First Person With Wayne Shepherd

Zach Heinold is a now a dedicated Christian husband and father, co-owner of a residential construction business. But he tells Wayne Shepherd of almost ruining his life until he met Christ.  (click for more...)  Zach's Business Website: https://heinoldhomes.comRaised in church with a Sunday-morning requirement, Zach describes drifting in his teenage years into a popularity-driven crowd and a hidden double life — playing sports and getting decent grades on the surface while struggling with drugs and alcohol, even attending church while high. He talks about constant remorse, fear of being found out by his family and future wife, and escalating legal trouble — seven arrests/tickets in 2007 alone.The conversation highlights his father's non-judgmental, faith-centered support, his wife's similar background of growing up in church and returning to faith, and his rock-bottom moment on the night of August 1-2, 2008. After college loans for SIU-Carbondale were denied and he planned to sell drugs instead,

After experiencing a construction accident, Brad Willey began thinking deeply about his life when an unexpected stranger showed up to point him to Christ. He tells his story to Wayne Shepherd.   (click for more…) Website:  https://missioneurasia.caBrad Willey, now executive director of Mission Eurasia Canada, talks about how he came to faith. Willey grew up in a rough, isolated mountain town in western Canada where fighting, drinking, and gang influence were part of daily life. Around 2001–2002, he was operating heavy equipment when a landslide pushed his machine 30 feet underwater. He cried out to God, escaped through the roof hatch, and survived. He attended church for six months afterward but felt spiritually lost and drifted back into old habits. Years later, on a December morning, he prayed for someone to explain God's message to him. That afternoon, at a Calgary truck stop, a stranger with a Polish accent told him about Jesus, and Willey committed his life to Christ. He then grew in faith through C

Once a convicted felon, Jermaine Wilson became a Christ-follower through a Prison Fellowship program and now discusses his changed life with Wayne Shepherd.  (click for more…)         Website:  www.prisonfellowship.org/story/the-spiritual-awakening-of-jermaine-wilson/Jermaine Wilson, now mission ambassador for Prison Fellowship, describes growing up in government housing with a teenage mother and a father who struggled with addiction. He began using drugs at 11 and committed his first crime at 12, seeking the acceptance he lacked at home. He spent four years in juvenile corrections, where he joined a gang, and after release he returned to drugs and crime. That led to a three-year adult prison sentence for narcotics possession, served when his son was eight months old. During that sentence, facing the prospect of his son repeating his path and with family visits suddenly stopping, he joined Prison Fellowship's program, surrendered his life to Jesus, and saw his family restored. After release, the church a

Edward Bouvier who uses woodworking as a spiritual mission, joins Wayne Shepherd in conversation to talk about his joy of working with his hands and teaching others his craft.  (click for more…)                              Website: www.villagewoodwright.com    Edward Bouvier, "The Village Woodwright," started in furniture restoration and moved into teaching after a health crisis in his 30s showed him he wanted his craft to reach people. He now runs classes, mostly for homeschool groups and private schools, in which every tool is hand-powered and students start by splitting a fresh log. They work without rulers or patterns, using classical proportions instead. Bouvier ties his work to his faith, especially the idea of redemption: rescuing discarded wood and furniture, and helping students salvage flawed pieces or burn the rest in the class campfire. He also mentions a former apprentice who is now a blacksmith at Kline Creek Farm, and his lifelong love of the pipe organ, which he is returning to afte

Executive leadership coach and author Fred Gladney is Wayne Shepherd’s guest to tell his personal story of faith and the biblical principles for business he’s learned.  (click for more…)  Website:  TheDNAofSuccess.com , https://thegladneygroup.com/Fred Gladney is an executive leadership coach, entrepreneur, and author of The DNA of Success. Gladney describes growing up in a "cultural Christian" household in Pittsburgh, coming to genuine faith in his late twenties after being prayed for at a dinner in California, and being discipled by mentors including Dr. E.V. Hill and Frank Wilson. He reflects on integrating faith with a long corporate career (including leaving a company over ethical issues), and shares his coaching philosophy — that real success requires surrender, that leaders should focus on personal growth and self-awareness rather than assessments and quadrants, and that significance comes from mentoring others and leaving a lasting legacy. The conversation closes with his emphasis on Scriptu

