In June of 63 I joined the Army for three years to earn 36mo. of the G.I. bill for College.  I returned to Girard in May of 66 with injured feet and a damaged disk from a fall while stationed in Europe.  I started my freshman year at Pitt State that fall and I drank & partied my way through to a 1.9gpa. In November of 66 I received Jesus Christ as my Savior and He changed my heart.  It was too late for the grades a PSU, so I decided to go to John Brown U and become a school teacher and maybe lead a youth group or something.

 While I was haying for Martin Schifferdecker in August of 67 he gave me a catalog from Calvary Bible College.  I prayed about it and was enrolled in CBC as a sophomore 3 days later.  I had no intention of going into any type of ministry but wanted to learn more about God and the Bible.  My second year there God let me know He wanted me to preach (I did not believe it ether).  That required taking Greek, you might remember English was not my strong point in school.  I told the Lord if He wanted me to preach I would need His help with the Greek, when I received an A in Greek I dedicated my life to Him.  I wish I could tell you it was all easy after that but a car accident and a bad motorcycle crash caused me to leave school at the mid term of my senior year.  After a year of recovery in Girard at my folk’s house and my father’s first hear attack, and I ended up running Lightning’s Implement Co. in May of 71. 

 That summer while working with the Girard Bible Church youth group I met the girl of my dreams from of all places Arma.  Susan Tersina and I were married three months later, before she could meet or speak to any of you. 

Lightning’s closed in 75 and I went to work at the Girard Hospital for 2 years and became interim pastor at Girard Bible Church.  Then I was parts manager at Ervin’s Auto and Marine in Parsons, parts man at Larry Allen in Parsons, and parts manager at M& M in Girard.  After 5 years at Girard Bible I was Pastor at Sherman Baptist Church for 9 years.  While working at M&M the arthritis that had been with me for years ended up putting me on social security in 89.  I retired from Sherman Baptist in 91, but kept doing my youth work and opened the Family Bible Church in our home in Sherman City.  I was diagnosed with congestive heart disease in 92 and diabetes in 97 and gave up my youth work this summer because I have lost almost all of my hearing.  Sad tale right?  Wrong, I would not change places with anyone in the world.  I have a loving family and a personal; relationship with the living God, which is worth more than all the health or wealth in the world.

Naomi Joy, our number two has been working with Child Evangelism for years and is a special ed aid in Girard while studying to be a teacher.  She is married to Devon Horner of Omaha, Neb.  Naomi Joy was Valedictorian of Southeast High in 1998.  

#3  Joshua Daniel is a Junior at Grace University in Omaha and just returned from 6 months of missionary training  in Taiwan and the Philippians.  Joshua is very interested in a girl named Katie, whose last name he hopes to change.  Joshua was Valedictorian of Southeast High in 2000, and will graduate from Grace University in December of 2003.