One of the uniquenesses of the ND’s was our combination of music and preaching. While we were contemporary in our approach, we were orthodox in our message. As we often explained to people: “Our message is sacred and must never change—but our method is not sacred and must always be open to change.” So God allowed us to be one of His “change agents” to introduce a new paradigm of ministry long before a lot of other people were combining contemporary music with an evangelical message—and especially in an interracial context! Even though we did not always get the balance exactly right— we always struggled with it.
There is a leadership principle that says: “You teach what you know but your attract and reproduce who you are.” I believe that’s true. So because God called me first and foremost to be a proclaimer of the Gospel, many young men and women emerged in the NDs with the same spiritual gifts. It was in the NDs that they discovered, developed and deployed their spiritual gifts in the area of preaching. As a result, the NDs became a training ground not only for a lot of Christian musicians but also for a lot of preachers. To the best of my count, several dozen young men and women went on to become preachers in their days after leaving our ministry. Some were led into the local church as pastors…others went into youth work…some ministered through para church organizations…others went into evangelism…yet others went to the foreign mission field.
In addition, we always believed and taught that every Christian worth his or her salt and light was a minister. That’s because Christ called all of us to be “full time Christian workers.” It matters not whether one was a teacher, doctor, lawyer, computer technicians, carpenter, media person or stay-at-home moms—all authentic Christians are to be ministers. So we rejoice in all of the vocations that NDs have gone into to flesh out their faith!
However, it has been fun this past year to be with several of our alumni who are “vocational Christian workers.” As Patt and I got to go hear them preach and minister, it brought us great joy and satisfaction. They have become great preachers, teachers, pastors, evangelists and writers who have gone on from “strength to strength in the Lord” (Ps. 84:7).
So enjoy these few pictures of some of our pastors and preachers we have had the joy of sitting under this past year (there are many others but I did not have my camera handy!). And in our next ND Alumni update we will focus on some of the musicians—so be watching and listening!
Finally, thanks so much to those of you who are interacting with us on this site. Also for the assistance some of you are giving us to find the location and contact information on some of our “missing members.” Keep it coming. We love hearing from you…
Rev. Kirk Reid (black robe), JL and Rev. Jamie Reid when Kirk preached the anniversary at his home church in Burlington. Both he and his brother, “Jamie,” were two of the earliest members of the ND’s back in the late 1960’s. Kirk now pastors a United Methodist Church in Charlotte and Jamie preaches locally.
JL between Dr. Tony Torain (right) and his brother, Rev. Scotty Torain (left), when they recently “team preached” at their home church near Mebane, Lattisville Grove Missionary Baptist Church. Tony was in the ND’s for a number of years and pastors a Church of God in Christ in Maryland. Scotty is the Missions and Evangelism pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist in Greensboro.
JL with Maggie & Duffy Robbins at the National Youth Worker’s Convention in Indianapolis where we team taught on mentoring. Maggie also did a seminar around her book, Enjoy the Silence, on Christian Meditation.
Chaplain David Morrow and his wife Vicky after he preached the 100th Anniversary of his home church near Chapel Hill.
It was a joy to have several of our other alumni present when David preached (left to right): David, Sam Burnett, J.L., Joe LeCompte, John ‘bassman’ Fraser, Herbert Spruill (center).
J.L. and Pastor Scotty Smith from Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee, when he made an unexpected visit to our home.
In His Faithful Love,
PS: Don’t forget to hold the first weekend of August on your calendar for our BIG “40th Anniversary Celebration” in Burlington at our International Headquarters!
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.
Although I have shared my feeling in a casual way regarding my recent travels with you to Kenya and Zimbabwe, I wanted to reflect further…
As the calendar continues to flip inexorably, it becomes more obvious that the wonderful memories of the past were necessary steps to arrive at “today in Christ”. With age comes the joy of nostalgia and the remembrance of all the great people that I know now God put together. I remember fondly the late sixties and early seventies and how you and my contemporaries shaped my life. To be reunited with you for sixteen days was a true blessing (a blessing with fatigue!!) and it also made me miss all the old NDI friends. I wish we had all been there together. It was also good to bond in ministry with Bill, Daniel, and Wells.
Toward the end of the trip we all responded to your question of what things, to us, stood out the most. My response went immediately to the people we encountered. Indubiiyo, the lady outside Korr, reflected Christ more than anyone I had ever experienced. I really don’t think we needed the interpreter when she shared her testimony. The children (especially Tawella), touched my heart and God’s message was that you are looking at those that will be first in the Kingdom. The pastors and teachers in Hwange spoke to me with such a strong voice, even without words. As I have returned to the “not so real world” from my Kingdom Adventure, I remain focused on people like Simon Mkolo, Godfrey, and Francis. These individuals are significant. The message that resounds in my heart is to seek significance rather that success.
There is great peace having seen first hand the significance of a small portion of the NDI ministries. I have always been able to support the ongoing efforts of NDI in full confidence, knowing that I could never get more “bang for the buck” from my stewardship. It is a blessing to witness the wise use of resources and time that are producing a significant harvest for the Kingdom.
Lastly, and of significant impact, was the realization of the future of the Ministry efforts. Seeing the leadership that has grown in Africa was rewarding. Seeing the future in the hands of a new generation of believers like Joseph, Matt, and Daniel, et al, was comforting. It is definitely “all good”.
God be praised for allowing these joyful reflections,
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.
...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. 
