PAGE 1 of MY FRIENDS PAGES
I believe you will find this first story very interesting. It's a brief look into the very personel life of a man who faced suicide more than once before he met someone who changed his life forever.
From Trophies to Trophy
| Testimony of a Culinary Champion |
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In the picture above you see a friend of mine, Don Mingo with some of his trophies and national awards. The former Executive Chef and Culinary Competitor won in major competiton in Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, and other major cities. We are reminded of how competitive life is from the cradle to the grave. The work-a-day world we live in is constantly competing for fortune, fame, finances, and future satisfaction. But with all the success anyone can attain, there is still an empty, unfulfilled void that leads man to find substitutes for fulfillment such as drugs, alcohol, loose-living, excessive pleasures, materialism, greed, and in many cases, suicide. Such is the story of Don Mingo. Born poor in a midwest, low-rent ghetto, he learned to steal, and wheel & deal at an early age to get what he wanted. There was much instability in his home life. The family moved from one cold water flat to another and from one neighborhood to another. During World War II, when Don was nine years old, his father was in the Navy and his mother was cooking at a boarding house to make ends meet. Don started cooking at home to feed himself and three other children. He admits the first few meals really stuck to their ribs with gravy so thick that they couldn't get the spoon out! A few years later, when he was in his rebellious teens things hadn't improved much, although his family finally had a house that they could call their own. When his father wasn't in jail or out drinking, he was working nights and sleeping days so Don didn't see him much. Don, like most teens, was looking for a way to belong, to be loved and to be a winner. Early golf trophies and boxing trophies didn't satisfy. The answer seemed to be to travel and find his pot of gold. So, at the age of 17 he quit school and joined the United States Navy. But rebellion, emptiness, alcohol and an uncontrollable temper put him before a Naval Court Martial Board for the fourth and final time! The verdict? .....a bad conduct discharge! At age 20, after being thrown out of the Navy, he looked back to age 14 when suicide was the plan and wondered why he hadn't gone through with it. Now, he was out of the Navy, out of money, out of work and had nowhere to turn. Then while sitting in a hamburger shop in a large midwest city, Don was asked, "Can you cook?". He remembered cooking at home and here and there to pick up a meal, so he said "Yes!". That Day he went to work for $1.37 an hour as a cook. The next 24 years held many ups and downs including two more brushes with suicide. But at age 37 he became the Executive Chef at the Golden Valley Country Club, something he had wished for and wanted for some time. Shortly thereafter, he became a member of the Mid-West Chefs traveling team, the Geneva Association and other culinary groups. He was competing against some of the best chefs in America in cooking contests. He had finally arrived!! He was at the top! But success had not come cheap.... it had cost him his family and his home.... his life was completely out of control! He was in and out of jail, alcohol-bound and living an ungodly lifestyle. Even with some 17 national trophies he still felt like a loser. He and his wife were on the verge of a divorce when God stepped in. At the age of 44, with all hope just about gone, his oldest son Buddy, shared his testimony with him on the campus of a large Bible college. While there Don also witnessed a peace in the eyes of several hundred students that he could not explain. So after reading Romans 10:9,10, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.", Don met Jesus Christ in a life-changing way. He also read Acts 16:30,31: "What must I do to be saved?... Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."! His life was transformed when he was born again (John 3:3). And from that day to this, God took away all of the things Don could not control before.... alcohol, tobacco, drugs, jail.... and gave him victory in his life. He became a new creature in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17), a trophy of His grace! Don has been to South Africa, Russia and Ukraine and has seen thousands come to know the Lord. He and his wife worked for the Lord many years until she was taken home in an automobile accident and shortly there-after God gave him a new wife and help meet. Today they travel together serving the Lord in full time evangelism around the world. Yes, God has taken him back to many ghettos and inner cities to preach Christ and testify of God's grace and of His rewarding and completely fulfilling life. A life that Don searched and worked for but a life only Jesus can give. |
Don asks if you would like to become a trophy of His grace... a new creature in Christ... and be born again? Then pray as Don did years ago:
Dear Jesus, I am lost and undone. I am a sinner and deserve hell. But I believe you died for me and right now I ask you to save me and come into my life, take control and help me to live for you. Thank you Jesus!
If you prayed a prayer such as this please write Don and let him know. He will send you some literature to help you grow and walk with Christ. God Bless!
NOTE: Don and Barbara have both gone to be with the Lord! Although Don was the one who was fighting cancer and everyone thought he would go home first but Barbara was the one the Lord called home first. It was shortly after that Don went on to join her.
Don is not with us anymore but I'm sure he would want you to make sure you're ready to come and spend eternity with him and Jesus! Are you ready?
Write to Don at:
Don Mingo Ministries, Inc.
P.O. Box 145
Coleman, WI 54112
You can't write to Don anymore but you can pray the prayer he taught you and one day soon you will be able to talk with him again.
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