Camp Meeting Speakers & Guests:

Larry Evans

Larry Evans is currently the Undersecretary of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He was graduated from Walla Walla College with a B.A. in Theology in 1970. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Andrews University which he received in 1973. In 1981, he was graduated with the Doctor of Ministry degree from Andrews University. A portion of the academic work was done at Fuller Theological Seminary. His doctoral project was in the area of developing church planting strategies within the North American Division.

Evans began his ministry in the early `70s as pastor in the Upper Columbia Conference. He later served as church growth coordinator, associate ministerial director, multicultural director and assistant to the president for the Oregon Conference. While serving in the Oregon Conference he assisted in the formation of an interdenominational church consultant group based in Grand Rapids, Michigan and then served as a denominational associate. He left the Oregon Conference to become the vice president of administration (executive secretary) for the Potomac Conference. His responsibilities also included serving as the director of multi-cultural ministries. He then became president of the New Jersey Conference and the Georgia-Cumberland Conference, respectively. He then served a short term as Assistant to the President of the North American Division prior to becoming the Undersecretary of the General Conference.

Dr. Evans held pastorates in the Upper Columbia Conference for 12 years, and served in the Oregon Conference as church growth coordinator for 2 years, associate ministerial director for 1 year, and assistant to the president for 5 years. He was vice president for administration and multi-cultural ministries in the Potomac Conference for about 2 1/2years and the president of the New Jersey Conference for 2 1/2 years until accepting the position as president of the Georgia-Cumberland Conference in July of 1997 where he served until April, 2002 when he became the Administrative Assistant to the President of the North American Division. In October 2002 he was elected as the Undersecretary of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

His wife, Carolyn, received her BA in French from Walla Walla College and currently serves as the manager of the children's division at the Potomac Adventist Book Center. They have two grown sons and three grandsons.

As the Undersecretary of the General Conference:

Dr Evans became the Undersecretary of the General Conference in November of 2002. His responsibilities include giving support to the General Conference Secretary in general matters pertaining to the overall work of the Secretariat including the managing of the office of Secretariat for the General Conference Secretary. Evans supervises the preparation of the revised General Conference Working Policy each year and any amendments or revisions of the General Conference Constitutions and Bylaws for the General Conference Session. He works with other General Conference officers and departmental directors in the preparation of agendas, minutes and the routing of business items for several meetings, including the General Conference Administrative and Executive Committees. As part of the Secretariat, Evans works to give support to the global mission work of the Church and serves on numerous administrative committees. He serves as the General Conference liaison for the South Pacific Division. As the Undersecretary he works to assist the Associate Secretaries in their efforts as they serve the various world divisions for which they are responsible.

Gary Gibbs

Gary Gibbs serves as the Associate Director for Hope Channel, the Adventist Church's official television network. Gary hosts the Prophecies of Hope and co-hosts Inside Hope television shows. He also hosts the national Bible Talk radio program and is author of several books including Winsome Witnessing, Prophecies of Hope, Winsome Studies in Prophecy, The Beast-Who Will Worship It?, The Abomination of Desolation, Coming One World Church, and Return to Sodom. Gary has had a wide experience in ministry that includes serving as a pastor, evangelist, evangelism trainer, church growth consultant, and the founder of Amazing Facts' College of Evangelism. His passion is to see people give their lives unreservedly to Jesus and for them to experience the abundant life that He gives.  He and his wife, Sherilyn have two daughters and live in Maryland, USA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roscoe Howard

Roscoe J Howard III is the President of the Mid-America Union Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Before being elected to this position in April of 2008 he served for six years as the Secretariat of the North American Division located in Silver Spring, Maryland.  Prior to serving the North American Division he was the Vice-President for Administration for the Mid-America Union.  Pior to serving the Mid-America Union he was the Special Assistant to the President and Regional Affairs Director in the North Pacific Union in the city of Portland, Oregon.  His Ministry began in the Washington Conference in 1978 where he pastored several churches over a period of 10 years and later became the first black youth director of the conference.

Elder Howard is a certified diversity trainer and has preached the gospel in Russia, Korea, Phillipines, Africa, England, Canada and all across the United States.

He received his undergraduate degree from Pacific Union College and later received a Master of Divinity from Andrews University.  Presently he is a candidate in the Doctor of Ministry Porgram at Fuller Theological Seminary.

