(Sept. 11, 2014 - by Harold Goerzen and Ruth Ann De Flon)  “The worst thing about getting older is watching one’s contemporaries get stodgy and set in their ways,” quips veteran missionary Herb Jacobson. Then he adds with a twinkling smile, “Growing old may seem rather grim until you consider the alternatives.”

Herb, nearly 89, continues to defy all the stereotypes. Officially “retired” from Reach Beyond since 1990, he can still be found working at the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind. In his present role as broadcast engineer, he is tweaking transmitters and coming up with groundbreaking designs for a variety of high-tech equipment.

Earlier this summer Herb was recognized for 65 years of service with Reach Beyond as President Wayne Pederson presented him with a plaque that reads, “Faithful servant, focused expert, innovative engineer, loving family man, humble missionary, dedicated follower of Jesus.”

The adjectives are an apt description of Herb. By the time he finished sixth grade, his teachers figured he’d be an engineer or a scientist. They were right. In 1947 he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

So how did Herb become a missionary, serving in Ecuador for 41 years followed by 24 years as a retiree in Elkhart?

“At 8 I accepted the Lord, and at 18 I considered serving Him overseas,” Herb recounted. “But my capabilities and gifts didn’t coincide with typical missionary work. At university—through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship—the Lord gave me a solid conviction that He wanted me on the mission field.”

A year or so later (1946), serving as a radar technician in the radio room of a U.S. Navy submarine, Herb tuned out the interference and heard a resonant voice talking about God. He was listening to a broadcast from Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador.

“When I finished serving with the Navy, I felt God had equipped me for missionary radio, so I began working in electrical engineering in preparation for missionary service in radio and attended Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.” He had finished just three semesters at the school when he heard about the “urgent need” for two engineers at Radio Station HCJB.

“I applied immediately,” he said. “Reuben Larson (one of the ministry’s cofounders) interviewed me. My home church took on my full support, and I decided to leave for language school, trusting that the seminary would consider me one of their most successful dropouts!”

In January 1949 Herb was commissioned by Powderhorn Park Baptist Church in Minneapolis where two previous generations of Jacobsons had faithfully served the Lord, and in a month’s time he was on his way to study Spanish in Medellín, Colombia.

That’s where he met Norma Peterson, his future wife, who planned to serve as a nurse with the Christian & Missionary Alliance in Colombia. However, she altered her plans after they announced their engagement.

Herb had gone to Quito to continue his Spanish language study and began serving at Radio Station HCJB. He’d planned to visit Norma in Colombia at Christmastime in 1949, but these plans were changed, so he sent her a Christmas greeting via shortwave. On the broadcast he said, “I’m sorry, Norma, that I can’t be up there as planned to put the ring on your finger.” As a friend put it, “He believed in telling the whole world about his engagement!”

After a year’s service in Colombia, Norma went to Quito where she and Herb were married on June 6, 1950. She quickly got involved in the medical work that the radio station had launched about a year earlier, adding a practical arm to the broadcasting ministry that had begun in 1931.

Many important jobs have claimed Herb’s attention throughout the years—everything from hunting for land for an international transmission site in Pifo, Ecuador, to fixing broken computers and helping design powerful shortwave transmitters (including the 50 kw, 100 kw and 500 kw units) and antennas. Although the site in Pifo closed in 2009, many of the units are still in service today, including some at Reach Beyond-Australia’s international broadcast facility in Kununurra.

How does Herb use his few spare minutes? “Largely reading,” he responded, “especially technical books. If I want to keep up-to-date I need to read the equivalent of a full set of four-year college textbooks every five years. I try to stay current on the sciences—physics, chemistry, astronomy and archaeology, at least to the point of intelligently conversing with a person specialized in that particular field.”

He also kept his skills sharp during home ministry assignments in the U.S., continuing his studies at the University of California, completing his master’s degree in computer science in 1970 and working at places such as Honeywell Inc. and North American Rockwell.

And can you guess what one of Herb’s hobbies might be? Decorating cakes! Throughout the years, he and Norma became adept at designing wedding and anniversary cakes, including many for their own anniversary celebrations. They marked 55 years of marriage just months before Norma died at the age of 86 in Elkhart in 2005.

While Herb is slowing down due to declining health, his 56-year-old son, Charles, and wife, Jeanie, are carrying the mantle. They have completed a total of 28 years of service with Reach Beyond in Quito and at the Technology Center in Elkhart.

“How does one thank a person for 65 years of faithful, consistent, dedicated, careful, powerful service?” asked Ron Cline, Reach Beyond ambassador and former president, at Herb’s recognition event. “You realize when you’re talking about Herb Jacobson, you are really talking about one of a kind. He is a model of what Paul wrote about when he challenged us all to fight the good fight, finish the race, keep the faith and fulfill all the duties of our ministries.”

Jim Allen also directed words of appreciation to Herb. “We thank God for your ministry over the years,” he said. “Know that God has used you to help many people hear His message. Thanks for your friendship and for sticking with it for all these years.”

Source: Reach Beyond