“Baptist churches set special ‘round robin’ missionary program” from the March 15, 1977 Door County Advocate
Baptist churches set special ‘round robin’ missionary program
REV. and MRS. HARRIS YOUNGQUIST
A “round robin” Missionary Conference will be held in Door county’s three Baptist churches next weekend, March 19-20, featuring Rev. and Mrs. Harris Youngquist, missionaries under the Baptist General Conference in Wakayama City, Japan, and Rev. Dale Bjork, associate secretary of Overseas Programs of the conference.
Rev. Youngquist was born and raised in Iowa. As a high school sophomore, he sensed God’s call to the ministry, and, gearing his education to that end, graduated from Bethel College and Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. and the University of North Dakota.
In 1945, he married Judith Kronholm of Cook, Minn. The Youngquists served pastorates in Alma and Wagner, Minn. In September 1949, they were appointed as missionaries under the Baptist General Conference and sailed for Japan in February 1950, where they have served for 28 years. They are the parents of four children.
The Youngquists’ ministry in Japan centers around church planting. In order to accomplish this, they have been involved in visitation, subway evangelism and special meetings, as well as classes taught by Mrs. Youngquist in cooking, English and Bible. As a supplementary ministry, they have opened their home to sailors who have docked in Wakayama City harbor, reaching seamen and women from over 40 countries.
REV. DALE BJORK
(Rev. Bjork is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, with special interest in Far East studies, and of Bethel Seminary.)
He and his wife Alma served as missionaries to North China, until expelled by the Communists. They then worked in Japan for a number of years, until compelled to return to the States for health reasons. Rev. Bjork recently returned from a mission tour to Ethiopia.
Saturday schedule for the conference is as follows: 8 a.m., breakfast at Sister Bay church for men and boys from fourth grade and up, with Rev. Bjork and Rev. Harris speaking. Reservations must be made in advance and can be called into the Sister Bay church, 854-xxxx, or the Sturgeon Bay church, 743-5058.
At 12:30 p.m. will be a luncheon for women and girls from fourth grade and up at the Sturgeon Bay church, with Mrs. Youngquist as speaker. Again, reservations must be made in advance. Youth Night for Junior High and Senior High young people will be at the Sister Bay church at 7:30 p.m. Rev. Bjork will be the speaker.
The schedule on Sunday will be: 9:45. a.m., Rev. Bjork will speak at Sunday school at Bethel Baptist Church in Ellison Bay. At 11 a.m., Rev. Bjork will speak at Sister Bay and Rev. Youngquist at Sturgeon Bay. A potluck supper will be held at Sister Bay at 5 p.m., followed by a message and slide presentation by Rev. Youngquist. At 7 p.m., Rev. Bjork will bring the message at Sturgeon Bay.
All meetings are open to the public.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
[https://www.gospelrest.com/on-the-road-again, written in 2021, states “Harris is now 97 and loving Jesus and Japan!”
Photo of the Rev. Harris Youngquist family, taken about 1948: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~gwgustaf/gallery/families/Youngquist_Harris_Rev-family.html
"An Unexpected Treasure" by Joann Pittman describes details and memories of Dale and Alma Bjork’s lives: https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/blog-entries/an-unexpected-treasure ]
Articles about missionaries
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/missionaries