SAVE THE DATE
Bethel Seminary’s 40th Anniversary Celebration
Friday, September 29 Dinner
6116 Arosa Street San Diego, California 92115
Saturday, September 30 Breakfast & BBQ
VISIONBUILDERS FOR DONORS, FRIENDS, AND ALUMNI OF BETHEL SEMINARY SAN DIEGO SPRING 2017
Sunday, October 1 Worship
| bethel.edu/seminary
REAP WHAT YOU SOW: Donor’s Investment Comes Full Circle By Adrienne A. Aguirre
TURN YOUR GIFTS INTO A LEGACY When you include Bethel Seminary San Diego in your estate plan—a gift through your will, trust, insurance, retirement assets, or life income agreement—you’re demonstrating a commitment to supporting seminary students well into the future. Your gifts are combined with others’ gifts to help ensure a strong and secure Bethel for decades to come. Support Bethel Seminary’s Mission to Prepare Graduates to Serve Christ and Others! Your Gifts Support: • Capital Improvements • Endowment Growth
• Academic Programs • Scholarships
• Many other important services and programs
Determine Your Goals One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to estate planning. So, the first step is to determine your goals. No matter your age, circumstances, or goals, there’s a life-income, charitable gift that will fit your needs. You’ll receive personal attention as we partner to evaluate how you can connect your financial goals with opportunities to support Bethel Seminary. Gifts to Bethel Seminary Can Benefit Both You and Bethel in Various Ways: • Immediate tax benefit and immediate benefit to Bethel Seminary • A gift that costs you nothing now and benefits Bethel Seminary later • Immediate tax deduction and income now and a gift that benefits Bethel Seminary later Stephanie Fedor
Learn more about how an estate plan can benefit both you and Bethel Seminary San Diego. Contact: Daniel D. Wiersum, MBA, CSPG | Associate Vice President for Planned Giving 651.635.8052 | d-wiersum@bethel.edu | bethel.edu/giving/legacy —4—
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading stories about Bethel Seminary students and graduates. I’ve enjoyed writing them for my alma mater. Now, I get to tell you a little bit about my story, about one of our donors, and the divine way God brought us together. I came to know the Lord after having my daughter Desirée when I was in high school. She was my motivation for going to college, and the Holy Spirit was my inspiration for going to Bethel. I had no idea why God was calling me to seminary, but I knew He was. I also had no idea how I’d pay for it as a single mom. People told me that if I was meant to go to Bethel, God would provide. Like many students here, I held on to that belief. And He did provide, through donors like you, every term that I was here. Today, I am a writer, a hospice chaplain, and a fundraiser helping the next generation of Bethel students with their tuition. One of the many donors who contributed to my education during the four years I worked on my Masters in Theological Studies was Rae Lindgren. Rae began faithfully donating to Bethel in 1994. She wanted to help students who in turn would help others. Little did she know that her investment would one day help her as well when she needed it the most. I met Rae in July 2015 when I went to work for Dean Arnell Motz in the Development Office. I learned that Rae not only gave to Bethel throughout the last 20 years of her life, but she also made plans to leave her money to Bethel when she died. Arnell told me that Rae was in her 90s, widowed, had no children, and her family was out of state. He said Rae was a part of the Bethel family, and we needed
to look out for her. So I checked in on Rae over the phone, visited her at home, and took her to her favorite restaurant where she had spent date nights and anniversaries with her late husband Adrienne A. Aguirre Warren. She often spoke about dying but was not afraid. Rae’s concern was that the students of Bethel would be taken care of after she was gone. Rae had Bethel on her emergency contact list. When we got a call that she was in the hospital, I went to her side every day to minister to her and advocate for her. Nurses would ask if I was her daughter. Then they’d look at her chart and in pity say, “Oh, she has no children.” I’d correct them, “She has more than one hundred children who she’s helping put through college. I was one of them.” When Rae was moved to a hospice home, I stayed by her side as promised. I didn’t want her to be alone when she passed, so I asked one of the nurses to check her vitals before I ran out to get food one night. Everything seemed stable and —Reap What You Sow continued on page 2 —1—
VISIONBUILDERS
VISIONBUILDERS
OUT OF EGYPT: Refugee Reaches the World
—Reap What You Sow continued from page 1
By Adrienne A. Aguirre
normal, but when the nurse listened to Rae’s lungs, she jumped back a bit and said, “Woe! That was weird. Hold on; let me check again.” She readjusted the stethoscope, put it back on Rae’s chest, closed her eyes, and smiled while she listened. “There’s music playing in her lungs,” she said. I asked if Rae was humming in her sleep. “No, there are metal instruments playing,” she said. “I’ve witnessed many miracles as a hospice nurse. This is a new one.” I thought about the scriptures that speak of trumpets blasting to call the congregations together or to call people home to be with the Lord. I knew this was the sign I needed from God to tell me to stay put. I read scriptures to Rae about eternity in paradise and played hymns on my phone about the assurance of salvation as she journeyed peacefully into Heaven. I presided over Rae’s service and ministered to her family and friends. I never thought I would
Rae Lindgren
do this work, and I couldn’t have done so if it were not for the education I received at Bethel and the financial support of donors like you. Thank you! I love being a hospice chaplain. It is a blessing and a privilege to hold the hand of a dying person when God takes them by the other. •
thought I could make a difference.” It was his financial generosity and passion for training leaders that made a way for preparing the next generation. Then there was Rae Lindgren, Betty Nilson, Harold Smart, and George Vollman who left a legacy through their final will and trust to impact the next generation. We salute these warriors, asking that God will raise up others to take their place. If we are to live as followers of Jesus who are focused on advancing His kingdom, then we will be concerned about investing in kingdom-minded students. This is why we told you about Adrienne A. Aguirre, a Bethel Seminary alum and employee who is moving into full-time ministry as a hospice chaplain. Next you’ll read about Adel Abdelmalak, one of our new students, who comes to us from Egypt. We have 200 more alum stories to tell you, many having ministry that touches your world. We tell these stories to remind you of our task to share God’s light in this dark world and to raise up light-bearers who pour out their lives for the gospel. That’s the legacy.
