We were involved in so many church and mission ministries in Burkina, all of which we loved doing. And often God increased our fields of ministry, in Burkina and also in other West African countries. The West African grapevine works very well among churches and missions, and soon I found myself invited to teach principles of TEE for the Baptists, the Mennonites, the SIM - in Burkina and also in Niger, Mali, Ivory Coast and Bénin. This sometimes meant travel by road and by plane.
In more recent years, the government has gotten involved in teaching literacy in the local languages, something we missionaries had been doing for years. The National Agricultural association prepared literacy materials and published books on farming for local populations. This was something we needed among our churches, and I organized a several days seminar in Bobo, where the government literacy man taught us in the new Jula orthography. We invited our Poundou professors (educated at Ntorosso years ago) to attend and be trained in the current spelling system. A number of our missionaries also took that training.
For many years there was no new missionary orientation to speak of in our West African fields, and so while Dad was field director I started a program of organizing monthly seminars in Bobo-Dioulasso, where our new missionaries could gather together for cultural learning, adaptation to the West African way of thinking, learning about their own actions and reactions in a new culture. We had gathered a series of very good missions books that we asked them to take home and read. And of course it was also a time for good fellowship, questions and the exchange of ideas. When Dad and I were sent to Mali for a year in 2004-2005, we had thirteen brand new missionaries who arrived on that field that year. Again we used the training program we had developed for Mali, and these times together were very profitable for all.
Teams from the States and Canada have become in vogue at this period of missions history. We helped out in some of these teams when the idea was just starting to catch on. After our year as MIR at Nyack College, the missions department arranged a tour of about twenty students to come for a three week stay with us in Santidougou. Wow, that was a challenge. They all slept and ate with us at Santidougou. Elin, you worked hard to make that team a success, helping Yusufu with the food and generally making those weeks a great experience for those students!
Dave Rambo thought that trip was such a success that he arranged to have another team come the next year. Wow! What a difference. Ralph Ellenberger came with them and there were only a handful of students who came. Dad was fulltime in mission committee meetings and other office responsabilities, so John was there to help me host that gang. This group was much less enthusiastic, they missed their spouses, they counted the days until they could leave from the time they arrived. Dad was in excom meetings and so you and I, John, took the group on a trip up country to Clousers' town of Safane. You remember their house - strictly bush, mat ceilings, no electricity, bugs and snakes around. We got their in the afternoon and I had taken along an alfresco meal to serve that evening. I spread out the food - sandwich makings (I had even bought expensive sliced ham!) and we had lettuce and there were hard boiled eggs and chips Yusufu had made. It looked pretty good to all of us and some of our guests also ate the food. One girl would not touch anything - she "didn't care for deli meats" so I offered her some boiled eggs and chips, but she "wasn't into boiled eggs"! John, you were getting madder by the moment and finally exploded, "My mother fixed this good food for all of you and I want to see every one of you eat what she prepared!" And that was the end of complaining! When we left the next morning to go on to Ouarkoye, one of the girls rolled her eyes as she shook hands with Clousers, and said, "God bless!" I guess she figured they needed God's blessing in that forsaken spot!
So we drove on to Ouarkoye and stopped in the downtown village to greet Daniel Bonzi, the church president. He greeted us all and set out some small stools and logs for all of us to sit down and talk. As we were talking, a man came in from the fields - it was planting season - and he carried a stick out in front of him with an enormous cobra (dead and a bit bloody) hanging fom it! He had killed the snake in his field and was thanking God he had not been bitten! All of a sudden, one of the girls began to topple off her low seat - her face white as a sheet! She had never seen a snake that close and was terified. The winds were blowing hard that day and the church president said to me, "It's our wind blowing so hard today that makes your young person sick - you don't have these winds in your country!" He never tumbled that it was the snake that made two of the girls start to faint. John came to the rescue and got them to stand up and get some color back in their face. Soon we asked for the road and went up to the empty mission house on the hill, where we were going to have lunch, tuna sandwiches which I had prepared and brought from Clousers'. You can turn over almost any stone on that hill and find a small viper or a scorpion, there were no trees so the dry winds were blowing. Someone said eagerly, "What's for lunch?" And I opened the cold chest and said "Tuna sandwiches, chips and fruit." One guy said, "Sorry I don't eat tune fish!" (Mc Donald's was not nearby so what to do) Trust John who gave a loud lecture to all - "My mother fixed good tuna sandwiches for our lunch today and we are ALL eating tune sandwiches!" End of words, and we all ate and went on our way back to the city of Bobo.
Ah yes, teams...they can be both a blessing and a curse! One more team experience and I won't bore you with any more. We were living in Santidougou and Bob Niklaus brought a team out from the States, five people I think. We were in Bobo to meet them and we sat around in the living room in the main house talking. Dad saw that the one lady was sitting alone so he went over to sit beside her and make her feel at home. She about drove him crazy with her remarks, and we found out later she was driving them all crazy. Afterwards Bob Niklaus asked us if we could take the one couple to our station just to get them away from this lady, and we readily agreed. The couple was from Long Hill Chapel, so that was a good connection for us. Our van was in the shop and so we borrowed Dave Shady's old truck which happened to have several basic things wrong with it, but we had learned to make it work. Coming back into town from Santidougou we enlisted the help of our guests to get us back to the city. The pickup was bright yellow. It looked pretty good but nothing much worked. Dad sat and drove with one hand and blew into a tube the whole time to make the gas come through as it should. The man rode in the back of the truck, holding on for dear life (it was on that old dirt road!), I sat in the middle and shifted with one hand and put my other arm behind the lady's back (who was sitting in front with us) to keep her door shut, as the catch was broken. And thus we bounced into town! These people were horrified that this was our transportation and we explained to them that we had a van that was in the garage right then. Well, these people did not appreciate our mode of transportation! So much so that a couple of months later when you, Cheryl, came back for summer vacation to Santidougou, along with Baba Etienne who had been at a US conference, the first thing you told us was that Long Hill Chapel had sent a check for ten thousand dollars to buy us a new car!! What a welcome surprise!
