With the Word to the World: Miss Bernice Inman

August 4, 2020

The impact that women have made on the 100-year history of Faith is vastly underpublicized and underappreciated. It was a widow (Mrs. Dena Maytag) whose monetary donation in 1928 made the purchase of our first campus at 1040 Park Avenue in Omaha possible. It was a female instructor at Omaha Bible Institute (Mrs. Carl R. Gray), who was also a nationally-recognized Sunday evening radio show host, that attracted students during the school’s leanest years in the 1920s. It was a woman with deep conviction (Miss Nell Malen) who voted, along with John L. Patten, to keep the school alive at a momentous board meeting in 1947. And, it was a woman—Miss Bernice Inman—whose passion for missions ultimately led to the selection of the school motto in 1963.

Miss Bernice Inman joined Omaha Baptist Bible College as a faculty member in 1961 after 13 years as a missionary and teacher in Bordeaux, France. She taught both English and Missions at OBBC, but her real passion was for missions. She later worked as an editor and publications director for Baptist Mid-Missions. Here is a paragraph of a speech that was given by her at the 1981 Missions Conference at Faith:

“Little did I know when I arrived in Omaha in the fall of 1961 that I would be at the college during its most exciting years. What was at the time a small, drab, not-too-inviting campus was growing. Even the buildings we saw the Lord provide along the way couldn’t keep pace with the growing student body. But the students in the early ’60s were not drab—they were enthusiastic, self-sacrificing, and hard-working, sincerely desiring to prepare themselves well for the most important work in all of the world.”

After being approached by students about adding Missions as a minor, Inman worked hard to make the goal happen, adding a course per year to the curriculum. Her role in establishing the Missions program at Faith was substantial, and so was her role in the naming of the school motto at a meeting with the three members of The Faculty Trio. We’ll have much more on that historic moment next week….

Would you like to have an impact on our school the way Miss Inman, Mrs. Maytag, Miss Malen, and Mrs. Carl R. Gray had? You can! If you have been inspired by these “Women of Faith,” you too can be a significant part of our future story of sending “The Word to the World.” Help us match the $160,000 that has been pledged by three separate donors. Visit our website at faith.edu/give or mail a check to:

FBBC&TS
Attn: Advancement Department
1900 NW Fourth Street
Ankeny, IA 50023