The Passing of a Missionary Giant--Ralph Winter

The following article appeared in the LA Times.

Ralph D. Winter dies at 84; Christian missionary was one of America's most influential evangelicals

By Claire Noland

May 24, 2009

Ralph D. Winter, a Christian missionary who was named one of America's 25 most influential evangelicals by Time magazine in 2005, died Wednesday at his home in Pasadena after battling multiple myeloma and lymphoma. He was 84.

Winter stepped onto the world stage in 1974 at the International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland. There he issued a call for other Protestant evangelists to proselytize to the world's "unreached people," those who had not been exposed to Christianity.

In identifying mission fields, Winter looked for "ethnic pockets," isolated areas where language, ethnicity, culture and social status as well as religion had hindered the spread of the Christian Gospel.

He began his career as a Presbyterian missionary in Guatemala in 1956. Ten years later he returned to the United States to become professor of missions at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. At Fuller he trained missionaries, sharing with students his experiences working with the indigenous Maya people of Latin America.

In 1976 he decided to leave the classroom to become a strategist for Christian outreach, founding the interdenominational U.S. Center for World Mission on the former campus of Pasadena Nazarene College. A year after establishing a research institute there, he founded the related William Carey International University.

By 2005 he was included along with such figures as Rick Warren and James Dobson in Time's compilation of influential American evangelicals.

Winter was born in South Pasadena in December 1924, the middle son of Hugo H. Winter, a prominent freeway designer with the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering, and his wife, Hazel.

He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at Caltech before serving in the Navy during World War II.

After his discharge, Winter switched gears and studied for a doctorate in linguistics, anthropology and mathematical statistics at Cornell. He then attended Columbia, where he received a master's degree in teaching English as a second language, and Princeton Theological Seminary, where he was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1956.

By then he was prepared for his missionary calling to Guatemala, setting out with his wife, Roberta, a registered nurse whom he had married in 1951. They had four daughters, all of whom became involved in missionary work. Roberta died in 2001.

Winter is survived by his second wife, Barbara; daughters Elizabeth Gill, Rebecca Lewis, Linda Dorr and Patricia Johnson; 14 grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and two brothers, Paul, a structural engineer, and David, president of Westmont College in Santa Barbara.

The Other Side of Teaching

On Wednesday I gave a brief glimpse of a minority of students that I have to deal with, men and women who are not sure why they are in Bible college and after a few days of classes are trying to figure out how to get by with the easiest courses. They check with their colleagues who advise them which professors to avoid. Some of the professors they need to avoid are also teaching the core courses, so eventually they will have to take their classes. 

But today I received a postcard from a former student that was one of the finest young men I ever met. 

Shawn Inchaustegui and his brother Anthony were born and raised in Mexico. Their father, Pecos, married their mother who hails from Wichita, Kansas. Pecos attended and graduated from MCC many years ago as a fellow student along with Dr. Rick Wright. Pecos is a big guy, jovial, and full of the love of the Lord for his people in Mexico. His wit and sense of humor and love for people he passed on to his boys. They were both special while they attended MCC. 

Both boys married MCC girls and now have families of their own. Both are involved in ministry. 

In class I often reminded the boys they needed to take their skills, their mastery of Spanish, and their knowledge of Mexican culture back to Mexico and evangelize there. So today I received this card from Shawn. He and his family have joined with New Mission Systems International, a premier organization in doing missionary work. That in itself is exciting. I am acquainted with some of the great leaders this organization has and they are among the best. So the training Shawn will receive will be the best. 

The card brought tears to my eyes. I had to say, "Thanks, Lord. It is worth it all." 

Shawn wrote: 

We pray that this card finds you both in wonderful shaped and delighting in our Papa's goodness. You always have been such a blessing in your belief and encouragement of God's call for my life. Dr. Paddock's ringing words: "Go back to your own people." The dream is coming true and we are getting close to our return to Mexico to being our work  as we live for God reaching out to the youth of Mexico.

Those are the words that stir the heart of a teacher and missionary. If I were to claim no other victory for 14 years at MCC, this one would be worth it all.