Without a library, the Christmas story as you know it might never have happened.

Did you know? Without a library, the Christmas story as you know it might never have happened.

In the 1990s, University of Florida football coach Steve Spurrier gave the best soundbites. Once, when a library fire at rival Auburn University destroyed 20 books, Spurrier quipped, “The real tragedy was that 15 of them hadn't even been colored in yet.” Ha! Even Auburn fans laughed.

But a damaged library is no laughing matter. Disneyland is supposed to be “the happiest place on earth,” but for me, as a book-loving child, it was the public library: biographies, westerns, science fiction, Ranger Rick magazines, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis. As a kid, that building felt like holy ground.

Libraries are special places, and without a library, who knows how the Christmas story would've turned out? More on that later, but first: I need your help to protect OCC's library, and here’s why...

Because a library forges friendships. My son Conrad—an OCC senior—says the Seth Wilson Library might be his favorite place on campus: “It's where I make friends.” In the library, students meet new acquaintances, talk with professors, join study groups, and even start romances. (Books aren’t the only thing being checked out.)

When Conrad and buddies need a brain break, they play trash golf. Conrad spreads nine small trash cans—like holes on a golf course—on both floors of the library, numbers the “holes,” and creates a par for each. Players take a small ball of paper, tee off by throwing toward the first trash can, and play the course as onlookers silently cheer or groan.

Conrad and pals might organize a paper airplane contest from the balcony or hide someone’s water bottle as a scavenger hunt, leaving funny clues at reference numbers. I’m glad our staff are understanding. (As a student, I nicknamed one gruff worker Conan the Librarian.) Libraries are quiet, but students need laughter...and friends.

Because a library shapes faith. As an OCC student, I checked out the library’s copy of In the Shadow of the Almighty, the journal of martyred missionary Jim Elliot. After time in those pages with that young man passionate for Christ, my faith was forever challenged.

Conrad would tell you Dane Ortlund’s book Gentle and Lowly deepened his understanding of God’s heart for hurting people, John Ortberg’s The Me I Want to Be showed him sanctification was a lifelong process, and Pilgrim’s Progress “inspired me toward faithfulness in my Christian walk.”

Conrad’s been preaching at a little Kansas church, so I often see him in the library, bent over his Bible and a table full of commentaries, studying for his sermon. A library is God’s workbench, books are his tools, and I rejoice as the Lord fashions my son’s faith inside that building.

Because a library launches ministry. Albert Schweitzer’s medical missionary work in Africa won him the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize, but forty years earlier, the young Schweitzer was still searching for his life’s work. At St. Thomas Seminary, a missionary magazine from the library included an article: “The Needs of the Congo Mission,” pleading for more workers. “I finished the article,” said Schweitzer, “and my search was over.”

As a southwest Missouri Bible college student, Mark Batterson never imagined church planting in Washington D.C. But flipping through a magazine like Schweitzer, Batterson saw an article about a D.C. ministry. That led to a phone call, a visit, a move to the capital, and a new church, and today Batterson leads National Community Church in D.C. where thousands worship each week. Believe it or not, students can find ministry direction in the library.

But how is a library part of the Christmas story? Keep reading...

Why are libraries so special? Why protect Ozark’s?

Because a library refreshes souls. Lincoln Seminary prof Dr. J.K. Jones was a weightlifter and military policeman, but even tough guys have tough days. In a tough early ministry, he tells how a library book saved him:

There was a season in the whirlwind of ministry where I believed I could not go on. Criticism, overwork and little rest took its toll. One Sunday night, after a difficult meeting, I thought I was coming apart. I wondered if this was what it was like when a person had a “breakdown.” I cried and couldn’t stop.

My wife took me to the home of dear friends. Those precious people reached into their pockets, gave us all the cash they had, and offered these wise words, “Get out of the area code and let us know where you are.” We drove all night, spending the next couple of weeks in Arkansas with my wife’s parents.

I didn’t think I wanted to go back to that ministry. My soul was dry, my mind dull, and my heart broken. My mother-in-law knew better than I did what was happening. For several days I said very little and mostly slept. One morning I heard a knock at the bedroom door. I didn’t answer. The door creaked open, and Mom Graham threw me a Snickers bar and a book. The only word from her mouth was, “Enjoy.”

I did not open either for a while, but slowly I began to eat the candy bar and then turned my appetite to the book: the biography of missionary David Livingstone. I devoured it. His life of courage and endurance spoke deeply to my soul. It was as if God himself spoke to me, “If Livingstone can persevere, so can you.” We returned, and our most productive years in that church followed.

But my favorite reason? Because a library sparks worship. Maybe not the public library in my hometown, but I'm guessing a library in Persia did. Have you seen the movie The Nativity Story? When three Persian wise men notice a strange star in the sky, they search through their storehouse of scrolls—their library—for its meaning.

One ancient scroll contains a prophecy, “A star will come forth out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” (Num 24:17) Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar understand: the star means a special king will appear in Israel. With gold, frankincense, and myrrh, they make the long journey to worship the young King...because of a book pulled of a shelf.

Matthew 2 doesn't mention a storehouse of scrolls, but the magi likely had something like that. When you set out your nativity, remember that, if not for a library, the Christmas story might look very different. And the wise men weren't the last ones moved to worship. Many Ozark students have bowed their heads over a book, as they learn about the King.

Libraries really are special...which is why I need your help. Ozark’s Seth Wilson Library needs a new roof. We’ve patched the old roof for years now, but the leaks just keep increasing. We don’t want water damage to our thousands of books. (Some of them haven’t even been colored in yet.)

To protect the library, experts are telling us it's time to replace the roof, but it’s not cheap. A new roof will cost about $175,000. Would you consider a year-end gift to our general fund to protect the Seth Wilson Library?

In 2 Timothy 4:13, Paul writes from prison, asking Timothy to bring “the books, but especially the parchments.” While the parchments may be Paul’s Scriptures, “the books” are his other reading materials. The apostle values his library! If we let our library deteriorate, we’d be ashamed of our shelves (sorry), so we want to protect it well.

Great Awakening preacher John Wesley said, “It cannot be that people should grow in grace unless they give themselves to reading. Reading Christians are growing Christians.” Preserving our library helps our students grow. Would you please pray about a generous general fund gift to put a new roof on the OCC library?

Thanks for considering this. By the way, if you’re near Joplin, you can get an OCC library card yourself. Wonder about the Holy Spirit? Check out Jack Cottrell’s Power From On High. Questions about heaven? Read Randy Alcorn’s Heaven. Want a fuller understanding of Calvary? Check out John Stott’s The Cross of Christ. And who knows? Maybe the library will become your “happiest place on earth.”

Yours in Christ,
Matt Proctor
President

P.S. Three things: First, thank you for your response to our last letter (which exceeded the goal)—students are enjoying the new seating! Second, sign up now for the 2026 Preaching-Teaching Convention at occ.edu/pt. Third, as a gift from OCC, please enjoy this free subscription to the digital library of RightNow Media, available at occ.edu/rightnowmedia.

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Your gift is a sacred trust. We promise to honor your generosity by using your gift in the most effective way to train men and women for Christian service. The project described here reflects OCC’s ministry needs at the time of writing. Your gift will go to the general fund to be used where it is needed most when received to prepare students to take the gospel to the world.