Kristi Hodge

ORLANDO, Fla. (BP)–Luann Percoskie has lived most of her life on the streets. While most 10-year-old girls were playing with Barbie dolls and dreaming about their future, Luann was growing up too fast — her childhood stolen by the streets. Like so many runaways struggling to survive any way they could, Luann became entangled in […]

ORLANDO, Fla. (BP)–Sitting on a street corner on the outskirts of downtown Orlando, Peggy Ament bowed her head and prayed for guidance. She wasn’t sure what she was doing there; she just knew the Lord had drawn her to this particular spot on Orange Blossom Trail. As soon as she had stepped into her car […]

ORLANDO, Fla. (BP)–Everyone wants to be king for a day — to be in charge and answerable to no one. It may sound appealing, Richard Blackaby told students at the Sept. 24-26 CrossSeekers collegiate discipleship conference in Orlando, Fla., but instead of offering freedom, it wraps people in chains of their own sin and pride. […]

ORLANDO, Fla. (BP)–As thrill-seekers zoomed through the air on roller coasters at Universal Theme Park in Orlando, Fla., across the street several hundred college students took their own ride of faith to seek after the things of Christ. Many of them committed “to seek Christ through a life of transformational discipleship” during CrossSeekers, a collegiate […]

LEESBURG, Fla. (BP)–It seemed like an impossible goal — reading the entire Bible aloud in four days. Wondering how long it would take to read the Bible through non-stop, David Burton, challenged students at Florida Baptists’ Super Summer week, June 14-18, to a 24-hour, around-the-clock Bible reading. Burton is the Florida Baptist Convention’s personal evangelism […]

TITUSVILLE, Fla. (BP)–If churches focus just on reaching children during Vacation Bible School, they are missing out on their best evangelistic opportunity of the year, said Willie Dillenbeck, children and conversion specialist for the Florida Baptist Convention. “The true focus of Vacation Bible School isn’t just teaching children about God; it’s leading families to Christ,” […]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)–Ever wanted to be in three places at one time? Through the Florida Baptist Convention’s first use of Interactive Compressed Television (ICTV), Bill Carmichael and Gary Nichols were able to do just that. From the Baptist Building in Jacksonville, the two Florida Baptist Convention discipleship training department staff members led a Bible drill […]

LAKELAND, Fla. (BP)–Imagine telling your congregation a month before the scheduled groundbreaking for its new worship center that the building plans need to be canceled because “God’s working in another direction but I can’t tell you what.” Jay Dennis, pastor of First Baptist Church, Lakeland, Fla., faced that situation. “I spent every credibility buck I […]

BRANDON, Fla. (BP)–As parents of a developmentally disabled child, Brenda and Peter Watkins felt the best place for their daughter to receive personalized, supervised care was at home. But as their daughter grew to adulthood, they began to ask, “Who’s going to take care of her when we’re gone?” They weren’t the only ones asking […]

PENSACOLA, Fla. (BP)–Dozens of military students returning to classes after the Christmas break received a welcome back present from Pensacola Bay (Fla.) Baptist Association’s Home Port Military Christian Center: free transportation from the airport to the barracks. Home Port director Roy Chewning made nine round trips, picking up 91 people, in the Home Port van […]