How can 80 years of a remarkable life be distilled to a few paragraphs? With great difficulty, but worthy of trying when it comes to a life of dedication.
Louella and Leonard Connor began building their evangelical legacy in the 1950s.
Over their fifty plus years of preaching, thousands have heard their evangelical Pentecostal message. Hundreds of children throughout the US and in Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico and South Africa have received Bibles, toys, love, and shelter from the elements thanks to them. Thirteen churches in the US were started by the Connors – many of which still thrive.
Countless lives have been touched, countless lives have been changed.
The young Connors were called to evangelism after illness struck first their youngest child and then Louella. Leonard promised to make a drastic change to their lives if health returned. At the time, he was familiar with little more than ten verses of the Bible and led an unrighteous life.
When his prayers were answered, Leonard and a now healthy Louella started a life of evangelizing. For close to three decades, they moved from town to town across the US preaching nightly. The revival circuit offered a challenge for the young family – the longest a revival would stay in one place would be six months, the shortest three weeks. The travel allowed them to spread their message through hundreds of US cities, but proved difficult in raising school age children.
Learning from another crusading family, Oral & Evelyn Roberts, the Connors were among the first in the US to homeschool their children. In the 1960s, this was not an easy endeavor and Ms. Connor had to worry about being caught by authorities who weren’t familiar with the non-traditional concept. With no permanent address until the late 1970s when they finally settled in a home in Georgia, the Connor children studied with Louella and a string of tutors they hired in each new town. Now grown and successful, the four Connor children have graced “Grandma” Connor with 15 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren.
Of all the places, people, and children Grandma Connor has touched, the ones that have touched her the most were the people of Haiti. She and Leonard made numerous trips to Haiti, each time finding large congregations and eager ears for their message.
Their work in Haiti was centered in the coastal town of Petit Goave, recently frontline news from being the epicenter of the devastating January earthquake. Over their years in Petit Goave, they encouraged children and adults to take the spiritual path; sponsored a young Haitian woman named Lovely; and worked with other denominations to improve the lives of the townspeople.
At 80, Grandma Connor says there are so many things she plans to do, but one of the most pressing is to return to Haiti and visit the people she fell in love with decades ago.
After an exciting and exhausting life of being on the revival circuit with her late husband, Grandma Connor now calls metro Atlanta home. She can be found 5 days a week at Noah’s Ark, a nonprofit Animal Rehabilitation and Children’s Care Center in metro Atlanta, caring for residents and visitors alike.
Is it possible to summarize a life of dedication to a higher calling in one sentence? Grandma Connor can: Honor God, surrender your worries to him, and find your delight.
For an alternative article on how Atlantan's are called to God, read:
Spreading the word of God through Twitter: religion in the fast lane
Comments
Kelly,
What a great story and what a tremendous legacy--both for the lives touched and for the homeschooling pioneering.
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