What Others Are Saying

From the prologue to the epilogue, Chuck Kelley’s book, Surprised by the Father’s Plan, will grip you with its amazing story of drama, history, and God’s protection and provision. As you read this adventure, I am sure you will be able to relate to many different ways in your own life of how you have been surprised by the wonderful leading of our Heavenly Father.

DR. CLYDE COOK
President, Biola University, La Mirada, California

Chuck Kelley is a man of extraordinary faith. The story of his pilgrimage home to Latvia is a story of Kingdom advance. Our God knows how to bring together his instruments to accomplish his purpose. Bridge Builders and the story of Chuck Kelley is a prime example of our Father’s active participation in our lives.

DR. KENNETH L. HALL
President, Buckner Benevolences, Dallas, Texas

This is an exciting story with evidence of the hand of God on every page. From Nazi occupation to Soviet repression, the fall of the Iron Curtain and the rise of the European Union, it’s the story of our times. But it’s more that that. It’s the story of how God has been faithful in powerful and surprising ways. You won’t be able to put this book down!

BILL ZIPP
President, Extra Mile Media, Albany, Oregon

What I love about this book is the evidence that God delights in accomplishing his purposes in his time and in his way with his children. Chuck Kelley has experienced this delight of the Father. With authentic integrity he tells the story so the rest of us might enter in wholeheartedly and share the wonder.

ROBIN JONES GUNN
Author, Vancouver, Washington

We read so many books these days about great men walking with a small God. This is a book about a small man walking with a great God. That is why I highly recommend it!

THE VERY REVEREND JOHAN CANDELIN
Goodwill Ambassador,World Evangelical Alliance, Finland

Chuck Kelley is a bridge builder par excellence: person to person, Russian to Latvian, Latvian to European and beyond; beginning first with Americans to Latvians, churches to churches, schools to schools, musicians and artists to musicians and artists, generations to generations. Time has told and is telling that in the Father’s plan, friend Chuck’s gospel ministry is proving as significant for Latvia as any we’ve seen.

DR. HERBERT E. ANDERSON
Pastor, Mission Executive, Educator, Salem, Oregon

Charles Kelley tells an amazing story of God’s faithfulness in Latvia. It is a story that begins with his grandfather, Charles Singer, and extends to his own ministry and the founding of Bridge Builders International. With a commitment to international missions, a family heritage rooted in a country that had witnessed so much suffering in the twentieth century, and a realization that with the fall of the Iron Curtain Latvia was for the first time in several generations open to the unfettered preaching of the gospel, Kelley pioneered the creation of partnerships between churches in the West and East. It was an approach that was destined to have an impact both on the national life of Latvia and on the wider world of eastern Europe. This book describes this amazing story of BBI and its roots in the lives of two generations (grandfather and grandson) to whom God gave a vision of how the gospel might transform the life of a small Baltic nation.

DR. GARY B. FERNGREN
Professor of History, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon

Chuck Kelley has believed God could use him to impact the entire nation of post-Soviet Latvia for Christ—and God has. Surprised by the Father’s Plan is the personal and moving story of one man’s passion for a nation reeling from the oppression of Communist domination, and his experience of “building bridges” between believers in Latvia and the United States. Reading Chuck’s book will give you a greater understanding of what a strategic time this is in the history of this Baltic state, and motivate you to pray for all believers who are emerging from behind the Iron Curtain.

REV. HERB REESE
President, New Commandment Men’s Ministries,Broomfield, Colorado

I love stories about people . . . I love stories about history . . . and I especially love it when the two come together in such a clear way that you cannot deny God’s involvement in both. Surprised by the Father’s Plan is modern-day evidence that God still creates, directs, inspires, and uses people to accomplish his purposes. God’s purpose for Chuck Kelley is to build bridges. Bridges that link the heart of God with the hearts of the Latvian people in Chuck’s homeland. Bridges that link God’s people in America with his people and purposes in Latvia. Through skillfully written stories, through Chuck’s witty humor, and through heart-stopping suspense, you will also find yourself inspired to ask God to use you . . . and accomplish the purposes he created you for.

ERIC WEBER
Vice President, Multnomah Publishers, Sisters, Oregon

In this account, Chuck Kelley has given us three precious stories of history. The first story is of the church triumphant behind the walls of Communism that has now blossomed in the years following its freedom. The second story is of God’s untiring faithfulness to his people under persecution. And the third story is of one man who has yielded his life to God and God’s plan for the country of his heritage. Surprised by the Father’s Plan is an engaging read that will leave the reader thinking, laughing, reflecting, and thankful for servants like Chuck.

ERIC SWANSON
Leadership Community Director, Leadership Network,Boulder, Colorado

I have watched Chuck’s ministry unfold from starting something with nothing, through the uphill battle to gain credibility, and now the thrill of experiencing God’s blessing in ten short years. This is a story of a pastor who became a ministry entrepreneur and did it by faith and fortitude. It is a fresh example for all of us of the balance between God’s calling and man’s will power.

JOHN D. BRADLEY
President, IDAK Group, Inc., Portland, Oregon

Chuck Kelley shows that a seed, watered with faith, can grow to embrace the world. His journey begins in Los Angeles and spans the world to Eastern Europe. Along the way, we see how God uses a few available people to touch a life with hope, and we’re reminded that a local church can make a big difference if they are willing to think outside the box.

REV. BOB RASMUSSEN
U.S. Field Director, OC International, Blaine, Washington

Chuck Kelley tells a great story but gives an even better blueprint. He took his grandfather’s “old-school” mission organization and successfully transformed it into a “new-school” template. One church can change a country for Christ by building a bridge. Chuck’s church did and this book tells you how. If you have a heart for missions, drop everything and start turning these pages.

JAY CARTY
Speaker, Author, and Church Consultant, Santa Barbara, California

By God’s intervention we met in Latvia at the time of its liberation, and since than I have been privileged to participate in a number of Hope conferences in Riga with Chuck and his constantly new and broadening team of co-workers from U.S. churches. The importance of Bridge Builders’ Latvian ministry cannot be overestimated. The sister church program that we initiated in Sweden in the late 1970s has developed under Chuck’s leadership into a ministry of tremendous importance, both for U.S. churches and especially for the Latvian churches. This development brings a special joy to my heart.

REV. INGEMAR MARTINSON
Director Emeritus, Solasen, Sweden

Spreading the Glad News to the people of Latvia and Eastern Europe—that’s what this book is about. Exciting. Glorious. No one can stop God’s work, as long as we carry on courageously.

BROTHER ANDREW
President, Open Doors, Author of God’s Smuggler, The Netherlands