Clarion 1976-09-17 Vol 52 No 02

              'Colorful Caravan'
returns after summer
of success in Europe
Ae*
by Denise Anderson
This summer eight people tra-velled
Europe presenting God's
word as part of Professor Rain-bow's
Colorful Caravan of Thea-tricals.
From May 27 to August 20, this
touring troupe crusaded through
Sweden, Germany, Turkey, and
other European nations, sharing
the Word with military personnel
stationed in these countries.
Dr. Rainbow described the
show as one of "mirth, melo-drama,
melody, and meditation."
The students who toured with
him were Linda Herrmann,
Michelle Fransen, Mary Frances
Fiess, Jeff Miller, Tim Zimmer-man,
Duane Glader, and Tim
Leafblad.
The gospel section of the per-formance
was preceded by a
melodrama, "He Ain't Done Right
By Nell," interludes of comical
merrymaking in the turn-of-the-century
style, and a selection of
fight songs of the army, navy,
marines, and air force.
Dr. Donald Rainbow originated
the Caravan two years ago and it
toured the United States during
the month of June in 1974 and
1975. This was the first year the
group went to Europe.
The group stated that the tour
was "super." Linda Herrmann
said, "The purpose of bringing
the promises of God was really
fulfulled in many ways. I just
heard good responses after the
shows."
"People were moved tremen-dously,"
said Tim Zimmerman.
They were inspired by the show.
It was beyond my imagination
how much God did through Cara-van."
The schedule over the three
months was heavy. The troupe
did one show a day, sometimes
two, with very few days off. Their
transportation varied from a
private jet, a C130 parachuting
plane, to vans and jeeps.
While on bases the group
usually stayed with American
service personnel — often Christ-ians
— spending that time
sharing with their guests.
The Caravan performed on
many different stages. Tim ex-plained,
"We played in bar
rooms, rec halls, chapels, ban-quet
halls, outside on flatbeds,
and everywhere. Whether listen-ers
were drunks, single GIs, or
married, everyone showed great
respect for the show and for what
we said at the end."
The cast was thankful for their
health. Mary Frances said, "I
learned a lot about the Lord's
healing power. Around the sec-ond
week of the tour I was having
problems with my voice.
"I really wanted to ask the Lord
to heal me," Mary said, "but I
didn't have the faith. It seemed so
insignificant. One of my hosts
reminded me that it only took
faith the size of a mustard seed.
So I prayed, and I was healed.
"Michelle was having problems
with her back, and the Lord took
that pain away. It was a real bles-sing
and I learned a lot through
it."
Mary Frances said that the
audiences were glad that Caravan
wasn't a "do our show, then run
out and hit 'em with the gospel"
type. "I guess it was a lot of
planting and watering."
"I know of three cases," said
Linda, "where people accepted
Christ. Also • I have received
continued on p. 5
Clarion
Bethel College
St, Paul, MN
September 17, 1976
Nettleton interviewed
Enrollment problems discussed
by Bill Trollinger and Laura Alden Nettleton: Yes, they built the
budget on 1650.
Mack Nettleton, Director of Student Affairs
Every Bethel student is affect-ed
by the overcrowded situation
on campus this year. Because of
this, the Clarion interviewed Dr.
Mack Nettleton, Director of Stu-dent
Affairs, to clarify the Admin-istration's
stance on this issue.
Clarion: What is the exact enroll-ment?
Nettleton: Kids keep trickling in,
but we're going to come in at
1734, plus or minus five. When
official statistics come in, that
will shrink, and when go to
full-time equivalencies, it will
shrink even more.
Clarion: You're including every
student?
Nettleton: Yes. Even if a secre-tary
is taking one course, he or
she is included in that count.
Clarion: Now, the projection for
this year was 1650.
Clarion: Last year you said you
were going to hold at that figure.
What reasons are there for going
beyond that?
Nettleton: There are two basic
reasons. The President and the
Board think we have a good thing
‘,
. . . we have a
good thing going
at Bethel."
going at Bethel. We don't want to
deny access to Bethel to any
qualified student. That's one
thing. Also, there's the financial
aspect.
Thirdly, it must be realized that
the decision to let students come
past the number of 1650 allows
us to build the projected annex.
In my opinion, it is better to take
more students in so we can
create more space.
Finally, there is also the
momentum factor. We know that
in the late 1970s the "baby boom"
will be over, and there will soon
be less and less students availa-ble.
What you have to do is
stabilize the freshman class, and
thus establish a steady enroll-ment.
It isn't our freshman class
that has increased greatly; it is
our rate of retention. And we
can't very well say no to returning
students.
Clarion: But does the "baby
boom" theory really apply here?
Don't you think Bethel is growing
for other reasons too?
Nettleton: Let me give you my
personal opinion. I have this
theory that a school like Bethel
can have an enrollment between
1200 and 1800. Within those
limits, you can offer all the
courses and all the services that
you need to offer. It's big enough
and yet small enough. Of course,
continued on p. 6