Born 20 March 1900 at Bingham Lake, MN to Mr. and Mrs. A. J Wiebe, John A Wiebe was a missionary in India for 36 years. A graduate of Tabor College (BA), he studied theology at Dallas Theological Seminary, Winona Lake School of Theology, and Northwestern Theological Seminary (BD), and completed his MA at Minnesota State University. Married to Viola Bergthold on 1 June 1926, he was engaged in an evangelism ministry before beginning work in India in 1927 under the Mennonite Brethren. Especially gifted in diplomacy, Wiebe was instrumental in registering properties, forming the governing council of the India Mennonite Brethren church, beginning a hospital, high school, and printing press, and building local churches—mostly from Mahabubnagar where the Wiebes lived more than half their years in India. As the former president of the Hyderabad State Christian Council, Wiebe had an ecumenical vision, and at the time of his tragic death on 28 December 1963 by drowning, he was teaching at Ramapatnam Baptist Seminary. The Wiebes had seven children, most of whom chose cross-cultural vocations.     

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 930. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

To cite this page: