Page 12 - February 2018 | Catalyst Magazine

Stephen ManleyContinued from previous pagewith Delphine. As young Steve and Van- gie attended high school, Delphine es- tablished and administered the o ce for Stephen Manley Evangelistic Associa- tion (SMEA), based out of their home in Upland, Indiana. It was only after Steve joined the army and Vangie graduated high school that Delphine joined Stephen back on the road. e international arm of SMEA began in February 1985, continuing for the next fteen years. Stephen and Delphine dedicated nearly three months of every year to international evangelism, travel- ing throughout Africa, Central and South America, and Europe. In 1989 they spent six months within nine di erent countries in Africa. ese trips often consisted of pastoral training during the day and evan- gelistic meetings in the evenings.In addition, the Manley’s began an evan- gelist intern program, taking young men and women on the road with them during the summer months. e emphasis of the intern program was on practical ministry as well as Biblical training and transfor- mation. e interns would minister to the children and teens at the summer camps and church meetings Stephen preached at, while attending a daily one-hour train- ing with Stephen that included sessions on: theology, evangelism, saturation Bible study, practical ministry, and sermon prep- aration. For the next twenty years over 65 interns experienced life on the road with Stephen and Delphine Manley – seeing holiness, a servant-hearted lifestyle, and evangelism lived out in day-to-day liv- ing. Since the program’s inception in 1987, Stephen had a desire to begin a one-year school of practical ministry that would in- vest, train, and mentor a new generation of people called to ministry. His desire was12 CityLight.orgto give individuals an opportunity to learn how to study the Word, experience growth and transformation, and provide practical ministry training within a needy commu- nity. However, the desire for the school would have to percolate for a few years.In 1986, Nazarene Bible College invited the Manleys to teach at the school, even with their busy preaching schedule. Dur- ing winter semesters, Stephen and Del- phine would live in their RV in Colorado Springs so Stephen could teach Monday night through Wednesday morning and then catch a ight to preach at a revival meeting Wednesday night through Sun-day. Delphine was also an adjunct profes- sor teaching under Verla Lambert in the Women’s Study Series during several of those NBC years between 1986 and 1992. e Lord soon pointed Stephen and Del- phine toward Tennessee. In December of 1998, they responded to the Lord’s lead- ing and moved SMEA’s ministry head- quarters from Upland, Indiana to Leba- non, Tennessee; not realizing at the time that this would become the location of the practical ministry school Stephen had long felt a divine stirring over.february 2018