Jay Walsh and Wendell Kempton in front of the memorial plaque honoring the late Carolyn Kempton at the Carolyn Kempton Memorial Hospital in Togo. Photo by Jody Bowen
I am humbled, as one of many longtime team members, to celebrate the home going of my beloved chief. Dr. Kempton and I enjoyed a long, unusual, and blessed relationship as we served the Lord in tandem. We often talked together, planned together, prayed together, traveled together, and faced enormous challenges together. And together, we saw our God answer so many of our prayers! As he would often exclaim, “Great things He hath done—over and over again!”
As my leader, Dr. Kempton impressed me with his great insight and vision. I cannot forget in 1975 when he challenged me to work with him in raising a half–million dollars for Bangladesh! I had a hard time wrestling with that figure. Yet, after our halfhour interview on NBC’s “Face the Nation,” Heartbeat for Bangladesh was born. The Lord honored our efforts and faith with more than a half–million dollars! It was after this experience that Dr. Kempton and Rev. Walsh became Wendell and Jay! In succeeding years of phone conversations, I continued to address him as chief or boss, and he always addressed me as “the governor.”
Several years later, Wendell, Bill Pierson, and I sat together talking about another great challenge— raising another half-million dollars to build a hospital in Togo. Wendell reminded us that day that this would be a difficult one. Togo? Bangladesh was well known because of the many tragedies that had struck that country. But Togo? Who had ever heard of Togo? Still, we launched the program, and when funds were slow at coming, the thought came to me. What if we redesigned the program to be a memorial for Wendell’s late wife, Karolyn? After a phone call to Bill Pierson about this idea, he suggested that I call Wendell. Wendell thought for a moment and said, “Let me run this by my family to see what they think.” What an exciting time this past June, when Wendell and I, with two of our grandsons (Kyle Kempton and Benjamin Collins) walked around the Karolyn Kempton Memorial Hospital compound fellowshipping with national believers, patients, and fellow missionaries. Togo became another miracle of God’s grace!
During those Togo planning meetings, Wendell also raised the question, “Wouldn’t it be great if we had a program where donors could send monthly gifts for special field projects, thus eliminating the need to be always making huge appeals?” This challenge gave birth to ABWE’s PACE ministry, an acronym Wendell coined for People Advancing Compassionate Evangelism. Compassionate evangelism was Wendell’s heartthrob.
And, of course, I will never forget the miracle of 1992 when Wendell challenged his ABWE office team to move the mission from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. His insight, challenge, and vision paid off. That year proved to be one of the most spiritually rewarding years of our lives! After negotiating a two-million dollar property in half, Wendell announced, “We are going to build our new facility with volunteer labor.” More than 1,100 volunteers from Canada, seven foreign countries, and twenty-seven states responded to help! During that year, when Wendell was not with us because of his travel schedule, he often phoned to encourage my wife, Eleanor, and me and his wife, Ruthie, as we worked on “the hill.” And, from time to time, he sent encouraging little notes, often written on scrap paper, from different airports in the cities where he ministered.
What were the qualities that made our leader Wendell so loved, so respected, and so effective? For me, they were his vision, his compassionate heart, his thoughtfulness, his generosity, his commitment to the teamwork principle, his love and concern for ABWE’s MKs, and, above all, his love for God’s Word. Since the day he died, I have asked myself, “Why him and not me?” I am still here with a pacemaker embedded in my chest, and he is gone. But I know that God has His plan for each of our lives. Wendell is with the Lord he loved and served so faithfully. My loss—our loss—is heaven’s gain. God makes no mistakes! He will continue to do great things—over and over again.
“As we look through the rearview mirror, all we can say is “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. And His greatness is beyond human comprehension!” —Dr. Wendell Kempton
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Brownell served in Bangladesh and the Home Office for many years.
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Corabelle Stowell, wife of longest-serving Board member in ABWE history, passes away
Her husband, Dr. Joseph Stowell II, went home to be with the Lord in June 2007
