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David and I will be relocating to Ft. Worth in one month to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His classes for his 2nd Masters (with emphasis on the mission's field) will begin in January. I have already started classes remotely for Partners in Ministry. This is definitely a new chapter in our book. One that has been in the background for far too long. We are so humbled and blessed to be able to attend this wonderful school and take this journey. It is amazing when God opens doors how quickly and easily everything falls into place. [Emphasis mine.]
The B.H. Carroll Memorial Building is the first building you see when you drive onto the campus. Benajay Harvey Carroll, the founder of Southwestern, was the son of a preacher, but as a young adult, Carroll rejected Christianity. His bitterness toward the church — and God — grew after his first marriage ended in divorce due to his wife's infidelity. He volunteered for the riskiest missions available in the Confederate army, and he publicly refuted the chaplains' sermons. "He preached against God in the Confederate army camps and attracted larger crowds than the chaplains."
After suffering severe wounds in battle at Mansfield, Louisiana, he needed help with his wounds, and his mother said she would help if he would attend the Methodist camp meetings that were being held. Due to the sermon he heard and his reading of a copy of Pilgrim's Progress his mother gave him, Carroll converted to Christianity in the fall 1865 and felt God's call to preach.
Southwestern has been training and equipping people for evangelism and missions for almost 112 years. It is amazing to see and hear about the wonderful things that God has done through this Seminary and how He used a man that at one time in his life went out of his way to reject Him. (Carroll's story reminds me a little of Paul. From unlikely beginnings to the wonderful sold-out believer that continues to touch more lives than can possibly be counted more than the stars in the heavens or the sand on the beach).
"Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God." - William Carey
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