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Adult Programs - Mission Committee Legacy of Howard B. Bitzer Bitzer Memorial School Gleaming white in the sun of north central India is a large building, Bitzer Memorial School. It serves to educate hundreds of children in the area just outside of Allahabad, and thousands of students have passed through its doors since it was started. You may wonder where Bitzer Memorial School got its name and beginning. Who was Howard B. Bitzer? Howard B. Bitzer was born December 24, 1907, in the state of Minnesota. His early childhood was spent in that place, and at the age of nine he went with his parents to the headquarters of the Metropolitan Church Association at Waukesha, Wisconsin. Howard entered the day school conducted in connection with the Bible training school and completed his course of study at the age of sixteen. He then began teaching in that school and at the same time took a course of study to fit him for the ministry. At the age of eighteen the Spirit of God began to work upon his heart. He was genuinely converted and from that time his whole course of life was changed. It was while teaching in the high school that the call of India's teeming millions reached his ears. He was ordained to the ministry August 12, 1928. Following the untimely death-from smallpox--of John Samuel Whipple, who had headed the MCA mission compound in Siwait, Howard Bitzer and Henry L. Harvey Jr. went from the parent church in the U.S. to the India mission at Siwait. Howard Bitzer showed a marked proficiency for the native language and at the first anniversary of his arrival, November 9, wrote in his diary: "Though only one year in India is complete, I feel entirely at home and completely assimilated into India." He was superintendent of the mission for twelve of the fifteen months he spent in India. He died just after his twenty-fifth birthday. Howard Bitzer contracted smallpox just three months after his first anniversary in India. Ellen Freymiller, one of the nurses who tended him in his final illness, had recovered from smallpox earlier. But at that time it was against the policy of the church to vaccinate the missionaries. Howard Bitzer was the last of the MCA missionaries to die of smallpox, because health officials then overrode the objections of the church and enforced the protection of vaccinations. From this we can learn that though God still works miracles, God's work on earth is done by human instrumentality. After Howard Bitzer passed away, Henry Harvey, who knew the thoughts and prayers of his fellow missionary, was determined to fulfill his desire by building a school. And that is how the Bitzer Memorial School came to be. Jesus taught (John 12:24), "A grain of wheat remains a solitary grain unless it falls into the ground and dies; but if it dies, it bears a rich harvest." And the life of Howard B. Bitzer has resulted in the harvest of an on-going educational facility that influences an innumerable multitude. You can have a part in this worthy enterprise. Your prayers are solicited for the staff and students of Bitzer Memorial School at Siwait and the associated school in Bichiya. Also for the two schools in South India. And if you make a monetary contribution, please follow the directions below. Thank you so much for your interest. Can
you help? If so, please make your check payable to Evangelical
Church Missions but DO NOT make any further designation on the check
itself. You may state ON A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER either North
India (where the Rev. Prem Prakash is director) or South India
(where the Rev. Bandaru Ebenezer is director), or you may request
remittance envelopes from Evangelical Church Missions. ECM will
continue to honor your support of a particular missionary or
ministry. These new instructions comply with IRS regulations. |
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