How it all began: God began to give Doug a heart for the message of LIFE in the spring of 1993, when I heard the moving testimony of Gianna Jessen, a young girl who had survived being aborted, and her testimony changed our lives (watch a video about Gianna here). God began preparing me then for what He has called me to today.
In 2001, I received the call to full time ministry while attending Key Largo Baptist Church, in Florida (website). I also felt God calling us to give up our home and business in Florida, and to move to Kentucky, in order to attend Clear Creek Baptist Bible College (website).
While attending Clear Creek Baptist Bible College our family attended church at Mill Creek Baptist Church in Stoney Fork, Ky. And in 2004, I received the call to start Choose Life Ministries and to begin traveling and sharing a Biblical worldview of life across the Nation. When Choose Life Ministries started out in the summer of 2004, I was still in Bible college and we traveled as a family of five. I shared the message with the adults, Cliff spoke to the youth, Caitlyn shared in sign language and song, and also helped Crystal and Joli with the children’s ministry. My two oldest boys, Conrad and Christopher, did not travel in ministry with us. They are twins and have been serving in the Navy since 2000.
I graduated from Clear Creek Baptist Bible College in 2005, and our family gave up our home to begin traveling full time as a family of five in 2006. I served as an MSC missionary with NAMB for six years, and now currently serve with the Kentucky Southern Baptist Convention Missions. In July of 2018, Choose Life Ministries finished our thirteenth year of ministry and has spoken in approximately 1100 churches in 34 states.
Purpose: Choose Life Ministries purpose is to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nation and the world through the message of the sanctity of human life. My desire is to see people come to know Jesus Christ through the sanctity of human life message.
Vision: Choose Life Ministries desires to reach this generation helping them know the absolute TRUTH of God’s Word, and equipping them to impact their culture and their generation.
Mission: The mission of Choose Life Ministries is to go across the nation speaking to the church in order to build a culture of life through the truths of God’s Word, where all people are welcomed and valued and protected, especially those who live at the mercy of others. The call is to the church; to educate and equip the church (the body of Christ) to uphold biblical truth and to uphold life. We are seeking opportunities to share the message He has given us.
2018 Update – Doug continues to travel and share the message of the Sanctity of Human Life across the United States. Doug is also available to preach revival. He and Joli currently reside in Gastonia, NC. They are hoping to find a place to call home there.
Doug’s personal testimony:
(Birthday: June 21)
I was raised in a Christian home with godly parents. We attended church every time the doors were open. I have always loved the fellowship of the body of believers. On June 8 , 1968, I made Jesus Christ my personal Lord and Savior. Although there have been times in my life where I have forsaken Him, He has never left my side. I served the Lord faithfully from age 8 to age 16, and at age 16 I felt God calling me to preach. I ran from that call for many years and that caused a strain in my relationship with my Savior. I no longer had a close walk of fellowship with Jesus. God is a God of reconciliation, and shortly after that difficult time in my life, He brought me back and my relationship with my Lord and Savior was reconciled. I rededicated my life to the Lord and He began to work in my life in an amazing way. I felt His call upon my life again, but I was unsure of what He was calling me to do until 1993. God was transforming me in a powerful way. I was a “pro-choice” Christian. Then I heard the testimony of Gianna Jessen, of how she was aborted but lived to tell about it. She said her sole purpose for God sparing her life was to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. God spoke to me through her testimony in a way I will never forget. He lead me to the scripture passage Revelation 3:5-6 and spoke to my heart, that He did not want me to be a “lukewarm” Christian. The years between 1993 until now have been a time of preparation, as He has called my family and I into the sanctity of human life ministry. God has shown me that the problems and issues that we face as a nation today can all be traced back to the loss of the sanctity of human life.
My favorite scripture is Psalm 51:7-12: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”