Sunday, July 20, 2008

      & Commentary

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Today's News at a Glance . . .

The future for Holmes Bible College is bright and beautiful

Linda Thomas is the first woman to chair the Board of Trustees at Emmanuel College

Mickey D's is coming to Franklin Springs, GA

Bertha Miriam Gamble (Martens) 1918 - 2008 Today's Benediction is recorded in Proverbs 18.22

An exceptional Benediction about God's favor

Stand by for Today's News reported from Savanah, GA 

The future for Holmes Bible College is bright and beautiful

We are all caught up in living life to the fullest during our summer vacations. In spite of skyrocketing gasolines prices, we are still on the highways, traveling here and there to enjoy the times we can get away from daily routines and be with our families.

Holmes Bible College is now in a significant transition. The Board of Trustees has named an interim president. He is Dr. G. Earl Beatty. He is a capable educator, Bible teacher, preacher, pastor, administrator, and knows about the day-to-day operations of any college. More than that, He will no doubt evaluate the curriculum to make sure it adheres to the original intent of N. J. Holmes, the founder, to teach the Bible to the students.

I am convinced more than ever that there is a great need for Bible colleges in our day, especially one that is Pentecostal.  History has revealed that one of the major accomplishments of Elijah and Elisha was their establishing the schools of the prophets. For some five hundred years they blessed the world. Holmes Bible College has blessed our world for over 100 years. We can see to it that it not only survives, but that it will thrive in these days in which we are living.  We can do that by our prayers and giving.

Now is the time to rally around the school and Dr G. Earl Beatty. I want to thank all of you who have responded to the need and have given. Dr. Beatty reports that as of July 15, 2008, they had enough money to pay the staff for the month of June. 

Dr. Beatty announced at the Beech Springs Camp Meeting of the Upper South Carolina Conference last week that the Greenville County Inspectors had issued them a Certificate of Occupancy that gives them the authority to begin the process of moving into the first building on the new campus. Holmes Bible College has a beautiful site near the campus of Furman University. It is located in the valley of the original site that was on Paris Mountain.
 

Let just pause and give thanks to Almighty God, and give Him all the glory, honor and praise for the favor God has given them with county officials.

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, they will have enough money to meet the July payroll. That can become a reality when we give to help the school.

We need to pray that God will move upon the hearts of Christian people in the Greenville area to open their homes to resident students for the fall semester. The county would not grant permission for modular buildings for dormitories. We serve a big God Who can provide the money to construct the first dormitory on the new site. What an optimum time to be a part of this new beginning for Holmes Bible College, the oldest Pentecostal Bible college in the world.
 

Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

Please make out your checks to Holmes Bible College and send them to Dr. G. Earl Beatty.

 Send your financial gifts and notes of appreciation to:

Linda Thomas is the first woman to chair the Board of Trustees at Emmanuel College

Other new officers named to the Board of Directors were Phillip Mooring, secretary, and Bill Cox, vice chair. 

Mickey D's is coming to Franklin Springs, GA

That's the word we have received. You heard it here or read it here in Hugh's News. McDonald's is being built even as we speak.

It is being built on the site where Dixie Dell was located for many years.  There is nothing like a good cheese burger from McDonald's. In addition to McDonald's, a convenience store will be a part of the structure.

BERTHA MIRIAM GAMBLE (MARTENS) 1918 - 2008

Born on January 25th, 1918 at the height of World War One on a cold Saskatchewan prairie, Bertha Gamble spent the first one third of her life in Canada. She was number twelve in a Mennonite Brethren family of sixteen children. They were poor in material terms, but rich in spirit. This upbringing taught Bertha the love of God and His keeping power.

As a young woman, Bertha took training in nursing and worked for four and a half years in a Native Indian hospital in British Columbia. Six months of this was spent in obstetrics.

One of the smartest things Bertha did was to snaffle a young Bible School student she met in Chilliwack, British Columbia. Jim Gamble was seven years her junior and this would serve her well in later years. They would have been married for sixty one years this coming August sixth. They were not only a couple, they were a team.

Their first pastorate was in Winnipeg, Manitoba where Jim completed more Bible School training. Bertha was certainly kept busy as this is where their first two sons were born…Harvey and Norman.

In October of 1950, they packed everything they owned into a new Jeep pickup truck and headed out on a gravel road up to Alaska. I sat in a little car seat between them and Mom held six month old Norman on her lap all the way to Northway, Alaska. When we arrived it was 20 below, but we were soon warmed by the wood stove in the log cabin that would become the start of their mission to the Alaska Native Americans.

In Northway, Bertha’s roles included wife and mother along with teacher in their Native Bible School and unofficial duties as village doctor, nurse and ER. While in Northway she set bones, bandaged cuts, and delivered 24 babies. This was 270 miles from medical facilities and before she arrived in Northway, many babies didn’t survive birth…yet, she didn’t lose one. While in Northway they would adopt an Eskimo girl, Joyce and give birth to their third son, Phillip.