While attending Oakwood College (during his senior year) he met the former Osceola Wimbish and decided that he could not live without her and thus out of that heaven blessed union came forth two children, Heather and Seth Howard.  Elder Howard loves young people and has a passion for preaching and seeing individuals come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

 

Bill Knott, PhD

Bill Knott is the editor and executive publisher of the Adventist Review and Adventist World magazines, the oldest and most widely distributed journals of the global Seventh-day Adventist Church. Before joining the Adventist Review staff in 1997 as an associate editor, he served as a pastor in New England, Michigan, New York, and Washington State. He is a graduate of Atlantic Union College, and earned a master of divinity degree from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University. In 2006, he completed a Ph.D. in American Religious History at George Washington University.

Knott has authored hundreds of articles for church periodicals during nearly 30 years of ministry, and is a frequent speaker at camp meetings, academic conferences, youth and young adult events, and pastors' meetings. He is married to Deborah (Rochon) Knott, M.S., who is a specialist in the Office of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty at the church's world headquarters. The Knotts have two sons-Evan, 18, and Brady, 17.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon Paulien, PhD

Jon Paulien is Professor of Religion and Dean of the School of Religion at Loma Linda University. He is the author of twenty-one books and more than two hundred articles (Adventist Review, Ministry, Journal of Biblical Literature, Biblical Research, Andrews University Seminary Studies, among others), scholarly papers (Society of Biblical Literature, Chicago Society for Biblical Research, and others) and other publications. Jon is a specialist in the study of the Johannine literature in the New Testament (Gospel of John and Book of Revelation) and the intersection of faith with contemporary culture. He also takes special delight in seminars and presentations to non-specialists who can make practical use of the material in the real world.When not at work, Jon enjoys being with his wife Pamella and their three children, and also enjoys travel, golf and photography when time permits.

Publication Record (highlights)
Decoding Revelation's Trumpets. Andrews University Seminary Doctoral Dissertation Series, vol. 11. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 1988.

Present Truth in the Real World: The Adventist Struggle to Keep and Share Faith in a Secular Society. Boise, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1993.

What the Bible Says About the End-Time. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1994.

John: Jesus Gives Life to a New Generation. Bible Amplifier Series, George R. Knight, general editor. Boise, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1995.

Knowing God in the Real World. Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 2001.

Meet God Again for the First Time. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2003.

John The Beloved Gospel. Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 2003.

The Deep Things of God. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2004.

The Gospel From Patmos. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2007.

Armageddon at the Door. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2008.

Everlasting Gospel, Everchanging World. Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 2008.

Five articles in volume 6 of the Daniel and Revelation Committee Series (Biblical Research Committee of the GC, 1992).

Fourteen articles in the Anchor Bible Dictionary. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1992.

A forty hour set of taped lectures on the Book of Revelation available from The Ambassador Group, 1996.

A four-hour DVD video set entitled Simply Revelation. Biblical Perspectives, 2007.

Belko Brass

A musical quartet consisting of two trumpets, trombone, and piano called Belko Brass, is a unique musical group that has blended sound and artistic styling of hymns for about 30 years. The group is made up of Ed Wagner, keyboard and Ivan Belko, trombone, the two original members. Mark Johnson, trumpet, joined in 1989 and Louie Johnson, trumpet, in 2004. Their rendition of hymn arrangements covering a wide variety of styles from "high energy" to meditative has been heard not only within North America, but in Siberia, Russia, Ukraine, Africa, Inner and South America, as well as the Caribbean.

The group has traveled abroad with various evangelists where they have seen the workings of the Holy Spirit, heard conversion stories, and have witnessed thousands taking their stand for Christ and seeing them be baptized.

They are a non-profit, self-supporting group. The proceeds from their three CD's: "Hymn Favorites," "Precious Memories," and "Best of Belko Brass," all go directly to their music ministry as they travel world-wide.

We pray you will be richly blessed as you listen to this group. Psalms 47:7 in God's Word translation says: "God is the King of the whole earth. Make your best music for Him." That is what they do.

 

 

 

 

 

Joe Pearles

I was born on December 23, 19xx in Modesto, California and was raised in a small farming community just east of Modesto, in the little town of Waterford. My parents, Lloyd and Jackie were very hard working people. I also have two sisters. Eva, who everyone calls Mike, and Joan who I call Sis or Sistoo.

