Bob and Geri Boyd Recipients of the 2010 Dr. Robert Dreyfus Courageous Christian Leadership Award
by Staff
December 31, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C., (christiansunite.com) -- Frontline Ministries, Inc., and the Exodus Mandate Project ( www.exodusmandate.org) announced today that husband-and-wife team, Geri and Bob Boyd, are the joint recipients of the 2010 Dr. Robert Dreyfus Courageous Christian Leadership Award. Established in 2007 by Frontline Ministries, Inc., this award honors and recognizes Christian leaders who have exhibited moral courage through their unique contribution to the Church by advancing Christianity in the culture and life of the nation. Chaplain Moore said of the Boyd's, "Bob and Geri co-host a premiere radio program focusing on K-12 Christian education and homeschooling. They have been on the cutting edge of helping churches and families see the need for K-12 Christian education for over two decades."Bob and Geri began Issues in Education as the radio ministry of Citizens for Excellence in Education founded by Dr. Robert Simonds in 1988. They started with Pastor Chuck Smith's support on his one station, Calvary Chapel's KWVE in Costa Mesa (Southern California), and are still being broadcast at the same time on that station 22 years later. Issues in Education is heard on over 650 stations, including 4 satellite networks. The largest is the Christian Satellite Network with 424 stations.
Issues in Education began with the intention to change public schools, but after one interview in 1997 with E. Ray Moore, the Boyd's focus changed. Chaplain Moore said, "Trying to change the public schools is like trying to teach a pig how to dance. It's a waste of time! You just get dirty and the pig gets mad!" That classic interview convinced them that they needed to get Christian children out of public schools (Exodus Mandate) and into K-12 Christian education and home schooling. The Boyd's received calls from some irate Christian public school teachers and students who claimed "their school" was different since they had Christian teachers. Countless home schoolers have begun home schooling because of the messages they have heard on Issues in Education. After 22 years of producing this international, weekly radio program, the Boyd's are hearing from parents who had been home schooled and are now home schooling their children. Other families continue to home school because of what they hear on the program.
There is an academic, moral and spiritual crisis in public education and many parents are seeking alternatives. Ninety percent of children from Christian homes attend public schools. Eighty-eight percent of these children will leave the Christian faith. Compare that to the Ninety-four percent of home schooled Christians who will embrace Christianity, and you can see why this issue is so vital to the Boyd's. Bob and Geri tell parents, "Don't simply ask what kind of education you want for your children, ask what kind of people you want them to become, and where you want them to spend eternity."
Although the Boyd's cover a myriad of topics on contemporary issues facing Christians on their program, Issues in Education exists to support and encourage Christian parents to home school their children or place them in a quality Christian school. The most important issue facing the American Church and our nation is the education of our youth. It will determine the future of Christianity in this country and affect the world. The Boyd's feel that many Christian parents don't realize that putting their child into a public school today is literally putting them into a discipleship in humanism, socialism and Islam. A recent video posted on their website shows sixth graders who went on a field trip to a mosque where some boys joined Muslim men in bowing and praying to Allah. After a Christian mother saw this video, she immediately decided to put her child in a Christian school. This is an example of how the impact of one program can powerfully encourage parents to reconsider their educational choices.
Bob and Geri have said, "Just as a craftsman takes time in woodwork or art or music, so the cultivation of godly children takes time, but the results outlast anything else. If you want to do it right, invest yourself in your child. Children are a gift from God, not to be sent away, but nurtured and cared for with love and attention to every detail. It's called home schooling." This is why Bob and Geri have dedicated themselves, in this radio ministry, to pointing parents to this God ordained and God directed method for child rearing. Their purpose is to get parents and pastors to take responsibility for the education of their children in obedience to Christ and salvation of their child's souls.
Dr. Robert Dreyfus, for whom the award has been named said, "I have listened to hundreds of Bob and Geri's interviews, and every one has been excellent. I cannot overemphasize the need for their ministry, and recommend that you visit their web site, listen to their interviews and seriously consider supporting their ministry."
Dr. Dreyfus, a prominent retired Florida dentist and inventor of a device to relieve neuromuscular pain for medical uses, served as a president of the Florida Dental Society of Anesthesiology. He has a 45-year history of volunteer work on behalf of family values and K-12 Christian education in Florida and is now the Florida State Coordinator for the Exodus Mandate Project.
Chaplain Moore noted that the 2010 award is the fourth to be awarded. The previous awards were awarded to: Thomas C. Pinckney, M.A., Brigadier General USAF Ret. and Bruce N. Shortt, J.D., Ph.D. (2007); Brian D. Ray, Ph.D., president of the National Home Education Research Institute (2008); Paul and Gena Suarez, publishers of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine (2009)
