Tours: Harry Bollback remembers the beginning.

Word of Life has been involved in a variety of musical groups and dramatic productions over the years, including Tours around the country and Gospel Productions, based at the Florida campus. This year the ministry is moving away from hosting productions solely at the Florida location, and Bible Institute students will instead be touring several cities with a production called Magi.

Don Lough, Jr. and Harry Bollback sat down with Mike Calhoun, executive assistant to the president, to talk about this new time for Word of Life.

Mike: When did the tour idea originally come to you?

Harry: In 1975, Jack Wyrtzen asked me to take a group of Collegians out. He took one group, and I took the other. We called it The Living Christmas Tree. Basically, the students stood on risers and held a string of lights that one of the guys would plug in every once in a while. When I got back, Jack said, “What do you think?” I said, “Jack, it was terrible. Honestly, it doesn’t look like Word of Life — no class.” That’s when Jack said to me, “Why don’t you do something about it?” I said, “I’ve never done anything like this.” 

Mike: That’s when Let Freedom Ring was born, right?

Harry: Yes. I had the advantage in that 1976 was a big year, and the story of Let Freedom Ring was a very patriotic story. Jack traveled with me and did a 10-minute Gospel message at the end. We started out on spring break in 1976. The response was overwhelming. We had taken a giant step of faith. We were in every giant theater you could think of and filled them. We had more than 90,000 people come to see it. There were hundreds of decisions. I decided while I was on that tour to write Ring the Bells.

Mike: How many nights in a row would you tour?

Harry: The full tour would be about 40 days.

Mike: About how many nights were you and Millie on the road?

Harry: I think about 120 days a year.

Mike: Over the course of all your tours — I have heard you talk about the numbers....

Harry: Leander Chute was on the tour with me and would count the tickets every night. He was very precise, so believe me when I tell you that he counted more than two million tickets of those who attended all of our presentations.

Mike: What was the largest audience you ever had?

Harry: I think the largest audience we had was at Madison Square Garden — not in the big Garden, but in the smaller, 7,500-seat auditorium. We did three Christmas programs. We had about 21,000 people that day. We did it just like this: We opened the back door and let everybody out and then would bring them in by a different door.

Mike: Would you do it again?

Harry: Definitely! But remember, I did not do it by myself. I had a great team!

Were you involved in Tours or Gospel Productions in any way? We want your stories and your photos! Send them along to alumni@wol.org or post on our Facebook group. We are hoping to tell many stories from throughout Word of Life’s years of productions in an upcoming issue. Please send your memories, even if you only have a few words to say.

Click here to read what Don Lough Jr. has to say about the new production.
Click here to see when and where Magi will be headed.

Tours: Don Lough, Jr. shares his vision.

Word of Life has been involved in a variety of musical groups and dramatic productions over the years, including Tours around the country and Gospel Productions, based at the Florida campus. This year the ministry is moving away from hosting productions solely at the Florida location, and Bible Institute students will instead be touring several cities with a production called Magi.

Don Lough, Jr. and Harry Bollback sat down with Mike Calhoun, executive assistant to the president, to talk about this new time for Word of Life.

Mike: Tell me about your passion for getting Bible Institute students into churches and communities with the new Christmas presentation Magi.

Don: It is important to me that we build close relationships with churches. As a ministry, Word of Life desires to serve the local church, and I believe this is one of the ways we can assist churches in reaching their communities.

Mike: Is this presentation a tool for evangelism?

Don: Yes. This program will be a great blessing to believers of all ages. However, it will also afford an opportunity for believers to bring friends to a quality Christmas program where they will see and hear a clear Gospel presentation. We are building specific aspects into the program just to keep children engaged. This is a family experience, and it was created with the family in mind.

Mike: I know another goal you have is for us to reconnect with our Bible Institute alumni.

Don: We are serious about reaching out to our alumni and reconnecting with them. We have asked Mike and Amy Bush to oversee this area for us, and they are aggressively reestablishing contact. I want to do more of this as we are on the road with this presentation.

Mike: I understand you have some history with Tours even as a child.

Don: Starting when I was about 10 years old, my father directed the Collegians, and I had the privilege of traveling on Tours such as Ring the Bells and His Truth Goes Marching On. It was an amazing experience to be up close and personal with Bible Institute students and Uncle Harry and Aunt Millie. What a joy it was to see so many come to Christ night after night. The periodic rides in the Chutes' green RV were a bonus!

Mike: Where do you anticipate taking the Christmas presentation?

Don: We will begin this year with one group in New York and New England and another in Florida and Georgia. However, I foresee us covering much of the East Coast and the Midwest as we move forward. Even this year, there will be a second Bible Institute ensemble going to the Midwest during the same timeframe. They will just not be doing the Magi presentation.

