Congratulations, World Bible School!

Congratulations, World Bible School, on passing a major milestone!

The idea that became World Bible School began at least as far back as 1937 when Jimmie Lovell told of his dream for Christians to spread the Gospel worldwide through Bible correspondence. Jimmie, a businessman in California, persistently pursued that dream for decades, especially through his periodical Action, popular among churches of Christ. With increasing traction, Jimmie gave the developing reality the name World Bible School. That pivotal year was 1973. In the fifty years since then, WBS Study Helpers—mainly North Americans—have taught well over 35,000,000 across the world. This figure reflects teaching through English as tracked by the WBS office in Cedar Park, Texas. Many have been reached also through WBS in other languages and related programs.

Jimmie passed the WBS mantle to Reuel Lemmons who passed it to Tex Williams who passed it to John Reese who passed it to the current WBS president, Brian Rex Davis. While our leadership roles have given us prominence, the real heroes of WBS are the volunteers that teach and follow-up, along with many supporters. They seldom receive proper recognition, even within their own congregations. But they work for the Lord and for His mission of mercy, not for personal credit. Truly, their reward will be great! In the meantime, please know how much you are appreciated by those who become aware of your labor of love.

This “Congratulations!” is for you who patiently sow and nurture the seed, for you who reap the harvest, and for you who strengthen their efforts. We look forward to the day when you will rejoice to see the full fruit of what God has accomplished through your humble service. This presentation book is the sequel to “Dreams Come True” (See worldbibleschool.net/resources). Here, we continue to share Jimmie’s adventure of faith, and those of his fellow heroes, known and unknown. Many of these stories first appeared in Action periodical, now called ACTION! Magazine—a constant supply of inspiring reports from near and far (See worldbibleschool.net/action). Because God’s mission is so broad and His work so wonderful, great stories from other sources further enhance this volume. Their purpose, along with celebrating WBS’ 50th anniversary, is to inspire you to keep on sowing Gospel seed, making the most of every opportunity.