Mostrando resultados por autor "Geoff Benge" en Todas las categorías

Born into slavery in Maryland, Frederick Douglass was separated from his mother during infancy, then taken from his grandparents at the age of six to serve at the “Great House” on the Wye Plantation in Maryland. He never imagined the cruelties he would witness or the indignities of his family being treated like cattle to be sold, divided, and scattered far and wide. Escaping from slavery, Frederick Douglass became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in America.

As a poor Canadian farm boy, Jonathan Goforth had no idea that he would spend most of his life braving disaster, danger, and disease to share God's love with the people of China. But when God led him to do just that, nothing, not even the violent Boxer Rebellion, would stop Jonathan and his family from answering God's call. Making their home in China, the Goforths opened their doors to as many as five thousand visitors a month, all of whom heard the gospel message.

Richard Wurmbrand, founder of Voice of the Martyrs, was once a young atheist determined to experience everything the world had to offer. Yet he regretted that God did not exist, wishing that a heart of love beat somewhere in the universe. When the Romanian found that heart of love in Jesus Christ, he had the courage to serve Christ unswervingly even as his homeland sided with the Nazis and then sank into the new horrors of post-war Communism.

Meriwether Lewis had been commissioned by President Jefferson to lead a daring expedition so remarkable it would become one of the most famous explorations in history. He chose as his co-captain William Clark. Their mission—to find a land route to the Pacific Ocean while learning as much as possible about the thousands of miles of unexplored territory they struggled through (1774-1809).

When Charles Mulli was a child, his family repeatedly abandoned him, and he lived in fear of his abusive, alcoholic father. With an extraordinary will, the young Kenyan struggled to feed and educate himself and, encountering hope in the gospel, found a reason to live and to forgive. Later, as a multimillionaire and father of eight, the entrepreneur sold his businesses to devote himself to caring for street children throughout Kenya. Since 1989, Charles and his wife, Esther, have taken into their protection thousands of the most vulnerable through Mully Children's Family.

Horrified by the poverty and suffering most people took for granted in industrial England, William Booth dedicated his life to bringing the gospel to the outcasts of society who would never enter a church and weren't welcome there. At age fifteen William vowed, "God shall have all there is of William Booth," and not even resistance from the church and government, lack of financial support, or vicious attacks by angry mobs could stop him from spreading the light of the gospel through the streets of England.

As a boy at boarding school in Great Britain, Norman would never have guessed where his life's work would take him. After serving in World War I, he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he played a key role in the beginnings of InterVarsity Fellowship. Following in the footsteps of C.T. Studd, Norman then answered God's call to join the Heart of Africa Mission in the Belgian Congo. A passionate yet humble evangelist, missionary, and teacher, Norman went on to lead the Worldwide Evangelistic Crusade (WEC) and helped found the Christian Literature Crusade.

Buoyant and determined, and having at last won the support of the king and queen of Spain, Christopher Columbus sailed west from Europe with three ships, confident he would reach the Indies by this new route and find the gold-laden civilization to the great Khan. After four risky expeditions in which he explored the Caribbean and landed on South America, Columbus died without acclaim, never knowing he had reached what would soon be known as the New World.

With the favor William's father enjoyed in Britain's royal court, all William had to do was show himself to be a faithful royalist, and wealth and privilege would be his. Instead he chose to follow his conscience. In a world where freedoms were subject to the whims of rulers, William Penn worked passionately for religious tolerance. When this Quaker reformer secured a land grant in America, he laid for Pennsylvania a foundation of liberty, justice, fairness, and tolerance that would later guide the drafting of the Constitution of the United States.

On a dangerous mission for the British army, young Major Washington had no idea that one day he would lead an army of fellow colonials in a bitter battle for independence against Great Britain herself, the most powerful empire in the world. In each new crisis, the young United States sought out George Washington. As commander in chief of the Continental army, chairman of the Constitutional Convention, and first president, this indispensable American served the struggling nation when its survival and form hung in the balance.

As a fourteen-year-old intent on living a “modern” life, the last thing Isobel Kuhn wanted to grow up to be was a missionary. But as it turned out, this young agnostic’s life was redirected―from crisis and doubt to hope and strength. Convinced that God wanted her to preach the gospel as a China Inland missionary, Isobel bravely served among the Lisu people in remote mountainous regions of China and Thailand. After twenty years of ministry Isobel returned to the United States, writing stirring stories of faith and inspiring generations of people

Abe Lincoln had never set his sights on becoming president; after all, he'd grown up in a log cabin on the frontier and had hardly any formal schooling. But as the question of slavery threatened to destroy the United Sates, this self-taught lawyer with a sharp mind and passion for justice found himself at the center of the greatest debate the nation had ever faced.

One of the famous Doolittle Raiders who first attacked Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Jacob DeShazer knew his one-way mission was dangerous. Indeed, it led to his capture as a prisoner of war. Beaten, malnourished, and alone in his cell, Jacob was given a Bible—and far away from home, this American soldier became a Christian. After the war, Jacob returned to Japan and served his former enemy for thirty years as a missionary. His testimony of forgiveness and reconciliation—of love over hate—inspires a powerful gospel message for our lives today.

With only three months of formal education, Thomas Edison grew up to be one of the most successful inventors of all time. Applying scientific principles to practical use, he made scores of inventions and held over thirteen hundred patents, from improvements on the telegraph and phonograph to the development of the incandescent lamp and a whole system for distributing electricity. Edison's rise from humble beginnings and his unceasing struggle to overcome obstacles illustrate the spirit of America.

Alan Shepard's boyhood fascination with flight led him from constructing model airplanes in his grandfather's basement to attaining national hero status in the race to space. Rooted in hard work and education, this pioneer's dreams of flight came true as he became not only the first American launched into space but, later, one of the privileged few to walk on the moon. When he wasn't soaring above the clouds, astronaut Alan Shepard used his expertise to benefit others, raising money to fuel the dreams of science students and guiding NASA missions.

John's heart sank. A British man-of-war was plowing through the frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean in hot pursuit of his ship. If the British caught up with the Boston, John would be hanged. He had proudly signed the Declaration of Independence and was carrying the colonies' secret papers. He couldn't be captured now! Growing up in Massachusetts, longing to be a farmer like his father, John Adams never imagined the vital role he would one day play in the transformation of the colonies into an independent American nation.

While studying to be a minister, John Flynn longed to apply his training to help people in practical ways. Soon he discovered that his mission field was inside his own country: the vast and dangerous outback, or Never Never, where life-and-death struggles were a constant reality.

Once timid and unsure of her own salvation, New Zealander Florence Young rose to her calling and became a fearless and faithful witness for Jesus Christ. Eventually serving in the remote Solomon Islands and, for a season, in China during the deadly Boxer Rebellion, Florence began her service close to home. This one woman's mission to the Solomon Islanders, or Kanakas, working on her family's Australian plantation soon expanded to their home islands.

Six-year-old Ludwig was sitting at the table, reading his Bible and praying, when Swedish soldiers stormed through the castle door. Ludwig looked up at the soldiers and then returned to his prayer and reading. The soldiers stopped and stared--then left. They said they could not ransack a place that God watched over.

As a child growing up in Detroit, Ben Carson (1951-) has a dream of becoming a physician, a dream that rose out of struggles with poverty, racism, and poor grades. As Ben persevered and strove for academic excellence, his life became one of compassion and service. Today, Benjamin Carson, MD, is known as the American neurosurgeon with gifted hands.