“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Timothy 2:1-4

In 1985, my wife, Mary Jane, and I were living in Lubbock, Texas. I was teaching in what was then called Sunset School of Preaching. We had left our mission work in South Africa in 1971 to come to Sunset to set up a missionary training program that would extend mission studies for six months beyond the normal two years of Bible training at the school of preaching. In our time there, we had helped to influence over 1200 graduates to go to foreign mission works and a number had gone to mission fields in the U.S.A. We were at a point to where our children were out of the home and we felt we were ready to return to the Africa we loved so we could continue working where we had left off 15 years before. However, our lives moved in another direction, we believe by the will of the Lord, in answer to our prayers.

I received a phone call from Reuel Lemmons in Austin, Texas. Reuel and I had worked together in years past and he had made a trip to visit us while we were in Africa. We were good friends, had mutual purposes, and could work together. Reuel had taken the responsibility of directing World Bible School when Jimmie Lovell died. That was done at Jimmie’s request. Reuel had edited the Firm Foundation in Austin for a number of years, but the paper had been sold and he was free to work at other things. Since Reuel had a home in Austin, he moved the international headquarters of WBS to Austin and set up an office in the building of the Westover Hills Church of Christ where he was an elder.

Reuel requested that Mary Jane and I consider moving to Austin to work with him and eventually take over the direction of the WBS correspondence work. I told him that we had made plans to go back to Africa and asked the question, “Why should I consider World Bible School?” He asked us to come to Austin for an answer to that question by looking at the prospects of the program and then make a decision. We made two trips, prayed, measured the opportunities and made the decision to alter our plans for Africa and become a part of the WBS program for world evangelism. We would have loved to return to Africa, but we have not regretted our decision. We moved to Austin in February 1986, and have worked here since that time. Reuel died about three years later. Because of his weakening physical condition, I was appointed director of WBS after the first year I was there, but worked with Reuel when he felt strong enough to help.

I suppose I saw the opportunities for converting many souls by correspondence courses when I first became a part of WBS, but I really did not know how effective the work would prove to be over the years. I was first introduced to WBS in Kenya. I was visiting with some missionaries in Nairobi, the capital city, who were graduates of the Sunset School of Preaching and Missions. One of them asked me to go out to a village several miles outside of the city in the bush. It was a new area, but one man had contacted them and on their first visit to his village he showed them that he had started two congregations in his area. He supported himself, but worked with the churches at his off times. When I met him, the missionary introduced me to Gabriel Machiru. When he introduced me to Gabriel, he said that I was from Texas and Brother Gabriel’s eyes lighted up and he asked me if I knew Sister Perry McComb in Conroe, Texas. I was surprised that he knew someone from Texas. I asked him how he knew Sister McComb and he told me she was his World Bible School teacher. I took pictures of him and his family and the church buildings and sent them to Sister McComb when we returned to the States. She immediately responded and said she was 90 years old but that through World Bible School she had been able to convert several men who had become gospel preachers. She closed her letter by writing, “To think that I can sit here at my little desk in Conroe, Texas and teach the gospel to people all over the world through WBS is a dream I never thought would happen.”

Now that I have been with WBS for several years, I am amazed at what this method of evangelism is accomplishing. There are several things that impact me almost daily. First of all, WBS correspondence courses are so penetrating. They go into private homes in large cities and small villages. Sometimes they teach and convert people where the Lord’s church does not exist and sometimes they help established churches to grow. Through WBS contacts, missionaries are able to open up new areas where the church has never been established. At other times many are converted in the towns and cities where the missionaries are working, but might have never been able to reach the people that WBS reaches had not the courses been offered.

Secondly, the people who are taking our courses are naturally very spiritual and are interested in Bible study. Most of them have had little or no exposure to New Testament Christianity and are thrilled to have an opportunity to study the Bible from a different perspective from the one they had been exposed to. Tied in with their desire to study the Bible is their desire of further education. Most have had limited opportunities for an education and World Bible School courses are an answer to their love for study and learning.

I suppose one of the most important aspects of World Bible School is that it give American Christians a chance to have a personal part in world evangelism. WBS teachers do a tremendous job teaching the gospel and are thrilled with the opportunity to personally fulfill the great commission. They become very attached to some of their students who in turn love them. Some men who have been converted to the Lord through WBS have become great evangelists, establishing churches and even carrying the gospel to other nations around them.

I am personally pleased to be a part of this great outreach. I would rather live in Africa and work personally among the folks there, but God has blessed Mary Jane and me with being a part of one of the greatest works in our time for reaching out to a lost world with the saving gospel.