35,000, with 3700 making first time decisions to follow Christ. Biola graduates Bob and Sharon Hilts, who are now missionaries to the Philippines with Overseas Crusades, had this to say about the drama team’s impact: “ The results are eternal. By the time the play is over people are lined up to know the way of sal vation. Teams like this are a real tool for reaching many.” An equally important facet of drama evangelism is carried on after the performance, which is the follow-up program. Follow-up is done by nationals within the country. Groups like Youth for Christ, Hindustan Bible Institute, and Overseas Crusades, Manila, send Bible study courses to new believers. The greatest thrill of follow-up is to see lasting results. Two weeks after a Ph.D. in Cal cutta put his faith in the Saviour, a Youth for Christ director wrote that the man was “ just aglow for Christ.” Team member Sue Wallis said, “ I got to see kids that I led to the Lord last year. It made me feel that the presentation had a lasting effect.” Being involved in such an out reach makes an overwhelming impression on the participants, too. Many of the King’s Players would echo the thoughts of team member Glen Thomas: “It was our privilege to talk and counsel with thousands of people. Not only did I have a great time sharing the gospel with peo ple, but God also used this past summer to show me that counsel ing with students is what God wants me to do.” The events of summer 1969 changed lives among people of differing cu ltu res . For some, knowing Christ personally be came a reality. For others, the reality of God’s love and power overcame all obstacles. For those who participated, the experience o f being used by God to reach others for Christ was one that never will be forgotten. k b Mr. Todd Lewis is a junior at Biola College, La Mirada, Calif. THE KING'S BUSINESS
tion left three weeks in which there would be no performances or accommodations. But in God’s own miraculous way crisis was averted. Within twenty minutes after Clyde Cook read the letter, a knock at the door provided the “Macedonian call” to India. The man at the door was Dr. Paul Gupta, former Biola graduate and now head of the Hindustan Bible Institute. It took a relatively short time for Dr. Gupta and Youth for Christ to work out a three weeks’ itiner ary and for answer to prayer to be seen. Those three weeks had to be the highlight o f a grueling ten- week schedule that found the King’s Players in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. Speaking in public high schools, girls’ schools, churches, and serv ice clubs, the drama team reached an audience estimated to be about
DRAMA HAU '69 MACEDONIAN CALL TO INDIA by Todd Lewis
I ndia — A LAND o f many people, many religions, and many spir itual and physical needs—has closed its doors to many Chris tian missionaries within the past few years. Missionaries who had spent upward o f 20 years in India were forced to leave. But this past summer ten enthusiastic young people were able to go where many Christian m is s ion a r ie s could never go. Using the art of dramatics and with the vehicle of an allegorical play, the King’s Players from Biola College pre sented the life-changing reality of knowing Jesus Christ personally. The faces of an audience in India mirror the two types of hunger that are rampant through out the world. The agony o f see ing malnutrition and physical hunger makes one conscious of the need for social action. But many who listened were “ hungry” for something else. The vague and ambiguous philosophy of Hindu ism could not sustain a life that was suffering from spiritual mal nutrition. It took a fantasy play (“ Revolt at the Portals” ) to show how a personal commitment to Christ could satisfy the pangs of spiritual hunger. For Randy Baker, Neal Mc Bride, Jan Brown, Robin Baker, Sue Wallis, Lyn Peterson, Becky Pearson, Glen Thomas, Betsy Squires, and Ken Nunn, the trip to India would never have oc curred had it not been for a letter received by Clyde Cook, head of Biola’s Missions Department, two months before the departure date. The letter closed the doors to drama evangelism in Australia and New Zealand. The cancella- 36
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