Northpinellas: 'I was born to teach,' woman says

In everyday conversation, Scripture flows from her mouth. And when she can't remember the exact words from a particular verse in one of the Bible's 66 books, she opens a Bible with hand-written words covering practically every inch of blank space and thumbs through it until she finds the right page.

"Here it is," she says, pointing her fingers to the first five verses of Psalm 103.

After receiving a compliment on her good health and good looks, Mrs. Gause, 79, was looking for the passage that tells why she has lived such a blessed life.

Bless the Lord, o my soul, and do not forget all His benefits -- who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases . . .

Who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

As she has for the past 52 years, Mrs. Gause looks to the Bible to understand the mysteries of life. And for 30 years, she has been teaching others how to do the same.

On Wednesday, she will begin her 31st year of teaching the Soncoast Bible Study at First United Methodist Church of Tarpon Springs. The non-denominational Bible class will meet weekly from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. until June. This year's course will focus on the Book of Romans and Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians.

"I was born to teach," she said. "I want everyone to know about the Bible."

From the office in her Tarpon Springs waterfront home, surrounded by hundreds of religious books with titles such as Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Jesus is Coming and The Acts of the Apostles, Mrs. Gause said she wants to get people "thirsty for the word."

"People are not going to grow in their Christian faith until they get into the word," she said.

Growing up in an agnostic environment, Mrs. Gause wasn't always a believer. It wasn't until her husband had a close brush with death that she began a spiritual quest.

Robert P. Gause survived the worst disaster in U.S. naval history, the sinking of the USS Indianapolis during World War II. Nearly 900 servicemen died.

Near death, Gause asked God to give him the strength to swim to a rescue boat. Barely able to keep his head above water, he said he felt something hard under his feet and was able to rest awhile before swimming again.

"He came home telling that story of how God had put something solid under his feet," Mrs. Gause recalled.

She wondered if there actually could be a power greater than herself. She began to read books on psychic phenomena and investigated different religions.

"Nothing satisfied that emptiness in my head," she said. "Within three years, I had come to the end of my rope."

Her search led her to an Episcopal priest, who suggested she read C.S. Lewis' book Miracles. "That opened my eyes to where I wanted to read the New Testament," she said.

Mrs. Gause began to read the Bible, and her life was never the same. At the age of 28, she said, she accepted Jesus Christ as her savior.

Her spiritual thirst didn't end there. She studied Greek and Hebrew languages at Trinity Bible College in Belleair. (The school is now in New Port Richey.) She earned a doctorate in theology from the International Bible Institute and Seminary in Orlando and was awarded an honorary degree from Florida Beacon Bible College in Largo, where she taught for 17 years.

In the late 1960s and early '70s, the former dental hygienist worked as an associate professor of English literature at the University of South Florida after receiving her master's degree there.

Mrs. Gause also has made more than 30 trips to Israel, often teaching Bible classes in the country. She also has spent many summers touring, speaking and evangelizing in the Philippines, Australia, the Far East and Europe.

And then there are the 30 years of teaching Bible classes at First United Methodist Church of Tarpon Springs, where she and her husband are members.

The classes consist of prayer, fellowship, small group discussions and a lecture. The students also study their lesson, which typically focuses on one Bible chapter at a time, at home between classes.

Students have formed strong bonds over the years, said Sara Oppenheim, a student of the Soncoast Bible Study since 1979. "It's a spiritual bond that Christ gives you," said Oppenheim, 54.

When the Bible study started 30 years ago, it was only one of a few offered in North Pinellas. During the 1980s, 150 to 200 students attended the weekly classes.

As churches began to see the value of these studies, Oppenheim said, more churches began to offer them. Today, Mrs. Gause's class draws 50 to 75 students from about 30 congregations, representing several denominations, including Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Assembly of God, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic.

Lois Donaghy, 64, discovered the Bible study in 1998 when she and her husband moved from Pittsburgh to New Port Richey.

"I do love it," she said. "Everyone is so welcoming."

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