Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Today I am interviewing a man from St. Paul who has some incredible stories of faith to share about being in the right place at the right time.
Hugh Plappert lived in the Minneapolis area most of his life. He came to faith at a young age, and God has used him to impact the lives of others throughout his career and into a new venture after he retired.
Originally, even though Hugh had an interest in technology, he wanted to go into ministry, so he enrolled in the Apostolic Bible Institute. But, when he arrived, he discovered the college was having big problems with their new microcomputer.
He learned about that system in high school, so he resolved the problem quickly for the college. In return, he was awarded a full scholarship. After graduating, he continued to work in technology, but also helped the Bible institute with their tech needs for 41 years on a volunteer basis.
Since graduating, Hugh has been bivocational in that he worked for some large corporations by helping to maintain their databases. He also did corporate consulting for 30 different Fortune 500 firms.
Rather than standing before a church full of people, Hugh’s pulpit was his keyboard and he has impacted far more people that way than he could have by confining his skills to a single church.
After retiring from his business career, Hugh went to work for his son’s company, PhoneLive, in developing technology to help people listen to church services on their cell phones as well as translating messages into their native language. More than 11,000 churches use the software today.
Hugh’s stories were amazing to me about how he just seemed to be in the right place at the right time, and how God continued to open doors for him to advance his career so he could serve others.
From getting his college scholarship to getting a job at one of the largest airlines in the world, Hugh is a testimony to how God consistently used him to bless other people and expand God’s kingdom.
After sending out 100 resumes and getting 99 rejections, Hugh got an interview with Northwest Airlines. The job came with a benefit that allowed him to travel free anywhere around the country to run errands for the Bible institute.
His position with the airline connected him to the reservations manager, who was able to help missionaries and ministers get better deals on their travel, too.
During a company reorganization, Hugh technically lost his job title, but retained his job. He worked as a floating computer expert going from building to building helping wherever he could. That job allowed him to learn so many different tech skills that Hugh became incredibly valuable to the company to the point he earned 20% raises.
God also put him in the right place to help others. I loved the story about how Hugh stopped to help a broke and stranded motorist, but wound up changing the man’s life by getting him a high-paying job with a company in his network.
Hugh also told a story about how he revived a minister’s faith by showing what the pastor thought was a ministry failure for 50 years actually worked to spread the gospel all over the world.
Hugh cautioned people over 50 to keep listening to God and not to let down their spiritual guard so they can finish strong, unlike some big Bible characters.
He lives out his own advice by using his skills and connections to coordinate the activities of the senior adult ministry leaders in multiple large denominations.
Today, through PhoneLive, Hugh and his son created a virtual megachurch that brings services to 22,000 people every week over the phone.
People can connect with Hugh on LinkedIn or through his son’s PhoneLive venture by emailing him at hugh@phonelive.io.
That’s all I have for this week’s show. If you’d like help in identifying a purpose for your life or to get help planning your next steps, I’m offering a complimentary brainstorming session to members of the Forward From 50 Facebook community. For details, connect with me on Facebook or visit www.forwardfrom50.com.
I’ll have another inspirational interview on the next episode of the Forward From 50 podcast. Thanks for listening. If you like this show, please consider leaving a review wherever you download the episodes.

After closing his business and enduring several painful years of uncertainty regarding what to do with his life, Greg founded Forward From 50 to help men and women over 50 to live more purposeful lives by pursuing things they are passionate about. A Wisconsin native, Greg currently lives in Arizona.