Explo
’72 was sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ and took place June 12-17 in
areas around Dallas, TX.
I was a few months shy of my 16th birthday. I went with a group of perhaps twenty to
thirty other kids, on my first bus ride, about a five-hour trip.
If all the others were like me, then age has only improved
the Christian behavior of the attendees.
At 15 I wanted to do good and be good.
I wanted to tell people that God loved them. The only problem, the person trying to
express these laudable insights was me! --
an immature, self-centered (by
nature), awkward teenager. Someone who
had little concept of cause-and-effect, and little understanding at how poorly
sarcasm and sniping behavior reflected on his so-called King and Prince of
Peace.
Thank God for the passage of time and the (somewhat
underused) growth and wisdom it can bring!
Apologies aside, the plan was to equip all of us
well-meaning youngsters with some evangelistic tools … to learn how to better
tell the world that Jesus loved them.
There were plenty of workshops and sitting-around discussions, of which
I remember very little.
This sticker was distributed to friends and family beforehand.
My copy is on the front of one of the books I
still own from that time,
Tales
of the Uncanny and Supernatural by Algernon Blackwood (talk about
creepy!).
Many evenings there were services in the Cotton Bowl; one
featured Billy Graham sermonizing.
There was a big concert on Saturday, June 17. Like many musical events of the 1970s, the concert
area was bordered by people hawking their wares.
One of the things I came home with -- one of the few items
that survive -- is this inflatable pillow.
I can’t recall if it was a freebie or if I paid a buck for it.
The Saturday
concert lasted many, many hours.
Our
group was only there during the middle of the day, for five or six of those
hours.
A few months later, an LP was assembled from some of the
performances. I don’t know if all of
these numbers came from the Saturday concert, or if some were recorded during
musical parts of the nightly sessions at the Cotton Bowl.
After we came home, we were able to send off a request for
the LP. Here’s the link to a download of
a CD burned from my copy:
01
- Johnny Cash - I
See Men as Trees Walkin’ 3:26
02 - Armageddon Experience - One Way 3:32
03 - Randy Matthews - Didn't
He 4:26
04 - Andraé Crouch & the Disciples - I'm
Satisfied 3:37
05 -Larry Norman
- Sweet Song
of Salvation 3:51
06 -Great Commission Company - Anticipation
3:05
07 - Danny Lee & the Children Of Truth - Spread a Little Love Around 2:54
08 - Connie Smith - Plenty of
Time 4:12
09 - Forerunners - Lord 2:48
10 - Willa Dorsey - I Have
the Joy in My Soul 2:40
11 - Love Song - A Love Song 5:34
12 - The Speer Family - The
King Is Coming 3:50
BONUS TRACKS
(from Love,
Peace, Joy - Myrrh)
13
- 2nd
Chapter of Acts - Love Peace Joy 2:30
14
- Malcolm
& Alwyn - Fool's Wisdom 3:05
15
- Eddie
Robinson - I Give My All to Thee 3:36
16
- Randy
Matthews - It Ain't Easy 2:37
17
- Love
Song - A Love Song 1:45
18
- Petra - Parting Thought
1:22
In a mechanism similar to the zip-open tabs seen on cereal
packaging, the LP had a flap the folded over from front-to-back and sealed shut
with a zip-off strip.
When you zipped the strip open to flip the flap to the right
and slide out the LP, there were a few more graphics under the part covered by
the folded-over flap.
It’s not surprising that the media noticed this mass
invasion of the Dallas area by Jesus freaks.
The general “establishment” view seems to have been, “at least they’re
getting together over something positive.”
The only press coverage that I clipped-and-saved was this Newsweek
article from its June 26, 1972.
As a student worker in the school library, I was uniquely equipped to
pick up on current trends.
It’s not the text of the article that made me keep it. No, two of my friends are in the photo!
See the two circled girls?
The one on the left is Beth Webb, the circled girl on the right is Sally
Sharp. Like me, both came to Explo from
Bartlesville; both attended Sooner High School.
These photos are from the 1972-73 yearbook.
It was great to be gathered together with so many others
whose primary intention was to know God, and make him known. If so many of us were young, raw, and
inexperienced, I also know that some of us, at least, have continued in the
faith and tried to grow.
Are there any of you, dear readers, with reminiscences of
Explo ’72? I’d love to hear from you.
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