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Former SEAL to speak at Promise Banquet

MARSHALL — Former U.S. Navy SEAL Chad Williams is slated to be the keynote speaker at the 10th annual True Light Christian School Promise Banquet on Thursday, March 23 at the R/A Facility on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University.

Williams draws from his military experience to communicate a perspective of teamwork, resilience, leadership and self-motivation. As the bestselling author of “Seal of God,” Williams describes his experiences in a Christian school, military training, combat missions and tough times when his faith was tested by others in his SEAL team.

“Over the years, we’ve accumulated a list of potential speakers, and we continue to add names as things come up,” Promise Banquet fundraising chair Tim Gross said. “We worked with Premiere Speakers Bureau to take a look at Chad specifically. The military aspect is something that we haven’t done in the past.”

The very first Promise Banquet featured Michael Reagan, son of former President Ronald Reagan, followed by former professional baseball player Dave Draveky, television and movie actor Kirk Cameron and comedian Ken Davis.

Don Piper, the author of “90 Minutes in Heaven” was the keynote speaker in 2012, followed by writer/director/actor of “Facing the Giants” and “Courageous” Alex Kendrick in 2013. Authors Josh McDowell and Todd Gongwer were guest speakers in 2014 and 2015, respectively, with “The Skit Guys” comedians Eddie James and Tommy Woodard sharing their expertise last year.

“We’ve done some politics, movie entertainers, sports celebrities and comedians, but we haven’t done anything on the military side of things, and it was definitely a genre that we identified early on that we wanted to bring here,” Gross said. “Chad has a compelling story to tell. I read his book and thought that it was a story that the Marshall community needs to hear.”

As they’ve done for the past decade, underwriters have covered the cost of the event, so there is no charge for admission. All adults in the area are invited, with donations raised going directly toward the students in one way or another.

“There are three reasons why we host the Promise Banquet,” Gross said. “It’s to raise funds — mainly for our tuition assistance program and classroom technology — to raise awareness of who True Light Christian School is and what we do to enrich the lives of others and to share the Gospel message with everyone who attends.”

Typically, between 500 and 600 people attend the Promise Banquet annually. Gross said that attendance was at 620 one year. Due to increasing attendance, the site of the event has moved locations over the years.

“The event has grown — from being in the upper ballroom of SMSU, to the PE Gym and now to the R/A Facility,” he said. “This is the second year in the R/A Facility.”

As in past years, the Promise Banquet will include a catered meal, musical entertainment and testimony from former students in addition to the guest speaker.

“In the past nine years, we’ve had kids from the school provide entertainment — and sometimes they’ve had their parents also be part of it,” Gross said. “This year, there will be an alumni song. The SMSU catering department does a great job preparing and serving up to 620 people a great meal and with great service. The SMSU media department also gets some hands-on training, with running a camera to project on a couple large screens. With the added production company upgrading the projection screens versus the one overhead in the middle, plus the lights, it really helps set the mood.”

While weather and other conflicting date issues are sometimes a challenge, Gross said event organizers do their best and then put their faith in the Lord.

“The Lord has blessed us in previous years, and we’re definitely excited to bring this banquet forward this year,” he said. “We’ve had good success, so we’re very interested to see what God has planned as a result of this year’s event.”

Always, the students at True Light are at the forefront of importance.

“We’re serving more families as a direct result of this event, with kids in a 3- to 4-year-old preschool class all the way to eighth grade,” Gross said. “We’re able to spread the word, to get the word out there to potential families that are looking for this kind of environment for their children.”

True Light Christian School’s mission is to equip children to excel in a life that is pleasing to God by challenging students to obey God’s Word, fulfill their academic potential and develop their gifts in the arts and athletics.

“The money side of it — that’s one reason why we have the Promise Banquet,” Gross said. “So people can have that option — so they don’t have to choose between putting food on the table and going to the school.”

Promise Banquet seats must be reserved and can be obtained by calling the school at 507-532-2762.

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