One more team story. The year we moved to Bobo to the director's job, a group of twenty Alliance women came to Burkina for a tour. We got ready for them and planned meals and sleeping arrangements, etc. Their train came in from Abidjan at about midnight. And those were the days of the curfew at sundown. So Dad got special permission from the police and they sent an armed soldier down to sit beside Dad in the Rapide and accompany him to the train station to meet the midnight train. He sat there with his rifle standing up in front of him - and these ladies had the ride of their life sitting on those hard Rapide seats, with Dad driving and the soldier guarding them through the darkened streets. They had their bags searched and it was a never to be forgotten trip for those ladies! They were great guests, loved the people, the work they saw, the food (Yusufu turned out mountains of food each day!) and to this day I still meet people who took that trip to Burkina and experienced what a coup looks like on the ground!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Adjustment of ministry..........................
When we lived in Santidougou, I had plenty to do. I had small children then. We were working among a people who had no written language, so it was a big job giving the Bobo Madare language a written form. There was a Sunday School to start and mentor the teachers, producing SS lessons in Bobo each month for them. I worked with the ladies. We taught short term schools, with people coming from several villages to study with us at Santidougou. Dad had district work, preached somewhere every Sunday. He had a big medical ministry as well. He served on mission committees, which took a lot of time as welll. And he physically built churches in the new villages as well. He spent hours in counselling pastor and young men.
While we still lived in Santidougou, I was asked to come to Bobo one day each week to teach at Maranatha Bible Institute. I would go directly to the school in the morning, then come back to Kennedys' at the mission for lunch and a noon rest, then back to teach another course at the Bible School in the afternoon - and home again to Santidougou. That was my weekly Wednesday schedule.
But once we moved to the city, my ministries branched out. When Dad was director, I was mission hostess and in charge of the guest house, plus serving many meals. I also increased my teaching at Maranatha. What a privilege to teach young men and women from Burkina, Mali and Côte d'Ivoire, and then to follow them as they went out in ministry in these three countries. Our lives were enriched by them.
We had planned a city-wide evangelism crusade in Bobo-Dioulasso, and worked hard to set up everything - for church meetings and street meetings. I entertained the Zaire trio and Jim Sawatsky who travelled with them and came for our musical ministry. I was also asked to plan to do a follow up program for the new people we expected would come to Christ. So we planned and prepared. The trio and Jim Sawatsky, plus Isaac Keita (our evangelist) stayed in our guest house and ate their meals with us. They all arrived as planned, and our first meeting was Sunday morning in the Alliance church. It was a great service and a good response to the invitation to receive Christ.
But we had an unexpected surprise - our first Burkina coup (followed by several others in the following years) started that night! This meant very strict rules for everyone: curfew at dark each afternoon, no driving in the city at night, armed police and soldiers driving around to make sure everyone stayed inside, no crowds could gather anywhere in the city streets - there went our planned outdoor meetings. And it meant that we had a houseful of people staying with us. We got to know each other very well during that time. They had to stay until their flight would take off later in the week. And we enjoyed each other so much. We did have some meetings in the afternoons in our yard, and from those meetings we also had some fruit - people who received Christ as Saviour.
So after the team left us, I started my followup classes ever Monday night. There were several highly educated people who had come to Christ and they all came to the class. One of those people was Emmanuel Bamiki. He was a school teacher and had never had any contact with church or Christians. I remember during one evening class, he asked, "How do those people get up in church and close their eyes and talk to God? How do they know what to say and can I learn that too??" It was a delight to help an educated young person to learn to pray and give testimony and to see him blossom in his faith. He went on to Bible School and kept studying to a high theological level in a couple of schools. Today he is a pastor in the church and a professor at Maranatha as well as a national church leader. Those are the kinds of investments we remember from our many years in West Africa. And today we are able to communicate with many of them on SKYPE or Facebook! How the world has changed!
During those years we also had a TEE expert from Australia come and give us a seminar on the value of theological education by extension. This really caught hold with me and I began to draw up a program for people in our area and their felt needs. We organized and started to write and/or translate books. We formed a committee of pastors and missionaries. I headed up that program until we retired from Burkina Faso. Many students went through the whole program and some parts of the church still use the materials. I used to travel to other missions in Burkina and to Mali and Ivory Coast to give seminars on how to get started in TEE.
