What a privilege it is to be part of the mission of Streams of Light!
It was at an ASI convention in the summer of 2021 that I first met Oleg Lotca and heard about this ministry. My heart was immediately inspired and thrilled. Here was something bold, faith-driven, guided by inspiration — something everyone could be involved in — going out to the front lines and meeting people in their homes. I loved it right away and invited Oleg to come to Wildwood, where I was serving as head elder at the time, to share a mission report and inspire our students and staff.
At that time, I was Executive Vice President for Outpost Centers International and recruited Streams of Light to become a member of OCI. From then on, I followed the ministry with great interest and tried to help wherever I could.
In the spring of 2025, providentially, Streams of Light held a mission trip in my own backyard — Chattanooga, Tennessee — with the goal of sharing about 50,000 copies of The Great Controversy. The main base was the Wildwood SDA Church, where prayers, training, and nightly testimonies took place. I was extremely busy with work at the time, but I was able to free up one full day to participate from beginning to end with my wife and our two young daughters.
My daughters had never done door-to-door outreach before, so they were both nervous and excited. It turned out to be a life-changing experience. We worked our territory all day and experienced several divine appointments, signing up nine people for Bible studies. That evening, my girls were excited to share their experiences at the church.
The next day, I needed to return to the OCI office for meetings, so we had not planned to go out again. But my daughters begged my wife to take them back out. She was overjoyed to see their enthusiasm for evangelism. They had another amazing day filled with meaningful encounters and more Bible study interests. They went out a third day, and then, as a family, we all participated again on Sabbath. In just four days of outreach, my girls became very comfortable talking with people at the door. In fact, they were the most effective ones — no one could turn down those sweet faces!
The very next month, my term as an officer at OCI concluded, and I began praying earnestly about where God wanted me to serve next. Several wonderful ministries invited me to work with them, but the one burning in my heart was Streams of Light.
Without telling our daughters which options were before us, we simply asked which ministry they would like our family to join. Without hesitation, my oldest shouted, “Streams of Light!” My youngest immediately joined in, chanting, “Streams of Light! Streams of Light!” My wife and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes as we saw their excitement. I asked my oldest, “Why would you like to join Streams of Light, sweetie?” She answered, “Because I want to be part of sharing The Great Controversy in every home!”
At that moment, as I was seeking clear guidance from the Lord, I heard in my heart the words, “Out of the mouth of babes.” It was powerful evidence to my wife and me of where God may be leading. After seeing several other providences line up, we knew for certain that God wanted us to join Streams of Light, where I was called to serve as vice president of operations and campus director for the newest Streams of Light campus in the Gulf Coast region of southern Mississippi, on the former campus of Bass Memorial Academy.
In October, I moved to this campus with my family. It was a very surreal feeling to arrive at an empty campus of this size. We have over 300 acres of land, 8 large, commercial-quality school buildings prepared for 160 students, 12 staff homes, a large auditorium that can seat 1,500, and let me not forget the beautiful trails through the woods, large ponds for canoeing, and 35 acres of blueberries! We are strategically located in a beautiful country setting, one hour from the coast and within a 2-hour drive to 5 different major metropolitan centers. God has used this property for 60 years to train high school students and has now opened the way for it to be repurposed for Streams of Light to use as an evangelism training center for the South.
The Gulf States Conference is what God has used to open this door of opportunity. Since my arrival, the leaders of this conference have been nothing short of amazing to work with. The spirit of unity, cooperation, and friendship is so inspiring to me. This property has been the location for many years for the Gulf States camp meeting, and it will continue to be so, but newly revisioned. The conference has involved us in a big way in choosing the theme, speakers, schedule, and overall program. The gathering will be at the same location but will look different in many ways. For starters, it will be an evangelistic event where we invite all of our local contacts and advertise to the whole community. It is being promoted not as a camp meeting but as “The Bible Conference.” All are invited. The first 5 days we will be offering evangelism training for church members, and the last 5 days will be packed with informative and engaging seminars for all ages, plenaries, ministry booths, prayer, and powerful testimonies. This will be an annual event that we have worked into our evangelism cycle to engage the community and inspire our church membership toward ministry.
Please keep us in your prayers! We now have a campus presence in Mississippi of 10 staff members and 25 total individuals with family members included. There is a lot of work going on here to clean the place and fix things where needed. We are also working hard to prepare for our evangelism school, English for Mission course, and our vocational school, which are set to begin in August 2026. Please check out our website to learn more and stay tuned for additional information about these programs!
May God continue to bless and direct this work, and may we be keeping our eyes upward toward heaven as we work to hasten His return.
James Hartley
VP for Operations
Streams of Light International