Were you involved in Tours or Gospel Productions in any way? We want your stories and your photos! Send them along to alumni@wol.org or post on our Facebook group. We are hoping to tell many stories from throughout Word of Life’s years of productions in an upcoming issue. Please send your memories, even if you only have a few words to say.

Click here to read what Harry Bollback had to say about the beginning of Tours.

Click here to see when and where Magi will be headed.

Watch: Snow Camp.

Snow Camp is in full swing on the New York campus (and yes, ample snow has been provided!). If you are interested in watching any of the meetings from the first few weeks, click here. Ric Garland and Jeff Cutting are among the speakers who have already shared, and Mike Calhoun and others are coming up.

Also, if you are in the Schroon Lake area, come on by for a meeting. This is when you can drop in on the fun each week (and who's speaking):

Friday: 9 p.m. Rally
Saturday: 12 p.m. Meeting (girls in Council Hall, guys in Jack Wyrtzen Center)
Saturday: 6:45 p.m. Rally
Saturday: 8:45 p.m. Cardboard Sled Race
Sunday: 9:30 a.m. Rally

As usual, the extra time will be filled with activities.

Refresh: Transitions.

Transitions come our way all the time. But the most important ones are those we make happen ourselves.
By Mike Calhoun

Transition is a natural part of the life cycle. I have been with Word of Life for 38 years and find myself transitioning again. We all begin the process of changing, growing and transitioning from one life stage, position, sphere of influence, circle of friendships, and personal goals to another from the time of our birth.

Your graduation from the Bible Institute was one of those transitions. Depending on the amount of time since then, you have gone through many other transitions. Some have brought joy and some pain, but they all have contributed to the formation of the person you are today. Some of life’s transitions are intentional; some appear to be accidental, while others just seem to happen naturally with the passing of time.

It could be post-graduate work, getting a bachelor’s, master’s, or even doctorate degree. You may have married and raised a family, or even reached that glorious state of being a grandparent (Betsi and I love that one).

Then there is that transition called aging, with its novel aches, pains, and unwelcome restrictions — gentle and not-so-gentle reminders of our new limitations. I am not trying to depress you; these are just some of life’s realities.

We can control some of the transitions of life, but some are just going to come into our lives uninvited, unannounced, and uncontrollable. The uninvited ones usually capture most of our attention and time. These are also the ones that tend to drain our physical, emotional, and spiritual strength.

I want to suggest, though, that instead of being jolted by the many transitions we can’t foresee or control, we put our energy into “intentional transitions.” This is not to say that we are going to be oblivious to the realities of life. It is simply that we are making a choice as to the priorities of our lives and how we will live. Here are a few concepts that will intentionally shape our lives, making them more meaningful and productive while the normal transitions are taking place.

1. Spiritual Growth. Never stop growing spiritually. Our spiritual walk with Christ should be stronger today than it was at this time last year. We need to build some intentional practices for spiritual growth into our daily lives, creating space for Quiet Time, prayer, Bible study, or Scripture memory.

I love the example of the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:5-9, where we find him at the end of his life, still growing in his faith. From the world’s perspective, he had gone through many positive and negative transitions, but here we see him living life intentionally.

2. Friendships. Have you developed friendships that encourage you to move forward in your faith? We all need good friends who are godly and willing to “stir us up” about our faith walk. In 2 Peter 1:13 and 3:1, Peter speaks of stirring up his friends by reminding them of what is important. Living life intentionally includes friendships like this.

3. Personal Witnessing. We have all heard Jack Wyrtzen quoted as saying, “It is the responsibility of every generation to reach their generation with the Gospel of Christ.” That statement is timeless. It is our responsibility. We all should be doing what we can to share the good news of the Gospel. Jack often quoted Romans 1:16, reminding us that the gospel is the power of God and challenging us to intentionally share it.

4. Personal Goals. Do you still have a dream? Are you still excited about life, or have you given in to the world’s “treadmill existence” approach to life? Your life is going to keep transitioning, but while it does, you can continue to set new, intentional personal goals. Don’t accept the status quo — reach for more!

I love the spirit of Caleb in Joshua 14:11-12. Here he is in his 80s, and he is explaining to Joshua his future plans and how he is ready to fight. Oh — and by the way, he still wants that mountain!

Now that is intentional living.

Mike Calhoun, senior vice president for Word of Life Fellowship, speaks to thousands of students, leaders, and youth pastors through a diversified ministry of camps, conferences, and evangelistic events. He has a deep burden for evangelism, discipleship, and development of future leadership. Mike has written several books and produced DVDs for students and local church leaders. He makes his home in Schroon Lake, New York, with his wife, Betsi. Find more of his writing online at mikecalhoun.wol.org/blog/blog.