Friday, March 12, 1999

• Global missions vision drives thriving Costa Rican church

  by Mary E. Speidel , posted Friday, March 12, 1999 (25 years ago)

  SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (BP)--Suely Sirazawa Patricio switches on an overhead projector. At El Bosque Christian Community in San Jose, Costa Rica, it's time for the weekly prayer focus on the "10/40 Window." That's the area sweeping from North Africa through the Middle East and much of Asia, where people have had little or no opportunity to hear the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

  Tonight's prayer focus: an unreached Muslim people group in India. Patricio's listeners include about 100 Ch... Read More

• 10-year quest to meet God culminates in a father’s love, confession,

  by Connie Cavanaugh, posted Friday, March 12, 1999 (25 years ago)

  COCHRANE, Alberta, Canada (BP)--At 19, Hermann Brandt had his final conversation with God. Or so he thought. "God, I've tried Christianity and it doesn't work. If you want me, you come to me," he prayed.

  Brandt, now 33, grew up in a minister's home in South Africa. He tried to live the Christian life but knew he was a hypocrite. "I felt like a liar. I finally got brave enough to say, ‘I'm going to stop trying.’ I felt enormously relieved! I no longer needed to perform and pretend.... Read More

• Mom, Dad & God nudged star back into basketball after losing an eye

  by Carolyn Chapman, posted Friday, March 12, 1999 (25 years ago)

  LIBERTY, Mo. (BP)--A few weeks ago, every kid's dream came true for Larry Hall: He picked up Sports Illustrated and read an article about himself.

  The publicity isn't new for Hall, the heart of the men’s basketball team at William Jewell College. An article in Slam magazine is due out in early April, and Dick Vitale's “Inside College Basketball” featured Hall last season.

  In this season's edition, Vitale identified Hall as the "one 2 watch" in the entire National Associat... Read More

• Rely on Bible, try new things, he advises struggling churches

  by Ken Walker, posted Friday, March 12, 1999 (25 years ago)

  LEXINGTON, Ky. (BP)--When Jeff McCain leads a workshop on "Creative Growth in the Smaller Church," he speaks from experience.

  McCain became pastor of New Harmony Baptist Church, Wheatcroft, Ky., in May 1993 -- when only six members were attending. The youngest was 65.

  Today membership has climbed to 103, with average Sunday morning attendance of 75. The church also has added a 3,600-square-foot educational building.

  McCain credits the turnaround to a reliance on the Bible and a willingn... Read More