Speed the Light Charity

Chandler Mann Ms. Girkin 8th period Pre-AP English II 4 May 2012 Speed the Light Speed the Light is a student initiated ministry where students of the Assemblies of God denomination pledge a certain amount of money towards missionary efforts. Ass the year rolls along, the students will pay off the pledges they set. The money the students raise goes to missionaries across the globe. With the different needs and requirements of being a missionary come the expenses (“What is Speed”).
Speed the Light was started in 1944 by a minister named Ralph Harris to let students that didn’t feel like being missionaries help out the efforts to spread the gospel (Speed the Light). Since then speed the Light has grown to be one of the largest church founded charity groups in the world. Although Speed the Light has become so large, it was once an emergency program for war time missionaries. Soon after the organization was founded, World War II was coming to a close. Harris thought that that would be a hinge to swing on. Speed the Light took off and the war time missionaries took advantage of the war’s destruction (McGee 218).
The influence of the organization sky-rocketed within five years of the war’s end, and Speed the Light’s influence started to grow tremendously. Harris became the godfather of the effort and was commonly seen to be encouraging the late Billy Graham. Billy spread the word of god so much that today he is known as the door to door prophet. Today his efforts have helped not only the vision of Speed the Light, but the enthusiasm of the young teens of the Assemblies of God. Because of these efforts today Speed the Light is more active than ever. In 2009 two siblings of Berryville high school raised a combined total of almost 3,000 dollars.

Morgan and Eric Barr spent one whole year alone raising money for Speed the Light. Although they knew that their 1,000 dollar pledges were a massive goal, they did not slack off. Their efforts went towards missionaries in third world countries that haven’t heard the gospel. I also participated as well, raising a hard earned 521 dollars. I can attest to the fact that I have never felt that my money could’ve gone to a better cause. Speed the light is a very renowned organization that has helped missionaries spread the word of god for more than 65 years.
Over 7. 6 million people have come to have a lasting relationship with Christ since its start in 1944. Speed the Light is an excellent contributor to the spread of Christianity. I hope they continue to make a difference in the decades to come. They are a shining start in our world of pain and hopelessness. Works Cited People of the Spirit. McGee, Gary B. Springfield, MO. Gospel Publishing House, 2004. Print. About Speed the Light. N. p, n. d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012 “What is Speed the Light? ” Speed the Light. Np, 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2012