Ouézzinville Sud was our church when we were in town, and I enjoyed heading up a Christian Ed program for that church, training teachers, suggesting cirriculum, etc. One year when I was working day and night in the Bobo translation, I decided I needed a change of language on Sunday. The Bobo district church was trying to start a church in Sarafaralao in the yard of a church elder. So I worked with that church on Sunday and attended there and encouraged them and also started a SS for children. I worked in Jula on Sundays and that gave me a change of being steeped in Bobo Madare. I also had to learn to ride a motor bike then as Dad took our van every Sunday to the bush!
I was often asked to speak at national and local women's conferences. When we returned to Burkina in 2006, I had been asked to speak to a large group of women in the Bobo Central church one Sunday, so I agreed. I prepared in French, thinking someone would translate me, but no one was there who could do that. So I just switched to Jula and was delighted to see that I had no problems doing that. My languages are something I miss badly, living in this anglophone country! I was alwaus asked to preach at different churches for women's Sunday each year in Bobo.
A funny incident occured one day - a student pastor, André, was pastoring a new church group not far out of Bobo. He came to me one day and asked if I would come to preach in his church the next week! I said you mean you want Papa to preach? "No", he said, "I want you to preach. I want our women to understand that women can also teach and preach God's Word. I already asked Papa if he would be your chauffeur!" I was his prof in Bible School and I guess he knew I could preach, but was not sure if I could drive in the bush! That was the only time Dad had to sit in a little mud chapel and listen to my sermon!
My years of ministry in Burkina were rich indeed. It is also a delight to me to see you three girls continuing on in ministry in Africa and the Middle East. You will never be sorry for the time you have invested in others, through teaching, leading people to Christ, through friendships and just being an example of living the Christian lifeGod bless you!
While we still lived in Santidougou, I was asked to come to Bobo one day each week to teach at Maranatha Bible Institute. I would go directly to the school in the morning, then come back to Kennedys' at the mission for lunch and a noon rest, then back to teach another course at the Bible School in the afternoon - and home again to Santidougou. That was my weekly Wednesday schedule.
But once we moved to the city, my ministries branched out. When Dad was director, I was mission hostess and in charge of the guest house, plus serving many meals. I also increased my teaching at Maranatha. What a privilege to teach young men and women from Burkina, Mali and Côte d'Ivoire, and then to follow them as they went out in ministry in these three countries. Our lives were enriched by them.
We had planned a city-wide evangelism crusade in Bobo-Dioulasso, and worked hard to set up everything - for church meetings and street meetings. I entertained the Zaire trio and Jim Sawatsky who travelled with them and came for our musical ministry. I was also asked to plan to do a follow up program for the new people we expected would come to Christ. So we planned and prepared. The trio and Jim Sawatsky, plus Isaac Keita (our evangelist) stayed in our guest house and ate their meals with us. They all arrived as planned, and our first meeting was Sunday morning in the Alliance church. It was a great service and a good response to the invitation to receive Christ.
But we had an unexpected surprise - our first Burkina coup (followed by several others in the following years) started that night! This meant very strict rules for everyone: curfew at dark each afternoon, no driving in the city at night, armed police and soldiers driving around to make sure everyone stayed inside, no crowds could gather anywhere in the city streets - there went our planned outdoor meetings. And it meant that we had a houseful of people staying with us. We got to know each other very well during that time. They had to stay until their flight would take off later in the week. And we enjoyed each other so much. We did have some meetings in the afternoons in our yard, and from those meetings we also had some fruit - people who received Christ as Saviour.
So after the team left us, I started my followup classes ever Monday night. There were several highly educated people who had come to Christ and they all came to the class. One of those people was Emmanuel Bamiki. He was a school teacher and had never had any contact with church or Christians. I remember during one evening class, he asked, "How do those people get up in church and close their eyes and talk to God? How do they know what to say and can I learn that too??" It was a delight to help an educated young person to learn to pray and give testimony and to see him blossom in his faith. He went on to Bible School and kept studying to a high theological level in a couple of schools. Today he is a pastor in the church and a professor at Maranatha as well as a national church leader. Those are the kinds of investments we remember from our many years in West Africa. And today we are able to communicate with many of them on SKYPE or Facebook! How the world has changed!
During those years we also had a TEE expert from Australia come and give us a seminar on the value of theological education by extension. This really caught hold with me and I began to draw up a program for people in our area and their felt needs. We organized and started to write and/or translate books. We formed a committee of pastors and missionaries. I headed up that program until we retired from Burkina Faso. Many students went through the whole program and some parts of the church still use the materials. I used to travel to other missions in Burkina and to Mali and Ivory Coast to give seminars on how to get started in TEE.
Ouézzinville Sud was our church when we were in town, and I enjoyed heading up a Christian Ed program for that church, training teachers, suggesting cirriculum, etc. One year when I was working day and night in the Bobo translation, I decided I needed a change of language on Sunday. The Bobo district church was trying to start a church in Sarafaralao in the yard of a church elder. So I worked with that church on Sunday and attended there and encouraged them and also started a SS for children. I worked in Jula on Sundays and that gave me a change of being steeped in Bobo Madare. I also had to learn to ride a motor bike then as Dad took our van every Sunday to the bush!
I was often asked to speak at national and local women's conferences. When we returned to Burkina in 2006, I had been asked to speak to a large group of women in the Bobo Central church one Sunday, so I agreed. I prepared in French, thinking someone would translate me, but no one was there who could do that. So I just switched to Jula and was delighted to see that I had no problems doing that. My languages are something I miss badly, living in this anglophone country! I was alwaus asked to preach at different churches for women's Sunday each year in Bobo.
