Retired Grace Brethren pastor Gerald Polman was giving tours of the Reneker Museum of Winona History in the historic Westminster Hall in Winona Lake, IN, recently, as he does every Thursday afternoon from noon to 5 p.m.

“Do you recognize this young man at the pulpit?” he asked, pointing to a photo of a young Billy Graham preaching on the stage of the Billy Sunday Tabernacle in 1945 at the first international conference of Youth For Christ.

“Yes–he’s my dad!” exclaimed the tourist.

To his surprise, Polman had been explaining Winona history to Ruth Graham, the third child of Ruth and Billy Graham. She was in Winona for the filming of some women’s ministry activities with actress and model Jennifer O’Neill.

“She was quite interested and quite courteous,” says Polman, who believes this was the first time Ruth Graham had visited the historical site. She knew many of her father’s associates who were in the photographs of the founding of Youth For Christ at Winona Lake in 1944, and of other friends and associates of the world-famous evangelist.

Polman, who lives at Grace Village Retirement Community with his wife, Phyllis, has been giving tours of the museum for about three years. Having graduated from Grace Theological Seminary in 1946, he has first-hand acquaintance with some of the personalities and geographical features of the area.

Polman explains the Great Fire of 1914, the digging of the canal in 1902 to create McDonald Island, the building of the Billy Sunday Tabernacle in 1920, and the “Biggest Day in Winona”--August 29, 1915, when there were 1,500 cars and 20,000 people in Winona Lake to hear Billy Sunday and William Jennings Bryan.

“She was quite interested in Homer Rodeheaver,” recalls Polman, who explains that Billy Sunday’s songleader Homer Rodeheaver headed the world’s largest Christian music publisher—Rodeheaver/HallMack—from these rooms in the old Westminster Hotel. Rodeheaver’s reconstructed office is available for touring, courtesy of Bruce Howe, who owned all Rodeheaver’s belongings and donated them to the museum when it opened.

Prior to his returning to Winona, Polman pastored Grace Brethren churches in Danville, OH; Myersdale, PA; York, PA; Glendale, CA; Rialto, CA; Englewood, OH; and Lansing, MI. He then gave a number of years to work as a church-planter and interim pastor with Brethren Home Missions (now Grace Brethren North American Missions) at locations such as Fort Worth, TX; Taos, NM; Geistown, PA, and more.

More information on the history of Winona Lake may be found at www.villageatwinona.com and information on Ruth Graham’s ministry is at www.ruthgrahamministries.com.
 

by Theresa Clark
When Leo Boyer of Winona Lake, Indiana, searched for a yard display that would make a public statement for Christ during the Christmas season, he became frustrated. He could not find anything that drew attention to the birth of Christ. Mostly, he found reindeer, Santas, and Christmas trees.

So after much prayer and doodling, Boyer decided to create a lawn display that Christians could use to portray Christ clearly as the true meaning of the holiday season.

The result is a vertical framework that uses a timed lighting system to illuminate first a manger scene and then transition to the shape of a cross.

“We want this to be a ministry-type thing,” says Boyer. “I think there’s a real opportunity to tell folks what Jesus’ birth is all about.”

“There’s nothing else out there like this,” he says.

After nearly a year of experimenting with prototypes, searching for a manufacturer, and trying different kinds of switching devices, Boyer is now ready to make the display available to others at a retail price of $298 each. One manufacturer of Christmas displays has already committed to listing it in catalogs and on their website.

Boyer plans to donate $50 from each sale to the Grace Brethren Seminary and Bible School in Bata, Central African Republic.

Boyer became aware of the urgent need for scholarships for African pastoral students after hearing the president of the seminary, Dr. Francois Ngoumape, speak this past September during a trip to the U.S. Leo’s father, Dr. James Boyer, taught at the African institution when it first opened and also taught at Grace Theological Seminary for 30 years.

“I think my dad would be pleased that any money that we’d give to them [the seminary] would pay tuition and help buy food for the men and women going to seminary in Africa,” says Boyer.

The lawn display is 4 feet wide by 5 feet tall, and folds down into a smaller size for storage and shipping. Simple assembly with three bolts is all that is needed, along with a 110-volt electrical supply.

The cost is $298 each, plus tax and shipping where applicable. To order a display or for more information, call Leo Boyer at (574) 267-3432 after 6 p.m. Central Time.

