Just before Jack Hustad, ’57, graduated he was to serve as a chaplain in Venezuela. However, a few months before he was to leave, Andrew Burgess, professor of missions, called to say the project was postponed.
While his first call to international ministry fell through, Hustad simply had to wait for the right time and place. “It’s all serendipity,” he says. “That’s how it all started.”
What started is a late-career volunteer ministry for Hustad and his wife, Helen, that since 1990 has brought them to serve international congregations and seminaries in 15 countries throughout Europe, Africa and Asia.
Hustad jokes, “When I get to heaven, I’m going to sit down with Andy Burgess and chat about foreign mission!”
Throughout their ministry experiences, the couple has worshipped in a variety of settings and seen a plethora of faith expressions. “It just widens your world,” says Hustad.
At 78, Hustad is far from retiring—in fact, the couple will spend the first seven months of 2010 serving the American Church in Paris.
“It’s the old missionary spirit,” he says. “We’re still going. We can still be of help today.”