ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com
September 24, 2017
This is a letter to our friends –
WOW! “Honoring The Vision”
What an historic event! The hand of God in human history and government was celebrated this weekend at Destiny Christian Church in Rocklin, California. Teachers and patriots from across the country, many of whom knew of one another only by reputation, gathered to celebrate the 1960’s beginning of the movement to restore awareness of our wonderful Christian history.
Those who traveled to the event stayed in the same hotel. The event was scheduled all day Saturday, September 23rd. The night before, locals and travelers gathered in the hotel lobby for informal fellowship. It was an exciting meet and greet. For the many folks reading this, who are wishing they could have been there, I will describe the event with names. For the others – I beg indulgence.
Saturday morning at ten o’clock Carole Adams, President of The Foundation for American Christian Education (FACE) opened the meeting. Reverend Harley Alan, host pastor, offered a prayer for the event. Dr. Adams continued the welcome and shared memories of the early days of FACE and the move from San Francisco to Chesapeake.
She turned the podium to me and I continued with thoughts and memories. Next, we introduced four of the early teachers in the movement: James Rose; Beth Ballenger; Katherine Dang; Ruth Smith. I sat on the stage with them and conducted interviews for the audience to hear.
By then it was noon. While a box lunch was served, we enjoyed a 30 minute video teaching by the late Rosalie Slater, FACE Co-Founder. When the video ended, John Hunter, a master potter, brought his potter’s wheel to the stage using it as an object lesson to illustrate our Lord as the Potter and we as the clay. John is Headmaster of a Christian day school in Namibia, Africa. He teaches providential and African history using FACE books.
Following a short break (Everyone was anxious to visit with one another and browse the various book tables.) each of the four master teachers we had just interviewed, took a turn sharing, as they have been doing in classrooms for decades.
Following another break we introduced “Tommy” Newman, longtime chairman of FACE Board of Directors. (The whole board, save one, traveled to Rocklin for this event.)
Next up was Barbara Kilkenny of YWAM, Texas. She and her late husband have been teaching providential history and government as headmasters of an international Christian day school and YWAM’s “Teachers For The Nations”(TFTN). Barbara shared about the hundreds of schools around the world that are being planted by TFTN graduates.
The next generation of master teachers was represented by Kirsten Crouch of Los Altos, California. Miss Crouch shared about being “dragged” as a pre-teen to an ACH history seminar. To her surprise she enjoyed it <smile>. Eventually she became an annual seminar attendee dedicated to learning biblical principles and providential history.
There were more people who had testimonies and memories to share than there was time in the event’s agenda. (One hundred people attended the event.) While the entire on-stage event was being video recorded, a roving camera was being used to record these off-stage vignettes. Written testimonials that had been mailed to the event from Mrs. Bobbie Ames, Dr. Paul Jehle, Dan Smithwick, and Roberto & Ana Rinaldi were read into the recording .
A copy of the raw recordings will be delivered to the Hall & Slater Library archives at the FACE headquarters in Virginia. Perhaps, some day in the future, they will serve as valuable research material regarding our modern providential history. It will require the loving hand of an experienced video-editor to make a useful product, suitable for distribution, from these 20 hours of raw recordings.
The event culminated in a gala banquet with Carole Adams as M.C. She introduced Gary Porter, well known Constitutional authority, who shared a video about the unique books to be found in the Hall & Slater library. Next to speak was Dr. Max Lyons, Director of Education at FACE. He too shared a short video about the amazing spread of FACE literature and schools across the globe.
Dr. Marshall Foster, author, producer and master historian, closed the meeting with a history lesson that used past events to challenge us all to carry the torch forward.
As the meeting ended our organizing committee (which by the way had functioned like clockwork!) jumped into gear and returned the room to its original state, ready for regular Sunday events. The committee members have been meeting and preparing since last February. They too deserve kudos. Katrina Stotelmeyer served as Chair, Registrar, and Treasurer. Aprile Johnson served as dedicated intercessor. Rebecca Beach, whose inspiration helped create the event, served as stage manager. I served as event facilitator. Sue Stotelmeyer served as my “Lieutenant”. Fran Gilmore coordinated table arrangement and catering. Sue Ricci and Geri Scalzi were in charge of setup and take down. Debra Jackson coordinated communication. The whole team served as volunteer drivers between the airport and the hotel.
The church staff offered wholehearted support. Matt Hutton and Cory Besmer handled videography. Rich Litvinchuk was our audio engineer. And the outstanding catering chef was Michelle Cowles.
Those with any steam left returned to the hotel lobby to continue their fellowship. This 88 year old “facilitator” was out of steam! Much as I wanted to be in the hotel lobby, my body was in bed by 9:30! Our Lord’s hand was apparent throughout the whole affair. To God be the glory!
These columns are archived since 12/10/09
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