In 1955 the family moved to Fairbanks to pioneer a church there. After two years of building up the congregation and launching a radio program they were off to Oklahoma City for furlough and more training. Their long term goal had been to pioneer a work in Western Alaska among the Yupik Eskimos. However, this took money and it fell on the missionary to raise the necessary funds. The family set out on a two month long road trip across the Midwest states stopping in a different church every night and sometimes two on Sunday. At night they were missionaries, but during the day they were a regular family on vacation. They stopped at playgrounds and parks, zoos and museums as they slowly worked their way up to Canada arriving in the small Mennonite town of Yarrow.

As the family settled into life in Yarrow, Jim set off on a seven month long trip throughout the U.S. speaking in churches and raising funds for Alaska. This was probably the hardest year in Bertha’s life. Although she was close to her family in Yarrow, she was away from her partner. It was a time of trial, testing and loneliness. God brought them through and soon it was off to Alaska again…this time to Bethel.

Jim and Bertha would spend the next ten years setting up the work in Bethel and district. This involved constructing a building that would house the church and parsonage. During the first year while the construction was going on, the family lived in a tent. That’s right a tent…out on the tundra in Alaska! It’s not as bad as it sounds and Bertha made it a real home.

It was in Bethel that Bertha blossomed. Along with raising teenagers, she became involved with community groups, lead the local 4-H, did substitute teaching at the school, preached the Sunday sermon when Dad was away, led the singing in the services, kept the books, corresponded with supporters and welcomed many a guest into the home for meals and accommodation. The exception at our house was when it was only the six of us for dinner.

Leaving Bethel for Oklahoma City in 1971, Bertha perfected the art of hospitality. Jim taught World Missions at Southwestern Bible College and they noticed a number of international students were enrolled there. They befriended students from Iran, Ethiopia, India, and Mexico. Their Pastor called their pew “the international pew”. When the dorms were closed over the Christmas holidays, their home became packed with these international students. During Easter holidays they would take them on trips to Indian reservations or to Mexico for experience in practical ministry.

In 1977 they moved to Canyon, Texas to teach Bible and Bible related courses at West Texas State. This school had over 130 international students enrolled. Working closely with the International Students Association, they became acquainted with most of them. They would pick up new students at the airport and help them adjust to this culture called “America”. Since Jim was teaching during the day, much of this fell to Bertha as she would help them find accommodation, open bank accounts and locate other sources of assistance. One night Bertha stayed in a hospital room all night with a student who was petrified to be in an American hospital without her relatives and traditional Chinese medicine.

While they did reach out to all the various nationalities, their home became a home away from home for twenty eight Chinese students from Taiwan and Hong Kong. From help with studies to meals and fellowship, they built life long relationships and are still in touch with many of these students today. Bertha’s gift of hospitality was enhanced by caring and listening to these young people so far away from home.

In 1979 Jim and Bertha accepted a four year appointment to Korea. They taught English in a Christian Community called Young Moon Prayer Mountain, reaching out in Friendship Evangelism to all those around them. They held a Saturday evening “caring, bearing and sharing” group in their home. Many of the students they worked with during this time have gone on to serve the Lord in ministry around the world.

Upon returning in 1983, Jim and Bertha lived in Los Angeles for two years with Jim teaching at Agape Korean Bible College and Bertha carrying on her ministry of hospitality. Once again the Saturday evening care group became the focus, this time with Koreans, Chinese, Ethiopians and even a few Caucasians.

In 1985 Jim and Bertha accepted their last pastoral assignment in Port Angeles, Washington. By this time Bertha was 67, the time at which most are enjoying their retirement. Not this lady! Along with the duties of a pastor’s wife, she became involved with “Women Aglow”, took in Japanese students as boarders, assisted in a jail ministry, and got her Counseling license. Even after Jim retired from the Pastorate and worked as a peer counselor to seniors, she kept up her work of entertaining and reaching out to others.

In 2003, when Bertha was eighty five, they moved to Sun Coast. It’s been a blessing for them to be in an excellent facility such as this for these last five years. I guess you would think that with moving to Sun Coast, she would relax and hang up the ministry stuff. Not this lady! Even in the Health Centre she would talk and pray with residents and staff alike. Sometimes her thoughts or comments weren’t making sense to us and but then it came time to pray. She would pray in complete understanding and clarity.

Bertha Gamble’s life was long and fruitful…but only a blink of an eye compared to the eternity before her now. If you read Jesus’ story of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25, you can well imagine what she is experiencing now. In this story, Jesus emphasizes His preference for workers who reach out to those that others pass by. That was Bertha Gamble!

[Editor's Note: I am blessed indeed to have known Bertha Gamble. I am overawed at the legacy she has left for us to read. As I think of Jim and Bertha Gamble I am reminded of a Scripture that is recorded in Proverbs 18:22:

Proverbs 18:22
2 Find a good spouse, you find a good life —
and even more: the favor of GOD!
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

That Scripture is my Benediction tonight. I hope you will receive it and the favor of God. God's favor is The Lord's Assigned Advantage.

Note: Melvine, Stephanie and I will be at Youth Quest next week in Daytona Beach, FL. Ensign Adam Erwin, a Navy Chaplain Candidate will assist me at my booth in recruiting future youth to be military chaplains. We will have lots of literatue and neat gifts to pass out. Stop by and talk with us.