The passing of the giants means it’s time for us to take the baton.
The charismatic community suffered a tremendous loss in September when two spiritual giants went home to be with the Lord. Kenneth E. Hagin Sr., who has been called the father of the modern Faith Movement, died in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on September 19, and Derek Prince, one of the most respected teachers in the charismatic movement, died on September 24 in Jerusalem.

The passing of these two giants was sad for me personally because early in my spiritual journey I learned much from hearing them speak, reading their books and listening to their tapes. In later years I had the privilege of knowing both men.

Though they were dissimilar in gifts, calling and sphere of influence, each of them greatly influenced the wider charismatic community. Each was a man of integrity never tainted by moral scandal. Each left thousands of disciples who were molded by what he taught. And I believe each was way ahead of his time in bringing to the body of Christ spiritual truths that were later widely accepted.

More than 8,000 people attended Hagin’s funeral in Tulsa, including most of the well-known leaders in the Faith Movement. Yet the four-hour memorial service focused not on Hagin’s role in Christendom but on his role as a family man and on the humility he maintained in spite of enormous success.

Hagin was a simple Texas preacher who preached about faith and healing long before it was popular. In the early years he spoke at Full Gospel Business Men’s conferences and at whatever churches would have him, often driving long distances or taking the bus.

His son, Kenneth Hagin Jr., said that even when Hagin rode the bus because his car was broken down, he continued to preach that God wanted to prosper his people. In the early days when his bills piled up, he’d say, “This is just another way to prove God is faithful.”

At the memorial service Ken Jr. asked those who had been influenced by his father’s ministry to stand. Then he held out to those who responded a large baton and urged us to take hold of it and do what God had called his father to do–“to teach My people faith.”

I was reminded that a large part of the story of Charisma’s growth in the early years revolved around my believing God to fulfill the vision He had given me. In those years many of Brother Hagin’s tapes encouraged me when I was tempted to quit.

Derek Prince, who passed away several days after Hagin, was a man ahead of his time. Born in India, he was educated at Eton College and at King’s College, Cambridge University, in England. He wrote more than 45 books on subjects ranging from the Holy Spirit to prayer and fasting to Israel. He was also known for his support of deliverance ministry and in the late ’60s and ’70s was involved in the Discipleship Movement, which, in view of its excesses, he later helped to dismantle.

Prince was in Israel after World II and saw the Jewish people returning to their homeland. He was among the first to teach that Christians owe the Jewish people an enormous debt. He wrote: “Without them, the church would have no patriarchs, no prophets, no apostles, no Bible and no Savior. My most precious possession in life is my Bible, and I owe it to the Jewish people.”

His life and work has influenced the Christian world like that of few others. But now he and “Papa” Hagin are gone.

What does the passing of these giants mean to us? I believe it means that it’s time for us to take the baton. We must ensure that the revelation they brought to the body of Christ continues to be shared through their books and tapes and through the lives of those they touched. By passing on their messages and following their godly example, we can make a difference in the world.

In an era in which many are in ministry for what they can get out of it, we can be pillars of integrity. We can model what a man or woman of God should be: a person who is devoted to the Word, willing to take risks, willing to change, and willing to follow the call of God on his or her life. And in a day when divorce is increasingly common, we can remain faithful to our spouses, as these two giants did. Let’s commit to passing on their legacy through our lives.

Ministry leaders say believers must balance outreach to homosexuals with political activism
After a string of unprecedented public policy gains for the gay community this summer, ministry leaders say Christians must keep a clear head about homosexuality and not be intimidated into silence.

“The confusion in the culture is increasing to such an extent that more people will … become more vulnerable to [homosexuality],” said Andrew Comiskey, an ordained Vineyard minister and founder of Desert Stream Ministries, which ministers to homosexuals and those who are sexually broken. “If Christians got involved in speaking to the culture, it could have a tremendous effect. … There are a lot of people who have a problem with gay marriage. They’re not homophobic. They’re not violent toward homosexuals … but they don’t want to make it normative.”

Clarity, he said, is the church’s greatest strength in the wake of public policy gains that are being described as historic. In June the Supreme Court struck down Texas’ anti-sodomy law, ruling 6-3 that homosexuals “are entitled to respect for their private lives,” Justice Anthony Kennedy said.

