ABWE - Association of Baptists for World Evangelism

From the Board of Directors of Horizon International Schools

Neil Heim went home to be with the Lord, whom he had faithfully served these many years, on Nov. 10, 2011. For 40 years, Neil and his wife Sandra served in Lima, Peru. Neil’s responsibilities on the field included roles as legal representative, professor and director of the Baptist Theological Seminary, and church planter.

Neil was an instrumental force in the development of Horizon International Schools. In 1996, he represented Lima at the Theological Training Summit in Asunción, Paraguay, where options were explored for a coordinated theological effort for the South American fields of ABWE. He became Chair of the Synergy Committee at this meeting. A year later in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Neil participated as a member of the first official meeting of the board of the International Baptist University of Theological Studies, which later developed into Horizon. At that meeting, Neil was elected Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and appointed Chairman of the Academic Committee. He served in these positions until 1999, when he was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors. His first devotional to the Board was from Psalm 119, emphasizing the importance of learning the Word of God, living the Word of God, and loving the Word of God. He commented that “this is what we need to model as well as teach to our students.”

Neil served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Baptist University of Theological Studies from 1999 to 2001, at which time the school was renamed the International Baptist University (IBU). He continued serving for the next 10 years as Chairman of the Board throughout its change to the Horizon International Schools in 2005. In all of his 12 years as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Horizon, Neil never missed a Board meeting. Although he was not required to be physically present at the Horizon Administrative site, he chose to travel from Lima, Peru, to Grand Rapids to chair all Board meetings except one, which he chaired through electronic presence. Neil was also a faithful monthly financial contributor to Horizon.

In addition, Neil served as Horizon’s coordinator for Spanish language course translation and production, overseeing the translation of six courses. He also taught several online Spanish courses through the Baptist Theological Seminary in Lima, Peru.

Neil presided over his last Board meeting on August 16, 2011, and concluded his devotional on Psalm 73 with the following words: “Let us as a Board draw near and worship God to have God’s perspective, and in the end we will also say, ‘For me it is good to be near God’… ‘I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.’”

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