Michael Sullivan - Biography and Testimony - Written 5/8/01

I was born in Philadelphia in 1947. Raised Roman Catholic, I attended parochial grade school but changed to a public high school in 1961 due to lack of funds. After my father died in 1963, I became an agnostic. No one could assure me where my father was after death and I assumed you could not know. As a sophomore in high school at the time of his death, it was a very unsettling event in my heart. In 1965 I left home in New Jersey and became a student at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. In my opening classes, I was taught that man was the product of evolution. With that in view, atheism became the next logical step. Despite all the knowledge, something was missing from life. In my third year, students from a local Bible College began to speak to me about the claims of Jesus Christ and His death for my sins. The number one question in my heart was that if this was true, the majority of the world was lost. That was an unacceptable statement to an intellectual. Though seeking initially to disprove it, I began to read the claims of the Bible for myself. It became evident to me after awhile that I was fighting against God Himself. It was at a missions conference I realized Jesus Christ was not a western god but the creator God of all men and that He died for all, regardless of ethnic or national background. Jesus Christ became my personal Savior on January 29, 1968. I realized He died for me and paid the price for my sins in full. He came to pay a debt He did not owe, so that I could be free from a debt I could not pay. Through faith in Jesus Christ, I became a child of God with an eternal inheritance. In a second of time, I also began a new life and journey of love as I began to understand the Bible and walk in communion with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

As I began to share my faith on the University Campus, I also became keenly aware of my need to know more about His word. I transferred to Florida Bible College and then returned to graduate from the University in 1972. It was in my last year at Bible College that I became deeply interested in a classmate named Virginia Johnson. She had the same heart that I did for being used of God and we became engaged and married. I graduated from Bible College, was ordained into the ministry, and married all within 8 days.

The Lord directed us to do youth work in Pennsylvania for a year and then took us back to Florida where I became the Registrar and a teacher at the Bible College. From the moment I was saved, missions was on my heart. After 3 years of teaching and several years of working with churches and doing Bible conferences and itinerant speaking engagements, we were challenged to consider working with New Tribes Mission. We have been working with this Mission and at this location in Jackson, Michigan for the last 19 years.

I have held various positions at the school including, Dean of Men, Dean of Students, Admissions Coordinater, and Business Manager. In all of these years my first love has been teaching the Bible semester after semester. We have had a part here in the teaching and training of 1500 lives. Many of them are scattered around the globe both in the 20+ countries in which New Tribes operates and with several other mission boards as well. Many who have remained in the U.S. have also gone on into some form of full-time work. Others have become valuable lay persons in their local churches.

Currently, in addition to teaching, I am working with the Curriculum Development Team in revising and overseeing the school curriculum.

Current projects and responsibilities include: Overseeing and developing the flow of the curriculum of the Bible Institutes The development of a new curriculum for communicating the truths of Biblical morality to a postmodern generation The development of curricula on prayer, small group interaction dynamics, and Evidential Apologetics

In addition to the newer projects I have been revising all of my present courses for use with Power Point media. I have converted Hebrews, Life of Christ, and Old Testament History courses to the new media and will be working on Corinthians and Pentateuch this coming summer and Fall Semester.

Speaking in local churches and missions conferences and itinerant speaking at various churches around the country takes up many weekends and hours of preparation. Several unique series for churches and conferences have been developed as a result of these opportunities. The most current project which is being developed for a local church in Jackson is a special series on the Love of God.

One additional challenge is the possibility of developing greater writing skills. I am praying for God's direction as to whether or not I should begin writing more in the days to come.