Theresa Clark, a Grace College journalism major from Delaware, Ohio, is an editorial intern with FGBC World during the fall of 2005.

Pastor Dan O’Deens of Gateway Community Church in Parkesburg, Pennsylvania, played a key role from the start in the Grace Brethren response to Hurricane Katrina. As the Fellowship’s “point man on the ground,” he recruited, trained, and deployed managers from all over the Fellowship. Here is an edited version of a report he recently gave his church.

Hurricane Katrina had hit, the worst disaster on American soil in our history. My heart was pulled toward the people--I knew their need was great. What does anyone do when 1.3 million people are displaced overnight?

Shortly after the hurricane hit I was on the phone with each of our elders, letting them know my heart and asking them to free me to go down to serve. I was thankful for our men who immediately said, “Go…yes, that is our mission.”

In less than an hour I had my plane reservation and was headed to Houston. The Baton Rouge airport was not functioning, so all Red Cross National Disaster responders were flown into Houston.

The Astrodome was already full to capacity and then some. I went through an orientation and was deployed. We rented a car and drove 5-plus hours to Baton Rouge, The American Red Cross headquarters for Louisiana.

Just a month prior I had secured my ERV license and completed my training with the Red Cross (Emergency Rescue Vehicle – The Red/White Red Cross Trucks). I had already prayed and asked God to give me the greatest opportunity to influence people for Him and help as many people as I could.

Leadership Needed

Leadership was needed, so I stepped up and said I could manage a shelter. Immediately I was deployed to Shreveport, another five-hour drive to the northwest. I showed up there at about 11 p.m., dog-tired from flying and driving. A wonderful elderly volunteer set me up with sleeping arrangements.

When I arrived the next morning this same lady said, “I have been thinking about you all night. I don’t want you to go to one of our shelters. I think we need someone like you to stay here and organize our efforts.”

By the next day I had won the confidence of the director of the region. His staff was in a position of great need. In two days’ time I was running the daily operations, overseeing staff, and beginning to put a plan together to help people. I began to organize our seven official Red Cross Shelters. We used three Civic Center arenas, two universities, and two churches. Those shelters held 7,000 people.

In a normal “shelter,” the Red Cross provides sheltering and food. This disaster would require much more. In essence, we would build temporary city/communities. We had to work with school systems to enroll children from New Orleans into a new district. That also required bussing children to and from our shelters to school.

We had to set up job placements, enroll people in the shelter, and enter that information on the web so lost family members could find them. We had to work out logistics for feeding more than 7,000 people three meals each day. We had to provide security, using the National Guard and local law enforcement.

I also had to develop the plan to staff all these shelters. We set up a phone bank and started calling locals and assigned them to shift work. We had now acquired 25,000 evacuees.

We needed leadership badly. I called HQ’s and asked for 21 shelter managers. They told me what I already expected--pretty much anyone we send you will be a newbie, who signed up with the Red Cross the day before yesterday! I immediately responded, “I have to have good management. Since everyone else is new, can I go outside the box and recruit some executive managers of colleges and business and national organizations, bring them here and train them and deploy them?” He said, “Do what you need to do.”

I called Dave Guiles, the director of Grace Brethren International Missions, and said, “You have a program called ‘Rapid Deployment.’ Do you mean it?” The next day I had 14 [Grace Brethren] men ready to serve. I trained them in Red Cross procedures, gave them an overview of the shelters they would be leading, and sent them out.

A Singular Objective

Our objective was singular--find the evacuees a home so that we no longer needed to be sheltering them. We organized programs, allowing church groups and individuals to relocate people all over the United States.

I had worked out a plan to consolidate our seven shelters into one. By the time I left, we were down to three shelters, one in each region and fewer than 450 people in our shelters. That was before Hurricane Rita.

I woke up one morning in a sweat, realizing I had been entrusted with a great stewardship. I was making decisions that would result in hundreds of millions of dollars of expenditures. That God would put me in that position was mind-boggling. I am so grateful I could rely on Him and know you were praying for me.

I would never have had this opportunity had I not prepared. Preparation is one of the greatest keys to both opportunity and influence. Shortly after 9/11, I decided the Red Cross was the organization that would best prepare me to serve during national disasters. I filled out an application and began to take all the courses necessary to be deployed.

Why get involved? Because to whom much is given much is required. Jesus said, “I did not come to be served but to serve!” Serving is a privilege and when you serve, you lead. Christianity is not a spectator sport.

I often had to remember the hat I wore. I did not ever have to change who I was. There were times I had to encourage our over-zealous brothers who wanted to proselytize rather than serve. I had to remind them that our mission with the Red Cross was to serve people.

My chaplain’s hat was most evidenced by reminding people where we draw the strength to get the job done and who gives us daily wisdom and direction. When we serve people they see Jesus. There were plenty of opportunities to name Jesus.

Let’s be a church that does not become complacent. Let’s keep up God’s work by serving others every day. It is the most Christian work we can do!

 

A significant new book by this year’s Moderator of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches (FGBC) on interpreting the Bible “as it reads” has just been released by BMH Books of Winona Lake, Indiana.

 

Childlike Faith, subtitled “Hearing God in Your Bible,” is authored by Dr. Keith Shearer, senior pastor of New Beginnings Grace Brethren Church of Myerstown, Pennsylvania, and Moderator of the FGBC for the 2005-2006 conference year.

The 128-page paperback is being used as background preparation for all five Focus Retreats throughout the Fellowship this year. Fellowship Coordinator Tom Avey has built into the retreat registrations a copy for each Focus Retreat participant.

The theme for Shearer’s year as moderator is “Hearts on Fire: Igniting Biblical Fervor.” In the book’s introduction he says, “It is possible to believe that the Bible is the Word of God…even to affirm its inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility…but still not love and treasure it.”

“I want to help us reclaim our Bibles,” Shearer says, explaining that our Bible “can be held hostage by specific cultural and political persuasions designed [to make us] wonder if God really can speak His own Word to our culture.”

The book has 19 chapters and is divided into seven sections carrying titles such as “Biblical Authority,” “Submissive Obedience,” “Transformational Separation,” “Missionary Dynamic,” and more.

Dr. Homer Kent, president emeritus of Grace College & Seminary, says, “The author carefully shows the difference between just affirming a creed and actually understanding what the Bible is saying…I heartily recommend its emphasis.”

Tim Boal, executive director of Grace Brethren North American Missions, writes, “Dr. Shearer challenges us in the Grace Brethren movement to reclaim the Bible as our central authority…You will be nourished and touched by the wisdom of this work.”

Pastor Jim Custer of the Worthington, Ohio, Grace Brethren Church says, “I applaud your desire to rekindle a passion for knowing God through His Scriptures…such passion must give God pleasure.”

And Ed Lewis, executive director of CE National, comments, “Thanks for challenging us to reclaim our Bibles—helping us keep ‘the main thing, the main thing.’”

Childlike Faith retails for $9.99. Its ISBN number is 0884693015 and it is available online through www.bmhbooks.com or by calling 1-800-348-2756. Call BMH Books Division Manager John Leonard at that toll-free number for quantity discounts to use as ABF and small-group texts.

By Ashley Woodworth and Theresa Clark
How much do Christians really know and understand about Muslims and Islam?

Grace College, Winona Lake, Indiana, has sought to break down the barrier of ignorance that surrounds the Islamic faith by bringing known Muslim experts Fred Plastow and Jay Smith to speak to students and the community and to teach courses on the importance of understanding this rapidly-growing religion.

“Ignorance of one-fifth of the world’s population (Muslim) that influences the world is no longer an option for a nation or community that values correct information to guide their lives,” declares Plastow, who taught a course entitled “Understanding Islam” at Grace last year. “There is a great amount of opinion, speculation, false information, and misunderstanding concerning Islam…[and] knowing where to find correct information requires a discerning and critical approach, “ he says.

According to Smith, who spoke at Grace this past September, the Muslim population has grown from 800 million in 1981 to 1.6 billion today, making Islam the fastest-growing religion in the world.

But it is not Islam’s growth that has Smith most concerned. Instead, it is the lack of missionaries to the Muslim world. In fact, there are only 3-4,000 missionaries working with Muslims, according to Smith, who has worked with Muslims for 22 years.

“What’s tragic is that these missionaries who go into the Muslim world stay only three years,” says Smith. “That’s the average.”

He continues, “If this is the fastest-growing religion, then why are we sending so few [missionaries]?”

