College Vision Specialists (Part 2)

Ed Young

I had taught at Arizona’s Indian Bible College 1975 – 1979 when it was called Southwestern School of Missions.  It was a deep privilege to be one of the speakers at their recent missions conference. I saw the Lord bless our time there.

Mike Hendricks was the lead on this, as he had been on staff before as well. Both of us have spent considerable time recording or doing outreach in Mexico and elsewhere. We were accompanied by Noé, a young Mexican Christian who has worked on our outreaches there.

We were given three 45-minute sessions with the faculty and students.  I took the first session and shared with them about the very positive impact the school had on my life.  Prior to going onto staff at the school I was on staff with Gospel Recordings in Los  Angeles. This was in the days of records, and my wife and I were thinking of going to Liberia to start up a record-pressing facility for West Africa. While I was learning boiler operation and press room management, I started doing some record distribution in the USA among Native Americans. I had taken IBC students out on school witnessing trips using GRN materials.

When I came onto staff at Indian Bible College, along with teaching Bible classes, I was usually in charge of the Spring outreach trips. After four years of teaching at IBC I went back to GRN, but instead of going into record production I decided to train as a field recordist so I could record and distribute GRN materials. Because of my experience with Native Americans, working with Native Americans in the USA and Canada was my first assignment.

In this May Missions conference, I spoke at the first session. After reminiscing a bit, I went on to explain a little about the Great Commission, and the need to put basic Christian materials into the heart languages of people that they want to share the  Gospel with, and how GRN does that. I also shared about the 5fish app, and how to access and use that on their cell phones.

The second day, Noé gave some of his testimony. He spoke in Spanish, although he is a native Mixteco Indian, and Mike translated for him into English. Noé shared that his parents and he and his siblings are fruit of the Culiacan Project way back when I was involved in that outreach (1990 -1995).  He was an infant when his mother responded to the Gospel preached at Culiacan. Noé has taken the Great Commission seriously himself, and has been on many mission trips with and without Mike, even overseas.

His testimony was well received by students and staff. The director of the school, Jason, was very much promoting the idea of Native Americans moving from being the mission field to becoming a mission force, and Noé is a prime example of a gifted yet humble Native American stepping up and out.

Mike pulled it all together on the third day with a little history of GRN, more about the GRN materials, and some of his experience taking people on mission trips.  Mike has a real gift for discipling young men on missions trips and encouraging them to consider missions as a part of their lives.  I believe that he talked with the director of the school in regard to possibilities for the future.

We had meals with staff and students, which included some potential students for next fall. The last evening we were there for their Alumni Dinner.  Overall, I believe it was three days well spent, and only time will tell what God actually brings into reality as a result of our sharing the vision at this unique Bible College.