Counting God's Miracles

As a new year begins, Mark Remboldt plans to retire as North Pacific Union Conference chief financial officer. 

Remboldt has served in the Adventist Church for 43 years. As he looks back on an audit of his career, he sees God’s faithfulness recorded on every line. Each chapter has been a balance sheet of blessings, with challenges reconciled by grace and every need met with divine provision.

“I’ve learned that stewardship is more than just money,” Remboldt said. “It’s also about getting involved with the work of the church. Maybe I could have made more money elsewhere, but my career in the church has been so rewarding. The Lord has blessed us immensely, provided for our needs and allowed us to travel the world.”

“Over the years, we’ve come to know that God’s leading is always the best,” Janette, Remboldt’s wife, said. “It started right from the beginning of our marriage in 1981 when Mark was hired at a big firm and faced the issue of working on the Sabbath. Mark said no and we prayed — the next day, Mark got a phone call asking him to work for the church.”

That phone call led to an internship for Northern California Conference that seemed unlikely to pay the bills. “My wife and I wondered how we could live on a paycheck of just $600 per month,” Remboldt said. “But God blessed us. We lived in a 700-square-foot condo, we were able to buy groceries and we totally enjoyed it.”

A few years later, Remboldt received a call to serve at East Africa Division in Harare, Zimbabwe. Once again, God provided. “About four months prior to leaving, we put the condo up for sale,” he explained. “But even after months of realtors and ads, no one was willing to look at it. Then, the night before we were to leave for Africa, we got a phone call asking if our place was still for sale.”

The caller viewed the condo the next day at 6 a.m. and decided to buy it, offering $1,000 more than the Remboldts had paid. “We signed the deal on the hood of our car on the way to the airport,” Janette said.

“I met Remboldt in Zimbabwe in 1985,” said Bob Sundin, former NPUC undertreasurer. “I was responsible for payroll, and Remboldt had a parallel role on the accounting side. Upon returning to the U.S., our careers continued parallel in terms of education and small conference work, and I was glad when Remboldt called me to work with him at NPUC."

"We were like-minded in our views of treasury work — we tried to do what we could to put our employees first," Sundin continued. "We also had fun doing Pathfinders together. I remember Remboldt being a good chef who made excellent pancakes on a camp stove. We also went on a safari — Remboldt drove my car while I filmed wildlife from the sunroof and tried to get the elephants to charge.”

After six years in Africa, Remboldt returned to the U.S., finished his master’s degree and worked for the General Conference in Maryland where he supervised the implementation of SunAccounts Software, which was the first time the church used software worldwide that could handle three-way currency conversions. Remboldt’s work training accountants on the new software took him on adventures all over the world.

“On my way to Moscow, Russia, in 1992, I got really sick, and there were delays with my flight,” he said. “The plane had to make emergency landings in Reykjavik, Iceland, and Edinburgh, Scotland, for repairs. When I finally made it to my layover in Amsterdam, I was breaking out in red spots, and — I kid you not — an agent from KLM said, ‘We heard you’re sick; we have a hotel room for you, and here’s a voucher for food. Stay and rest; don’t worry about your flight.’"

"After I was feeling a little better," continued Remboldt, "I took a flight to Moscow, but I passed out on the steps leading down to customs. I woke up in a clinic and didn’t know where I was. I was carrying $50,000 in cash in my coat pocket to build a new office for Euro-Asian Division. I suddenly remembered the money — I looked up and saw my coat was on a hook by the bed. I checked the pocket, and the money was still there. I couldn’t believe it.”

A few years later, Remboldt was stung by a centipede while visiting Central Philippine Adventist College in the province of Negros Occidental. “My leg was so swollen that I needed treatment,” he explained. “But there was a lot of guerrilla warfare happening at the time, and being on the road at night was unsafe. I was taken in the sidecar of a motorcycle all the way down the mountain to the Adventist hospital with the lights off. The Lord protected us — there was no fighting that night.”

While Remboldt traveled, God also cared for his family. “When my husband was gone and I was left alone at home with our little kids, I remember lying on my bed one night, listening to noises outside and worrying,” said Janette Remboldt. “Then I felt my body rocking as though someone was holding me in His arms. It was a sign for me — the Lord saying, ‘I’m here; I’ve got you.’”

In 1996, Remboldt moved to become treasurer at Mountain View Conference in West Virginia. “We had delightful years there,” he said. “When our kids reached the age to go to high school, we started to worry about having to send them away to school — but then we got a call from Keith Hallam to go to Auburn Adventist Academy."

"Janette and I went to see the school in the dead of winter and ended up stuck in Chicago due to a blizzard," recalled Remboldt. "There was only one hotel available, with a long line of people all the way out the door. Then a man in a suit came up to us and said, ‘You need a room, don’t you?’ He got some keys for a suite on the fifth floor, told us not to worry about checking in and reserved a table for us to have dinner. The hotel never charged us anything, so we think the man who helped us might have been an angel.”

In 2001, Remboldt took a position as Washington Conference treasurer. Four years later, he became NPUC undertreasurer and rose to treasurer there in 2008. In time, he became chief financial officer. In each position, Remboldt has built a reputation as a detail-oriented, knowledgeable, careful steward of the Lord’s money.

"Remboldt's a quality guy,” said Doug Bing, Washington Conference president. “He’s worked at every level — academy, conference, union, division — and is committed to using his talents for the mission of reaching people. I’ve enjoyed working with him.”

Tom Evans, North American Division former treasurer, said, “Remboldt is a person who enjoys life and is always upbeat. I’ve followed his career since I got acquainted with him handing out meal tickets at General Conference sessions in 1995. Since he became treasurer at NPUC, I have attended a few of his year-end treasurers’ meetings, and he runs a bang-up program. He gave a thumb drive out at the end of the meetings that offered all kinds of materials.”

“I’ve known Remboldt for a long time — probably 35 years or more — and I’ve been working with him for a little over 17 years,” said Jerry Russell, Washington Conference vice president for finance. “Remboldt has been a real encouragement. I’ve felt able to talk with him about challenges I was facing. He’s been very good to me personally and to Washington Conference. We’ll be praying for him as he moves into the next chapter.”

As Remboldt looks forward to retirement, he has no regrets. “I hope to inspire others,” he said. “The church would not run without the faithfulness of its members, and I’ve seen God provide so many times. I’ve seen churches that didn’t believe they could get the funding to buy a building, but always the money is somehow received. I’ve seen schools where the boiler system has completely burned out and people wring their hands about how they’ll be able to have school the next week, but it always happens."

"As a treasurer," Remboldt shared, "I’ve read and reread Mal. 3:10, and I have learned that it is true. As we ‘bring all the tithes into the storehouse,’ blessings will be poured out upon us.”