Sharing My Story

The Audiovisual Dept. was headed up by former Ohio
college professor Chuck Younkman. Chuck was a very
enthusiastic, approachable leader who had a good grasp
of media and how to lead. The Audiovisual Dept. was a
combination of audio tape recording and duplication
(both reel-to-reel and cassette), slide show production,
overhead transparency production and later radio production.
I was assigned to the tape sub- department though I was
more interested in the art end of the transparency area.

However, before I started I returned home to raise my
financial support. Each Campus Crusade staff member
was responsible to develop his own financial support
team of churches and individuals who would commit
to giving a certain amount each month or in a one time
lump sum for underwriting the staff person's living
expenses and salary. As mentioned before Campus
Crusade provided their staff training in time management,
scheduling and techniques of how to approach churches
and individuals. We had a special three ring binder manual
in which we could give a prepared presentation on Campus
Crusade and the specific work that we had been called to
within the organization. Those in the audiovisual
dept. often had a small movie projector that had a
continuous loop cassette film that gave the history
and goals of Campus Crusade.

While I was understandably not over enthused about
support raising but I believed that if the Lord was calling
me at this time to serve with Campus Crusade that He
would provide the funds. And He did. I spend a little
under three months back in Bellingham making telephone calls,
writing letters, making individual and group meeting and
presentations. My church Immanuel Bible was my focus for
support raising and the church as well as many individuals
contributed directly to my prayer and financial support.
This was a time of testing for my parents who were supportive
and being hard workers all their lives had reservations about
there son aggressively raising funds (some might call it "begging").
My mother years later confided these feelings and how God
changed them over time. Even now as I right this I feel very
humbled that so many people saw fit to join my support team.
It was an exhilarating time as Campus Crusade had a real specific
strategy to evangelism and discipleship on a National and global
level with a huge Student training conference looming the next
summer in Dallas, Texas.

Late one night toward the end of October 1971 as I was finishing
up my support team development (as it was then called) my
mother called me out of bed and we rushed my father to the
hospital. We found out that he had a tumor on one of his kidneys.
A surgery was performed to remove the tumor and one kidney.
Even with this event both my parents urged me the finish my
support raising and get ready to leave for my new home and
career in California. I sensed anew that this was God's leading
and my parents did also. Just a few short years before I had no
desire to leave the only home I had known but now was the time
to move on with what the Lord had for me in the future. I am
writing this on my 6Oth birthday and yet the feelings of excitement
and anticiption are still vivid even after more than 35 years.