Last Lessons #78 – BSF MOVES

“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you.”  Genesis 12:1

To continue the story, here’s how God moved BSF from Oakland, California, to San Antonio, Texas. 

In 1979 it was clear that Wetherell Johnson was ill, she was 70 years old, and she was no longer able to keep up with all the work of BSF.  Another happening that only God could do was that one of the two BSF Headquarters buildings in Oakland had slid down the mountainside by two feet!  Hmmm.

The BSF Board was ready for Wetherell to retire, but she was not ready until she had put her successor in place.  About that same time, a couple in San Antonio offered 74 acres of raw land to BSF if they would like to move to Texas.  The Board thought Texas was the end of the world!  I thought that maybe Texas was the “uttermost parts of the world”.  But the wise Board knew that the most important thing was who would lead BSF, not where BSF would be located.  By that time, Wetherell had made it clear to the Board that she wanted me to follow her.  I couldn’t imagine such a thing, but she said, “Oh it's just like being an Area Advisor, just a little bit bigger.”  That was absolutely not true!  But she believed we had the same heart and vision for BSF.  The problem was that I lived in Texas, not California!  Here’s what happened:

The Board asked me if I would become the Executive Director of BSF and move to California.  Of course, I said “no” because I was married, and Bob and I lived in Texas. 

Then they asked me if I would ask Bob to move to California.  Again, I said “no” because I would never ask my husband to leave his job and move for my sake.

Finally, they asked me if they could ask Bob to move so that I could be the Director of BSF and I said “yes” to that.

I could hardly believe it when Bob said that he would be willing to move so that I could be BSF’s Director.  I will never forget that my sweet husband was willing to sacrifice his work as a doctor so that I could fulfill the role that was needed for the wonderful ministry of BSF to go forward.  But that was my Bob. 

Once it was decided that I would be the Director, the Board agreed that BSF should take the offer of land in San Antonio and move.  Three things would be accomplished: BSF could sell its dangerous property in Oakland, BSF would be able to expand, and Bob and I would not need to move.  God’s plans are always better than anything we can imagine.  As a note, a year or two after BSF moved, the house where Miss Johnson and Miss Hertzler lived in Oakland slid completely off the mountainside.  God’s plans are always previous!

After the decision to move BSF was made and I became General Director in 1980, for the next year I traveled every month to Oakland to work with the staff there. In San Antonio we set up a temporary headquarters in a rented building near the land where a few staff from Oakland and some we hired in San Antonio worked while we got electricity and water onto the 74 donated acres.  We hired an architect and a builder and went to work.  When the Johnson Center, the Hertzler Press, and some cottages where Teaching Leaders could be trained were built, Wetherell Johnson and Alverda Hertzler moved to a house close to where Bob and I owned our house.  They wanted to be close to the work of BSF and Wetherell wanted to write her autobiography called Created for Commitment.

That’s the story of the move.  What did we learn? 

1.     When God makes it clear that you should move, do it.  He has his reasons, and it will be worth it.

2.     Moving is hard work!  Moving a whole organization half-way across the country is very hard work!  But it will be worth it.

3.     Expansion of a ministry costs money because it requires more buildings and more staff.  But it will be worth it.

4.     Vision to move, build, and expand takes faith and prayer.  And it will definitely be worth it!

I hope that you have learned (or are learning) similar lessons in your life if God is moving you somewhere – or somehow!