I recently read, “When memories exceed our dreams, the end is near.” When we live in the past, we tend to lose the excitement of what tomorrow may bring. I enjoy being around those that dream about what they will do in the days ahead.

Graduation is not about the past but about the future, what tomorrow might bring. While the graduates listened to the class speakers, I am sure they recalled events, times, and people. Memories are important. Part of the college experience involves creating memories. But graduation is also about the future, dreaming about what the Lord might do through the lives of our graduates. Without a doubt, the transition from student to alumnus of Baptist Bible College comes with its own challenges. Any transition may create anxiety as one comes face to face with the unknown of the future. But at those times, the graduates learn to trust the Lord and not rely on themselves.

Each graduate has a dream of serving the Lord. Let me share a few of those dreams coming to fruition. Colston Copeland, Rachel Tubbs, Ellen Clabaugh, Matt Adrian, and Corey O’Grady will serve on church staffs. Matt Rappley will step into a pastorate in Iowa. Kacie Hunnicutt and Robin Kinkade have accepted teaching positions. Sarah Braymer, while serving as church secretary, completed her bachelors through distance education. Debra Duryee completed her bachelors through distance education and will continue to serve as a BBFI missionary in Mexico. Jordan Nisly will serve as a TEAM missionary to the Philippines. Tarl Reeves was approved on Tuesday morning of Fellowship Week to be a BBFI missionary and graduated with his master of divinity that very next Thursday. Robert Hodges, who completed his masters in biblical counseling, will plant a church in the Orlando, Florida, area. Two international students, Winston Kumar and Nazomi Kobuchi, who received their masters degrees, plan to return to their respective countries of India and Japan to serve the Lord. While serving as pastors, Billy Hargis and Tim Beddingfield completed their master degrees.

Other students will spend their summer serving the Lord in youth camps and back in their home churches. Several students are taking mission trips. Each of these students will take what they learned in the classroom and apply their knowledge and skills in a practical ministry context. All these demonstrate our Fellowship Week theme: Reaching Tomorrow’s World Today.

I think we helped accomplished our theme by inviting younger pastors to speak throughout the week. Blending these younger pastors with some more experienced members of the Fellowship provided a week of reflection and spiritual rejuvenation that brought honor to the Lord.

The events of Fellowship Week confirmed what Jim Smith, missionary to Ecuador and our Tuesday evening speaker, observed when he noted the number of newly approved missionaries: “The dream is alive.”

I am thankful to associate with a group still dreaming about what they will see the Lord do through their ministry. It is exciting to participate in reaching tomorrow’s world today.

A humble expression of gratitude from Mike Randall, former BBC/GS president

Words cannot express our gratitude to our Fellowship and school for all the kindness, thoughtfulness, and good will shown to us during the Fellowship meeting just concluded. For Gaylon and me, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Monday evening service honoring my service to the BBFI and BBC/GS, the video tributes, the appreciation gift, the reception, and the special ladies’ reception to honor my wife of 46 years combined for wonderful fellowship and remembrance. Such a time will never happen again for us.

It has been our privilege to serve beside some of the greatest people alive during the 20th and 21st century. I have been honored to serve in various positions over the past 30 years, including 14 years on the faculty of BBC, six years on the trustee board, seven years as our school vice president, seven years as Tribune editor, and finally, six years as BBC/GS president. I thank President Jim Edge for making the May meeting unforgettable for us, the trustees for being so thoughtful and generous, our BBFI leaders for being such a blessing, the students for embracing us, our family for their love, and all our friends for being present to make this week so special. May God bless all of you and our future together. MR