Programs Aired in 2009
Episodes 3025-3076
3076 Donna Bossert
Donna’s dad suffers seizures, so her mom takes her to California, then leaves her with strangers while she works. Donna is neglected and abused in one home after another. At 15 she finally lives with her mom who drinks. Donna meets her dad who takes her to church where she is saved. She marries Allen and they have two sons. When her mother needs help after having a seizure, Donna overcomes retaliatory feelings and looks after her mother and an aunt. Both are saved before dying, and her mother witnesses in her nursing home.
3075 Christmas Special Classic
We go back in time to hear prophetic scripture from the Old Testament that foretell the coming of Messiah according to God’s planning and foreknowledge. Also, the disciples and Mary quote passages from the New Testament that reveal how Jesus fulfilled those prophesies. The script ends as the announcer quotes some scriptures yet to come.
3074 Stephen McPherson Sequel – Part 2
Stephen goes to seminary and then is called to New Guinea where he has many adventures teaching physical education to natives and missionary kids in school. Returning home his church sends him to linguistic school where he struggles. His beloved grandmother dies and his brother is hospitalized, near death. After two years his brother dies and Stephen preaches at his funeral.
3073 Stephen McPherson Classic Part 1
Raised by his maternal grandmother and mama, Stephen prays at 12 but fear of peer rejection leads him to backslide. A fast runner, he excels at track in high school. But he steals and is caught; then racial tension and prejudice keep him unnerved. He hears the gospel but refuses to accept Christ. He goes to college but quits the track team, smokes pot and drinks too much. A man shares the gospel with him and he prays for salvation. He reads the Bible but still waffles. The first part ends as he makes a commitment to follow Christ.
3072 Craig & Lauri Hartman – Part 2
Craig continues to study scripture with Mark until their son is born. Afterward he and Lauri meet for Bible study with Mark. They even go to a church service. Then Craig’s beloved grandfather dies and he is too devastated to think about eternity. Mark finally calls and confronts Craig, who makes a decision for Christ. Lauri, too, is saved. Craig begins reaching out to other Jews through churches, and eventually leaves his law profession to a full-time ministry to Jews and Christians.
3071 Craig & Lauri Hartman – Part 1
Craig wants answers and doesn’t get them in Hebrew School, so he drops out, then wants to make Bar Mitzvah and does, thanks to a rabbi’s help. His parents divorce but his maternal grandpa upholds him. He meets Lauri, goes to college and they marry while he’s in law school. She’s Catholic but they agree to study the Bible. When a colleague at work tells Craig about Jesus and points out the flaws in Catholic teaching, Lauri becomes an apostate as the first part ends.
3070 David Lemmond – Part 2
David is arrested for stabbing his brother who survives and even goes to court on David’s behalf. He quits drinking but after six months resumes, worse than ever. His marriage threatened, he quits drinking again but still sells drugs. Then he hears a radio preacher and goes to church. While reading a book by the radio preacher, he understands Christ’s sacrifice and is born again. He witnesses to his brother who goes to a Christian rehab where he is saved. Then his brother dies of cancer. Still faithful, David goes to college.
3069 David Lemmond – Part 1
David’s parents divorce when he is nine. His dad is a violent drunk, and David begins drinking and using drugs in elementary school. His mother puts him in a psychiatric center at 13. He repeatedly goes into rehab. He believes in God, tries church at 17, marries out of guilt and then turns against God when his wife leaves him for another man. He marries again at 19, and they have a son. But David can’t control his drinking. Drunk driving leads to jail. His dad dies of cancer before David can show love, leading to guilt. He and his brother quarrel and David stabs him as the first part ends.
3068 Floyd Plumb Classic
Floyd has polio at age four leaving him with a stutter. He runs away from home at five, finding friends who teach him to smoke. Rebellious, he does poorly at school, is held back repeatedly and finally is expelled at 16 in the 7th grade. He marries at 20; the Depression hits, and he drinks and gambles. After a fight with his dad, he looks at his life and wants God. He drives his wife and son 80 miles on a gallon of gas to hear a preacher he’s heard on the radio and is saved.
3067 Bill & Barb Akright
Bill and Barb marry when she is only 14 and he is 16. Bill decides to live as he pleases and get saved when he is old. When his father can no longer farm, they assume responsibility for the family dairy farm. An accident nearly kills Bill. Hospitalized for three months, he surrenders to Christ. The couple does well in farming afterward until government interference drives them into bankruptcy, after which Barb has a nervous breakdown. They overcome with prayer and Bible study.
3066 Byron Dotson Classic – Part 2
Byron attempts suicide several times. His doctor refuses to treat him because of the drinking problems, and his wife is at wit’s end, even having Byron put in jail for his own protection. The family tries to have him committed but the judge lets him try to change. He can’t. Finally, in an alcoholic center, a pastor explains the gospel and Byron is saved. He spends the rest of his life as a witness for Christ.
3065 Byron Dotson Classic – Part 1
Byron’s assertive father stirs up rebellion in the son. Wearing braces for the first six years of his life due to bow-legs, Byron walks to Sunday school and is beaten for not telling his parents. He learns to smoke and drink by age ten; commits vandalism and nearly dies. He runs away and his dad arranges to have him arrested. Byron quits school at 16 and his dad sets him up in business. Byron is successful, but alcohol consumes him. The first part ends with his dad’s death and Byron’s addiction having led to heartache for his family.
3064 Bruce & Doris Burke – Part 2
Daughter, Gann, chooses to go to South Africa with her parents and they arrive by Greek freighter. Their co-workers, however, are liberal and the Burkes leave the mission after 9 months to serve on their own, forming Open Bible Ministries. The government doesn’t renew their visa, so they go home but continue to raise support, starting new churches and schools. When they return to S. Africa they face corruption, losing two schools; also rebellion from students. They flee Lesotho and start a school in Fouriesburg. Their story concludes as a former Bible school convert calls, still serving the Lord.
3063 Bruce & Doris Burke Classic – Part 1
Bruce and Doris run away to marry when she is only 16. His motorcycle crashes into a car, and he prays for her to live, promising God to change. He doesn’t. Then she nearly dies after having their first baby. Again he promises God to change. They move to a small town where a neighbor prays for them. They go to church, hear the gospel and later that night, both pray to receive Christ. Change begins as they choose the LORD over the world. They grow as they trust in the LORD. Then God calls them to Africa and Bruce resists. The first part ends as he chooses to obey.
3062 Lawrence Durfee Classic
Raised without God or the Bible or church, Lawrence quits school at 15 to work and become rich. He marries Wilma at 24. Violent and bitter, he loses his job, borrows money from his dad to start his own auto shop. He has amassed nearly $50,000 when an oil-sparked explosion sets him on fire at work, and he nearly dies. In a coma he has a vision of hell and cries out to God to save him. All his money is spent on doctor and hospital bills, but he has peace and goes into ministry distributing Bibles.