Speaker: Mike Williams

You will laugh and cry as you hear Mike Williams’ moving testimony of the grace of God. There’s a reason organizations like: Focus on the Family, Creation Festival, Disney Cruise Lines, Gaither Praise Gathering, hundreds of PRC’s, Youth Specialties, Colleges, Universities and major league sports chaplains have invited author and humorist Mike Williams as their keynote speaker. His stories of 8 years (8 years that Mike considers to be defining moments in his life) in a Christian School will tickle your funny bone. Many at this year’s Celebrating Hope Gala will find Mike’s journey to be a defining moment in their own life too.

Mike is the youngest of five born to an inner city family. His oldest brother was killed at seventeen on the streets of Chicago, and another brother was killed in prison at the age of seventeen. His two sisters turned to alcohol and drugs, a turn for which they have never fully recovered. At the age of twenty-seven, he met his father for the first and last time. Mike’s mother chose to give him away in hopes that at least one of her children could have a chance at a future. Mike was adopted by a Christian couple (YFC volunteers) who had been praying for a child for over twelve years… and the fun was just about to begin.