A Contagion of Faithfulness
We live in an “instant” society. Even our fast food eateries offer express service. In this context, faithfulness is not a commonly seen quality, nor does it seem to be much valued by a culture prone to rationalize, excuse, or spin.
But among those who follow the Lord, faithfulness is esteemed. We stop to celebrate a person’s many years of service, or a couple’s many years of marriage. We pause to hear these same people speak about how faithful God has been. Why? Because we know that when we see faithful people, we are looking through them at a faithful God.
Faithfulness is contagious. God exhibits the quality, which then oozes into people. Their faithfulness in turn has a way of spreading. For more than seven decades, BCM North America has included hundreds of missionaries and ministry partners banded together in rural, suburban, and urban settings.
Whether it’s Montana or Maine, New York or Georgia, these men and women have been dedicated to serving children, teens, and college students, helping them meet and develop lasting relationships with the Lord. The impact of their faithfulness is evident when children—and sometimes grandchildren!—of those influenced by BCM missionaries and their support networks show up in Bible Clubs and at camps. It’s plain when these children go on themselves to be involved in kingdom service in churches and on mission fields.
Take Todd Bonefeole, for instance, from Montana. He can trace his connection with BCM back to pioneer missionaries who moved to the state in 1944. Todd sat in a Bible Club led by Jean Clark and Hazel Simonton, then later attended Big Sky Bible Camp, which they started in 1945. Now a BCM missionary, Todd served this past summer as interim director for that same camp. In fall, winter, and spring, he’ll be leading Bible Clubs in a variety of schools, remembering how these women influenced him and carrying on their legacy.
Karen DeVries is another BCM missionary whose life bears the imprint of Hazel and Jean’s faithfulness. Karen “grew up at camp.” She now leads Bible Clubs in Missoula during the school year and spends each summer at Big Sky.
BCM’s roster includes many who have been faithful in the Lord’s service for decades. Glenna Bentley retired not long ago after more than fifty years in children’s ministry. One place “Miss Glenna” served was Camp Streamside in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, where she taught Scripture to kids from the inner city of Philadelphia.
Brena Price, another fifty-year BCM veteran, currently hosts a prayer meeting for New York missionaries every six weeks in her home. Though a retired missionary, she still teaches a group of women from her church, urging them to grow in their walk with the Lord. Her humble spirit and kind words set an example for those who know her.
Streamside camp staff welcoming a camper during the summer 2008 season.
Wen and Jean Otteson spent many of their fifty-plus ministry years at Mount Traber Bible Camp in Nova Scotia, Canada. Though now retired to their native Pennsylvania, when they sit with coffee cups at a table in Camp Sankanac’s dining hall during BCM North America’s Annual Conference, they are eagerly greeted by a new generation of faithful servants who benefited from Otteson’s willingness to “stay in the yoke.”
These BCM missionaries have a combined total of more than two centuries of service—and mentioning them pulls just four names from a much longer list.
In his wonderfully titled book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson says that we who trust Jesus are both disciples and pilgrims. As disciples, we are meant to spend our lives apprenticed to Jesus, learning to prefer His ways. As pilgrims, we spend our lives on a journey, drawing ever closer to the Lord. Peterson recommends the “Psalms of Ascent” (Psalms 120-134) to pilgrims and disciples for encouragement in continuing the faithfulness such life requires, noting how this section keeps us focused on moving onwards and upwards.
Among the Psalms of Ascent lies a phrase that describes the work of many who have long labored under the banner of BCM. It comes right at the end of the batch, where the writer urges praise from servants of the Lord “who stand by night in the house of the Lord” (Ps 134:1). One can picture the people this psalmist has in mind, filing into the Temple to perform their duties during the graveyard shift, when few others are around to notice. Week by week, month by month, they carry out what they have committed to do regularly, gladly, faithfully.
This image becomes a wonderful illustration of others down through the ages who have worked “behind the scenes.” For BCM missionaries and ministry partners, as also happens in so many other agencies, people serve faithfully not because they crave recognition, but because they are motivated by love of the Lord who has been and always will be faithful. His character shapes theirs; His faithfulness is contagious, and when people catch it, they bear fruit that lasts for generations.
