The event featured special speaker was Brad Bennett, president and founder of Real Encounter Outreach. His team performed several extreme sports tricks and stunts on stage, involving a few familiar faces from the HLGU faculty, before Bennett presented his message.

Bennett鈥檚 message challenged HLGU students to consider their eternity and surrender their lives to Christ. 鈥淭he most important question that can ever be asked of a person is 鈥榳here will you go when you spend the rest of eternity?鈥欌�� Bennett said. 鈥淗ave you surrendered everything to Christ? He surrendered everything to the Father. He laid down his life for you.鈥�

Bennett added, 鈥淕od has a plan and a purpose for your life.鈥� He went on to quote Colossians 1:16 which says, 鈥渁ll things have been created through Him and for Him.鈥� 鈥淎nd to fulfill the purpose God has for us, it starts with a personal relationship with Him,鈥� he said.

Wednesday evening, Real Encounter held a special event in the RFAC parking lot where they performed bike and skateboard stunts.

More than a dozen students indicated they accepted Christ for the first time during this two-day event. They are being connected with local churches in the area and are also encouraged to begin the discipleship process through HLGU鈥檚 Campus Ministry and Missions office.

Real Encounter Outreach is a ministry that partners with local churches and various organizations and uses extreme sports as a way to share the gospel. They鈥檙e made up of professional athletes and ministers in the area of Moto Stunting, Street Bike Stunting, and BMX Bike Stunt Team. They performed on Americas Got Talent in 2014.

More information on Real Encounter Outreach can be found at or on their Facebook page, Real Encounter Outreach.

By Alex Shipley

Joe and his wife Debbie Jo have been operating Kanakuk Kamps since 1976. The summer camp is Christian-oriented and dedicated to helping adolescents achieve their greatest potential. Joe now serves as president and chairman of the board of Kanakuk Ministries, and the camps host 20,000 campers and 2,500 college-age and professional staff members each summer.

Joe earned a degree in biology from Southern Methodist University in 1970 where he was a starting defensive tackle for the SMU Mustangs and received the Mike Kelsey Heart Award. After graduating, he was a football coach at Texas A&M University before assuming responsibility for Kanakuk Kamps. He has received honorary doctorates from Southwest Baptist University in Missouri and Belhaven College in Mississippi, and has authored 22 books for parents and teens.

Joe expanded his Christian camping vision by founding Kids Across America, which provides opportunities for 7,000 inner-city children to attend camp each summer. White also founded Cross International, a world relief organization that cares for orphans and the impoverished in 30 third world nations, and Men at the Cross, a national men鈥檚 ministry that seeks to end spiritual fatherlessness in America.

For more information about HLGU鈥檚 Spiritual Emphasis Days, please contact Caren Sheputis at 573.629.3252, or via email at caren.sheputis@hlg.edu.

Born to a mentally-ill prostitute and sold to an abusive adoptive father for $200, Tony Nolan is well acquainted with the harshness of the human experience. For many years he struggled with alcohol and drugs and the belief that he was worthless.

After waking up from a failed suicide attempt at the age of 24, Nolan attended a Bible study with his stepbrother, and his life was transformed by the gospel.

Nolan has dedicated his life to sharing the good news of God鈥檚 redeeming love. As a nationally sought-after preacher, Nolan鈥檚 ministry has transformed the lives of thousands. He has served as the tour pastor and evangelist for the Casting Crowns Lifesong Tour and Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, stopping in more than 220 U.S. cities and seeing 400,000 public professions of faith. He has also preached at Christian Family Day at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Xtreme Conferences, Creation Festivals, the Southern Baptist Convention, and more.

Nolan is a graduate of Criswell College in Dallas, TX. After serving as a pastor to college students and singles he moved into full-time evangelism and founded TNT Ministries alongside his wife Tammy in 2000.

Nolan currently serves as a teaching pastor for Freedom Church in Acworth, GA and is also studying for a master鈥檚 degree in ministry at Richmont Graduate University. He and his family live in Georgia.

For more information about HLGU鈥檚 Spiritual Emphasis Days, please contact Caren Sheputis at 573.629.3252.

by Rebecca Sneed ’12