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At the beginning of this new century, international evangelist and author Sammy Tippit is emerging as a leading voice among the nations of the world. He is currently preaching some of the largest evangelistic meetings in the world. He has proclaimed God's message of peace in stadiums in war-torn Burundi, met with government and religious leaders shortly after the attempted genocide in Rwanda, and brought hope to persecuted believers in the former Soviet-bloc nations.
Tippit preached a historic evangelistic meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in March 1999, with over 300,000 people attending in four days. In May of that same year, he preached in Maracana, the world's largest stadium, located in Rio de Janeiro. Not only did thousands come to Christ, but the event was attended and supported by the governor, vice governor, and mayor of the city and state. In just the last 40 years of his ministry, Tippit has proclaimed the gospel in 80 countries throughout the world. The following are personal data highlights:
- Born in 1947 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- Participated in study group from Louisiana at the United Nations in 1964. He was awarded "Most Outstanding Youth Speaker in North America."
- Graduated from Istrouma High School in 1965.
- Experienced his "conversion" to Christianity and call to ministry during August 1965.
- Married to Debara "Tex" Sirman on June 8, 1968. The Tippits have two children, Dave (36) and Renee (31), and four grandchildren.
- Ordained as a Southern Baptist Minister in 1968.
- Founded evangelistic organization, God's Love In Action, in 1970. (Now called Sammy Tippit Ministries)
- Began street ministry in high-crime district of Chicago in 1970, working with gangs, drug addicts, and troubled youth. Became known as leader of "Jesus Movement" in Chicago.
- Traveled internationally to Germany for evangelistic youth rallies in 1971.
- Collaborated with Jerry Jenkins (writer of Billy Graham's best-selling autobiography, Just As I Am, and co-author of the best-selling fiction series, Left Behind) in 1972 on the biography of Sammy's early life.
- Infiltrated "Communist Youth World Fest" in 1973 and shared the gospel among the 100,000 youth gathered.
- Traveled extensively in communist-dominated countries doing evangelistic ministry from 1973 - 1988. Preached first evangelistic stadium crusade in the history of Romania in May 1990.
- Preached first Republic-wide evangelistic meetings in Moldova in September 1990.
- Preached first evangelistic stadium meetings in numerous cities throughout Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Albania, and Moldova.
- Preached first public outdoor evangelistic meetings in Mongolia in 1992.
- Received an honorary doctorate from Lancaster Bible College in 1993.
- Preached evangelistic meeting in Rwanda shortly after the attempted genocide in 1994 and worked with leaders to bring Hutus and Tutsis together in a spirit of reconciliation. Preached in war-torn Burundi and met with peace negotiators in 1998.
- Preached to 300,000 in four days in Ethiopia in 1999. Preached evangelistic meetings in Maracana, world's largest stadium, in Rio de Janeiro in May 1999.
- Authored and co-authored 14 books which have been translated into numerous languages.
- Preached in Egypt and spoke to 120,000 people per night in 2001. Right after September 11, 2001, Sammy went to Khartoum, Sudan and preached the gospel.
- Began television ministry in Iran in 2004.
- Preached major stadium crusades in Sao Paulo and Brasilio, Brazil in 2004 and 2005.
- Produced a book, workbook, and DVD bible study series entitled, "Praying for Your Family", in 2007.
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