By Sarah Strub
BIG SANDY--I was born in Big Sandy and have been a member of this WCG congregation for the past 29 years.
My mother's family, the Jerry and Georgia Chalupa family, then from Austin, Texas, kept their first Feast of Tabernacles in Big Sandy in 1965. Thus began a long tradition of attending the Big Sandy Feast site.
As Dr. Schnippert mentioned in his Dec. 12 message to our congregation, it wasn't great tourist attractions that brought people to Big Sandy for the Feast. And it certainly wasn't bug-free, dry, comfortable camping that kept us coming.
Instead, I believe it was the great fellowship we looked forward to. In the campground we shared food and fellowship with new and old friends. People stayed to talk for hours before and after services. And who can forget the sound of thousands of Feastgoers singing hymns together?
In 1967, my mother, Dana Chalupa, attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy. She worked at the press, and was involved in the beginnings of the church in the Spanish-speaking region. She helped print the Spanish-language magazine and other literature.
While working, she got to know Delmer Rehak, a church employee at the press. They were married in 1968 and made their home in Big Sandy. I was born a year later.
My earliest memories of the Ambassador campus are of church services conducted there. I remember lying on a blanket in church looking at legs and shoes in every direction.
I appreciate meeting in such a beautiful facility over the years. Members had free access to the lake, the basketball and tennis courts, the library, the golf course and other facilities.
Like many Big Sandy members, I have worked at the university in several jobs. I worked side by side with my grandfather, my mother, my father and my sister, Karon Rehak, at different times over the years.
The beauty of the campus reflects thousands of hours of loving labor. That legacy makes us proud, and creates a bond between us and the campus that will always stay with us.
Ambassador students added a special touch to the Big Sandy congregation. It did not seem strange to me to attend a congregation where a large percentage of the members were young people.
It didn't strike me as unusual to sit beside a person from India in church, or share a meal with an African. The students eagerly shared their cultures and perspectives with us. Many church members were adopted parents for students living far from home. The international students were especially precious to us.
I always dreamed of attending Ambassador, and I was able to fulfill that dream in 1988 and then again from 1994 to 1996. I am deeply grateful to the men and women who served the students. I grew in many ways, and was given an education that has served me well. Also, as I had hoped, I met my husband, George Strub, at Ambassador.
So now, Ambassador University, which has played such a pivotal role in my life, is gone. Moving our congregation off campus adds to the finality of the situation.
As I reflect on our experience here and our years of service, I wonder what God will do with us next. Dr. Schnippert delivered the following charge to our congregation: "The Worldwide Church of God ... charges said members and congregation to continue to preach the gospel and serve the household of God from whatever place and in whatever manner the Lord in his wisdom shall provide."
We eagerly look forward to carrying out this charge.
1953--The Redwood Building was the first building built. About 650 assemble for the Feast of Tabernacles. The Redwood Building later became Ambassador College's Roy Hammer Library.
1964--The Big Sandy campus of Ambassador College opens with 100 students.
1973--The first Worldwide News is published on the Ambassador campus. The WN was produced in Big Sandy until 1977, when the campus closed. Big Sandy members helped mail the WN.
1977--The Big Sandy campus closes.
1981--The Big Sandy campus reopens as a junior college.
1989--Big Sandy becomes a four-year college again.
1991--The Pasadena and Big Sandy campuses are consolidated in Big Sandy.
1997--Ambassador conducts its final graduation.
1999--The Big Sandy campus is sold, and the congregation moves to a rented facility in Gladewater.
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 1999