“It was a great joy to reconnect with Rev. Don Lloyd and Mollie at our recent “40th Anniversary Celebration.” They are now pastoring the Centenary UMC in Greensboro, so we hope to see much more of them in the months ahead. Don was the drummer for NDI and Mollie was a singer and soloist. We rejoice in their faithfulness to the Lord and to His church locally and globally.”
JL & Patt
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Patt and I want to thank each of you who made the effort to be with us for this historic “40th Anniversary Celebration.” For those who could not make it, I hope these pictures (40th Anniversary Celebration Pictures) give you some of the highlights of the weekend. They are located under the “Alumni” tab. Also, be sure to place your cursor on the pictures to read the accompanying captions (unfortunately we did not get pictures of the following alumni: Alicia Timmons, Danny and Heather Bunzey, Wally Kernodle, Donnie Lloyd, Dick Orcutt, Teresa Billings, Kathy Fuqua and Martha Denny).
We also hope you will join us for our next BIG celebration on November 22nd—our delicious feast and time of thanksgiving for all God has done for us, and for where we believe He is leading us.
Finally, begin to pray with us about making an alumni and friends get-together an annual event where various ND pastors and Christian leaders will speak, ND musicians will lead in worship and those involved in global missions will bring updates. There were so many who attended who did not get a chance to share what they are doing today. That was a big frustration and one that we hope can be alleviated by yearly get-togethers.
Please visit the web sites of the various ones who shared about their ministries. I also hope you will visit my personal blog regularly to see the other “slide shows” we featured throughout the weekend. They will be posted in the days and weeks ahead and will focus on:
*Old Promo Pictures
*Concert Pictures: “An Action Experience in Christian Love”
*Easter on the Beach
*CBN TV Shows
*ND Musicians
*Early ND Mission Trips
*ND Lifetime Friendships
I also urge you to read the following stories that will be posted in the near future:
*Pictures of Barry Fincher in the medical helicopter he curently flies
*The brief video prepared by Dr. Jim Seymour, who accepted the Lord through our outreach in Bridgeport, Connecticut with Dr. Leighton Ford
*The slide show of Steve “Fuji” Allen with me on a recent mission trip to Kenya and Zimbabwe
God bless you all. Your presence and encouragement was a wonderful blessing!
Serving the Lord with you!
J.L. and Patt
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Posted by Admin at 03:15 PM.
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Dear NDI Alumni,
Hello to everyone! J.L. is presently in Africa (Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia), so I get to invade his space! We wanted to thank all of you who sent Christmas cards, letters and pictures. They brought us many smiles to see how nicely everyone is aging 
...was that tactful enough? Soon, with the help of alumnus, Randy Durham, and his son, Caleb, you will be able to insert updated pictures and information on J.L.‘s blog.
Please begin now by registering on our Alumni Blog. Right now, we are going to begin by showing you the photos we received this year.
Tom Coble (Board Member)
Kim Daniel
Children of Alumni Woody and Nancy Lamm
Duffy and Maggie Robbins
Quincy Love Warner
Dan Apple
Karen Youngblood James
Jack Franck (Board Member)
Walt (Bubba) Harber
Tony Holt
Larry Warren
Susie Bright Eberhard
Hope Newman Kemp
David and Cathy Horner
Rhymer Alumnae
Tracy Ellen and Michael Mcshea
Secondly, Sam and Alesia Burnette hosted an after Christmas party (December 27th) at their home again this year. What a fun time! If any of you are in town next Christmas, please put that event on your calendar. We’ve enclosed pictures from that grand evening as well.
Finally, be watching for details on our 40th year celebration during the first weekend of August. Now is the time to set aside the date, and please start going through your old pictures. We need some good laughs!
Love to you all, and thank you for your prayers for J.L. and his ministry time in Africa,
Patt
Sam and Alesia Burnette
Vicky and David Morrow
John and Jane Fraser
Joel and Sonia Leath
Nancy and Woody Lamm
Joe Lecompte and his sons
The Mark and Martha Denny Family
Natasha and Leah Smith
Tony Torrain and Joel Leath
Melva Bobbitt, Alesia Burnette, Martha Denny
Dick Orcutt, Sonia Leath, Sheila Orcutt, Sarah Rogers, Rhonda Truitt
Joel Leath, Dick Orcutt, Tony Torain, John Fraser
The next generation listening to Danny Burnette play his guitar.
Joel Leath, Sam Burnette, Tony Torain
John Fraser, Rhonda Truitt, Sarah Rogers
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Posted by Admin at 10:46 PM.
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Dear ND Alumnus,
Can you believe it?! We are now 40 years old as a ministry! It blows my mind to realize that we have now existed for 4 decades! During that time we spiritually evolved from the Y Teen Caravan...to The New Directions...to New Directions Ministry...to the New Directions Evangelistic Association...to New Directions International.
But regardless of the alterations of our name, the essential spiritual DNA of NDI has never changed. We have always been “Interdenominational, interracial, inter-cultural and international.” What started out as a musical “Action Experience in Christian Love” primarily focused in America, has become a “Kingdom Adventure” that has literally expanded to scores of other countries around the world!
I continue to minister from the firm foundation that you all helped me pioneer in the late 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. It was our combination of being contemporary, evangelical and interracial that opened doors for us in foreign countries - beginning in Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti, the Cayman Islands, Canada, the Bahamas and Germany. Soon calls came from Africa and Asia. Now NDI is regularly involved in over 25 countries around the world – and it expands yearly into new countries.
It was our pioneering ministry of discipling and mentoring high school and college students through the medium of music that led us to the new mission paradigm of partnership with key national leaders in other countries. So there is an unbroken line connecting you ND Alumni as Christian leaders in every walk of life to the hundreds of strategic national leaders we are mentoring and ministering with in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
Because of you, God has literally taken me from Alamance County to around the world - from Timbuktu to Kathmandu...from Zimbabwe to Zanzibar...from Burma to Bhutan...from Hong Kong to Holland...from Singapore to Sri Lanka...from Tibet to Tanzania...from Ethiopia to Eretria...from Malaysia to Mainland China. And new doors in other countries open for us on a monthly basis.
As many of you know, last year when I turned 65 I passed the baton of CEO to my son, Joseph. His organizational skills and leadership have freed me up even more to travel, preach, teach, mentor and write. At 66 I am anything but retired! My travel and ministry schedule is busier than ever. But with 10 active and growing grandchildren I am also really enjoying my role as “Pop” (I hope you received our annual Family Christmas Card, or saw it on line). Many of you as grandparents understand this joy also.
So during our “40th Anniversary” year, I wanted to do my best to reconnect with our alumni family through this new web site. We will be posting new pictures, stories and memorabilia on it weekly. And because this will be an interactive site, we want you to also share pictures, memories and family updates with us.
Finally, we have set aside the first weekend of August as a special “ND Alumni Reunion”. So please mark the dates of August 1-3 for this special get together. We will have musical concerts, multi-media presentations (old CBN shows), testimonies and “sermonettes” from some of our pastors and preachers. And we also want you to bring your children so we can pass on the spiritual DNA of NDI to them also.
Thanks again for your 40 years of love, prayers, friendship and partnership…
In His Faithful Love,
J.L. Williams, Founder and Chief Ministry Officer
PS: Immediately after the “Alumni Reunion” weekend, many of us will be going to Haiti to dedicate the “Charles Alston Memorial Church” - and we want as many of you and your children to go as possible! I will be sharing more about this in the weeks ahead.
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