Graduate Profile: John Kortie, MABC

John Michael Kortie was born in York, Pennsylvania, to Richard and Gail (Julius) Kortie on September 29, 1967. He passed on to Glory, surrounded by beloved family members, on April 26, 2024, after battling esophageal cancer for ten months. John grew up with three brothers whom he loved dearly. His uncle and aunt were an instrumental part of his youth. John attended West York High School. After graduation he enlisted in the US Army and served for 3 years. He furthered his education at Manatee Community College and graduated with a B.A. in History from the University of South Florida. He was granted membership in the Golden Key National Honors Society and inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Society at USF.

John and Bethanna had an interesting love story, meeting online in a Bible study chat room. Their relationship blossomed under a long-distance relationship, and they were married (by Pastor James Adams) nine months after meeting. They just celebrated their 24th anniversary. They enjoyed raising three children, welcoming spouses for their children into their family and being Bopa and Granny to three grandsons.

God put a burden on John to bring the Gospel to the O’odham people in Arizona in 2010. He began training under his pastor (Bob Selph) to prepare him for the mission field. In September 2015, John and Bethanna moved to Arizona from South Carolina to begin the work to which God had called them. John loved preaching and coming alongside native pastors to help out where needed. John was known as an encourager. He always had time to listen to those who needed to talk. He was faithful in pointing people to Christ. His greatest desire was that God would be glorified in all he said and did and that others would love Jesus.

John was working on a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling from Reformed Baptist Seminary at the time of his death. He completed all the course requirements and was finishing the practical requirements for ACBC certification. In light of John’s good standing academically and his years of experience counseling on the mission field, the RBS Board of Directors voted unanimously to award John the MABC posthumously. The diploma was presented to John’s wife, Bethanna, at his memorial service at Grace Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina.

John’s motto while serving on the mission field has been “No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets.” This quote was from another missionary, William Borden, who also died from health complications while in service to the Lord. John sought to live out this motto by simply trusting and obeying God’s leading in his life.