How does a tough young steelworker you wouldn't expect to see in a church hear the Lord calling him to ministry? Just like Jonah!
Bill Ochs grew up as a Christian of another faith on the east side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Long before he desired to know God, he desired to know a girl from the south side, where his family eventually moved. She was his friend Ralph's sister, Gladys. Bill admits he used Ralph to get to Gladys. She had a good personality. Bill was shy, but she got him to talk, and he liked that. (Gladys says Bill was the best "stray" her brother ever brought home.)
They married and had children, and by their early 20s were looking for a church "for our kids." As they visited different congregations, Bill developed a deep hunger to know God. About that time, he read a Stephen King novel (he doesn't remember which), and the story line involved the Israelites. That got him interested in reading the Bible, since he loves history. Bill was excited about what he read and tried to share it with Gladys. She wasn't interested.
But then a female literature evangelist called the house in response to a card Gladys had sent in for children's books. The funny thing was, every time the literature evangelist called, Bill had just been laid off from work, and money was tight. Gladys kept telling the woman to call another time—and she did. Finally, Gladys asked, "Why are you doing this anyway—for the money?"
The woman responded sincerely, "No. I'm doing it because I love Jesus."
Gladys knew Bill was interested in the Bible, so when the woman invited them to a Bible study Gladys said, "Yes." She did it "for Bill."
They arrived at the Bible study, and were greeted by someone in the parking lot who really connected with them and introduced them to the friendly group inside. They all just studied the Bible together—no pastor was involved. Bill and Gladys had a great time.
They returned, week after week, and grew close to that loving little group in Franklin, Wisconsin. Bill still looked a little rough on the outside, but his new friends just saw him as a person, and that really inspired him. He returned from the gathering each Friday night and studied and prayed more about what he had learned. He sensed God's presence and, for the first time, realized God loved him just the way he was.
Bill told the group he would like to quit smoking, and would try if they would pray for him. So each Friday night they prayed together that Bill would quit. From then on, as soon as Bill arrived at the study, they asked, "Did you quit?"
"No, not yet."
"That's fine!" they replied. "We'll keep praying."
He finally got down to five cigarettes a day, and they praised the Lord. But he felt bad because they kept asking, and he still hadn't quit.
One night he told them he had quit when he really hadn't. He went home feeling so terrible for lying that he stayed on his knees until well after midnight, crying and praying for forgiveness. He had really wanted to quit, but now he wanted to even more after seeing that it made him lie. He woke up Gladys and asked her to forgive him. And that's when it happened—his desire to smoke went away, just like that!
Bill went back to the group the next Friday night and confessed his lie, sharing that he had really quit this time. They rejoiced over his victory, and their love for him was so real. That was the point when Bill believes he really came to know Jesus.
Gladys was still watching from the sidelines to some extent. She'd grown up in a religious home, but was disillusioned with her church. She didn't want anything to do with the Bible and didn't think there really was a God. But when she saw the big changes in Bill's life, she started looking at the Bible a little differently. When Bill was at work, she picked up the Bible and read, wondering, What is he reading in this book to make him change?
When the pastor showed up one day at their home to talk to Bill about baptism, he asked, "Gladys, would you like to be baptized, too?"
"Maybe in a couple of years," she answered.
Bill and Gladys were baptized together—two weeks later—in the Milwaukee Central Seventh-day Adventist Church. Right away, Bill started sharing his faith with anyone who would listen, beginning with his own family. Though shy, Bill got excited whenever he talked about the Bible.
At one point, Bill was invited to be a literature evangelist. He found that he enjoyed talking with people and giving Bible studies. In fact, someone had to remind him he was supposed to be selling books. But he was better at giving Bible studies than selling books.
After a couple of years, Bill transitioned into prison ministry at the House of Correction in Franklin. He started out working with someone else, but one week the other guy didn't show up. Bill prayed for courage to go into the prison alone, but he couldn't. He was too scared.
The next week the other guy again didn't show up. Bill went in alone, and discovered he didn't need someone with him to give Bible studies and tell the story of what God had done in his life. "I saw miracles in prison," he says, "that could only be explained by God."
In the summer of 1986, Bill invited a visiting pastor to the prison to see the work he was doing. The pastor asked, "Did you ever consider going into the ministry?"
As sure as sunrise, Bill knew it was the voice of God speaking to him. There was only one problem: he was a high school dropout. He had passed the GED, but never considered going to college. And he had never heard of Andrews University. Bill had three children and not much money.
Bill started talking with people about this new idea, seeking guidance. One day he shared his feelings with Bill Wilson, a ministerial director.
"Willie, do you want to get swallowed by a whale?" Bill Wilson asked.
"Uh, no," Bill replied.
"Then I think you ought to go to school."
Pretty soon Bill enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and eventually he became an undergraduate student at Andrews.
Meanwhile, Gladys was along for an uncomfortable ride. "I married a steelworker," she shares. "I was comfortable with that. This whole road he was traveling was uncomfortable for me. I got used to the idea that God was loving and accepting, and I was okay with that—but not with being a pastor's wife. I was a little mad at God."
But Gladys decided if God could change Bill like that, then He wouldn't abandon her in Berrien Springs, Michigan. So she and the kids accompanied Bill to Andrews. "He didn't have to drag me," she says. "I was willing to go."
The day they left for Andrews, Bill received a letter from his dad, a Christian who had never approved of Bill becoming an Adventist. In the letter, Bill's dad disowned him. It was discouraging, but it didn't outweigh all the evidence that God was leading.
By the end of Bill's term in the Seminary, his dad was helping him financially through school. He'd started to become supportive when Bill and Gladys sent him a tape of some music they liked. "If this is the music you're listening to," said his dad, "then you must love Jesus."
Life came full circle in 1992 when Bill graduated from the Seminary and received a call to Milwaukee Central—the very church where he and Gladys had been baptized almost ten years earlier. Not long after, he stood before the congregation and announced, "I'm ten years old today. It's my birthday. I was baptized in this church exactly ten years ago."
Today, Bill's ministry continues to be driven by his love for people. "One thing that keeps me energized," he reveals, "is that I love to talk with people. I love getting to know them. I like dealing with different kinds of people."
Gladys is the perfect teammate for Bill. "The thing about Gladys," says Bill, "is that she can reach people who are sometimes forgotten. She's not the typical pastor's wife. A regular person can approach her."
"A lot of people in church are hurting," Gladys says. "They're down or someone has offended them. They really need that kind touch or word."
When asked whether God has called her as well as Bill, she responds without hesitation, "I know it! If I sit back now and look at things in the past, I can see how I was pruned for this job. I have a deal with God that I'll go anywhere He wants me to go and do what He wants me to do."
Gladys leads a small-group Bible study for women. Some have fallen away from the church; some are new. Friendships grow, as does the group. It all started when she began praying with one woman about something, then invited another to join, and so on. They're her "girls" and she's the "mom" of the group, even though she's younger than most of them.
Together, Bill and Gladys Ochs daily respond to the calling God has placed on their lives. They haven't seen any whales, and they aren't looking back.
Conna Bond is a freelance writer and columnist for Renewed & Ready magazine.
