THE months of July, August, and September were memorable ones for the Seventh-day Adventist church in Oakland, California. For five nights a week and three times each Sabbath, an evangelistic crusade conducted by the Bay Area Seventh-day Adventist ministers was held in the Oak land Municipal Auditorium. The immediate sponsor of this campaign was the Northern California Conference under the direction of Elder James Chase. They invited E. E. Cleveland of the General Conference Ministerial Association to be the speaker.
Long before his arrival, committees were organized under the direction of the conference president, and their work of preparation began. An all-night prayer meeting, embracing all of the area churches, proved to be highly successful and a real blessing to the program. The prayer meeting was climaxed by an early morning communion service that took place at dawn the following day. The church members pledged themselves to fasting and prayer through out the campaign. Television sets remained dark for a three-month period. Many laid aside the eating of all pastries and flesh foods. Night by night the members of the churches filled their automobiles with non-Adventists and conveyed them to the auditorium.
The meetings were interracial in nature and from beginning to end a fifty-fifty ratio between blacks and whites with a liberal sprinkling of Spanish-speaking people, was frequenting the meetings. More than 250 people have thus far been baptized with others yet to follow. The interracial nature of the participants on the program and their harmonious working relationships were a marvel to the non-Adventist inhabitants of the Bay Area, and the meetings were an object lesson to the world that black and white can function meaningfully together in an age of racial tension.
Various Methods Used in Witnessing
In connection with the campaign, a massive food distribution program was con ducted. More than 900 boxes of food were distributed to chronically needy people, with the Golden Gate Academy young people participating actively in the food distribution program. Churches from all over the conference sent in their help both financial and otherwise. Also, the South Central Conference medical van visited the depressed areas of the city and served as a medical clinic for two weeks of the campaign. Seventh-day Adventist doctors and nurses from the area donated their services for this worthy project. A nurse was baptized who worked on the medical van and, witnessing the work of the Seventh-day Adventists in the poverty areas of the city, exclaimed, "It is a pleasure to belong to a church that is helping people!" KPIX Eye-Witness News, channel 15, San Francisco, monitored this operation, then aired on two sections of its prime time news a detailed report of the work carried on in the van.
Miracles of physical healing were constant throughout the campaign. Brother Cleveland states that at no time in his ministry has he felt more definitely the literal presence of the Spirit of God in a series of meetings than at this one. One woman was healed through prayer, of a malignant tumor in her throat, and others report remarkable instances of healing.
One candidate for baptism met a severe crisis over Sabbath observance. He was in formed by his employer that if he accepted baptism he could no longer work on this particular job. The man went ahead and was baptized. When he returned home from the baptism he found a letter in the mailbox from his employer stating that he had reconsidered and that our brother should return to the job Monday morning.
Wives who have long practiced Adventism were joined by their husbands in the baptisms that followed the campaign. One woman had prayed for her husband for 30 years. You must know of her joy at seeing him buried with our Lord in baptism. A gospel minister, a medical doctor, a nurse, and several schoolteachers were among those immersed in the name of our Lord. One young man, 19 years of age, was thrown out of his home bodily and told never to return if he was to become a Seventh-day Adventist. His Catholic parents did not seem to understand his new-found faith. He was baptized anyway, and is now living with a Seventh-day Adventist family.
Radio Program Features Cleveland
Brother Cleveland states that before leaving the city of Oakland he was on the radio program "Parson to Person." This program is conducted by a Methodist minister and is very popular in that area. Listeners are able to telephone in and question the speaker and even disagree with him. It was a real privilege to disseminate information concerning the Adventist faith for one whole hour on this program free of charge.
Thousands of Seventh-day Adventists had their faith renewed by personal experiences with the Lord Jesus during the campaign. Local pastors in that area gave unstintingly of their time and energy to its success. W. R. Robinson was the campaign director; Frank Vessels and Joseph Jones were his associates. J. W. Lehman was finance controller, while Ronald Graybill and Ned Bristow handled the Public Relations. Bruce Babienco was in charge of transportation and Ron Torrano was in charge of the medical operation. Van Runnels was responsible for the platform organization, and Ralph McGann was minister of music. Brother Joseph Jones directed the food distribution program. All of the ministers of the Bay Area participated faithfully, including William Galbreth of another conference. More than 20 of the people baptized in Oakland lived in San Francisco. There was a collective effort from beginning to end aiming for a total program of Adventist evangelism reaching the whole man. For the inhabitants of the Bay Area, it was an unforgettable experience. For Brother Cleveland it was a "walk with God."
