Atkinson, David M.: - David M. Atkinson was born north of Toronto, Canada, in 1947 and has been appearing on public platforms since he was 15. He has taught and preached in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil and Haiti. In his early years of ministry, he planted three churches whose assets today total several million dollars. He became the Pastor of the Dyer Baptist Church in Dyer, Indiana, in 1990. The church opened Plum Creek Christian Academy in 2006 and is reaching children and youths of all races in the south Chicago hub and Northwest Indiana. Pastor Wayne Shirton of Medicine Hat, Alberta, studied theology under him in 1970 and says, "This author is the most creative thinker I have ever met." He is a poet and artist and has written numerous songs on current events. His songs on the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City and the shooting of the bell ringer in Bethlehem, Israel, received strong and enthusiastic responses from DJs and music reviewers around the world. He and his wife, Jane, have two grown children, April and Lee, who both serve in ministry.