Atlanta Assembly of God Pastor Daniel Scalf 109 NW Walnut Atlanta, IL 61723 Sunday 10 am, 6 pm Thursday Bible Study

7 pm pastor@atlantaassembly.org 509-675-8381

Word Count: should be around 750-800

Daniel Scalf, 54, the new pastor at Atlanta Assembly of God church, is not your run-of-the-mill preacher. Scalf is a high school dropout, a political activist and a former smuggler. His religious journey, which has taken him to 100 foreign nations and 40 states, began in September 1971, when he awoke with a severe headache. He spent four months in the hospital, undergoing various kinds of therapy, and was finally diagnose with a brain tumor. Katy Knapp called me on the phone and told me Jesus loved me, Scalf said. I laughed at her. That was in early January 1972. Knapp told him to pray, but he didnt know how. After searching for words, Scalf finally said, God if youre real, reveal yourself to me and Ill give you my life. The hospital kept him five more days after that, but could no longer find any sign of the tumor. Scalf returned to school, where he led 40 of his classmates to faith in Christ. In March, Christ is the Answer Crusades, based in Weldon, came to the Quad Cities for a three-day meeting which lasted for three months. Scalf felt called to the ministry. In May, I quit high school to go into the ministry, he said. I hitchhiked to Decatur and joined the Christ is the Answer Crusade. The group traveled throughout the United States, living in tents. Scalf learned to trust God for his daily needs. I turned 17 in Sweden, he said, and 21 in Leningrad. He often worked with the Full Gospel Businessmens Fellowship and traveled on several airlifts to Scandinavia. I had no money, but I felt called to go back to Europe, Scalf said. At age 17 (in 1973), I drove a car to New York City. He finally got a job on a freighter and arrived in Hamburg, Germany, with $2 in his pocket. I didnt know anybody, he said. Scalf hitchhiked to Sweden, where he was immediately arrested and deported as a vagrant. Back on the ferry, I called a guy from Full Gospel who took care of the border arrangements, he said. During my first three weeks there, 300 people came to Christ. Scalf was preaching in a park when a woman started translating for him. She was a reporter, he said, and she invited me to her house for Bible study, where I shared my testimony. Three days later, he learned that the reporter worked for the largest newspaper in Sweden. A half-page article with his testimony went out to a million people in Sweden. Scalf made his first trip to Russia at age 17. In 1974, he began working with Brother Andrew and Open Doors, smuggling Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. Id hide them in vehicles, he said. If I had been caught, I would still be in jail. In the 90s, I was smuggling Russian Jews out of Russia. By the grace of God, He chose to use me.

Back in America in 1977, he began working with the Assembly of God Church in Davenport, Iowa. I had a youth group about the size of the population of Atlanta, Scalf said. In recent years, he has been heavily involved in church planting, evangelism and humanitarian issues worldwide, but with a focus on Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics. In 1992, Soviet Georgia had only 30 full gospel churches when Scalf began working there. Today there are 300. In war-torn Ossetia, the work grew from one church to 41, although many died during the war. Twenty-two of my former students are right now in jail in Russia, Scalf said. Four were beheaded in Chennai during the civil war. Four more were killed in Ossetia. Working under Pastor B.H. Clendenen, he saw the School of Christ grow from 102 students to a group that has planted 1,600 new churches in the former Soviet Union. Working for the U.S. pro-life campaign, Scalf also managed Pat Robertsons presidential campaign in five states. A year ago in June, he suffered a massive heart attack. The left main artery the one they call the widow-maker, was completely blocked, the pastor said. I was dead for 10 minutes. Then I coughed and came back to life. Scalf said while he was hospitalized, his nurse gave her life to Christ. I think my mission is here, the pastor said, [referring to Atlanta Assembly of God church.] Im going at this the same as over there. We have a prayer meeting every morning at 6:30. Theres work that needs to be done. There are many people in central Illinois who need to know Christ. With a heart condition, its good for me to stay in one place The pastor currently lives in a Sunday school room downstairs at the church. Scalf also travels light. All of his possessions fit in a car. If I can live simply, he said, others can simply live. Originally written by Nancy Rollings Saul as reported in the Lincoln Courier, December 5, 2009

Daniel Scalf was born in Illinois in 1955. On January 3, 1972 at 7 PM he received Christ as savior and was instantly healed of a brain tumor and filled with the Holy Spirit. A few days later he received the call of God to Russia and world missions.

His first ministry was in his own high school where he led forty other students to faith in Christ. Later the same year he joined the traveling ministry of Christ is the Answer and was involved in ministry throughout the United States. Living in tents and learning to trust God for his daily needs.

In 1973, he traveled to Europe on a freighter arriving with two dollars in his pocket. Preaching on the streets and in churches, Dan then began smuggling Bibles behind the iron curtain. He returned to the USA briefly in 1975 where he served as youth Pastor at Bethesda Assembly of God in Moline, Illinois. In that ministry over 300 teenagers responded to the gospel. Taking small teams to small towns many small fellowships and churches were begun.

Dan returned to Europe working with Open Doors and Brother Andrew ,resumed smuggling Bibles in and people out of Russia and eastern Europe. In 1977 returning to Davenport Iowa he became youth Pastor at Westside

Assembly of God under Pastor Tommy Barnett. Also serving with Dan was Pastor Bill Wilson. Bill currently is ministering at Metro Church in the Bronx.

While serving at Westside he along with several of the young people was arrested for ministering on the streets. As a result of that arrest, the mayor lost the election, and the police chief was forced to resign. That arrest led to A Christian boycott and the net result was pornography being removed from Davenport for a period of ten years.

Also, while at Westside Roger Jepsen ran for and was elected to the US Senate. Dan during one night came up with the idea for scorecards that are now used in almost every election. In 1979 he moved to Seattle to attend Bible College and quickly got involved in politics. Part of NCPAC they went after the so called dirty dozen of liberal US Senators and saw ten of them defeated. At the same time Dan was involved in massive scorecard and voter registration projects with Moral Majority, Christian Voice Lobby, and American Coalition for Traditional Values.

Through the rest of the 80's he stayed involved in pro life and pro family causes as well as religious liberty issues. In 1983 he helped along with Tom Minnick and Mike Farris to write and lobby for home school legislation in Washington State. In Oregon he consulted and helped the Joe Lutz Senate race as well as the Steve Symms Senate race in Idaho.

Arrested along with two State Legislators an off duty police officer and a medical doctor while picketing an abortion clinic in Spokane Dan served 36 days in jail. That case went all the way to the US Supreme Court. In 1988 returning to Illinois he served on Pat Pat Robertsons campaign in three states stated and George Bush's in five states.

In 1990 while serving on a governors race he quit to follow his heart; back to the mission field. The first year helping the Pentecostal Union to open new churches in Poland. In 1992 he helped start the School of Christ in Moscow. That ministry is now in 104 countries of this world. Traveling often to Ossetia, Georgia, and Russia he his friends with Christian leaders on both sides of the border. In Ossetia, he helped plant 41 churches in towns where there was no church before. In Soviet Georgia, when he first there were 30 churches now there are three hundred.

In 1992 Dan met Pastor B.H. Clendenen in Moscow and was involved in the first School of Christ. His focus at the school was helping plant new churches and to bring aid to those churches.

Currently, Dan's focus is on Humanitarian Aid, Church planting, and kingdom evangelism throughout the world. Having traveled and worked in 100 countries and going to the foremer Soviet Union 102 times he brings a unique presprective on geo- political events througout the world.

Dan lives on very little all his posssesions fit in a car. His motto in life is living simply that others might simply live