Server after server streamed into the shadowy dining room at the Renaissance Orlando Resort. Creating a parade of light, each waiter and waitress carried a small birthday cake glowing with lit candles. Laughter followed when guests at the 40 tables discovered they'd been fooled: These "trick candles" could not be blown out, only extinguished by water. This dramatic tribute crowned a weekend celebration last October honoring the 75th birthday of Bill Bright, as well as the 45th anniversary of the ministry he and his wife, Vonette, founded–Campus Crusade for Christ International.

Like the waiters and waitresses carrying light into the dark room, Campus Crusade has worked with the church to bring the light of Jesus Christ to a dark world. And with a history of 45 years, it will take more than wind or water to douse this flame.

One cannot talk long about the nation's largest evangelical organization (*According to the October 18-20, 1996, USA Today) without discussing the man who calls himself "a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ." Bill Bright's larger-than-life vision continues to aim the movement toward helping to fulfill the Great Commission in this generation. Most recently he has been recognized for his visionary accomplishments, as recipient of the 1996 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion and by being inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

Yet Bill is quick to state that the recognition doesn't belong to him alone: Currently 163,000 trained volunteers and 14,000 full-time staff members serve with him. "You have a tremendous staff of people, some of the best people I have met in Christian service," says Chuck Colson, chairman of Prison Fellowship Ministries and keynote speaker at the October party.

The fire began in 1951 when the Brights started the ministry on the UCLA campus. Six new staff members joined them a year later, each assigned to a different campus.

Gordon Klenck, one of the first to join, remembers the early days. Bill himself interviewed Gordon. After receiving his acceptance through the mail, the 21-year-old drove to California, with only a post office box as a contact address. Gordon left Bill a note at the post office and then waited at a hotel for a phone call. Several days later, Bill rang Gordon's room, and the real adventure began.

Even then, staff members weren't sent blindly into the night. Bill asked each one to memorize his 20-minute gospel presentation–later shortened and published as the Four Spiritual Laws. Training wasn't limited to spiritual issues, either. "He took us out and bought us each a suit, shirt and ties," Gordon says. Gordon's wife, Marcie, recalls the etiquette lessons they received. "When we walked into a room, we were taught to look for the chair that best complemented our outfit, and then to go over and sit in that one," she says, smiling. "But it really was wonderful training–we could be comfortable in many different echelons."

Things are different now: Bill does few staff interviews; new staff members have more to go on than a PO box; and the dress code on campus has relaxed since the days of suits and ties. But the ministry's purpose has remained the same.

"The one great goal and objective of the ministry since it began has been to help the church fulfill the Great Commission," says Bill. "We're committed to serving the local church all over the world by providing training, tools and strategies for effective evangelism and discipleship." Today, more than 50 ministries carry the torch, moving toward the same goal of winning the world for Christ.

"Campus Crusade has always been on the cutting edge, and we have no intention of being any other way," says the movement's co-founder, Vonette Bright. "We have not stood still. Our message has not changed, but the way it is packaged can be adapted for every segment of society."

In 1963, for example, André Kole turned the art of illusion into an evangelistic outreach. And in 1966, long before contemporary Christian music, Campus Crusade created New Folk–a group combining popular music of the day with an evangelistic invitation. The young group earned a Grammy award for its album "On Campus."

Being cutting edge for the cause of Christ wasn't restricted to U.S. borders. In 1958, Bill Bright asked Joon Gon Kim to take Campus Crusade to South Korea, officially establishing the ministry in foreign lands. According to Bailey Marks, now vice president of International Ministries, it was unheard of to assign leadership to a national, rather than an American.

"It just made the most sense to me," explains Bill. "Since nationals know their language and culture, they can communicate the gospel more effectively than I, once they are trained."

"At that time, America was the mother movement and international ministries were more like the children," says Kalevi Lehtinen, one of the first Europeans to join Campus Crusade.

"In the early 1970s, we developed a new organizational structure. With the new structure," explains Kalevi, "the United States was on the same level with, for example, Nigeria." This change fostered a new way of thinking. "We didn't need to translate Bill's books word for word–we needed to ask what Bill would say if he was a Nigerian or an Italian and had grown up in that culture."

No matter what was adapted, developed or added, staff members always kept their eye on one thing: reaching people with the life-changing love of Jesus Christ. That is still true today. But now technology is on their side.

"Physical distance is no longer a problem," says Allan Beeber, who oversees Campus Crusade's Internet work. "We can do ministry anywhere."

But it's not the media alone delivering the gospel; the message goes forward because Spirit-filled individuals follow God's call.

"When we were a very large staff of 35 people," remembers Romine "Roe" Brooks, who joined Campus Crusade in 1952, "Bill said we would one day grow to a hundred, yes, even a thousand.'And if you don't believe that,' he would tell us, 'then you go on my faith.' We've been doing that ever since."

Bill is still believing God for big things. "We have prayed that God would give us a staff team of a million before the end of the year 2000," he says.

And since Bill Bright believes God answers prayer, Campus Crusade is getting ready. During the anniversary/birthday weekend, the leaders held a dedication ceremony at the 285-acre site planned for the eventual home of the ministry, the World Center for Discipleship and Evangelism. Leaders expect first-phase occupancy of the Orlando, Fla., property by 1998.

In the meantime, there is plenty to do.

"Among our goals are to help take the gospel to everybody on planet Earth by the year 2000," says Bill, "working with millions of Christians from tens of thousands of churches and hundreds of missions groups. We can do it together."

"I don't have to be a paragon of faith to imagine the Great Commission being fulfilled," says Steve Douglass, executive vice president. "A lot more is happening in the world toward that end: The stretch is less than ever before."

So long as God keeps the fire burning, Campus Crusade will keep holding it high.

Elizabeth Dole, Pat Robertson, Dr. James Dobson and others sent congratulatory wishes by video for the anniversary/birthday celebration. Many delivered live greetings, including former President George Bush, Campus Crusade executive vice president Steve Doughlas and Prison Fellowship Ministries founder Chuck Colson.