Unsung Heroes

There is a lot of talk these days about vision. I have been in on a couple of “corporate type” talks that focus on the importance of vision and staying the course and leadership and making goals. I think that is all well and good. But it does leave out a most significant fact that I think in many ways is an important one. It is not all about the leader. It is about the followers. Anyone can have a vision. But not everyone can do the work. In other words, you have to have the expertise and the talent to get the job done. Those unsung people who can get the job done are the true heroes of any endeavor.

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The first five times we filmed, we did it in the Fellowship Bible Church auditorium. It was a rather barren place at that time and there was much that needed to be done. The stage for the teachers was a mess. One of the cameras needed to be on a platform five feet high. The sound needed to be coordinated with the tech man at the church. Lighting needed to be just so. The audience (which at that time was 500 excited women) needed to be managed. All details that I, the visionary, had not thought about! But someone had.

And so the day before filming when I arrived at the church, Kay Centurione was on the stage doing wondrous, creative things to make it beautiful. Dennis Law had worked overtime with our crew to make sure the hundreds of sound cords were all in place. Chuck Harley (my Beloved) had built a perfect five-foot platform that would hold a ton if needed. Genie Brady was there setting the tables with the necessary information. The talented detail people were doing their thing, making it all happen.

After we moved to the Walk Through the Bible studios, there were added complications. We had about 50 people arriving every day of filming and they came hungry. We needed food. And so in the well equipped kitchen Robin Rosebrough, Juanita Lott, Jan Butler and a whole team of talented women dished out two meals and numerous snacks daily. These were not just run of the mill lunches but beautiful-to-look-at, delicious-to-eat feasts.

Though our workbooks had not gone to print yet, copies had been made and placed at every chair along with a small gift. Flowers were in the foyer, welcoming each person. Names and addresses were taken and “permission to film” agreements were signed at a table someone remembered to not only set up as each person came through the door, but that was beautifully set with flowers, plenty of pens and a cheerful attendant.

Kelle and Shane had a whole crew including a talented stage designer, a sound guy, a gaffer plus assistant, three camera men, a switcher and makeup lady. We had earlier hired a wonderful lady to help with the wardrobe. It sounds like an easy thing but Trudy Davies’s eye for color, camera, design and timeless sense of style was a huge help to those of us who are fashion-challenged. Rosemary Nelson kept the teachers on time and tracked their talks so nothing would be left out.

The list of behind-the-scenes, dedicated, cheerful folks is longer than I have space. So in the end, it wasn’t the vision that made it happen. All would have remained nothing more than just that…a vision, a dream, an idea, a hope. It was the heroes who made a vision become a reality that went across country and now around the world.

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.

Romans 12:4-6

A Change of Mind

A mind is a difficult thing to change. I have been told that sugar and fats are harmful to the body. I have read it in articles, books, heard it on TV and from my doctor but I have not changed my mind. I simply do not agree. Though many voices say one thing, I think fats and sugar now and then are pleasures everyone should have and that it indeed is good for my (mental) health. Therefore, I still enjoy a brownie or chocolate chip cookie from time to time. (By the way, so does my doctor!)

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I was having a conversation with a successful business man one afternoon. He wanted to learn more about the ministry and asked many excellent and intelligent questions. I answered them as best as I could and in doing so explained our position on raising money. We would not ask for anything. We would not fund raise. We would not seek grants or loans. We would pray.

He thought it was a strange and very idealistic method. He thought that Christ would want us to ask. He thought that it was naïve, simplistic and surely not the way God would expect us to minister.

He supported many ministries and was beyond generous. But he made it very clear that he would not consider giving to any ministry that refused to ask him for money. To him, asking for money was a sign of a passionate belief in what the ministry stood for.

I thanked him for being interested in our endeavors but made it clear that we had asked God to provide as a way of assuring us we were doing exactly what HE wanted us to do. Therefore, I would not ask him or anyone for money. I know when we parted he was having difficulty understanding our stance. And after this conversation with such a godly, intelligent, successful man, I have to confess, I worried that perhaps indeed we were presuming on God.

