Ozark Mind Games 2003 Report: Sunday



Most of the parents who brought their students to the conference stayed for a brief welcome and introduction to Mind Games. We were able to show them our brand new promotional video of our weekend Mind Games conference, in which some of the available tracks are highlighted. This week, though, they get (almost) everything! A typical weekend conference has five sessions: this week, they're getting twenty.

 
 
Two executive directors welcome the students and parents: Michael Holets of Ozark Conference Center and Dr. Ray Bohlin of Probe Ministries. Michael said that this week is a highlight of the whole year for OCC, where this is the tenth year we've been offering the week-long National Mind Games.


The first session, an in-depth introduction to the goals of the week, began with praise and worship. Caleb Peavy from Georgia is an outstanding worship leader and we are blessed to have him here this week. He was joined on guitar by Ozark "staff dude" Will, with Jody McCall on bongos and Jennifer Robison on vocals.

Ray became "Professor Hymie Schwartz" in challenging some of the students about their faith, asking questions such as "Why are you a Christian?" and "So why do you believe the Bible?" Here "the Professor" lights into David Miller.

The inquisition, which unfortunately was very much like some of the unfriendly interactions some Christian students get from hostile professors on college campuses, got more heated as "Professor Schwartz" gave K.C. Vetter a hard time for being a believer simply because that's what she learned at home. K.C. wasn't TOO worried. . . she also knew her real-life Uncle Ray wouldn't be too mean.

There are seven people here from Indiana, five from one youth group. Here, Saunnie Knotts has her turn with the professor, except that she animatedly kept firing back questions at HIM.

The Probe staff took turns introducing ourselves to the students, sharing our testimonies of how we came to faith in Christ and what the "big picture" of our lives has been like. Rick Wade was very far from the Lord and on the road to self-destruction when God got a hold of him; he ended up at Moody Bible Institute and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He also told us how much he hates HEAT. It is hot and humid here. Very hot. VERY hot! We praise God for the wonderful pool!

Todd Kappelman spent several years in the drug culture before suddenly realizing that some Christians he was hearing were telling the truth, and he had a complete and immediate turnaround when he trusted Christ. Todd is a professor of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University, has three masters' degrees, and is close to finishing his Ph.D. at the University of Dallas.

Sue Bohlin shared that there are three major forces that have shaped her life: having polio as a baby, coming to Christ in college, and her family, which consists of Ray and her two sons, both Mind Games alumni (now in college and the Air Force). Later she told the students that her college education was in elementary education, which puts her on a different level of communication than her "Probe brethren." Nobody seems to mind that.