RECOLLECTIONS
FROM A CONTINENTAL DIRECTOR
(By Wes Turner, The Continentals 1962-1972)
“THE HOOD AND THE
MISSIONARY’S DAUGHTER”
 |
| Heidi and Wes |
Wes and his
wife, Heidi, invited her supervisor and her husband for dinner. Originally from Puerto Rico, Walt and Ruth had
been missionaries in Spain for 12 years but because of heart problems they were
forced to come back to the states where they now ministered in a local Grace Brethren
church.
While we
were all sitting around after dinner, Walt was perusing our record
collection. When he came to a particular
section, his eyes lit up and he exclaimed, “Hey…you’ve got some of The
Continentals Singers albums!” Wes said, “Yes, I sure do. I was an Original and toured in the 60’s and
early 70’s with The Continentals and their full-time group, New Hope.” Walt was elated…. He then told us their story
and his testimony:
He was a
wild, leather jacketed, motorcycle-riding teen in Puerto Rico, alternately
dropping out and getting kicked out of school for his unruly behavior. He told of taunting policemen to try and
catch him on his bike and always causing his parents grief.
One of the
days he did attend school, he spied a new girl… a missionary’s daughter. He proceeded to show off and otherwise
alienate her until after a conversation in which he determined she neither
drank, nor smoked, nor fooled around. He
said, “So what if you’re not allowed to, we can do it anyway, because no one
will know.” To which she said, “God will know and I will know.”
Ruth had him
hooked. He cleaned up his image a bit
and after going to meet her parents, he agreed to go to a concert with her. You
guessed it! It was a Continental concert,
in about 1972, directed by Ron Tewson.
She had seen them before, as The Continentals had been there a number of
previous times. Her parents had even
kept some of the kids in their home.
Anyway, to
end this story, Walt came forward at that concert and received Christ after hearing the gospel
in song. His life was changed. Through Walt, his own brother’s life changed.
His parents accepted Christ within two years.
He went on to school and seminary, and has ministered faithfully for
years. Untold thousands have come to
accept Christ and their lives have changed, too, because they somehow found
their way to a Continental performance.
After a four-decade
career in Christian music and professional show business, Wes is currently on
the staff of Grace Polaris Church in Columbus, Ohio. Married to Heidi Hennacy, they raised two
daughters, and now have six grandchildren.
Though he’s still writing, Wes’s blog of New Hope tour stories and poems
are archived at -
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