***
A
Christian Businessman's Pilgrimage
High
lights in the life of Duane Gilchrist
Reading
Time, less than 10 hours.
Skim
Down about a dozen or so paragraphs for Photos to
break the monotony!
One of
Duane's earliest memories was about a decision he
made when he was approximately 5 years of age. He had
asked his mother about things he'd picked up in
church and Sunday School. Things like:
"for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God", Rom. 3:23 and ;
"For
the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord". Rom.
6:23.
She
explained, that Duane, as an admitted young sinner,
needed to trust in God's solution for sinners, to be
forgiven of his sins. That, God Himself, the Lord
Jesus, had chosen to come to this earth and die on
the cross in Duane's place! So, wanting and needing
God's forgiveness, Duane accepted the truth of John
3:16 for himself. This scripture states;
"For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should
not perish, but have eternal life."
Duane
was told that as a result of that simple act of
faith, trusting in God's gift and promise, he had
become a child of God, was born again, and would live
forever with Him in heaven. This launched his life on
a path with his Saviour.
His
life as a child, was relatively carefree, but this
could not be said for his parents.
Duane
grew up in the depression of the 1930's. His family
lost a business, then lost the Kansas wheat farm.
They moved from place to place in Alabama,
Mississippi and Florida. His Dad took whatever work
was available, somehow able to hold to his
determination to not accept the pitiful government
"relief" that was sometimes available. The
family worked together in many ways to get by.
(Duane's
"growing up" years were complicated by his
Dad's loss of an eye at carpentry work in 1936, just
as things were picking up. This accident progressed
into a mental breakdown. He was hospitalized for 2
years in what was called in those days, "the
insane asylum", located in a town, with the
whimsical name of, Chatahoochie, Florida! When he was
finally discharged, he reported that most of the 2
years, he had been fully recovered and that many
fully recovered patients were unable to obtain
discharges.
It
developed that the institution needed patients in
those days to maintain their "budget", so
once patients were committed, it required significant
efforts to effect a release! How different today with
the "swarms" of drug addicts out there with
on-going mental dis-orders! Institutions have no
shortage of "business" these days!
While
the family rejoiced when he was finally released from
the hospital, the stigma remained and had a negative
impact on his Dad over the years. Duane always
admired his efforts to put the sadness of that time
behind him. Also, Duane profited from his parents
consistent discipline as they raised the family under
trying circumstances.
To some
extent, this hospitalization contributed to his Dad's
"roller coaster" life as a Christian. While
he was well founded in the faith, especially as he
embraced the prophetic truths of the Lord's 2nd
coming, he was given to discouragment which too
often, resulted in a defeated Christian life.
Further,
the prominent "pastor" in Duane's life
through those years, was an uncle who lived a life of
remarkable hypocricy).
Thankfully,
through all this his Mom was a stabilizing influence,
and Duane held to that promise from God, that had
resulted in his "conversion". But he lived
two lives as he moved through pre-teens into young
adulthood. He lived one style of life at home and in
church and another in school, out on the paper route,
with buddies or later at work for Pan American
Airways as a radio technician and then in the Army
Air Corp as a filght radio operator, during World War
II.
In
1946, on returning to civilian life, to Hood River
Oregon, (his family had relocated from Florida to
follow defense work in the Vancouver Washington
shipyards), Duane was given special attention by the
pastor of the small Baptist church of that town.
Thankfully, his pastor's answers to questions that he
had accumulated, drew him to a closer fellowship with
his Lord Jesus.
About
this time he met, Myra, the wonderful Christian girl
who was to become his wife.
(Myra's
Dad, Con Watterberg, was a good, positive influence
on Duane. He was , unlike his own father, a strong,
consistent Christian, and as a mentor, built
Christian strengths into Duane's life.)
In
1947, Myra and Duane started their married life with
a determination to serve their Lord together. Then,
as the children arrived, they seriously committed
them to their Lord, willing for Him to use them as He
pleased. This was a sincere, deliberate act of
dedication for each one while they were still in the
womb.
Further,
they agreed to raise the children in the love and
dicipline of the Lord following
Biblical principles as nearly as
they could understand them. This parenting style,
practiced consistently, has rewarded them with a
family that loves and serves the Lord. Each family
member, right down to the great-grand children have
each made individual, personal commitments to the
Lord Jesus as they reached ages around 4 or 5! Duane
and Myra are truly blessed!
