Cal Guy: Teacher, Minister, Missionary, and Friend -- By: Frank Sullivan
Journal: Faith and Mission
Volume: FM 15:1 (Fall 1997)
Article: Cal Guy: Teacher, Minister, Missionary, and Friend
Author: Frank Sullivan
FM 15:1 (Fall 1997) p. 6
Cal Guy: Teacher, Minister, Missionary, and Friend
Retired IBM executive
Consultant
1000 East Ash Lane, Apt. 1609
Euless, Texas 76039
I first met Cal and Terrye Guy in September of 1983 in my home in La Celle St. Cloud, France, a suburb of Paris. I was working in Paris at IBM’s European headquarters on my second assignment, which had begun in 1981. I had, however, met Cal Guy indirectly some twelve years before we met in France.
His impact on my life really began twelve years earlier, in 1971, when Cal visited the missionaries in Thailand where he held services for all of the missionaries and their families. Dwain and Sylvia Boothe were serving as missionaries to Thailand at that time. It was after this meeting that Dwain was shown by the Holy Spirit that he had never been saved. I will be eternally grateful to Dwain as it took great courage for someone who had been through seminary and was now a missionary to admit this and act on it. Dwain told me that everywhere that Cal went that summer revival broke out. Dwain and Sylvia went on to pastor an English-speaking Baptist church in the western suburbs of Paris, France, close to our home, and they would introduce us to the Guys in 1983.
Sometime in 1982 we met Dwain and Sylvia. Sylvia had involved my wife, Mary Margaret, whom I call MM, in a Bible study that was organized for the wives of international assignees working in France. Over a period of time through friendship evangelism, at a time of great stress and need in my wife’s life, they led her to the saving grace of the cross. This occurred in January, 1983, but I was not aware of this until later. The Boothes and MM (and, I am sure, others) then began to pray for me. I definitely saw a difference in MM. She, wisely so, began to talk more to Jesus about me than to talk to me about Jesus. I had all of the religious teaching I could handle and was definitely not open to anything spiritual at that time.
I was brought up in a strict Catholic home and was taught that I must become holy and work my way into heaven. I also came from an alcoholic home and had followed in my father’s footsteps. Even though I probably had all of the earthly, material possessions that anyone could want (job, clothes, beautiful home, car, and unlimited expense account), I found all of these things to be quite meaningless. Shortly before meeting Dwain, I had resigned myself to going to hell as
FM 15:1 (Fall 1997) p. 7
I knew I would never be good enough and couldn’t figure out how to earn my way into heaven. I had stopped my heavy drinking, and both MM and I were struggling with sober, empty lives. This was the time when MM was at the lowest point of her life,...
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