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With the Lord

Elmer Ubbink, Pastor and Missionary to Jews

By April 27, 2012June 18th, 2014No Comments

CRESTON, Iowa—Elmer Ubbink, editor of Shofar Magazine, pastor, and missionary, died April 7 at age 93.

Elmer and his wife, Mary Jane, served the Lord together as pastor and wife for 20 years in three churches in lower Michigan: First Baptist Church in Pentwater (1951–1957), Lyons Baptist Church in Lyons (1957–1962), and South Baptist Church in Bay City (1962–1970).

Burdened for Jews, the Ubbinks spent 33 years in Jewish ministry in the Los Angeles area. Using his God-given talents, he was also editor and publisher of Shofar Magazine for 31 years. “Christ is a Light to the Gentiles as well as a Redeemer for the Jew,” he said in “A Stone of Hurt,” published in The Biblical Evangelist. “Without Him, both are lost forever.”

He graduated from Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich., with a BA and from Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, earning a ThM. He was ordained on Sept. 25, 1950. He was a retired missionary with Baptist Mid-Missions, serving from 1968 to 2002 sent by Wealthy Park Baptist Church in Grand Rapids.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Jane, in August 1998; his parents, Dirk and Ann Ubbink; and a sister, Esther Ballast.

He is survived by his daughter, Mary Ellen; two grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and a brother, Milton Ubbink.

Funeral services were held at First Baptist Church, Creston, Iowa, where he was a member.