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Wiebe served as General Secretary of MBM/S (then known as BOMAS) from 1968 to 1982. His term was a period of consolidation for the mission following several years of considerable change. Waldo Hiebert, MBM/S board chair during Wiebe's appointment, felt that his personality and temperament were particularly appropriate for the times. "Our main reason for choosing Vernon was his amiable spirit. We had a lot of missionaries who were confused because of the many changes in the mission field and he was a peacemaker," Hiebert reflected.
The choice was a successful one, according the Hiebert, "He did very well. The missionaries became confident again. He was a good administrator and he listened a lot to the missionaries and gave time to hear them out. He appreciated their input."
One of Wiebe's greatest challenges as general secretary was to retire a $400,000 debt and make structural changes so as to avoid future deficits. This included changes in financial and accounting policies but included a major refocusing of MBM/S priorities, according to Henry Pauls who served as MBM/S business manager at that time. "He systematized missionary financial management and salary structures but also was very instrumental in adjusting the mission's priorities. As he looked into the future and saw more limited resources, he realized that we had to focus our ministries on evangelism and church planting."
Few people have matched Wiebe's breadth of service in the Mennonite community and MB denomination. At Tabor College he served as physical education instructor, coach, fund raiser, dean of students and interim president. He pastored the Edmond, Oklahoma MB church prior to his service at MBM/S and was elected chair of the US MB conference which he served concurrently while at the mission board. He oversaw major financial and structural changes in the conference which remain to this day. He served on the boards of several agencies including Mennonite Central Committee.
In spite of all the change that Wiebe oversaw, he will probably be best known for how he touched lives. "He was very instrumental in the spiritual formation of mission leadership and for me personally," Pauls remembers. "He started out as a coach and some part of him never left that. He communicated his expectations quite well. More often than not, it was in my better interest to follow them. I had a great respect for him."
Wiebe was a member of Hillsboro (Kan.) MB church where pastor Dennis Fast valued him as an encouragement and agent for change. "He always wanted us to do things a little better but he was very warm and encouraging about it," Fast said." Harold Ens, general director of MBM/S agreed. "The Friday before Vernon's death, I had just come back from India and was going through a large stack of mail and found a letter of encouragement from him. He will be missed by many people around the world whose lives he touched with love and compassion."
Craig A. Hallman, Secretary for Communications and Media
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