The same month, the Canadian province of Ontario legalized same-sex unions, prompting efforts to legitimize gay unions throughout the nation. In August, the Episcopal Church USA elected an openly gay priest to serve as a bishop, and California Gov. Gray Davis passed a law fining businesses $150,000 if they refused to hire cross-dressers. In September the Harvey Milk School, the first publicly funded high school for gay students, opened in New York City.

Those moves don’t include the introduction of the University of Michigan course explaining how to be gay, or the surprising popularity of the Bravo cable channel’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which was followed this fall by the first gay dating show, Boy Meets Boy, also on Bravo.

Nor do they hint at the growth of the gay Christian movement, which includes an increasing number of “welcoming” churches that describe themselves as Spirit-filled, embracing prophetic dance, intercession, miracles and deliverance.

Though he does not consider himself or his congregation to be politically active, the Rev. Douglas E. Clanton, head of Reconciling Pentecostals International (RPI), a network of 25 gay-friendly congregations, filed a friend of the court brief in the June Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas, explaining how he interprets Scripture to affirm homosexuality.

The vast majority of Pentecostal groups decried the decision, but Clanton, an openly gay former United Pentecostal Church (UPC) minister, believes he helped make history. “We have the distinction of being the only Pentecostal representative in this brief that was considered by the highest court in the land,” he wrote in a letter posted on RPI’s Web site. “We have so much to be thankful for and a lot to celebrate. God is truly liberating His remnant people.”

Liberty from homosexuality can be found in Christ, ex-gay ministers told Charisma, but they said only a minority of churches offer relevant ministry to gays and lesbians. Pastor Darryl Foster, a former homosexual who now leads Restoration Church Atlanta and helps train urban churches in ex-gay ministry, said his biggest opposition has been from pastors. “I’ve had people tell me we don’t have to have ministry to homosexuals,” he said.

Meanwhile, the leaders of gay-friendly charismatic churches say the caliber of ministers in their circuit is improving, and Christians with same-sex attractions are finding a refuge in their congregations. “The trend in the gay community is toward Spirit-filled worship,” said Randy Duncan, pastor of New Life Community Church of Hope in LaPorte, Ind. “People tell me they didn’t expect God to be here, but He is here in Spirit and power and love–lots of love.”

Clanton said the pro-gay policy moves this summer will likely polarize the church–and he believes that is a good thing. He said there are many gay men and women who have quietly been allowed to remain on worship teams and on staff at Pentecostal and charismatic churches. He said now pastors will have to “be more heavy handed in dealing with homosexuality. Are we going to allow these people on the platform?”

Foster said the answer is easy. “Anybody who is in unrepentant sin should not be allowed to serve in leadership,” he said. Yet he admits the scales are often unbalanced. “People who are involved in homosexuality are set down, but no ministry is set up for them to deal with the sin problem.”

John Wescott, executive director of Exchange Ministries, an ex-gay ministry in Orlando, Fla., said he believes many pastors are naïve about the number of people in their churches who struggle with same-sex attraction. But he said Christians hold the key, noting that he found freedom from homosexuality with the help of a local church. “They embraced me, they loved me, but when they needed to they confronted me,” Wescott said.

Ideally, Christians should offer relevant ministry while challenging pro-gay policies, ex-gay ministers say. “It’s time for the Christian community to stop sitting on the sidelines and be apathetic about public policy,” said Randy Thomas, ministries and media relations manager for Exodus International. “At the same time we don’t need to fall into the trap of polarized thinking. We cannot forget the faces. Christ is more concerned about the condition of a person’s heart. It’s not really a hard balance, but it’s a hard perspective to grasp in a culture war.”

Those on the front lines of that culture war want more Christians to get involved. In September the Canadian Parliament rejected a motion to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman by a 137-132 margin. At press time the issue was still being hotly debated, but Parliament also had passed a bill extending hate speech laws to protect gays and lesbians. Concerned Women for America is one of several Christian groups that believe such classification could be used to label condemnation of homosexuality based on biblical passages as hate speech.

Conservative groups in the United States fear similar legislation may pass here. Focus on the Family has a link on its Web site to the American Family Association’s , which is drumming up support for the Federal Marriage Amendment, designed in part to prevent the Massachusetts Supreme Court from legalizing gay marriage. At press time the group had secured more than a half million signatures.