DEAN’S CORNER Leaving a legacy—it might sound cliché but it is actually a biblical value. In giving the Law to Moses, God embedded a key value of teaching the next generation to “walk in my ways.” Read Deut. 6 and you will hear themes of teaching your children so they would teach their children. In presenting why we need Bethel Seminary, we point to why the church needs leaders who think biblically about issues and act passionately about the gospel. The future of the church and its effectiveness in impacting the world for Christ is connected to the faithfulness of the next generation. Leadership matters. This past year we lost several warriors who have carried this passion for leaving a legacy. First it was David Price, who helped shape our seminary from its beginning stages. He said, “It was where I
Arnell Motz, Dean & Executive Officer • —2—
When Adel Abdelmalak was beaten by Muslim extremists for sharing the gospel to 300 people in a small church, they thought it would stop him. Instead, it caused his outreach to grow from reaching hundreds of people in one place at a time to thousands all over the world at any given time. “God can always take what was meant for evil and make it good,” said Adel, internet evangelist and Bethel Seminary San Diego student. Adel found Jesus in Egypt, where he was born, and began walking with Him when he was 15 years old. “I used to go to Sunday school and memorize many verses by heart without personal change,” says Adel. “At that time my heart was filled with worry, anxiety, and instability, especially as a teenager. However, my life changed one-hundred-andeighty degrees when I invited Jesus to live in my heart. He filled my heart with peace, and self-control.” Even though Adel knew he’d face religious persecution in his Islamic country, he wanted to share what he had with others in his homeland. The elders in his church recognized his gift for teaching and preaching. God confirmed it and he obeyed. One night after giving a sermon in a village about 120 miles from his home, he was attacked in front of his wife and four daughters. “On my way to return back to Cairo, more than fifty Muslim terrorists attacked me and destroyed my car,” he said. “My wife and my daughters still remember that tragic night. It was nightmare. We can’t delete it from our memories.” The year was 2011. “After that, in June 2012, we decided to flee from that difficult situation and come to a safe place,” he said. “We applied for asylum and the government here in the United States granted me and my family permanent residency.” Adel is still preaching to his people in Egypt, but now he is reaching them and other Arabs via The Way TV, a Christian-Arabic satellite station that reaches millions of people all around the world. In July 2012, Adel also started an Arabic-language YouTube channel where his sermons have been watched more than 200,000 times by people in 130 countries.
Adel reaches out to his people here as well, and also teaches children at Emmanuel Faith Community Church in Escondido, where he and his family have found a spiritual home. “I lead a small group at Faith Kids every Wednesday,” he says. “Also, I lead an Arabic-Bible study group at International Christian Fellowship.” Adel wants to improve his knowledge of the Bible and become an ordained minister, so he’s pursuing a Masters in Divinity degree. He said he was drawn to Bethel Seminary because of its mission to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people in culturally sensitive ways. “I am so excited to have a biblically grounded community of learning,” says Adel. “Attending Bethel Seminary will grant me a good opportunity to be a holy person who preaches, teaches, and leads others to love Jesus with all their hearts, souls, and minds. Furthermore, attending Bethel Seminary will help me to be more like Jesus.” This summer, Adel will take his seminary education overseas to Lebanon to share the Good News with Syrian-refugee children and their families, as well as abused, abandoned, and orphaned children. He is also going to England to speak at family conference in Brighton and at a revival in London. “I accepted His calling to serve Him and to carry the good news to everyone,” says Adel. “Attending Bethel Seminary will give me a great chance and an amazing opportunity to achieve my goals for His glory.” • —3—