Toll Gate Member Named 2017 “Citizen of the Year”
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oddridge County, West Virginia recently named Arthur Calhoun, M.D., their 2017 “Citizen of the Year.” Calhoun, a member of the Toll Gate church in Pennsboro, W.Va., received a proclamation from Jim Justice, the governor of West Virginia, and was recognized by the Senate of West Virginia. Calhoun has provided medical services for Doddridge County residents since 1977. He served 35 years as medical director for the nursing home in Salem, West Virginia, and 21 years as physician for the correctional center in Salem, W.Va. He chaired the ethics committee for the region and made many house calls as a physician. Calhoun has participated in a number of healthoriented programs in the local community, speaking on topics such as smoking, healthy cooking and exercise. In addition, he has taught seminars on depression and cancer-fighting foods. Calhoun has a passion for young people and has been very active as a Pathfinder leader and a youth Sabbath School teacher for more than 35 years. “By attending to the spiritual as well as the physical needs of the community,” says Bill Clark, Toll Gate
Arthur Calhoun receives the 2017 “Citizen of the Year” award from Debbie Montoya, a representative of the governor, for his medical services and volunteer work in Doddridge County, West Virginia.
church member and retired pastor, “Calhoun has earned a reputation of being a kind, humble and godly physician.”
Search for Truth Leads to Local Church Livestream
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achary White and his teenage son, Justin, had been searching for Bible truth for several years. A long-time friend became a Seventh-day Adventist, but the beliefs his friend embraced were so different from White’s Baptist upbringing, that he didn’t believe they were true. Years later, White began watching Amazing Facts, but he had a hard time understanding the biblical concepts. He felt impressed to search online for a
Jared Briggman (left), pastor of the East Pea Ridge church, rejoices as Justin (middle) and Zachary White take their stand for Bible truth.
local Adventist church. Remarkably, he discovered livestreamed sermons on YouTube by Jared Briggman, pastor of the East Pea Ridge church in Huntington, W.Va. Though White still didn’t agree with what he was viewing, he continued to watch with his son. One day he opened his Bible while watching both the Amazing Facts telecast and the local Adventist church’s livestream. After comparing the information, he realized that these teachings were indeed true. Last year East Pea Ridge members held a full series of 26 evangelistic meetings. Both White and his son watched the first 22 episodes of the meetings online, and after the presentation on baptism, they visited the church and inquired about becoming members. They attended the last four meetings in person and recently chose to be baptized along with two other individuals who made decisions for Jesus during the meetings. “When Zach and Justin first walked into the church, we had no idea how they had heard about us,” shares Briggman. “Once we found out that they were there because of our internet livestream, our members realized how God could use this tool to reach people here in West Virginia.”—Peggy Criddle
Mountain Viewpoint is published in the Visitor by the Mountain View Conference n 1400 Liberty Street, Parkersburg, WV 26101 Phone: (304) 422-4581 n mtviewconf.org n President, Mike Hewitt n Communication Director, Valerie Morikone
22 | VISITOR March 2018