Video Transcript: Meet Dr. Ed Roels

Meet Dr. ED Roles (Video 1)

Dr. David Feddes  

I'm David Feddes, the Provost of Christian leaders Institute. I'm happy to be here today with a guest who is a major contributor to the teaching at Christian leaders Institute, a friend and a worker in the Gospel for a long time Dr Ed Roels. Welcome Dr Roels.

Dr. Edwin Roels  

Thank you very much. It's good to be here.

Dr. David Feddes  

I am really excited to have you as part of our faculty at Christian leaders Institute you've graciously given us some great materials that you've written to share with our students and I really look forward to them learning with that. I'm glad to have you here today.

Dr. Edwin Roels  

Well thank you, I'm delighted to be here.

Dr. David Feddes  

Dr Roels, I just want to let our students know a little bit more of who you are, give them a chance to see your face, to hear your voice, and just a little bit about yourself. You have been in ministry for quite some time now tell us how you came to know the Lord Jesus first. And before we talk about your ministry, obviously ministry is about sharing Jesus with others, but you met Him first.

Dr. Edwin Roels  

Right in the home David this is where everything started for me. I had very godly parents, Christian School education, Christian church people who cared. And really since childhood on, I have known nothing other than Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.

Dr. David Feddes  

Well, that's wonderful. And we love the Lord, I have had same, you know I had a similar family that introduced me to the Lord and what a blessing that is?

Dr. Edwin Roels  

It really is.

Dr. David Feddes  

There are a lot of people in our world who don't have families like that.

Dr. Edwin Roels  

 So true.

Dr. David Feddes  

 And you have spent a lot of your life, some of it in helping to teach the families and people who already know the Lord, and winning others and you've also been involved in a lot of work that involves outreach to those who didn't have the blessings of being introduced to Christ by families. Tell us a little bit about your ministry history and the various ways you've been able to serve the Lord and introduce others to it.

Dr. Edwin Roels  

I had the privilege of attending Christian College, and seminary, and doing some doctoral work over in Europe. When I got back, I really, really kind of wanted to be a missionary reaching others but for some reason or another, I got involved in teaching in the college. And after doing that for a while, I was called to another college. And that just seemed to grow one thing after another. But after a while I began to say, you know, I want to do something different, not just the classroom, reaching other people. And so, for a while my wife and I had lived in Korea where we were ministering to American servicemen. And that was a wonderful time because we had all kinds of people, all kinds of backgrounds, and it was always a delight to have them in our home to go out to the camps and to see them and share with them the good news of Jesus, but also those ordinary things that we could have some real fellowship with these people. So that was really probably the start of that kind of ministry.

Dr. David Feddes  

And so, you really did have you had a doctoral education and some experience teaching in college so just academics, and the life of the mind and the intellect was an important part of your abilities and your skills, but that's not the only thing you're interested in, but the people part, and conveying good news to other people.

Dr. Edwin Roels  

Very much so. And after doing a number of things in the educational sphere for a while. I wanted to be involved in a church ministry, where you have the hands on, hearts on, kind of ministry, day after day. And after doing that for a while one of the members of our church was the president of a group called the world home Bible league now called Bible’s league. And they didn't have a minister person running their programs in Africa, and I had always had since I was a child and interest in Africa. So, they said would you like to head up that program and well yes immediately I said I would. So, while doing that, I also had the beginning of writing Bible courses booklets and that kind of thing. So, after doing that for several years. I went back into a pastoral ministry church plant sort of type of thing. And it was called again to another school this time president of Reformed Bible college today called Kuyper College, and that again had students from various parts of the world. And it was a delight to get to know them, and the end of that period is when I began to do more in writing, the kind of Bible courses that that you people here at the Institute are involved in. So that's the kind of thing that I have been doing over the years.

Dr. David Feddes  

Well, I hope that gives you an idea of why I'm really excited to have Dr. Roels our faculty you listen to me spend some time studying in Europe and ministering in Korea. As director of a ministry in Africa so there's a global and international perspective, there's the, the gifting and the experience in teaching and in high level academic work and even being president of an educational institution at the same time, a pastor's heart, a desire to really minister to people and share the gospel with others, one, one more thing that I remember about you. I know that when I visited you in, in one of the congregations who were serving, and also happened at the time to be visiting jails around and doing some ministry in prison and then I know later on you. You helped with the ministry that I've been close to Crossroads Bible Institute and in helping prepare some of their distance education materials for prisoners, how did you get interested in people in prison.

Dr. Edwin Roels  

Well, you know that's a very interesting thing. And a beautiful thing because this the church that we were involved in was a new church with most of the members were from long established churches. And you know one of the first Sundays when I was there, I asked them how many of you people know someone who came to Christ as an adult later, and very few of them did, partly because of the nature of that community. Most of the people were already members of churches. And very early on. By God's grace, we were able to get most if not everyone involved in some kind of ministry, and they had such a delightful time doing that. And I had already done some things, interested in writing for prisoners. So we started the ministry to people in the community in a jail. And that ministry started in 27 years ago, and to my delight and gratitude, it's continuing from a group of people who up until that point had done very little. And so I saw the excitement, they had in reaching out to others, some of them for the first time in their lives, and finding a great blessing in it.

Dr. David Feddes  

Well Dr Roels. I'm really glad to have you on the faculty and to have your materials I also just hope that you students who are watching the video, get some encouragement from seeing a man who calls himself retired now and is still working for the Lord but throughout those years the variety of opportunities that God has given him to use his gifts, and to really serve others and I hope that that's an inspiration for you because some of you may be kind of just starting out and kind of getting ready to take a next step in ministry and you just never know the big things that God might have in mind for you.

Dr. Edwin Roels  

Absolutely, and it's so delightful to see what people are rejoicing in when some for the first time are leading others to the Lord, helping them get started in Bible studies. So, I consider myself very privileged in the past and now again the privilege of working with you at CLA.

Dr. David Feddes  

Well God's blessings to you Dr. Roels thanks for joining our staff.

Dr. Edwin Roels  

Thank you very much.