Victory Journal Issue 6: Online.

The newest issue of the Victory Journal is now out. If you would like to see it in PDF form, click here. If you did not receive a copy in the mail, contact alumni@wol.org.

We'll be publishing different articles from throughout the magazine right here on the blog over the coming days.

Alumni Website: Up and running.

Our new Bible Institute website has been a long time coming, and we're happy to say it's up and running. We'll be putting more information on the website as we go on, but for now, check it out here.

You can also see an electronic version of the Victory Journal.

Alumni Gatherings: Coming to a town near you!

Alumni Director Mike Bush and the Bible Institute's new director of admissions, Greg Dyson, are going to be at a bunch of alumni events and gatherings in the coming months. They want to encourage alumni to come, and to bring prospective students with them. Here's a complete list of upcoming events (check back at the alumni website for more details):

April 1: Sheets Memorial Church
210 Cotton Grove Road
Lexington, NC 27292
6:30 to 8 p.m.
                                                               
April 6: Fellowship Bible Church
590 Jackson Road
Sewell, NJ 08080
5 to 6:30 .p.m

April 9: Calvary Church
1051 Landish Valley Road
Lancaster, PA 17601
6:30 to 8 p.m.

April 10: Cairn University (details still in the works)
Langhorne Manor, PA

April 11: Heritage Baptist Church
219 Breezewood Drive
Lynchburg, VA 24502
6:30 to 8 p.m.

April 15: Maryland (possibly adding)

April 16: Baptist Bible College and Seminary
538 Venard Road
Clarks Summit, PA 18411
6:30 to 8 p.m.

April 23: Columbus, Ohio (details still in the works)

April 25: Plainfield Bible Church
752 North Dan Jones Road
Plainfield, IN 46168
6:30 to 8 p.m.

April 26: Sugar Grove/Wheaton, Illinois (details still in the works)

April 27: Mayfair Bible Church
5339 W. Pierson Road
Flushing, MI 48433
5 to 6:30 p.m.

Howard Hendricks, home with the Lord

Dr. Howard Hendricks, beloved professor emeritus of Christian education and leadership at Dallas Theological Seminary, went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday morning. For many years, Dr. Hendricks was a frequent speaker at Word of Life and a wonderful friend of the ministry. He wrote more than 20 books and many articles, and he ministered in more than 80 countries. He was also the former chaplain of the Dallas Cowboys football team.

Dr. Hendricks is survived by his wife, Jeanne. Please join us in remembering the Hendricks family in prayer at this time.

Dr. Hendricks’s funeral will be Saturday, March 2, at 11 a.m. at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas (near Dallas).

(Information from Word of Life home office)

Jeju Cafetorium: See it being built.

The Jeju Island campus is working hard to finish its cafetorium (cafeteria and auditorium), which will also include the fourth dorm on campus.The staff there needs the prayers, help and donations of all who are willing and able to invest in the next generation of Christian leadership that will be trained at the campus in the years to come. The director of Word of Life Northeast Asia, Steve Nicholes, tells us all about it:



Update on WOLBI Jeju - February 2013 from Steve on Vimeo.

Read more about the Jeju Island campus, including how it started and how the cafetorium has gone from a concrete slab to much more.

A message from the new alumni director, Mike Bush.

By Mike Bush, Class of 1981

Hello, alumni! Don’t be alarmed — Wayne Lewis is still around. We just wanted to take this time to let you know about some changes that will be going on at Word of Life, and specifically for Bible Institute alumni.

Wayne has spent the last couple of years working on ramping up our alumni connections, and now I’m coming on board to help as the new alumni director. Wayne will continue as the “alumni director emeritus,” and we’re already looking at a few new ways we can connect with and serve alumni.

First of all, this marks some changes for me and my wife, Amy. We have had the high honor of serving at the Word of Life Inn since September 2000. That ministry has been one of the most demanding, stretching, tiring, exciting, impactful, fun, and rewarding things Amy and I have ever done.  We’ve seen God at work, changing the hearts and lives of children, teens, adults, and families from all over the world. We renewed old friendships and made many new ones. We served with some of God’s most faithful servants and loved being part of a wonderful family, including full-time, part-time, volunteer, and summer staff.  But, like they say, “All good things must come to an end.”

Now, we’ll be moving our focus to two things: connecting with alumni, and helping host the winter conference season in Florida. With alumni, I will take the lead from Wayne and continue to encourage, help, and support our 18,000-strong alumni family. Wayne and I have already been working with Greg Dyson, our new director of admissions, on events this spring in partnership with our Local Church Ministries missionaries. Wayne has called this our “Back to the Future” tour. We are encouraging alumni to attend these events and bring prospective students with them (“back” = alumni, “future” = admissions). We would appreciate your help with these events as well, as we hope to introduce many new people to the Bible Institute.

My other responsibility, the winter conference season in Florida, will be very similar to what I have done at the Inn.  I will host guests, lead Bible hour, and plan activities. I will also spend time connecting with alumni in the Southeast. We will be in Florida from the first week of January and return to Schroon Lake in April. Amy and I will be in Schroon Lake for much of the spring, summer, and fall, connecting with friends in the ministry and alumni.

We look forward to these exciting new changes, and how we continue to extend the reach of the Bible Institute by connecting former students and finding new ones. Please be in prayer as we make these changes, and we look forward to continuing the work God has done.

“I will seek unto God, and unto God will I commit my cause. He does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number” (Job 5:8-9).

Remember When.

Have a remember when you want to share? Send your thoughts to alumni@wol.org, and feel free to include a photo!

Erica Bolen Luden (1991)
I remember jumping in the Olympic Center pool with my Collegian dress on after graduation.

Ashley Adkins (2003)
My most favorite memories are the weeks I spent on the Island counseling.

Alex Ertel (1980)
I’m thankful for the opportunity Jack Wyrtzen gave me to come to the Bible Institute and travel and sing as a member of the Russian Trio.

Chris Bowles (2004-2005)
Dr. Charles Ryrie came and taught Eschatology to us in first year. He chose several students to play various parts as he was explaining the Tribulation period. He told the student playing the Antichrist to “hunt down” the Christian and capture him. Little did Dr. Ryrie know that the student playing the Christian had snuck out and was hiding in the curtains up on the stage. Dr. Ryrie turned around in circles until he finally caught where the Christian was. He was laughing so hard he couldn’t finish the class. It was this event that encouraged Dr. Ryrie to give our final charge at graduation.

Rob Ausmus (1985)
Peanuts cartoons with Marshall Wicks.

David (1990) and Jennifer (Schwartz) Kaminkow (1989)
Jack Wyrtzen would fly by the Island beach in his boat, waving and smiling with Goldie in the back barking. Everyone on the beach would jump up and wave back.

Stephen (1991) and Janet Lynn (Calder) Yeomans (1990, 1991)
(Janet): Jack Wyrtzen would speak in chapel and his dog, Goldie, would sit down at his feet. He had the most amazing stories of God’s work and his life of ministry.

Teodora (Ivascu) Lockhart (2002 Hungary, 2003)
In Hungary we had Dr. Jimmy DeYoung teaching and we had a big snowstorm. We built a Jimmy look-a-like snowman with the infamous Jimmy DeYoung hair.

Larry Tarbox (1980)
Tom Davis got a black eye in the turkey bowl.