A funny incident occured one day - a student pastor, André, was pastoring a new church group not far out of Bobo. He came to me one day and asked if I would come to preach in his church the next week! I said you mean you want Papa to preach? "No", he said, "I want you to preach. I want our women to understand that women can also teach and preach God's Word. I already asked Papa if he would be your chauffeur!" I was his prof in Bible School and I guess he knew I could preach, but was not sure if I could drive in the bush! That was the only time Dad had to sit in a little mud chapel and listen to my sermon!
My years of ministry in Burkina were rich indeed. It is also a delight to me to see you three girls continuing on in ministry in Africa and the Middle East. You will never be sorry for the time you have invested in others, through teaching, leading people to Christ, through friendships and just being an example of living the Christian lifeGod bless you!
Monday, April 18, 2011
WHATEVER YOUR HANDS FIND TO DO........DO IT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!
Back now to life in Burkina. We had lived and worked in Santidougou for many years, but God was preparing us during that time for a larger sphere of ministry. While in Santidougou we learned to appreciate the hard working, great Burkinabe. We also learned to live happily as we worked among the Burkinabe. We learned language skills and how to mish. After some years of this, we were asked to move to Bobo-Dioulasso and never returned to Santidougou except for visits and celebrations. When we moved into the city ministry in Bobo-Dioulasso, I never dreamed how my horizons would be stretched and how my ministries would be multiplied among many different people groups, including, of course, the Bobos. I loved the verse in Colossians that tells us that whatever our hands find to do, do it with all your might. And that is how I spent my years of ministry in West Africa, working with all my might!
I just returned from a women's retreat in North Carolina where Ann Hemminger spoke - another retired missionary and also an MK. As she spoke it took me back once again to how difficult it had been for me to adjust to life in the United States. She spoke of how she was almost in depression when she realized that she was now anchored here in the United States and no longer had the exciting evangelism and teaching ministries she had had in Brazil and Argentina. I related to all of this perfectly, and it helped me to analyze my own feelings and reactions better.
I squeezed into American life and separated from African life slowly. We retired, were duly fêted by all of our colleagues - both African and missionaries - given gifts, said goodbyes and returned for furlough - and retirement. We spent that year on tour in various areas, sharing our lives in missions with many people here. Then we were asked if we would be willing to go back to Côte d'Ivoire for a year to take care of the Alliance Guest House there while the personnel went on home assignment. We readily accepted. We had bought a house here in Toccoa, but the Strongs needed a place to stay and so they rented our house and we happily went back to a new ministry - but in the continent we loved.
Then we came back to try retirement again. We got involved in mentoring and substitute teaching in the schools, served on church committees and boards, continued to speak in churches concerning missions. America seemed so boring, there was not enough to do, we longed for our people and work in Africa. I missed my languages. Four years later we had a telephone call one day. I answered and Bob Fetherlin was on the line. He asked if Milt was there and told me to call him to the phone so we could both listen to what he was asking. We had not the faintest clue what the call was about. He asked us if we would be willing to go to Mali for one year and serve as field director couple! Wow - were we ever surprised!! We said we would talk together and phone him our answer. It did not take long and then we were back in the swirl of packing, travelling and adjusting to living in the Mali capital city of Bamako! God loves to surprise us!
Then we came back here to Toccoa and we were reasonably content. But to this day I miss the people and work in West Africa. And sometimes it comes over me in a wave and I feel so useless here, especially after being sick for so long. I get so bored sometimes. But Anne's words at this retreat spoke to me and made me take stock of my present life.
The first thing I need to do is to be still. Stop longing for what won't happen, Stop fussing! Meditate quietly on how fortunate I have been in my life. Pray more. Be still!
Another principle for my life is to remember that God chooses the colors of our lives, not us. Some seasons are bright primary colors, others may be pastels and still others may be somber colors. But God ordains all of that and we need to accept and be content. Even happy!
I need also to come to the place where I can say with the Psalmist, "My soul finds rest in God alone!" Not in travel and excitement, but in what God sends my way each day. I need to be grateful for what God allowed me to do in the past and to be content with what I am given to do now. Like ministering each week to the women in jail. Like mentoring younger women. Like serving on missions committees in my church to facilitate the world program of missions. No, not as exciting, but restful once I accept what my place is now.
Ann ended with the example of the lighthouse which blinks out a message to ships at sea - in order that they will avoid danger. And the message is "Alter your course!" And that is what retirement is about. Oh we are still working with and for God, but we need to alter our course, our focus.
The list is long of ministries I used to be involved in: witnessing to people, following up new converts, teaching literacy, doing translation, preparing books, speaking to women and children, new converts' classes, working with national literacy, teaching at Maranatha Bible School, doing seminars, writing courses for TEE (PEDIM) and training facilitators for this program as well as teaching myself, mentoring new missionaries and working with them both in Burkina and Mali, as well as in Côte d'Ivoire, preaching at women's conferences, church planting, being hostess and chauffeur to teams coming out from the States. Being involved in literature and teaching programs for all of Africa - like CPE, CEFCA and FATEAC. I served on committees in these organizations and often taught, did seminars on TEE in numerous African countries. I guess that is enough....
