Inspire, Spring 2002

50s David Gardner ’56 and his wife, Lois, enjoyed David’s service as interim pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Bridgeton, Missouri from January through March. They were excited to be able to assist a church that has been a special blessing to them throughout their ministry. Robert ’59 and Esther Stutesman Howder ’62 are thankful that a revised accredited master’s degree is now available to both professional and lay leaders at the Grand Rapids Baptist Extension Program in Singapore. 60s Hublall Sookram ’60 and his wife, Evelyn, are missionary appointees with Bethesda Ministries. They pray they can take the message of hope to ethnic groups in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Norm ’64 and Evelyn Thoms Nicklas ’64 had the opportunity in December 2001 to visit ABWE missionaries starting a church in New York City. They passed out many tracts at Ground Zero and were thankful for the openness of the people. Norman ’67 and Louise Stutesman Barnard ’67 are thankful to be back home in Singapore. On their return trip they were able to attend the fiftieth anniversary celebration of ABWE’s ministry in Hong Kong. Chuck Truxton ’67 and his wife, Bev, are burdened for the people in Nigeria. Chuck enjoys counseling people in need and is doing all he can to help HIV and AIDS patients cope physically and emotionally. Bev continues to work in the maternity ward at Evangel Hospital. Joe ’68 and Sharon Tallman Hollaway ’68 are enjoying their furlough from Ireland. They praise God for meeting their physical needs and for allowing them to spend time with family, friends, and faithful supporters. Dan Lacey ’68 and his wife, Betty, are thankful for the eight new students who enrolled at the Bible Institute at Algrange this year. They continue to see God’s blessing on their work in France—several people have given their lives to Christ. Ken ’68 and Marlene Werner Nichols ’68 and family hosted a dinner for Cedarville friends before a basketball game between Cedarville University and Christian Heritage in El Cajon, California on December 29, 2001. The families involved were the Berrys, Jeremiahs, Rickards, Slagles, and Howards. Bruce ’69 and Beverly Hare McDonald ’72 continue to minister to professional athletes. Bruce has finished writing one book, Real Men Pray, and is now working on two other books. They are praying that these writing projects will expand their ministry. 70s Ken Cole ’70 and his wife, Alice, see enthusiasm and excitement within the Helping Asians Reach Asia program in the Philippines. Continue to pray that Filipinos will catch the vision and sense of urgency. Robert ’70 and Jane Austin Kilko ’70 serve with Baptist Messianic Ministries in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In December 2001, they commemorated Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights. Their desire was to share with the Jewish people that this Feast of Lights points to Jesus, the Light of the World. They are excited that one church has begun the first Awana club in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Sue Farley ’71 had a busy December with planning meetings and Christmas performances. On January 1, 2002 the ABWE all-nations choir performed at the Hong Kong Cultural Center, which gave Sue the chance to see friends from many churches. Larry ’72 and Nancy Leapline Allen ’70 have been blessed with many opportunities to reach out to their neighborhood in the Philippines. They trust the Lord as they work with Emmanuel Baptist Church to start a new church. Barb Cooper Klumpp ’74 and her husband, Phil, continue to make preparations for the missionary children reunion that will be held this summer. Phil, Barb, and Katie plan to return to the Philippines this summer to teach at Baptist Bible Seminary. Paul Beck ’76 and his wife, Becky, traveled to the Philippines in October 2001 for the first-ever Joint East Asia field conference. Paul was the planning chairman, and after many hours of planning and organizing, the conference was a success. Evandro Batista ’77 and his wife, Elina, are serving the Lord with ABWE in Portugal. They do not have a church building in Mafra yet, but are building bridges among the friends in town through choral group, ladies’ tea, and painting lessons for Elina. The church in Ericeira has many people who are ready to be actively involved in church ministries, and many of them are witnessing to their friends and co-workers. 80s Kent Craig ’80 and his wife, Kelly, and daughters, Kari and Kandace, live in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. Kent is the ABWE executive administrator for Far East ministries. Over the past 18 months, they have ministered with their personnel in 11 of the 13 countries in the Far East administration of ABWE. Jeff ’80 and Debbie Mullet Warix ’79 continue to serve the Lord in the Mormon-dominated western U.S. with their family. They are seeking God’s wisdom and guidance as they try to decide whether to sell their church property and build somewhere else or stay at their current location. Nancy Hall DeValve ’81 and her husband, John, returned to Niger in August 2001. They were excited to see that six believers had been following Jesus for a year instead of clinging to Muslim traditions. Nancy plans to start a Bible club for the children of these believers. John and Nancy have two children, Daniel (12) and Suzanne (10). David Lewis ’81 received his doctorate of ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in December 2001. His major project was on developing a ministry for parents of pre-adolescents, teaching the parents how to discuss the difficult, but important, moral themes in Proverbs 1-9 with their children in developmentally effective ways. David and his wife, Kelly, have four children and reside in Corpus Christi, Texas, where David has been the senior pastor at Bayshore Bible for eight years. Teresa Heeney Estes ’83 along with her husband, Don, and children, Annemarie and Jon-Michel, are enjoying their new home in Greeley, Colorado. Teresa teaches music at an elementary school, and Don is the telelearning coordinator at Morgan Community College. Nathan Hunter ’83 received his master of arts degree in ministry from Moody Bible Institute in December 2001. Nate continues to minister as executive director at Greater Cleveland Youth for Christ. John Balaicuis ’84 successfully completed the second step of the United States Medical Licensing Exam in November 2001. He plans to graduate from Jefferson Medical College in June Alumnotes Inspire 23 Creating a Spiritual Heritage for the Hispanic World Marv ’65 and Joan Carter Stephens ’65 were featured in the January 2002 Baptist Bulletin for their work at Editorial Bautista Independiente (EBI), the Spanish language division of Baptist Mid-Missions. According to the article by Daria Greening, EBI came about more than 40 years ago because of the need for Baptist Sunday school materials that could be used by Spanish- speakers. The Stephenses joined EBI in 1994, leaving behind secular jobs in business and education. Today Marv is general director and business manager for the ministry, while Joan serves as English editor. Daria noted that EBI has grown to provide Bibles, Bible studies, Bible reference books, children’s materials, and pastoral training courses for missionaries, pastors, and believers in 27 countries. In addition, the Sebring, Florida publisher has recently begun a Ministry Enrichment Program, which supplies 26-book libraries to needy national pastors for a $150 donation from a church or individual. The Baptist Bulletin article noted that the Stephenses are looking for volunteers and full-time supported personnel, especially Spanish-speakers with editing and formatting experience, to assist the ministry. With extra help, EBI would like to produce additional materials, including women’s Bible studies and vacation Bible school materials. For more information, call 863-382-6350, e-mail info@ebi-bmm.org, or visit their Web site at www.ebi-bmm.org.