God recently reminded me of a very important truth. (Colonel) Yvonne and I had the opportunity to return to one of our former appointments, the South America East Territory, to be part of the 10th anniversary of the Territorial Music Camp, which started during our time there. (It is not that they had never had music camps before; however, they had not been conducted on an annual basis).

At that first music camp, there was just one band and one vocal group. Under the leadership of Bandmaster and Mrs. Ivor Bosanko and a group of musicians from the Florida Division, tremendous progress had been made by the time of the final concert. Over the next three years, under similar leadership, we saw improved musicianship and the addition of a beginners' group, a contemporary vocal group, and other groups.

On our recent visit, we were astounded at all the changes that had taken place. The camp is now called the Territorial Music Institute, appropriate for such an expanded program. Ten years ago, a total of 70 people, including campers and staff, attended; this year, there were 140.

In the past, there were the band and vocal rehearsals, theory classes, beginner piano instruction, and devotional times. Now, they've expanded the curriculum to include more music classes, such as a second band and a beginners' band, a male vocal group, a female vocal group, and a children's vocal group. The institute also includes many elective classes that we couldn't have considered: percussion, timbrels, drama, beginner and advanced piano, guitar, interpretive dance, puppet-making and performance, and, of all things, instrument repair. Campers, divided in classes by age, also participated in a study of the first nine verses of the 12th chapter of Romans.

The newest addition this year was a class on marching, needed because the entire camp was to parade down the main street of the nearby city with an open-air meeting to follow on the city's major plaza.

Each day for four days, the campers learned the commands and the practice of marching. Finally, on the fourth day, they were to put it all together, to march to the cadence of the drum while playing their instruments.

I was not to march with the group, so I played the part of the "crowd" and cheered on the musicians. After they marched past me, I started to walk behind them as the band began playing "Onward, Christian Soldiers."

Then, something happened to me—just in a few seconds—that I will never forget. In my mind, I saw the 50-piece band all dressed up in their camp uniforms, with flags flying, marching down the main street. Then, like a bolt of lightning, I heard these words: "I gave you the privilege of being part of the beginning of all this."

My emotions took over, and it was all I could do to suppress the tears that wanted to come. I stopped in my tracks, hoping that no one would see me. That vivid experience remained with me the entire day and, in fact, continues with me now. I hadn't told anyone about it, and that same night, the tears I had suppressed flowed freely as I reflected on what I feel God had said to me.

So often we have dreams for the ministry that we would like to see fulfilled, and we work toward accomplishing them. But we can forget that if the dream is not God's dream, it will come to nothing. I may have been guilty of thinking that the dream of an annual music camp was mine, but now I know it was God's dream.

Some years ago, I heard a radio panel discussion about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The moderator and the guests reflected on the tremendous influence for good that this man had on the United States. Finally the moderator asked, "What would the country be like if Martin Luther King Jr. had never lived?"

One of the panelists responded very wisely, saying, "If he had never lived, God would have raised up another who would have carried forward His dream, because Martin Luther King's dream was not his own—it was God's."

We are a privileged people because when God has a dream, He allows us to be part of it. Numbers 12:6 tells us: "And he said, 'Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream.' "