WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES
Feel'd Experience
Southern Adventist University students and faculty
preach God's Word in South Africa.
BY RYAN HILL, Graduate Student at Southern Adventist University
outhern Adventist University's commitment to evangelism-sharing with others the love of Jesus and the news of His soon return-is an integral part of its mission, and a good example of this is the recent evangelistic series held in South Africa by Southern students and faculty.
From May 28 to June 12, 2004, Gordon Bietz, president of the university, Ron Clouzet, dean of the School of Religion, 13 theology students, and two supportive wives took part in an evangelism effort in and around Durban, South Africa, a city of more than 2.5 million people. The endeavor was a part of the Global Evangelism campaign sponsored by the Carolina Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The trip, for the theology majors, also satisfied the requirements for their Field School of Evangelism, necessary for graduation.
"The trip was very exciting," said junior Kenwyn Sealy. "It was my first evangelism experience. I left with an expectation of preaching to thousands of people-we had a goal for my site alone of reaching 400 a night, with 50 baptisms. But there were some challenges."
The field school was set up in 15 sites, with one preacher per location. A few of those who were preaching spoke in rented halls, and one in a local university lecture room. The majority made their evangelistic appeals in tents, pitched in open fields as close as possible to the local Adventist churches.
"Two of us had no tents for the first few nights," said Sealy, "so we had to wait and start our sermons Friday night." And that was just one of several obstacles that had to be surmounted.
SAU Students and staff members |
First, there were technical difficulties. "In the middle of my second sermon," said Sealy, "the projector blew." This appeared to be a big problem for Sealy because computer-generated slides, pictures, and video clips were an integral part of his presentation. The South Africans in the audience, however, with their oft-heard mantra of "don't worry and pray to God," just began to sing until something could be figured out. "I actually ended up preaching the rest of the sermon without the projector," Sealy said, "and then I borrowed Dr. Bietz's projector for the rest of the week."
During one of Clouzet's meetings a sudden explosion shook the ground, causing a power outage in the entire area. Everything went black except for a small area dimly lit by the screen of Couzet's battery-powered laptop computer. "We continued as if nothing happened," wrote Clouzet in an e-mail to friends back home, "and God blessed."
Even Bietz himself was not without misfortune. His computer died, leaving no choice but to reformat the hard drive, wiping it clean of a considerable amount of work. Some of the problems were more of a personal, disappointing, or frustrating nature. Those nightly goals of 400 in attendance and 50 baptisms that Sealy had hoped to reach had fallen short-very short. "My best night, there were maybe 80 people there, and eight of them were baptized." Others struggled with voice loss, as both Clouzet and Francisco grew hoarse. It was so bad for Francisco that she recalled, "One night I had nothing-just air coming out of my mouth."
The local pastor for Francisco's location asked her if he should preach that night's sermon. She politely declined his offer and boarded the bus headed to the meeting site. Her voice soon began to strengthen slowly. Once at her site, she continued to gain back her vocal strength. "The more I preached," said Francisco, "the stronger my voice was. It was really a miracle."
In the end, the numbers didn't much matter, said Sealy. "Looking back, I feel that God needed to humble me," he said in reference to his first night's audience of about 15 to 20 people. Sealy's focus quickly shifted from the numbers, and he decided that his true desire was "that one person there would be able to give a gospel presentation once I left." This desire was met in a man named Luvoyo, who helped every night with setting up equipment at Sealy's evangelism site. Luvoyo's heart was touched by the message, and now he is teaching his coworkers about what he has learned.
More than 100 persons where baptised |
"A total of 115 people were baptized," reported Clouzet in his summative e-mail to friends and colleagues, "and 204 are getting ready for baptism. The 319 figure nearly equals the number of people making decisions in that conference for an entire year."
But the numbers don't stop there.
"I still keep in contact with the church," said Sealy, "and four more people were baptized last Sabbath. It's a blessing to me to hear the difference the gospel makes in people's lives."
Relationships between Southern students and faculty were also strengthened during the trip.
"To have the dean and the president working with you in the trenches, fighting the same fight," said Sealy, "really portrayed their servant-leader attitudes."
"It is a good experience to be working side by side with some of our students," added Bietz. "We can all be very proud of them."
The "feel'd" experiences during this Global Evangelism campaign have made a difference in the lives of both the evangelists and the evangelized.
"I came away from South Africa with a strong sense that there's nothing God can't do for me," said Sealy. "He will take you places you'd never expect to be."
For more information about Southern Adventist University go to www.southern.edu.
Nine Adventists Killed in India by Tsunami,
Hundreds Lose Homes and Businesses
Six Adventist women and three children from the coastal villages of Andhra Pradesh, India, were killed as a result of the December 26 tsunami, reported Ron Watts, president of the Southern Asia Division. Hundreds of church members in India also lost or experienced damage to their homes, their possessions, and their livelihoods.
According to Watts, families of fishermen are among the hardest hit. "Members of the Periyathazhai church in Tamil Nadu are providing meals for 300 fishermen and their families," said Watts. "Thirty Adventist families in two villages lost their fishing boats and nets. Ten other families in the village of Idinthakarai on the Tuticorin coast also lost their boats and gear, and they are being housed at the Adventist church near Vallioor. Church members there are feeding 50 people three meals a day."
Church officials in Tamil Nadu reported that scores of Adventists in that state lost their homes and possessions. One man's grocery shop, including all his merchandise, was swept out to sea.
The rice paddy crops of nine church members in Binginapalli, Andhra Pradesh, are also said to be destroyed, and damage to the homes of 65 families from 20 churches on the Bay of Bengal near Ongole in Southeast Andhra was reported. The boats and fishing nets of more than 40 families in this area were also either lost or damaged.
On January 4, the Southern Asia Division Executive Committee voted to ask every Adventist church employee in India, including pastors, hospital and school employees, and retirees, to contribute a minimum of one day's wages to the relief efforts for victims of the tsunami, according to Watts. The committee also voted to contribute the offering taken in every Adventist church in India on the first Sabbath in February to the relief fund for church members affected by the tsunami. Compared to many other areas of the world, however, salaries of church employees in India are low, so financial assistance from the world church is still greatly needed.
To make a donation to the Asia Tsunami Crisis Fund, go to www.adra.org or call 800-424-ADRA (2372).
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