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Dean's Report

Although it is now well past summer (well into winter, actually) I thought to write about an experience that unfolded last summer. This past summer, it was my privilege and responsibility to accompany 13 Walla Walla College students on an eventful evangelistic excursion to the African country of Zambia. This evangelistic endeavor was sponsored by a number of different organizations, Global Evangelism and the Voice of Prophecy being the primary ones, all in conjunction with the local governing church entities in Zambia.

Over-seas evangelistic trips are quite common nowadays and, to be quite frank, I have some serious questions about how some of them are run, so I am not usually attracted to them. But the opportunity to go to Zambia interested me because it was set up so the students themselves would be the ones doing the speaking. All around Lusaka, the capital city, various venues had been prepared, and we were to come and occupy those podiums to speak to the people evangelistically.

In many ways, this trip proved memorable. We were very warmly welcomed by the local leaders. Then, very quickly, we ran into considerable adversity. Some of us started getting sick! Some found their speaking venues not quite ready. We also discovered that the speaker systems had not yet arrived. Then the power failures began, several every night, starting just prior to the advertised meeting starting-times, and ending just after the advertised ending-times. In many cases, the power failures involved only the actual evangelistic location. This was a real trial. But we all persevered and pressed on to see triumph out of adversity. On the final Sabbath of our stay, we all watched as, for two hours, people streamed into a large swimming pool in the city, were baptized, then streamed out the other side radiant with joy.

Several memories remain powerful in my mind. Perhaps the greatest was the reminder that God can use almost anything evangelistically. Then, I will long remember the way the students rose to the occasion and, in spite of difficulties, pushed on. It was also a joy to witness student reactions as many, for the first time, invited people to come to Christ for salvation and saw some respond!

We are blessed with a wonderful group of students here who are keenly interested in doing something for Jesus. I came home rejoicing that it had been a good experience for us all. This kind of stuff is formative for those interested in ministry!

Next Article: Maranatha: A Word Study