A few weeks later we had run out of money. In the next week or two we would need about $30,000 to produce materials. Already Kelle and Shane, our production company, had been warned by us that funds were low and were taking on outside jobs to supplement in case we could not make the next payment.

Around this time, I was at a Christmas party and though the evening was most festive I was worried about the “what if’s”. What if God did not provide? What if we had been naïve? What if we had to shut down production? What if….?

The business man I had had such a challenging conversation with motioned to me from across the room and as I approached he asked if I could step outside for a minute. I was curious and thought perhaps he was going to chide me for being so foolish, but once outside, he pulled an envelope out from his sport coat pocket. “Here”, he said. “It is a check.” I was dumbfounded.

“But I thought you had decided not to give to this ministry!” I exclaimed.

He looked down at his shoes and then very sheepishly said, “God told me to give this.”

I opened the envelope and pulled out a check for $25,000! I was overwhelmed by his great generosity, but even more so by God’s great faithfulness!

In the next week we would receive the rest of the monies needed. But through it all his words rang in my ears. “God told me to give this.”

And that is the way it should be.

Matthew 7:11
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him.

Who Needs an Audience?

As a kid I had the great talent of being able to walk on stilts. I could walk up and down stairs. I could walk around the block. And the best part is that I was the only child in my child-populated neighborhood who could do such a thing. But I always was “better and more talented” when I had an audience.

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An audience helps. Though it can be immensely terrifying, it can also be the source of energy. As a speaker one can “play off” the audience. As a teacher, one can see if the message is hitting the mark simply by watching the faces of the people in the audience. So for many reasons an audience plays an important part.

But when it came to filming, the audience became another sign of the faithfulness of God. It wasn’t that we were negligent when it came to selecting and gathering a film audience. We just did not have the time. The entire team was going ninety miles an hour just trying to take care of all of the details required to produce the teaching DVDs. And so we did the only thing we ever knew to do and that was to simply pray.

By now we were learning that prayer was not just talking into the wind but was a powerful tool that God had given us to unleash heaven to accomplish that which we could not do. We asked Him to bring us an audience and then we moved forward.

There were several times that we were shocked by God’s recruitment policies! The truth is we never figured them out but quickly saw that He had a plan and it was a good one.

The first time we saw His audience recruitment power was when we filmed the music video “Come on into the House” with Jennifer Carozza. We had secured the First Presbyterian Church in the historic part of Roswell. It was perfect and we were delighted that the church elders decided to charge us nothing for the use of the old chapel that dates back to the 1800’s. It was full of architectural details and great lighting that made it ideal for our purpose.

Jennifer was to perform but we needed a pianist, a bass guitar player and a drummer. Now they did not need to actually play the instruments because this would all be lip/instrument synched. Kelle and Shane invited his brother to play the drums (he really could play!) and her father to play the piano (he really couldn’t play!) and a wonderful man with long dreadlocks to play the guitar. He had at one time been an accomplished guitarist but because of hard living before giving his life to Jesus had lost some fingers necessary to play.

Now we also needed some back up singers. Again, Kelle came to the rescue and found two women and a man to “play act” back-up. So there we were…a mixed bag of folks from all walks of life wrapped in the love of Jesus relating to one another as sisters and brothers. It was an incredible experience.

By twelve thirty we were about ready. Cameras were in place, back up singers were practicing, the musicians were chatting and I was pacing. You see we had made a blanket invitation to be an audience at our Women’s Fellowship ladies a week before. “Please come if you can….” and then gave details like where to be and the most important part they had to show up before 1:00!!!!

I had little faith that anyone would have the time or the inclination to arrive for a two hour long film shoot. I knew our prayer team was praying. I knew I was praying. But no one was coming….. I mean NO ONE! I felt shame and frustration arise as I could see we would have to shut all production down if we did not have an audience.

