House Majority Leader tells
DBU students about his journey to faith
___DALLAS--Three women have been influential in demonstrating the love of Christ to House Majority Leader Dick Armey, the congressman told students at Dallas Baptist University Aug. 27.
___Armey, whose district encompasses part of metropolitan Dallas, spoke in the university's chapel.
___The first woman who helped lead Armey toward faith was his wife's grandmother, whom he called Mom Tipton. In the last week's of the woman's life, her three granddaughters visited her, along with Armey.
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DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY students gather around House Majority Leader Dick Armey to pray for him and his work.
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___"Mom Tipton sat up, her eyes were clear, she was totally lucid, which was a rare moment at this stage in her life, and with clear recognition of us in the room made the most significant statement I have ever heard: 'Isn't it wonderful, what Jesus did for us?'"
___Moments later, Mom Tipton passed away, Armey said.
___But her witness made an impact on the congressman. "That made me understand what I had learned, but ignored, through my life to that point," he said. "Jesus didn't just die, he died for me. If everyone else on earth were pure, he still would have taken the cross for me."
___The second woman who influenced Armey was one he didn't know well but met on one occasion--Mother Teresa of Calcutta. When he talked with Mother Teresa, he said, he was curious about her struggles and ability to remain positive. "Don't you get discouraged when you don't succeed?" he asked.
___"Her response was something I'll never forget: 'My job is not to succeed, my job is to try,'" Armey related. "I learned then that the way it turns out is not up to me, it is up to the Lord, and it requires audacity on our part to think otherwise."
___The third woman he identified as Mother Camp. She attends Lewisville Bible Church with the Armeys and spent most of her adult life on the foreign mission field.
___One Sunday, a guest speaker at the church who was overzealous in drawing attention to Armey's political position made a show of introducing him to numerous people, including people he already knew.
___"He introduced me to Mother Camp, and her reply to me was: 'Remember young man, it's not about you. It's about Jesus.'
___"That was his last introduction for the day," Armey said.
___Through the influence of such people of faith, Armey became a Christian late in life, in 1995. He told DBU students he was pleased to return to a university chapel without being alone.
___"Today I came to chapel with Jesus Christ," he said.
___At the close of chapel, students gathered around Armey, laid hands on him and prayed for him and his leadership role in Congress.
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