Melodyland Student Links

Want to see what some of the MST family is up to these days?  Here are some websites that teachers and students are affiliated with now.  I'll start with the new Melodyland Christian Center & their new school, Melodyland School of Ministry.  Then scroll down for reports in our Student News section.  (Updated 1/13/2008)

Write me with more web sites and I'll add 'em.

MST Student News:    

I just (January of '08) heard from Peter Tsukahira who discovered that we were looking for him.  He and his wife continue to live in Haifa, Israel.  He became an Israeli citizen in 1987, co-founded a local Messianic congregation that reaches out to both Jews and Arabs, and they direct a shelter for African refugees.  They also visited with Rob and Jo Williams in Virginia in "04.  You can learn more about their ministry by checking out their website at www.gods-tsunami.com. 

Both Roger Smith and Christiane Price Heyde wrote too.  Both were at MST in the late 70s with Roger studying for his MDiv from 78 to 79, and Christiane studying for her BA in Ministry from 78 to 80.  Roger tells of how he discovered that his calling was to business and education and ended up with two Masters degrees from Chapman University where he has taught organizational leadership in their Irvine campus since 1999.  He has been struck by how much God works in the lives of his students.  He is now working on his dissertation for a doctorate through Argosy Univ.  He calls San Clemente home but is temporarily holed up in Texas taking care of family business.

Christiane, now Heyde, moved to the California Christian Institute when it spun off MST, to study counseling and social work and today maintains a private counseling practice in Tucson.  She came to MST from her home land of Germany, is an occasional guest speaker in local churches and has filled her time with raising her adopted children.

Thanks to Roger we also have some clues to the whereabouts of Rory and Dianne Harris and former MST prof, Dr. Duc Nguyen.  He explains that Rory served St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach as ministers of youth but that a recent Google search showed a Rory Harris, as rector of St. James Episcopal in Prospect Park, PA.  Roger is trying to confirm that the two Rorys are the same guy.  As for Dr. Nguyen, Google shows the same name as professor of church history (certainly his field) with Union College of California, a school serving Vietnamese students.  Not confirmed yet, but the evidence is persuasive.

John Chiara wrote "I was in The MDiv. program from 1978 until I graduated in 1981. I have made contact with a couple of former students Vaden Horne, Kirk Zehnder, and Joe and Peggy Stroman. I'd love to hear from my class mates that may remember me. I usually played the drums for our monthly celebrations.  My wife Jeannie and I have been pastoring the San Bruno Church of God (Near San Francisco, Ca.) for the last 18 years.
 
Ron Cowper wrote "I was among the first about 120 students that met for Lou Sheldon's and Bob Whittaker's classes on Saturday mornings.  I finally received my BA in Biblical Studies in Jun 1978.  I did not take part in the commencement exercises due to a conflict with my work schedule."  His email is ronaco@verizon.net
 
Laurie Stansifer is hanging out with Bill and Robin Faris.  He explained "I am still going to Bill's church (well it actually belongs to Jesus, but He lets us hang out there), and recently moved to a condo in Mission Viejo, in south Orange County.  I work for the county and am co-leading a team from our church to a teenage girl's home in Morelia Mexico (about 4 hours from Mexico City) at the end of June. I went down for the first time last October, and left most of my heart there. I am very excited to go back." Reach him at las_p88@yahoo.com. 

A while back, I received a great email from Thomas Calhoun.  He was at MST from 1976 to '79 and is in Tulsa, OK from which he and his wife, Joan, minister frequently in Europe, Africa and Mexico.  He mentioned that his marriage in 1988 was officiated by Noel Weiss and that he recently had a kidney transplant.  Reach him at thefathersheart777@hotmail.com.

It was terrific to hear from Kushi (Hardin) Jones who is the Director of Career Services at California Baptist University, a job she "loves!"  She and her husband, EJ, live in Riverside and they are good friends with the sister of Gwen Blankenship (of Jim and...).  EJ is a high school special ed teacher and a coach for two sports.  Write Kushi at kjones@calbaptist.edu and check her out at the college's site www.calbaptist.edu/career.

Imagine my shock when Larry Johnson (75-78) sent me a picture of him, Jim Hough, an Air Force chaplain, and Dr. Jim Jenkins, a Navy chaplain and currently a pastor in Cottage Grove, Oregon, being recognized by the Foursquare denomination at one of their conventions.  They looked great but they seem a lot older than I remember them 30 years ago!  How could that be?  :-) He says Jim Melick, a hospital chaplain, was also at the convention.  Email Larry at johnsonlr@sbcglobal.net.

