Paul Hostetter

1927 - 2017

Paul Esbenshade Hostetter, age 89, beloved husband and father, missionary, pastor, and professor of missiology, went to be with his Savior and Lord on Friday February 3, 2017. His many contributions to Christian education, world missions, the development of ministry resources and literacy were motivated by his deep Christian faith and desire to share it with others. Paul was known for his insatiable curiosity, sharp intellect, adventuresome spirit, tenacity, and willingness to undertake great personal sacrifice in the service of God. A gifted linguist, Paul learned ten languages over his lifetime, serving as a missionary on three different continents in the Sudan, Pakistan, and Mexico. In his free time he liked nothing better than to tend his garden or play a vigorous round of tennis. He loved people and firmly believed that you should "bloom where you are planted." Paul was born (April 11, 1927) and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Manheim Township High School in 1945, receiving the Manheim Distinguished Alumnus Award. He owed his fervent work ethic and love of growing things to his parents who were truck farmers and cherished his Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, boyhood friends, and large extended family. After serving as a Chaplain's Assistant in the U.S. Army at the close of World War II, he went to Wheaton College (Illinois) on the G.I. Bill where he met his first wife Winifred, and earned his B.A. in philosophy and M.A. in biblical studies. He completed his B.D. at Western Theological Seminary (from which he later received the Distinguished Alumnus Award) and was ordained in the Reformed Church in America before heading to the south Sudan to work with the Murle people. After four years in the Sudan he and Winifred headed up a nation-wide literacy program for the West Pakistan Christian Council, work for which he received a national award decades later. After Winifred's death in 1967, Paul served briefly as Associate Pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan and then accepted the pastorate of Midland Reformed Church in Midland. During his five years there, he married Dorothy Clark. Feeling the call to return to the mission field, they moved to Chiapas, Mexico to work with the Ch'ol, developing a program in Theological Education by Extension, and ultimately, building a hospital there. Paul and Dorothy continued their ministry of teaching and missions in Southern California, where Paul served as Minister of Missions and Evangelism at the Crystal Cathedral. In 1985 he became Professor of Mission and Cross-Cultural Studies at Reformed Bible College (now Kuyper College) in Grand Rapids. After retirement from RBC, he worked with Words of Hope, writing and editing materials for radio and print continuing to bring the Gospel to people around the world. He also began to work with Sudanese people settling in West Michigan. These relationships gave him special joy as it was in Sudan that he began his life's work of Christian ministry. Paul loved his church family at Fifth Reformed Church, serving on the missions committee and enjoying the fellowship of his community group. Paul is preceded in death by his parents, Paul Hess Hostetter and Ada Kathryn Esbenshade Hostetter of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; brother, John Henry; sister, Martha Ruth; his first wife, Winifred Jean Hager Hostetter (1967); and second wife, Dorothy Clark Hostetter (2015). He is survived by daughters, Mary VanOeveren Persoon (Jim), Marcy White (Warren) and Rachel Smith (Michael); grandchildren, Emily, Elizabeth, and Steven VanOeveren, Joshua White (Emily), Anna (White) McCarter (Bryan), and Jared Smith; and great-grandchildren Ellington, Beckett, Tate, and Theryn White, and Mattie Kate and Janie Ruth McCarter. The memorial takes place Friday February 10, as follows: Visitation 10:00-11:00 am; Service at 11:15 a.m. with lunch to follow, all at Fifth Reformed Church, 2012 Griggs St. SE, Grand Rapids. Memorial Gifts may be made to the RCA Global Mission and Words of Hope.