Duggars speak about family, faith

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar shared the joy they have found in Jesus Christ with about 1,000 people Sunday at Lynwood Baptist Church.

The Duggars, of the TLC show "19 Kids and Counting," appeared as part of a benefit for Midwest Ministry Care Center and the Ruth House, which provides a residential, Christ-centered program for women coming out of inpatient alcohol/drug-abuse programs.

With this event, senior pastor Mark Anderson said, $10,000 has been raised for the center.

"I think that as a family they're very concerned about people. They are trying to help launch this ministry. Once they heard about the opportunity to allow the benefits to go toward the Ministry Care Center, they were very quick to say 'yes'," Anderson said.

The Duggars had heard Anderson's father-in-law, H.D. McCarty, retired pastor of University Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas, speak many times. The Duggars called Anderson's daughter, Ashley Lancaster, and said they were coming through town and asked if they could worship at Lynwood Baptist.

Jim Bob Duggar and his wife, Michelle, introduce their family Sunday, May 4, 2014 at Lynwood Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

The event grew from there.

On Sunday, the Duggars talked about their life journey and how they came to know the Lord and how they have lived their lives on Biblical principles. Those principles can be applied to everything from marriage relationships to raising children and conflict resolution, they said. Their children also sang and played piano and violin and recited Bible verses.

The Duggars, who will celebrate 30 years of marriage this July, met in high school. Jim Bob Duggar, a former Arkansas state representative and candidate for U.S. Senate, came from a family with two siblings and Michelle was the baby of seven children.

"I was born on a Sunday and the next Sunday I was in church and I've been there ever since," Jim Bob Duggar said. He said he realized when he was 7 that he was a sinner and couldn't go to heaven unless he sought the Lord's forgiveness.

Jim Bob's mother was a dedicated Christian, but his father didn't have the spiritual focus he should have had. His mother taught him and his sister that the Lord would take care of them and encouraged them to thank the Lord when things were going well and thank Him even when struggles and challenges came their way.

The Duggar family musicians perform Sunday, May 4, 2014 at Lynwood Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

Michelle grew up not going to church, but a friend told her "the good news" -- that she could ask Jesus for forgiveness and be given eternal life.

Although they had been introduced before in her parents' living room, Jim Bob and Michelle came to know each other about a year later when his mother, a manager at a frozen yogurt shop, hired Michelle.

When the couple first were married, Michelle was on birth control pills. After three years, Michelle went off the pill and their first child, Josh, was born. While still on the pill, Michelle got pregnant, but miscarried.

Devastated by the loss, the Duggars prayed and studied the Bible and found many references to God considering children as gifts, blessings and rewards, their website, Duggarfamily.com, said. Soon after that, they had twins and the family just kept growing, with the oldest now being 26 and the youngest 4, Michelle said.

An Associated Press photo of the family walking to the polls to vote when Jim Bob was running for U.S. Senator eventually led to their TV show. Their story was written up in Parents magazine, then Discovery Health wanted to make a documentary, which became quite popular. Then TLC asked if they could make a reality show with the family.

Before they took the stage, Michelle said they are "hoping to be expecting."

"We're trying right now," Jim Bob said.

"We would love more if the Lord saw fit," Michelle said, "but we'll see if that happens."

The Duggars have home schooled their children from the time the oldest, Josh, was 4, so they spend more time together than most families do, Michelle said.

"We work together as a team. One person couldn't do everything," Michelle said, adding that managing a home of 20-plus people requires help from even the little ones.

When they travel together, it's on a bus with 20 beds, a bathroom and kitchen, so everyone has their own space, Jim Bob said.

Their next stop is St. Louis to sightsee and then attend a home-school conference. They plan to return home to Tontitown, Arkansas, on Wednesday.

Jim Bob said they are scheduled to speak at five home-school conferences to speak at this year, but they'll just be gone one or two days at a time.

"We try to limit the amount of speaking engagements, so we're [home] most of the time."

They built their 7,000-square-foot house about eight years ago, but it took three and a half years to construct, Jim Bob said, noting it was a family project.

It includes a room where Jim Bob's mother sometimes stays and there is a guesthouse for friends and family. In addition to their 19 children, the Duggars have three grandchildren.

They believe the Bible is the owner's manual for their lives and that it contains all the answers to life's questions.

"So we try to live our lives based upon the Bible and to teach our children to follow the principles," Jim Bob said, including humbling themselves to ask for forgiveness when they have offended someone.

He said he and Michelle encourage their children to love God and serve others. In recent years, the Duggars have helped on the presidential campaigns for former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and former U.S. senator Rick Santorum, R-Pennsylvania.

"It's neat to see, as our children have gotten older, how they have branched off into different things. Two of our older daughters and four of our older sons have been in fire department training," Jim Bob said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

2935 Lynwood Hills Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.