by Ron Halbrook
Synopsis: Women of great faith in Bible times, and today, inspire us to greater faith. Virgie Faye Bell is such an example alongside Sarah in Hebrews 11.
The roll call of heroes of great faith in Hebrews 11 includes women. “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised” (vs. 12). Sarah was Abraham’s constant companion while they journeyed as “strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” longing for “a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city” (vv. 13, 16). In like manner, Virgie Faye Bell labored at the side of her husband Clifford as they journeyed toward that heavenly home. He died April 30, 2006, at ninety years of age, and she died January 24, 2022 at ninety-nine years.
After graduating from Florida College on April 22, 1966, Donna Bell and I traveled with Doug and Bonnie Kanatzer to Texas, where they dropped us off at 1903 Richardson Lane in Baytown. Meeting brother and sister Bell for the first time, I could not foresee what deep impressions for good they would imprint on my heart and life. I flew home on May 2 to work as a bricklayer’s helper for several weeks before driving to Pine Bluff, AR, to work with Leonard Tyler in a preacher training program. Donna flew up for a visit during that time. As we traveled together during a Bible lands tour the next summer, I asked her to marry me. We were married at the Pruett and Lobit St. Church of Christ in Baytown by brother Tyler on December 26 and began our lives together in Athens, AL, where I was teaching at Athens Bible School.
Thus began my 56 years of blessed association with brother and sister Bell. I draw on those many years of precious memories to make the following observations. “Sister Bell,” as I always called her, exemplified a Christian wife and mother, a sacrificial servant, and a true soldier of Christ.
God created the woman with a unique feminine nature and a wide range of talents, which she may use in many walks of life. She never rises higher than when fulfilling her unique design and role as a wife and mother. God created woman from Adam’s rib to stand at his side as a wife. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). God repeatedly reaffirmed and emphasized the importance of this role. “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD” (Prov. 18:22).
Virgie Young was born September 12th, 1922 in Abbott, TX. Clifford Bell married her on October 18, 1945, and they served God and each other as faithful companions for over 60 years. She proved herself to be the virtuous wife of Proverbs 31, by her fidelity to her God, her husband, and their children. “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all” (vv. 26-29).
The Bells were blessed with four daughters: Donna (spouse Ron Halbrook), Marilyn (spouse Randy Harshbarger), Denise (spouse Ron Kirkwood), and Kathy (spouse Mark Walker). They led their daughters to Christ, raised them in a godly home, and taught them that God’s people are distinct from the world (Rom. 12:1-2). Their girls did not attend dances because dancing promotes lasciviousness. When these young ladies married and started their families, they had no pictures of themselves in shorts and swimsuits with boys, no pictures in skimpy cheerleading outfits, and no prom pictures to explain away as their children matured. These four daughters presented her with her beloved 19 grandchildren and 27 great grandchildren.
I prayed thousands of prayers for God to guide me to find a godly wife and to have a Christian home. By His loving providence, He answered that prayer through the good work of brother and sister Bell. I could never thank Him, or them, enough!
In John 13, Jesus went beyond providing water for the disciples to wash their weary feet by washing their feet! “So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:12-14). Again he said, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (vv. 34-35). Washing feet was not a religious ritual, but was a loving act of humble service and hospitality. Sister Bell exemplified this godly character as described in 1 Timothy 5:10, “Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.”
God alone knows how many people ate at the Bell’s table where, among other good things, she served delicious cinnamon rolls! Only God knows how many plates of food they delivered to the sick, how many wounded hearts they comforted, how many tears they shed with those who wept, how many hospital and nursing home visits they made, or how many kind and encouraging words they quietly spoke to the penitent, the weak, and the discouraged. Everyone who has known them has been touched by their unselfish love! Sister Bell continued such deeds of kindness and hospitality long after the passing of brother Bell, and wept when physical frailties finally ended her ability to do so.
The New Testament is replete with examples of godly women who were outstanding soldiers in the Lord’s army. Time and space would fail us to recount the names and the occasions recorded (see the list of women’s names in Romans 16 alone!). Lydia laid the groundwork for the planting of the church at Philippi in Acts 16, and Paul later reminded that church of “those women which laboured with me in the gospel” (Phil. 4:3).
Sister Bell obeyed the gospel at a young age, married a Christian, helped raise four daughters to become Christians, served as an elder’s wife for 30 years, and fought the good fight of faith to the end. The strength of her character is well described by the qualifications of the wives of deacons and elders: “grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things” (1 Tim. 3:11). She was a great source of strength and encouragement to her husband as he bore the heavy duties involved in shepherding souls.
God alone knows how many precious children that sister Bell taught in Bible classes at the Pruett and Lobit Street Church through the years. The Bells accompanied brother and sister H.E. Phillips to Italy in 1977 because the church was supporting an Italian preacher. They encouraged Italian Christians and saw the work firsthand. When Jesse Flowers preached for the church from 2008 through 2020, sister Bell literally labored with him in the gospel. He recounted in his excellent funeral sermon many occasions when she helped arrange Bible studies with people, resulting in dozens of souls hearing the true gospel for the first time, some of whom submitted to Christ.
Though sister Bell suffered the aging process, she remained largely free of disease and injury until the last month of her life. Yet, even on her deathbed, she continued to ask nurses and attendants where they went to church, invited them to the services at the Pruett and Lobit St. Church, and encouraged them to search the Scriptures to learn the true way of salvation.
Truly, like Sarah, sister Bell was a mother in Israel who focused her faith on God and His word, “because she judged him faithful who had promised” (Heb. 11:12). She believed the promises of heaven and the warnings about hell in the Bible to be true. She was determined to enter that better heavenly country prepared by God for His faithful saints. If we will run our race to the finish by faith in God as she did, we too can enter that home of the soul to spend eternity in fellowship with our God, our Creator, our Savior, our Friend.
To view Vergie Bell’s obituary and funeral service, go to the following links:
Vergie Bell-Funeral Service Video
