It can be a challenge to remember our main mission at Faith amid the busyness of the school year. Conversations with alumni and former professors, however, often provide pause, reminding us of our motto: With the Word to the World.
These conversations also provide a glimpse into the lives of those who help carry out this mission of taking the Word to the world. Countless alumni and faculty have played a vital role in both training and carrying out the mission here at FBBC, and many are continuing to fill these roles.
If you attended Faith between 1976 and 1992, you may remember the name Dr. Gilbert Braithwaite.
Born to Christian parents on November 7, 1947, Gilbert grew up on a farm in Ferndale, Washington (Braithwaite, [Unpublished manuscript]). He was a very intelligent child born to very intelligent parents, John and Joyce Braithwaite.
Gilbert trusted in Christ at the age of five. His mother was a teacher who was also very involved with the Bible Memory Association (now Scripture Memory Fellowship), and Gilbert was required to memorize Scripture as well. His father was a dairy farmer and plywood factory worker.
As a teenager, Gilbert was very involved with the Future Farmers of America and developed strong ambitions of making big money in the dairy farming business. By age 14, he owned his own state-registered herd and was a supplier for the Carnation company. This was a tremendous responsibility for such a young man – a responsibility that came with many levels of detail and bookkeeping for maintaining licensure in the state of Washington.
Gilbert graduated from high school by the age of 16. He had become proficient in public speaking and had won awards; he was class president; he even earned a scholarship to Stanford University in California. But although his mind was ready for a college education, his mother would not let him go to a university until he reached the age of 18.
Gilbert’s mother had taught him the Word of God, and she was afraid that the college professors who taught evolution would influence him negatively.
So Gilbert attended college at Western Washington State College for two years and then enrolled at Washington State University to study Animal Sciences. He continued to excel in all of his college classes, and his goal was still to make money as a dairy farmer. But unlike his father, Gilbert intended to farm with a formal degree.
While Gilbert studied for his undergraduate degree, however, his mother’s fears came true. His professors were telling him that “the intelligent man will realize there [is] no God, and he was led astray by his professors.” Gilbert was negatively influenced by the teachings of evolution at the university. He had been taught God’s Word as a child and had a strong Christian heritage, but his thinking had become muddled.
God, however, was at work to bring Gilbert back to Biblical thinking. While performing microscopy on a cell and realizing its complexity, Gilbert encountered a dilemma. “He couldn’t reconcile [how] a cell he was observing under a microscope…could just evolve.”
It was this quandary which sent him on a search for God – a search that led him from church to church weekly. When he did not find God through this approach, he brought the matter to his mother, who in turn told him of yet another church to visit.
Gilbert listened to her advice and gave the church a try. This time, he found something different. The pastor did not simply open his Bible and preach, but the pastor “opened the Bible and read with knowledge, and it made a difference.”
So, through the ministry and discipleship of Pastor Ron Breckel at Bethany Baptist Church, God began his good work of preparing Gilbert for the job that was planned for him from before time began – one that was a completely different professional field than dairy farming.
Gilbert graduated from Washington State with highest honors at age 20, and his professors asked him to join the faculty there to teach genetics. But Gilbert had come to the realization that it was no longer money that he desired out of life.
Pastor Breckel encouraged him to attend seminary. Gilbert registered at Dallas Theological Seminary but never received an acceptance letter. Undettered, Gilbert left his home state of Washington and made the long drive to Dallas and then learned that he had been accepted.
Gilbert learned two things after attending Dallas Theological Seminary for one year. He “realized how much the Bible contains, and of which [he knew] so little, [and he also] learned that God’s Word was powerful and could change lives” (Braithwaite [Unpublished manuscript]).
While counseling at Nooksack Camp for the American Sunday School Union, one of Gilbert’s teen campers came to an understanding of his need for salvation and trusted in Christ as his Savior. Gilbert saw that “God’s Spirit and God’s Word are the powers used to open human hearts…[that] it was not [his] knowledge that won him to the Lord, but God working through his younger brother, through the camp speakers, and through the conviction of the Holy Spirit” (Braithwaite [Unpublished manuscript]).
During his first year at Dallas, Gilbert lived next to Manfred Kober, now known as Dr. Kober. Gilbert also got to know the twin Houghton brothers who attended Dallas Seminary at that time. It was because of George and Myron Houghton that Gilbert began to learn about what it means to be a Baptist. It took him close to three years to come to an understanding of what that meant, but he became a Baptist while at DTS.
