HELMUS, Bill and Margaretha

Bill and Margaretha Helmus will be serving on staff at the Black Forest Academy in the Black Forest region of southwest Germany, commencing in July 2022. Bill will be the athletic director and Margaretha will be a library assistant at this Grade 5-12 Christian boarding school established in 1956 and designed to serve missionary families in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Bill was born and raised in southern B.C. and previously served with Wycliffe from 1983-1985 as a teacher and assistant principal at Ukarumpa High School in Papua New Guinea. For his career in education in Canada, Bill initially taught for seven years at Calgary Christian School, then as a principal of Knox Christian School in Bowmanville, Ont. for 11 years, before completing his career as a principal of Pacific Christian School in Victoria, B.C. for 22 years. He retired in 2019.

Margaretha was born in Mexico but spent most of her life in southern Manitoba, mainly in the Blumenort area near Steinbach. She and her first husband were owner-operators of a turkey farm near Blumenort, also serving for three years at Camp Arnes, a Christian camp north of Winnipeg.

Bill’s first wife, Anne, passed away in 2011 after a lengthy battle with cancer, and Margaretha’s first husband, Lawrence, passed away in December 2015 in a tragic snowmobile accident.

Meeting initially online, Bill and Margaretha were married in March 2019, and have lived in Victoria since then. “Sorrow may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Together, they have a large extended family of seven children, 20 grandchildren, and just recently a new great-grandson.

They are excited to serve the Lord in their “retirement years,” utilizing the gifts, energy, and experiences God has given them to serve and support children and teens at the Black Forest Academy for the next two years.