Their
children and now their grandchildren have also
followed the Biblical principles
of child rearing and it shows in
all the kid's lives! What a blessed family! Duane's
family gives them more honor and appreciation than
they deserve!
In
their early years together, Duane held a variety of
jobs, which included 2 years of part-time attendance
at Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland Oregon.
Then after 2 years
in the securities brokerage business, in 1959, Duane
with, Myra's help, launched an extensive, computer
based, technical, statistical analysis, stock market
report, called Market Monitor, along with a related
advisory report, Market Guidance. This business was
maintained from their home in Silverton Oregon,
renting time on the earliest main frame computers
available in Portland.
To their knowledge,
this was the first computer based market report made
available to the public .While the business was
recognised as a "technical" success, it
never became a financial success, being handicapped
by early decisions that never allowed the infusion of
adequate working capital.
This venture
continued for 9 years and was followed by 7 years
when Duane worked in the insurance industry as a
systems analyst and project manager.
In 1975, with the
family grown, Duane and Myra, elected to fulfill
another lifetime desire. They joined a Christian
Mission organization, Campus Crusade for Christ,
International. Duane developed computer systems for
this worldwide organization, and Myra served in Human
Resources. (Both their sons, Scott and Brett also
served in the Campus Crusade for Christ
organization).
After several years
of system development and project management, Duane
was promoted to be the Director of Computer Services,
and was also responsible for the organization's
mailing and donation services, giving support to fund
development.
During this time, in
1978, he purchased his first micro computer, (The
first one to surface, the MITS Altair kit. You old
timers out there may recall it! This micro preceeded
IBM's and Apple's micro-computer offerings by about 3
to 5 years). As you can imagine, there have been
numerous upgrades in his personal computer
installations since then!
This early
experience with micros encouraged him to introduce
personal computers into Campus Crusade, well ahead of
their general acceptance by most computer main frame
managements. Communication between the personal
computers and the main frame was introduced.
In 1987, Duane and
his wife, Myra, transferred to the field ministry of
Campus Crusade for Christ, to serve as the City
Director for the Here's Life branch of Campus Crusade
ministry in Portland Oregon, encouraging evangetistic
outreach among pastors and lay persons.
In the mid 90's they
were re-assigned to Associate Staff, giving them more
flexibility in their ministry.
They are closely
involved in their church, Southwest Bible Church, of
Beaverton Oregon, (pastored by their son, Scott) and
The Portland Downtown Bible Class, which they helped
found, with other businessmen, in 1993. The class has
grown with regular weekly attendance of 250 - 300 men
and women each Wednesday noon.
The
Gilchrist Clan as of Christmas 2000
Duan Duane & Myra Gilchrist after 54
happily married years. The whole family, pictured at
Christmas 2000, include 4 children with spouses, 12
grandchildren, with 4 spouses, ( 3rd & 4th
spouse, not shown, joined family, as of Sept, 01), 6
great-grandchildren, (the 5th, not shown, born in
August 2001, 6th added 2002)
Click here for a 2004 update of the
tribe!
Click here for picture of our dog
"Zak" plus a close-up of a couple of
"Old-timers"!
You
Probably should return to "Skim" mode!
Other
Business Ventures
In 1995, after 20
years of full time service with Campus Crusade, in
semi-retirement, as Associate Staff, Duane began to
devote more time to develop some business
applications on the PC.
A couple of his
friends were active real estate brokers. They
attended a 2 day seminar that gave them valuable
instructions how to properly evaluate and
inter-relate all the variables that impact the
profitability of investment real estate opportunities.
Duane
recognized this detailed study as a good application
for a PC. When
it was completed, (it proved to be a larger project
than seen at first!), it was a great time saver.
Also, it allowed the broker and the prospect to see,
perhaps for the first time, just how the proposed
investment could work out. It allowed the broker and
the prospect to work up the study as a team,
re-submitting some of the variables to get comparable
results under different circumstances.
The system
has been marketed
on the internet for several years and in early 2001
it was re-programmed for the Windows and Mac
enviornments. It's great for the prospect as well as
the broker. Anyone investigating Investment Real
Estate should have this tool, reProbe.
Click here for details about reProbe
"Speed
the day!"
Sincerely,
Duane,
11/23/03
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