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Martyred Chapel Service

Published Date: July 6, 2017

Asbury alum, Dr. Glen J. R. Eschtruth, preached in Estes Chapel 1965, and he spoke about his work with Methodist missions in Congo.  

He believed that missions was certainly changing at that time, especially in Africa, and he claimed that the Spirit of God was falling on the African people more than any other time.  He stated, “we are literally at the dawn of a new day.”  

He encouraged students that the mission fields were beckoning them, and he reminded students of their call from God. 

 He cautioned hearers that to accept a call to the mission field but to go ill-prepared is the biggest disillusionment on the mission-field as there were many missionaries who were not properly trained and who were crushed and wandered home with excuses and heartbreak.  

Dr. Eschtruth compared the need for preparation for missionaries to the need for training for surgeons who go into surgery since he was a surgeon as well as a minister.  He explained that a surgeon who is ill-prepared going into surgery may cut the wrong parts of the body, and he said that this is the same for missionaries.

He called students to prepare earnestly to serve the Lord, and he stated, “on your shoulders is a mantle of responsibility to the witness of God.”  He encouraged them that revival fires are certainly burning if they would seek to change the hearts of the people.

Dr. Eschtruth was first called to missions in a Wilmore church, and he was martyred in 1977, while serving as a medical missionary who operated a mission hospital in Kapanga, Zaire.  We honor him for his incredible service and sacrifice for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you would like to listen to his entire sermon from the 1965 chapel service, click here:  To preach, to pray, to heal

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4 responses to “Martyred Chapel Service”

  1. Randy Vinson says:

    I am an ATS alumni. But before I went to Asbury in July of 1977, I was stationed at Kapanga in Zaire and lived in Dr. Glenn Eschtruth’s home. I was one of the 10 Methodist missionaries captured with him during the 2 1/2 months of captivity. I was the last person to talk with Glenn before the soldiers took him away. He was a great man.

    • James Mace says:

      Thanks for your testimony, Randy! Down by the Angolan border, isn’t it? Dangerous area since the mid-60s. (Closest I got was riving from Burundi to Lusaka, Zambia.)

      But we could talk a bit about captivities, when God walks with us through the valley of shadow and death. I was hostage to the infamous Burmese opium warlord Khun Sa (alias Chiang Shi Fu), acting as courier of letters to Reagan (military & DEA debriefings) peddling heroin to the government.

      Throughout such travail do we experience His Providential sustenance, yes?

    • Tommy Artmann says:

      Randy,
      I have memories of you sharing your
      story with us while we were
      students in seminary. I wish now
      that I had sought to learn more
      about your experiences from you.
      God bless you for your faithfulness.
      Tommy Artmann

  2. Bill Hayes says:

    I served with Glen in 1974-75 and was the purchasing agent for the Umch at Lubumashi. He remains one of the most profound memories of my time in Congo. Decent, thorough, brilliant and always Christian. To the end. As he was taken out to be killed he reminded his wife, Lena: “All things work together for good for them who love the Lord.” No better time than a steak and fries with Glen and Harold Amstutz at the Park Hotel.

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