Bill Stoll had a major role in my successful adaptation to missionary life and ministry in Brazil, and I thank God for his life. In the words of Irma, his wife, he was "instantly cured" of all his earthly ailments on Friday, January 21. He was 82 years old.
Bill taught Old Testament at the Baptist seminary in São Paulo (Faculdade Teológica Batista de São Paulo). One of his students in the late 1970s was Lalia Pacheco, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in Christian Education and later became my wife. She remembers Bill as a wise and gentle professor.
Bill also helped run the day-to-day operations at Edições Vida Nova, WorldVenture's publishing ministry. This was no small task in the days of hyper-inflation and general political and economic instability. When I started my career at Vida Nova in 1985, Bill took me under his wing. He was always ready to answer questions and assure me that one day I would be able to speak and write well in Portuguese.
At the breakfast table this morning, Lalia remembered that Bill was instrumental in spearheading the Portuguese translation of the New International Version of the Bible in the mid-1980s. She was invited to consult for the translation committee on matters of Portuguese style and grammar. Alan was a baby at the time, and so he would also attend the meetings in his stroller. At times, Bill would hold Alan's bottle while Lalia would take notes.
Bill, thanks for being an example of what real missionary work is all about--the incarnation of the good news of Jesus the Messiah.
3 comments:
Yes, Bill was a gentle man who will be remembered by our children as the Uncle who liked ice cream.
Thanks for the tribute to Bill. I was saddened to hear the news of his homegoing but I rejoice that he is now well in every way and happy in the presence of the One he served for so many years. I wrote to Irma to express my love and to promise to pray for her and their family.
Curt,
Thanks for posting the tribute to Bill, we had not heard of his home going. He and Irma were an encouragement to us as we prepared to go to Brazil-the church he helped plant in Kearny, NJ became a key part of our "pre-field orientation." He was used by the Lord to touch a lot of lives for eternity!
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