The Kentucky Faith and Public History Education Project profiles famous Kentuckians whose decision to accept the Christian message shifted how they lived their lives and determined their legacies. Each week this blog profiles one famous Kentucky Christian with the goal that their life could be introduced during a youth group or Sunday School class. The posts connect ideas from the lives of these Kentuckians to conversations that young people may be having about matters of faith. Dottie Rambo was one such person. Her faith story is particularly relevant to middle school students. It started when she dedicated her life to Jesus Christ when she was twelve years old[1].
Dottie Rambo was from Madisonville, Kentucky. She wrote many
of the songs we sing in our churches like “I Go To the Rock”[2]
and “Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome”[3].
She sang with Elvis Presley as well as for the soldiers stationed in Vietnam during the
Vietnam War. She won a Dove Award and a Grammy. You might think that all the
success she had made her life easy but it was far from easy. In fact, the
trials she endured inspired the songs she wrote.
Dottie was somewhat of a child prodigy. She was singing and
accompanying herself on the guitar on country radio stations by the time she
was ten years old. Her father was proud of her. However, when she became a
born-again Christian at twelve years old, her father was enraged because Dottie
was no longer willing to be involved with secular music. She only wanted to
sing Christian music. Her father gave her an ultimatum. Either she would sing
country music or she would have to move out of the house. This was in 1946.
Ask what your students think Dottie Rambo should have done?
Why do they think that? Would this circumstance happen for twelve year olds
today? Do your students think that a young person’s faith in God could trigger
such difficult decisions in today’s world? What would they do if their parents
tried to control their faith decisions?
In fact, Dottie
refused her father’s requirement. She left home. She started traveling
throughout the country on a Greyhound bus to sing in churches. By the time she
was sixteen, she was married to another Gospel singer, Buck Rambo. By the time
she was seventeen, the couple had a daughter.
The marriage was often difficult, but it lasted.
More about Dottie Rambo’s life for children can be found in
the easy-reader chapter book, Hurt Feelings: the Story of Dottie Rambo,
by Lesley Barker[4].
This is one of the Famous Kentucky Christian Club books, produced by the
Kentucky Faith & Public History Education Projects and available as a
paperback or e-book here.
[1] https://www.dottierambo.net/about
[2]
Rambo, Dottie. “I Go to the Rock” https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58eeda899f7456cb9be3e735/t/59133a7a3e00be66b0094286/1494432378663/I+GO+TO+THE+ROCK+LYRICS+Rambo+McGuire+version.pdf
[3]
Rambo, Dottie and David Huntsinger. “Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome” https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58eeda899f7456cb9be3e735/t/591336f75016e19ffa2040e6/1494431479847/HOLY+SPIRIT+THOU+ART+WELCOME+LYRICS.pdf
[4]
Barker, Lesley. Hurt Feelings: The Story of Dottie Rambo. 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment