Preface

Oliver Smith was an ordinary man who used his talents in an extraordinary manner for God. Without doubt, he was one of the greatest soul winners the twentieth century has seen. He was born in Iowa, labored in Iowa, and died in Iowa. He often quoted the Shunammite woman; "I dwell among mine own people" (2 Kings 4:13).

We are too young to have known Oliver personally, yet he has had an indirect effect upon our lives. Those he conveyed the gospel to have conveyed it to us, and we have listened with interest to fond recollections of his life. Scarcely an all-day meeting or Bible Conference in Iowa has passed without some reference to Oliver being made. But this is beginning to change.

Believers, with a first hand knowledge of his work, are going home to heaven, and their recollections are being lost. Even as this book was being finalized, some important contributors passed on.

We have drawn information from as many sources as possible and carefully compiled it to achieve a clear and authentic portrait of Oliver's life. His personal diaries were a tremendous help. Our chief objective throughout this project has been to record the work of God in Iowa through a man called Oliver Smith. To achieve this goal, we omitted names and personal references which we felt would detract from the book and limit the scope of its readership. This book is a highlight of his life and we ask the reader to forbear with any omissions which may have occurred.

One other thing should be noted. We are well aware that Oliver would never have encouraged the writing of this book. Like other humble servants of God, he made little of himself and much of the Lord Jesus Christ. "I haven't planted any assemblies," he once said, "but God has planted several." Yet, who among us has not been helped and encouraged by the written accounts of individuals, who spent their lives in service for the Lord? What an example and inspiration they have been to us who remain! Well might we "remember them, who have spoken unto you the word of God; whose faith follow" (Heb. 13:7). May this book bring honor to God and cause each of us to take advantage of opportunities for gospel work. We shall not pass this way again.

CHRISTIAN LOVE,
Steve Walvatne and Dave Reiss
September, 1994
 
 
Acknowledgements

A number of individuals have rendered valuable assistance in the preparation of this book. Without them it would not have been completed.

Clifford and LaVelle Smith (Oliver's son-in-law and daughter), along with Richard and Nancy Orr (Oliver's granddaughter), were gracious supporters of the work. From them we received much vital information including Oliver's personal diaries, pictures, and letters. Even when our brother Clifford was suddenly called home to heaven, LaVelle continued to aid in the effort.
Paul Elliott and Leonard DeBuhr related many interesting experiences as fellow laborers with Oliver in the gospel. Harold Paisley and Leonard DeBuhr each submitted a foreword, and Eric McCullough gave the book a finishing touch with the epilogue. The late G. Albert Ramsay shared many rich memories and supported our effort with enthusiasm. Val Brandt, the son of the late Louis Brandt, gave us abundant information.

Others who helped include Duane Peck, who was a co-worker throughout the project and spent many long hours typing the manuscript and compiling information. Annette Stark proofread the various drafts and CF. Foster gave the book its cover design and title.
Many more, too numerous to mention, contributed fond recollections and helpful suggestions. We are in their debt and extend to them our deepest appreciation.

Foreword
by
Harold S. Paisley
The subjct of this Commemorative Compilation presents the faithful life and unique service of one who was without doubt an evangelist of unusual talent. Oliver Smith, who was born near Waterloo, Iowa, Feburary 6th 1 1883 was awakened to see his great need of Christ through the godly life of his farmer neighbor, Charles Herman. On January 31st, 1913, he trusted Christ as his Saviour and Lord. Mr. Smith often said that Mr. Herman was the most consistent Christian, and the kindest man he had ever known.

Oliver Smith, being a farmer, was specially fitted by the Lord for the great work of God amongst the farmers of Iowa. God mightily blessed him, hundreds were saved, and assemblies gathered unto the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As a young Christian in 1920, Brother Smith was greatly helped in the things of the Lord by John Blair who had come from Northern Ireland, my homeland, to visit relatives in Dunkerton, Iowa. Later in 1928 Brother William Warke, also from the North of Ireland joined him periodically in his labors in Iowa.

I first niet Oliver Smith in June 1956. On that occasion I shared my first gospel meeting in the U.S.A. with him. His earnest preaching made a deep impression upon me. When he suggested I join him for gospel meetings I was eager to have the opportunity. In September 1956, I was able to join him at Hitesville where we had the joy of seeing a number born again. Following this, he took me to visit other assemblies he had seen planted by God. On my return to the North of Ireland I received a letter from Brother Smith encouraging me to come reside and preach in the American Midwest. He added that he was indebted to brethren from the North of Ireland for their help in the things of God, and that his association with me had given him great joy and encouragement. A short time later, in May 1960 our beloved brother fell asleep and enteredi into the presence of the One whom he delighted to serve and sing His praises. Our brother had a true and devoted help meet, Pearl, who was a woman of a meek and quiet spirit, rich in faith and full of good works. Of them it can be said "lovely and pleasant in their lives and in death they are not divided".

What were the outstanding traits in this great servant of Christ? He continuously quoted and preached from the best known verses in the New Testament, and heaven and hell were realities to him. This was the secret of his success as a soul winner. He was also an ardent personal worker. Hundreds were saved through his influence. God fitted him in a remarkable way to walk up to a person whom he had never seen before, put his hand upon his shoulder and ask in a most touching manner, "Poor sinner, where will you be in eternity?" Then he would tell God's way of salvation. When I was with him on such occasions he would say "This young man tells me he is sure of being in heaven." Then he would turn to me and say "Tell this man the story of Jesus and His love." Our brother was also marked with outstanding love to the Lord Jesus, the assemblies of God, and to all the saints. Paul's words in I Cor. 13:1-8 show that without love all service is in vain.

