Answer Man: My husband and I reside at Maranatha Village on Norton Road. The once beautiful former Central Bible College campus at Grant Avenue and Norton seems to be going down hill. What is currently happening with the property? — Sharon and Fred Chilton, of Springfield
The property is still owned by Good News Mission, a Christian church founded in South Korea, and a pastor living on site tells me work continues slowly to renovate the buildings to become not only a training school for missionaries but also a Christian school for those in middle school and high school.
Maranatha Village, where Sharon and Fred live, is a 100-acre retirement and assisted living community offered by the Assemblies of God Church. It is next door to the former Central Bible College, once owned by the Assemblies of God.
You're right, Sharon, the campus today looks a little run down, but I base that solely on my walk around the perimeter.
The driveways and parking lots are chained off and No Trespassing signs have sprouted in abundance.
The Central Bible College was run and owned by the General Council of the Assemblies of God from 1924, starting with 15 acres, to 2014, when it was closed.
In March 2019, the Assemblies of God sold the 75-acre campus and its dormitories, academic buildings and houses to Good News Mission for $2.5 million.
I took photos July 6 and went back to the newsroom and tried to reach someone at Good News Mission by email and phone, but was unsuccessful.
After sending an email to someone in South Korea, I concluded my chances of making a connection were better if I tried face-to-face.
I went back July 7 and saw someone outside one of the small houses on the north end of the property, along Grant.
A transformer blew up and no electricity for over a year
I was led to Pastor Enrique Godinez, who came to the Springfield site in 2019 from San Antonio, Texas. He tells me plans for the campus underwent a major setback three to four years ago when a transformer blew out and the main campus buildings were without power for about 18 months.
After that, he said, it took another six months to get things right. The repair work involved digging trenches throughout the campus.
In addition, many of the buildings needed basic repair, including plumbing work.
“Little by little, we are making renovations, re-establishing and re-connecting,” Godinez says.
Good News Mission, an independent Baptist mission organization, has training centers for missionaries on both coasts — New York and California — he says.
“We need one here, in the middle,” he says.
I explain to Godinez the concept of my Answer Man column and that a couple living at Maranatha Village had contacted me.
With that said, Godinez is not surprised to see me because he knows many people at Maranatha and they often ask about progress on campus.
About 25 people live on campus this summer, he says, including a few students from South Korea.
Problems also have included vandalism and theft, he says. That's why the property has so many No Trespassing signs.
“They come in and break a window and I have to ask, ‘Why?' It is very frustrating.”
It will be at least another year, he says, before the campus is 100 percent ready to serve its purpose.
‘Hoping that God will give us grace'
Once that happens, there should be 300 people on campus, including staff, instructors and students.
“We are hoping that God will give us grace,” he says.
Richard Larkin, 33, came to the campus from Dallas a few years ago. He lives in one of the houses.
He tells me services are held on campus at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays and at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays. The public is invited.
Carpenters from South Korea have been on site. They worked on three houses at the east end, near Maranatha Village.
Larkin says frustration set in when the houses were broken into and vandalized.
“People come in and steal our tools and steal our copper,” he says.
Plans for a perimeter fence should help.
“We just got the water running to all of the buildings.”
Much of the renovation that has been completed, he says, would not be something that can be observed by those driving or walking by the campus perimeter.
Founder of the church visited in June 2019
Rev. Ock Soo Park, 79, founder of Good News Mission, visited the Springfield campus in June 2019.
A Springfield News-Leader story said the hosts welcomed 1,000 pastors, missionaries and others for a four-day convention intended to kick off the new Springfield center.
It was after that highwater mark that the campus's main transformer went out and plans suffered a major setback.
Neither Godinez nor Larkin were in Springfield at the time. They did not think City Utilities was involved.
But it was. I called City Utilities and this is the email response:
“The transformer in question was CBC’s transformer and part of their privately-owned system. At the time, most of the campus was behind a primary meter which fed a customer-owned ... transformer, which in turn fed their campus distribution system.
“The replacement of the failed transformer was going to be very expensive to replace for CBC. CU was involved with providing an alternative solution for serving the campus. CU worked with the customer to build a new electric network on the campus. This project was extensive, and it took a couple years to complete the work.”
Says Larkin: “It has been a lot of work. And it's not like we have a million people here. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.”
This is Answer Man column No. 46.
