Behind the Scenes at EPM
By Stephanie Anderson
When Randy Alcorn does research for a new book, Bonnie Hiestand gets to work.
You won’t see her name alongside his on a book cover, but for Bonnie, behind the scenes is right where she wants to be.
Bonnie has worked for Randy on and off for the past 24 years, originally as his secretary when he was a pastor at Good Shepherd Community Church near Gresham, Oregon. For the past 11 years, she has worked as a graphic designer and secretary for Eternal Perspective Ministries.
When Randy gets ready to write another book, he often reads several dozen books by other authors to research his topic—like the 140 books he read before writing Heaven.
It is Bonnie’s responsibility to type the dozens of quotes he underlines and the notes he writes circling around book margins and on scraps of paper, a job she lovingly calls “deciphering hieroglyphics.” She’s even interpreted a note scrawled on a restaurant napkin.
“When Randy reads a book for research, I read it too,” Bonnie says. She especially enjoyed typing Randy’s notes when he was doing research for his murder mystery novel Deception.
“When I type up Randy’s research information from the book he reads, I get to read these deep books, by people like John Piper and Charles Spurgeon.”
As the daughter of a Baptist pastor, Bonnie grew up knowing she wanted to support others in ministry. “I enjoy enabling other people to be up front,” she says. “I feel that’s where God has gifted me.”
Walking into her office, it’s hard to miss the small handmade quilt hanging above her desk or the tole-painted vase sitting on her shelf. A visit to her country-style home reveals there is a quilt or wall hanging she’s made in every room of her house, even the bathroom. Using her artistic ability, she admits, is one of her favorite pastimes.
These days she puts those skills to use by serving on the production team that creates and formats the quarterly newsletter Eternal Perspectives, which is a strategic part of EPM’s ministry.
The newsletter was born in 1990 when Randy began typing up a letter to send to EPM’s supporters. It went through several revisions in subsequent years, including when Bonnie took over formatting and preparing the newsletter in 1997.
The newsletter has come a long way since it first began. Today, it is a 16-page publication received in the mail by approximately 18,000 subscribers. It is also available for download in beautiful full color on the EPM website (www.epm.org).
But the goal behind Eternal Perspectives is more than creating an attractive publication. The quarterly newsletter is designed to share timely articles written by Randy—and selected others—on a variety of subjects, always with the goal of encouraging people to live in light of eternity.
One reader summed up their impression as follows: “I appreciate your newsletter so much and am always looking for good material God can use to stretch me! At the brink of despair and desperation, your newsletter came in the mail, and it was as if God was speaking to me through you in a very clear way. I have stayed up late tonight pondering what God did and I am eternally grateful.”
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Bonnie and her husband Dennis are the parents of two college-age children, Jennifer and Chris, and enjoy cruising in their ‘52 Chevy.