The Assemblies of God is urging its constituents to support this legislation, and various grass-roots organizations, such as the Theological Education Institute’s , are leading similar campaigns to defend traditional marriage.
Adrienne S. Gaines

Bill McCartney says he’s finished, but the organization he founded 13 years ago will go on. The head of the international men’s ministry Promise Keepers (PK) announced his resignation in September during a quarterly board of directors meeting. He said he wanted to care for his ill wife and spend more time with his family.

“God has assigned me to be a husband and a grandfather,” McCartney, 63, explained. “Promise Keepers is not finished; it is needed now more than ever,” he added. “I am confident that the Lord will direct and empower the ministry to move forward in strength and support–the opportunities for PK are limitless.”

The resignation, which became effective Oct. 1, came just months after McCartney announced he was stepping down temporarily to care for his ailing wife, Lyndi, who has been suffering from “a severe respiratory condition” for some time.

Retired Army Gen. Alonzo Short, chairman of the Promise Keepers board, will serve as interim president until a successor is named. Short praised McCartney for his vision to reach men and for his leadership of the organization.

“Coach Mac has enabled millions of men to find their identity in Christ and embrace true manhood, which has equipped them to be better husbands, fathers and … leaders,” Short said. “[McCartney] will always be the founder, and we expect to solicit his advice, counsel and expressions of love.”

More than 5 million men have attended Promise Keepers conferences since the Denver-based organization started in 1990, PK reported. The ministry’s rise was capped in 1997 with Stand in the Gap, which drew 1 million men to Washington, D.C. At the beginning of 2003, PK cut its staff from 100 to 75, down from a one-time high of 450 employees.

Short said PK must continue because “men of integrity will make the difference in our society. Promise Keepers intends to continue to be there to help encourage empower and equip them in that challenge.”

Harold Velasquez, PK vice president of creative services, pointed to a successful conference season in 2003 and said McCartney leaves the organization in solid shape. The ministry is planning 17 conferences in 2004, built around the theme “Uprising: the Revolution of a Man’s Soul.”

Velasquez said McCartney’s decision to put family first is an example for all men. He concluded: “Coach Mac is, in my opinion, the epitome of a true Promise Keeper. He made a promise to his wife.”
Robert Andrescik

Written and produced by Eddie DeGarmo, !HERO is a modern gospel adaptation that will tour 19 cities this fall
An African American Jesus who sports dreadlocks and was born in Bethlehem, Pa., will be touring 19 cities beginning this month as part of a rock opera that portrays a modern-day Christ who lives out the gospel in New York City, confronting terrorists and raising gunshot victims from the dead.

!HERO, written and produced by Christian music veteran Eddie DeGarmo, stars dc Talk’s Michael Tait as Hero (Jesus), Rebecca St. James as Maggie (Mary Magdalene) and Mark Stuart of Audio Adrenaline as Petrov (Peter).

Ten years in the making, the theatrical production is part of a larger project that includes a 33-song, double-disc CD as well as a comic book series and novel titled City of Dreams, which was written by Stephen Lawhead, an internationally acclaimed fantasy writer and former DeGarmo & Key manager. Dramatic audio books also are in the works along with a sequel to the novel, Rogue Nation, which is set to hit bookstores in April.

Meanwhile, the whirlwind musical tour was to begin Nov. 1 in High Point, N.C., and is set to hit 19 cities in 23 days. DeGarmo declined to tell Charisma how much the production cost, but described it as “expensive” and “exciting.”

The show features performances by some of contemporary Christian music’s top talent, including rapper T-Bone, John Cooper of Skillet and Matt Hammitt of Sanctus Real. Participants at the Christian Booksellers’ Association convention in July were given a sneak peak at Universal Studio’s Hard Rock Café in Orlando, Fla., and for three hours, there was standing room only.

The vision for the project emerged in 1994 after DeGarmo had a talk with his oldest daughter, then a Nashville, Tenn., student teacher who had given her seventh-graders an informal survey about the significance of Easter.

“Only one in 10 could connect the dots between Jesus and the resurrection,” he told Charisma. “They knew the secular stuff. … !HERO was born out of a passion for what I could do to connect the gospel in different ways to a new generation of folks who really didn’t understand what the gospel is about.”

This isn’t the first time DeGarmo has gone out on a creative limb. More than two decades ago he and fellow musician Dana Key became the first Christian artists to successfully get a hit single (“666”) into frequent rotation on what was then a new, all-video network known as MTV. DeGarmo later teamed up with Dan Brock to launch Forefront Records, home of dc Talk, Rebecca St. James, Audio Adrenaline and Big Tent Revival. DeGarmo now heads up EMI’s Music Publishing Group.

