Uplook Ministries
From BrethrenPedia
Taken from Uplook Ministries Website
Uplook Ministries, originally Gospel Folio Press, has its roots in the godly heritage and evangelical fervor of the Pell family. Mr. Pell, Sr. was a wallpaper hanger and the first publications produced by his teenage sons, Bill and Peter, were hand-lettered on the paper scraps. Bill distributed these gospel tracts on his days off in nearby communities. This caught the attention of a local businessman who helped Bill acquire a hand press. Soon others were requesting quantities of the tracts and encouraged Bill to form a company to produce these.
Any attempt to write the story of Will Pell and Gospel Folio Press becomes, almost of necessity, a study of this remarkable Pell family-the united testimony of four brothers and six sisters, standing as one for their Lord. How did this come about? The answers lie in a strange chain of events that happened many years ago, and in which the providential hand of God is evident.
It all began with a storm at sea. Will Pell's grandfather also bore the name William Pell. He was a cattle merchant, who transported animals by ship between Holland and the British Isles. Tragedy struck in the year 1865 in the form of a fierce storm that swept the English Channel. To save the ship the crew lightened the ship by throwing the cargo (Mr. Pell's cattle) overboard. As a result he was wiped out financially.
Rather than return to the Netherlands to face bankruptcy, he chose to go to America. There, he started over by peddling butter and eggs. When he was able to save enough to pay their fares, he sent for his wife and seven children. The family settled in Grand Rapids.
There, in 1869, the eighth and last child was born. They named him Peter. The family's religious connections were with the State Church of Holland. The father's financial collapse had left him out of good standing with the church, and so the American ministers refused to baptize his newborn son. This was a terrible blow to him and he died a few years later, still grieving that his youngest child was doomed as an unbaptized heathen. The same condemnation weighed heavily on young Peter's mind. At the age of 16, he contemplated taking his own life, rather than making his condemnation worse by piling up sin over the years. However at this point God moved and opened his mind to the glorious truth that salvation is by grace alone. Peter was saved.
Peter's first two sons were named Peter and Will. As a young man, Will gave himself to witnessing and tract distribution. He had a great concern for the sick and the shut-ins, and he used literature to reach them. He and Peter hand lettered gospel tracts on scraps of wallpaper from their father's business and on their day off would distribute them.
Seeing this concern, a local businessman offered Will a small hand-letter press for $25.00. Will bought it and set it up in his mother's parlor. Thinking that a press was a glorified typewriter, he went back to complain that his new press had no type in it. Mr. Van Prooyen then gave him his first printing lessons. Will had been given a copy of Our Record, published by Donald Ross. He went to a Bay City, Michigan conference announced in the magazine. It was Memorial Day, 1921, and his first contact with "open" brethren. It was at this conference that he met Leonard Sheldrake, who extended the invitation that marked the beginning of Gospel Folio Press the following year.
Sheldrake had heard that Will had a press and asked him to print Words of Peace, a Gospel paper he had recently started. Will agreed, and Gospel Folio Press was underway. Mr. Sheldrake's paper was a folio, a sheet of paper folded once to make two leaves (four pages). Will figured he would never print anything longer than four pages, so he called his new endeavor Gospel Folio Press.
In 1925 Gospel Folio began publishing Sunday School papers and in 1931 a Teacher's Lesson Manual was added with J. R. Littleproud as editor. In 1938, a Scholar's (student's) manual was added. The first edition of the Choice Gleanings was published in 1940 with a print run of 800. More than 2,000,000 have been distributed since and it is now printed and distributed on four continents.
Uplook magazine also has a history dating back to the 1920's. Originally called Look on the Fields, this magazine has had several different forms and titles over the years and a number of different editors. In 1991, J. B. Nicholson Jr. took over the editorship and introduced the present format.
Millions of books, booklets and tracts have been produced over the years as well as literature in foreign languages for the mission field. Gospel Folio has also served as a training ground for a number of missionaries who needed to learn printing and typesetting for their work on the field.
In 1972, Will Pell went home to be with his Lord after a lengthy battle with cancer. But Gospel Folio Press continued, operating as a partnership by Grace, Tillie, Ruth and Lois, four of Will's sisters. Will's three brothers continued their part in the press ministry throughout the 1970's. Peter wrote many of the publications while Claude and Jerold helped with construction and maintenance as needed. The 1980's saw only Tillie, Ruth and Lois able to continue the work. However, their advanced age resulted in the stagnation and decline of the work.
J. B. Nicholson Jr. worked for the Pells as a youth for several summers. As his preaching and writing ministry developed, he became more involved in editing materials for Gospel Folio. In the late 80's, the Pell sisters asked J. B. to take over the management of the ministry.
On January 1, 1990, the organization was restructured as a non-profit corporation with an independent board of directors responsible for overseeing the operation. J. B. Nicholson was appointed President and continues in that role to the present.
In March 1996 the name of the organization was changed to Uplook Ministries, a name which better describes the extent of the work.
In 2001, the book publishing and distribution arm of the ministry was relocated to Port Colborne, Ontario and is carrying on there under the Gospel Folio Press name. A retail store has also been added. The magazine, conference and web ministries continue from the office in Grand Rapids.
Since the early days, GFP has been serious about ministering to the needs of the Lord's people the world over with publications that are timely, affordable, and doctrinally sound. The present board of Uplook Ministries is committed to maintaining this spiritual legacy and ensuring that the purpose and goal - biblical encouragement and Christ-honoring ministry -continues.
[edit] Current Editor:
J. B. Nicholson Jr., President
Jamie Martin, Editor
Kevin Shantz, Treasurer
Bill Nicholson, Secretary
Mrs. Hazel Johnson is responsible for magazine circulation and secretarial duties at the Uplook office.
