Does God Exist? Loses a Key Teacher: Jean Wiebe


In 1978 we visited my aunt in Watertown, New York, and met Frank and Jean Wiebe. Jean was an elementary teacher in the Watertown public schools, and we quickly realized that we shared a common commitment to children and to the faith struggles children have. Jean had a book titled The Great King's Plan for children and we printed it and began using it in our ministry to young people. Since that feeble beginning, Jean has been a major part of the Does God Exist? program. We have done many teacher workshops together where Jean has inspired thousands of teachers with her innovative ideas and wonderful attention to making the world understandable to children. We made a 13-tape video series to train teachers with Jean, her twin sister Jo Pennington and Jo's husband G.K. This was done at Abilene Christian University and is still being distributed and used through our program. Two summers ago, Jean came to Niles and we made a 20-lesson children's video tapes/DVD series on science and faith, which is a major part of our materials that people can borrow or purchase to use in teaching children at the elementary school level.

When Jean was with us making the children's series two summers ago, she was battling breast cancer. On Friday, October 6, 2006, Jean passed away from the cancer that returned for the third time, and from the treatments that she had been given. This was a lady that loved the Lord, loved children, and used her enormous talents to the fullest. She was a dear sister, and our love for her is beyond description. She took all of the tools God gave her and used them to the fullest. Frank was a wonderful complement to her creativity and talent because he is a great carpenter and they worked well together. This is a staggering loss for us, but she has left us with a wealth of materials, and her influence and teaching will go on as long as this program continues.


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