Dear One Challenge workers, board members and alumni,
Norm is one of OC’s longstanding heroes of faith who worked alongside Dick Hillis to launch OC (originally called Formosa Gospel Crusades) in 1952. That year he and Bud Schaeffer played on the first Venture for Victory basketball team from Taylor University.
With a receptive heart, Norm responded to Dick’s challenge to help disciple Taiwan. Norm and Muriel helped form the first OC team and he soon became the field director. Their team went on to share the gospel in military camps, preach in schools across the country and enroll several hundred thousand people in Bible correspondence courses. As the ministry expanded, they trained church leaders, built partnerships and stimulated church planting across the country.
Asked to serve as the Director of Personnel in 1968, Norm moved his family from Taiwan to the Bay Area. In the following years, he and Muriel mobilized into mission such OCers as the Gripentrogs, DeVries, Kudos and Culvers. Their relational leadership undergirded OC’s ministry expansion and growing global influence.
In 1980, Norm and Muriel left formal OC ministry in order
to head up the missions department at Multnomah University. They poured into
the lives of students for many years and were active on campus well into their
70s. Dave Jongeward, a former Multnomah professor, remarks, “Norm and Muriel
Cook were giants in the Christian faith and role models to thousands of college
students because of their passion for missions, sharing the gospel, and living
out the great commission in their lives! They left a legacy that will be
remembered by many.”
In 2005, Greg Gripentrog invited the Cooks to join OC’s International Ministry Team as Associate Members. For years, they served broadly as speakers at mission conferences and Hume Lake camp. Throughout this time, Norm played an instrumental role in the growth of Mission Fest Portland. In 2018, Norm and Muriel concluded their beloved membership on the IMT due to health reasons and Muriel passed away the following year.
Over the years, Norm played thousands of basketballs games across Taiwan, the Philippines, Asia … and ultimately shared the gospel through sports in 72 countries. He played his last basketball game at age 78 and stopped because he “couldn’t jump high enough to reach the net.”
We honor Norm for serving
Jesus wholeheartedly throughout his life with God-sized vision and tremendous
impact upon the next generations of missionaries.
Hans and Alice Wilhelm served alongside the Cooks during the early years in Taiwan. Hans writes:
Norm's positivity and pleasant smile made co-laboring very easy. Two words to describe him would be that he was very competitive and compassionate. As an athlete he worked hard, at the same time he also had a very compassionate heart. Norm also was a voracious reader. I remember his habit of reading TIME magazine - he always started at the back page and worked his way forward... He was also very loyal, especially when it came to Dick Hillis. No matter what the issues were in our leadership meetings, we all knew what side Norm was on.
In 1973, in his role as VP Personnel, Norm facilitated a 10-week summer internship for Denyse and me in Indonesia. That experience changed the direction of our lives and ministries. Throughout the following five decades, Norm’s commitment to wholeheartedly follow the Lord, his zeal for the Great Commission, his zest for life, and his love for Muriel were consistently used by the Lord to encourage, inspire, and challenge me.
Upon hearing of Norm’s passing, IMT members spontaneously shared the following comments:
- With the Lord and with Muriel. A very happy man indeed!
God was very gracious in sharing the two of them with us for so many
years!
- Reward time for Norm … heaven’s
gain! Loss for us but a trophy of God’s grace. Praying for the
family.
- A good man and God’s servant is now in
heaven!! Many lessons and inspiration came from Norm.
Norm ran with perseverance the race marked out before him and now is receiving his reward along with the words “well done!” May his life inspire us to fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith … for God’s glory and nations’ good.
Grateful for such an example,
Dean Carlson
President
Additional Thoughts
When interviewed 15 years ago at OC’s 60th anniversary celebration, Norm shared the following experience he had as a newly arrived missionary in Taiwan:
One time [Dick] called me into his office and he showed me a map of Taiwan, he said, ‘Norm, I want you to pray about it, think about it and come back with a plan to reach the whole island of Taiwan with the gospel of Christ.’ I went off for several days, I was miserable; I didn’t know what to do because I had never done anything like that. I came back to Dick, we sat down and talked about it. He said, ‘Well, where are all the believers anyway?’ ‘Well they are scattered in the villages, and small churches, and things like that.’ And he said, ‘What about mobilizing every single one of those?’ So we started the village evangelism program.
______
As I reflect on my time with Norm & Muriel Cook at Multnomah Bible College, several things strike me about their hearts. First, was their heart for God. He was their first love and their heartbeat. Their discussions always came back to God. Second, was their heart for missions. I took several missions classes from Norm and he had story after story of God working and he lit up with each one. Lastly was their love for each other. It was beautiful to see an older couple fully committed to each other's benefit. Maija and I took a marriage class from them and the wisdom for a newly married couple was outstanding. God, missions, marriage.
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