The Texas Faith & Freedom Historic Tour
The story of Texas has fueled the imagination of millions through such episodes as the epic stand for freedom at the Alamo, through such larger-than-life figures as Sam Houston, as well as through the stories of cowboys and cattle drives, frontier Indian wars, and the intrepid Texas Rangers, who hardily defended justice across the far-reaching boundaries of the Lone Star State.
Yet more significant than the big and bold exploits that have come to characterize Texas are the lessons that lie behind the men and movements that drove them. Join us on July 5-7 as we explore these themes on the Texas Mini-Faith and Freedom Tour. Journey with us to key Texas landmarks such as the Alamo, the Texas State Capitol and State Cemetery, and the National Museum of the Pacific War. Learn about the lives of such men as Moses and Stephen F. Austin, Gen. John Bell Hood, John Meusebach, Sam Houston, Admiral Chester Nimitz, and many more.
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Tour Speakers
Doug Phillips
Doug Phillips is the director of Vision Forum Ministries, a discipleship and training ministry that emphasizes Christian apologetics, worldview training, multigenerational faithfulness, and creative solutions whereby fathers can play a maximum role in family discipleship. A constitutional attorney, Doug served with the Home School Legal Defense Association for six years. A strong advocate and defender of human life, Doug is the founder of the Liberty Defense Fund and Rescue Haiti’s Children, the latter of which has brought much-needed aid and Gospel encouragement to orphans in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Doug authored the foreword to Be Fruitful and Multiply: What the Bible Says about Having Children, a book that encourages Christians to do more than just “trust God” for children, but to cry out to the Lord to bless the fruit of the womb, and among his greatest delights is hearing from those who now have more children after embracing this message. Doug and his wife, Beall, live with their eight children, Joshua, Justice, Liberty, Jubilee, Faith Evangeline, Honor, Providence, and Virginia in San Antonio, Texas.
William Potter
William Potter, the Historian and Curator of The Circa History Guild, combines a lifelong study of American history with a unique ability to communicate it to young and old alike. Mr. Potter has taught history classes to high school and college students, and has led Vision Forum Faith & Freedom Tours of Virginia, Philadelphia, New England and Scotland. An experienced researcher and writer, Mr. Potter possesses a practical knowledge of antiquarian books, documents, and artifacts and has published several short books and has penned many articles and book reviews for publication. As a father of eight children, he appreciates the necessity of passing on to the succeeding generations the richness of both our regional and national history.
Wesley Strackbein
Wesley Strackbein has worked with Vision Forum since 1998 and handles media
relations, marketing, and a variety of editing responsibilities for the ministry. In 2005, he served as the associate producer of the WWII documentary, The League of Grateful Sons, and has edited a number of books, including Life is But a Vapor: The Life & Letters of Michael G. Billings and John Calvin: Man of the Millennium. His articles have been published in Patriarch Magazine and the Schwarz Report, among other media outlets. Previous to his time with Vision Forum, Wesley spent two years with the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), first as an intern and later as project manager for the Communications Department. A native Texan, Wesley was home educated by parents who are among the pioneers of the modern home school movement. One of Wesley’s key passions is to proclaim the great deeds of God through history.
Scott Brown
Scott T. Brown is the director of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches and elder at Hope Baptist Church in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Scott graduated from California State University in Fullerton in History and received a Master of Divinity from Talbot School of Theology. He gives most of his time to local pastoral ministry, conferences on fatherhood, church reformation, and strengthening the family. He has been married to Deborah for twenty-eight years and they have four children.
Bill Brown
William E. Brown was a WWII P51 Mustang fighter pilot, arriving on the island of Iwo Jima D+8 to assist on bombing raids by protecting B-29 Super forts over Japanese targets. On May 29, 1945, he was shot down in enemy waters outside Tokyo Bay. He was rescued by the submarine Pipefish. After the war, Mr. Brown was a public school teacher in Alaska and California. He spent 10 years as a docent for the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas. He now lives with his son Scott and his family in Wake Forest, NC.