The Toccoa Record
Bo Pilgrim, chairman and CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, a fortune 500 company based in Pittsburgh, Texas, takes advantage of every opportunity to share his passion for God with America’s youth.
More than 40 churches nationwide brought their teens and leaders to the Rick Gage Go Tell camp at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center.
Over 1,000 young people and counselors packed into the center’s auditorium for the evening service where Pilgrim would share his heart from the platform.
Wearing a black pilgrim’s hat and carrying a Bible and a stuffed chicken, the Texas businessman shared his story.
Pilgrim was born in the small community of Pine, Texas, population 100. Pilgrim’s father was the postmaster there, and he had a general merchandise store.
He died in 1939, leaving behind seven children. When Pilgrim was 10 years old, his mother remarried. Soon after this, Pilgrim left home to live with his grandmother.
Growing up around agriculture, Pilgrim started his chicken business after he finished high school in 1945. Over the next 50 years, what began as a small service to farmers grew into a business, grossing over $20 million in sales per day.
To what does Pilgrim attribute his success?
After his father died, Pilgrim said he had a very heavy heart and wanted to be with his earthly father as well as his heavenly father. During a church revival, Pilgrim said he committed his life to Christ. Pilgrim attributes his success to that commitment.
“I think my success comes from when I went into this business in Pittsburgh, “he said. “I was committed to the Lord and promised him if I ever amounted to anything that I’d always give him the credit for it.”
Pilgrim said he has built his company of more than 40,000 employees on the moral pillars of honesty, hard work, loyalty, selflessness and integrity.
He said he believes God wanted him to exemplify being a Christian businessman, and he is forever conscious of that calling. His father died at the age of 43 and his brothers died at the age of 42, 47 and 58, all due to hardening of the arteries.
Pilgrim had open-heart surgery in 1975 and a heart attack in 1982, and he said at the Go Tell service, “I am not supposed to be here, but the reason I am is that God has a purpose for me as a Christian businessman.”
Pilgrim said he takes seriously his responsibility to his customers, his employees and, most importantly, to God.
Pilgrim said he understands that as a businessman one has to be able to handle pressure daily. According to Pilgrim, the key to handling pressure is praying and reading the Bible daily, doing the best he can and leaving the rest to God.
After addressing the Go Tell campers with this story, Pilgrim presented a gospel tract to each of them.
Each tract held a $20 bill, and the campers gave Pilgrim a standing ovation when he left, said camp director Rick Gage.
“Bo Pilgrim is a man who is passionate about fulfilling the Great commission and advancing the kingdom of God,“ he said.
