Behin d the statistics

Story by Jennifer Wallace

V^ur goal is to bring each individual face toface with hisresponsibility," said SMITE Director Doug Achilles This goal was embodied inthe Conference Team, a new eightmember facetoftheSMITE Ministry

The Conference Team worked innew churches,helping todevelop a churchwide missions philosophy by more intense, direct involvement with each congregation. Members had better opportunities to expose theirhost churches toworld needsby spending an entire hour at each church, teaching Sunday School and ministeringin every department

SMITHE's burden iseloquently communicated in itsmusical presentations.The song, "InThis Very Room" expressesthe potentialofdedicated people todeliver the message ofChrist's love totheworld.

According to statistics obtained by SMITE, theUnited States contains only 6 percent oftheworld's population and approximately 90 percent of its Christian workers "It'sthe people behind the statisticsthatcount,"said Keith Moulton, multimedia manfor SMITE "When we goover seas,wesee those people We see children begging;wesee poverty The song 'Let Me See TheWorld Through Your Eyes' is our prayer."

Moulton has participated inSMITE ministries foralmost threeyears He particularly remembers an incident that occurred last year inthePhilippines asan unusual manifestation ofGod's blessing.

"We had tocompete with a Bahai group for permission to hold anoutdoor concert. We wonout,andover one hundred people were saved. Immediately after the concert ended, itbegan torain. I was later told it had been raining allaround usduringthe concert."

SMITE visited El Salvador and Costa Rica May 16 through June 11 Members spent fourdays inthe cityofSan Salvador, holding evangelistic meetings in cooperation with local churches

The Conference Team spent August 1 through 20 in Brazil and South Africa. Members concentrated theirministry in Johannesburg, Pretoria and the surrounding townships

The politicaltensions inareas scheduled for tours were a major consideration. This could have been a deterrent, but SMITE saw itas an opportunity "When people's lives are indanger, their thoughts turn toward eternity,"said Achilles SMITE faced similar situations during its 1978 tour of Zimbabwe, when that country was torn by tribal warfare.

The SMITE team,unlike theConference team,works inmore established churches. Members find opportunities toministernot just in church services, but in private homes Members strive to be a source of encouragement and guidance to the church families and tochallenge eachindividual personally.

The combined teams produced a record album in October structured after their road program, a kind of "missions musical." Leaders of the Conference and SMITE teams areJim Wiltshire and Scott

Davis, both experienced in ministry

Members are responsible for financing their own tours. They raise support through prayer letters,which inform supporters of imminent activities and the resulting monetary needs In the weekly meetings, members share burdens andanswers to prayer and discuss financial progress for upcoming campaigns at home and abroad

SMITE accepts students from allmajor fieldsofstudy Realizing theabundance of vocational opportunities in underdeveloped countries,theorganization feelsa responsibility to train notonly full-time missionaries, butalsoChristians entering a variety of career fields

Even if a SMITE member does not choose to serve permanently in a foreign country, hisinvolvement has left him better informed to pray for missionaries and toeducate other Christians about the field, Achilles believes.

"We work to broaden the knowledge of the world's need for the Gospel," said Achilles "Fifty-five percent ofthe world's population hasnever had a clear presentation of the Gospel of Christ Everyone should realize that missions isn't just for missionaries."

Television,radio and film are all media of communication used to reach others with a message. LBC's Sounds of Liberty traveled to the homes of many Americans and touched their lives with the Gospel through the medium of television

The Sounds appeared weekly on the "Old Time Gospel Hour" with Dr Jerry Falwell and had to be ready to travel anywhere, at anytime,on a moment's notice.

The group consisted of 12 vocalists, not allof whom were music majors. Through various styles of music, they sought to minister to all types of people

"A well-rounded musician," Director Lave Randlett said, "must endeavor to meet the needs of allkinds of people with various tastes."

The group concentrated on singing gospel songs,but was also trained to dofullvoice material as well as "down home" country songs Many team members took voice lessons with private instructors, because they knew there was always room for improvement.

Along with providing music for theservicesofthe Thomas Road Baptist Church, the Sounds had other responsibilities In the summer of 1982,they sang for a July 4th celebration with Dr.John Rawlings in Cincinnati, Ohio, and participated in the Singspiration Music Festival sponsored by the Zondervan Corporation

In September the Sounds recorded a new album with songwriter/producer Rick Powell inVirginia Beach,Va Yet to come, however, was the hardest part of the Sounds' year Just two months later, dressed as wooden soldiers, china dolls, and teddy bears, the Toys of Toyland came aliveinfiveperformances oftheLiving Christmas Tree at TRBC. Despite the hard work involved in the production, this was the most enjoyable activity of their year

The Sounds maintained a strenuous schedule inthe 1982-83 season, a schedule which often meant long hours and doing homework on crowded buses.Theseinconveniences, however, were far outweighed by the lessons learned and the benefits each singer received. Even though theresults of their ministry,particularly that of the television circuit,may not be realized for many years, the Sounds can always remember their work as rewarding.