Speaking of Jim Jenkins, he got his doctorate at Jack Hayford's King's Seminary, the same place Dan Woodworth planned to get his D.Min. while pastoring a Foursquare church in Boise, Idaho with his wife, Irene.  He explained that he "would love to be able to go through the D.Min. program and actually document the change in crime rates, and solutions to other major problems in the Boise metro area.  You can reach the Woodworths at danwoodworth1@hotmail.com.  

Remember William Lau (1977-78)?  He and wife, Lucille, teach an end time model of evangelism through their ministry, The Elijah Challenge.  This after serving as missionaries in Indonesia and as pastors in New York and Texas.  TEC takes them around the world giving seminars to "gospel resistant peoples under the strongholds of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism."  Write him at williamlau@juno.com or check them out at www.TheElijahChallenge.org    

Butch and Linda Lambert (1978 to '80) are on the lookout for classmates Chuck and Judy Hooker and for Conrad and Janet Lawrence.  Butch is Senior Pastor at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas and they would love help finding these guys.  Contact them at teapot_01@sbcglobal.net. 

David Woolley remembers the great faculty at MST.  "I still consider myself blessed to have studied under guys like Walter Martin, Mike Esses, Rod Rosenblatt, John Montgomery and Hal Lindsey (although Lindsey only taught Sunday school).  Anyway, good memories."  He is also looking for Peter Hickman and asked about Beth Riddle.  Anyone know how to reach these two?  Write David at GLOBALVU@aol.com.

Were you at MST during 1975 to '78?  Then you should remember Thomas Sorenson cuz he was there then.  After school he served as a fire fighter, an EMT, and a building contractor, until he found his ministry in nursing.  Thomas really enjoyed MST, "especially the instructors.  It was truly a blessing to have attended the school"  These days he is wrapping up his masters degree in the Sacramento area.  Drop him a line at tsetialpha5@sbcglobal.net.  

Bill Bowlby (class of 1977) says finding the MST web site "was a blast from the past."   His email came from his son's home near me in Washington state and Bill informed me that several other MSTers reside in this neck of the woods, ie: Dane Babboni is in Seattle, as are Emit and Sarah Glanz who are still ministering into their 80s.  (At the time Don Macmillan lived in Tacoma, but Don wrote me that he was moving to Florida.)  Bill spent his career in law enforcement as a chaplain with the FBI, and with the Tacoma Police Department, and a local pastor.  At the time of his writing Bill and his wife, Leanne, were relocating to Tampa, Florida as part retirement and part further service as that area's FBI chaplain.  You can reach him at chaplainbill@gmail.com.

Anyone heard from Beth Riddle in the past year of so?  I've heard from several people who would love to connect with her.  She was in China for 15 years, serving in Tianjin (which means "gate to heaven") and her email addresses that I have evidently aren't current.  Please let me know if you are able to reach her.  mpelletier@comcast.net. Thanks.

Bill Price's web site doesn't appear to be working so we've, at least temporarily, lost the great pictures of old MST alums.  But if you'd like to contact Bill try him at bprice1949@hotmail.com .  Our thanks to Sam Fields for alerting us to the downed link.

Class of 1977 grad, Ted Freeman was an intern at Melodyland under Cecil Pumfrey and John Cairns and was sorry that he hadn't known about the reunion.  He writes, "being part of the MST family was an awesome time of discovery about the power and purpose of our Lord's dealings with our modern world.  Many trials and tribulations later, God is still faithful and He sits in power and majesty among His people."  He adds, "Gosh, I miss the old bunch."  If you were part of the "old bunch" with Ted, drop him an email.  He'd love to hear from you at teddonn@sbcglobal.net.  Ted has ministered in many churches and is now in Arlington, Texas with his wife, in a cell group ministry called Simply Church. 

Johnny Story writes to tell us about his work with the children of China most of whom are deaf.  His ministry provides hearing aids and parents weep when their children begin to hear.  See Johnny's website for more and for his incredible photograpy at  http://lighthouselimited-stepinlight.hcrcfocus.org/  or http://amazingcreationsgallery.com/ and you can email him at johnnystory7@operamail.com.

