R.A.'s Makes a Difference
for
Celebrities and Ordinary People
by Mary Branson


Chan Gailey, head coach for the Dallas Cowboys, was a Royal Ambassador. So were Dan Reeves, head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, and University of Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer.

These Southern Baptist agency presidents were also RAs: Jimmy Draper, LifeWay Christian Resources; Jerry Rankin, International Mission Board; Bob Reccord, North American Mission Board. So was Winfield Dunn, former governor of Tennessee. Former President Jimmy Carter was not only an RA, but also a counselor.

It's clear that RAs, a Southern Baptist mission organization for boys in grades 1-6, has been influential in the lives of many denominational leaders and celebrities. But those leaders are only a fraction of the outstanding men who have emerged from RAs in the past 90 years. During a recent contest to locate outstanding former RAs, many men were nominated, not because of their professional achievements but because they were on-mission adults who credited RAs with giving them their on-mission spirit.




Add these names to the Who's Who of Royal Ambassadors:



Carlos Abeyta, Olympia, Wash.
Occupation: Research microbiologist
Abeyta is a Mission Service Corps volunteer who directs a ministry to seafarers in Port of Everett, Wash., reaching hundreds of seafarers from all over the world with the gospel of Christ. They, in turn, take the message back to their native countries.

While in RAs, Abeyta became a Christian and first felt the leading of God to become involved in missions. Now the work of his RA counselors is multiplied over and over as Abeyta reaches out to seafarers with the message of love and hope.

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Wayne Phillips, Heath Springs, S.C.
Occupation: Textile worker
Phillips' RA experience taught him the importance of being an ambassador for Christ, and he shares that urgency with boys today. That's one reason he's an RA counselor at his church, joining his boys in mission projects and pointing them in the same direction RA counselors once pointed him. What Phillips' church members notice most about his RA work is how he walks alongside his RAs instead of just instructing them.


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Frank Pope, Mexia, Texas
Occupation: Electronics engineer
Pope joined RAs when he was 8, and quickly learned the difference Christian mentoring could make in the life of a child. Now he has a strong desire to pass on his love of missions to the next generation. He's a mentor and leader in the Men's Ministry of his church. He supports missions with finances, through prayer, and with hands-on involvement.

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Philip Martin Strait, Warner Robins, Ga.
Occupation: Student
At 16, Strait is a long way from reaching his goal of becoming a medical missionary. But those touched by his service through his church have confidence that he will make it. RAs taught Strait leadership skills and how to use his talents to serve Christ. After completing RAs, Strait helped organize a youth mission group so he and his friends could continue learning about and participating in missions. He has served as youth pastor and part of a pastor mentoring program in his church.

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Dale Uhrig, Mount Vernon, Mo.
Occupation: Behavior specialist
Uhrig grew up without a father in his home. But his RA counselors were there to teach him many things a Christian father would teach. As an adult, Uhrig made a commitment to help other children in need of mentoring. As a supervisor for the Missouri Baptist Children's Home, Uhrig sees that the children there worship regularly and participate in mission organizations. He puts his RA training into practice constantly as he guides children to be all that God intended them to be.

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Herb Weaver, Houston, Texas
Occupation: Scientific equipment buyer (retired)
Weaver accepted Christ at his first RA summer camp at age 9 and completed the program, eventually achieving the Ambassador rank. During his time as an RA, he learned about missionaries and how to be on mission in his own church and community. Hundreds of boys have benefited from what Weaver learned as an RA because he chose to pass on his love for missions. In the 39 years Weaver has been an RA counselor and associational RA director, he has led boys to participate in mission projects across the nation.

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Davis Yaun, Decatur, Ga.
Occupation: Mechanical engineer/bivocational pastor
According to the mother of one of Yaun's RAs, "Davis' RA program is as much outreach as missions." Yaun says that his goal is to reach boys for Christ, and the method is RAs. Camping, survival hikes, high adventure, and rappelling entice boys to become involved in Yaun's program. Once involved, Yaun shares the plan of salvation and teaches them the importance of hands-on involvement in Christ's work. Yaun has taken his RAs on mission trips as far away as Alaska and Guatemala and each year raises thousands of dollars for missions. Yaun credits his days as an RA for giving him a love for missions and the realization that RAs can make a difference for Christ in the lives of young boys. Many of his RAs are now counselors, who are doing the same thing.

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Keith Youngblood, Martinez, Ga.
Occupation: Rigger at a nuclear energy site
As a boy, Youngblood was active in the RA program at his church. Later, his former RA counselors recognized his potential and encouraged him to become a leader. That was 13 years ago, and now 90 boys make up the RA program Youngblood directs. Youngblood involves his boys in hands-on missions and motivates other men to become counselors. Through Youngblood's leadership, his church's RA program has become the most successful in his association and one of the most successful in the Southern Baptist Convention.

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Wally Eades, Olin, N.C.
Occupation: Mechanic
Eades is a man who likes action. "I'm real interested in getting people to do missions. I'm not much for sitting in a pew." He realizes that God can use ordinary people to do His work and says, "Every smile you give away is a seed planted for Christ. I know that 'cause I ain't got much else to give."

Eades underestimates himself. The smiles he gives away have brightened the lives of countless people and touched lives for the Jesus Eades loves to share. And RAs is where it began. "I don't remember much about my childhood, but I do remember going to Camp CaRAway and singing a song in Spanish. The words meant 'He is Light unto this world of mine, my Jesus, my Jesus.'" Eades has learned to carry that light to others, and he believes that "if God can use me, He can use anybody. I'm just a plain, ordinary, dumb ol' guy."

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From U.S. President to plain ordinary guy, Royal Ambassadors has made a difference in boys' lives for 90 years. Their hearts for missions make Wally Eades and Jimmy Carter more alike than different



(Thank David Yaun for providing this article.)

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