What a busy life, what a great life! And it was hard to give it all up. But again, now it is time to alter my course and do what God has for me to do now. To find my rest in God, not in busyness. And to allow God to choose the colors of my life at this stage. I have had a long, blessed and full life.....and God continues to find ministry for me to do!
I just returned from a women's retreat in North Carolina where Ann Hemminger spoke - another retired missionary and also an MK. As she spoke it took me back once again to how difficult it had been for me to adjust to life in the United States. She spoke of how she was almost in depression when she realized that she was now anchored here in the United States and no longer had the exciting evangelism and teaching ministries she had had in Brazil and Argentina. I related to all of this perfectly, and it helped me to analyze my own feelings and reactions better.
I squeezed into American life and separated from African life slowly. We retired, were duly fêted by all of our colleagues - both African and missionaries - given gifts, said goodbyes and returned for furlough - and retirement. We spent that year on tour in various areas, sharing our lives in missions with many people here. Then we were asked if we would be willing to go back to Côte d'Ivoire for a year to take care of the Alliance Guest House there while the personnel went on home assignment. We readily accepted. We had bought a house here in Toccoa, but the Strongs needed a place to stay and so they rented our house and we happily went back to a new ministry - but in the continent we loved.
Then we came back to try retirement again. We got involved in mentoring and substitute teaching in the schools, served on church committees and boards, continued to speak in churches concerning missions. America seemed so boring, there was not enough to do, we longed for our people and work in Africa. I missed my languages. Four years later we had a telephone call one day. I answered and Bob Fetherlin was on the line. He asked if Milt was there and told me to call him to the phone so we could both listen to what he was asking. We had not the faintest clue what the call was about. He asked us if we would be willing to go to Mali for one year and serve as field director couple! Wow - were we ever surprised!! We said we would talk together and phone him our answer. It did not take long and then we were back in the swirl of packing, travelling and adjusting to living in the Mali capital city of Bamako! God loves to surprise us!
Then we came back here to Toccoa and we were reasonably content. But to this day I miss the people and work in West Africa. And sometimes it comes over me in a wave and I feel so useless here, especially after being sick for so long. I get so bored sometimes. But Anne's words at this retreat spoke to me and made me take stock of my present life.
The first thing I need to do is to be still. Stop longing for what won't happen, Stop fussing! Meditate quietly on how fortunate I have been in my life. Pray more. Be still!
Another principle for my life is to remember that God chooses the colors of our lives, not us. Some seasons are bright primary colors, others may be pastels and still others may be somber colors. But God ordains all of that and we need to accept and be content. Even happy!
I need also to come to the place where I can say with the Psalmist, "My soul finds rest in God alone!" Not in travel and excitement, but in what God sends my way each day. I need to be grateful for what God allowed me to do in the past and to be content with what I am given to do now. Like ministering each week to the women in jail. Like mentoring younger women. Like serving on missions committees in my church to facilitate the world program of missions. No, not as exciting, but restful once I accept what my place is now.
Ann ended with the example of the lighthouse which blinks out a message to ships at sea - in order that they will avoid danger. And the message is "Alter your course!" And that is what retirement is about. Oh we are still working with and for God, but we need to alter our course, our focus.
The list is long of ministries I used to be involved in: witnessing to people, following up new converts, teaching literacy, doing translation, preparing books, speaking to women and children, new converts' classes, working with national literacy, teaching at Maranatha Bible School, doing seminars, writing courses for TEE (PEDIM) and training facilitators for this program as well as teaching myself, mentoring new missionaries and working with them both in Burkina and Mali, as well as in Côte d'Ivoire, preaching at women's conferences, church planting, being hostess and chauffeur to teams coming out from the States. Being involved in literature and teaching programs for all of Africa - like CPE, CEFCA and FATEAC. I served on committees in these organizations and often taught, did seminars on TEE in numerous African countries. I guess that is enough....
What a busy life, what a great life! And it was hard to give it all up. But again, now it is time to alter my course and do what God has for me to do now. To find my rest in God, not in busyness. And to allow God to choose the colors of my life at this stage. I have had a long, blessed and full life.....and God continues to find ministry for me to do!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
DONNA.......................
She was my baby sister, I was a serrogate mother at a certain time of our lives, she became a partner in ministry later on, and she was always a wonderful friend... and I lost her too soon. I have never really gotten over her early death. I lost part of my life with her death. The memory of how she looked lives on in Susan and in her daughter, and I love her grandchildren and know she would have been a caring mother and a super grandmother to them, had she lived.
People who knew her when she was an adult never realize that she had a very stubborn streak, which our mother tried to punish out of her. If she felt she was right, she stuck to that against all odds and persuasions - and that was even as a little child! The first time I saw her was when she was about a week old. In those days small children were not allowed in hospitals and birthing mothers had to stay in hospital for a couple weeks. And I wanted to see my new twin babies. So my Dad wheedled the night nurse into letting him sneak me in the hospital and up to the nursery window, where she rolled the two babies close so that I could see them! I can still remember how happy I was - and that was seventy one years ago!
