Joy abounded during the eighth annual Alumni/Graduation week for Heritage Baptist College. The theme this year was “Building by Faith.” The 17 different messages, the various events, and the warm fellowship, blessed the heart of all those who participated.
This was the fifth year that the Graduation Week was held on the new campus at Hopewell. All in attendance experienced the Lord doing a special work.
Tuesday is always set aside as Alumni Day, and this year Graduation Week began with the morning preaching.
After the services, the special lunch delighted everyone. Dr. Clyde Billingsley and Brother Harvey Shilling fried the Indiana crappie fillets. Brother Shilling not only fried the fish, he caught them too. (added note: Brother Shilling told me that after donating all those fillets, the Lord gave him the best day crappie fishing he ever enjoyed – huge fish and his boat limited out) the special greens, coleslaw, and fresh Georgia strawberries added to the delicious meal. With the assistance of Mrs. Tootie Vaughan, Mrs. Billingsley, and Carol Kelley, everyone went away filled.
The Tuesday Alumni Day Fish Fry continues to bless body and soul.
For the ninth straight year, Heritage Baptist College sponsored the Wednesday night local church rally. Heritage students provided some of the special music along with Pastor Tim Lindsey and his fine church choir.
The newly carpeted gymnasium added to the nice surroundings and better sound. The preacher of the evening was Dr. Gerald Stokes from Jacksonville, FL. Dr. Stokes brought a wonderful Bible centered message, interlaced with volumes of Scripture.
Following the service, members got to meet each other at the special cake fellowship honoring Dr. & Mrs. David Halcomb’s upcoming 50th wedding anniversary. All enjoyed a special evening.
Gray Brother’s Cafeteria catered the Spring Banquet for Heritage Baptist College and it was hosted at the Indianapolis Baptist Temple.
The Alumni Banquet featured dinner, music by the Heritage students and the Pryor Sisters, a message, and generous giving by God’s people. Dr. Tom Wallace, from Murfreesboro, TN, delivered a special message that set the atmosphere for the banquet offering.
Almost $25,000 was given in cash and pledges.
On Friday night, May 1st, we enjoyed a wonderful concluding service. Friends and family gathered to witness the bestowing of degrees and to hear Dr. Harry Strachan, Jr. deliver the commencement address. Pastor Strachan challenged the graduates to have a ministry that will portray “A Life and a Legacy."
Tim Samaras loved the outdoors, and he loved exploring on the edge. As a young man he was fascinated with tornado statistics, and in his 20’s he began to chase storms.
Tim Samaras eventually founded a tornado research team called Twistex. In 1998, he founded Chasercon, the annual convention for Storm Chasers. All during this time, Samaras built special weather gathering instruments specifically to obtain tornado data about this dangerous phenomenon.
The self- taught weather tracker did work for the Discovery Channel, The Weather Channel, and especially for the National Geographic Society, which funded many of his projects.
His colleagues considered Samaras one of the most cautious Storm Chasers in that business, and he chased 125 tornadoes in his lifetime.
On May 31, 2013, at only 55 years of age, his storm chasing ended. The Twistex team began following an Oklahoma tornado later known as the “2013 El Reno Tornado.” The team that day consisted of Tim, his 24 year-old son Paul, and meteorologist Carl Young (45).
The wedge-shaped tornado quickly grew in strength, until it became the widest tornado in recorded history. As the storm chasers watched, the tornado grew from 1 mile in diameter to 2.6 miles in 30 seconds, while the forward speed of the storm increased from 20 mph to 60 mph. With no way to escape, the tornado hit their vehicle with winds approaching 200 mph. The aftermath left Tim Samaras, his son, and their colleague to become the first storm chasers killed as they followed a tornado.
A tornado is unpredictable, and so is sin.
Contact an Admissions Counselor TODAY and plan to visit Heritage. You can reach us at 317-738-3791