A Life of Prayer and Faith

An Interview with Ken and Ann Bartel

Ann Bartel has an ongoing conversation with God, every day, all day. She rarely goes more than an hour or two without praying about something. It might be for safety when she gets in the car to go somewhere. It might be for one of her two daughters or two grandchildren or three great grandchildren or the church or…well, just about anything.

“If you have God, you can face anything,” she said. “I always have God with me.”

Ann grew up in Corn, Oklahoma, a small, western Oklahoma community settled by German-speaking Russian immigrants. Raised in a strong, steadfast Mennonite family, Ann attended Corn Bible Academy after elementary school. The Mennonite Brethren Church founded the academy in 1902 for 7-12th grades, and the academy still serves students in that area.

“That made my faith a part of who I am,” she said. “I learned to depend on God because a very active prayer life became part of my life.”

She met her husband, Ken, at a church camp during their high school years.

Was it love at first sight? Ken said he thought Ann looked fun, and Ann said she liked the look of Ken, and their relationship grew when both attended Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas. Ann left Tabor to attend beauty school in Enid, Oklahoma, then worked as a hair stylist. The couple moved to Topeka, Kansas, for Ken’s job, and they started a family.

Ann went on to finish her degree at Washburn University, Topeka, then taught 28 years in Topeka Public Schools. She taught in an inner-city school the first five years, then the last 23 years in a pre-kindergarten-6th grade school in west Topeka.

Ann and Ken have been members of the Cornerstone faith community for 64 years. Ann taught Sunday School and volunteered in other areas of the church, and Ken volunteered his time in financial and administrative work.

Through the years, two church-sponsored programs were particularly meaningful to Ann: the church had a mentorship program that matched adults with youth, and the church organized care groups of around six people each that spent time together for meals and Bible studies outside of church. Both programs enriched the sense of community among the church’s members.

A teacher at Corn Academy once asked Ann how she was growing in her faith. It was a thought-provoking question, she said, and one she often asked her Sunday School students years later.

Ken grew up on a farm in the Hillsboro area, then attended Tabor College to study chemistry. He spent 35 years as a med-tech at Stormont-Vail, eventually working in management. He left that field a few years prior to retirement to work at the state’s Capitol building, overseeing the grounds, contracts and elevators.

Once both Ann and Ken retired, they traveled for several years, serving as tour guides for Prudent Travel, a travel agency based in Hillsboro that specializes in bus tours.

Coming from a traditional Mennonite family, Ken’s faith is an integral part of who he is.

“At home, we always stood to pray before meals,” he said. “I got my very strong religious beliefs and work ethic from my family.”

Those values have been a hallmark of Ken’s life. Following his retirement, he ran a lawn care business and always had a reputation for dependability and fairness.

Throughout his life, Ken said he was sometimes aware of living in two worlds: one centered on the conservative expectations he grew up in, and the other more progressive and less restrictive world of college and professional life. Yet he never lost his faith or commitment to living a Christ-centered life.

“I always had a good work ethic and a good sense of right and wrong,” he said. “I got the best of both worlds, acceptance from family and friends back home and at church, and acceptance from professional colleagues and friends outside the church. I always knew it [faith] was out there, but I never wanted to be legalistic.”

He is a great believer in people’s actions speaking louder than words.

“You don’t have to do anything big to be accepted at Cornerstone,” he said. “You are just accepted and supported.”

Ann finds that acceptance and support just as comforting. “At Cornerstone, you can always find someone to talk to about anything,” she said.

One of Ann’s favorite passages is Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.” [NIV] As she goes about her daily life, she puts that Bible verse into action through prayer.

“Sometimes the answer is ‘no,’ or ‘not now,’” she explains. That is when she turns to her other favorite Bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” [NIV]

This does not mean Ann is satisfied with all the answers she gets here on Earth.

“I can’t wait to get to Heaven and talk to Jonah to find out what it was really like inside that whale,” she said.

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Written by Carol Pitts, September 2024