Just One Ministry Worker Can Make a Generational Difference
This article reminds readers that one faithful conversation can influence generations of kingdom workers. Through the stories of G.H. “Dean” Cachiaras and Terry Schultz, the authors encourage Christians to pray for and personally encourage just one more person toward vocational ministry.
- One person’s encouragement can change the direction of another person’s life.
- Ordinary believers can help raise up future preachers and ministry leaders.
- The church should pray for and encourage “just one more” kingdom worker.
By Mike Kilgallin and Clay Perkins
One servant in God’s hands can truly make a difference.
The Difference One Encourager Can Make
Consider the story of G.H. “Dean” Cachiaras, a teenage immigrant from Greece who ended up polishing shoes. One day as he polished the shoes of a doctor casually reading a newspaper, the man discovered the boy was from Greece.
The doctor lowered the newspaper and spoke to him in his native language, “Young man, what do you plan to do with your life?” The doctor encouraged G.H. to attend his alma mater, Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, Tennessee. The boy enrolled, began studying the Greek New Testament, and was soon baptized into Christ.
G.H. became a longtime professor at Minnesota Bible College, preaching on the weekends and helping start a Christian camp. He influenced thousands of young people for ministry, including his four children and many of his grandchildren. His grandson, Ben Cachiaras, the 2010 NACC president, leads Mountain Christian Church, Joppa, Maryland, which has baptized 4,000 people in the last decade. Thousands have been influenced for Christ by the Cachiaras family, all because a doctor lowered his newspaper and reached out to just one.
Praying for Just One More Worker
Or consider the story of a country grandmother, Vertie McKinney, whose grandson Terry was running with the wrong crowd. Vertie asked her preacher to encourage her grandson toward the ministry. Her preacher obliged, and Terry Schultz ended up enrolling in Bible college and becoming a preacher.
Terry has now influenced four men to become preachers—Ron Stuart, Dennis Crehan, Larry Evans, and Cesar Sosa—whose influence has reached thousands for Christ.
Stories are waiting to be told. Each of us needs to pray for just one more kingdom worker. While we honor the priesthood of all believers, we also must encourage more individuals to consider vocational ministry. The church of Jesus Christ will continue to grow as we raise up the next generation of preachers with their own stories!
The Christian college presidents ask you to join us in praying for just one more worker to enter this story. The story is about Noah, Abraham, Jonah, Paul, Peter, and Jesus. It includes grandfathers, great-grandmothers, sons, fathers, mothers, and daughters—ordinary people whose story becomes extraordinary because little is much in the hand of God.
What will be your story of Just One?
Mike Kilgallin is president of Crossroads College in Rochester, Minnesota. Clay Perkins serves as president of Mid-Atlantic Christian University, Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
