Local evangelist given honor for decades of service

Jerry Drace and his wife, Becky, are both natives of West Tennessee.

Jerry’s dad was Rev. J.T. Drace, who pastored churches in Henderson, Adamsville and Jackson. Becky grew up in Haywood County.

Drace was on track at Union University to get his pre-med degree and eventually become a surgeon, but God waited until Drace’s senior year at Union to let him know he was calling him to preach the Gospel.

More than 50 years later, Drace was inducted into the Hall of Faith by the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists earlier this month after a career with thousands of sermons preached across the nation and around the world.

“The induction was never something I set out to do for one thing, they didn’t start the Hall of Faith until 2012,” Drace said. “But I felt God calling me to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, so that’s what I set out to do.

“He’s blessed me with a faithful wife and wonderful family who have supported me.”

Drace’s travels have taken him to South Korea, China, other Asian countries, throughout Europe, Africa, South America and Australia.

Drace said his ministry had a few memorable close calls where God stepped in and intervened or showed His sovereignty over various situations.

One such time was in South Korea when he was preaching to children at a school.

“We were out in a field, and I was preaching to the kids after they’d wrapped up recess, and I noticed in the distance bushes moving every so often,” Drace said. “When I got to the end of message, a commander in the South Korean Army was there, and he asked me if I would preach to his squadron.

“I said yes, and the commander told all his soldiers to come to where we were, and sure enough, all those bushes that had been moving had soldiers behind them coming out, and other soldiers were coming out from other hiding places. He told the soldiers to stand at attention and he ordered me to preach the Gospel. I wish our leaders here in our military were like the leaders there, because we had revival that day.”

He was mentored by Billy Graham and has worked with a number of legendary names in the world of evangelism including T.W. Wilson, Vance Havner, Junior Hill and Manley Beasley, who are all already inducted into the Hall.

While Drace has preached all over the world, they’ve spent the past 33 years residing in Three Way. He’s balanced his evangelism with pastoring as he spent 13 years pastoring at Friendship Baptist Church in Crockett County.

“I wasn’t sure I could do that because I’m out of town traveling 20 Sundays a year, and that’s difficult for a pastor to do with that kind of schedule,” Drace said. “But the last 13 years were challenging at times, but the church supported us and we appreciated it.”

The Draces have delved into other ways to share with others including writing books and hosting multiple radio shows on the American Family Radio Network at 4:20 p.m. each weekday and 5:35 p.m. on Sundays.

Jerry has written a number of books including “44 Ways to Strengthen your Marriage” and “From the Heart of a Father.” Becky has written “Becoming a Woman of Worth” and “The Dark Side of Blue – Finding hope in the Dark Places of Life.”

Drace continues to share the Gospel and fill in various pulpits on Sundays around the region.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news