Curtis Anderson first took Bible 101 in 1959. Now, 66 years later, Curtis is taking a refresher course: Intro to Bible. He walks across campus to join 40 of his classmates, first-year students at Bethel University, who are all roughly six decades younger than he is. Technically, Curtis is a junior, having studied at Bethel for two years before finishing his degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1965. But he doesn’t take much stock in his status as an upperclassman.
Last fall, his commitment to lifelong learning—to “keeping his mind sharp”—led him to browse Bethel’s course offerings in search of something intriguing. “A class on the Middle East grabbed me, so I started filling out the paperwork to register. I don’t think the system knew what to do with me—it wasn’t computing,” he jokes. “I wasn’t the typical student!”
He selected a 300-level history and political science course, Modern Middle East, taught by Bethel Professor Amy Poppinga. He brought his own firsthand experience, having lived and worked in various countries throughout the Middle East for many years.
“He was an amazing addition to the class,” says Poppinga. “We all benefited from his eagerness to learn and engage in thought-provoking discussions.” And the feeling was mutual.
“In our smaller groups, I would contribute as appropriate. It was mostly juniors and seniors in the class, so I told them, ‘Hey, I’m a junior, you seniors take the lead,’” he says. “I wanted to be careful about not seeming like an expert, but simply sharing my thoughts and experiences.”
This fall, he sits near freshman Emma Hintz in Intro to Bible taught by Professor Gloria Wiese. Hintz initially assumed he was a relative or friend of the professor’s, just stopping in. “But then I saw him taking notes! Having him in class has been such a wonderful reminder that education is for all, and learning God’s word is certainly a lifelong journey,” she says. “There are things that college students can’t understand due to a lack of life experience, so having diversity in age, experience, and thought helps broaden our scope.”
Curtis took Bible 101 in 1959, and the scope was limited. “We studied the books of the Bible for the books themselves,” he says. “In this course, it’s about discovering our place in Scripture. It’s about integrating our life into the stories we’re learning about.”
Curtis was born and raised in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. After college, his life unfolded into a kaleidoscope of challenging and meaningful experiences. He worked on the Apollo program for the Boeing Company, volunteered for the Navy Seabees, completed two tours in Vietnam, continued in the Navy Reserve, and retired as a commander. After Vietnam, he worked in the federal government, first doing research with the Navy and then construction in Saudi Arabia with the Corps of Engineers.
He was back in Southern California working when he met his wife, Carol, who shared his eagerness for travel and overseas opportunities. They returned to Saudi Arabia for work before going to Morocco and Turkey. For five years, they lived in Turkey, just 20 miles east of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul’s hometown. There, Curtis helped with the construction of a hospital on the Incirlik Air Base.
Although often moving around for work, Curtis and Carol also traveled to military bases around the United States, volunteering with Wycliffe Bible Translators for more than 15 years. They eventually settled in Cambridge, Minnesota, for retirement before Carol passed away eight years ago. Now, Curtis lives at New Perspective Senior Living in Arden Hills, Minnesota, just down the road from Bethel. The senior community was built two years ago, opening up a variety of opportunities for integration with the Bethel community. Students gain access to internship and future employment opportunities as well as real-world experience by visiting with residents and completing classroom hours or projects there. New Perspective residents get advance access to some Bethel events and can attend Chapel or eat in the Dining Center. Curtis is the first resident to take a class.
While Curtis and Carol were living in Turkey, Carol made friends with a British expatriate who had married a Turkish man. This friend had started a school for girls, and in the school’s building, they discovered missionary journals from the late Ottoman Empire—handwritten updates from 1853 to 1899 that missionaries sent to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The friend gave copies to Carol, and they’ve been in Curtis’ possession for 30-some years.
As he sat in Poppinga’s class, he wondered if his box of documents might be of interest to others. With Poppinga’s encouragement, he connected with Archives Librarian Rebekah Lopez and began organizing the materials. He spent months creating a detailed index—over 3,400 entries—so that future students and researchers can access the contents more easily. Those journals now live in Bethel’s archives. Recently, Poppinga brought her Intro to Geography students to the archives to explore how primary sources like Curtis’s can help create “mental maps” of the world. “The learning comes full circle,” Poppinga says. “History and geography are living disciplines. When we preserve and study items that were treasured by others, we are honoring their legacy. Thanks to Carol and Curtis, my students get to put their studies directly into active practice.”
Curtis takes a break from Bethel courses in the winter because of the snow and cold, but hopes to return. “It’s worth doing. It’s good exercise. Keeps me thinking and engaged,” he says.
Meeting Curtis reshaped Emma’s perception of older generations. “Having Curtis in class has been very encouraging and has taught me not to take my studies for granted,” she says.
Curtis embodies what it means to be a lifelong learner. “Going to church and taking Bethel classes provide meaning in this time of life,” says Curtis. “The Lord has underpinned my entire life and continues as my hope; I look forward to hearing, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’”
Heather Schnese