DeGarmo hopes !HERO will get people, especially youth, talking. “What would it be like if Jesus were here, today?” he asked. “We all think about these things. My vision was … maybe the audience would connect with dirty cops, power politics and street gangs better than Roman magistrates, centurions and zealots.”

DeGarmo admits his story sometimes gets “a little topsy-turvy.” He cites a scene in which a young girl in Harlem is raised from the dead after catching a bullet in a drive-by shooting. Tait and T-Bone perform a song titled “Raised in Harlem,” which DeGarmo said is one of the highlights of the show. “!HERO is an aggressive story with very modern music,” DeGarmo said. “I’m not trying to rewrite the Bible. I’m just trying to get people talking.”

Though the opera already is being compared to Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar, DeGarmo insists there is a difference. “!HERO is a story the church can embrace. It is the first adaptation of the gospel that takes into account that the world has had 2,000 years to become a very strange place! We have terrorist groups vs. the zealots, and these groups create a tension that was lost in Godspell and the other adaptations.”

DeGarmo hopes the opera will have mass appeal–edifying those who know the gospel and evangelizing those who don’t. But ultimately, he wants the production to do one thing: get people talking.
Cindi Courbat

The denomination set new guidelines for marrying divorced couples, and sought ways to grow and remain relevant
Leaders and pastors at the Assemblies of God (AG) 50th General Council meeting in Washington, D.C., wrestled with tough issues facing the denomination. They voiced concerns about the AG’s tepid growth in the United States versus overseas and a waning of the AG’s Pentecostal distinction.

“This is a defining moment for the Assemblies of God,” General Superintendent Thomas Trask said during the opening service July 31. “Either we will be a Spirit-
filled movement, or we will become a monument.”

The AG recorded a net gain of only 51 churches in 2002, bringing the total to 12,133 churches, and saw only a 3.4 percent increase in domestic membership, rising to nearly 1.6 million U.S. participants. Ethnic groups claim a major share of this increase, especially Hispanic and Portuguese congregations.

“The Assemblies of God was raised up to be a Pentecostal church in practice and not just in doctrine,” Trask told Charisma, referring to churches that soft-pedal the Pentecostal experience and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He also bemoaned the trend of eliminating Sunday evening services, a long-held AG practice, where believers are encouraged to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit and are called to ministry.

The AG’s executive leadership presented a blueprint for change labeled Vision for Transformation (VFT), resulting from 18 months of 300 meetings and input from 5,000 clergy and lay people. “Everything was put on the table but our doctrine,” said Charles Hackett, executive director of U.S. home missions.

The VFT process was wholeheartedly endorsed at the business sessions along with raising more than $1 million for church planting. Lively debates focused on local church governance and ministerial credentialing, and new guidelines for marrying divorced couples.

Instead of official disapproval and possible dismissal from the fellowship, AG ministers will only be discouraged from marrying anyone who has been divorced and whose former spouse is still living. A proposal to add specific slots for women in the General Presbytery was defeated in a 299-467 vote.

Local churches will receive more freedom now to follow their own models for ministry and have the green light to credential people for up to four years.

“We have given more power to the local church, but I think that what we need to do is be more inclusive, instead of exclusive,” said Tommy Barnett, pastor of the 15,000-member Phoenix First Assembly. “There are many great independent churches that I feel would love to be AG if we would open that door a little bit more.”

The AG recently ordained Ricky Del Rio, senior pastor of Abounding Grace Ministries in Lower Manhattan, N.Y., after he spent 20 years as an independent minister. “I never thought [the AG] wanted me because our style is very different,” he said. “We deal with the people nobody wants, so we kind of look like them. I wear the earrings and the tattoos so the traditional churches in a lot of functions I would go to, would try to get me saved just because of the way I looked.”

The council’s record attendance of 31,000 made a positive impact on the city of Washington. The Convoy of Hope (COH) ministry enlisted an army of 1,000 AG teenagers and 1,600 local volunteers who distributed 80,000 pounds of food to 6,500 needy residents of southeast D.C. Stressing evangelism, COH provided free haircuts, voter registration and health-care information, children’s events, medical care and job-placement opportunities. More than 800 people said they made decisions for Christ.

Trask and the AG leadership are confident that a new emphasis on church planting and empowering local congregations will influence the future positively.

