Revival services with Les Uptain of San Antonio, Texas will start at the Globe Christian Center on Sunday, May 6, at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., and will continue Monday through Wednesday, May 7-9, at 7 p.m. nightly.

Uptain is pastor of a growing church in San Antonio, but was raised in Globe-Miami, with visits to a juvenile state prison. He became a drug-abusing rock drummer, a Vietnam veteran, and finally a craneman at the Miami smelter.

He married Sally, a California girl who also loved to party, but they soon got into terrible fights. She liked bartending better than being home arguing with Uptain.

Deputies caught him smoking pot, and he was in jail when Pastor Lopez of Miami talked to the inmates. Uptain thought hard, and that night, he promised that if he got out, he’d serve God the rest of his life. And so he did, telling everyone they needed to “get saved” and give their lives to God. At work, some were irritated, but admitted Uptain was a good worker. Others came to church and began new lives. 

Uptain carried on for Jesus even when Sally left him. He just prayed, finally got her back, and she became a fellow Christian within a week.

Some found it hard to believe he was really a Christian. He preached on street corners, loved to confront people, drove a big red T-bird, lived in a big house, and his new (nonprofit) Christian rock band was really loud.

The Uptains down-sized when he became an assistant pastor (some smelter workers said he was crazy to leave the mine). When he started a “baby church” in Safford, his house and car were tiny at first. Uptain and Sally were closer than ever, though, and their little living room was always packed with excited new Christians. “I’ve never had so much fun in my whole life!” he said.

The church grew, and Uptain trained and sent out pastors. Finally, he sent himself out to Santa Rosa, California, and worked repairing office equipment while he and Sally started a church there. Both churches are “alive and well” today under other pastors, and the Uptains lead a growing church in Texas. He has preached around the world but loves to come to his “mother church” in Globe, still preaching Jesus after all these years, and still excited to see God at work changing lives.