amazing what God has done in our lives in every area. The Christian walk is a learning experience. The God of the universe holds my future in His hands. He holds my family and all those I love in His hands. I’ve learned to trust Him with everything in my life.

Here to Ride

by Pastor Ron Greene and Pastor Lander Heafner, Avery County

The Chaplaincy Program in Avery County seemed to be ordained by God, and everything fell into place just the way He planned. Dennis Quackenboos, pastor of Mountainside Lutheran Church, approached Sheriff Frye about starting a chaplaincy program at the same time that Sheriff Frye had been speaking about it with his chiefs of police. A plan was created, pastors in the community were invited to an informational breakfast, and it snowballed into the program we have today.

Our program is a stand-alone chaplaincy core with guidelines and by-laws. We have received training from other chaplain program leaders and law enforcement agencies. Avery County Chaplaincy members include pastors from Southern Baptist churches, Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian churches – all working together to minister to these public servants as they serve us.

Who We Serve

Our chaplains are solely dedicated to serving law-enforcement officials – from the detention officers, to the patrol officers, to 911 employees, and sheriff’s officers.

None of the chaplains want to be police officers, and we don’t step-over the line between being pastors and police. When we ride with officers, we are at their discretion and we do what they tell us to do. Sometimes it’s just to sit in the patrol car and pray. We know this is a calling from the Lord. It’s not for everyone.

How We Serve

It is our intent to offer a Christ-like presence to the officers, to offer support and encouragement. We wait for them to open the door of their lives to us and then, after trust is developed, they feel safe enough to talk to us freely without fear of it ever being told to their superior officers or anyone else. While we don’t leave “pastor” at home, we talk in a neutral sense and don’t preach at them.

Officers talk to the chaplains about their marriage troubles, coping with the job, their finances, and a variety of things. They ask about

God, the church and the Bible. One of the questions they ask often is about evil. They see so much evil. We take them back to the garden and how it all began. It may take years to even scratch the surface of their questions but we are committed to giving them the best answers we can, and are willing to say when we don’t know the answers to their questions.

It has taken about two years to prove to the men and women that we truly care for them and their families. We make hospital visits when family members are sick, and visit their elderly parents. We try to be involved with most aspects of their lives in order to develop a sense of trust. Showing that we care about them and their loved ones goes a long way in them allowing us to minister to them.

We can walk into the sheriff’s department or the police office and say, “I’m here to ride,” and they welcome our presence. They even have come to trust us enough to invite us into staff meetings where we are available if anyone wants to talk to us afterwards. The chaplains want officers to know that we are part of the team.

Why We Serve

The Chaplaincy Program helps law enforcement officers deal with the stress and pressures of the job, including the three great stressors – divorce, stress and isolation. The divorce rate for male law enforcement officers is 70 percent and 80 percent for female officers. Many divorces are related to the major stress law enforcement officers feel.

Stress is a killer – not a bullet. The suicide rate is very high in this line of work due to the stress both on the job and, at times, at home. The isolation officers feel as they do their job can be suffocating. At times, they have to arrest friends and even family members. Unfortunately, many times, their own communities don’t appreciate what they do and therefore they become a community within themselves. They live on an island and have to look to each other for friendship and fellowship because no one on the outside understands what they go through. Day in and day out, they see the worst of society and it causes them to withdraw to themselves.

There is such a need for Christ and the hope He brings. This program was created to bring that hope to the servants who protect our community, and it’s what we represent when we ride along with the officers.

We want to brag on our law enforcement --- from the town police to the sheriff’s office and the highest promotions to beginning offers – we are proud of them. All the pastors in the chaplaincy organization are dedicated to the police and to each other as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whenever we are called to ride, one of us is available. We care about them.

My path has been an interesting one. I was saved at 10 years old and called into full-time Christian service when I was 15. God was leading me on a path towards student ministry. I struggled a long time with it but wanted to be in God’s will for my life, so I have continued on that path.

Preparation for this path included obtaining a seminary degree from Emmanuel Christian Seminary in Johnson City, TN. I went there with plans to be a campus minister, but I saw that I didn’t have to be behind a pulpit to do ministry and by all means not campus ministry.

College, in the beginning, turned my faith-life upside-down. The classes I took and people I met all challenged what I thought was true about God and the Bible. At one point, I felt that I had lost my faith entirely.

At first I was devastated. Then, I went to the scriptures. I went to the crucifixion and the cruelty of it. I took classes in Hebrew and Greek so I could read the original writings. Ministers were of no help to me. The Holy Spirit led me through God’s Word as I sought my own answers. It was a time provided by Him to develop my own personal faith in Jesus.

God

Presents Himself in Untraditional Ways

When I was in graduate school, I came to Lees-McRae to be resident director. I had

God is Directing My Path

by Allison Norris, Avery County

attended Lees-McRae for my undergraduate studies and was excited to return as a full-time employee since I had fallen in love with the school. One of my first efforts as a resident director was to develop relationships. I had no intention of doing ministry, but opportunities for student ministry just kept appearing in my life.

Lees-McRae provides an environment that is very open to talking about the Lord. The opportunity to find answers is ample and students are encouraged to ask questions. I’ve seen students who, when they began going to school here, didn’t believe anything. After they graduated, many had found faith. I learned recently of a young man who, while attending school here, seemed the most unlikely student to have a relationship with the Lord but now has gone into ministry, attended seminary, and is pastoring his first church.

Every student is different; every story is different. Students from all over the world come here to school. For many of them, being in an atmosphere where faith is openly discussed has opened their eyes. I believe that this is a mission field and God uses non-traditional ways to present Himself to many students.

As a very busy leader on campus, I try daily to find a way to develop my relationship with the Lord. I don’t always have a dedicated time to spend with Him but keep myself open to grow in my faith. I ask the question often, “What is the Lord trying to teach me?”

Growing in Faith

I watch our students to see where each of

them is in relation to God. Many of them are more opened minded than I was in college. My mind was closed. It was hard for me to realize that not everyone believed what I held to be true.

When I was in college, I realized that I didn’t know what I believed. I had my parent’s faith, but I had never forged my own. I struggled with a lack of being convinced within myself of what I’d been taught as I grew up in church.

Because of this, and other reasons of course, I don’t proselytize. Others know I am a Christian by the way I live my life. There are many opportunities to let people know we are Christians – we just have to seek our own way to show it to the world.

While in seminary, I took cross-cultural communication classes. In them I learned about sharing my faith with people of different faiths. Each student comes from a different perspective. Working on a college campus has opened my mind to see that God can use everyone’s life for His purposes.

Rather than talking, if I can make a difference in a student’s life, I listen. Anyone can listen.

Validating Faith

I am burdened for the college kids I see who are 19 and 20, but going on 10 in regards to their faith. I understand that they have to know what they believe.

Even Thomas, one of our Lord’s disciples, had to validate his faith.

It wasn’t Thomas’ lack of faith that prompted him to say what he did. But, instead, it was his earnest desire to have a faith based on the Truth. That has been the path the LORD has had me on since I was saved at 10 years old. As Psalms 27:11 says, “Teach me your way O Lord; lead me in a straight path.”

I’m on His path and He leads me everyday whether I see or understand it or not.

God Broke My Heart for Young People

by Neal Hatfield, Ashe County

It all began with my salvation. As an eighteen-year-old freshman in Orlando, Florida, I had never heard the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I only knew about Jesus as a historical figure. At that point in my life, I had only met two Christians who loved the Lord. That summer I got a job in the character department at Walt Disney World. Sue, who is now my wife, was the original Alice in Wonderland in the Electrical Light Parade in 1978. Dressed as Alice, she would ride through the park two times a night on top of a 20 foot high mushroom. My assignment was to drive Alice in Wonderland’s mushroom.

One night when the parade was over and I was helping her off of the mushroom, Sue looked at me and said, “I need you to know something about me. I have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, and I belong to Him.” Little did I know that the Holy Spirit would use that moment to plant a seed in my heart that would later draw me to Christ. Her words were like a foreign language to me. I knew nothing about what she was saying, and I laughed at her statement.

“I Want Your Jesus”

Sue and I developed a friendship, and for one year I deeply questioned her faith but could not budge her. I would think of questions that I thought would show weakness in her faith, but when I asked them, she would immediately respond with deep biblical answers that I could not contradict.

My god, at that time in my life, was the pursuit of an athletic dream. I sustained a knee injury that resulted in major surgery to rebuild it. After a week in the hospital recovering from surgery, I went straight to her home, knocked on her door, and said, “I want your Jesus.” For the first time in my life, the surgery caused me to think about the possibility of dying. On one knee in her living room, because the other leg was in a cast from the groin to the toe, this was my prayer of repentance to the Lord: “Lord, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I am so ashamed of my sin. Jesus, please come into my heart and forgive me.”

Calling, Training, Blessing

My salvation in May 1979 was a radical change that flipped my world upside down. Three months later the Lord called me to preach as a nineteen-year-old who knew nothing about the Scriptures. I was in a service that night when Dr. Lester Roloff had young, teenage ladies who had been saved out of vile and tragic lives give their testimonies one by one about how Jesus had changed their life. That night, sitting in a pew, God broke my heart and called me to give my life to sharing Christ with young people.

Shortly after that, during a church service, the pastor asked the congregation to turn to a particular book in the Bible, but I couldn’t find it. A six-year-old kid sitting behind me tapped me on the shoulder and held out his hand without saying a word. I gave him my Bible, and he immediately found the book and chapter that the Pastor had indicated. I made up my mind that would never happen again. For months, before I walked into church, I would put my finger in the table of contents so I could quickly find the Scripture that the pastor was speaking from.

