Cliff Morgan
Those who know Cliff Morgan know he’s not one to slow down. The outdoor enthusiast and committed exerciser—Cliff ran a half-marathon this year—retired in 1989 but has volunteered, notably as founding director of Volunteers in Action, for 20 of the 25 years since then.
Cliff Morgan: Avondale Alumni Association’s Alumnus of the Year for 2014.
Born in Biloela, Queensland, to farming parents, Cliff grew up wanting to pursue a profession. This led to him studying accounting at the then Australasian Missionary College, where Cliff would be baptised and meet Valerie Hartley, who he married. After graduating in 1954, Cliff would study teaching at the then Queensland Teachers College and at The University of Queensland.
The following years were spent teaching in the public school system and, together with Val, raising three sons. Cliff turned down multiple offers from the Seventh-day Adventist Church to teach in its schools, promising instead that once retired, he would serve the mission of the church at his own expense. Fly’n’builds in Vanuatu and in Fiji in the late 1980s saw this promise come to fruition.
In 1993, Cliff and Val joined with the church’s Euro-Asia Division to build churches, clinics and schools in the former Soviet Union. Of the 57 countries the Morgans have visited, Russia has proved most memorable. “The people suffered so much under communism and had few funds, but their faith in God dwarfed mine. Each week Val and I would see or hear of another miracle, so our trust in God grew enormously.”
A visit to the Solomon Islands and to Papua New Guinea in 1995 surprised Cliff. The church’s greatest need in those countries: finding sponsors for local missionaries to grow churches in isolated areas. So began Volunteers in Action, a ministry that has now led to more than 16,000 baptisms across the South Pacific. Cliff credits its success to the dedication of the volunteers and of the donors—and, most importantly, to the grace of God.
The Avondale Alumni Association honours Cliff Morgan for his commitment to the mission service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.—Sara Thompson, alumni relations officer, Avondale College of Higher Education