Page 9 - Clearwater Christian College 2006

A man with a vision for a college

founded by God

The need for a college to prepare students to be ambassadors of

Christ and Defenders of the Faith was pressing.” Dr. Arthur E.

Steele, President Emeritus, wrote those words fifteen years ago on

the college’s twenty-fifth anniversary. Today, forty years from the

college’s inception, the same holds true, by the

grace of God, and by the willingness of a man to

step out on faith. Karin Puckett, one of Dr.

Steele’s daughters, remembers the time her fa­

ther drove the family onto “campus.” She said,

“Dad drove off the paved road into the sandy,

mangroved area, describing through the ‘eyes of

faith’ where each of the buildings would be built.”

In unique ways, Dr. Steele saw God confirm­

ing his decision to build a school. The provision

for funding reveals how God opened doors for

the new school. Mrs. Puckett said, “Dad has fre­

quently told us the story of how one night he

heard a knock on the door of our home in Cape May. Standing at

the door was Mr. Dambach, who said he had heard about the plans

of starting a Christian college. He then informed Dad that he and

his wife wanted to donate a large sum of money to get things started."

Ultimately, each step involved trust that God would supply. As Mrs.

Lynn Smith, Dr. Steele’s former secretary, explained, “He was con­

stantly in prayer for even the minutest need the college had. No

detail was too small to lay before the Lord.”

Mrs. Puckett once asked her father what in the world he was

thinking. Dr. Steele smiled and answered, “Karin, I did it for one

reason only. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was what

God wanted me to do. A person would be crazy to do it for any

other reason. And knowing that God had called me to do this made

it possible to get through the hard times.”