Tabor College President's Journal

Delft, MN. Population 200 and declining. A seemingly insignificant town in southeastern Minnesota that over the years has had a huge impact on the world and the face of heaven. The Carson Center for Mission, Service, and Global Education at Tabor College hosted the first ”Carson Week” on campus this past week. A banquet was held on Saturday evening and various activities were hosted during the week to promote mission, service, and global education.

The Carson Center was initially funded when the Carson MB Church in Delft, MN decided to close its doors and distribute the physical assets of which Tabor College was one of the beneficiaries. We used the money to establish an endowment that would help us continue the legacy of the church and increase the influence of Tabor on the international scene. Today’s students must understand that they are living in a glocal world.

The story of the Carson MB Church is a missional story. During its entire history, the DNA of the church was to send missionaries, be involved in mission activities, and promote kingdom service. Person after person was sent out for mission service. The sound track of the church was global missional service. And when it came time to close its doors because of the changing demographics of the area, the leaders insured that the missional service of this small American village would continue to have a missional impact.

God must love small places to do his work. The scripture is full of people who came from small insignificant places and had huge kingdom influence. King David was from Bethlehem. Many of the prophets were from small towns. And Jesus himself came from Nazareth. “Can any good thing come from Nazareth?” was the question in his day. Yes, good things come from small places. And I would suggest that the same is true with Hillsboro… a small Kansas town that through Tabor College is making a global kingdom impact. Dare I say… God is in love with us.

As part of the Carson Week activities, the Ewert Family from Delft was featured in the programs. On Saturday morning Peg and I had the pleasure of hosting the entire Ewert family in our home. All six children and their spouses (except one) were together for the first time since their mother’s funeral in 2004. The story of this family is worth retelling.

Dave and Minnie Ewert were farmers. David completed 7^th grade, Minnie the 9^th grade. All six of their children attended Tabor with five of them graduating from Tabor and one completing all but one year at Tabor. After Tabor, Norm and Merrill each received a PhD, Lowell a Juris Dr, Phyllis and Elaine Masters degrees and Bob completed his bachelors from the University of Minnesota. Merrill, Lowell, and Bob each served for three years with MCC and Merrill also served with MBMSI for two years. Norm has traveled extensively internationally in his work with Wheaton College and Ten Thousands Village projects. Elaine served in Nigeria for 2 years and Phyllis did work in Brazil and also worked with MCC stateside. All of them are successful in their vocational endeavors.

But education and vocational success is not what is the most impressive about the family even though all are models of vocational success. It is the heart for service and global influence with eternal values that is so impressive. All of the family including the spouses thinks service, thinks world, and thinks eternal. Each of them has served in international settings making these places more like God intended them to be. Each have infused these settings with values of the eternal while participating in answering Jesus’ prayer “…your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The story was told by Merrill that when he told his Dad that he was going to Zaire to serve with MCC, his father’s response was, “I have given them my money, I have given them my cattle (canning project), and now I am giving them my boy.” What a missional legacy heralding from none other than Delft, MN.