Profile by Mike Richeson "Prof. isn't perfect, but when he prays, you know God is."

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Profiles | Send mail to The Voice Moments in classroom provide lasting memories Professor Needham teaches in 1970. -MBC archive, photo Professor David Needham hurries into the room with long strides, just beating the clock after a quick lunch between classes. He sets down his worn leather briefcase, which is older than his students, and pulls out overhead slides and a Bible. He glances at his students and smiles. "Good afternoon, everybody!" he says, his silver-gray eyebrows raising in delight. He pulls out an overhead slide with a hymn that he feels addresses the doctrine of the Trinity in a marvelous way. Most of the students have never heard of the song, and the Bible professor briefly becomes a choir director and metronome for his tentative singers. After the hymn, he says two little words that many of his students have come to anticipate and his former students dearly miss. "Let's pray," he almost whispers. With that, he begins a conversation with God that seemingly reaches to the heights of heaven; the classroom becomes sacred ground. At a recent chapel, Dr. Friesen described Professor Needham's prayers this way: "Prof. isn't perfect, but when he prays, you know God is." Throughout Professor Needham's distinguished career at MBC, he has taught more than 8,000 "precious" students--more than 15 times the number of students now enrolled. Phone call for Mr. Needham For the first 17 years of Mr. Needham's career at Multnomah Bible College, Sutcliffe Hall was equipped with only one telephone. Each professor was assigned a type of Morse code signal, and when a call came in, the secretary used a series of short and long buzzes on the intercom to alert the intended recipient. While Professor Needham was on his way to class one day, he heard his code buzz and answered the phone. He can't remember what the phone call was about, but it was important enough that he kept talking and forgot about his class. His anxious class sent someone to look for him. When the student passed the phone booth and saw Professor Needham, the student assumed that the call must have been urgent to delay his teacher. The student rushed back to the class, and for the next hour, the students prayed for their professor's situation. The call lasted for less than half of the class period, but Professor Needham returned to his little office located under what is now the ramp in Sutcliffe Hall, oblivious to the fact that he had a class to teach. "It was so amazing that a group of students would be so concerned for the will of God that they would stay in class and pray for me like that," he said. "They didn't have to stay; they had every right to leave. That was the only class I ever missed because of forgetfulness, I think." The high priest did what? Professor Needham has taught the Old Testament Prophets course for 40 years in a row. One of the reasons MBC hired him in 1963 was to teach about the prophets. Just a year before, in 1962, Needham had been the pastor of a church in Laguna Beach, Calif. He never taught out of the prophets because he thought they were boring. One of the church officers encouraged him to teach out of Isaiah. Once Professor Needham began, he fell in love with the mysterious books of the Old Testament. As all of his students attest, Professor Needham loves to use illustrations to make the Bible come alive. When he was discussing the roles of the high priest in one of his classes, he became absorbed in describing the Day of Atonement and the absolute fear the Most Holy Place caused. He carefully explained that the high priest would sew bells on to the bottom of his robes. If the priests outside stopped hearing the bells, they knew God had killed the high priest. Professor Needham was deep in the moment, his eyes closed and his head tilted back as he told the students, "The High Priest, with the bells on his robe, carefully tinkled all the way into the Most Holy Place." Someone in the class started to snicker, but Professor Needham was unaware of the joke he had told. Suddenly, he realized what he had said. "At that point, the whole class started laughing," he said. Students rally for their sister One year tragedy struck the Needham and Multnomah family. Professor Needham's niece died suddenly while in Japan with her missionary family. As if that wasn't hard enough, he had to break the news to his deceased niece's sister, who was attending MBC. Professor Needham shared the sad news with one of his classes in the morning. What happened next will forever remain a wondrous memory for him. "Before that very day was over," he said, "the student body had raised the money for a round-trip ticket from Portland to Tokyo so my niece could be with her family. I'll never forget that. What a precious thing it is to be in an environment where students love their brothers and sisters." The right time to go After a tenure of 40 years at MBC, Professor Needham is retiring as a full-time faculty member. Changes in the curriculum schedule mean that most of his classes are now grouped in the fall semester, overloading his class schedule. "I just don't have the energy I used to have," he said. "I turn 75 in June, and my family genetics aren't such that...well, I'm not a Dr. John Mitchell." Although Professor Needham deeply loves teaching, his retirement is not a sorrowful occasion, he said. "I'm at rest about it. It's God's timing. The pace of student life is very, very fast, and lately I feel like when I go home for the evening, I'm stepping off a merry-go-round." Many students, however, feel a sense of loss as one of their favorite professors steps down. "I'm sad that I won't have him for any more classes," Stephanie Schuurmans said. "I think that his passion for God is so obvious. What he teaches is personal to him, not merely information." Professor Needham hopes that through his teaching, students came away with a deep understanding of God, of themselves and of the implications of their relationship to God. "I can certainly say that I am an example of God taking the weak things to show his power," he said. "If the students are blessed, it's not because I'm so sharp but because God used me." Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Profiles | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2003 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.