VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 1/26/10)—Elmer Hall was honored at the close of last year by the Bible Institute at the Evangelical Cooperative Center (CECO) in Kimpese, Democratic Republic of the Congo with an honorary doctorate degree.  With his wife, Margaret, Hall served for 36 years in what was then called the Belgian Congo at Vanga, Kinshasa (then known as Leopoldville) and Kimpese.
 
Sent out by International Ministries in 1929, the Halls used music and education as their primary mission tools.  Whether training choirs or teaching construction techniques, the Halls faithfully served the Congolese people unfailingly.  The Halls were evacuated in 1960 during the civil war that saw the birth of the newly independent nation of Zaire. A year later they were back rebuilding and continuing to train that country’s next generation of Christian leaders.
 
Before leaving for the mission field in 1929, with prescience that still resonates today, Hall said, “The day has arrived when one who presumes to go to far shores… is called upon to justify himself… (to those) who may inquire, ‘Why are you here?’”  He went on to answer, “I am here to try and understand, and understanding, do what I can to help.”

Along with Hall, Oscar Stenstrom, a Swedish Baptist, and Albert Cox, a British Baptist, also received posthumous, honorary doctorates.  Retired IM missionary Charles Moore received the award for Hall.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.