28 March, 2024

The Honeymoon Express (A Sojourn with the National Missionary Convention)

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by | 1 February, 2009 | 0 comments

By Ziden Nutt

All three couples scurried around with excitement to make the long journey from Ozark Bible College in Joplin, Missouri, to the 1958 National Missionary Convention in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Jim and Mary Moreland had been married for three days, Kent and Betty Mechem had been married for three weeks, and Helen and I for three months. It is no wonder the students at OBC named it the “honeymoon express.”

Tibbs Maxey was president of the convention that year, and the program was extremely challenging. Men like Isaiah Moore, for instance, spoke on “Here Am I, Send Me.” We met Christian workers from all over the world who would play major roles in our lives. Helen and I met Rod Cameron and Madonna Burget, with whom we would soon be working in southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Later, Madonna helped deliver our son Thomas three weeks earlier than expected at Mashoko Christian Hospital, when Dr. Dennis Pruett and I were away on a survey trip for what later became the Chidamoyo Christian Hospital, 500 miles to the north.

The Morelands would soon go to Brazil as missionaries, and the Mechems would go to Canada. We were always amazed at the relationships that developed over the years as a result of first meeting people at the convention.

 

Earlier Beginnings

People still talk about the honeymoon express, but my sojourn with the convention actually began earlier, in 1953, when as a high school student I was part of a group that traveled to the convention in Lincoln, Illinois. I entered Lincoln Bible Institute the following fall, and in 1956 was part of a carload from there that went to the convention in Joplin. Part of the reason for that journey was to take Flora Mae Guernsey to meet with workers from Korea, where she was going as a recruit. After returning from Korea she worked for Mission Services Association, and then as office editor for Christian Standard.

Having transferred to Ozark Bible College in 1957 to major in missions, I loaded up the car with mission recruits that fall to attend the convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Max Randall was president. That convention firmed up in each of us a lifetime commitment. Jim Moreland, David Bayless, David Filbeck, Harvey Bacus, and I have each spent more than 45 years in world mission service.

At the 1960 convention in Norfolk, Nebraska, Helen and I met with Dr. Pruett, John Pemberton, and others and decided to go to Africa. We didn”t have money to rent a motel room that trip, so we slept with our year-old daughter, Karolyn, in the back of our car alongside a Nebraska cornfield. We didn”t mind””after all, we were headed to Africa!

 

Furlough Refreshment

On each furlough during the next 15 years we looked forward to continuing our sojourn with the convention, and even had the privilege of producing convention guidelines with Robert Lillie, W.E. “Bill” McGilvrey, Leland Tyrrell, and Tibbs Maxey for the 1964 gathering in New York City.

We stayed on furlough for the convention in San Antonio, Texas, in 1965, and then I served as president of the 1969 convention in Knoxville, Tennessee. The auditorium there was packed with 2,425 attendees. A special time of prayer and devotions, music from various Bible colleges, testimonies from many countries, and great messages filled the main services. It was a family event for many, including us.

David Savage writes of that convention,

An air of anticipation permeated the packed auditorium on the first evening. Ninety-eight had made life dedications in San Antonio. What would happen this year in Knoxville? Then it happened! From all over the auditorium they came, down every aisle and from the balcony. Some walked and some came running. Some came with deliberation. Some came crying. A total of 165 Christians expressed their desire to serve full time.

 

A Lifetime Sojourn

There is something unique about each convention as it promotes a worldview for all Christians. That is why after returning to the United States in 1975 I have attended each convention. (I”ve attended a total of 43 Missionary Conventions).

Helen has not been able to attend all that I have, but we still feel like we are on a honeymoon express, not just with each other for more than 50 years, but also with the convention for more than 50 years.

Relationships built in each of these gatherings have impacted millions of lives. They have made our sojourn a wonderful foretaste of that day when the Bridegroom will come for his bride of every tribe, tongue, and nation, and take us for the great wedding feast around the throne of God.

 

 


Ziden Nutt is executive director emeritus with Good News Productions International, based in Joplin, Missouri.

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