Carl Thompson attended MST in 1980-81 and is still continuing his education while entering retirement.  Let's all follow Carl's example and never quit learning.  He talked about the "long and winding road" since school and offered that he's "got quite a story to tell."  Carl enjoyed reminiscing over the MST web page list of old alums like David Owen and others he hadn't thought of in years.  He invites contact through his wife's email address, cindycw176@hotmail.com.    

Joe Zayek and Paul DeGagne recently participated in a pastors conference in Thailand.  Joe is a regular speaker at this conference as well as in many other countries.  This was Paul's first time at the Bankok event and he said it was life changing.

Larry and Val Yaughn's son writes to say that his parents live in Savannah, GA. (no address).  Larry works at the state Labor Department finding people jobs and Valerie is the head librarian at South College.  Their son's email address is Njymix@aol.com 

Carol Merriman says "I am a walking miracle!"  Reunion attendees may recall praying for Carol's health.  Well, right afterward she was given a body scan with the expectation that she would need surgery on her thyroid and chemo therapy.  The doctors found NOTHING and she was pronounced completely clean!  Praise God!!  Carol and Glen who pastored the Foursquare Church in Pacifica, CA. have relocated to Sun City, Arizona to enjoy a well earned rest after retiring from a life of service in pastoral ministry.

Doyle and Thelma Book are in Upland, CA following a long season of missionary service in Japan.  They would love to hear from you at bukkudesu@hotmail.com  or give them a call at 909-985-8201.

Ted Lawler (1980-83) writes to say that he has been pastoring in Temecula, CA since 1983 and he is looking into getting a doctoral degree.  You can reach Ted at Tslawler@cs.com 

This may be old new to many of you, but I just noticed that a book I've had for some time, Natural Church Development--A Guide to Eight Essential Qualities of Healthy Churches by Christian A. Schwarz of Germany was translated by Martin and Lois Wollin.

Larry Pesta is the minister at the Spiritual Enrichment Center in Peoria, AZ.  Ring him at 623-536-7620 or drop him a line at lpesta@fastq.com I also heard from Tara, the daughter of Danny and Kay Lynchard.  Danny is the head chaplain for the Tulsa Police Department and Kay lives in Horn Lake, MS. at 2622 Waverly Dr., Zip 38637.  She would welcome hearing from you.  

John and Debbie White wrote to tell us that they live with their 3 children in Kent, Ohio.  They went through some hard times at a previous ministry but are now happy members of Christian Life Center (AG) and involved with lots of ministries.  John works for Universal Electronics and Debbie is an RN for home health agencies and a local school.  John says he has wonderful memories of Dr. Rea, Dr. Williams, Ron Wright, Bill Sivigny, Steve Davis, Dave and Ruth Dorman and others.  They were recently visited by Jerry and Betty Anderson, currently of Nebraska, and John attests that Jerry's sense of humor is as "wild" as ever.  The White's email address is help@UEIC.com 

John White also said that Gene Green is now an associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College near Chicago.  You can reach Gene at gene.l.green@wheaton.edu 

For those of you asking about David Owen, he wrote that he continues to work as a naturalist in his hometown of Durham, North Carolina.  He can be found at riverdave1@aol.com 

Finally, where in the world is Greg Salazar?  I ran across an article from a Greg Salazar from South Africa.  In it he references Spain.   I dropped him an email but he hasn't replied so I'm not sure its the same Greg.  Those of you who knew him better might want to help out.  His email address is listed as dgregsalazar@sprintmail.com.  Let me know if you connect with OUR Greg Salazar.  

AT LAST!!!  We finally have some info on Greg Salazar.  I just got an email from Randy Ketelsen (class of 1977), one of the old timers who hung out with Greg Fitch and the interns at MCC.  He played a big part in Greg's life and says after MST, Greg worked for Spain's National Symphony and had two kids.  Randy and Greg still get together every couple years with Greg's family in Ventura.  Randy gave Greg's email address as gsalahaun@hotmail.com and asked that old buddies write to extend friendship and encouragement to Greg.   

And Randy, himself, is busy making movies in Mexico.  He requests that anyone who knows Mexico and it's culture or is involved in any kind of ministry or business there contact him at randelsen@hotmail.com because "I am going to film two movies there for the big screen, a comedy and an action-adventure film.  I am also hoping to do some...modernization projects there with the profits to improve life in Mexico."  If you know the ins and outs of Mexico, drop Randy a line.  These last two paragraphs were updated 10/8/07

I'll update this page periodically as you give me news to report so drop me a line!

With affection for times past and passion for eternity future,  Your web page host, Mark Pelletier
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