Global Legacy and Transformational Impact
By definition, legacy is “the long lasting impact of what took place in the past.” This year Jessup University celebrates 85 years of educating transformational leaders for the glory of God, continuing to create dramatic and thorough change in the lives of students that has defined our heritage from the beginning.
Hundreds of stories could be told from each decade of our history in joyful testimony of our faithfulness to that task. I think back to the 70’s when three couples came to the school, fell in love, got married and within weeks of graduation began what has become faithful service in global fulfillment of the Great Commission ever since; Jeff and Kathy Phillips, Jim and Joan Yost, and Jim and Lynn Adams.
The Yosts went to the jungles of Irian Jaya, risking their lives many times at the hands of warring tribal conflict and infectious diseases as they loved the people and told them of Jesus. Jim and Lynn Adams had a special burden for the indigenous peoples of the American Southwest and in more recent years they have been traveling the world making professional quality videos to help missionaries on the field tell the story of their work. Jeff and Kathy Phillips went to Chile and were instrumental in establishing dozens of local churches and sending many of their Chilean converts as missionaries to the Middle-East and other far away countries. Each of these couples is into their seventies these days and are still busy making their impact around the world. It was my blessing to be one of the teachers at the school to have an impact in each of their lives.
Once when I was visiting the Phillips’ we were at one of the churches they started in Peru. A young new convert pulled Jeff and myself aside. Looking at me she said, “If it wasn’t for you, he wouldn’t be here. And, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here.” That’s how legacies are made, one generation to the next.
The old adage is true. “You can count the seeds in an apple, but you can’t count the apples in a seed.” When you teach, you never know how many lives you will influence…you are teaching for eternity.”
