“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9 NKJV
Mary Greer and I were married June 18, 1950, and I enrolled at Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina.
On our first wedding anniversary in 1951, we met with Charles Mellis, Jr. at Mission Aviation Fellowship headquarters in Los Angeles. Learning of new requirements, God used that news to change our course of action from mission aviation to youth evangelism.
Returning to Bob Jones University that fall, I dropped the mission aviation course and began taking advertising and commercial design. Our Youth for Christ project in Hendersonville, North Carolina was taken over by request by Bill Brown, a senior. Dr. Gilbert Stenholm, dean of the school of religion, suggested I make Gospel Advertising my practical “Preacher Boys” class project.
We placed Gospel signs with the message “Christ is the answer” along US 25 and US 29.
Evangelist Bill Piper spoke in chapel and “preacher boys” about the need for quality promotion to advertise evangelistic campaigns.
Meanwhile, my parents had moved to Greenville, and soon we were producing advertising for evangelists’ meetings across America. Ultimately, we were working with 100 evangelists, handling advertising campaigns in 47 states, and received reports that thousands of people attending those meetings made the decision to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Continuing through my student days and beyond, we soon begin placing roadside missionaries along US 41 between Macon, Georgia and Miami, Florida.
When I graduated from BJU in 1954, evangelist T.W. Wilson invited me to meet him at the Youth for Christ International convention at Winona Lake, Indiana, where he introduced me to the evangelists working with Youth for Christ. Through T.W., we soon established relationships with the “movers and shakers” of evangelism.
Securing locations for “roadside missionaries” along US 41, I met with Dr. D.R. Hubbard, pastor of Calvary Baptist in Bradenton, Florida. He suggested we move Gospel Advertising there, to be located on Highway 41.
As a result of relocating and following my desire to reach teenagers with the Gospel, we established Tamiami Youth for Christ, initially concentrating on the territory between Bradenton and Tampa.
Meanwhile, God opened the door for me to become advertising and circulation director for Youth for Christ Magazine. When Mary and I moved to the Wheaton area, I developed a campaign called “TAMI – Teens Are Most Important.”
Attending the Youth For Christ International convention in Los Angeles, invitations came to speak at YFC rallies and churches in Beaumont and Houston, Texas; Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Iowa; Akron and Canton, Ohio; and Washington, DC.
Meeting with Warren Wiersbe and other YFCI staff, Ted Engstrom, president of YFCI, asked us to brainstorm a theme for the forthcoming Youth for Christ International convention. I suggested: “Christ through you can change the world.”
Engstrom then challenged me to write a theme song for the convention. “Christ through you can change the world, let Him be your guide Christ through you can change the world, stay close by His side. Though fierce the battle be, He’ll give you victory. Just keep your flag of faith unfurled, you can change the world.”
God continued to show His faithfulness to me personally, knowing I was “called in the fellowship of His son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” God continued to thrust me forward, ultimately sharing the Gospel with thousands, as person after person made the decision to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Sitting alone in a hotel ballroom in Minneapolis, waiting for the Youth for Christ International convention to begin, I asked God to show me His will for my life. Soon I wrote: “My major purpose in life is to communicate Christianity. I will ultimately establish a Christian communication center with conferences to train and send young men and women forward with God’s plan of salvation and the challenge of complete surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Through many twists and turns, God heard and answered prayer and relocated Mary and me and our baby girl Tami Leigh to the corner of US 41 and Boonville New Harmony Road, midway between Interstate 64 and Evansville Regional Airport.
Mary went to her heavenly reward October 12, 2014. Our daughter Tami is a graduate of Liberty University, a CPA and attorney. She serves as President of TTT Christian Youth Ministries, and my role is Founder / Ambassador at Large.
TTT Christian Youth Ministries continues every Saturday night, and between Saturdays. God willing, February 7, 2026, TTT will commemorate 60 years “Telling The TRUTH to/through teenagers.”
You can know how faithful God is personally when you “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” and are willing to make Jesus Christ your Lord. Will you?