Walter Wilson, MD
1881 - 1969 At a medical convention, he read a tract that one of his office nurses slipped into his briefcase. It pointed out that while Jesus had a body, the Holy Spirit had none. Christians are his body. He touches no one except through us. Dr. Walter Wilson believed. He prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to take charge of each part of his body. The very next morning, he sensed the Lord urging him to tell a drug store attendant about Christ. After a moment's protest, he obeyed. Three people knelt and asked Christ into their lives on the spot.

Although never ordained, Walter led many to put their trust in Jesus, winning his audience with wit and homely stories that illustrated what it meant to be saved and how to know one was truly a reborn child of God. The busy doctor went on to found Calvary Bible Church in Kansas City and Calvary Bible College. He authored over twenty books, reared a large family and pioneered Christian radio.

"Beloved, never forget this as long as you live: NEVER REST ON ANYTHING YOU CAN LOSE. That is the reason the Saviour, the Rock of Ages, said, 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' This rest lasts on through the valleys and doesn't leave you when the Death Angel knocks at your door and says, 'The Master has sent for you.'"

Walter L. Wilson was born in 1881 at Aurora, Indiana. After his mother died the following year, he lived with his grandmother. He trusted Christ as a teenager, but selecting his life's work so challenged young Walter that he methodically listed 45 potential trades and professions. Prayerfully the list was whittled down, and his early interest in medicine triumphed. He received his M. D. from the University of Kansas and settled down to a practice in Webb City, Missouri. During medical school, Wilson had worked part-time in his father-in-law's tent-making business and had no intention of returning to the business world after graduation, but the serious illness of his father-in-law resulted in the fact that, for a quarter century, Wilson was a part-time doctor and a full-time tent maker. Customers included the legendary Buffalo Bill. During World War I, he devised a method of camouflaging and waterproofing tents in response to an urgent request from General Pershing's headquarters in France. Like H. A. Ironside and others, Wilson was never ordained, but he was able to found the Central Bible Hall, Kansas City, which became Central Bible Church, and remained at its helm until retirement in 1961, when he became pastor emeritus. His increasing burden for a school to train college-level young people who were called of God led Wilson to open the Kansas City Bible Institute in 1932 (now called Calvary Bible College). Wilson began a radio ministry in 1924, becoming one of the pioneers in that medium. His wide-ranging subjects included medical themes, as well as hardware and carpentry. But every message was anchored in the Word of God and gave a clear plan of salvation. Wilson authored 26 books, numerous brochures, and other publications including medical and religious articles. He had a unique, heartwarming, captivating style. Dr. and Mrs. Wilson had eight sons and daughters. In the spring of 1969, approaching the age of 88, Dr. Wilson suffered a stroke and died May 24, 1969.