Divorce for Religious Differences

 

[1]

1 Corinthians 7:13,16 New International Version

¹³ And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. ...  ¹⁶ How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? …

 

In the 1940s and 50s we spent many years at Helderberg College of Higher Education where Dad was teaching. I remember a Mrs. Bower attending the Helderberg SDA Church every Sabbath. My parents became good friends with her. She and her husband lived in the Strand, a seaside village about 6 miles (10 km) from the college. On the rare occasions when we would go to the beach, we often stopped in to see her. She served us tea while she and my parents had a good visit.

Mrs. Bower had a great desire to see an Adventist church in her town—the Strand. She conducted many bake sales and other money raising events to help raise the money to build that church. My parents admired her for her almost single-handed efforts towards her goal.

Mr. Bower was not a believer, but he tolerated his wife’s devotion to Adventism—to an extent. Of course, he also criticized her publicly for her Sabbath keeping and singleness of purpose to build the church.

Years went by, and in 1954 our family moved to Solusi in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where Dad converted a 10-grade school into a 4-year university. We heard, through the “Adventist grapevine," that in 1955 Mrs. Bower finally achieved her goal, and a church was built in the Strand. A few years later she passed away.

[2]

 

In 1960 I returned to Helderberg as a college student. On one Sabbath at Helderberg Church, they held a baptismal service. To my surprise, Mr. Bower was one of the people who was baptized. After his baptism he gave a tearful testimony. He spoke of his devoted wife and how much he had laughed at and hindered her zeal for the Lord and a church in the Strand. He only wished he could do those years over again. He also wished he had taken his stand for Christ while she was still alive to rejoice with him. Every time I read First Corinthians, Chapter 7, I am reminded of the Bowers.

 

Lord, thank You for encouraging us to keep the salvation of our families in mind throughout our lives

 

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[1] A picture of the Strand SDA Church from Google Maps

[2] A close-up of the church’s 50^th anniversary celebration, from the previous picture. This memoir comes strictly from my childhood memories and may have gotten some details wrong, for which I apologize.

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