185
Foreign Mission Board Rooms
May 13, 1954
The Foreign Mission Board met in regular monthly session at 3:30 p.ra. on
Thursday, May 13, 1954 with Mr, Jenkins presiding,
Fresent: L. Howard Jenkins, fl, B, Tillman, L. G. Mosley, Perry Mitchell,
J,
Ё.
Boyles, Emmett Y. Robertson, Neal W. Ellis, Mrs. Clyde Hickerson,
Mrs. Kenneth Burke, E. P. Buxton, W. Rush Loving, H. P. Thomas, Oscar L.
Hite, Baker J. Cauthen, George W. Sadler, Rogers M. Smith, Frank K. Means,
E. L. Wright, E. L. Deane,
Dr. Tillman led in prayer.
On the motion of Dr. Hite it was voted to appoint the following missionary
candidates :
Miss Martha Jean Caps haw Colombia
Miss Frances Nadine Crawford Colombia
Miss Margaret Estelle Freeland Nigeria
Mr. and Mrs. William 0. Hern Jordan
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Kennedy Nigeria (Special appointment)
Each candidate gave a brief testimony after which Dr. Cauthen delivered the
charge to the new missionaries and Mr. Ellis led in the prayer of dedication.
Dr. Cauthen gave the following report:
REPORT OF EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
We meet today deeply conscious of the loss which has been sustained in the
death of Dr. Everett Gill, Jr., Secretary for Latin America. Although
Dr. Gill had not been well for several months, none of us had any idea at
the April meeting of the Board that he might not be with us today.
It is difficult to measure the magnitude of the loss which is felt in
Dr. Gill's passing. As a Christian and honored co-laborer, a missionary
statesman, and devoted minister of Christ, he brought blessing to those
about him in many lands. In him were blended many qualities of character,
culture, scholarship, vision, sympathy, gentleness, faith, and optimism
which qualified him in a distinctive manner for the ministry to which his
Lord had called him. He accomplished his ministry in such manner that his
fellow laborers looked upon him with admiration.
The Foreign Mission Board found in him a man of sound administrative capacities.
His recommendations concerning misfiion work over the years were so wise that
they made possible advance in Latin America with confidence and fruitfulness.
The high esteem in which he was held by missionaries and national leaders
directly related to him has been e videnced by the flood of cables and letters
which have come both to the family and the Foreign Mission Board.
This esteem was not limited to those who served with him in Latin America.
Missionaries in Africa, Europe, and the Near Fast and those throughout the
Orient have joined in expressions of thanksgiving for his far-reaching
ministry. Throughout the Southern Baptist Convention he was held in high
esteem by his fellow ministers and by the churches, schools, and conventions
where he spoke on behalf of world missions.
He had a distinctive place in the hearts of those who worked at close range
with him at the headquarters of the Foreign Mission Board. His fellow secre¬
taries and all members of the staff counted it a privilege to walk in company
with such a man of God. We miss him now and will continue to miss him far
beyond our power to describe. Certainly as over the years we turn back in
our memories to delightful occasions of fellowship and rich hours of
inspiration, we shall find in many of the choicest of them the radiant
presence of Everett Gill, Jr.