“I think it’s a step toward a cultural change in the AG,” said H. Robert Rhoden, superintendent of the Potomac district. “We do not want to become crystallized. We are to be empowering leaders, not empowered leaders.”

Trask said he anticipates a new outpouring of God’s spirit on the movement. “If God could get a hold of the Assemblies of God in totality, I believe we could take America for Jesus Christ,” he said.

Peter K. Johnson in Washington, D.C.

There are roughly 10,000 student-led Bible clubs in schools, with another 10,000 linked to parachurch organizations
When Congress returned after summer recess, a former California representative increased his efforts to raise public schools’ spiritual profile.

William Dannemeyer of Fullerton, who co-founded Americans for Voluntary School Prayer, has been lobbying for a voluntary school prayer amendment since 1995. Though previous attempts have failed, the so-called school prayer amendment was reintroduced in December by Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., his third attempt since 1998. If the current bill stalls, Dannemeyer hopes another bill allowing public expressions of faith will pass.

While this drive draws support from such leaders as Charles Colson, James Dobson, John Hagee and Pat Robertson, it has stimulated fierce opposition. The American Civil Liberties Union calls the amendment an “assault on free expression” and insists that the right to pray is already constitutionally protected.

Not all Christians line up behind it, either. Writing for the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, former North Dakota Lt. Gov. Lloyd Omdahl said evangelical Christians should champion separation of church and state. “When the chips are down, we are still a minority in the United States and may well need the protection of the First Amendment down the road,” Omdahl said.

School prayer is just one of the debates raging over religious-political issues. Among others are Ten Commandments displays and anticipated Supreme Court review of a lower court ruling invalidating “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

However, such headlines tend to obscure efforts to restore Christian influence and Bible reading in public schools, which are gaining ground.

Many are low-profile, grass-roots movements–such as the American Family Association-led distribution of “In God We Trust” posters to schools. The higher-profile debates–such as Judge Roy Moore’s effort to display the Ten Commandments in front of the Alabama state building–don’t affect local groups that much, said David Overstreet, assistant director for field ministries with the National Network of Youth Ministries.

“There will always be a movement not only to limit, but to take away any vestige of our Christian heritage, which has been eroding,” Overstreet said.

Despite opposition, today there are an estimated 10,000 student-led Bible clubs in public and private schools. Another 10,000 groups are linked to parachurch ministries such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Youth for Christ.

The founder of First Priority, a Nashville, ministry that promotes citywide cooperatives to form campus Bible clubs, said all Christians should support such initiatives. “When we started 10 years ago, school districts were scared to death,” Benny Proffitt said. “Now they’re calling us saying, ‘Can you come and help us?'”

The leader of an initiative to get the Bible taught as an elective has seen a similar openness developing this year. Elizabeth Ridenour, president of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, estimates 150,000 teens in 34 states have taken the course since 1993. Nearly 25 percent have enrolled since January.

However, more Christians need to get involved in school issues, according to a former Michigan prosecutor who gained prominence for his stand against assisted-suicide activist Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

Richard Thompson’s Thomas Moore Law Center is currently pressing a lawsuit against a northern California district for allegedly promoting the Muslim faith in a seventh-grade history course.

“Had you tried to do that with Christianity there would have been a hue and cry that [schools] were trying to induct students into Christianity,” Thompson said. “But there’s no hue and cry about this because Christians don’t care what is happening.”

Dannemeyer said Christians can help turn the political tide. “Congress doesn’t lead, it responds to pressure,” he said. “Where we come from with voluntary prayer is an acknowledgement that God exists. That’s important in our educational system.”
Ken Walker

The prolific author founded the Rhema Bible Training Center
Prominent charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr. died on Sept. 19 after collapsing five days earlier in Tulsa, Okla., where his worldwide ministry has been based since 1966. He was 86.

Known internationally as the father of the Word of Faith movement, Hagin began his ministry in Texas in 1949 and later moved to Oklahoma to establish the Rhema Bible Training Center in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow. He was considered a spiritual father by many well-known charismatic ministers including Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, Jerry

Savelle, Keith Butler and Casey Treat–and by thousands of pastors and evangelists who either graduated from the Rhema school or were influenced by his books and recorded teachings.

“When I heard Kenneth Hagin teach the Word 47 years ago it totally changed my life,” said Marilyn Hickey, whose ministry in Colorado has reached millions through television and conferences. “Of all the influences in my life, he influenced me the most. I learned from him that the Bible is applicable and powerful.”

