Adventures in Faith: A Memoir of Two Purpose-Driven Lives

The couple's love story, though dramatic and riveting, is secondary to the other story of their lives. That story is about being driven by a purpose, energized by faith, and guided by a compelling, though at the time imprecise, vision. Two days after their wedding, they settled in a place neither had ever seen before and lived in a run-down, unfurnished house in a Tennessee Appalachian community. Two years later, they moved to the far more distressed and backwoods community of Big Lick. The move was deliberate, self-requested, and purposeful. It was also the last move they would ever make. Their purpose was to remake a distressed, back-country Appalachian community into an intentional Christian community. For thirty-five years, they labored on their vision. They refused promotion to more prestigious and lucrative positions to continue working at their purpose. Eventually, their pioneering efforts in community development and racial equality gained distinction among and replication by many others. Toward the end of their ministry, to his surprise and dismay, but to her delight, he is elected, in an upset, to the highest office in their denomination. This is their story.