One Book Results in 700-Plus Being Baptized!

By Thelma Elizabeth Long and Rebecca Grice

Changes are being proposed that will modify the way literature evangelists sell and finance the truth-filled books and literature they leave in the homes of hundreds of families each week. These changes will also affect the way these dedicated workers are able to earn a living. What happens to the publishing work will be determined individually by each conference in the Southern Union.

Below, Thelma Elizabeth Long, administrative assistant for the Office of Education and Publishing, shares her family’s story. There are many stories such as this one that could be told. These stories are a reminder of the impact literature evangelists and the books they sell have had on thousands of people

and the Adventist Church. Please remember to keep our literature evangelists and the publishing work in your prayers.

It was a quiet day on the Tyson farm. The only sound besides the gentle swish of Lawrence’s straw broom on the sandy yard was the occasional call of a rooster or the distant mooing of the cows. Nothing exciting happened very often there. Suddenly a cloud of dust over the road and a faint rumble signaled that someone was approaching.

“Bob, Elbert, Jack,” Lawrence shouted. “Somebody’s coming to our house.” The three brothers came running, accompanied by their sister, Olive. A stranger arrived and walked toward the curious children.

“Hope’s my name,” he said with a smile. “Are your folks around?”

The children dashed off to find mother, daddy, and Aunt Thelma. Soon all of them surrounded Mr. Hope, who opened his briefcase and withdrew a strange-looking book. The page numbers were not consecutive, and it had a funny looking stripe along the back. It didn’t take long to discover that it was a religious book, Our Day in the Light of Prophecy. Unlike the hustling peddlers who occasionally stopped by, Mr. Hope, whose initials were LE (Literature Evangelist?) quietly closed his prospectus and explained the payment and delivery plan. The sale was made.

The Tyson family was a devout Freewill Baptist family. Their interest in spiritual things led to Bible studies, and in just a few weeks the entire family, including Aunt Thelma, was baptized. But, the story didn’t end there. Lawrence became a literature evangelist, working full-time for 15 years. His personal contacts resulted in 129 baptisms! He was very active in his church, and was a lay preacher until his death.

Bob became a minister, serving as a conference youth leader, education superintendent, academy principal, and district pastor. He served in Gulf States Conference as the education superintendent and

youth director in the ‘70s.

Olive met James Fulfer and insisted he be baptized before they were married. They attended Southern

Missionary College (now Southern Adventist University). James became a pastor and Olive a nurse. They served in many areas of the church organization as a pastoral couple. They were also missionaries in Haiti, Trinidad, and Africa.

Jack stayed close to the home place and was very active in the local church serving as the head elder for many years. Aunt Thelma was a literature evangelist and also served as assistant girls’ dean at Fletcher Academy until she retired. The total full-time service of that generation of the Tyson family is more than 200 years! The known baptisms from their combined efforts number more than 700! Most of that age group has passed away, but there are children and grandchildren who have taken up the torch of Church work.

Look what one book did. Eternity alone will give the final tally. Brother Hope will have a large number of people walk up to him in Heaven and say, “It was you who invited me here.” I do not always remember the name of the book Granddaddy Tyson bought that day, but I always remember the literature evangelist’s name. You see, Lawrence was my dad and because of Hope, I am a lifelong Seventh-day Adventist. A literature evangelist may never know the impact he or she has on the people they meet — but there will be some people one, two, and three generations down that will be in Heaven because God led a literature evangelist to their door.