Bill Lowe is a bastion of faith. His enthusiasm for the gospel has led many to join global missions. Never tiring of sharing his saviour with the world, Bill helped grow OM during its early years in Australia.
Bill joined OM in 1983. A gifted speaker, he inspired a generation of churchgoers, growing the Kingdom through OM. “It was a wonderful time in my life. I felt like I was part of something big,” he shares. “It was an exciting era of building things up.”
Appointed National Field Leader forty years ago in 1984, Bill visited church communities throughout Australia to raise OM’s profile. More importantly, he raised funds and recruited workers. The recruits, destined for the mission field, were led by Bill each year to an extensive training conference in Belgium. OM country leaders came to meet and equip candidates, signing them and taking them back to the field.
After Bill’s first time in Belgium, he stayed with his family and visited OM offices throughout Europe, joining the OM Ship Doulos in Spain bound for Wales. “Back in those days, the ship could only leave a port once the fees were paid,” shares Bill. “We were short on money at one port, so we stayed and prayed. My wife Joan was involved in a prayer group, and the group had sent a letter that followed us around Europe. The letter caught up with us on the ship and included a gift. We used it for the port fees.”
Before joining OM, Bill was a unit commander of the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RAEME) Corps stationed in Vietnam. After the war ended, he returned to Australia to start a new post in Townsville. “Joan got invited to a morning tea, and when I came home from work, she said, ‘Guess what? I became a Christian today.'” That was in 1974, and some months later, Bill was saved at age 33. Remembering that moment, “I wrote out all my sins on a piece of paper and crossed them out in red pen, and wrote, forgiven for Christ’s sake.”
The realisation that God’s grace was life-changing never left Bill, and wanting others to know it too, he left OM in 1988 to become a pastor at Mueller Community Church in Brisbane.
The church bought 50 acres of land, and over three decades, Bill was involved in developing the site that now houses the church, which seats 2,000 people, a school with 1,800 students and a retirement village. After five years as director of the complex, he retired at age 70.
Bill now lives with Joan in the retirement village he once managed. Looking back, Bill believes his greatest highlight is coming to know Christ. “At 82, I continue to try and become more like what He wants me to be. Jesus said to be holy because He is holy. Well, that’s hard, but what joy it is for those who trust Him.”
