Chet Bitterman - Called to Die

 

Tomorrow, March 7, 2026, marks 45 years since Chet Bitterman, 28 years old, husband and father of two children, was killed for Christ in Columbia on March 7, 1981.

 

Before Chet and his wife Brenda began their mission with Wycliffe Bible Translators, Chet had written, “I find the recurring thought that perhaps God will call me to be martyred for Him in His service in Colombia. I am willing.”

 

Chet was kidnapped by Colombian terrorists on January 19, 1981, and held hostage until he was killed on March 7.

 

The following is from the Voice of the Martyrs (link below):

 

Negotiations went on in fits and starts. Brenda and her two young daughters—one barely old enough to walk—waited and prayed and hoped. They prayed Bitterman would remember the Scriptures that he had faithfully memorized. The guerrillas maintained their stance that Wycliffe must leave; Wycliffe agreed to leave when their translation work was done, more than a decade into the future. His captors released a letter from Bitterman. His words carried not discouragement and worry, but an exciting sense of mission and possibility:

 

The Lord brought 2 Corinthians 2:14 to mind: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph through the Lord Jesus Christ.” The word for “triumph” was used for the Roman victory parades, when the soldiers were received back at home by the cheering crowds after a successful battle…I have had a lot of free time to think about such things as Daniel’s three friends…and Paul and Silas’ experience in the jail at Philippi. In the case of Daniel’s friends, God did something very unusual through His power for a specific purpose, so that through everything, all concerned would learn (i.e., have their misconceptions corrected) about Him. The result of the experience was that everyone learned who He was. Remember Paul and the Praetorian Guard. Keep this in your thoughts for me. Wouldn’t it be neat if something special like this would happen?

 

Brenda was thrilled to see that her prayers were being answered. Bitterman was remembering the Scriptures. Even as he was held hostage, the Lord’s work was being accomplished. Colombian media reports about Wycliffe’s work included reference to the Gospel message and shed a positive light on Christian workers. Bible verses Bitterman had mentioned in his letter were printed in Colombian newspapers. The Word was going out. On the morning of March 7, forty-eight days after Bitterman’s abduction, his life was ended by a bullet to the chest. His body was left on a bus.

 

Stories of Christian Martyrs: Chester A. "Chet" Bitterman III - Stories

 

Called to Die, authored by Steve Estes, is Chet and Brenda’s story, it is also Christ’s story. I was given Called to Die by a friend who was a member of Chet’s Wycliffe team in Columbia, a friend of Chet’s who lived through the 48 days of agony that Chet was a hostage…and a witness. I write that my friend “lived through the 48 days,” but perhaps I should have written, “he lived and died and continued living and dying.” You see, my friend was never the same – the trauma had a lasting effect. (I am avoiding details out of respect for privacy).

 

Somewhere Oswald Chambers wrote that we argue with God about the effect our obedience will have on others, about the price others will pay if we are obedient to Him. Did not Mary the mother of Jesus pay a price for Jesus’ obedience? Did not a sword pierce her soul?  

 

We read of Jesus, “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:2 - 4).

 

I think my friend continued to carry the sorrow and grief of Chet and Brenda Bitterman in his soul. I think he continued to fill up in his life “what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col. 1:24). O yes, he rejoiced in Chet’s testimony. Yes, he rejoiced in Christ Jesus the Resurrection and the Life. Yes, he believed that whoever believes in Jesus will never taste of death. Yet my friend also knew the koinonia of Christ’s sufferings (Phil. 3:10).

 

My friend was a brother who “showed up” when you needed someone. There were times he was the only one who showed up in an outreach I was doing. I knew as I traveled to a ministry venue for outreach that even if no one else would be there, that my friend would be there waiting for me.

 

If you meant my friend you would probably not be impressed; he was quiet, thoughtful, and self-effacing. Out of his suffering and sorrow, he had deep insights and a love for Jesus and others, and deep compassion. Because he didn’t fit the mold of a public speaker and preacher, congregations missed out on hearing him.

 

You may have never thought about this, but in reading Isaiah’s description of Jesus, neither you nor I may have been attracted to Him. In fact, we may very well have despised Him.

 

Nor may you have thought about Paul this way. Yet Paul writes, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3).

 

What has happened to us in the West that we have turned Jesus and Paul into high gross charismatic leaders, placed them in slick marketing programs, clothed them with our own agendas, and attempted to make them acceptable to both the professing church and the world? Are we ashamed of the shame associated with Christ and the Cross?

 

What has happened to us that we preach a “gospel” that is other than denying ourselves, losing our lives, and living totally and completely for Jesus Christ and others? (Mark 8:34 – 38). Do we not realize that we are all “called to die”?

 

I well recall the vice-presidential debate during the 1992 election. There were three candidates on stage, Al Gore, Dan Quayle, and Admiral James Stockdale. Of the three, Admiral Stockdale seemed out of place. He was not well spoken, he did not have a “presence,” he did not project himself well. Many American viewers wondered what he was doing on stage.

 

Yet, of the three (and meaning no disrespect to Mr. Gore or Mr. Quayle), Admiral Stockdale had a character tired in the fire of over 7 years as a POW in North Vietnam – torture was routine, his leg was broken twice. James Stockdale had paid a deep and heavy price in service to the United States of America – looks and presentation can be deceiving. We can be so superficial…yes?

 

When we lived in Massachusetts, Vickie made the acquaintance of Elisabeth Elliot who opened the door of hospitality to women associated with Gordon – Conwell. Her husband Jim, along with four other young missionaries, was killed while attempting to share the Gospel in Ecuador on January 8, 1956. Jim Elliot wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

 

On our office wall at home is a derivative of Jim’s quote, “Let us give what we cannot keep, to gain what we cannot lose.”

 

This is how Jim and Elisabeth Elliot lived.

 

This is how Chet and Brenda Bitterman lived.

 

This is how my friend and his wife lived.

 

This is how Paul lived.

 

This is how Jesus Christ the Son of God lived while on earth.

 

Is this how we are living?