NORWAY – The words bubble forth from the Rev. Bob Timberlake as he recalls his childhood memories of growing up in Norway.

“When I think of Norway, Maine, I think of the hard-working, generous, compassionate backbone of the U.S.A.,” said the 60-year-old Timberlake in a recent phone interview from his home in Pawnee City, Neb.

“I cannot explain it, but it fills every fiber of my body with wonder and excitement.”

Soon, words won’t come so easily to Timberlake, who has raised more than $75 million in his 40-year ministry to support homeless shelters in several major cities, including Omaha, Neb., Buffalo, N.Y., and Atlanta, Ga.

“Pastor Bob,” as he’s known, was diagnosed Feb. 20 with a very rare and fast-growing brain cancer. His doctors have given him six months to live.

He’s already begun to slur his words. In a few months the tumor, a glioblastoma, will destroy his ability to speak or to understand the words of others.

But while he can still talk, he said, “I want to minister with my mouth to God,” and to his family, his congregation, “and the needs of the homeless throughout the U.S. and Canada.”

Timberlake became known at the Open Door Mission in Omaha, which he headed from 1987 to 2001, for his original series of “Phone-A-Story” Bible tales. He’s a natural born storyteller, said the Rev. Norman Jackson of the Norway Baptist Church on Cottage Street.

“He has a very, very joking upbeat spirit, even now,” said Jackson, who will turn over the pulpit to Timberlake during a farewell visit to Norway at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, on his way to a talk at his alma mater, the New Brunswick Bible Institute in New Brunswick, Canada.

Timberlake’s name is still on the rolls as a member of the 13 Cottage St.

“He kind of wants to have the last word before he goes home to the Lord,” Jackson said. Since his diagnosis, Timberlake has already done numerous interviews with the national media in several cities, and plans to do more.

From childhood on, said Timberlake, “God has given me a special desire to love and to help others, and to introduce them to Jesus.” Now, with an inoperable brain tumor, “God has given me a number of months to make an impact on eternity.”

Timberlake could have bought more time, perhaps a year or more, if he had opted for surgery instead of chemotherapy and radiation. But surgery would have immediately destroyed his ability to speak, since the tumor is located near his speech center.

“I think of a verse of scripture, that it is more happy to give than to receive,” he said. “And, I’m having tons of fun.”

At Timberlake’s urging, the Open Door Mission has established a “Pastor Bob Living Memorial Fund” on its Web site, opendoormission.org. There’s also a link to send Timberlake words of encouragement.

Timberlake said his father, Timmy Timberlake, was a great storyteller.

“I was born at the (then) Norway Memorial Hospital at 33 Cottage St.,” said Timberlake. “My father bought the hospital and turned it into a five-bedroom apartment house.”

He remembers working at the C.B. Cummings & Son dowel mill, where he said “I learned the Christian work ethic. I carried the dowels to beautiful women, and enjoyed their praise and their kisses.”

He used to stutter as a child, he said, until he got a job making pizza and Italian Sandwiches at Verenis’ Market on Main Street.

“Pete and George (Verenis) inspired me. I talked to people, and I lost the stutter almost immediately,” he said.

Even more inspiring, he said, were two teachers of his youth, Irene Tubbs and Molly Bryant.

He said he’ll never forget Tubbs’ words in grading Timberlake’s impassioned report of the book, Pilgrim’s Progress, about a young boy on a Christian journey.

“She wrote ‘Bobby, when I read your report, I knew that God had his hand on your life for something special,'” he said.

Bryant, a social studies teacher, inspired him to discover the world, he said. He became a missionary to Bangladesh, and later to Pakistan.

“Many days, in my mind’s eye and heart, I wander the streets of Norway, Maine,” he said. “And I thank God for those truly American people.”