n an age when packaging is supreme, God put together a package of pure dynamite when He mixed 30 Adventist-Laymen’s Services & Industries (ASI) youth, 12 students from the Adventist Theological Seminary and Andrews University, and members from Black Hills Mission College, South Dakota. Working under the direction of Louis Torres, Black Hills evangelism instructor and ASI’s coordinator of evangelism, the youth and their leaders planned and executed two successful evangelistic series in Michigan that have resulted in more than 250 decisions for Christ—and a new church being formed.

Ideas for the series actually started in 1999 when ASI planned and supported a youth evangelistic tent meeting before their national convention in Orlando, Florida. “We worked really hard and were thrilled to witness more than 100 baptisms,” said Kim Busl, ASI general vice president and coordinator of the series. This was done under the direction of ASI president Denzil McNeilus, whose highest aim when he became ASI’s leader was to find a way to involve more youth. The successful youth outreach so infused the ASI officers that another series was planned preceding the 2000 ASI convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Torres said, “When I was asked to coordinate the Grand Rapids meetings, I knew that properly trained young people could successfully do the job. ASI set out to demonstrate that the same spirit that can work with a senior pastor can work with a young person and accomplish the same results.” Thus began the teamwork with the Black Hills Mission College team, ASI youth, Andrews University seminary and religion students, the Michigan and Lake Region conferences, and 10 area churches.

Rapids Movement
Carol Torres, president of Black Hills Health and Education Center, approached her husband, Louis, with the idea of incorporating a field school of evangelism. “We had not done this before, but we knew the young people needed desperately to be trained, so we decided to go ahead, “ Louis Torres said.

With eight members of the Black Hills team, Torres moved the entire operation to Grand Rapids in February, staying in church members’ homes. During those early weeks they met with all the pastors in the Grand Rapids area. This included Black, Hispanic, and White congregations that jointly planned such projects as stop-smoking clinics, cooking schools, and a popular health expo to run the week before the Grand Rapids effort began. Another series of meetings was also planned for Muskegon, Michigan, about 40 miles away.

The area churches pooled their money, personnel, and expertise and came up with several ways to make friends in the communities. Home Bible studies began. Students sold magabooks door to door, and others handed out free literature. Grand Rapids Central church pastor David Glenn said, “Seven days a week we were busy at Central church. There were people coming and going constantly. There were classes in soul winning; there were people keeping track of all the interests with computers and organizing the visiting teams.”

The first of June, 12 eager-to-witness Andrews University students arrived on the scene, ready for action. “They weren’t sure what they were getting into, but they stepped out in faith, willing to learn,” said Louis Torres. Their job: to initiate friendships with those in the Grand Rapids area and to share the gospel message.

In mid-June the first series in Muskegon began with Hirim Rester from the Black Hills School speaking. More than 200 people attended nightly, and there were more than 25 baptisms at the conclusion. Louis Torres said, “This success really fired up the rest of the Grand Rapids team.” When former university professor and punk rocker David Asscherick, chosen to be the Grand Rapids series speaker, arrived, he joined the 30 ASI youth.

These youth came from Adventist academies, colleges, home schools, church schools, and public schools. They came from Oregon, Minnesota, Texas, Africa, Canada, Nebraska, New York, and Tennessee.

Initially the ASI youth separated into small groups of acquaintances from the same schools or regions, but after less than a week they began to bond with each other as a family. Of course, adult supervision and help were needed to keep things rolling, and one important aspect of the assignment was food preparation.

ASI first lady Donna McNeilus and Lisa Hodges cooked for the entire group for six weeks. Somewhat weary at times but always upbeat, Mrs. McNeilus said, “Our hectic schedule began with a wake-up call at 6:30 a.m., travel of 25 minutes to the Grand Rapids Central Adventist Church, where a hot, nutritious breakfast was waiting, then worship of praise and prayer at 9:00 a.m. Classroom work followed in which the youth learned to be effective witnesses for Jesus in preparation for the meetings. A substantial lunch awaited the hungry team at 1:00 p.m. to give them energy for a busy afternoon of visitations, handing out flyers, and giving Bible studies.”

Black Hills Mission director Louis Torres recalled, “We led up to the Grand Rapids meetings with a health expo held in a local high school. During that week the ASI youth worked with the Wildwood Health Expo team giving health lectures, cooking schools, health law analysis, blood tests, weight management, massages, and teaching God’s natural laws of health.”

Double Duty
When the Grand Rapids series began, it was held twice nightly, at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The opening evening, attendance at the Goodwin Heights School Auditorium totaled nearly 1,000 between the two meetings. When the ASI youth saw the people coming, they were amazed. With sparkling eyes and exhilaration in her voice, Kerri Reiter said, “This is so exciting to see hundreds come and learn what God can do for them. As youth, we helped get the people here, and that is so gratifying.”

After the second meeting there was a sharing time of testimonies and exciting reports of how God was blessing, and of ways things could be improved. Donna McNeilus says, “By this time it was usually 9:30 or 10:00 p.m., but the youth miraculously recovered their energies to a high level which they claimed could be settled only by a rousing game of basketball or jogging.”

And what were some of the results of youth involvement? “Witnessing the spiritual growth of the youth day by day was most inspiring to me,” said Donna McNeilus, who had three children involved in the outreach activities. “They learned that true evangelism consists of constant prayer, not taking no for an answer, plain hard work, and always keeping the focus on Jesus and His Word. They learned to rely upon the Bible for any and every question or problem they may experience.”

The Grand Rapids series ended August 4. That weekend there were 104 baptisms, 40 of which were conducted at the ASI convention, where more than 3,000 witnessed the event. Overall there were more than 250 decisions for Christ, and to date 160 have been baptized. A new church has been organized, with more than 200 attending. Pastor David Glenn said, “With more than 2,100 visitors attending at least once during the series, I met more new people than I’ve probably met in my life.”

The response was so unprecedented that the Michigan Conference has invited Daniel Messa, a 22-year-old Black Hills Mission College graduate, to pastor the newly baptized members and the new congregation, which is growing weekly. Even the pastor of the Sunday church they are renting for worship services has indicated a conviction regarding the Sabbath truth.

Michigan Conference president Jay Gallimore said, “The Michigan Conference is thrilled to partner with ASI in demonstrating what can happen when ministers and the laity work together. It also demonstrates the powerful force our young people can exert when they are correctly and rightly trained. Out of this summer effort, there have been more than 160 baptisms plus a new church formed. We hope this kind of cooperation continues to set the pace for the future.”

North American youth evangelism, long a concern for church leaders, received an amazingly successful shot in the arm this past summer. And the attractive youth package—a gift from God—can be duplicated time and time again.

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Madlyn Hamblin writes from Brooklyn, Michigan