He Can Use Anyone

Williams-Smith Interviewed on 3ABN & Hope Channel

Rachel Williams-Smith (second from left), chair of the Department of Communication, preps to head on camera at the Hope Channel. (Photo courtesy of Rachel Williams-Smith)

by Jenna Neil

Rachel Williams-Smith, chair of the Andrews University Department of Communication, was recently invited to share her life story on the Hope Channel and 3ABN. On October 21, Williams-Smith was on a live program on the Hope Channel called “Let’s Pray.”

“Let’s Pray” is a one-hour Tuesday night program where viewers call in and share their prayer requests with a waiting prayer team. The first half of the program features a story or testimony, and during the second half the prayer team goes through the prayer requests that callers have shared.

Williams-Smith was asked to share her story on “Let’s Pray” while at the Society of Adventist Communicators Conference in Jacksonville, Florida earlier that month.

“I was sitting at the table for Sabbath lunch and it turned out I was sitting with about three people from the Hope Channel,” says Williams-Smith. As she was sharing her vision for the Department of Communication and some of her background, she said they “latched onto” her story. When she mentioned that she would be sharing her story on 3ABN and the Dare to Dream channel, they asked if she would be willing to come on Tuesday to share with the Hope Channel viewers as well. Although Williams-Smith thought they were joking at first, she agreed to make the trip to Washington, D.C.

The discussion on the show segment centered on Williams-Smith’s statement that she was born in the 20th century but raised in the 19th. “It was a 19th century lifestyle in terms of how we lived day to day, with no conveniences including electricity, running water and so forth. It was a 19th century mindset especially when it came to women and what they can and can’t do and dress, when it came to wearing bonnets and long dresses. And we were more focused on what the 19th century Adventist and Adventism taught than we are today.”

Show hosts also asked about how the change from where she was to where she is now came about. Williams-Smith talked about when she went to a small, self-supporting high school.

“I learned something called principles, which are underlying truths that don’t change, and that gave me a foundation for beginning to be able to change myself,” says Williams-Smith. She used the example of modesty and how rules of modesty will change but the underlying foundation remains the same. When she attended Oakwood University, Williams-Smith gained an academic and professional foundation from which to begin moving forward.

The hosts also asked her about forgiveness, particularly in regards to Williams-Smith’s father. They asked how she forgave her father for such a strange upbringing. She explained it wasn’t difficult because he was actually the one who asked for her forgiveness.

“I had made a choice,” she stated. “Once again, learning about principles, and understanding that love and forgiveness are principles presents you with a choice to love and accept or not. It’s a choice you make.”

As soon as Williams-Smith was done with the interview, she rushed to the airport for a flight to St. Louis and 3ABN. She was interviewed twice on 3ABN. Her main goal was to share about the Department of Communication and the different things she had in mind to revamp the program, including remodeling the television studio. However, the interviewer focused more on her book and life story than the department, which was frustrating but understandable to Williams-Smith.

Williams-Smith was very pleased with the afternoon program, which was a recording for “Urban Reports.”
“I was completely in the moment, in the zone, and I loved every moment of being there,” she says. “So it turned out to be probably the best of all the interviews that we did.”

While attending Oakwood’s graduation in May, Williams-Smith approached John Lomacang, a 3ABN producer, to see if 3ABN would be able to help with the television studio remodel. He suggested that Williams-Smith email him, which she did toward the end of the summer. At that point, McCain asked her to send a proposal for each presentation, sharing what she was doing. She did that and was asked to be a part of two programs to share about her dreams and goals for the communication department and the studio.

“I’ve sometimes watched where people are up there sharing on TV or in some public arena, sharing their testimony and how God has made a change in their lives,” stated Williams-Smith. “I’ve often sat there and looked at it and gone, ‘Wow, I wish I could do that, I wish I had that or was able to. But I feel too small, too inadequate, too tongue-tied just to do something like that and to be of use. But if God can take me and share my story on three channels and through a book, I believe He can take anyone who is just willing to share to make a difference."

Williams-Smith hopes students in the Department of Communications will realize as she has how God can use people in TV and other news media to spread His word. The department has recently renovated their media studio and lab so students can have access to state-of-the-art equipment during their college experience. Anyone interested in giving toward this project can do so here. Whether you can give two dollars, two hundred or two million, Williams-Smith and the Department of Communications thanks you for considering a gift to further the education of students here at Andrews University.