"Bibleman" actor bases his ministry in Portland

By REBECCA TUITE
CNNW staff writer

PORTLAND -- Former TV teen heartthrob Willie Aames is all grown up these days with a new mission: reaching hundreds of thousands of kids with the gospel message through his cutting edge “The Bibleman Adventure” series, pointing them not to himself anymore, but to “the only true superhero” -- Jesus Christ. And while Superman does his work from Metropolis, Aames does his superhero work now from Portland.

Touching the lives of more than 400,000 children in 2000 alone through 90 shows and 160 days out of the year on the road, Pamplin Entertainment’s “The Bibleman Adventure” is the most popular live-action show on the children’s ministry circuit. Bibleman Live 2000 will be in Portland on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at New Hope Community Church in Clackamas.

The secular entertainment industry has taken notice at Aames’ success with reviews and interviews this year in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, People magazine, US magazine and on the Fox News Channel.

Relocating from Kansas City, Aames, the former cast member of TV’s “Eight is Enough” and “Charles in Charge,” has lived in Portland for about one year with wife Maylo and daughter Harleigh.

“It’s hard for me to feel real rooted right now,” he said. “I moved and then went right back on the road. But my wife and daughter love it, and as long as my family is happy, I’m happy.” He adds, “Portland is a beautiful town and there is great talent as far as the film industry is concerned.”

Aames and his family attend Rolling Hills Community Church in Tualatin. With Aames on the road so many days out of the year, he says the church has been very supportive on such short notice to his wife and daughter, taking them in as surrogate family.

It was in 1985 that Aames came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. “I had heard a guy on the radio. I was going through 12-step programs to try and get sober. What the guy was preaching about Jesus sounded like the best 12-step program I’d ever heard. I went to the guy’s church, and when people were giving their testimonies -- people who had gone through divorce and drugs like I had -- yet they had something I didn’t have, and that was hope. “And it wasn’t hope for a new series or a new car, there was hope for me, to be something more than I had become. Outside I had everything -- money, fame -- but inside I felt like a fraud. I didn’t feel like I was much to brag about. I always wanted to be something that I could respect. That was the kind of hope that I found, and that hope is in Christ.”

Aames has an older sister who is a Christian and two older brothers who are not. Asked how his family relationship have changed since becoming a Christian, he says, “I have become more accepting as to who they are are and I need to show them the love of Christ. Of course, they have seen huge changes in my life and I think they are very happy for me. What it’s really taught me is that they are who they are. They don’t know Jesus as Savior. They don’t know that life.” He adds, “As Christ-ians we need to not point out what is wrong with everyone else’s life, but realize they don’t know the difference and be more accepting of them and try to be the example.”

People that he holds as role models in his Christian walk are men who can point to the mistakes that they’ve made in their lives. Aames says he “blows it daily.” He says, “I really enjoy it when another Christian who has a mature walk can point out their faults. It lets me know that there is still hope. That I’m not the only one who struggles. And that’s what makes ‘Bibleman’ so successful -- he always struggles with something. And it lets kids know, ‘Hey its OK to struggle ... God knows we will struggle and that’s why He gave us a Savior.”

Six years ago, when Tony Salerno, the “Bibleman” concept creator; Mike Schatz, president of Pamplin Entertainment; Gary Randall, vice-chairman and chief operating officer and Bob Pamplin, first approached Aames about being Bibleman, he thought it was “a horrible idea.” But after some trial and error, they came up with a formula that worked. They did two episodes but all agreed it was not what they wanted. It was actually the fifth episode that was along the lines of what they wanted to see and it began to grow from there.

According to Aames, the main help to the evolution of the show was when they agreed it was OK to make videos but that God is a lot more interested in ministry than in marketing. They agreed that Bibleman needed to be out with people. That’s when they started touring the show nationally.

Aames said, “ It really took off when we started taking the message out to the kids.” This year alone, 13,000 children have made decisions for Christ after seeing the shows.

But the mission doesn’t stop there. They have spoken with the Billy Graham team on a plan for 2001-02 to reach in excess of 800,000 kids through the live shows.

After he became Bibleman for Pamplin, Aames was invited to come on board full-time as a Pamplin vice-president to create new product as well. Aames’ professional goalsfor Pamplin is to be an ‘idea factory.’ He says “I want it to be something that keeps pace with Nickelodeon, to build family videos and a catalogue of family videos. I want it to be the leading edge as far as family entertainment.”

At age 40, Aames and his wife have no plans for more children. “All of my children are going to be on a national scale, and the children that I sponsor with relief programs,” he said. “For whatever reason, God has blessed me with abililty to reach kids. I would have never guessed it, I would have never picked me to be a kind of a national kids’ pastor. It’s not what I think of me as.”

He adds “God’s made us good at reaching the kids and given us the vision and passion. Every time I think ‘this isn’t me.’ another 5,000 kids come forward. God is using it so I want to stay where he’s using the ministry. If we will just be obedient and allow God to use us where He places us, we will accomplish far more than we every dreamed,”

Aames’ favorite hobbies are woodworking, fishing and hunting. Though he hasn’t had a chance to hunt here in the Northwest, he recently took a four-day break and went out tuna fishing. “Lord willing, I’ll be around during hunting season and will be able to try out that Northwest stuff.,” he said.