Guntersville
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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Guntersville Seventh-day Adventist Church
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They
seem like any other family at first. A father, a mother, and a son.
But when they start to talk — ah! — that’s when you notice a
difference. Right away a certain warmth steals through the words. Without being
told, you know these people genuinely care about folks. They are Pastor Dan
Thompson, his wife Linda, and son Jonathan. I met them at prayer meeting on the
last day of August. After the service, we got to talking, and the conversation
was so interesting I could have talked all night, except I knew they were tired.
So I finally said goodbye and let them go to their rented house to sleep on
their air mattresses. But back to our talk. I found out the only reason Jonathan
was here at all was because Bass Memorial Academy had so much damage from
Hurricane Katrina that the school had to close just two weeks after opening.
Jonathan will be home schooled until the school reopens. He was homeschooled for
several years already, so he was understandably disappointed, and couldn’t
wait to get back to his dorm. Daughter Rachelle (whom everyone calls Shelly) was
up at Andrews University where she is enrolled as a freshman. The Thompsons have purchased a house that is nearly
finished, and in about a month their things will arrive from Michigan — hence
the air mattresses. Some folks at prayer meeting offered to loan them some
furniture, but they refused. “It’s only going to be one short month,” said
Linda. “Our stuff will be here real soon.” I like their optimism. I’ve
heard some real horror stories about construction delays. In Michigan, Pastor Dan was a full-time aviation
instructor. In college he started flying lessons, and by the time he graduated
in 1979 from Andrews with a degree in theology, he had risen to flight
instructor. While still a student he went to Indonesia for a year as a student
missionary and worked with a missionary pilot. He was so impressed and so drawn
to the work that he decided he, too, wanted to be a missionary pilot. He met and
married Linda Sherwin, a daughter of missionaries to India and Pakistan. After
graduation they were given their first pastorate in Lafayette, Indiana. A year
later Dan returned to school, this time to obtain his master of divinity degree
at the SDA Seminary at Andrews. From 1983 to 1985 the couple pastored in a
three-church district in Indiana. Finally, in 1985 they received the call they
had been praying for — a call to pilot a plane for a mission
station in Indonesia, where he already felt a love for the people. Linda
was anxious to go also. Being a missionary daughter gave her positive vibes
about this call. Piloting the mission plane didn’t leave a lot of time for
pastoring, but he ministered to the people from the pulpit as much as he could.
Mostly, though, he was “a driver of a truck with wings.” Any time anything
had to go anywhere, he was the man. When Linda was about four months pregnant
with Shelly, she flew back to the States, because she had already had two still
births and one miscarriage. Upon her arrival back in America, the up-to-date
doctors there soon uncovered the problem, and she delivered a healthy little
girl. The problem fixed, their second baby, Jonathan, was born overseas. Though
trained with a degree in elementary education, Linda has stayed home, taking
care of her family and home schooling her children. It goes without saying she
was also her husband’s secretary and johnny-on-the-spot whenever the need
arose. For seven years they lived in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Childless when they
arrived, two little children accompanied them back home at the end of their
term. When the Thompsons returned back to America for good, he was given two
churches in Ohio. Stationed in the extreme southwestern corner of Ohio, they
labored for four years, then pastored five years in the extreme northeastern
corner. The next four years were spent back at Andrews, where Dan
taught in the School of Aviation. The school taught university students, but
served the community as well. They were very busy, but near the end of the four
years, the pastor began to feel a strong tug back into the ministry. The family
prayed about it a lot, and slowly the Lord began to shut some doors and to open
others.
The
family felt they were supposed to get on with their lives, but didn’t know
exactly in which direction the Lord was leading. August 15 was coming up fast,
and since Andrews and Bass Memorial Academy opened that day, they didn’t know
where to enroll Jonathan. The call from our Gulf States Conference office put an
end to their indecision — “Enroll your son at Bass Memorial Academy,”
suggested the Conference man. “Where are we going?” was the Thompsons’
question. “To a newly created district encompassing Cullman, Rainsville and
Guntersville,” answered the man on the other end of the phone. Within a week
the Thompsons were on their way. They are renting a small house on Circle Drive
just off Ringold Road near the Guntersville Church, but will soon be moving into
their new house near Georgia Mountain Road. Their new address is 182 Stoney
Mountain Drive, Guntersville, AL 35976. Their cell phone is 256-506-2937. Their
home phone is 256-571-7515. Click here to contact the Pastor.
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