Cheryl Steele Tinsley, the lone survivor of a wilderness surveying trip gone awry, talks with Wayne Shepherd about her experience.  (click for more) On July 3, 1980, Cheryl Steele Tinsley and three of her friends were caught in a deadly “freak storm” on Michigan's Lake Huron that meteorologists say only appear once every ten to twelve years.  Her three companions died, but Cheryl miraculously lived.As you listen, Cheryl will recount the story and speak to what she learned about how God speaks to us when we encounter the reality of death.Cheryl can be reached through her webssite, cherylsteeletinsley.com.Cheryl has also written a book detailing the experience titled Wave by Wave, A Memoir of Survival, Faith, and How God Works which can be found here.                                                 NEXT WEEK:  Fred GladneySend your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:FEBC National Processing Center Far East Broadcasting CompanyP.O. Box 6020 Albert Lea, MN 56007Please mention FIRST

Country preacher Jeremy Farley, author of Hay Bales and Holy Rollers, joins Wayne Shepherd in conversation about his life and testimony.  (click for more...)   Website:  www.JeremyFarley.com Jeremy Farley, a pastor from Wytheville, Virginia, and author of the memoir Hay Balers and Holy Rollers. Farley was born to a teenage mother in 1985 after she rejected pressure to have an abortion, and he grew up on his great-grandfather's Virginia farm after being raised partly in West Virginia coal country. His great-grandfather, "the Old Man" (Tom Farley), was a hard, self-made, "black-and-white" man who taught him toughness but dismissed church as being "for weak men." Jeremy had a false conversion as a teen under social pressure at a legalistic Christian school, then genuinely surrendered to Christ in college on October 15, 2004. He describes founding Restoration Church of Wytheville in 2019, which weathered pandemic setbacks (meeting in a cow pasture) before growing into a two-serv

Adam Waters is a living testimony that God can rescue and redeem a life headed for self-destruction. He tells his story to Wayne Shepherd.  (click for more)              Website: https://www.gracebiblechurchelmhurst.comAdam Waters shares a powerful testimony of transformation from atheism, rebellion, drug addiction, broken relationships, and imprisonment to faith in Jesus Christ and pastoral ministry. Raised in the Chicago suburbs, Waters rejected Christianity as a teenager and became deeply involved in drugs and alcohol, eventually serving in the military as a highly trained medical corpsman while secretly struggling with addiction. After reaching a desperate point that led him to consider suicide, he confessed his addiction, was discharged, and eventually returned to Chicago, where his addiction worsened and ultimately resulted in prison. While incarcerated, reading the writings of Martin Luther, Calvin, Augustine, and other theologians opened his eyes to his spiritual brokenness, and he experienced a profo

Dannah Gresh, author and founder of the Christian tween ministry True Girl talks with Wayne Shepherd about her passion to help young girls understand and live with “Pure Freedom”.  (click for more…)Website:  https://dannahgresh.comGresh opens up about grieving the recent loss of a beloved horse and the spiritual lessons she found in that pain, then traces her journey from a childhood dream of being a writer through a period of sexual sin in a relationship as a young Christian woman, and how healing from that shame at 26 became the foundation for a ministry helping girls escape their own "pits of shame." She recounts how a divine prompting to pray for Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth (rather than resent her) led to a lasting friendship, co-authoring Lies Young Women Believe, and eventually renaming her ministry (originally Secret Keeper Girl) as True Girl amid #MeToo-era concerns about secrecy. The conversation covers the ministry's growth — reaching 130 countries and hundreds of thousands of listeners —

Wayne Shepherd talks with 93-year-old Rob Elliott, founder of Elliott Construction in the Chicago area about his life’s purpose of representing God in business and supporting missionaries.  (click for more…)    Website:  https://www.elliotconstruction.comRob shares his life story: being born in England to a Canadian father and English mother, growing up in a Christian home in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and giving his life to Christ as a boy, though it didn't feel "real" until a devastating 1951 car accident that killed a friend and left him in a coma — an event he credits with truly turning his heart toward God and keeping him out of military service in Korea. He recounts starting his concrete business in the early 1950s after a mentor set him up with clients, building it into one of the largest concrete contractors in the Chicago area (still family-run 70+ years later), and using his business as a platform for quiet, consistent Christian witness — praying before meals with coworkers, sharing his te