International evangelist Christie Moore of Twin Falls, Idaho, got her Bible training by listening to Hagin’s tapes and by attending a Rhema-affiliated church where the pastor based his sermons on Hagin’s messages. “[Hagin’s] teachings on faith and the gifts of the Holy Spirit laid the foundation for my ministry. There’s no way I could have been released into my call without those teachings,” Moore said.

Hagin focused his message on healing and faith. He eventually formed a network of churches, the Rhema Ministerial Association International, which now serves 1,440 congregations. Most of them emphasize biblical prosperity, healing and the power of positive confession.

Hagin’s many books provided instruction on the use of spiritual gifts. His own dramatic encounters with God in visions led him to write I Believe in Visions and I Went to Hell.

His best-selling book was The Believer’s Authority, which has sold more than 1 million copies. In all, more than 53 million copies of his 125 titles are in circulation, a Rhema spokesperson said.

“Brother Hagin had a divine assignment, and that was to teach God’s people about faith,” said Billy Joe Daugherty, pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa. Although Daugherty did not graduate from the Rhema school, he took classes there in 1978 after he and his wife, Sharon, prayed for God to show them how they could receive Bible training.

“The message of faith changed our lives,” said Daugherty, whose church is now one of Tulsa’s largest.

In total, more than 23,000 students have graduated from the Rhema school, and it has campuses in 13 other nations.

Hagin’s doctrines were sometimes criticized, most vehemently by D.R. McConnell in the 1988 book A Different Gospel. But neither Hagin nor his son, Kenneth currently pastors the 8,000-member Rhema Bible Church in Tulsa and leads the Rhema ministry–rarely addressed their critics or responded to accusations. In fact, Hagin wrote a favorite phrase in his Bible that said: “The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.”

In a statement, Kenneth Hagin Jr. said his father did not simply practice what he preached. “He preached what he lived. His great legacy of faith will live on in the countless lives that have been healed, touched and changed through his ministry,” Hagin Jr. said.

Hagin Jr., 64, will continue to lead the Rhema church as well as all other facets of the Hagin ministry, which include Faith Library Publications, the Faith Seminar of the

Air radio program, and the Rhema Prayer and Healing Center.

Because Hagin Sr. experienced divine healing during his youth, he placed special importance on healing and wanted all Christians to know that they had spiritual authority over sickness. Numerous testimonies of healings have been published in Rhema’s magazine, The Word of Faith, which currently has almost 250,000 subscribers.

A ministry spokesperson said Hagin collapsed after eating breakfast on Sept. 14. He was admitted to a cardiac intensive care unit, where he stayed until his death. His wife, Oretha, son Kenneth Jr. and daughter Pat Harrison were by his side. Hagin Sr. also had five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
J. Lee Grady

Richard and Yeakah Cole reach out to ex-combatants who fought in the nation’s civil war, which lasted a decade
Richard Cole is no stranger to terror. He has been kidnapped and beaten, tortured and marked for assassination by rebel troops in Sierra Leone. But instead of taking cover, Cole developed a ministry to reach out to those who abused him.

With their work now dubbed the Nehemiah Project, Cole and his wife, Yeakah, care for orphaned children who had been recruited as soldiers by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), led by Fodaj Sankoh, in their war with the Sierra Leone government. The decade-long civil war to gain control of the nation’s rich diamond mines displaced more than 2 million people–well over a third of the population–leaving thousands more dead or dismembered, as rebel troops were known to hack off limbs with their machetes.

Thousands of children were taught to maim and murder. One 12-year-old boy known as Civilian was abducted at age 4, his parents murdered by the rebels. RUF soldiers rubbed crack cocaine into an incision on the boy’s temple, and he quickly became addicted. Trained to kill, the child murdered his own grandparents and callously chopped off limbs.

When asked how many people he had killed, he replied: “I don’t know the number of people I’ve killed, but I remember killing many times, and cutting off hands many times. I once had 51 hands I carried in my sack.”

Today Civilian is one of the Nehemiah Project’s success stories. He is described as a gentle young man who learned carpentry and attended school through the ministry.

“If one man can bring great evil, then one man can bring greater good,” said Cole, a Sierra Leone native who sold drugs during his youth before accepting Christ and becoming a missionary in Liberia, then in his hometown of Freetown, Sierra Leone.

