Many alumni, faculty and local members gathered for a picnic at the home office in Milford, Ohio, to welcome the 34 students from the Ambassador Bible Center class of 2012 on Sunday, August 14. The western-themed activities began at 1:00 p.m. as the students arrived and had a chance to meet each other and the alumni, who, under the leadership of faculty member Randy Stiver, had prepared and decorated the kitchen and lecture hall earlier that morning. After 45 minutes of fellowship, the organized activities began with a get-to-know-you game, where each person received a list of experiences and had to find at least one other person in the room who had experienced each one.

The students were then given different-colored handkerchiefs to assign them to different teams. Each team designed its own cattle brand and then was given clues indicating where to go to participate in seven different activities scattered around the grounds and inside. Alumni and staff manned each activity and instructed the teams what to do and then gave a clue where to go next. The seven activities were: lasso, where each team member tried to lasso a stationary dummy sheep; archery; horseshoes; glove milking, where a rubber glove was filled with water, two fingers were punctured and they had to “milk” the fingers of the glove; find that scripture; tell the instructor, where biblical questions were asked and they had to recite the correct answer; and the final activity, fire building, where a rope was strung taut; each team had to build a fire underneath the rope (using only one match and kindling they collected from around the grounds) and the first team to break the rope with their fire won.

After the team scavenger hunt, lunch was prepared and served inside by food services manager Connie Sipes and her helpers with grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, plenty of sides and drinks. After lunch, there was a square dance, and ABC 2003 alumnus Jonathan Magee acted as caller, teaching the Virginia Reel to all who wanted to join in.

The final activity was a sing-along with old American tunes—“She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain” and“Home on the Range,” among others.

The Monday morning orientation served to inform the students about the academic side of Ambassador Bible Center. Gary Antion and Kathy de Campos planned and prepared the day, where each administrator and instructor in residence gave a summary of their duties and classes and welcomed the students. President Dennis Luker gave a welcome message to conclude the morning activities. He explained the importance of attitude before character using the ABC acronym. He cited several quotes from John Maxwell and more importantly from the Bible as he urged students to approach ABC with a godly attitude. The students were then treated to a hot lunch and were joined by the home office staff for dessert and fellowship. Janet Treadway from the mailing area conducted a tour of the home office for those who wished to see where the office staff works. The day concluded with a meeting for the ABC chorale conducted by director Kenneth Shoemaker.

On Tuesday morning, Frank McCrady welcomed the students to Gospels class. This module will run each day from 8:30-10:20 a.m. for three weeks. Other classes on the first day of ABC included epistles of Paul with Steve Myers as instructor, comparative religion with Gary Antion and former prophets and public speaking with Randy Stiver. The students appreciated the classes and the books given to complement the Bible for some of the classes.

Ambassador Bible Center is off to a great beginning! The students are enthusiastic about beginning an intense and satisfying year of learning the Bible. We welcome your prayers for a successful 13th year.