Great Soul-Winning Churches - Elmer Towns

Beach. Gray chuckled. “Our people would keep going right out into the ocean if people were
there.”
Jacksonville is the transportation hub of Florida and when Gray saw many transients on
the downtown streets, God burdened him to start a rescue mission. He toured a number of
buildings in search of a location. At the Columbus Drew Building, Gray stated, “I felt impressed
this was the one.” He slipped away from the real estate man, hid a dime in the plaster wall as a
down payment, knelt and prayed that God would give him the building. But the building
remained tied up in an estate for two years. One day while praying, Gray felt impressed of God,
“You can have the building if you are willing to forsake your pride and go down and pray on the
sidewalk in broad daylight.” Thinking that the ministry needed self-respect, Gray went down at
night and leaned against the building to pray. He didn’t get the building.
A year later he was praying in the afternoon and he again felt God telling him to go there
and pray. At 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon Gray knelt on the sidewalk, spread his Bible open and
asked God for the building, right there in the midst of busy shoppers. As he returned to his office
his secretary reported an urgent phone call had come. He answered: “Don’t tell me who it is-I’ll
tell you.” Gray told her it was Norman Stowe, the trust officer, phoning about the Columbus
Drew Building. It was. The bank official told Gray that they had had a meeting at 3:00 p.m. and
decided since the realtors couldn’t rent the building, they would sell it. He went and retrieved the
dime from the wall and today it’s on a plaque at the Trinity Rescue Mission. Richard
McDorman, who has just graduated from Bob Jones University, is representative of the finest
product of the rescue mission, according to Bob Gray.
In addition to the downtown mission, the church owns a 56-acre farm 30 miles from
Jacksonville that can accommodate 24 men who need rehabilitation from alcohol or dope
addiction. Don Glenn, superintendent, lives at the farm and is overseer.
The Trinity Bookstore was begun seven years ago as an outlet for fundamental Christian
literature. Gray indicated there was no other place in town that screened Christian books;
everything sold at Trinity Bookstore is reviewed by the manager, Mr. David Williams, and he
checks with the pastor if in doubt. All profits go to the church missionaries; $20,000 was
distributed to them last year in materials selected from the store.
Trinity Youth Camp was begun eight years ago in Keystone Heights, Florida,
approximately 50 miles from the church. Each summer around 200 campers per week come
during its nine-week session; last year 231 accepted the Lord. The camp is under the ministry of
Ron Riley, who has been with the church since 1967. Lake property was hard to get, and Gray
heard about a couple who were getting a divorce, who owned the property. As he prayed, the
pastor realized that if they got the divorce, he could get the land, but he wouldn’t let property
stand in the way of his ministering to people. He testified, “When I went to their house I did
everything possible to keep that family together; I gave up that ground to God.” Reconciliation
was not achieved; after the divorce, the man indicated, “I wouldn’t sell that ground to anyone but
the church.”
The Trinity Christian Academy, K-12, with 2,035 students, is the third largest Christian
school in the nation. John Kager, principal, started with the school when it was established six