SAVE THE DATE
Bethel Seminary’s 40th Anniversary Celebration
Friday, September 29 Dinner
6116 Arosa Street San Diego, California 92115
Saturday, September 30 Breakfast & BBQ
VISIONBUILDERS FOR DONORS, FRIENDS, AND ALUMNI OF BETHEL SEMINARY SAN DIEGO SPRING 2017
Sunday, October 1 Worship
| bethel.edu/seminary
REAP WHAT YOU SOW: Donor’s Investment Comes Full Circle By Adrienne A. Aguirre
TURN YOUR GIFTS INTO A LEGACY When you include Bethel Seminary San Diego in your estate plan—a gift through your will, trust, insurance, retirement assets, or life income agreement—you’re demonstrating a commitment to supporting seminary students well into the future. Your gifts are combined with others’ gifts to help ensure a strong and secure Bethel for decades to come. Support Bethel Seminary’s Mission to Prepare Graduates to Serve Christ and Others! Your Gifts Support: • Capital Improvements • Endowment Growth
• Academic Programs • Scholarships
• Many other important services and programs
Determine Your Goals One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to estate planning. So, the first step is to determine your goals. No matter your age, circumstances, or goals, there’s a life-income, charitable gift that will fit your needs. You’ll receive personal attention as we partner to evaluate how you can connect your financial goals with opportunities to support Bethel Seminary. Gifts to Bethel Seminary Can Benefit Both You and Bethel in Various Ways: • Immediate tax benefit and immediate benefit to Bethel Seminary • A gift that costs you nothing now and benefits Bethel Seminary later • Immediate tax deduction and income now and a gift that benefits Bethel Seminary later Stephanie Fedor
Learn more about how an estate plan can benefit both you and Bethel Seminary San Diego. Contact: Daniel D. Wiersum, MBA, CSPG | Associate Vice President for Planned Giving 651.635.8052 | d-wiersum@bethel.edu | bethel.edu/giving/legacy —4—
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading stories about Bethel Seminary students and graduates. I’ve enjoyed writing them for my alma mater. Now, I get to tell you a little bit about my story, about one of our donors, and the divine way God brought us together. I came to know the Lord after having my daughter Desirée when I was in high school. She was my motivation for going to college, and the Holy Spirit was my inspiration for going to Bethel. I had no idea why God was calling me to seminary, but I knew He was. I also had no idea how I’d pay for it as a single mom. People told me that if I was meant to go to Bethel, God would provide. Like many students here, I held on to that belief. And He did provide, through donors like you, every term that I was here. Today, I am a writer, a hospice chaplain, and a fundraiser helping the next generation of Bethel students with their tuition. One of the many donors who contributed to my education during the four years I worked on my Masters in Theological Studies was Rae Lindgren. Rae began faithfully donating to Bethel in 1994. She wanted to help students who in turn would help others. Little did she know that her investment would one day help her as well when she needed it the most. I met Rae in July 2015 when I went to work for Dean Arnell Motz in the Development Office. I learned that Rae not only gave to Bethel throughout the last 20 years of her life, but she also made plans to leave her money to Bethel when she died. Arnell told me that Rae was in her 90s, widowed, had no children, and her family was out of state. He said Rae was a part of the Bethel family, and we needed
to look out for her. So I checked in on Rae over the phone, visited her at home, and took her to her favorite restaurant where she had spent date nights and anniversaries with her late husband Adrienne A. Aguirre Warren. She often spoke about dying but was not afraid. Rae’s concern was that the students of Bethel would be taken care of after she was gone. Rae had Bethel on her emergency contact list. When we got a call that she was in the hospital, I went to her side every day to minister to her and advocate for her. Nurses would ask if I was her daughter. Then they’d look at her chart and in pity say, “Oh, she has no children.” I’d correct them, “She has more than one hundred children who she’s helping put through college. I was one of them.” When Rae was moved to a hospice home, I stayed by her side as promised. I didn’t want her to be alone when she passed, so I asked one of the nurses to check her vitals before I ran out to get food one night. Everything seemed stable and —Reap What You Sow continued on page 2 —1—