Alabama preacher offers wisdom, humor in missions trip book

William (Bill) Pace was looking forward to a career as a professional athlete when the Lord called him to preach.
   
“I felt like the Lord was ruining a pretty fair ballplayer to get a very ordinary preacher,” he said.
  
After nearly 50 years as a pastor and making trips to evangelize overseas, Pace would qualify as much more than an ordinary preacher.
   
Encouraged by his grandchildren’s requests, Pace recently wrote his memoirs, detailing a life spent serving the Lord in several states and 31 countries.
   
“At Christmas,” he said, “my grandchildren said I ought to write down some of the things that had happened to me.­ I went to Wal-Mart and got a bunch of legal pads and started writing.”
   
After doing all the writing in longhand, Pace enlisted two of his friends from his church to edit and transcribe it, then he had it run off and spiral-bound.­ Pace, who is also a talented artist, illustrated the book.
   
His artistry has found expression throughout his ministry through painting a number of baptistry scenes and doing chalk talks.­
   
“I used to do a lot of chalk talks to bring out the message of the Scriptures, especially during Vacation Bible School,” he said. In addition to chronicling his life in his book Pace included a number of sayings, many from his late parents.­
   
Pace said his pastor, Randy Taylor at Bay Springs Baptist Church, Dothan, has started quoting his sayings and says, “If you haven’t read the book, I’ve got a ‘Billism’ for you.”
   
Some of the Billisms in the book include: “You can get educated in the college of hard knocks, but it is easier and better to go to school. If your outgo is more than your income, it will bring about your downfall. There is an old saying, ‘Two can live as cheap as one. That is true.­ Two men can live as cheap as one woman.’”
   
While serving as a pastor in Kansas Pace became involved in missions work. He made his first missions trip to New York in 1968.­ Two years later he was elected to serve as a trustee for the Foreign Mission Board, now International Mission Board (IMB).
  
His participation with the IMB fueled his interest in missions and resulted in frequent trips overseas — a total of 24 trips covering 31 countries.­ Even when he was traveling as a tourist, he always found opportunities to preach.
   
In spite of his love for missions, Pace never wavered from his original call. “I just never felt the call to be a full-time missionary.­ I felt the call to be a pastor,” he said.
   
After 31 years in Oklahoma and 12 years in Kansas, Pace was called to Alabama as pastor of Madrid Baptist Church in Columbia Association.­ He retired from the pastorate in 1989, and since then he has served two churches on an interim basis.­
   
These days, he spends most of his time caring for his invalid wife, Audie.­ They live in Houston County near his daughter and her family.
   
Pace noted that many things have changed since his early days in the ministry. He recalled that revivals and Vacation Bible Schools routinely lasted two weeks. Payment amounts and methods have changed, too.
   
“The first church I pastored, I got paid $8 a month,” he recalled.
   
Pace continues to minister through his book, donating proceeds to his church.
   
“We gave 100 copies to Bay Spring Baptist Church [Columbia Association],” he said. “We had a book signing one day. There was no price put on it, just a contribution to the building fund.­ About 80 of the books went out, and they brought in somewhere over $2,000.”
   
But Pace’s grandchildren are still not satisfied. “They want another book,” he said.