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For nearly 38 years, Charles Box has served as the minister at Walnut Street Church of Christ, dedicating his life to ministry and outreach. Throughout his tenure, Box has led numerous missionary trips abroad with a desire to see people develop a relationship with Jesus. 

“I’ve gone to India three times, to several Caribbean islands, as well as South America and Guyana,” Box said. “This is something that I started in the 1970s, and I’ve been so blessed to have been able to continue doing ever since.”

Box and his team focus on serving underprivileged communities by distributing thousands of Bibles and providing essential items like reading glasses, clothes and shoes. 

“We’ve also helped build several churches,” Box added. Despite the significant costs, Box feels fortunate to continue these efforts, attributing the success to the generosity of others.

“It is a tremendous expense,” he said. “In the beginning, I had to go around and ask for donations, but eventually, church members and other people saw what we were doing, and they gave.”

Box emphasizes that his mission work is a community effort.

“It’s never been just me,” he said. “It’s God and so many people who have been willing to give and sacrifice.”

Under Box’s leadership, the Walnut Street Church of Christ has also become known for its local outreach programs. The congregation’s initiatives include radio programs, nursing home visits, mentoring within jails and drug court support. 

“We did weekly classes at the jails for many, many years before COVID,” Box noted. “We’ve seen so much change in so many people. We just plant the seed and let God give the increase.”

Originally from Hokes Bluff in Etowah County, Box moved to Greenville in 1986 with his wife, Janice.

“I was at a point in my life where I needed to make a move and I was offered to come here or to a church in Mobile,” he recalled. “My boys were still young, and Greenville, being a small town, seemed like a better choice for my boys. God just opened all the right doors.”

Janice Box, a retired schoolteacher, has been married to Charles for 59 years.

“He’s the hardest worker that I’ve ever known,” she said. “And thank the Lord, he’s still going. He’s just such a caring and giving person.” 

Janice credits her husband’s dedication to his faith and his community, noting that he often gives freely from his own resources. 

“He’s a giver and a doer,” she added. “He’s just a man that really wants to go to Heaven and he wants to take as many people as he can with him.”

While Janice admits that having a husband so devoted to the community hasn’t always been easy, she appreciates his commitment to family. 

“Charles helped me care for my parents,” she said. “My father had Parkinson’s, and then, as my mother got older, he was there. Over the last two or three years, he’s also been caring for his own mother, who passed away last October.”

Reflecting on their long marriage, Janice credits the strength of their relationship to faith, family and their Christian friends at the church.