Now to film this particular session with no audience would simply not work. They were an integral part of the whole music DVD. Twelve forty-five and there was not one person in sight. Ten to one and still no one. Seven to one and three ladies came strolling in. Five to one and we now had about ten folks….all women…all white women! One minute to one the heavens opened and we looked out to see a stream of folks coming up the side walk…women, men, children, black, white, old, young!!! The perfect audience! It was absolutely overwhelming!

And they did not just COME! They came to make a perfect video. They clapped, they laughed, they sang along, they did the same scene over and over until it was just right. They were wonderful. They were God’s audience and they did it all for Him

Indeed none of those who wait for Thee will be ashamed.
Psalm 25:3

What's in a Name?

Naming our first child was not easy. I loved my grandmother’s name which was Swanna Pickett. My husband who was not from the south could not agree and so we went back and forth until we finally settled on Anne-Janette Parks Harley. Yes it is a mouth full but it represents the three women who made up her life. Anne is my mother. Janette is my mother-in-law and Parks is my middle name so all of us were represented. However, on the day of her birth we realized that she was too small for such a huge name so we turned the name Anne around and added the J from Janette and there you have it…Jenna! Perfect.

A name is important. It not only tells who you belong to but also gives some indication of your personality. “Jenna” fit her as a baby and now thirty-eight years later it is still the perfect name for her bubbly personality.

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We were at a stand still. Well maybe not literally but it seemed we had stalled and were not making any headway. The problem? We could not decide on a name for our Bible Study. What could be so hard?

With the hundreds of excellent Bible studies available in America today one would think that coming up with a name would be the very simplest part of developing the program. We had everyone we knew thinking up names that we would discuss and eventually reject. Why these rejections took place I cannot say except that they just did not “feel’ right. We seemed to sense that as soon as we heard it we would know “this is it”!!!

“Bible Light” ran with us for a few days until we realized it sounded like we were making the Bible light or trying to do a take-off on a beer commercial! Both reasons were good enough to finally decide to reject it.

We were sitting around the table at Truth in Advertising, owned by a talented young couple who we had hired to do some design work for us. We had about five or six names in front of us and though some were pretty catchy they just didn’t seem to grab our senses. At one point Mike Dolinger started talking about the study and in the conversation said “This really is an amazing collection of books, isn’t it!” And at the moment we all knew that we had a new name.

But there are many collections of works in the world and although they are interesting to say the least they are hardly amazing. And if one looks at the Bible as a singular work, they miss something miraculous. For the Bible is not one work but sixty-six books compiled by over 40 authors covering a period of 1500 years on three continents in three languages. What is so amazing is that there is perfect unity among these books although they address hundreds of different topics! The Bible is indeed an AMAZING COLLECTION!

There is no other collection of books that has inspired men to produce such great works of art, write more exquisite music and design more awe-inspiring architecture than the Bible. No other book has survived such determination to destroy it and no other book that has been the impetus for life transformation for millions of people throughout history! What a book! What a God!! What a gift! The Amazing Collection!

...and they were all amazed at the greatness of God.

Luke 9:43

Don’t Say It!

Jesus was pretty adamant when He said,“ Whoever says ‘You fool!’ (to his brother) shall be in danger of hell fire.” It is clear, it is convicting and it is frightening. Does He really mean hell?
But what about the person we are most likely to call fool? What about the times we call ourselves that? Is Jesus just as concerned?

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We had completed the first year of filming and now had a “product” to sell. We were beginning to see more and more that we were a company and needed some of the necessary things to do business. We set up a room in my home, got a computer, and had Truth in Advertising design some stationery, business cards and note cards for us.

They needed some pertinent information which I gave them - like the return address which is a PO Box, the colors we wanted to use and the quantities. Robin set about getting prices from printers in the area. Once that was done and we had chosen the print company I placed the order…..$1000 worth of stationery, note cards and business cards.

It is sometimes the little things that excite us the most; so when all of the stationery arrived, it was quite a thrill! We were a REAL company, a REAL ministry, a REAL corporation and now we had REAL stationery!

