Have Degree, Will Travel

By Carol Eby on Feb 1, 2011

Although Paul and Charlotte Beals retired in 1996 from a career as missionaries, Paul has continued as a volunteer, teaching in 12 different countries, often accompanied by Charlotte.

Paul and Charlotte Beals went to Barbados as career missionaries in 1959. Paul served as pastor of the Halls Road Church of the Nazarene in Bridgetown, Barbados.

In 1961, the Beals transferred to British Honduras (now called Belize) and Paul became the pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene in Belize City.

Paul grew up as a missionary kid in India. A retired volunteer, he returned to teach cultural anthropology in a small rural community in Tamil Nadu, India.

Faculty and staff at Melanesia Nazarene Bible College, in Papua New Guinea, where the Beals have served. Photos courtesy Paul Beals.

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A horse and a kerosene lantern were essential ministry tools for Paul Beals when he served as a missionary in Belize in the mid-20^th century. Riding horseback was the only way he could reach a remote Kekchi village in the Toledo District.

Today, Nazarene missionaries can get there by hopping on a bus or taking a four-wheel drive vehicle.

Paul saw many more changes in missions during his years of missionary service before he retired. Yet, while most think of retirement as an opportunity for travel, pursuit of hobbies, increased time with family and friends, retired missionaries like Paul often follow another path. Though they may not be serving full-time on a foreign field, they find ways to serve God and the Church and keep a busy schedule as God provides health, energy and finance.

Paul Wiley Beals, retired missionary to Barbados and Belize, has been busy using his gifts of teaching to bless students around the world.

Have degree, will travel
Paul and his wife Charlotte were assigned as career missionaries in 1959. Paul served as pastor of the Halls Road Church of the Nazarene in Bridgetown, Barbados, in the West Indies for two years, as well as guest preaching in other local churches and district events.

In 1961, the Beals transferred to British Honduras (now called Belize) and Paul became the pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene in Belize City. In 1962, he pastored the Church of the Nazarene in Punta Gorda and became the missionary-in-charge of the Toledo District. He led evangelism in remote areas among the Garifuna, Kekchi, Mopan Maya, East Indian and Creole people. He also became the general manager of Nazarene Primary Schools.

Paul remembers that one of his most challenging experiences overseas in early missionary service was overcoming persecution of students who attended Nazarene services. About 95 percent of the population in Belize was under the ministry of Jesuit priests who had schools from first grade to high school graduation, and the Nazarenes had no schools at that time. When students visited a Nazarene church, they were disciplined.

One honor student was expelled after visiting the Nazarene services. Fortunately Paul was able to enroll her into the Nazarene Bible College from which she graduated and then earned a master’s degree in the USA. She is now an education consultant and a professor at the University of Belize.

Paul feels his most rewarding experience of missionary service was preaching the gospel to people who had never heard. Taking the gospel to Kekchi villages or Garifuna towns along the Caribbean coast was truly his calling.

Going home
After serving in the Caribbean for 11 years, the Beals returned to the United States and Paul continued his education to become a teacher. He received a master’s degree in intercultural studies from Scarritt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and a doctor of philosophy degree in educational foundations and cultural anthropology from George Peabody, now a part of Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

For the next 16 years, Paul taught in colleges and universities, teaching under-graduate and graduate courses as well as workshops for teachers. His last teaching experience in the United States was with non-native English speakers in the public schools of Nashville.

Second “career”
Prior to his retirement in 1996, Paul began to pray for openings for volunteer teaching in World Mission areas. The first opportunity came when Dr. Padu Meshramkar invited him to teach cultural anthropology in the Outreach Training Institute (OTI) at Berikai, a small rural community in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Dr. Meshramkar was chair of the board of directors of OTI representing the Church of the Nazarene.

As Paul is son of pioneer missionary to India, Prescott Beals, returning to India was a joyful experience. Paul was impressed with the students he met at OTI who were training to go as missionaries to India’s remote tribal areas.

This experience whetted his appetite for more teaching assignments. In the following years, he has flown over 159,570 miles to 12 different countries and has taken 32 teaching assignments through Nazarenes In Volunteer Service (now Mission Corps). He has been able to advise graduate students at Africa Nazarene University as well as filling the pulpit in preaching assignments. He has proclaimed the message of holiness in the continent of Africa, the islands of the Pacific and in the Caribbean.

Between 1998 and 2003, Paul made five teaching visits to Papua New Guinea. He was amazed at the progress being made in a country that had only had Nazarene presence for a little over 50 years.

“What amazing progress from primitive animism to Bible college teaching has been made in only two generations! These people are among the most capable students I have taught anywhere!” he said.

Charlotte, his wife, accompanied Paul to many of these countries. She would fulfill many needs in the offices of the institutions in which Paul taught. In Papua New Guinea, she audited two years of financial records and wrote contracts for all the teachers and employees of the Bible college. She also did a comparative study of government salaries for teachers and nurses and those of the Bible school teachers and staff at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital.

At European Nazarene College (EuNC), Paul discovered students who he said were the most brilliant and sophisticated of all those he had taught. He was thrilled with those who went on from EuNC to pioneer Nazarene holiness work in places like Poland. Charlotte also gave valuable assistance to the college by posting donor contributions for the EuNC rector and computerizing grades of extension courses. In addition to their work, the Beals hosted weekly Bible studies in their home.

Changes
Paul has reflected on the differences in his missionary experience and those serving on the mission field today. He said of his years in Belize, “At that time no electricity was available, and I carried a kerosene-fueled or battery-powered projector and a battery-operated sound system. At the time of our appointment, missionaries were required to sign a four-year contract. We were not permitted to leave our field of service during the term of service, except for vacations or in a time of emergency, and we were not permitted to solicit funds.”

Today, Nazarene career missionaries sign two-year contracts, and in their second year many return to their home country for a two-month speaking tour to raise funds for ministry-related expenses. (Read more about home assignment: link to another article here.)

His joy since retirement is teaching others who can continue that ministry.

As a child in India, Paul never dreamed life would be such an adventure and lead him so many miles around the world. He acknowledges the joy of learning from the greatest Teacher of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, and sharing that knowledge with others.

“The missionary experience has been a challenging way of life with no regrets about following God’s calling,” he said. “If I could choose a moment that would make it all worthwhile, I would return to Belize to teach classes for Nazarene pastors with the opportunity to visit in the home of an early convert who is now a professor at the University of Belize.”