When

participants assemble Saturday for the third

annual March for Jesus, T.W. Snider of

neighboring Clayton County and his wife, Janice,

will be out in front.

At

91, Snider remains an active minister preaching

at area Baptist churches and teaching Sunday

School classes. His wife calls him a miracle man.

"He's never had a tooth pulled, and has

never had a headache," Janice reported. He

keeps his brain sharp by writing free-lance

articles for various evangelical publications in

the U.S. and Canada.

Janice,

who is a polio survivor, will roll along the

parade route in her motorized scooter.

Snider

took the roundabout way to the ministry, after

returning to grade school at age 22. "My

history is unusual," he explained. "I

grew up in Mitchell County and was converted

there, at the Mitchell Baptist Church. I'll be

attending homecoming there soon."

Around

Christmas in 1931, Snider said he decided to go

to school and started at the sixth grade level.

Conjugating Latin verbs at the chalk board proved

difficult for "Thero," as he was known,

and he was demoted to third grade. He progressed

rapidly, and after three years, made it to Mrs.

Gibson's 10th grade. "I walked into that

school and I felt I was at Oxford... a Rhodes

scholar," he said proudly.

After

moving to Augusta, Snider said he was presented

with more opportunities. He joined a church and

the pastor told him he was "called to

preach." "This church will help

you," Snider said the pastor recalls telling

him. So he packed his bags for New Orleans and

started preaching at the First Baptist Church in

Kenner. "I was in high cotton," Snider

joked. "Eventually I went to Mercer and took

a few course and went on to serve in a number of

churches in Columbus, Jacksonville, Fla. and

Aiken, S.C. before retiring."

Snider

keeps abreast of pastoral affairs in Fayette

County by attending the weekly prayer breakfasts

on Tuesdays with surrounding ministers. At home,

he is a self-proclaimed "Mr. Fix-it"

and an avid gardener.

Reflecting

on the current surge in spirituality, Snider said

he has also noticed a growth in mission work.

"My home church is sending missionaries to

the Ukraine, but the missionaries seem to be

working all over. A number are getting ready to

go to China and teach English. They (Chinese)

will let them witness one on one, but they must

be very careful."

Snider

said he was a foreign missionary in Clayton

County during the time he taught a Sunday School

class for immigrant Laotions at Emmanuel Church.

Saturday's

March for Jesus will begin at 10 a.m.

Participants should assemble in the Fayette

County High School parking lot at 9 a.m.

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