A few days later Eleanor sent out several important pieces of communication on our lovely stationery, but a couple of weeks later she began to hear from all of the companies that had received letters. They had sent answers back to us using the return address provided on the letterhead and envelopes, but all had been returned to them and none had reached us!

We were totally perplexed. I went over and over the steps we had taken trying to solve the problem. Finally I went to our UPS Store which houses our PO Box and went over every line of the address with them. The last line solved the problem. I had put Roswell as the town but our PO Box was in Alpharetta! The city dividing line was the street right in front of the PO Box!

It is hard to describe my feelings of foolishness. I had made such a huge blunder, but the truth is I had NO idea the dividing line was such a short distance from my house!

We are hardest on ourselves. The board was so understanding and kind, but all I saw was $1000 down the drain. In the end, all that we could not salvage went into the trash. And in many ways I followed it emotionally.

The words, “You fool” went through my mind several times a day. How could I have been so stupid! I felt sure that neither Eleanor nor Linda nor any of the other women would have made such a stupid and costly mistake.

How quick we are to call ourselves the very words Jesus said we were not to call any brother. It took a few weeks to get my heart right and my eyes on God, and that was done mostly because of the kindness and quick forgiveness of a team that continually practiced Christ-like love. The blessings of Christian love and forgiveness are greater than we ever deserve yet what we all so desperately need.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Matthew 6:14

Celebrate!

Somehow it doesn’t seem right. Yet there is no denying that the first miracle was turning water into wine at a great celebration. (John 2:1-10) Celebration! The miracles of Jesus began with a crisis, a celebration gone awry, but He turned it around to be better than ever.

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I wanted to do something special. For over a year Eleanor, Linda, and Margie had worked tens of hours every week with absolutely no pay whatsoever. They had studied, given huge amounts of time, endured spiritual hits with perseverance, stood before a camera and overcome intense fear to give 40 minutes talks, and personally parted with a great deal of money to help our big dream come to fruition. And by our side all the way was Robin Rosebrough, keeping track of the thousands of details and doing all of the administrative work behind the scenes.

We had completed twelve DVDs….and we were exhausted. It was time for a reward.

I explained my celebration plan to my husband who graciously told me to go for it, and he would foot the bill. And so with joyful anticipation I made all of the arrangements for a wonderful day for the teachers and Robin Rosebrough, who is the administrative genius of the ministry.

I rented a limo.

I made reservations at the Ritz Carlton.

I made appointments for five at Spa Sydell for the complete spa treatment.

And I kept it all a surprise. They only knew to keep the date open, and I would pick them up at 10:00 AM.

Shortly before the big day in May 2002, I received a notice that I was on “stand-by” for jury duty. I gave it little thought, as I knew God would protect me so I could be a part of the big day! The night before at the allotted time I called the number to see if my name was called. I was shocked (may I say that is a HUGE understatement!) to find that indeed I was expected to show up at the courthouse at 8:00AM. I was devastated but did the only thing I could do. I called Robin and told her the whole plan and asked her if she would take my place and be the hostess for the day. She would meet the limo at my house and then proceed to pick up the teachers for a fun day…without me!

The next morning as I was getting ready and noticed that my husband had not left for work. “I am going with you” is all he said. At the courthouse the guards were being very careful about checking everyone’s ID and jury summons. Nine-eleven had made every government building a place of high security. For some reason known only to God, Chuck was able to pass right through security and followed me up to the second floor. Once there he asked to meet with the person in charge, and immediately we were ushered into the office of the “person in charge”. She was kind, but also said in no uncertain terms that I could not be released nor could Chuck take my place.

We went to the waiting room and again, Chuck stayed with me. A little while later the woman in charge came out of her office and called to us. “I have to say, I am so impressed that you would do this for your wife, so I am going to give you an extension as long as you promise that you will appear for duty in four weeks from now! I would have agreed to anything!

We ran out of the courthouse and called Robin. She was in the limo and they had just picked up Margie and were on their way to Eleanor’s. I was able to meet them in the limo thirty minutes later.

