My family and I arrived in the Knoxville area in the summer of 1981. My
parents had just divorced, ending a 16-year marriage. Emotionally we were
at a low point, feeling deserted and unwanted. The only bright spot for me
was that I had only a month earlier committed my life to Jesus Christ.
There we were, out of money and almost out of hope. So we arrived in
Knoxville, three teenagers, a single mom, an ugly old station wagon with a
broken air conditioner, all our material possessions in the trunk and
completely out of money. To make matters worse, my mother had not been
employed for years, complicating the chances for landing a good job.
The stage, it would seem, was
set for a miracle. It was into that reality that
 Dr. Hubert
Smothers, President of Harrison Chilhowee Baptist Academy (now
King’s Academy), stepped in. He offered the greatest gift of all
– he believed in us. He went right to work. In a matter of
weeks, he had arranged for my mother to get a job. He found us a
place to rent, filled our house with furniture from a friend’s
warehouse and put food in our cupboards. Perhaps the greatest
miracle, he visited an untold number of Southern Baptist
churches in the area to solicit adequate funding for all three
of us to attend the school until we graduated.
During those years we were poor and really struggled. Sometimes
we were on food stamps. Sometimes my mother had to give her
plasma for money. My football coach even moved my brother and me
on campus during the football season so we would have access to
large cafeteria meals. Through it all though, Hubert Smothers
believed in us and did what he could for us.
I eventually obtained a bachelor’s degree in mechanical
engineering from Tennessee Tech University and a Master’s of
Divinity from Columbia International University. My younger
brother, now a pastor with a family, earned a doctorate from
Southeastern Baptist Seminary. And my mom? She later went to
college and graduated with honors from the University of
Tennessee, enabling her to teach special-education classes at a
nearby school. Two years ago she was elected Teacher of the
Year.
My sister, having walked
through the valley during some of those years, emerged in love
with Jesus and is the wife of a Southern Baptist church planter
today. Truly, my God is a God of hope, a God of turn-arounds and
One who never forgets His children.
So why have I told you all this? Because I want to dedicate this
book to Dr. Hubert Smothers. He died my senior year in high
school in a house fire. It was the worst day of my life. His
spirit lives on, though, in me and in all those that call
themselves the Compassion Coalition. This guidebook is dedicated
to his memory, to the outworking of his life in others, and to
the glory of the One he loved with a reckless abandon...
Jesus Christ.
|
This guidebook is dedicated to the
memory of Dr. Hubert Smothers, to the outworking of his life in
others, and to the glory of the One he loved with a reckless
abandon... Jesus Christ.
|
 |
Editor,
Andy Rittenhouse
|
