Grace, Grit & Hope

 For 26 years, Tammi Johnson talked to people all over the world to find the U.S.S. Strong, which lost 46 sailors in 1943 (including her great Uncle Billy Hedrick) after being hit by a Japanese torpedo. Fired11 nautical miles away, it was the longest-range torpedo kill in history. Survivors floated for days and some were marooned on nearby Arundel Island. Tammi's quest to find the ship led her to...

Former monk and retired psychologist Paschal Baute has found grace around every corner of his incredible life. As a boy, he ran away by climbing on a train, graduated from the Kentucky Military Institute and enrolled in Notre Dame. When he joined the military, the Army sent him 7,000 miles away to Guam. After that, God took over his life, prompting him to become a Benedictine monk, to be ordained...

One year ago this month, Clay Comer took a year off college and began a 2,200-mile journey alone to through-hike 14 states from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail (AT). For six months from March to September 2023, Clay braved tornado warnings, rain, hail and freezing temperatures, encountered wild goats, unforgettable characters and the kindness of strangers. He reached Mount Katahdin in Ma...

For years, Kevin Osbourn dreamed of painting a mural of Daniel Boone in Winchester, KY, a few miles from where America's most famous pioneer changed history. Local citizens got behind his crazy dream to paint Boone three stories high, even though he had never painted anything that large. After painting daily for a month, everything seemed perfect until the last day when the project nearly ended in...

For 20 years, John May and the Wolfe County Search & Rescue Team (WCSART) have saved the lives of over 1,500 hikers and climbers in Kentucky's Red River Gorge. As a founding member, John talks about the highs and lows, from the triumphant rescues of over 100 people during Eastern Kentucky floods to a terrible day when he nearly died during a fall from Chimney Top Rock. Although he should not have...

After seeing children begging in her homeland of Nigeria, Divine Oludi began dreaming at the age of 5 of becoming a medical professional. To make her dream a reality, she left everything -- home, family, friends and country -- to study at Campbellsville and Spalding Universities in Kentucky. Covid, car accidents, cancer surgery, family deaths, homelessness and an economic crash at home nearly ende...

Tom Hailey, host of Bluegrass Region Voices and Views, had a terrible fear of public speaking in his early '20s. When his boss asked him to introduce a speaker, he said he couldn't do it and considered quitting. Through training and regular practice, he developed a love of speaking and conversation. Tom talks about his transformation from being scared stiff to landing the most improbable job imagi...

After five years of watching his wife grow sick and pass away from cancer, pastor and writer Paul Prather tells a powerful story of walking through depression and grief. Paul shares a vision that occurred at his church of God always working for our good and His glory, describes how caregivers are also victims and inspires by explaining how love lives on through our memories and families forever.