September 29, 1999
Marketplace pays tribute to Shea
___DALLAS--Texas-based Marketplace Ministries celebrated its 15th anniversary Sept. 11 by giving its Integrity Award to George Beverly Shea.
___The organization also honored a Baptist employee, Lane Park, as its chaplain of the year. Park serves through Marketplace as a chaplain to four North Texas businesses.
___Marketplace Ministries, founded by Gil Stricklin in 1984, contracts with companies of all sizes to provide chaplains to meet the spiritual needs of their employees. The ministry'slargest client is Pilgrim's Pride, with more than 11,000 employees in the United States.
GEORGE BEVERLY SHEA holds the Integrity Award while his wife, Karlene, receives a pendant from Ann Stricklin. (Photo by David Clanton)
___In 15 years, Marketplace Ministries has grown from one chaplain to 650, who now work in 165 cities in 27 states, Stricklin said.
___During the celebration at the Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Striclin presented the Integrity Award to Shea, who was accompanied by his wife, Karlene, and son, Ron.
___Shea, who is best known for his work as soloist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, presented a mini-concert, accompanied by Kurt Kaiser at the piano.
___Although Graham could not be present, he sent a letter congratulating Shea, which Stricklin read. "No one is more deserving of an award for integrity" than Shea, Graham wrote.
___A video presentation told the story of Shea's life and ministry, shedding light on the origin of one of his trademark songs.
___As a young man, Shea quickly gained a reputation for his voice on radio and was offered a lucrative job with CBS. His mother, wanting to gently remind him of his commitment to Christ, left for him on the piano the words to a poem.
___The next morning, Shea found those words: "I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I rather have him than riches untold."
___Those words changed his mind, his career and the lives of millions around the world as he set the poem to music, making it a standard at Billy Graham crusades.
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