We were a musical family and I can remember my Mother and Mike singing special music in church on many occasions. My Dad wasn't a Christian so he never went to church with us (that is another story). There were many evenings we just sat around and sang songs. Neighbors would drop by and soon we would have a house full. We discovered that we could rent a reel to reel tape recorder from a store in Modesto, and when my folks could scrape up enough money, we would rent a recorder, then sit around the house and record for hours. Somewhere out there are those tapes. I wish I had them.

When I was 11 or 12 I learned to play the guitar. I got hold of a book that showed me where to put my fingers on the strings to make different chords, and away I went. Eventually I got to where I could play enough chords, and then I began singing and accompanying myself on the old guitar. It wasn't long before I started being asked to sing for church.

I grew up listening to country music which I loved to sing. Even at a very young age I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. You guessed it. I wanted to go to Nashville, TN. and become a country music star. Music was my life. I would go to bed at night with my guitar on my chest and sing myself to sleep. If I wasn't listening to country music on the radio, I was singing it with that old guitar.

I started high school at Oakdale High which was 15 miles or so from Waterford, and in my sophomore year enrolled in a Christian high school in Modesto. It was there I met a kid who played the upright bass, and boy, did we have fun. There were many times that Bill would bring his bass to school; I would bring my guitar and we would find a room that wasn't being used. There we would start playing and I would start singing some Elvis songs. We would always have one of the kids at the door so we would know when a teacher might be coming. When the teacher got near we would go right into a Gospel song without missing a beat. Many years later I saw one of the faculty and I told him about those times. I thought he would die laughing.

I graduated from high school, went to college for a year or two, then got married to Cheryl, the girl I dated all through high school. We moved to Oregon, started a family. There I started singing gospel, and had Cheryl, my wife, John Gepford, and later my brother-in-law, Dick Wheeler, as my backup singers. Later when my son Jeff got old enough he joined us singing and playing the piano. We sang for several years in the Northwest as" THE QUIET SOUND ". Still, I wanted Nashville and country music.

One night I was so depressed about my music I walked out of the house down to a logging road that wasn't far away. There, I knelt down on the pavement and asked God to take the desire for country music away from me if he wasn't going to permit me to go to Nashville and do the music I loved. He answered my prayer but not the way I was wanting Him to . He not only took the desire for Nashville and country music way, but he took my love for ALL music away. For 2 years I never sang a note, never played the guitar, and stopped listening to the radio. That was a miracle.( it was during that 2 year period that our daughter Laura was born).

After 2 years or so went by, the desire for music came back. However, this time it was a desire to do a different kind of music. I no longer wanted to sing country music, nor go to Nashville. The music I now wanted to sing was gospel music, and I was content to stay in Oregon and sing on weekends.

It was the mid 70's and I was selling real estate. Things were going quite well for me. In the town where I was working, a town of 10,000 people, there were 22 Real Estate offices, all doing very well. But by the late 70's there was a drastic down turn in real estate. By the early 80's there are only 2 real estate offices in business. I tried to find work, but Oregon was in a very bad recession, and there were no jobs available. I found odd jobs where I could, but we finally decided that we had to leave Oregon. The only relatives we had not living in Oregon were Cheryl's sister and her husband, and they lived in.....you guessed it.......Tennessee. They were kind enough to let me live with them until I could find work and send for my family

I found a few jobs there in Cleveland but nothing was working out, so I decided to go back to Oregon. I had a friend, Billy Burks, who lived in Nashville, which is 150 miles from where I was staying, and I wanted to visit him before I went back to Oregon. You guessed it again. Billy had a friend in Nashville who needed an employee. I interviewed and got the job. I will always be grateful to Sam Martz, who hired me.

It wasn't long until my family and I started singing again. My children got to the age where they had things of there own that they wanted to do so I started singing solo. In 1997 I went full time in my music ministry and have never looked back.

As I write this story, memories come flooding back and I can see how God has led me all of these years. Never forcing, but gently leading me to where I am today. There is no doubt in my mind that He has called me to do exactly what I am doing and I thank Him for that.

Since coming to Nashville God has blessed me with 15 albums (9 of which are available) and 4 music DVDs. It is so exciting to see what he has done for me in the past, and what he still has for me in the future.