Dave’s eyes had slowly focused on his coach, kneeling beside him, roughly sponging his face. A huge grin split Coach’s face. He kept repeating the same words, and finally the sense of them came with their sound.

“We did it, Dave. We did it!”

The thrill of victory coursed through his body, instantly expelling all weakness and pain. Dave was no longer an Olympic runner. He was now an Olympic Champion. That was the moment when every pain-filled day and torture-wracked night, along with the four years of sacrifice and deprivation had paled into insignificance.

For he had won.

He did not know that the night would soon come when he would be called into yet more training

by the unsurpassed Coach of all time

to the race of all races

for the greatest prize of all.

Dave, his relatives, his friends and his acquaintances are fictional.

“I think I will take a look at the great runners of the past,” Dave thought. “It might be interesting.”

He decided to begin that evening. He didn’t realize then that his search through the past centuries would introduce him to mass murderers, desolate slaves, prosperous merchants, destitute failures, aged men, fearless professors, courageous women, helpless invalids, elderly women, sharp lawyers, drunken teenagers, hardworking housewives, dying men, respectable counts, sneering agnostics, vile blasphemers, despised priests - and these were just a few of the runners God picked to carry His torch!

Dave met runners of distant lands, of other times, discovering them in slave ships, hog pens, battlefields, prisons, Indian tepees, mansions, orphanages, forests and dungeons.

The 37 Torchbearers you will meet in the pages of this book are real - men, women and children who are part of our rich, but all too often forgotten, Christian heritage.

Torchbearers . . . not just a novel, but a call. For it is time for all of us to run with the torch.

Torchbearers includes people we can all relate to - ordinary people who have faced the same fears and predicaments we confront today.

COMMENTS FROM READERS . . .

“One of the best books I have ever read in my lifetime . . . my life and ministry has not been the same!” Dwight L. Kinman, Author, Hospital Chaplain & Conference Speaker

“I have shared many passages from Torchbearers with my friends and family. I could not put it down! I recommend this book to any person carrying the torch for Jesus who has ever felt alone, rejected, or just in need of a little encouragement.” Rosey Bryan, Wife of Andy, Southern Baptist Evangelist

“ . . . a challenging message and a sharply painted picture of our rich Christian heritage.” Gulf Coast Christian Newspaper

“I was totally awe-stricken! The encouragement one can receive from reading this book is much needed.” Quinton Mills, Evangelist, Songwriter

“I constantly use portions of Torchbearers as I minister to the Youth Group in our church.” Suzanne Courtright, Youth Leader with her husband, Timothy.

TORCHBEARERS

Through the Centuries

70 to 156 . . . . . . . . . Polycarp

Died in 258 . . . . . . . Lawrence

316 to 397 . . . . . . . . Martin of Tours

354 to 430 . . . . . . . . Augustine

The 400s . . . . . . . . . Patrick

521 to 597 . . . . . . . . Columba

540 to 604 . . . . .. . . Gregory the Great

675 to 754 . . . . . . . . Boniface

801 to 865. . . . . . . . Anskar

Died in 997 . . . . . . . Adalbert

Died in 1012 . . . . . . Alphage

Died in 1045 . . . . . . Gerard

Died in 1079 . . . . . . Stanislaus

Late 1100s - 1217 . . Waldo

1334 to 1384 . . . . . . John Wyclif

1372 to 1415 . . . . . . John Hus

1452 to 1498 . . . . . . Girolamo Savonarola

1483 to 1547 . . . . . . Martin Luther

1494 to 1536 . . . . . . William Tyndale

1663 to 1727 . . . . . . August Francke

1669 to 1742 . . . . . . Susanna Wesley

1700 to 1760 . . . . . . Count Zinzendorf

1703 to 1791 . . . . . . John Wesley

1718 to 1747 . . . . . . David Brainerd

1725 to 1807 . . . . . . John Newton

1780 to 1845 . . . . . . Elizabeth Fry

1789 to 1871 . . . . . . Charlotte Elliott

1792 to 1875 . . . . . . Charles Finney

1805 to 1898 . . . . . . George Mueller

Born in 1855 . . . . . . Annie Taylor

1902 to 1970 . . . . . . Gladys Aylward

Running in 1920s . . Aged Woman

1910 to 1975 . . . . . . James Stewart

Today . . . . . . . . . . . . Dave

Soft cover Book

432 Pages

$12.00