“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2 NKJV
A comment by a family friend startled me: “George, you look like an evangelist,” observing my senior high school picture.
Reading an article in Sunday Magazine by Charles Mellis, Jr. about the Christian Airmen’s Missionary Fellowship, I continued to pursue flight instruction.
My pastor, Charles Pedersen, invited Charles Mellis, Jr. to speak at Grace Memorial and present mission aviation opportunities. Mary Greer attended the service with me that evening. Afterward, Mr. Mellis met with me and asked me to prayerfully consider continuing my flight education, learn diplomacy, and ultimately open Brazil for mission aviation ministries.
On June 18, 1950, Pastor J.C. Greer performed the marriage ceremony for his daughter Mary and me. Later that summer, we moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where I enrolled in Bob Jones University to attend their missionary aviation program.
I was persuaded to take a course called “The Preacher and His Problems” (popularly known as “Preacher Boys”), because it was required.
At the end of my first year at Bob Jones, I was invited to conduct an evangelistic campaign in my home church, Grace Memorial, in Mt. Carmel, Illinois. And my in-laws invited Mary and me to travel with them to the Southern Baptist Convention in San Francisco.
Stopping at Mission Aviation Fellowship (the new name of the Christian Airmen’s Missionary Fellowship) headquarters in Los Angeles, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary there with Charles Mellis, Jr. and his wife Claire. He was encouraged with my continued flight training, but said there was a new requirement, that all missionary pilots be certified aircraft and engine mechanics. I was surprised and shocked, because I had no aptitude whatever toward being a mechanic.
My father-in-law, Pastor J.C. Greer, said: “The Lord has a plan for every life. He expects everyone to find that plan and develop every talent which will bring about successful completion of the plan.”
Commenting on Ephesians 4:11 NKJV – “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” – Earl Radmacher, editor of the Nelson New King James Study Bible, wrote: “Evangelists are gospel preachers who help bring people into the body of Christ. They do so by presenting Christ’s offer of free salvation by grace through faith. Since each of these categories is responsible for equipping believers, evangelists may also train other believers to share their faith effectively.”
It was my personal privilege to be invited to lead evangelistic crusades in each of the last five churches my father-in-law J.C. Greer pastored: the First Baptist Churches of Mt. Carmel, Casey, Sparta, Patoka, and Kell, Illinois.
In every situation, teenagers and adults responded to the invitation, publicly professing their personal faith in Christ.
With my parents, we established Gospel Advertising Association, placing “roadside missionaries” along busy highways, including US 41 between Macon, Georgia and Miami, Florida. We handled the advertising for evangelists wherever they went, providing posters, bumper strips, and promotional materials, ultimately serving over 100 evangelists who conducted meetings in 47 states.
After graduating from Bob Jones University in 1954, we later established Tamiami Youth for Christ along the Tamiami Trail between Tampa and Bradenton/Sarasota, Florida.
Following our time serving with Youth for Christ International and taking Splendor of Sacred Song across America, God opened the door for me to be advertising director for Word Records and help establish Word Books in Waco, Texas. Our daughter Tami Leigh was born there in February 1965.
Later that year, God miraculously provided property with a house and 2 1/3 acres north of Evansville, Indiana, along US Highway 41 at Boonville New Harmony Road, leading us to begin TTT Christian Youth Ministries in February 1966.
The ministry has developed into a 30-acre campus, and the Lord willing, TTT will “Rendezvous” Saturday, February 7, 2026, celebrating 60 years and counting of God’s faithfulness, Telling The TRUTH to/through teenagers.
Meanwhile, Saturday, December 6, 2025, “Celebrate Jesus” at TTT will feature specially designed birthday cakes sharing the Gospel story using the “wordless book” concept. And the first 100 attending in person that evening will receive a special Christmas gift. It’s “family night,” with all ages invited to participate.
Determine now to bring as many of your family members, friends, neighbors, classmates, and people from your congregation as possible to “Celebrate Jesus” at TTT December 6.
Let’s pray and praise God, giving Him thanks for His indescribable gift – Jesus!