God’s call for me to preach was dramatic, and I knew it required great preparation. I enrolled in Heritage College and began to pursue my bachelor of science in Biblical Studies. I had the incredible privilege of sitting under a great professor named Dr. Harry F. McGee. He was a cousin of Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Many years prior, Dr. Harry F. McGee taught Dr. Billy Graham in a small Bible college in Florida. He became a spiritual mentor to me, and I had the privilege of driving him to all of his meetings as well as sitting under his teaching. He poured his life into a young, ignorant preacher, and God used Dr. McGee to mold me into the man that I am today.

In 1980, I had the privilege of marrying Alice in Wonderland, the lady who led me to Christ. We have been married thirty-two years, and the Lord has blessed us with three incredible children. Our oldest, Jake and his wife Becky, are attending Southeastern Seminary. Our son, Justin, is serving with Ken McNabb, a great Christian horse clinician in Wyoming. Often you will see Justin with Ken on his RFD TV show. Our daughter, Joanna, has a deep passion for Jesus and is very active in the college ministry at our home church, Mount Vernon Baptist in Boone. For years Sue and I have prayed III John 4, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

Birth of a Vision

We stepped out by faith in 1986, leaving a great ministry and strong church in Orlando, Florida to begin a Christian camp and conference center. Prior to founding the conference center, as a youth pastor and wife working with young people, we would see the fruit of our labor come forth every year as we took teenagers to Christian camps. The Lord broke our heart, and we began the ministry of Uplands Reach Conference Center.

While sitting in the office of a dear friend in Jacksonville, Florida, we shared the vision of beginning the conference center. He asked us what the name of it was. We hadn’t thought through that yet, so He asked where we envisioned the ministry being located. We told him in the mountains of North Carolina. He said that meant the property would be on mountains and have water. He opened the thesaurus and saw the synonyms “uplands” for mountains and “reach” for water. Thus, in an office in Jacksonville, Florida, the name Uplands Reach Conference Center was born.

My mom and dad had just retired and purchased a piece of land on Vannoy Road in Wilkes County, North Carolina. They offered us the chance to start the conference center on that piece of land. We lived in a small 1969 travel trailer and began the journey of faith to build

(Continued from Pg. 28)

Uplands Reach. A few years later, as the Lord blessed with growth, our ministry was able to purchase 110 acres off of Old Highway 16 in Wilbar. Uplands Reach is a 501c3 non-profit ministry led by a godly Board of Directors: Pastor Sherrill Wellborn, Pastor Robert Duncan, Pastor Dean Crane, and Pastor Rick Miller, as well as Sue and myself.

Debt-Free Ministry

We instituted a policy of building the ministry debt free. In the last twenty-five years we have seen the miraculous hand of the Lord over and over again through extensive grading projects, construction of a large multipurpose gymnasium, office complex, four dormitories, and so much more. All of these facilities are a vehicle to bring young people to Jesus Christ.

This year, both on and off campus, we project that we will work with 25,000 teenagers, not including children and adults. I have the wonderful privilege of speaking at about thirty revival meetings a year in churches all over the nation. Sue and I stand amazed that the Lord would use us to reach this generation with the life-changing power of Jesus Christ.

Creating a Generation of World-Changers

In 1967, one hundred thousand young people gathered in San Francisco for what was called the “Summer of Love.” Sadly, they learned how to smoke marijuana, use LSD, be sexually immoral, and turn their backs on the spiritual foundation of this great nation. At the end of that summer, those one hundred thousand young people left and traded the Biblical foundation of America for darkness.

The Lord has spoken deeply to mine and Sue’s heart asking us this question: Why can’t we be used of Him to raise up an army of one

hundred thousand young people who will be world changers for the cause of Christ, bring this nation back to her biblical roots, and bring about a spiritual awakening? It is Jesus Christ alone who will bring about this change.

Young people today are searching not just for something that they can believe in, but instead for something they believe in so strongly that they are willing to lay their life down for it. This generation desperately needs a spiritual and moral compass that only comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ and a love for His precious Word, the Bible.

New Directions

After twenty-five incredible years in Wilkes County, we believe the Lord is opening the doors for us to move the ministry of the conference center up the mountain into Ashe County. This will enable us to offer the young people an incredible summer climate and allow us to use the beautiful gifts of God, like the New River and the mountains, to expand our programming. We believe this move will allow us to triple our outreach in the first five years.

Pray with us using the Scripture Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” We stand amazed that in 2011, both on and off campus, we were able to see over 1,000 precious souls give their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ. Their salvation, like mine, was a radical transformation because they embraced Jesus Christ who said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me.”

We would love the privilege to work with your young people at Uplands Reach and serve in your churches so Christ can be exalted. I encourage you to go to our website www.uplandsreach.org and see the great things that the Lord is doing. Pray that our next twenty-five years will be our greatest years in reaching this generation with the life-changing power of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.