At the height of the conflict, the Coles began rescuing children from rebel hands. They started their mission informally in 1991 when they took in two boys. The number soon grew to 45 ex-soldiers living in their two-room home.

In 1996, the Sierra Leone government asked the Coles to establish a rehabilitation program, which became the Nehemiah Project. The outreach is now home to 140 ex-soldiers, and includes a community school; business and computer schools; tailoring, carpentry and soap-making shops; and the beginnings of a health clinic.

In 2000, the ministry was given seven acres of land, which serve as an agricultural training institute. The coffee, peppers, cassava and rice grown there are used as food, and the remainder is sold to raise funds for the ministry. The schools educate almost 1,000 children from the community and rehabilitation home.

Richard Cole said many of the youth who came to Nehemiah had been “dehumanized” by the RUF. “As we loved them, however, we helped them to realize that they were human, and their conscience began to awaken,” he told Charisma, noting that many wept bitterly when they remembered what they had done.

One of the boys in the Coles’ care had murdered Richard’s grandfather years before. The couple ministered to him as they did all the others. “We gave them truth,” Richard Cole said. “You don’t help people with emotion or sentiment, you help them with truth.”

The project also has opened a home for girls who had been sexually abused by the rebels. The girls are taught skills they can use to earn a living and become independent.

Though the Nehemiah Project partially maintains itself, the students sell the goods they make within the community. The ministry gets its financial support from several British grants and from churches such as Grace Outreach, a charismatic ministry in New Hampshire. But Cole hopes that in time the ministry, which costs $267,682 annually to maintain, will be self-supporting.

Cole hopes the Nehemiah Project will serve as a model to many African nations that have experienced similar atrocities. Currently, he is consulting with ministers in Rwanda about starting a home there.
Nicole C. Leonard

Gary Heavin, author of the best-selling book Curves, bases his business philosophy on Christian values
Although the Bible says the body is God’s temple, keeping it trim and healthy confounds many people. Americans spend almost $50 billion every year on fitness centers, diet plans and weight-loss treatments.

Unfortunately, the upward spiral toward obesity has continued despite the money and time invested in these endeavors. Enter Gary Heavin, a Waco, Texas-based entrepreneur who has developed a health and fitness program that offers women a fast-paced, low-cost and effective game plan to fight the battle of the bulge. What’s more, the founder of Curves International bases his business philosophy on biblical principles and recognizes God’s hand in his success.

“Christian radio, Christian television and most importantly reading the Bible turned my life around,” said Heavin (pronounced Haven), who attends Highland Baptist Church in Waco. Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson’s book Secret Kingdom “helped from a business perspective because I realized there are biblical values such as integrity and the laws of use, service, unity and miracles that are applicable to running a corporation.”

More than 5,000 Curves fitness centers currently operate in all 50 states and seven foreign countries, serving 2 million women. Nearly 200 new franchises, which average about 1,200 square feet, open each month. Entrepreneur magazine ranks the company as the fastest-growing franchise operation in the world.

The no-frills, compact establishments target women over 30 with their low-cost, 30-minute workouts. Utilizing eight to 12 hydraulic-resistance weight machines that Heavin designed and specially sized for women’s smaller frames, exercisers spend only 30 seconds on each station and keep their heart rates up by walking or jogging in place before moving to the next one. The strength-training equipment incorporates squats as well as leg, shoulder and abdominal presses, and addresses all the major muscle groups without the hassle of stacked weights.

“I’ve enjoyed great success with my franchise,” said Trish Tavernier-Finken, who opened her Curves center in Toledo, Ohio, in April. “I already have 40 to 50 regular customers, and several of them have lost over 20 pounds.”

Success did not arrive easily for Heavin, however. The 48-year-old businessman suffered a traumatic childhood, enduring the double blows of his parents’ divorce and subsequent death of his mother when he was 13. But her tragic demise from a stroke served as the catalyst that brought the health and nutritional counselor to the Christian faith.

“At that moment, I was at the bottom of everything and couldn’t survive without clinging to Christ,” Heavin said. “I reached out and was saved actually kneeling at her deathbed.”

Struggles continued as a teen, however, and Heavin bounced around several colleges before taking over a failing health club in Houston. Although tight finances forced him to sleep in the center’s nursery, he made the operation profitable within a year.

By age 26, the entrepreneur had expanded to six locations and produced a million-dollar income statement. Four years later, Heavin owned 14 fitness centers, had written his first book and developed a revolutionary method to raise metabolism.

