Dr Lloyd Stebbins

Profile of a few of my most interesting Christian experiences:

Although I was raised in a churched family, I didn’t accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior until several years after graduating from college. I’m always been an active church member. Over the years I’ve belonged to churches in several conservative denominations, Through the years, I’ve served in these churches as:

· Sunday School Teacher-various times and places

· Group Leader

· Adult Sunday School Department Director for nine years (Sunday morning department attendance about 100)

· Trumpet Player in church orchestras for nearly 20 years

· Church Visitation—Weekly witnessing-focused church visitation for a number of years

Along the way, I’ve enjoyed personally supporting well-known national ministries including:

· Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU)

o Taught witnessing seminars using the Four Spiritual Laws

o Sponsored a lunch time presentation at my own place of employment assisted by a Campus Crusade film on Christian professional athletes and a live presentation of a former NFL football player

o Speaker during the 1984, “Year of the Bible” proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan—usually lunch time presentations at large corporations

o South Jersey Regional Director for a saturation evangelism campaign, themed “I Found It.” It was piloted in Atlanta with a number of churches, lead by Charles Stanley’s church and later expanded nationwide. I had the pleasure of coordinating 70-80 churches. Following months of preparation, the “I Found It” theme appeared on hundreds of billboards, radio spots, and television announcements. Then a phone number appeared encouraging people to call. Of course what they found was new life in Jesus Christ. Members of the participating churches manned call centers in each area. Thousands of lay people experienced the thrill of leading someone to Christ over the telephone. During that time, I was privileged to pray with Dr. Bill Bright and have dinner with him in the Philadelphia home of Art DeMoss who later became well known for his ministry to executives.

o Participated in thousands of Campus Crusade sponsored Bible study groups, most frequently formatted as prayer breakfasts or luncheon events.

o Attended a Campus Crusade-sponsored Conference on Church Management (several hundred pastors attended—I enjoyed being one of only 3-4 lay people in attendance—It’s an amazing story for another day)

o Participated in a large Fellowship of Christian Athletes event, where a large number of the Philadelphia Eagles NFL team appeared individually on stage to share his personal testimony.

· Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

o Participated on teams organized to support two of the organization’s evangelistic movies. Activities involved meeting with many pastors to encourage their support in promoting the movies within their congregations.

o Served as a counselor at a Billy Graham Crusade in Jacksonville, Florida.

· David Wilkerson’s Youth Crusades (Wilkerson was also the founder of the nationally known and very successful Teen Challenge program for weaning young people from drugs and leading them to a commitment to Christ)

o Regional director for a program that involved three evangelistic crusade events in New Jersey. Promotional activities included:

§ Distributing copies of Wilkerson’s book, The Cross and the Switchblade to every member of the New Jersey State Assembly, the Governor, and the Governor’s Cabinet (facilitated by an assemblyman who was jointly attend a weekly Bible study with me)

§ Commissioned the creation of an original television announcement (Wilkerson’s organization did not have one—facilitated by a public relations professional who was attending the same weekly Bible study)

§ Participated in a television interview

§ Distributed tens of thousands of flyers

§ Coordinated a backstage television interview with David Wilkerson, while the crusade was in progress. A Christian Roller Derby star was on stage sharing her testimony at the time. She later quit the Roller Derby and enrolled in a Bible College.

· Lay Witness Missions (Non-denominational, but Methodist-originated, ministry: A team of excited turned-on Christian witnesses visit a designated church for a weekend-long series of activities for the sole purpose of leading people to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. A church of any denomination requests a weekend mission. A coordinator is assigned who prays over his list of excited turned-on Christian witnesses. The coordinator has previously assembled his own list of people he has met over the years. Typically, there are people from numerous churches and several denominations on the list. The one thing they all have in common is an over love for the Lord. The coordinator sends mission invitations to about twice as many people are needed for a particular mission. Those invited pray over the invitation and then choose to accept or decline. It is truly amazing to watch the Lord assemble exactly the right team for the scheduled church. The testimonies of live changed by these missions abound. I enjoyed the privilege of seeing an experienced minister accept Christ for the first time—an awesome story for another day.

o Participated as a witness in numerous missions covering a large geographical area

· Institute In Basic Youth Conflicts (later became the Institute in Basic Life Conflicts)

o Attended Bill Gothard’s basic institute about seven times

o Attended the advanced institute one time

Note that my activities for these national organizations was always as an enthusiastic volunteer who merely love the Lord. I have not been a paid employee of any of the organizations.

Of course, my most profound Christian experience was caring for my late wife 24/7 for seven years, while she endured the debilitating effects of a neurodegenerative condition similar to Alzheimer’s disease. It was a monumentally life-changing experience. Despite the obvious tragedy, the stories of God’s infinite grace during the time abound.