Author: Rae-Ann Fugate
Located in: Sun City Center
Submitted: February 17, 2018
Tell us a little about yourself. I am a wife, mother, and grandmother and retired along with my husband of 61 years. We live in Florida and vacation in forest of Wisconsin. I have camped many places, panned for gold, am a certified SCUBA diver, flew places with my personal pilot, my husband, fished in various lakes, streams and Tampa Bay, I love the outdoors. I was an executive secretary in Chicago, an insurance agent, my church's secretary and I'm still my husband's household secretary. I love having our sons and their families visit us for vacations.
What was your motivation behind this project? Dad had many stories about his 38 year career as a streetcar conductor and then a bus driver in Chicago, and about how God used him to witness to others. I said to him one time that he ought to record them. He did record a few and gave the recordings to me years ago but when he died I discovered additional tapes that he had not yet given to me. I was unable to transcribe them until after my Mom went to heaven twelve years later, but then I decided it was time to do it. Once into that effort I knew I could write a book using Dad's stories. That project helped pull me out of depression.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? There are stories about people Dad met on the streetcar first, then on the bus in later years and about how God worked in Dad's life. It is an uplifting book for anyone who works in his daily life to honor God and his Son, Jesus Christ. My prayer is that someone who reads it will realize he needs Jesus in his life and will accept Him as his Savior.
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? There were a bunch of adverse things that occurred in my life at one time and although I knew God was in it, I still went in to clinical depression. So did my sisters. As I prayed and took care of myself, and then began writing this book, I gradually was able to get rid of those negative feelings and to get back to normal although it took years to do it. I thank God for His faithfulness to hear and answer my prayer.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? My favorite influence is the Bible. It says what it means and means what it says. God hasn't changed his mind about anything he inspired people to write way back when. I would say the Bible authors are my favorite authors.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: I would like people to know they can have a personal relationship with God who offers them eternal life through his son, Jesus Christ. All it takes is an acknowledgement of sin in the person's life, the acceptance of Jesus' atonement for that sin, and the prayer of acceptance to God.