First stop was lunch at the Ritz Carlton! While we were eating I got a call from Spa Sydell. A water pipe had broken in the facility where we had appointments but they could make arrangements for us to go to another at a little later time. And they would pick up the extra cost of the limo!

So once again, God had intervened and brought something so good after something that looked bad. We ate a leisurely lunch, drove around Atlanta in our limo (now paid for mostly by Spa Sydell!) and later that afternoon went for our wonderful spa treatments!


The groom is out of wine….crisis….God! Jury duty…crisis…GOD! Security check point…crisis…God! Broken pipes…crisis…GOD!

And so we celebrated in such a grand way, but the truth is we celebrated He Who made it all possible!

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing… to the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.
Psalm 30:12

Danger Ahead

I love the story in Numbers 22 when God put a donkey in the path of Balaam to stop him from making a serious mistake. It was a rather dramatic move for sure but nonetheless needed.

God on one occasion put a roadblock in our path. It wasn’t a donkey but a simple withholding of funds that left us confused and anxious…until we realized He was only looking out for our best and preventing us from making a huge mistake..
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We knew we couldn’t do it. Perhaps we were not talented enough or smart enough. But I really think it was because we were not superwomen! Our plates were already piled high with ministry responsibilities outside of Big Dream, such as family needs (like husbands who wanted to see us occasionally and homes that needed cleaning) and the great demand of trying to learn how to teach a whole book in the Bible in forty-five minutes. All that and trying to shape the filming, choosing various people we would need to work and a thousand details both legal and practical were draining the four of us mightily. So we decide to find a skilled person to write the workbooks.

The lovely lady we choose was talented and loved to write. We very quickly realized that although the teachers were volunteers, the workbook author needed to be paid for her work. A thousand dollars a book was decide upon, and we began to work together as a team.

The first workbook was complete and we were ready to go to print. But the funds were not there. We prayed, we begged, but it seemed like heaven was closed to our requests. We became anxious wondering what was wrong. Was there sin in the camp? Had we failed to follow God’s leading?

As she was almost completing the second set, our author told us that she needed to own the copyright of all the work she had done. She also wanted royalty payments on each book sold.

We were not business women. We knew nothing about publishing or royalties or copyrights so we sought out some of the excellent “counselors” God had given us. In the end, every man from our husbands to lawyers and ministry leaders said the same thing. BDM had to own the copyright. There could be no royalties as workbooks were done as contract labor. The amount we were already paying was adequate for the work performed.

There were more meetings but an agreement could not be reached. So we came to a place where we had to part company. In the end, our author was able to keep the twelve thousand dollars and the copyright for her work and we were left with nothing except great sorrow and incredible confusion.

I don’t think I slept at all that night as loss, anxiety and frustration flooded my emotional bank. The rest of the board also spent a sleepless night.

But God was not confused or anxious. He had another plan.

The next day after our “parting of the ways” meeting I was talking to my friend Jan VanderVeen. Her husband Art had been the Senior Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church but had recently stepped down from those responsibilities and had some free time. She said she thought he would enjoy writing the workbook!

I was shocked beyond belief! Art was an excellent teacher, a Bible scholar, and a gifted writer. I never would have dreamed that anyone with such excellent credentials would have been available to write eleven workbooks! Within days we had a contract that included his very talented daughter, Carrie who would partner with him. She would collect all of the quotations and factoids and Art would do the writing. It was the perfect combo!

Once again the hand of God had helped us avoid a terrible mistake. If we had had the money, we would have gone ahead and printed the old workbooks only later to have had to destroy them because we did not own the copyright! God also provided not just one, but two outstanding authors to continue the work He had started.

Whether it is a donkey in the road or a withholding of funds, God has His ways of guiding His people.

Behold it will be said in that day: Behold, this is our God: We have waited for Him

Psalm 32:8
I shall instruct you and teach you in the way you should go:
I will guide you with My eye.