Ken Knight
First Baptist Church, Pell City
St. Clair Baptist Association
Favorite Verse: John 3:16
Favorite Hymn: “How Great Thou Art”
Hobbies: Being busy in ministry or work every day all day long
Family Status: Married to Kay; married 48 years to Evye until her death in 2008; sons, Dale, Ken Jr. and Jeffrey; daughters, Debbie, Stacey, Kimberly and Amanda; six grandchildren, one deceased; five great-grandchildren
In the 33 years Ken Knight has worked for Waffle House, he has helped build 50 of them and remodel 400. But what has greatly defined his life is being part of 37 missions trips in 14 countries in 14 years and seeing more than 10,000 people receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. Knight, 72, of Pell City, is always on mission. “It’s a way of life,” said the Navy veteran. “That’s what I do.” He works with several local ministries and serves as a trustee for Tom Cox World Ministries, a missions advisory committee member and as a deacon and disaster relief chaplain. He also supports some children in Uganda and India.
Q: What influences in your life pointed you to Christ at the beginning of your faith journey?
A: We always went to church and Sunday School. When I was almost 15, my dad helped someone who had been witnessing to him to wire a church. When (my dad) got saved, the whole family got saved. When I was 15, I met Evye at a youth rally and she kept me straight the rest of my life. On our 38th anniversary, Evye and I spent three months helping remodel that church.
Q: When and how were you led into your ministry work?
A: It all started with an article in The Alabama Baptist about Camp Carabobo in Venezuela. I started with (the local) Love Your Neighbor Ministries after hearing a CNN report that 65,000 people in the U.S. did not know where their next meal would come from.
Q: What does your ministry work demand?
A: Deacons meetings every month, trips to Arkansas to help plan missions for Tom Cox World Ministries, meeting needs locally through Love Your Neighbor Ministries.
Q: What do you get from your ministry work?
A: I get to watch God work. It’s amazing to see how you can go out and put in a bathtub for somebody or fix a leak in their roof and tell them about Jesus Christ and see it change their life. When you watch the Spirit working, it’s just an amazing thing. It keeps me excited.
Q: How do you see yourself involved in this in the future?
A: I plan to go [to India] every year. I plan to keep on keeping on.
Q: What difference will this ministry work make for you in the future?
A: It keeps me excited. It keeps me alive, I think. I see so many people younger than me who think when their job is over, their life is over. This gives me purpose. It is more exciting than anything else I can imagine doing.
Q: What difference has Jesus Christ made in your life?
A: All the difference there is. Totally. Absolutely. Everything. I wouldn’t know any other way to live.
Share with others: