Fall 2008
Celebrating Faithfulness: Then and Now
“Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Those witnesses are from the roll call of faith in the prior chapter—Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses—cheering on a new generation of believers from the bleachers of a celestial coliseum.
Orissa Burning: Faith Under Fire
On Christmas Day, 2007, across the planet, Christian families feasted, exchanged gifts, and celebrated the birth of their Savior. But in Orissa, India, Christians were running for their lives as mobs of radical Hindus looted and burned churches and homes. By the end of the holiday, thousands of Christian families were refugees, hundreds of churches destroyed.
A Contagion of Faithfulness
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.
Wendell & Jean Otteson: Because You Gave
In March of 1958, Wendell and Jean Otteson, two young American missionaries with the Bible Club Movement, now BCM International, and their two small children arrived in Brookvale, Nova Scotia. A Christian contact enabled them to rent a house, but the local pastor claimed the Ottesons were Communists. With this less-than-warm welcome, Wendell and Jean began a half-century of service as children’s ministry workers.
Anne Carman: No Temas, Tened Fe en Dios
For fifty-three years, Anne has faithfully shared the gospel, successfully negotiating religious persecution, economic turmoil, and the twists and turns of Spain’s uncertain political landscape to introduce children to Jesus Christ. While most of her ministry years were spent in Spain, Anne’s legacy also entails establishing Bible Clubs and camps, teaching, training, speaking, and translating BCM curriculum wherever Spanish is spoken in the world.
Dave & Lois Haas: Shaping Lives Through God’s Word
From camps to copyrights, Dave and Lois Haas have faithfully served the Author and Perfecter of our faith as full-time BCM missionaries for fifty-one years, imprinting Christ’s love on lives through children’s ministry as well as sending God’s Word around the globe via Bible curriculum.
Tom & Joyce Sacher: Living Out Faithful Servanthood
It was 1958 at Camp Streamside in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, where inner-city youth from Philadelphia came for a breather from city life and to learn about the love of Jesus. As Bessie Traber, founder of BCM International and Camp Streamside, presented this need to her office staff, twenty-two-year-old Tom Sacher and his twenty-one-year-old wife, Joyce, volunteered. Little did they know their hearts would be captured by God’s love and vision to reach those inner-city children.
Donna Culver: A Childhood Calling
Donna Culver’s passion for children’s ministries started long before she applied with BCM in 1953, a passion that has carried her through fifty-plus years of sharing Jesus Christ with children.
To the Streets of Montréal with Love
Stand on any downtown street corner in Montréal, Québec, to see people of all cultures hustling and bustling to their next appointment, next class, next meal, next fix. Many would see only a blur of faces, a moving mass of humanity. BCM Canada missionary Tony Schaapman sees a mission field ripe for harvest. As Jesus looked upon Jerusalem and was moved to compassion, Tony’s heart is to see Montréal’s inhabitants turn to the Savior.
Other Articles:
From the President
In today’s world the idea of “Servant-Leadership” is a paradox. Leaders expect to be served, not to serve. In God’s world, however, servants are empowered by God for leadership because of their willingness to serve Him. That is why we at BCM International believe a true leader is a Servant-Leader.
Fall 2008 Missionary Candidates
BCM International is please to announce our Fall 2008 Missionary Candidates!
From the Editor
This issue celebrates that faithfulness. Faithfulness in long decades of steadfast service to God and others. Faithfulness in preaching God’s Word in the face of persecution and hardship. In twenty short pages, we can only begin to tell the stories of BCM’s own heroes of faith. But in this small glimpse, may you—like I—be challenged to emulate that faithfulness.
