8A

Front Page News June 26, 2009
Ordination continued from page 1A
tor’s wife, but also to be a pastor tive from an empty ice chest, and
myself.” They both then took that the fastest growing church in the
path. country from four Bibles, God
Bishop Hope Morgan Ward was suddenly becomes a very power-
always in church as a young child. ful God to me. A God above all
“I was fascinated with God,” Gods,” Ward said.
she said. Bishop Schnase’s career
She was on a mission path didn’t always point
trip in Bolivia at a young toward Christian service.
age in which they vac- “When I took those
cinated 1,000 people in interest inventory tests
one day. At the last stop, with the school counselors,
100 people showed up they suggested I become a
when they only had 10 librarian or a bookkeeper,
vaccinations left in their something where I would
nearly empty ice chest, have little contact with
so they only vaccinated
Bishop
people and focus primar-
the youngest babies.
Nhanala
ily on text,” he said. “One
They passed out the four recommended I become
Spanish language Bibles they had an actuary, working with numbers
First row, from left: Mamie Pero, Bishop Robert Schnase, Daniel Brown, Susan Hoyle.
remaining, and left feeling embar- and statistics for an insurance
Second row, from left: Shawn Franssens, Mary Lou Toft, Choong-Ho Kwon, Chris Snyder.
Third row, from left: Donna Trollinger, Nora Jones.
rassed and defeated. company.”
They kept records of everyone In high school he thought he
they vaccinated, and turned it in might want to be a biologist or a
to the minister of health, park ranger. In college he
noting that they ran out considered becoming a
of vaccines. He replied therapist or a school coun-
that they couldn’t have selor. What helped Bishop
run out, because there Schnase hear his call to
are not that many people ministry was the gentle
in the area. Because they prodding of others.
ran out of vaccine, a new One memorable time
census was conducted. was as a young child, Rev.
Following the census, a Cornelius Henderson
new health initiative for
Bishop
came to his church, and
the area was launched by
Hope Ward
met with the youth group
the government. before the service. Later
Later a missionary from the the sermon began.
area visited Ward’s church, and “When he preached, his whole
From left: J.C. Sowers, Bishop Robert Schnase, Rob Mehner, Stephen Hartbaugh.
reported that the village where personality filled the place with ‘Bob, it’s just so beautiful.’ After he said. me, as if someone was calling my
they had left the four Bible had the Holy Spirit of God,” Bishop the sermon, he wrote his name At that same time, Bishop name and saying, ‘What are you
started at new church, and it was Schnase said. “He was preaching and address on a bulletin, and told Schnase’s youth director decided going to make of this?’”
the fastest growing church in on the birth of Jesus, and in the me if I wanted to talk about going he would take the boys from the In college, Bishop Schnase
Bolivia. middle of the sermon, he paused into the ministry, to contact him.” church out to cut wood and deliv- spent two years working the 11
“When you get a health initia- and looked right at me and said, Bishop Schnase never did contact er it to people who heat and cook p.m. to 7 a.m. Saturday night shift
him, but still has the bulletin today. with wood. They got the names of on the suicide prevention hotline.
At age 14, Bishop Schnase needy families from the local wel- One night a woman called who
received a call from his pastor at fare office. When they made their seemed very close to ending her
home, a scary thing in itself for a first delivery, it was to a dirt floor life. They talked for hours, and she
14-year-old. His pastor asked him shack with three tin walls and one turned a corner and got help.
to be in charge of the audio/visual wall of blankets. Inside there was “When I walked back to my
equipment for the church, which a sick man in bed, his drunk wife, dorm that morning, I was as
was a film projector and a slide and a few kids. As they continued exhausted as I could be, but I felt
projector. to deliver more wood, the other more alive than I had ever felt in
“For the rest of high school, I situations were pretty similar. my life,” he said. “I begin to think
was at every UMW meeting, every “I had no idea this world exist- about what it would be like to be
A flute player accompanies the 90-member mass choir
vacation Bible school, every men’s ed five miles from where I lived,” used by God to make a positive
assembled from several Springfield area churches.
meeting, running the projector,” Bishop Schnase said. “It unsettled difference in the life of a person.”
Social media used to communicate during Annual Conference Session
This year the Missouri Annual by searching facebook for “Missouri Annual members. Conference information on the Missouri
Conference began using some social Conference Session.” This page contains Twitter was also used during Conference. Conference Web site, including all three
media tools for information sharing dur- videos, discussion boards, photos and To read the conversation, do a search from Daily Journals (the reports from each day
ing Annual Conference Session. There’s a “wall” comments from Annual Conference Twitter for “#moac09”. of Conference session). To read them, go to
group page on facebook that can be found Session. As of press time the group has 254 There’s also a wealth of Annual www.moumethodist.org/ac09.
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15