Adventist University Moves to Preserve Decades of Student Missionary Stories

For nearly six decades Southern Adventist University students have answered calls to serve as student missionaries around the world. Now, thanks to a recent project by McKee Library called Living Memoirs: An Oral History Collection, their stories are being preserved for generations to come.

The initiative captures firsthand accounts from Southern’s student missionaries dating back to the program’s inception in 1967, including the joys, challenges, and spiritual growth that come from sharing Christ’s love across cultures.

“We wanted to let our students and alumni tell their experiences of the mission field authentically in their own words,” shares Bethany Thornton Howard, public services librarian, who led the project.

Under Howard’s guidance and with technical support from Research Services librarian Jessica Spears, dozens of missionaries were interviewed by graduate research assistants Ali Leonor and Savanna Gregory Stowell in an effort to create a collection that highlights how missionary service shapes the lives, faith, and callings of those who participate.

Being Transformed

The interviews capture deeply personal accounts of former missionaries, many of whom credit those experiences with deepening their faith and setting them on lifelong paths of mission work or service-oriented careers.

Harry Nelson, who graduated from Southern in 1970 and whose story marks one of the earliest in the collection, credits his time as a missionary in Borneo with shaping his entire life’s direction.

“The rich experience I had . . . was just a stepping stone into not only enjoying a professional career as a medical missionary but also being a supporter of our worldwide Seventh-day Adventist work,” he says. “I value my student missionary experiences as foundational.”

Marty Miller, who graduated in 1983, accepted a call to teach on Majuro in the Marshall Islands during the early 1980s. Miller remembers the diversity of learning abilities in one classroom. “It was pretty staggering,” he says. “Teaching was not easy, but it was one of the best experiences of my life.” Miller credits his career in education to his formative experience in Majuro.

Nearly a decade later Lori Pettibone Futcher taught at the same school as Miller, and her experience on the island also provided life lessons. “It was a chance for me to really grow up and mature,” she explains. “It solidified that God did have a purpose for me, and I began to understand more about listening to the Holy Spirit.”

Changing Lives Today

The collection also includes more recent voices, such as Kasey Castellanos, who graduated in 2026. Early in her life her younger brother passed away because of medical complications, which took a toll on her spiritual life. Though she reconnected with God in high school, Castellanos still felt something was missing. A mission year to begin her college experience changed everything. Serving at Familia Feliz, a Bolivian boarding school for orphaned and abused children, she learned to rely fully on God.

“There were days I was so physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted that I had to ask Him to give me the strength to go play with kindergarteners for hours,” Castellanos says. “It’s a lot easier now to ask God for help and for strength than before I went abroad.”

For Castellanos, some of the most meaningful moments came from forming strong connections with the children. “One student told me she never really felt like she was relating to anyone on staff until she met me,” Castellanos recalls. “That’s when I realized that my time in Bolivia wasn’t for nothing. My tears and laughter were all part of God using me to bless those kids.”

Preserving a Spiritual Heartbeat

Interviews in Living Memoirs: An Oral History Collection are preserved through audio recordings and transcripts, offering an inspiring glimpse into Southern’s mission tradition and ensuring these experiences continue to impact future generations.

The original version of this story was posted on the Southern Adventist University news site.