Mission couple to Brazil retires after 37 years:

"They taught others to teach well."

Fresno, Calif.

When John and Pat Klassen went to Brazil to begin their mission assignment in 1959, the senior missionaries recognized the need to begin a Bible institute in order to train national students for pastoral leadership.

Seminary Now

Now in 1996 the Mennonite Brethren Seminary and Bible Institute of Brazil (ISBIM), are fully administered by well-trained Brazilians. The school are bidding farewell to John and Pat Klassen after 37 years of mission service. During those years about 120 have graduated from pastoral studies or other programs.

Recent graduates include four pastoral studies majors, 1 in Christian education, 1 in music and about 25 who completed the one year "Be an Approved Workman" certificate in Bible. Director Harry Janzen and some of the part-time faculty, like Waldemar Kroeker, are graduates of MB Seminary in Fresno.

Although John trained to teach missions and church history, (he has a doctorate from the Fuller School of World Mission) he taught a plethora of subjects: Bible geography, church administration, eschatology (doctrine of last things), sects/cults, panorama of the Bible, general epistles and more.

Former Students Taking Leadership

One former student, who came from a poor family, later found himself pastoring a church with engineers, teachers, doctors and other professional people. At first, he struggled with a sense of inadequacy.

Then he realized that although his congregation was well-educated, they depended on him for expertise in biblical doctrine and life-principles. With experience, he grew in confidence that his biblical training had equipped him to minister the Word of God.

Another former student taught the religion classes at a local private high school. As a result, many of the students were converted. Eventually the students asked, "Why can't we be baptized?" but their teacher was hesitant. He knew that such a bold step would arouse opposition from their families.

But the young people persisted, until he reluctantly baptized them. The students' families reacted as predicted: with shock and horror. The Bible classes at the school had to be canceled, but the group of ardent young believers became the nucleus of a new church just across the street from the school.

Early Years

The Klassens' first 11 years focussed on starting a Portuguese-language Bible institute. Another similar school in Curitiba provided training in German. In 1973 the two schools merged to form ISBIM. At the time of the merger, John and Pat were reassigned to Sao Paulo, where, between 1971-81, they pastored two churches and helped start another: Santo Eduardo.

But when the call came to return to ISBIM in 1982, they joyfully accepted. While John resumed teaching a variety of subjects, Pat was asked to organize the library, which was in disarray. Without previous training, she nevertheless learned how to systematize, catalogue and arrange the 8700 volume collection.

After bringing order to the library, Pat discovered that students in search of a book or reference often would confide in her about more personal needs and struggles. For 14 years she enjoyed a more meaningful ministry to students than she had originally envisioned.

Active in the Church

Pat also started women's Bible studies which brought a number of women to the Lord. This resulted in John leading a study with some of the husbands. A few of these also came to Christ, including a rough-talking truck driver who had been raised in a spiritist family. He and his wife are now a deacon couple, seeking to win their seven adult children to faith.

Active in their local church in Curitiba, the Klassens regularly discipled new believers. In 1993, after several people professed to become Christians at a retreat, they began a discipleship class to prepare the new converts for baptism. Later, John had the joy of baptizing them.

On the Klassens' last Sunday in Brazil, during which many gave tributes to their influence, John was given the honor of baptizing four teenagers into membership.

Currently John and Pat are reporting to churches from California to British Columbia. After concluding this ministry, they plan to retire in BC, where John may teach part-time. They are also hoping to making short trips abroad.

The Klassens retire with the satisfaction of knowing that God used them, with others, to build a significant ministry of leadership development that will serve the Brazil Conference for decades to come.

Gary Hardaway, MBMS Communications and Public Relations

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