by Elaine Schulte, Projects Researcher

At the Baptist Mid-Missions (BMM) annual conference in Elyria, Ohio, Henry A. Osborn, PhD, was awarded the William C. Haas Lifetime Service Award on Wednesday evening, July 8, 2009. The honor was richly deserved, since Dr. Osborn spent his life serving with BMM.

Dr. Gary Anderson presents award to Dr. Osborn as daughter Elizabeth Alber and her husband, Rev. Kevin Alber, look on.

As a boy Henry was a budding linguist. When missionaries spoke in his church in the Atlanta, Georgia, area, Henry pestered those missionaries to teach him how to greet people in the languages of the fields on which they served. Henry then wrote those words, using his own phonetic system. The Lord was preparing the boy who would eventually become Bibles International’s chief language consultant.

At the same time Henry was being prepared of the Lord for global ministry, the Lord was preparing a young lady, Anne Kemp. They met at Columbia Bible College when Anne began her studies there and met a very mature senior and leader, Henry Osborn. But at the end of Anne’s freshman year, Henry moved on to Indiana University to further his studies in linguistics, eventually earning his PhD in that field. He proposed marriage through a letter, using the written word. They married June 4, 1948, on Henry’s 24th birthday and left the next day for Oklahoma, where Anne began basic studies in linguistics.

Henry and Anne Osborn were accepted for missionary service in Venezuela in 1952, arriving there in April 1953. During the early years of their marriage, the Lord gave them four children: Stephen, Grace, David, and Elizabeth. The family served in Venezuela until returning to the US in 1969, when family health issues made relocation necessary. But Dr. Osborn’s relationship with BMM continued. He taught and interacted with college students at Grand Rapids Baptist College, now Cornerstone University. His life and testimony left a lasting impression on many of his students.

Each summer except one, from 1969 until he became affiliated with Bibles International in 1984, Dr. Osborn traveled overseas to serve as a consultant for BMM Scripture translation projects. By the time he retired in 1998, he had worked with more than 50 language projects in far-flung areas of the world.
A DVD presentation honored his life and ministry at the BMM meeting. Dr. Gary Anderson, mission president, presented Dr. Osborn with a plaque and an engraved crystal sculpture, recognizing his lifetime of service. The award is named in honor of Baptist Mid-Missions founder, William C. Haas.