Humble beginnings. Secular success. An unlikely demeanor. And an uncommon devotion.
A Jewish infant miraculously saved from the terrors of the Holocaust, Bent Altschul (Benjamin Altschul)
was raised in a Swedish orphanage. Later, upon reaching adulthood, he came to America and, with only $100,
founded a Midwestern publishing company, an entrepreneurial endeavor that led to annual profits in the millions by the mid 1970's.
But with all his earthly possessions and overwhelming success, all Bent could conclude was, "You can't out-give God." During a terribly tumultuous time in the business, Bent experienced an urgent calling in his heart to enter the Christian ministry. He returned to his ongoing Biblical scholarship with renewed vigor. A surprisingly gentle man blessed with teaching and artistic gifts, "The healing happens," according to one witness, "while he tells."
In the ensuing thirty years, a staff was formed and anointed to help establish his ministry.
But while his ability to move hearts through interpretation of parables and his ceaseless compassion may be steeped
in tradition, the Great Among The Nations approach is anything but. |
