For Rev. Harold “Doc” Ayabe, Ph.D., faith and education opened doors of unimaginable opportunity. Now, his daughter, Dr. Sharon, is honoring his life through a significant gift to Bethel University so future students can experience that same life transformation.
“Dad was a career educator,” Dr. Sharon says. “It was missionaries from the Missionary Church that encouraged Dad to consider attending college rather than spend his life working at the local pineapple cannery.”
As a young man, before the advent of jet planes, Dr. Ayabe traveled from Hawaii to attend Fort Wayne Bible College*, a Missionary Church school, and graduated with a BA in Pastoral Ministries. After serving for several years in Hawaii, Doc and his young family moved to Bloomington, Ind., where he earned his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Indiana University. He then was hired by the University of Hawaii Manoa. A prolific researcher, writer and teacher, Doc quickly became a full professor while also receiving the Regents’ Award for Excellence in Teaching. He eventually became the chair of the Department of Educational Psychology, founded and led the Hawaii Educational Research Association (HERA) and founded and oversaw the Pacific Educational Research Journal. During much of this time, he served as Sunday School Superintendent at Windward Missionary Church.
Doc Ayabe, Lois Pannabecker, Joy Ayabe and Doc’s wife Ann visit on Bethel’s campus in 2007.
Seventeen years ago, Doc and his wife visited the Bethel campus. Then, in February of 2024, a group from Bethel returned the favor and met Doc at Moanalua Gardens Missionary Church. Shortly after meeting President Barb Bellefeuille, Ed.D., and Director of Development and Alumni Emily Sherwood ’99, Dr. Sharon asked her dad if he would be interested in making a legacy gift to Bethel University, the denominational school of the Missionary Church, and he said, “Yes!”
Doc Ayabe’s visit was reciprocated in 2024. (Left to Right) Senior Director of IT Patti Fisher, President Barb Bellefeuille, Dr. Sharon, Doc Ayabe, Director of Development and Alumni Emily Sherwood ’99 and alumna Barbara Rodgers ’75
“Dad was extremely frugal. He was always saving money so he could give more. When he was able to help a good project or group, he felt blessed. And because he wanted others to enjoy the blessing of giving, he often would make his gifts part of a matching challenge.”
Doc and his daughter were especially attracted to the current Faithful Campaign, a $6.5 million effort focused on the people, purpose and place of Bethel. “My dad was a practical man,” Dr. Sharon says. “He didn’t need his name on a building. He would have preferred his money go where it could be most meaningful.” Their matching gift provides up to $175,000 to Bethel, with a one-to-one match for Bethel friends and a three-to-one match for alumni and friends of Fort Wayne Bible College, for a potential impact of $300,000.
Dr. Sharon encourages others to give toward the project, adding, “for me and my dad, it would be such a blessing. Can you imagine the impact on students at Bethel because of your gift? Just like Dad and me, who knows how many others might discover their destiny in life through Christian education?”
You can join Dr. Sharon in honoring her father’s legacy by making a gift that will be doubled or quadrupled today at BethelUniversity.edu/Faithful.
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Up to $300,000 Matching Gift!• 1-to-1 match for Bethel alumni and friends• 3-to-1 match for Fort Wayne Bible College alumni and friends
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*The Missionary Church Association (MCA) selected Fort Wayne as the site for what would become Fort Wayne Bible College in 1904. Bethel University was founded in 1947 by the United Missionary Church (UMC), with roots in the Mennonite Brethren in Christ. When the MCA and UMC merged in 1969 to create the Missionary Church Inc., both Fort Wayne Bible College and Bethel University were approved colleges of the denomination. However, when Fort Wayne Bible College was acquired by Taylor University in 1992, becoming Taylor University-Fort Wayne, the Missionary Church denomination amended its constitution to state that Bethel University was “the” college of the Missionary Church. After this time, many Fort Wayne Bible College alumni began to send their children to Bethel.