by Peggy Sanders O n January 8, 1970, P resident R ichard Nixon de parted from his home in San Clemente, C a lifo r nia, and headed by he licop te r fo r El Toro Marine Base where A ir Force One awaited the P resident and his pa rty fo r the tr ip back to Washington, D.C. A lso aw a iting the P resident, however, was a small group o f representatives from the B a p tis t Youth As sociation o f Southern C a lifo rn ia . Finding a unique way to present the message o f Jesus Ch rist, these young people had received special perm ission to meet w ith the P resident before his depa rtu re and to present to him th ree plaques as an “ expression o f app reciation fo r his d ig n ifie d and God-honoring” leadership o f the country. When the P residential pa rty had landed and p re lim in a ry in trodu c tion s were over, the P resident lis tened in ten tly as Kathy Dussault o f Bethel Baptist Church in Torrance, began th e presentation by hand ing M r. Nixon a scro ll bearing the signature s o f six hundred B aptist youths who could not attend, but who w ished to express “ th e ir be lie f in God and loyal ty to Am e rica .” John Burgess, First B ap tist Church o f El Monte, then presented to th e P resident a plaque bea ring the photo “ Ea rth rise ” taken from Apollo 8. Below the photo was inscribed the quo ta tion “ In the beginning God . . .” from the Scrip tu re read from space by Astronauts Borman, Lovell and Anders on Christm as eve, 1968. John explained to M r. Nixon th a t th is plaque represented the app reciation o f his fe llow Bap tist youth fo r the reading o f th is S crip tu re and th a t it was a con firm a tion o f the g roup ’s be lie f th a t the B ib lica l account o f Creation deserved recognition. Tim Robertson, from Calvary B ap tist Tabernacle in Gardena, followed John by exp la in ing to the Presi den t th a t the young people he represented believe th a t “ accom plishm ents in space have been realized because o f th e in te lligence and resources which God the C reator has given to m an.” To emphasize th is fa c t and to place space exploration in its proper per spective, Tim gave the P resident a second plaque th a t ca rried a photo o f m an's fir s t “ m oonwalk,” ac companied by the inspired words o f Psalm 8 :3 : “ When I consider th y heavens, the wo rk o f th y finge rs, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained: What is man th a t thou a rt m ind fu l o f him?”
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