My hope is that the tributes of appreciation and incidents of interest will be a stimulus to the present generation of believers to follow in the same path of trust in the Living God.
 
 
 
Foreword
by
Leonard DeBuhr

God's Man For God's Time

As we ponder the life of Oliver G. Smith, we see a man that the eye of God was upon.

Oliver, along with his wife and four girls, was engaged in a lucrative, direct from the farm to the customer, milk delivery business. The Lord changed the course of Oliver Smith's life by dealing with him spiritually, bringing him face-to-face with reality and the all sufficient saving work of Jesus Christ. A deep love was created in him for the one who redeemed him. It made him ready to sacrifice all his past achievements to further the work of his Saviour.

He reached out to bring hungry unsatisfied souls face-to-face with their need and the saving power of the One who said, "Come unto me and I will give you rest."

Thus Oliver Smith became God's man for God's time and was used by the Spirit of God to touch the souls of men. Many today rejoice because the Word of God was brought to their attention, and they found Christ to be their Saviour. As a result, many assemblies of believers in Iowa who are today gathered alone to the "Peerless Name of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Oliver Smith was a humble man not looking for the laurels and the applause of men, but sought to honor alone the One who had bore his sin on Calvary.

May his humility, coupled with his zeal, affect all of our lives as we read the following pages of this book.

The Early Years

The year was 1883. Thousands of Europeans were flooding intoAmerica, the Civil War was still a vivid memory, and in New York, one of the most remarkable feats in engineering history was being unveiled, the Brooklyn Bridge. Against the backdrop of these times, an infant son was born into the home of Eli Smith near the rural community of Hudson, just south of Waterloo, Iowa. His parents named him Oliver Oliver Garfield Smith, not realizing the endearment that name would later have to many a soul in Iowa and beyond. Though born, as he often said, 'just a poor lost sinner like everybody else," he was destined to become a great soul winner, one who diligently sought to "preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named" (Rom. 15: 20, R.V.). But thirty years were to pass before Oliver Smith would come to know the Saviour.

On one occasion he gazed from a farm field and witnessed a number of men removing bodies from an old cemetery. He watched as they carefully loaded the remains onto a wagon for transport to another burial site. One body was that of a young girl who had died thirty years before. "She had been so young," he thought. "Where was she now?"

As a member of the church, he was baptized and told that if he were good he would go to heaven, and if he were not good he would go to a "bad place." Hell was mentioned very little. In later years he wrote, "From my earliest teaching I was misled; first by a deceitful heart (Jer. 17: 9) with which I was born, then by parents who had a way that seemed right, but that would have ended in eternal death, and then by blind leaders of the blind as we read in Matthew 15: 14."

As time passed, he realized more and more, that he was not the good Christian boy he ought to be. Thus, he lost interest in church and finally quit attending.

After the family farm was sold, they moved north to Waterloo. Oliver decided to try the Baptist Sunday School there and strove again to live up to his Christian profession. However, doubts continued to plague him. Even though he kept assuring himself that nobody was perfect and that he had as good a chance of heaven as anybody else, peace of mind eluded him. "Becoming discouraged," he said, "of being what some would call a hypocrite, I quit going to church meetings and took up the self-gratifying life, going in for the pleasures of the world that never can satisfy the heart of a man who must die and meet God."

Pearl Flickinger and Oliver Smith shortly before marriage

While in this frame of mind, Oliver began to keep company with a young woman named Pearl Flickinger, who was a sister to Bertha, the wife of Oliver's brother Joe. During this courtship, Joe was suddenly stricken with a ruptured appendix and died. Oliver was visibly shaken by his brother's untimely death. As he was buried, Oliver bowed his head in misery while Bertha fell in anguish beside the open grave. "I wonder," she cried, "if Joe can see how broken my heart is today?" A few months later in childbirth, complications ensued and Bertha went into eternity. The already sorrowing family was grief stricken again. Six weeks later the saga continued as Joe and Bertha's newborn child fitfully breathed its last. In less than six months, this young family with all of its hopes and dreams was gone. Oliver often visited the freshly dug graves, and through the despair and sadness which tugged at his heart, he wondered where their souls had gone and where his would one day be.
  

Oliver with his prize herdsire, Manko

But time passed, and Oliver and Pearl were married, setting off on dreams of their own. They purchased a farm south of Waterloo and plunged into the daily tasks of farm life. Becoming farmers of some merit, they farmed 320 acres of land and bred shorthorn cattle. They also operated a large dairy route, delivering milk to nearly 200 people in Waterloo. Needless to say, these and other activities kept Oliver very busy. Long days were spent working the fields and tending the cattle side by side with his hired men.

During these early years on the farm, three daughters were born into their home - Ruth, Helene, and LaVelle. Many happy days were spent together, and the business of farming prospered.

One day, word reached Oliver that the well known evangelist Billy Sunday was coming to Waterloo to preach. He decided to attend these meetings. He listened to Mr. Sunday intently and made a decision that he was going to go home and tell Pearl that he would become a Christian in her church. "I really meant it," he said nearly 48 years later. "But was I a Christian? No. And I have lived in Waterloo all of my life and I have never run across one man or woman that I could truly have fellowship with, that got saved in Billy Sunday's meetings."

Oliver joined Pearl's church and was baptized again - once in the Name of the Father, once in the Name of the Son, and once in the Name of the Holy Ghost. He became active in the Sunday School and sang in the choir. Many times in the choir, he would join with the others and sing, "Is my name written there, on the page white and fair? In the Book of Thy Kingdom, is my name written there?" Little attention was paid to these and other solemn words, and he proceeded on with life, fooled by the deceitfulness of sin. But the eye of God was upon him, and Oliver's false sense of security was soon to be shattered.