Our Early History (1983-1995)
Mount Carmel Outreach And The Institute for Christian Apologetics
1983-1984
On December 28th, 1982 Kevin Johnson's father Carl Sigurd
Johnson went home to be with Jesus. Kevin went to the Quad
Cities to co-manage the Mr. Steak restaurant his dad had left
behind.
It was in the first part of 1983 that Kevin was informed
that the CMA ministry had decided to change its name to Ambassador
Outreach, had elected him President and had booked him to
go on the secular Jim Fischer talk show on WOC AM radio that
had 640,000 listeners! Kevin was emotionally floored and definitely
challenged. He was told he was to read a list of groups Evangelicals
considered cults and then for 90 minutes take phone calls
and defend the faith! He made that appearance and was asked
back for the next two years in a row.
He objected to the name "Ambassador Outreach" as
it could be confused with then cultist Herbert W. Armstrong's
college that went by a similar name. He suggested Mount Carmel
Outreach to commemorate the victory of Elijah as he was outnumbered
by the false prophets there. As a result, the ministry name
was changed to The Institute For Christian Apologetics (ICA)
and the cults outreach division was called Mount Carmel Outreach
(MCO).
In 1984 Kevin Johnson was married to Julie Neumann, with
Joe Whitchurch performing the ceremony. Kevin had already
been best man in Joe's wedding. The newlyweds then moved back
to Kevin's home town of Rockford, Illinois. There they joined
the church he used to attend after Pastor Whitcomb's death
and Kevin's return from Bible college. He and Julie became
members of First Evangelical Free Church.
At the urging of the Founders Board of MCO/ICA, Kevin and
Julie also started the first full-time branch of Mount Carmel
Outreach in Rockford. The original vision included a phone
machine system that would be operated by volunteers and would
allow people from a number of different cults to call and
request a tape on their group from the safety of a private
phone. This was to prove to be more difficult than at first
imagined. Cult research pioneer and author of The Kingdom
of the Cults, Dr. Walter R. Martin, saw its potential immediately
and wrote a letter of recommendation of this proposed system.
(click here to read). It
still hasn't been fully developed, yet a prototype was up
and running for roughly a year. We still haven't given up
on that original idea and hope someone will help us fulfill
the vision.
1984-1995
Kevin had known spiritually for awhile that he was supposed
to go into the apologetics field full time. He was being urged
to do so by his friends in the Quad Cities and his mother,
Theda Day. After stepping out on faith, Kevin and Julie continued
to raise support for their mission from Evangelical missions
boards in the Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin area.
It was very difficult as there weren't many with a concern
or vision for reaching the cults for Christ or contending
for the faith in general. At Rockford's First Evangelical
Free Church he was given an open door for ministry to the
youth and college age group and much encouragement from then
Pastor Jim Forstrom. Pastor Forstrom was also the head of
the missions board. The missions board at First Free and at
Faith Center Church, also located in Rockford, would be the
first to support an outreach effort to the cults in that area.
When the first support finally arrived it was enough with
to cover all their very basic bills with enough left over
for a cup of coffee!
It was at that time that Mark Franzen, a member of First
Evangelical Free Church, became a member of the MCO/ICA Board
of Directors and Kevin's right hand man in the founding of
this fledgling ministry. As a result, Mark also became a member
of the Founder's Board and MCO/ICA's Vice-President and Treasurer.
The local radio station soon discovered that Kevin could
talk about very hot issues in a balanced way and informed
him that he was their most popular guest. He became a regular
monthly feature and eventually was asked to co-host a program
with now Congressman, Don Manzullo. Soon, very slowly, the
support from individual believers came in and far sighted
missions boards answered the call to be involved in apologetics
outreach and the ministry was up and running.
Eventually, MCO/ICA co-hosted the largest Evangelical Conference
on the Cults and the Occult ever to be held in the history
of the Midwestern United States. We soon launched branches,
or had representatives, in Rockford, IL; Lombard, IL; The
Quad Cities; Sterling, IL; Clinton, IA; Minneapolis, MN; Indianapolis,
IN; Salem, OR; Beloit, WI; Deerfield, IL; and Lafayette, IN.
Many of our former branches or representatives went on to
create their own ministries.
In 1995 ICA purchased a new ministry headquarters that had
all the buildings and facilities it would need for growth
into the foreseeable future. This 5 Acre campus included:
the parsonage; the studio; the research library and office;
the bookstore; the warehouse/fulfillment building; the stone
wedding/prayer chapel; and a three thousand square foot auditorium.
All of the buildings were created to look quaint in a late
19th century "Little House On The Prairie" mode.
It is located in a rural setting with a pond and creek flowing
through it.
To get more of a historical perspective we urge you to visit:
Rev. Kevin S. Johnson's Vita Sheet and Bio
Sheet
Apple Canyon Christian Center Area
The Board of Directors
Our Newsletter Section
Lord willing, we will soon be adding a detailed report on
the more recent history of the ministry.
Mount Carmel Outreach
All donations to The Institute For Christian
Apologetics are
tax-deductible, greatly needed and equally appreciated!
Make your checks out to:
The Institute For Christian Apologetics
Send them to P.O. Box 5761 Rockford, IL 61125
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