This last December ARISE (A Resource Institute for Soul-Winning and Evangelism) graduated its second class of students. Twelve were hired by the Michigan Conference or local churches to serve as Bible workers. This one-year practicum provides the student with practical experience leading others to accept Christ as they work with the local church in community outreach, generate and give Bible studies, and train church members in personal evangelism.

In January, each Bible worker attended an orientation session at Camp Au Sable. In the coming year, they will work in the following districts: Taylor/Monroe, Linden/ Holly/South Lyons, Grand Ledge/Portland, and Plymouth/Livonia. Two other young ladies serve as Bible workers in the Upper Peninsula. Their goal is to bring many contacts to the evangelistic series to be held in these areas this fall.

For two weeks, the ARISE Bible workers experienced a winter canvassing blitz in the Taylor and Monroe area. James DuPont, from Grand Rapids, met a man in his twenties. When he showed him the book,The Great Controversy, the man’s face lit up and he invited James inside. He seemed genuinely interested and wanted to know what a Seventh-day Adventist was. James shared his personal conversion story and told how the book, The Great Controversy, played a significant role in it. After buying the book, this young man told James, "You must promise me one thing. You must visit me again and explain to me from the Scriptures why Saturday is the Sabbath. I am really interested in knowing." Since then, James has talked to him on the phone and the man is looking forward to the Bible study.

Katie Kauffman came to ARISE from Austria and is excited about the opportunities the practicum program will give her to make friends with people. While canvassing in Monroe, she met a gentleman who took the books out of her hands and asked how he could buy them … before she even told him about them! The family was poor, but they scraped together enough money to get Christ’s Object Lessons, Steps to Christ, and Bible Readings for the Home. They told her they had been praying for God to send someone to them. They kept asking her, "Are you an angel?" This family also requested personal Bible studies.

"You can’t go to ARISE and think you are going back to a normal life afterward," says Rodney McCallum, an Australian farmer who sold his farm so he can devote his life to God’s work. "Never again can I be content, because the reality of The Great Commission has come alive to my conscience."

Please pray for these Bible workers as they take the good news of the gospel to the doors in Michigan.

Staci Osterman is the ARISE student Bible worker supervisor.