Loewen, Jacob A. (1922 - 2006) [sv]

Jacob A. Loewen: linguist, anthropologist and missionary; born 1 September 1922 in Romanovka, Orenburg Mennonite settlement, Russia to Jacob and Katherine (Quiring) Isaac. In 1929, the Loewens migrated to Canada. In 1945, Jacob married Anne Enns in Yarrow, British Columbia (BC). They had 3 daughters, Gladys, Doreen Joyce and Sharon, as well as one son, Bill. Jacob died on 27 January 2006 in Abbotsford, BC, Canada. Upon arriving in Canada the Loewens settled first in Kronsgart, Manitoba, where Abraham found employment as a farm laborer. It was in Manitoba that Jacob, at age 10, had a conversion experience. In 1934 the family migrated to Yarrow British Columbia, where Jacob was baptized on 2 July 1939 and joined the Yarrow Mennonite Brethren (MB) Church. 1945 to 1964 Jacob served the MB church, first as missionary in Colombia, (1947-1957 with a 2-year furlough while in graduate studies) and as a professor at Tabor College (1958-1964). While teaching at Tabor, Jacob and Anne Loewen along with David and Dora Wirsche were involved in summer mission and literacy work with a native church in Panama. It was here that the two couples sought to promote the independence and empowerment of the Panama Indian churches, comprised heavily of Indians from the Colombian Chacó, limiting the direct oversight of the Panamanian Indian church, the Iglesia Evangélica Unida, by expatriates and the MB Board of Missions. It was also during his professoriate at Tabor College that Jacob Loewen accepted the invitation of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and the MB Board of Missions to analyze Mennonite resettlement attempts of Indians living near three Mennonite settlements as well as interracial Mennonite-Indian conflicts in the Paraguayan Gran Chaco. From 1964 to 1984 Jacob Loewen served as translation consultant, first in South America with the American Bible Society, (1964-1970), headquartered in New York City and then in central and west Africa with the United Bible Societies (1970-1984), headquartered in London, England. It was especially in Africa that Loewen sought to move the Bible Society’s sanctioned translation process increasingly from the control of the expatriates to that of the local native churches. By 1984, Loewen’s problems with UBS policy as defined by officials in Africa led to Jacob Loewen’s forced retirement. Following his retirement, Jacob Loewen focused on two main goals: interpreting the perspectives of non-Western indigenous cultures to the Euro-North American evangelicals, including Mennonite Brethren congregations – which increasingly led to tensions between Loewen and MB officials in the Fraser Valley - and publishing, all the while concentrating on what natives had taught him. Included here was his retrospective analysis of the Panama experiment. Following a serious stroke on 4 June 1993, Loewen concentrated his energies on preparing three major publications (testimonies to different populations) and organizing the Yarrow Research Committee charged with researching and publishing the story of the Yarrow immigrant community from the late 1920s to 1960. (Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online)