Congratulations!

Congratulations to my very own brother, Brent. Today, he was presented with the Tim Dotson Memorial Scholarship at Youth Challenge. The criteria included being a junior or senior at a Bible college, having specific call to the ministry and having received recommendations from the college president and his church pastor.

Tim Dotson had the original vision for Youth Challenge, a weekend "getaway" for teens and young adults to interact with each other and learn more about God. Tim was taken home on October 27, 2004 unexpectedly.

This year the theme was "What If?" Randy Brown spoke last night about how God had saved him from a life of sin. Randy had been a Skinhead in California. Skinheads are generally known as white supremists or pro-white gang members. Skinhead refers to their shaved/bald heads. Randy, in particular, had the goatee/mustache combination with the hair grown long enough off his chin to braid! Usually known for their violence against blacks, Randy was no exception. Ironically, God used a black man named Ed to lead Randy to the Lord. Randy was a regular drug user and had no qualms about fighting anyone and had attempted to kill is own father, who at that time lived in fear of being murdered by his own son.

What a miracle God has done in this man's life! He is now a pastor in Pennsylvania. What if Randy's family had not prayed for him? Before he was saved, he was a Los Angeles Skinhead and had 2 felony strikes against him. California is a "3 strikes, you're out" state. Even his parole officer expected to see him locked up for the rest of his life. Randy had done some "hard time" in the state penitentiary and appeared to be headed back that direction when Randy met Ed.