Wyman started the idea of families praying and giving regularly to Bethel. Penny-a-meal banks were handed out across the Conference. Later penny-a-meal was changed to gift-a-meal because, as Dad said, “A penny wasn’t worth a cent anymore.” Once Dad bought a bus in Bellingham, Wash. He drove it home through the Rocky Mountains, so the football team could have transportation. Each of us three kids traveled to Fargo, N.D., on a short overnight train trip. We came back Sunday afternoon after the morning service. This preaching trip was a very special time for each of us. When Dad came home from trips we were always excited. He often brought little surprises. I got a major surprise for my 10th birthday when he brought me a used bicycle. It was during the war, and no new bikes were available. When Dad came home, Mom would remind him that he was not the visiting preacher. He was the daddy. He thought we were rowdier than most kids! We were just excited to see him.
God gave my dad a thick skin and a very soft heart. The teasings and comments from pulpits and friends bothered me much more than they bothered him. I didn’t like to hear about “moneybags Malmsten,” or the “beggar.” I now realize that God prepared my dad for a very special purpose. He loved preaching the gospel. He loved visiting churches. He loved telling people about Bethel. He was always excited about what God was doing on the Bethel campus. He started each presentation saying he first of all represented the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he represented the BGC family—world missions, home missions, Bible school and youth, the publications, and Bethel. For this sermon he would focus on Bethel. There have been great changes through the years. Bethel has grown from a very small school to being a great university. But our God does not change! I thank God for preserving Bethel. I praise Him for what He has done through Bethel, for what He is doing through Bethel, and for what He will do for and through Bethel in the future. If my dad were alive, this would be his prayer as well. •
continued from p. 1 in the past and even to this day. But at its best a religion of the heart still values the mind, yet sees the limitations of loving God only with the intellect. It calls for a more holistic and genuine response to God and His grace—so that, in the words of the psalmist, “all that is within me” blesses His holy name. At its best a religion of the heart is one in which, to quote Evelyn Underhill, “all that we do comes from the center, where we are anchored in God.” This is the kind of religion that has informed the Baptist General Conference’s historic vision of “heart and mind,” and led one of its great leaders, President Emeritus Carl Lundquist (1916-1991) of Bethel College, to declare in one of his newsletters for the Evangelical Order of the Burning Heart, which he founded, “Jesus must be more than an idea to be understood. He must be a person to be loved.” (Nov. 1984). It involves a disposition no less than a set of ideas. This is the crux of the matter, and why still, in the 21st century, there remains a great need—perhaps greater than ever—for a true religion of the heart to be lived out before a watching world. •
A Link to the New Bethel Digital Library We are living in an electronic age and increasingly, resources that used to be hard to find or available only in paper are now easily available online. Two years ago, Bethel University hired its first digital librarian whose responsibilities include building a Bethel digital collection that will serve the needs of Bethel students, alumni, and members of the churches of Converge Worldwide (BGC). While this process is new and improving, there is a lot of material already available for viewing by anyone with a computer. The best way to find
is to go to the History Center site (bethel.edu/bgc-archives) on the Bethel University website. When you get to the History Center front page, look on the left side of the page at the bottom and click on “Bethel Digital Library.” Some of the offerings that may be of particular interest to readers of Trailmarkers are the digital copies of the Clarion (the Bethel student newspaper), the Baptist General Conference collection, which includes the text of many of the most important historical books in our heritage as well as photos of many BGC historic churches; and 3
the Bethel University Collection, including photos of students from over the years. While you are looking up the Digital Library resources, you might also want to check out the link on the History Center webpage to back issues of Trailmarkers. Some of you have only received this newsletter for a short time, and you might want to look at issues going back to 2002.