GLCC 75th Anniversary

Ice cream encounter with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. impacts sisters at 1957 National Missions Conference at Green Lake

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. forever changed the lives of young sisters Sumati and Chelli Devadutt (12 and 14) while sharing ice cream with them at the 1957 National Missions Conference. Sumati said, “My sister and I remember having ice cream with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an encounter that was probably crucial to our identity formation as teenagers. We had arrived in the US in 1954 as immigrants. Dr. King’s legacy continues to ‘fire’ our passion for social justice and for doing what we can to advance it. My entire family has been influenced by our experiences during those years of the civil rights movement. This will be an important legacy to share with 11 grandkids.” The sisters’ parents, Rev. and Mrs. V. E. Devadutt, were speakers at the conference along with Dr. King, Rev. Jitsuo Morikawa and others. “I have vivid memories of the beautiful setting and walking through the woods to get to the cabin we were staying in, a very nice one as I recall,” Sumati said.

30 | Green Lake Conference Center