But overexpansion forced the operation into bankruptcy, leaving Heavin jobless and $5 million in debt. Divorce and the loss of his two children compounded the problem and forced the former business superstar to turn toward God for guidance.

“I was wandering in the desert as a Christian,” Heavin said. “But in order to be teachable, you have to suffer sufficiently. I suffered through the loss of my wife and children, the business, and my reputation.

“At age 30, I found myself on my knees telling God: ‘OK, I did it my way all these years and look at the mess I’ve made. Now, You’re going to get the rest of my life.'”

After reconciling with God, Heavin remarried and regained custody of the two children from his previous marriage. Putting his faith in action, the fitness leader opened the first Curves franchise in 1995. From that humble beginning, the last eight years have seen unprecedented growth.

Heavin’s book Curves: Permanent Results Without Permanent Dieting recently debuted on the New York Times best-seller list. Despite his company’s rapid expansion, he remains centered in his Christian faith and credits God with keeping his life in perspective.

“I stayed focused on biblical laws that made me much smarter than I am,” Heavin said. “God has a better plan for your life than you or I do. We are made for His pleasure and purpose, and the only true joy is to find it.”
John Hillman

Kirk Franklin and tobyMac were to blend their musical styles for an ‘I Have a Dream’ concert tour beginning in October
On the heels of the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, Christian recording artists Kirk Franklin and tobyMac hope to fulfill their interpretation as part of a co-headlining 17-city tour. I Have a Dream: The Tour was due to kick off in Norfolk, Va., on Oct. 16, and if all goes well, both artists hope to expand the touring partnership into 2004.

“We’re going to go out there and hope that we’re not ahead of where people’s minds are,” tobyMac said. “We want to make sure everybody’s feeling that this needs to happen like we do.”

Despite the differences in their musical styles, tobyMac, who is white, and Franklin, who is black, have developed a close relationship in the last several years. The two have shared the stage at Billy Graham crusades, music festivals and the Dove Awards. Franklin also made a special guest appearance on tobyMac’s smash hit “J-Train,” and tobyMac appeared on Franklin’s “Throw Your Hands Up.”

“TobyMac and I are both very uncomfortable with the color barrier that exists between Christians,” Franklin said. “It’s almost an oxymoron to be Christian yet separated by race. We want this tour to be a seed-planter. God willing, it will be the beginning of something greater.”

Their mutual dream for racial unity parallels that of the late King, and the name of their tour was decided upon long before anyone realized this year marked the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington, where King gave the historic speech.

In the spirit of King’s fight for equality, both tobyMac and Franklin have been leading the charge within the Christian music industry. TobyMac has been championing the cause for Christian urban and hip-hop music since he founded Gotee Records in 1994, and he has helped pull down walls within the Christian music industry. Franklin made a concerted effort to bring the races together with his multicultural group 1NC.

“The truth is, it should be everyone’s dream, that we’re not divided culturally or racially and our children are playing together, at a concert together, at church together,” tobyMac said. “We’re going to spend eternity together. We just want to say something that really nails it. ‘I have a dream’ says it all.”

Each artist will play an hour-long set and at times will join each other on stage. San Diego-based trio Souljahz will add their Latin-influenced hip-hop/R&B sound as the concert’s opening act. Venues intentionally have been kept small to promote interaction. The largest hall holds just under 5,000 (Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.), while the smallest building fits only 1,000 (930 Club in Washington, D.C.).

“A small setting tends to be less entertainment-driven and a little more art-driven and communication-driven,” tobyMac said. “In a more intimate setting, the subtleties come across in a bigger way.”

Included are tour stops in Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and St. Louis, Mo., as well as the legendary House of Blues locations in Orlando, Fla.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and Chicago. In each of the stops there will be an art contest for children called Walking Out the Dream. In each city a nonprofit organization that works with children will be selected based on their efforts to promote racial reconciliation. Children from each group will be asked to draw a picture responding to the statement, “My dream is to … ”

From each city 10 artists will receive VIP concert badges and have photos taken with tobyMac and Franklin. Two grand-prize winners in each city will receive a $100 savings bond toward their college education.

The winning drawings and their artists will be featured in a 12-month calendar to be published by NavPress. The Message brand manager Mike Kennedy said parent company NavPress will donate 2,000 of these calendars to each organization for fund-raising purposes.
Chad Bonham