Look Within Our Own Communities
Yet American Christians need to keep in mind that they do not have to go overseas to encounter Islam. Instead, they should look within their own communities for Muslims to impact.

“A growing Muslim population in the US [is] estimated [to be] between 2 to 3 million,” states Plastow, a Grace graduate who has worked with Muslims for 30 years. “Muslims in our country provide a great opportunity to reach out to the unreached.”

How can Christians effectively reach Muslims for Christ?

Both Plastow and Smith challenge believers to develop relationships with Muslims.

“As in any evangelism and faith-sharing, relationships are important,” says Plastow. “In fact all ministry is relational.”

“Extending friendship to Muslims is important because many are immigrant newcomers to our land,” continues Plastow. “Many who come need help in things that are common to us. Getting papers for driver’s license[s], registering children for schools, finding the best places to shop and other things needed to live in a new area provide opportunities to offer a helping hand.”

In addition, Smith says that through relationships, Christians can build bridges and find out the questions that Muslims have for them regarding Christianity.

“Get to know them. Find out where they are itching so that you know where to scratch,” he counsels.

Study the Texts
Along with forming relationships, Smith and Plastow believe that Christians should extensively study the Islamic texts, especially the Qur’an and the Hadith.

“These two sources (the Qur’an and the Hadith) form the integral part of a Muslim’s daily life and are the resources of meditation governing his spiritual outlook,” explains Plastow.

By having a clear understanding of these texts, Christians will be better prepared to answer questions Muslims may ask. Believers should also continue to study their own Bible so that they remain knowledgeable of their own faith. As Smith puts it, “If I’m going to speak about Jesus Christ, I’d better be able to support it with Scripture.”

Perhaps the most important thing for Christians to remember is not to be afraid of confronting Muslims about their faith. As both Plastow and Smith point out, Muslims love talking about their beliefs.

“Unlike most Americans, Muslims are ready to talk about their faith,” explains Plastow. “Ask questions about their faith and be ready to share boldly, but cordially, your faith in Christ.”

Smith agrees, saying, “You do not have to dangle a carrot in front of them to get them to talk about God. They love to talk about God.”

When witnessing to Muslims, Christians should not shy away from confrontation. In Middle Eastern culture, people learn through debate-style conversations.

“They don’t see it as conflict,” says Smith. “They see it as an exchange of ideas.”

But even more than that, Smith points out that if Christians truly want to follow Christ, they are going to have to endure confrontation. “The Bible is confrontational, and the gospel is confrontational, especially to a Muslim.”

Don’t Be Crippled by Fear
In today’s world, many Christians find it hard to take a stand for their faith, especially in the face of possible rejection or persecution. Yet Smith believes fear should not cripple Christians into failing to fulfill Christ’s call for evangelism.

“He’s going to give us courage, He’s going to give us our mouths, and He’s going to bring people into our sphere of influence who need to know the gospel.”

When witnessing, Smith offers a simple formula: “Be quick, concise, and comprehensive.”

Plastow also advises, “Aim the message to the heart and soul and avoid unfruitful arguments. Allow the Spirit to work in Muslims’ hearts to discover who Jesus is.”

In fifteen years, Islam, not Christianity, will be the largest religion in the world, according to these experts. For Christians, the time to proclaim Christ is now. Perhaps Smith’s challenge to believers sums it up best:

“Who’s going to stop this religion? Who is going to bring these delightful people home? We’re the ones.”

As a 1974 graduate of Grace College, Fred Plastow has been a missionary to the Muslims for more than 30 years. He and his wife Delores are ambassadors for Avant Ministries, a worldwide outreach and church-planting ministry. Their ministry includes church seminars on Islam. For more information, or to request a seminar for your church, contact the Plastows at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Avant Ministries’ website is www.avmi.org.

Jay Smith is known as one of the world’s leading authorities on Islam. He has worked with Muslims for 22 years and has participated in numerous debates regarding Islam, including one with the prime minister of Pakistan. He is currently working on his doctorate in London, and holds weekly debates at the famed Speaker’s Corner. For more information concerning Islam and Christianity, Smith recommends www.debate.org.uk and www.answering-islam.org.

Ashley Woodworth and Theresa Clark, both Grace College journalism majors, served as editorial interns with FGBC World this year.