When they finally came home with our mother, the two babies were in one carrying basket, one at either end. I was allowed to hold them, one by one, and I was so proud. There was enough difference in our ages, that we were never in competition. Donna was a letter writer. A couple years ago, a friend of Donna's in Western PA sent me a packet of letters that Donna had writen to her so many years ago. She always wrote to me too - averaging at least once every two weeks and sometimes once a week. So we stayed in contact that way until she and Uncle Jim were married. At that time she wrote to me of how our mother did not want her to marry Jim - they thought she was too young, and he didn't have any money and neither did she. She was not a happy camper during those months, and she poured out her heart to me in her letters. They did get married and managed fine and were very happy. I have written before in my blog of our visit to them in Maine and our cross country trip together during our first furlough. Dad and Uncle Jim also hit it off well and are still friends, living in the same town in retiral.
I have already written about the fun times we had on the field: at the Guinguette, at field conferences, at ICA on vacation, at Sanekui, in Koutiala. We had been on vacation together that year at the Guinguette, and they returned to Mali so as to get the kids ready for school. It was not long afterwards that a terrible tagedy happened for our family. Donna had a terminal illness!
Contacts between Mali and Burkina were not so good in those days so we seldom wrote letters back and forth. Dad and I were in youth camp one Sunday morning and the service was going on. He was on the other side of the auditorium from me ( in good African fashion!) and I saw a motor bike come in and someone gave him a message. He came around the building to where I was sitting and called me out. Jim and Donna had just driven in from Koutiala. Donna was brought in lying on a mattress as she was too weak to walk or to sit up. They came right to our house in Bobo, and wanted us to come immediately. What a change in a person! She was weak and wan, had lost weight, she was very, very sick. We got her comfortable in our big bed and I stayed with her while Dad went into town to call an American doctor to come. He was a Christian and there in Bobo for a year or so to work at the Centre Muraz, which was a special diseases center in town and known throughout West Africa. He had been friendly to us and the mission, even regularly donated money for the church.
He came with his doctor's bag and immediately examined her. He was pretty sure what she had because of a certain test he did on her arm, but he did not tell us then that she had aplastic anemia - a diease very difficult to cure, and no possibility to cure right there in the middle of Africa! Uncle Dave and Aunt Margot were also there and of course the whole Albright family. We were told by the nurses from Koutiala that Donna had been violently sick and the drug of choice they gave her was what the French called typhomacine (sp?). Unfortunately, she was one who was hypo-allergic to this drug and it dragged her down to this blood disease. The best thing to do was to send her to the States as soon as possible to get a sure diagnosis and get her on the right medication.
Things went into gear quickly after that - the Baptists flew their small plane down from Ouaga to pick up Jim and Donna and take them to the plane in Ouaga to fly to Pittsburgh. The school age children stayed with us and we got them ready for ICA. It was a traumatic time for us all.
Soon the diagnosis came back: it was aplastic anemia and she needed a bone marrow transplant. We and Kennedys were at Bouake when we got that word, and it was arranged to have Dave and me fly to Pittsburgh and be typed to see if we could give her what she needed to stop the disease and get her better. I think we must have taken the boys with us on that trip. Anyhow, we got to the States, and the next morning we went to the university hospital and blood was taken for tissue typing of our systems. We came out a perfect match for each other and neither of us could help out our poor sister. She was in the hospital and I sat by her many hours. She thought she might die immediately and she was making plans for Uncle Jim and her children. I cried till I wondered that I had more tears. She even gave instruction on who she thought Uncle Jim should marry!! Aunt Donna was a great planner - just like me!
The good thing abour being there for three weeks (that was the cheapest ticket we could get) was that we were able to be there with Uncle Jim when he rented a house and we helped move in furniture donated by churches there, and I could cook for the family. I also cooked some food ahead to freeze to help out Uncle Jim when he would be alone. And Uncle Dave and I went back to Burkina again. While we were in Pittsburgh, I was able to spend some time with Clousers and held my beautiful first grandson, Daniel for the first time. He learned to crawl while I was with them too.
Donna got to the place where she was not really well, but she could function. with getting a transfusion of blood every Friday. They were sent to California to Simpson College to be missionaries in residence there. Dad and I and you, Mark, went out there to visit them. Dad and I drove across the country - a beautiful trip! - and you flew, Mark. Your school was glad to give you time off school because of the education you would get in travel!
After that year, Uncle Jim and Aunt Donna asked to go to Paris and work there, so the Mission sent them and they had a very profitable time in Paris. Returning from a trip to the French doctor in Paris, where she got another weekly blood transfusion, Aunt Donna had a massive hemmoraghe and Uncle Jim could not revive her. And there she was buried in the city of Paris, where we went to see her gravestone some years later. And so my dear, beautiful baby sister went to live with Jesus, leaving her large extensive family grieving her death and remembering the beautiful life she lived!
People who knew her when she was an adult never realize that she had a very stubborn streak, which our mother tried to punish out of her. If she felt she was right, she stuck to that against all odds and persuasions - and that was even as a little child! The first time I saw her was when she was about a week old. In those days small children were not allowed in hospitals and birthing mothers had to stay in hospital for a couple weeks. And I wanted to see my new twin babies. So my Dad wheedled the night nurse into letting him sneak me in the hospital and up to the nursery window, where she rolled the two babies close so that I could see them! I can still remember how happy I was - and that was seventy one years ago!
