The "Mother Teresa" of Ex-gay Ministry
By Tim Wilkins
Frank Worthen was ex-gay when ex-gay wasn't cool!
Perhaps no testimony of freedom from homosexuality has been more widely
circulated and read than Frank Worthen's. He is now 78 years young.
This article, op-ed, column - call it what you like - will not likely be
published in many places or read by many people, but it commands to be
written.
"Different"
When Frank was 13, (1942) his pastor told him "Frank, you are a homosexual."
Though Frank knew he was "different" from other children, he didn't know
what homosexuality was. "I'd been called different before!" Frank had
become a loner - hiding in the attic during his family's constant arguing.
"My peers called me names which I later learned meant 'homosexual'."
Musically gifted, he kept to himself where his loneliness lingered and his
detachment from other boys deepened.
For 25 years Frank was exclusively homosexual. At age 44 he says he heard
God tell him, "Today, I want you back." "God's voice was so real" he
relinquished his life to Christ. That was 1973 and Frank has neither looked
back nor held anything back from God since.
Frank became a "Mother Teresa" of sorts. While Mother Teresa took to the
filthy streets of Calcutta - where few wanted to serve, Frank took to
winning homosexuals to Christ - where, similarly, few want to serve.
Frank has not garnered the attention of the world, its politicians and
evangelical leaders - as did Mother Teresa, but Frank has been faithful.
At the suggestion of a friend, Frank made a cassette tape of his testimony.
Frank knew in the early '70's what preacher Adrian Rogers would eventually
say a few decades later, "A Christian with a testimony is more powerful than
an atheist with a million arguments."
A Novel Idea
Frank would use those tapes to reach people trapped in homosexuality. But
how could Frank get his testimony-tape into their hands? He bought a small
classified ad in what he called the "worst sex paper" in San Francisco. What
a novel idea! It read "Do you want out of homosexuality? Request my
testimony on tape."
I observed Frank from a distance for many years before having opportunity to
get to know him personally. Unassuming, unpretentious, and unashamed of
sharing what Jesus has done in his life, it was his testimony and
organizational skills that made him the "Founding Father" of what is called
the ex-gay movement.
Many of us in this arena of ministry dislike the term "ex-gay" for the sole
reason it focuses on what we were rather than what we are now because of
Jesus Christ - an argument often asserted by Alan Chambers, the innovative
President of Exodus International. Exodus International is an umbrella
ministry consisting of hundreds of ministries scattered across the globe.
(www.Exodus.to)
Of Worthen, Alan Chambers writes "Frank is one of the most courageous men I
know. His willingness to publicly share his struggle at a time when such a
topic was taboo has changed the lives of men and women all over the world."
ARTICLE continues at http://www.crossministry.org/
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