Nancy Justice

Paula Yorker's family secret could have been her undoing. Instead, it became the basis for her highly effective brand of compassionate and relevant evangelism.

LIKE MOST MOMS, Paula Yorker spends much of her day handling routine responsibilities: running errands, cleaning house and shuttling her 14-year-old to after-school activities. What's not so typical is how the attractive, soft-spoken 43-year-old spends her free time: witnessing to drug dealers, ministering to prison inmates and heading up outreaches in inner-city neighborhoods.

"I love church," Paula says, "but I'd rather be outside, sharing the gospel and love of Christ, versus sitting in a pew, hearing the Word of God and doing nothing with it!"

WHEN DANITA ESTRELLA LEFT FOR HAITI FIVE YEARS AGO, MANY THOUGHT SHE WOULDN'T LAST SIX MONTHS. SHE PROVED THEM ALL WRONG.

Danita Estrella was 10 years old and attending Vacation Bible School (VBS) when she first heard about missionary Hudson Taylor, who evangelized China in the 1800s. His story struck a chord in the young girl's heart, and at the end of VBS, she prayed that God would someday make her a missionary.

Danita forgot about that prayer until 25 years later when she left America and moved to Ouanaminthe, Haiti, one of the world's poorest regions, plagued by desolate living conditions, political turmoil, AIDS and, recently, a devastating hurricane that killed thousands. The only dream of many residents is to escape to a better life in the very country Danita left.

HER MINISTRY BEGAN MORE THAN 50 YEARS AGO. TODAY, AT 80, GWEN SHAW SERVES AS THE VISIONARY LEADER OF END-TIME HANDMAIDENS AND SERVANTS, A WORLDWIDE ARMY OF WOMEN.

She's well past retirement age, walks with a cane, and needs a wheelchair to get through airports, but that hasn't stopped Gwen Shaw from ministering in cities and towns around the world--just as she has for the last 57 years. When interviewed for this article, the 80-year-"young" missionary--affectionately known as "Sister Gwen"--had just returned from a six-week trip to Spain and South Africa.

Sister Gwen's itinerary included Israel in September and lists the Congo in November and Hong Kong in December. In June she hosted the 29th annual world convention for her ministry, End-Time Handmaidens and Servants, a group of prayer intercessors and missionaries she founded in 1970 that is based in Jasper, Arkansas.

Patricia Bailey boldly shares her message of faith in some of the most treacherous places on earth.

Missionary evangelist Patricia Bailey is not one to give up easily, especially when it comes to carrying out what she says is an urgent call on her life to fulfill the Great Commission. The vivacious 44-year-old has spent the last 20-some years ministering around the globe--from Europe to Africa to the Middle East. In recent years she has focused on regions closed not only to the gospel but also to women.

Patricia preaches salvation and deliverance and ministers in signs and wonders throughout the area known as the "10/40 Window"--the most populated yet least evangelized countries in the world. These nations encompass the majority of the world's Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists.

Once a drug addict and prison inmate, Lupe Dobbs now pastors her own church.

Forty-four-year-old Lupe Dobbs knows all about God's amazing grace. Whether it's preaching to her congregation or counseling substance abusers, the former drug addict, prostitute and prison inmate insists to anyone who will listen that only God can turn a life around.

"My past is what God has used to bring me to this point in life," Dobbs says.

Becoming the church's pastor was Evelyn Puckett's first break with Colonial Avenue Methodist's traditions. But it wasn't the last.

Looking at Pastor Evelyn Puckett's résumé, one would assume the Spirit-filled 58-year-old ministers at a charismatic or Pentecostal church. After all, she attended full gospel Elim Bible Institute and the Assemblies of God Central Bible College; served as choir director at Rock Church in Virginia Beach, Va.; was a counselor at the Christian Broadcasting Network; and ministered at Women's Aglow conferences.

But when it came time for Evelyn to fulfill a longtime calling and desire to be a pastor, she ended up at Colonial Avenue Methodist Church in downtown Norfolk, Va. The church, steeped in the traditions of its denomination, voted her in as its first woman pastor.

AT 80 YEARS OLD, ELEANOR WORKMAN IS STILL FEEDING, HOUSING AND TEACHING HUNDREDS OF ORPHANS IN HAITI.

But amid the destitution, political upheaval, voodoo worship and witchcraft that hangs like a heavy, dark cloud over this small island in the West Indies, there is an angel by the name of Eleanor "Mom" Workman who relies on the power of God to save--both physically and spiritually--as many of Haiti's children as possible.