And so it was through his group of friends in Dallas that Gilbert’s path to teaching theology at Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary was paved, and it was Dr. George Houghton who recommended that he come to Faith in Ankeny, Iowa.
After earning his Th.M. in Bible exposition and beginning his Doctor of Theology in Semitics and O.T. Studies, Gilbert joined the faculty at FBBC. It was here that he began his teaching career, officially becoming Dr. Gilbert Braithwaite two years later.
He also helped start Faith Baptist Theological Seminary, which developed through a merger with Denver Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary in 1986.
While degrees are important to Dr. Braithwaite, and his intelligence level is very high, these are not the attributes that leave the biggest impression when conversing with him. Dr. Braithwaite made several Scripture-related comments that reflect the ongoing affection he has for God and for God’s Word: “Many people don’t believe in the inspiration of the Bible. God will use us if we are open to Him and use His Scriptures. Our focus needs to be on renewing the mind through Scripture (Romans 12). Unless you aren’t studying for yourself, you aren’t growing. We keep learning through all of our lives, and our hope keeps getting brighter as we get closer to heaven.”
His favorite verse is 2 Timothy 3:15, which teaches us that the Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Dr. Braithwaite did not just use his Bible knowledge in the classroom. While teaching at Faith, he also served as a chaplain in the Army Reserve, a position which kept him busy almost every weekend during the year of Desert Storm. This specific outreach opportunity had become of interest to Dr. Braithwaite through the influence of a guest campus speaker who was a chaplain with the GARBC.
Dr. Braithwaite’s involvement as a chaplain continued with the Wisconsin Army National Guard when he later taught at Northland Baptist Bible College. He was given many opportunities to witness during his twelve-and-a-half year chaplaincy ministry, using God’s Word as the anchor for his ministry.
Dr. Braithwaite ministered while having already learned that “God is the one that saves people – through His Word and His Spirit.”
Aside from conversing about his love for God’s Word, Dr. Gilbert Braithwaite does not forget to talk about his family. The year after he joined the Faith faculty, he married his wife, Pamela Ann Worley, in 1977. The two had met through his mother’s continued involvement in the Bible Memory Association Miracle Camps in Washington state. Dr. Braithwaite and Pam now have two daughters, two sons, and fifteen grandchildren.
“With aging, [Dr. Braithwaite] received both quadruple heart bypass and later a below the knee amputation.” Through these difficulties, however, he has “found greater enjoyments from God’s Word.” He says that “ways of serving the Lord are different, but His strength is made perfect in our weakness.”
Although the past several years have proved themselves challenging with Gilbert’s ongoing health challenges, his faith and his family remain two vital parts of his life. Dr. Braithwaite reminds us that we should “always seek to abide in Him.”
Sixteen years of service to our college and seminary are a gift, but Dr. Braithwaite would not want the recognition. He knows that, as Jesus said, “without me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Although Dr. Braithwaite is now located in a different region of the country, he thanks God for and speaks highly of Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa. He said there are “so many sound people that have been influenced for good because of Faith Baptist Bible College,” and he is “thankful for the godly people at Faith.”
What a tremendous reminder that without God’s precious Word, Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary would not be influencing people for good, and our mission here at Faith would be impossible. The lyrics to the chorus below, some of which were recited by Dr. Braithwaite, tell about the precious gift we have in “The Wonderful Word of God.”
“The Wonderful Word of God” (by Vern Stromberg)
I have a precious book, it’s the word of God.
It’s the only book that God has giv’n.
As I read, God speaks to me,
I see Christ and Calvary.
The Wonderful Word of God.
Forever it will stand as the ages roll,
it’s the living and eternal Word.
It’s my guiding light each day,
and without it I would stray;
The Wonderful Word of God.
Sources:
Braithwaite, G. G. (2019). Braithwaite, Gilbert Faculty Profile [Author’s personal collection]
Braithwaite, G. G. Autobiography GGB [Unpublished manuscript]
Note:
Thank you to Dr. Gilbert and Pamela Braithwaite for graciously taking time for a phone interview with the FBBC Alumni Department. It was a joy to hear of God’s leading in Dr. Braithwaite’s life and ministry.
