or the sixth year in a row, the junior high students of the Ruth Murdoch Elementary School on the campus of Andrews University pitched a tent and conducted an Evangelistic meeting. The students ran the entire operation. They preached the sermons; served as greeters; led out in the praise team and served on the audio-visual team. This year was the highest year for baptism requests at 30 youth and adults.

 In preparation for the meetings, Christopher Davisson, the religion teacher explained that before the sermons were written, the 11 student evangelists met and spent time during their spring semester in prayer, seeking the Lord for the message He wanted them to present. There were several lessons the students learned through this experience.

A few days before the meeting opened, there had been incessant rainfall which prevented them from pitching the tent. Workers were wading in ankle-deep water. The students were asked by Ben Martin, Pioneer Memorial Church pastor for Children and Family Discipleship; to pray for three things: 1) that the rain would stop; 2) dry ground would appear; and 3) The tent meeting visitors would experience the latter rain. Later that afternoon, the sun came out and dried the land enough for the tent to be pitched, followed by an outpouring of requests for baptism. “It was really powerful for the kids to see all their prayers come true,” said Martin. The students’ lives were transformed as they experienced God on another level and witnessed the transformation of the lives of people in their community.

This is one of many examples of how Adventist Education is transforming the lives of our young people and beyond.

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DEBBIE MICHEL

Associate Director
Lake Union Herald Managing Editor

Debbie Michel is the Asssociate Director of Communication and Managing Editor of the Lake Union Herald. She received her Master of Science degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York, New York, in 1994 and her Bachelor of Science degree in TV & Radio; Journalism concentration from Brooklyn College at City University in 1991. Michel began her professional career in 1990, as a media buyer, then became an associate literary agent in 1992, and then in 1995, she became a news associate for Dateline NBC and Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, New York, New York. In 1996 she became the Associate Producer/Producer for Dateline NBC, where she also produced news segments and documentaries for clients such as Discovery Channel, National Geographic and Good Housekeeping magazine; produced MSNBC Headliners and Legends documentaries, booked high-profile newsmakers for exclusive interviews, field produced breaking news stories and shot digital video. It was through her association with Jean-Ires Michel, a Seventh-day Adventist videographer, that she became a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In 2008, Debbie joined the faculty of Andrews University as associate professor of communication where she taught Journalism and communication, assisted with development of a new major curriculum, served as advisor to journalism students and developed Envision, a student-created and produced magazine, of which Debbie was the Editor-in-Chief.