Boschong Subscribers, I found this article about our old and dear friends Burnis and Thelma Bushong when they were celebrating their 65th wedding anniversay several years ago. Russell and I met Burnis and Thelma back in 1999 when we were organizing the very first Bushong Reunion at New Market, Virginia. Everyone was so excited about that first Reunion! For some years we had a little lunch bunch group of Bushongs that met down in Sebring and I treasure those memories. Since at that first Reunion, we were planning a short service in the barn on Sunday morning, we asked Burnis to honor us by being our chaplain for that service. We were so pleased with his talk about God and family as was everyone else, that this continued until Burnis's health interferred. I still keep in touch with them and hold them in very high esteem. ---------------------- The News-Sun Sebring, Florida 29 June 2011 Bushong Dr. Burnis and Thelma Bushong of Avon Park celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary recently with their family and friends. They were married 9 June 1946 in East Liverpool, Ohio and also started their 20-year Latin American ministry that year. Burnis and Thelma have lived in Avon Park since 1994. They currently reside at the Oaks Village. They have three children, Lois, David, and Robert; six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Burnis (Burnie) has been past president of the Avon Park Rotary Club and past chairman of the board of Avon Park Camp Meeting. He served several years as Missions chairman at the Community Bible Church and at times supplies the pulpit. Dr. Bushong is a graduate of Vennard College and Drake University, both in Iowa. Thelma is also a graduate of Vennard College. In 1977, Burnis received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Asbury University, Kentucky. He also was an adjunct professor at Taylor University, Indiana. In 1992, Dr. Bushong served as interim president of Vennard College. The Bushongs served as missionaries on the Texas-Mexico border, in Honduras and in Bolivia. >From l966 until his retirement in 1992, Burnis was part of the administrative staff of World Gospel Mission in Marion, Ind. For more than 20 years he was vice president of Field Ministries. He has traveled in more than 60 countries. Thelma served as his secretary and frequently traveled with him. Burnis is the author of two books published by World Gospel Mission, "The Best of the Story" - miraculous answers to prayer and "Reaching The Unreached Now" - a brief history of World Gospel Mission. ------------------ Researched and Submitted by Gloria Neiger Bushong