Babbie Mason once wanted to sing for Motown. Now an award-winning singer-songwriter, author, conference speaker, and TV host, she joins Wayne Shepherd in conversation.  (click for more…)  Website:  https://babbie.comBabbie Mason recounts growing up in Jackson, Michigan, as the daughter of a pastor, where church was the center of family life and she began playing piano and leading music at her father's church by age nine. As a young adult she was drawn toward Motown-style secular music and sang in bars and clubs, but felt persistent conviction from the Holy Spirit; a pivotal moment came in a college snack bar, where a bowl of cooling soup and a Bible verse about being "lukewarm" led her to fully surrender her life and career to Christ. She went on to record albums with Word Records and Spring Hill Music over a career now spanning 40 years. Mason also shares a memorable story from her book Each One Reach One about spontaneously singing "Amazing Grace" in a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, w

Pastor Steve DeWitt, author of Loneliness: Don’t Hate It or Waste It, Redeem It, joins Wayne Shepherd in conversation on this topic.  (click for more…)Websites:  www.moodypublishers.com/loneliness, www.bethelweb.org Steve DeWitt, longtime pastor of Bethel Church in Northwest Indiana, talks about his book Loneliness: Don't Hate It or Waste It, Redeem It. DeWitt shares that he was a well-known "never married" megachurch pastor for over two decades before marrying his wife Jennifer (they connected after she read an article he'd written on loneliness), and he draws on that long stretch of singleness to reflect on loneliness biblically rather than as a book about marriage curing it. He distinguishes aloneness (neutral), loneliness (bad), and solitude (good), and outlines three ways people "waste" their loneliness — isolating themselves, becoming obsessed with unmet expectations, and distracting themselves through things like binge-watching or doomscrolling. He then turns to how to &qu

Zac Holt, is the founder and Senior Pastor of The Table Ministries whose mission is to saturate their city with the Gospel through community service. He describes this unique church with Wayne Shepherd. (click for more...)  Website:  https://www.thetableministries.comThe Table Ministries is located in Bristol, VA.  Zach shares his journey from starting drug use at age 13, through years of addiction, incarceration, and homelessness, to a dramatic conversion to Christianity that he experienced in a jail cell. He describes founding The Table Ministries as a non-traditional, raw and welcoming church born out of his seminary internship, one that meets people where they are — in homeless shelters, jails, and recovery centers — rather than expecting them to come to a traditional church setting. Much of the conversation focuses on his theology of recovery: the idea that it's not enough to get people "out of Egypt," but that God must also get "Egypt out of them," and that shame (not just guilt

Donnita Travis, the founder of a Chicago after school club called By the Hand, talks with Wayne Shepherd about mentoring students in the name of Christ.  (click for more...) Website:  https://bythehand.orgIn 1997, Donita Travis—then president of a Chicago advertising agency she'd co-founded with her husband—felt called by God during a prayer retreat to help kids in Chicago live an "abundant life" (John 10:10). She spent the next three years volunteering with kids from the Cabrini-Green housing projects at Moody Church while still running her agency, before leaving the business in 2000, with her husband's blessing, to found By the Hand Club, a Christ-centered after-school program. Starting with just 16 kids in a single room in March 2001, the program has grown to serve 1,800 kids (7,000 total over the years) from kindergarten through college across six clubs in four under-resourced Chicago neighborhoods, partnering with Chicago Public Schools to reach children most at risk of dropping out a

Bill Hendricks, President of the Giftedness Center and Executive Director for Christian Leadership at the Hendricks Center at Dallas Seminary, talks about finding God’s purpose.  (click for more…) Websites:  www.thegiftednesscenter.com www.hendrickscenter.dts.eduWayne Shepherd talks with Bill Hendricks—Executive Director for Christian Leadership at the Hendricks Center at Dallas Theological Seminary and President of the Giftedness Center, and son of the late Howard Hendricks. Bill describes taking over his father's leadership center in 2014, and his decades-long work at the Giftedness Center helping people (over 2,000 to date) discover their God-given "giftedness"—the innate design that shapes their calling. He shares his own faith story, from a childhood conversion at age four and a half after hearing the Passion story on a record, to a pivotal career-assessment session at age 30 that clarified his own gifts. Much of the conversation explores why people struggle to see their own giftedness (si

On this 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, noted historian David McCullough joins Wayne Shepherd for Part 2 of 1776:  George Washington.   (click for more…)Website: www.simonandschuster.com/p/david-mcculloughRecorded in 2005, this is a continuation of last week’s FIRST PERSON as the late David McCullough talked about his book, 1776, and the experiences of George Washington in that momentous year. The conversation centers on George Washington's leadership during the darkest days of the war. McCullough describes how Washington forgave Joseph Reed's disloyalty and Nathaniel Greene's costly mistake at Fort Washington, choosing loyalty and grace over punishment — a decision that deepened both men's devotion to him. He portrays Washington as a leader shaped more by character than intellect: not a brilliant orator or strategist, but someone who inspired trust through steadiness, humility, and self-sacrifice (leaving behind wealth and comfort to lead a ragged army). McCullough a

America at 250: Part One of a 2005 conversation as Wayne Shepherd talks with historian David McCullough about the events surrounding George Washington in 1776.  (click for more...)  Website:  www.simonandschuster.com/p/david-mcculloughAs we approach July 4th and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, in this 2005 interview noted historian David McCullough discusses his book 1776, focusing on George Washington and the desperate, pivotal year of the Revolutionary War. He emphasizes how close the Patriots came to losing — particularly during the disastrous Battle of Brooklyn — and how a providential fog allowed Washington's army to escape across the East River at night, an event he calls the most representative moment of the war's "thinnest of lines." McCullough explores how 18th-century Americans interpreted such events as the hand of God working for or against them, citing letters from Abigail Adams and contemporary newspapers. He also describes the ragged, undisciplined

Dr. Mark Jobe talks with Wayne Shepherd about his tenure as President of Moody Bible Institute and his decision to follow God's call back to the church.  (click for more...) Website:  www.moodybible.org/news/2026/presidential-transition/Also:  www.moodyradio.org/bold-stepsDr. Jobe reflects on his seven years leading Moody, a role he didn't seek (it came as an unexpected call, and his wife encouraged him to pray about it) and accepted out of obedience rather than personal ambition. He describes balancing the full-time presidency with continuing to pastor New Life Community Church, a multi-site congregation with 25 locations and 44 services across Chicago plus 10 international sites, alongside a nonprofit serving at-risk youth. He calls the dual role a "beautiful marriage" that kept him connected to the city while leading the institute.He's now stepping down to return full-time to pastoring, church planting, and evangelism, calling it a deepening of his calling rather than a demotion. M

Dr. David Zanotti, CEO and Chairman of The American Policy Roundtable and host of The Public Square, joins Wayne Shepherd in conversation about America's 250th.   (click for more...)  The conversation centers on a recently published book, An Oration, which Zanotti co-authored with political philosopher Dr. W.B. Allen. The book revisits an 1837 Fourth of July speech by John Quincy Adams — delivered at age 70, for 90 minutes without a microphone — in which Adams argued that American civil government was founded on biblical principles rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Zanotti describes Adams as the most credible eyewitness to the founding era, having personally known the Founding Fathers, served in every branch of government, and later spent 17 years in Congress advocating for the abolition of slavery.The interview also touches on how the book addresses modern debates around Christian nationalism, theocracy, and separation of church and state — using Adams' own words as the authoritative respons

Dustin Garrett once found himself in a jail cell considering suicide when a grandmother's witness broke through and he cried out to Jesus. He tells his story to Wayne Shepherd.  (click for more...)         Dustin grew up in the Chicago suburbs in a broken, substance-abusing family, with his only Christian influence being his grandmother. By age 15 he was a full-blown heroin addict, eventually dropping out of school, cycling through theft, drug charges, and jail. At around age 20, while in the suicide ward of a jail going through heroin withdrawals, he cried out to Jesus — a faith rooted in his grandmother's persistent witness. After years of struggling without discipleship or community, his father gave him an ultimatum at age 22, leading Dustin to a two-year gospel-centered recovery program at a rescue mission in Peoria, Illinois. It was there — through men who opened the Bible with him and required him to memorize Scripture — that his life truly transformed. Against all odds, he went on to attend B