This photo is part of your reading assignment. “The Man Who Moved a Mountain” is about Bob Childress and his impact on the people of Buffalo Mountain, seen here at sunset from the Blue Ridge Parkway in south-central Virginia. The area of Buffalo was notorious in an era and a place where people were tough, life was always hard, often brutal and short and there was very little contact with the outside world. Until a gang of brothers rode their horses into the Hillsville Courthouse, killed several people and fled with their kin. The FBI and newspaper reporters descended on the community to report back to the “civilized” world. Bob was struck by what he did not know and made the decision to change his life and it was momentous, leading eventually to Bob becoming a minister and going back home where he helped turn the violent and backward culture around. It is a wonderful, compelling and inspirational story. I have traveled the area to see most of the churches he built, the house he lived in the store he had to help people out. Do yourself a favor, read the book.
