God blessed me with being born the fifth of seven children to loving and committed parents. I grew up in a pastor's home making a profession of faith at the age of 15. After my salvation experience with God my heart changed and my life began to change.
At my father's request, I agreed to attend a Bible college for one year before moving into the field of aviation. After that first year, I yielded to the Lord to be in full time ministry. I met my wife, Connie, while in college; and we were married July 28, 1978. The following year I graduated and then returned to my home church to work in the capacity of youth director. I began to sense God's moving in the direction of missions or being a pastor in the spring of 1983. After much prayer and counsel, I accepted the responsibilities of a satellite church in Hamilton, Ohio under Dr. John Rawlings. Two years later I accepted the call as pastor of the Fellowship Baptist Church in Trafalgar, Indiana. For nearly five years my wife and I witnessed many people accepting Christ and following Him in baptism. With God's blessings, the church quadrupled in size over those five years.
In 1989, the leaders of my home church, Villa Baptist Church, asked me to come home and make a transition with my father. I accepted the call and my father accepted the position of Pastor Emeritus. Our school expanded its buildings, its enrollment, and the church filled its facilities. The church grew from 180 to over 600; and, with God's leading, we purchased new land for the relocation of the church due to the continued growth and blessings that God is still giving to the church. After 16 years Connie and I realized that God had allowed us to meet all of the goals He had placed for us at Villa Baptist. We began to prayerfully seek the Lord as to where He might use us. I finished my responsibilities by successfully leading the transition of the executive pastor as the new senior pastor.
In November, 2005, East Pointe Church called me to become their Senior Pastor. We love Florida and the people at East Pointe. Our emphasis at East Pointe is discipleship training and we are having good success. Our goal is to have 1,000 disciples.
Connie and I have been blessed with four children - Clint (26), Monica (24), Anna (22), and Tiffany (17). Monica married Jay and we now have two grandsons - Isaac and Noah. We will have a new addition to our family in 2008 - Clint will be marrying Becky.
I have met many great people through the years being a "PK". These include Lester Roloff, Dr. Jerry Falwell, Bill Gothard, Dr. John Rawlings and Richard Wurmbrand (He spent 14 years in a communist prison in Romania). I have met some famous people such as Bruce Jenner, Artis Gilmore, Bernadette Peters and even Billy Carter, not Jimmy. I remember asking Warren Wiersbe to sign my Bible and he responded, "I did not write it, but I will sign it." I do not ask for signatures anymore. I don't know Reggie but I was a Pacer fan until recently.
Kevin Hale