When they finally came home with our mother, the two babies were in one carrying basket, one at either end. I was allowed to hold them, one by one, and I was so proud. There was enough difference in our ages, that we were never in competition. Donna was a letter writer. A couple years ago, a friend of Donna's in Western PA sent me a packet of letters that Donna had writen to her so many years ago. She always wrote to me too - averaging at least once every two weeks and sometimes once a week. So we stayed in contact that way until she and Uncle Jim were married. At that time she wrote to me of how our mother did not want her to marry Jim - they thought she was too young, and he didn't have any money and neither did she. She was not a happy camper during those months, and she poured out her heart to me in her letters. They did get married and managed fine and were very happy. I have written before in my blog of our visit to them in Maine and our cross country trip together during our first furlough. Dad and Uncle Jim also hit it off well and are still friends, living in the same town in retiral.
I have already written about the fun times we had on the field: at the Guinguette, at field conferences, at ICA on vacation, at Sanekui, in Koutiala. We had been on vacation together that year at the Guinguette, and they returned to Mali so as to get the kids ready for school. It was not long afterwards that a terrible tagedy happened for our family. Donna had a terminal illness!
Contacts between Mali and Burkina were not so good in those days so we seldom wrote letters back and forth. Dad and I were in youth camp one Sunday morning and the service was going on. He was on the other side of the auditorium from me ( in good African fashion!) and I saw a motor bike come in and someone gave him a message. He came around the building to where I was sitting and called me out. Jim and Donna had just driven in from Koutiala. Donna was brought in lying on a mattress as she was too weak to walk or to sit up. They came right to our house in Bobo, and wanted us to come immediately. What a change in a person! She was weak and wan, had lost weight, she was very, very sick. We got her comfortable in our big bed and I stayed with her while Dad went into town to call an American doctor to come. He was a Christian and there in Bobo for a year or so to work at the Centre Muraz, which was a special diseases center in town and known throughout West Africa. He had been friendly to us and the mission, even regularly donated money for the church.
He came with his doctor's bag and immediately examined her. He was pretty sure what she had because of a certain test he did on her arm, but he did not tell us then that she had aplastic anemia - a diease very difficult to cure, and no possibility to cure right there in the middle of Africa! Uncle Dave and Aunt Margot were also there and of course the whole Albright family. We were told by the nurses from Koutiala that Donna had been violently sick and the drug of choice they gave her was what the French called typhomacine (sp?). Unfortunately, she was one who was hypo-allergic to this drug and it dragged her down to this blood disease. The best thing to do was to send her to the States as soon as possible to get a sure diagnosis and get her on the right medication.
Things went into gear quickly after that - the Baptists flew their small plane down from Ouaga to pick up Jim and Donna and take them to the plane in Ouaga to fly to Pittsburgh. The school age children stayed with us and we got them ready for ICA. It was a traumatic time for us all.
Soon the diagnosis came back: it was aplastic anemia and she needed a bone marrow transplant. We and Kennedys were at Bouake when we got that word, and it was arranged to have Dave and me fly to Pittsburgh and be typed to see if we could give her what she needed to stop the disease and get her better. I think we must have taken the boys with us on that trip. Anyhow, we got to the States, and the next morning we went to the university hospital and blood was taken for tissue typing of our systems. We came out a perfect match for each other and neither of us could help out our poor sister. She was in the hospital and I sat by her many hours. She thought she might die immediately and she was making plans for Uncle Jim and her children. I cried till I wondered that I had more tears. She even gave instruction on who she thought Uncle Jim should marry!! Aunt Donna was a great planner - just like me!
The good thing abour being there for three weeks (that was the cheapest ticket we could get) was that we were able to be there with Uncle Jim when he rented a house and we helped move in furniture donated by churches there, and I could cook for the family. I also cooked some food ahead to freeze to help out Uncle Jim when he would be alone. And Uncle Dave and I went back to Burkina again. While we were in Pittsburgh, I was able to spend some time with Clousers and held my beautiful first grandson, Daniel for the first time. He learned to crawl while I was with them too.
Donna got to the place where she was not really well, but she could function. with getting a transfusion of blood every Friday. They were sent to California to Simpson College to be missionaries in residence there. Dad and I and you, Mark, went out there to visit them. Dad and I drove across the country - a beautiful trip! - and you flew, Mark. Your school was glad to give you time off school because of the education you would get in travel!
After that year, Uncle Jim and Aunt Donna asked to go to Paris and work there, so the Mission sent them and they had a very profitable time in Paris. Returning from a trip to the French doctor in Paris, where she got another weekly blood transfusion, Aunt Donna had a massive hemmoraghe and Uncle Jim could not revive her. And there she was buried in the city of Paris, where we went to see her gravestone some years later. And so my dear, beautiful baby sister went to live with Jesus, leaving her large extensive family grieving her death and remembering the beautiful life she lived!
SOME SCARY OCCASIONS...............................
Our family always thinks of Africa as home. It is hard for me even after all these years to say I'm from Georgia, even though we have finally settled here and found ourselves a life. Because Africa is home, we think of happenings there as being normal and laugh about some of the incidents and inconveniences. There is so much to balance on the other side. But we have gone through some very situations which most of you will remember.......
Nazinga, a name that brings pictures of elephant grass and woods and ponds and rustic living to our minds when we hear it. It used to also be a difficult place to get to until the government improved the road in order to attract the tourist trade. An MK from a sister mission in Burkina Faso was the one who started it as a small game park with various kinds of interesting wild animals, as well as quaint little huts and houses for tourists to live in when visiting. Nazinga Park is south of Ouaga a few hours' drive. We went there as a family one time - not sure who all was with us besides Clousers. Mark was still in high school so he was there too.
