Within the last two days, I received word of the deaths of
two comrades-in-ministry who played special roles in my life.
Phil Arendt, a fellow resident of Spokane, WA, quietly
slipped away from his family Sunday morning after fighting a year-long battle
with a cancerous brain tumor. I got to know Phil when I became CEO of Partners
International and discovered this third-career missionary on staff who was
personally modeling for everyone how to live out what it means to be a servant
partner. After years as a mission pastor in Modesto, CA and equipped with a
doctorate in missiology, Phil and his family joined SIM and spent a decade in
Ethiopia pouring his life into national church leaders. He joined Partners
International upon his return to the US and, by the time I arrived, was already
expanding his role as a Bible teacher and leadership mentor around the world. I
immediately asked him to become one of my VPs. Phil was truly a pioneer and
expert in the area of orality and story telling, bringing into close
relationship with PI such organizations as Scriptures In Use and Harvest
International. In many ways, what I am doing today follows the example of Phil
in terms of his effort to be available globally as a mentor, trainer, and
encourager of national Christian ministry leaders in the least resourced areas
of the world.
Gary Bishop came to
Mission Aviation Fellowship in 1998 as President/CEO. For the next five years I
served as his Vice President for Research and Strategic Planning. Together, we
crafted a new mission statement for the organization and reaffirmed MAF’s
historic by-line of “conquering barriers.”, MAF was not an easy role for Gary
because of not having had any previous international mission experience. Although he brought considerable business
knowledge from his previous role as director of the Pittsburg International
Airport, Gary faced the challenge of leading an organization that was in the
middle of many strategic changes. One of
those was partnering with the Packer Aircraft Project, the forerunner of the Quest Aircraft Company that now produces the turbine-powered Kodiak aircraft used extensively in mission aviation. Gary’s presence at MAF had a major impact on my life, and
it was his encouragement in many ways that led to my eventual acceptance of
the role of CEO at Partners International.
After MAF, Gary and his wife, Donna, returned to Texas where
he became president of World Bible Translation Center and eventually CEO of Far
Corners Missions. A heart attack took Gary’s life unexpectedly on Monday.
As I reflect on the lives of these two friends, I can’t help
but be reminded of both good and tough times we experienced together in our
respective journeys of mission service. I am deeply thankful for how God used
both men to shape me along the way and influence who I am today.
