A Time to Remember: Thurman Mitchell
New beginnings call for remembering roots.
Many of you know that we began the Servant Foundation (originally, the Christian Community Foundation in Kansas City) in June 2000. We are a donor advised fund organization, and we chose to affiliate with the National Christian Foundation as our backroom. Now, eighteen years later, we’ve been given an opportunity for our organization to establish our own backroom, which gives us more opportunity to continue to grow.
But in light of that growth, I wanted to take a few moments to remember one of our founders, Thurman Mitchell.
Thurman came from an unusual background. During the racial riots of the 1960s, Thurman was one of the first African American policeman in Wichita, KS. Later, he rose to fame as a TV news reporter and anchor. Despite the notoriety he received, Thurman heard a different call.
Urban youth. He saw the trouble of gangs and that so many teenagers had lost their way due to drugs, alcohol, and broken families. He often said, “You can’t go another way until you know another way.” So Thurman started an inner city church and an urban youth ministry. And he walked away from a comfortable job and retirement plan to be a minister.
As part of those efforts, Thurman helped launch the Servant Foundation, which he believed would help provide funding for ministries all across the globe. But just as the Servant Foundation was getting ready to launch, Thurman died of a massive stroke.
While Thurman never got to see the fruit of his labor, the Servant Foundation has now made $2 billion of grants to ministries all across the globe. Thurman’s gift has multiplied many times over!
Related articles:
17 Years and Still Counting–The Way of Living Generously
The Necessity of Discovery How Your Story Connects with Others
The Haircutter’s Legacy
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Bill High
Published April 27, 2018
Topics: Generosity
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