Oklahoma is OK, but I’ll take NEW ENGLAND anyway!

It would be impossible to name all my friends in New England, though they all deserve special mention. Some people come into your life and stay awhile, and once they leave, they are gone. A few come, and never leave. Even when you’re apart, you’re still ‘together in spirit.’ I spell “friends:” L-A-N-G-I-L-L-E!

Do you remember Ralph and Pauline Tobyne? A great word for them is: “DITTO.” They, like the Langilles, will always be with me in my heart - even when the miles separate us. Ralph and I have traveled together, prayed together, and when I was ordained into the ministry, how honored I was to have this “man of God” lay his hands on me in a prayer of consecration.

God’s grace has brought me to a new era now. Those wonderful trips to New England, and other areas as well, are, for the most part, history. We shall see what God has in store for us now. And as I wait, I will glory in “what God hath wrought!”

Others who had a tremendous impact on my days of singing ministry around the country are: Dr. John C. Maxwell, pastor/writer/friend, Lon Woodrum, Evangelist and dear friend, Herbert Howard, childhood hero who gave me many opportunities to sing in revival meetings, Lee Smith and the Masterworkers Quartet, who in the days of black and white TV gave me a chance to sing with the "Big Boys." WJBF and WRDW Television, and Jim Bakker of PTL.

Many people have a hand in the lives of those who work for God, and without these men and women of God, we would be hard-pressed to find avenues to serve.

I owe a special debt to Rev. and Mrs. S. F. Andrews of Macon, Georgia, for taking me to Cumberland. MD., to sing for a revival at First Methodist Church. It was there that I met the Deremer Family, from which my wife Paula would be added to my life.

David Wilkerson, founder of Teen Challenge, for giving me the opportunity to sing and travel with that ministry.

To Ed and Beverly Dunbar, longtime friends from Augusta, whose generosity helped to birth this website, and to Mark Lindquist, who built it. To Mrs. Ouida Patterson of Augusta, whose gift made it possible to go to Nashville and record my first album.

To countless friends I owe a debt of gratitude that I can never pay. Their encouragement, their prayers and gifts, I say, "Thank you." God bless you who made it all possible.