These Are My Church Clothes

Set in the heart of Appalachia, where his stories about shootings, baptizing in icy creek waters during a snow storm, people living in an old school bus with no electric, a drunken hero God used to save the preacher's own family from the unthinkable and even the best way to eat the head of a squirrel-Jerry Rice, in his own special southern vernacular, takes us on a journey with him deep into the mountains of Clay County, Kentucky. It is here we discover how he went from being a wheeling-dealing factory worker who would sell "chances" on a knife, then buy the same knife back and make money on it all over again-to becoming a born again Christian. After leaving his drinking, fun-seeking and anger filled life behind, Rice answered the call God placed on him to go and minister to the low-income families in Panco-a town where some would rally to help build a youth center and where some would bring shot-guns to a ballgame. Rice's stay here would prove to be a rough and challenging experience but one that was blessed. Learn how (in these backwoods where the unemployment rate was sometimes as high as 65%) God used the willingness of one dedicated man and his wife to change the lives of those around them with the message of Jesus. With every nail he hammered and every mile he drove in the church van to pick up the youth-every time they opened their home to their community and with every meal they served-Jerry and his wife, Brenda worked hard as they gave of themselves with the goal of making life better for the citizens of Panco. See the myriad of pictures that chronicles their work and lives-from the small church they started with, to building a full court gymnasium for a youth center, running ball leagues and even building a company from the ground up that served as a place of employment for some of the people in the area for fifteen years. Jerry Rice is not a "man of letters" nor does the country-drawling, people-loving preacher from the Appalachia dip his pen into the same inkwell of the great writers of our time but the sheer "story" of what he and his faith in God were able to accomplish makes for fascinating and soul-stirring reading. This account of Brother Rice's life is a faith builder and may speak more deeply to your heart than many other volumes of eloquent theological prose as it tells the very real story of what God can do with the life of one wise man who simply dared to trust in Him. Christian Author Regina Russell