Wedding bells rang on the campus of Emmanuel Missionary College in mid-May of 1954 for two aspiring missionary-minded couples. May 16, graduation day that year, Gordon Evans and Alvena Sloan united their lives to work for God. Their missionary service was to be in Michigan, with Gordon teaching elementary school and Alvena doing secretarial work, modeling the message they loved.

The other couple, Glenn Hill and Mary Alice Gyde, graduated and were married in Lamson Hall the next day, May 17. Their immediate future was pastoring in the Ohio Conference and sharing in evangelistic outreach. Later, Mary Alice would teach in Adventist elementary schools.

The couples, though friends, met each other only occasionally during the following years. The Hills took an early retirement in 1995 after 41 years of denominational service, 19 of them in Michigan, to do evangelistic work in the Ukraine, a part of the former Soviet Union.

Their evangelistic ministry—expanding to a dozen countries and working in as many languages—resulted in more than 50 new congregations being raised up. Then there was the urgent challenge of helping to provide permanent church homes for these new members.

The Evanses, who retired in 1998, had experienced some severe health challenges. Alvena was near death when, miraculously, a liver transplant was provided that gave her new life. Always grateful, they wondered how best to express their thanks to God in a tangible way.

Both couples attended the Adventist retirees convocation in June 2003 and were sitting together in the seminary chapel at Andrews University. Inspired by Glenn's presentation about the work in India and the need for a new church building, Gordon leaned over and whispered to Glenn, "How can we give to build a church in India? We would like to do something special in gratitude for Alvena's miraculous health improvement." Glenn whispered back, " I think we can help you."

They had just finished conducting three 10-village evangelistic series in India that resulted in 33 new congregations needing permanent church homes. Gordon wrote a check right there during the chapel service for $3,500 that built a strong new church in Boddam village at Andhra Pradesh, India.

Later the Evanses wanted to give towards building another church in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary and contacted the Hills about it. Glenn and Mary Alice had just received word from India about the need for a new school where they had helped raise up a new congregation in Tripura, an Indian state near Bangladesh. Seven teachers had been baptized and were immediately fired from their public school positions. The president of the Mizo Conference, Pastor Zaianthanga, had requested funds to hire them and build a new school in that village. The $5,000 he asked for would build the school and pay the seven teachers for two years.

Glenn asked the Evanses if they would like to contribute towards a new school rather than another church. The idea rang a bell in Gordon's teacher heart. Immediately they agreed that both couples would share the cost in honor of their 50th wedding anniversaries. And so it is that the village of Hazachora in northeast India will soon have a new school with Adventist teachers.

Jesus said something like ... "Do this in remembrance of Me." So the Evanses and the Hills shared their blessings in honor of their loving God who gave them each 50 years of wedded happiness.

Glenn Hill is a retired pastor, and Bruce Babienco is a volunteer Herald correspondent.