David P. Jones
For centuries, access to Tibet was difficult for geographical and political reasons until missionaries pried it open in the nineteenth century. Their reports provided glimpses of those living behind the towering mountains, hidden from the Western world.One of those missionaries, Robert B. Ekvall (1898-1983), stands out as one of the most illustrious and overlooked alumni of Nyack College (now Alliance University) and Wheaton College. He joined the short list of those who contributed significantly to the evangelization of the Tibetan Buddhist nomads of Northeastern Tibet.After serving two decades as a pioneer missionary-anthropologist on the Gansu-Tibetan border of western China, his career in missions suddenly ended. He was thrust into WWII as a captain in the US Army, a combatant, interpreter, military attache, diplomat, and chief interpreter at the Panmunjom Korea armistice talks in 1953.In the late 1950s, he entered the academic world at the University of Washington, Seattle, before retiring in the 1970s. Adventure, bravery, intrigue, tragedy, and sorrow all describe facets of Ekvall’s life. Few missionaries can boast of such a varied career.
