Grand Rapids 2.0: Students Lead Comprehensive Evangelism Push Across Michigan’s Second-Largest City
From July 12 to 19, Streams of Light Training Institute’s Comprehensive Evangelism students led a citywide outreach effort in Grand Rapids and Holland, Michigan. Their goal was to distribute thousands of copies of The Great Controversy while connecting residents with opportunities to study the Bible.
Hosted at the Grand Rapids Wyoming Seventh-day Adventist Church in partnership with the Michigan Conference, the mission served as the launch of SOLTI’s five-month City Mission campaign. Students were entrusted with nearly every part of the mission trip operation, including logistics, registration, programming, media, volunteer coordination, follow-up, and field leadership.
By the students’ count, the week resulted in approximately 286 Bible study interests. About 120 volunteers registered, with between 80 and 100 missionaries serving on any given day.
Laurelbrook Academy alone contributed more than 50 volunteers. On one day, two of its young missionaries received 17 Bible study interests between them. Morgan Tyler, a SOLTI student who helped coordinate programming, described hearing how the young people were having “mountaintop experiences with the Lord” as they stepped out in faith and witnessed Him working through them.
Willow Metzger, a SOLTI student who served as registration secretary and music coordinator, reported that the outreach in Holland generated more than 200 Bible study interests. She described encountering “ripe, ripe souls—ripe fruit just ready to be gathered.”
Adapting Under Pressure
The students’ plans were tested before the mission officially began.
Noah Cirigliano, a SOLTI student who worked in registration alongside Metzger and participated in follow-up visits in Kentwood, recalled learning that the original host location was no longer available the night before the mission was scheduled to begin.
Missionaries were already arriving, and the team urgently needed a facility from which to operate for the coming week. God opened the way through the Grand Rapids Wyoming Seventh-day Adventist Church, whose members welcomed the mission on extremely short notice.
Although the available space and kitchen arrangements required the team to make significant adjustments, the students saw God provide what was needed. The unexpected change immediately placed them in a real-life leadership situation in which they had to communicate clearly, adapt quickly, and continue moving forward.
Another major challenge arrived when smoke from Canadian wildfires settled over the area. Air-quality concerns forced the team to reconsider portions of the outreach schedule and limit the amount of time missionaries could safely spend outside.
The interruption slowed literature distribution and made the original goal more difficult to reach. However, the students refused to view the altered schedule as wasted time. Instead, they reviewed Bible study interests collected during the previous year’s Grand Rapids mission and visited former contacts. Several individuals renewed their requests to study the Bible, demonstrating the value of returning to homes and continuing the relationships begun through earlier outreach.
David Sergent, a SOLTI student who managed vehicle logistics, said the experience taught the students to “rely on the Lord for what we do in situations when we really don’t have an idea.”
Learning to Lead
For many of the students, the week called upon their leadership abilities as much as their evangelistic training.
Tyler said the experience showed her how important personal organization becomes when an entire team is depending on you. He especially valued the opportunity to experience the realities of conducting a mission trip—from preparing schedules and coordinating programs to working directly with missionaries in the field.
The week demonstrated that leadership requires careful preparation, flexibility, dependability, and a willingness to continue learning when circumstances do not unfold as expected.
Metzger said the mission strengthened leadership, organization, communication, timeliness, coordination, and cooperation—skills she expects to carry with her throughout her life.
Johnny Henderson, VP of Ministries for Streams of Light International, said experiences like Grand Rapids are an essential part of preparing students for future responsibility.
“Students cannot be fully prepared for leadership in the classroom alone,” Henderson said. “They need opportunities to make decisions, solve problems, work with people, and remain faithful to the mission when circumstances change. Hands-on experiences like this give them the practical preparation, maturity, and confidence they will need to step into leadership roles and help carry the work forward.”
Seth Wickham, a SOLTI student who was assigned to logistics and team organization, moved throughout the week between door-to-door outreach, follow-up calls, and teaching basic outreach training to local church members on Sabbath afternoon.
One of the mission’s most memorable experiences came after Wickham had spent part of the day struggling to find anyone willing to engage in a meaningful conversation. Feeling discouraged, he prayed for God to give him a divine appointment so unmistakable that there could be no question who had arranged it.
At the very next door, Wickham introduced a health magazine that addressed stress, anxiety, and depression.
The woman immediately interrupted him.
“How did you know?” she asked.
She then began sharing the overwhelming pressures and health challenges she was experiencing. Wickham listened and prayed with her, recognizing that God had led him to that home at exactly the right moment.
Gabriel Zafiu, a SOLTI student who served behind both a camera and a soundboard, documenting outreach teams while keeping the church’s audiovisual equipment operating for the evening meetings. The responsibility sometimes meant missing meals to ensure that the sanctuary was prepared. He said the experience reinforced how much every person depended upon the others for the mission to function effectively.
Together, these responsibilities gave students more than an opportunity to observe leadership. They required the students to practice it—making decisions, supporting one another, responding to challenges, and learning to depend more fully upon God.
The Essential Work of Follow-Up
Many students agreed that follow-up was one of the most difficult and necessary parts of the mission.
Sergent said one of his most valuable lessons was learning to build relationships through repeated contact rather than relying upon a single visit. The work did not end when someone requested Bible studies; it required continued communication, personal visits, and genuine concern for the individual.
Wickham described the challenge of keeping pace with a rapidly growing spreadsheet of contacts. At one point, he became concerned when a Bible study contact suddenly stopped responding to text messages. Rather than assuming the person had lost interest, Wickham drove to the home to check on them and discovered that the individual’s phone had simply broken.
The experience illustrated why meaningful follow-up cannot be reduced to names and numbers. Each entry represented a person whose interest needed to be cultivated through patience, prayer, and personal attention.
By the end of the week, the mission’s results reflected what students and volunteers had experienced from door to door: approximately 286 Bible study interests, many new missionaries gaining practical experience, and an outreach effort that continued despite smoke-filled skies.
Thousands of homes received Packets of Hope, but the mission’s impact extended beyond the literature distributed and interests collected. Students learned to lead, missionaries learned to depend more fully upon God, and local workers were given new opportunities to continue cultivating relationships throughout the community.
Through the continued work of the Holy Spirit and the faithful efforts of local laborers, the seeds planted during Grand Rapids 2.0 now have the opportunity to grow into decisions for eternity.
