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RENDEZVOUS

From God's hand, deep into the Rocky Mountain West

The year 1957 was filled with news of Sputnik, the latest gyrations of Elvis Presley the rock ‘n’ roll king, and the sounds of kids down the block mastering the hula hoop. Here in Montana we were counting our sons lost to the Korean Conflict, watching the construction of the Yellowstone River Diversion Dam, and beginning to watch the antics of a rabid cyclist from Butte calling himself Evel Knieval.

Quiet but lasting changes began deep in the Bitterroot Valley. Darrel and Betty Burch were placed in Stevensville by the American Sunday School Union. Their daunting assignment was to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the rural areas of Montana west of Helena, from the Canadian border south to Idaho— 62,000 square miles.

Burches recruited friends from Prairie Bible Institute days to come help. Don and Ferris Rust and Gale and Elsie Fister responded and were in place by late summer. All three families started driving the highways of western Montana, knocking on doors and holding youth groups, Bible studies, Sunday Schools, and small church services. Gale and Don held secular jobs and ministered evenings and weekends. Some of their early preaching points were Haugan-DeBorgia, Saltese, St. Regis, Frenchtown, Lolo, and Camas Prairie. Gale and Don each held services in eight different communities on a two-week cycle, with some round trips being well over two hundred miles.

Sam and Marjorie Gupton replaced Burches who left in the spring of 1962. Guptons soon had many more areas to serve and more lay workers involved. Sam recruited Frank and Betty Jackson in Helena in August of 1962. The Jacksons began serving Garrison, Gold Creek, Helmville, and Lincoln. Other towns added to the coverage list around this time include DeSmet, Trout Creek, White Pine, Alberton, Tarkio, and Plains.