FEATURES

• "Larry's $5 Journey," by Kent R. Hill. Larry Dodge came to recognize that it was God's love behind the high school teacher who helped a poor boy buy a yearbook, the tireless encourager who insisted he dream of college, and the Christian college that enabled him to succeed even when he couldn't dare to try.

• "How Many Natashas?" by John C. Bowling. "At the embassy, the three or four people in front of me in line were denied visas," remembers Natasha Tsepeleva. "But I got mine without a problem. That was God's work, for sure. I knew it was His plan for me to go to Olivet."

• "Along the Tough Road-Triumphantly," by Leah Marangu. Anne Watitu uses her physical challenges not as an excuse but as motivation. She tells any who ask, "Do what you want to do. You have the ability to do it."

• "Deciding to Serve," by Richard Hagood. Lisa Erickson came to Northwest Nazarene University solely to play volleyball and get an education, but God had more for her than that. It was here that she encountered people who had something in their lives she was missing: Jesus Christ.

• "He Simply Read the Manual!" by Herbert McGonigle. The security of a lucrative government job was no longer attractive to Daniel Dompreh. He had heard a different voice about a different future. God had called him to preach. A childhood dream had become a deep conviction, and Daniel set off for England to find a good theological education.

• "A Chosen Person," by William H. Patch. Kim Chung-hoon's health was deteriorating when he entered KNU, and both he and his mother felt he would not live long. In the caring environment of KNU, they firmly believe, something happened to change that bleak outlook. Now his leadership has opened the eyes of a nation and its educational institutions.

• "Teanna's Story," by Richard Spindle. She arrived at MidAmerica Nazarene College timid and uncertain. She left the campus four years later confident and focused. Even to begin to comprehend the transformation of Teanna Matz during the mid-1980s, you have to know her whole story.

COLUMNS

• Heartbeat: "Expanding the Base," by Louie E. Bustle. At least 20,000 new pastors and hundreds of thousands of laypeople need training in the apostles' doctrine for the sake of the ministry

• Editor's Forum: The forum this month explores whether or not God changes His mind and why we don't hear many sermons on the second coming of Christ.

• Portraits: "Jim and Peggy Poteet: A Circle for Emily," by Debbie Salter Goodwin. When Peggy Poteet stopped by the church to hang up some posters, she didn't expect to see Jesus sitting in the foyer. She recognized Him immediately, though. That had to be Jesus beneath the frightened, exhausted expression of the woman who sat there, a young child on her lap.

• En Route: "Glimpse of Faith," by Timothy R. Eby. When we come face-to-face with the greatest challenges of our lives, the best place to look is up. At the first glimpse of hope, we must begin climbing in faith to His window of opportunity.

• Touching: "Floods of Injustice-Rivers of Love," by Jerry L. Appleby. "Our highest calling is to imitate the ways of God. Consequently, we must know and share His passions. And one of His deepest passions is His sustained and tender concern for needy people."

• Family Tree: "I Can't See What You Say," by Les and Leslie Parrott. You can practice all the communication techniques in the world and still end up hungry for true love.

• Essay: "The Gift of a Story," by Karen Dean Fry. I cannot tell them how long the darkness will last. But I can tell them that with Jesus, the bottom is solid.

• Commission: "Weathering the Winds," by William J. Prince. "I may not always remember what I learned in my professor's class, but I will never forget the example he set for me to be sensitive to God's Spirit and to make prayer a priority in my life."

• Footprints: "Bud Robinson: The Education of a Lifetime," by Stan Ingersol. Though he had no formal schooling, one of the most effective Nazarene evangelists, Bud Robinson, was indebted to a lifetime of education.

• The Deeper Way: "Water Language," by Maxine Walker. When we enter the kingdom of God, we begin to speak as citizens of that country; we are born into the language.

• Change Agent: "The Ultimate Change: A Heart Transplant" by Jon Johnston. As much as springtime and a toothless grin gladden our hearts, they don't begin to compare with an altogether new heart- the gift of new life in Jesus Christ. It's the first step of a triumphant journey.