One afternoon we all went out in our private cars to try and spot some animals. There was no guide with us. Our party separated. Dad and some of the group went one direction upstream and Mark I stayed near the widening in the stream where the animals came to drink in the early evening before dark. I stayed up on the little rise and Mark ambled down nearer the pool where the animals were drinking. Suddenly, someone upstream made a noise which frightened the beasts and they got restless and one elephant started right in our direction. Mark ran hollering for me to get in the nearby car, and he came pounding after me and got in too. I guess the elephant lost our scent when we got in the car and ambled off the other way. Lessons learned: don't mess with an elephant, they're HUGE and they're scary!
During that same trip, the others in the group decided to go out in the Nazinga jeep and look for animals - lions, monkeys, elephants. I decided to stay at the guest house and relax. The houses there were built of pressed mud bricks with straw roofs. They had very large glass windows, low to the floor. This way you could look out and see any game that might be near the houses. I was sitting there quietly, relaxing, and all of a sudden a whole troup of elephants marched by, swinging their tails and their trunks - even little baby ones. I had a front seat view and there was no scariness involved - there was plate glass between me and the big beasts! The laugh was when the others got back from an afternoon of "viewing" the ranch, looking for beasts, and nary saw a single one. I was the only one who enjoyed the animals that day!
Many times our homes were broken into - sometimes when we were absent but also when we were sleeping. When that happens, you feel very violated and check all the locks. Beggar children on the streets also love to filch things from cars in the city, so you have to be alert. I always made friends of the poor, ragged children on the streets and was somewhat protected by them. I also pitied the little "galiboud boys" who were sent out by their Muslim teachers to beg for money. They often came to my car when I parked by the bakery in Bobo. I would always talk to them and even tell them their way was wrong and tell them about Jesus. I would not give them money to give to their owners, but I always went into the bakery and bought a couple loaves of bread for them to share as they were hungry, and had been sent out to find their own food and get money.
I was thankful for all my little beggar and thief friends on one occasion. Dad was leaving on the plane the next day to go to Nairobi for mission meetings. He had just received his visa in his passport and had put the passpor in the glove compartment of our car. We went to the Eau Vive for the evening meal and left his papers in the glove compartment. Never thought of thieves. When we came out of the restaurant, the passport was gone as well as some money. I went to one of my little thief friends and explained to them what we had lost. A few hours later they brought back the passport to us and got a reward and much thankfulness from us. I also had my purse stolen out of my car while I was buying vegetables beside the street there in Bobo. Again one of my little thief boys found it, intact with passport and other papers, but missing the money from my wallet!
Dad and I were visiting you, Mark, at Bouaké and had taken you out to the mission for supper. You had a friend with you. I was standing at the sink doing up the dishes and Dad and you guys were in the other room. There was a small rug in front of the sink that I was standing on. I felt something hit at my ankle as I washed the dishes and kept flicking it away with my other foot, thinking it was a mosquito. Then I looked down and saw that it was the tail of a deadly viper! I screamed for Dad - who was a little slow coming as I also screamed for roaches! (And there were lots of them in that guest house!) But he realized I was serious and came running - the guys chased that fast little viper our towards the door and I think he escaped to strike again! Scary experience!
Abidjan was also a great city for thieves, and because of our translation project and also several mission schools I was involved in, we visited there fairly often. One day Aunt Kathy Solvig and I were peacefull strolling down a busy commercial street, crossing a street, when a young man flew out of the crowd, grabbed the pretty pendant on my neck and tore it right off, cutting my skin - he took off with his trophy through the busy crowd! I felt particularly bad about that theft because it was a pretty rose necklace that you had given me, Elin.
Abidjan was a dangerous - as well as a beautiful - city, as we found out one night. Again, Mark, you were with us at the mission guest house and you went along with a gang of ICA kids for an evening at the Hotel Ivoire. Always a fun place with skating and bowling and ice cream and a beautiful hotel! We had just drivem a long ways that day, Dad had a huge stack of money to make purchases for missionaries in Burkina and for us, and he was very tired. So he stashed his wad under the mattress - in case of thieves - and went sound asleep. As was always my habit, I could never go to sleep until my children were all in, so I waited up for you, Mark, down on the open front porch. I was there by myself as the family living there had small children and had gone in to put them to bed. I saw a car stop - your friends letting you off, and as you came up the darkened driveway I called out to say "Hi" and ask if you had had fun. They had no dog and no guard at that compound. (But got both the next day!) You did not answer me and had a funny look on your face and when you got into the light, I saw there was a tall man right behind you, he had a gun stuck in your back! I felt like fainting but persuaded myself that would solve nothing. Another thief jumped over the wall, also with a gun in his hand. They saw the light in the family's apartment, and herded us up against their door, with the guns in our backs! Wow, talk about scary! The family had their door locked and would not open up, but we persuaded them that they had to. The wife and children hid way in the back of the building but the man was there and did open the door for the four of us to go in. They asked for the safe - "Le coffre!" So Paul led them with us into the bedroom where the safe was. There was some church money in there and also some money a missionary had left with the family before travelling to the States. So the thieves at least got a bit of a haul! They also rummaged through drawers and found a bit more cash. Then we were herded into one bedroom - as the neighborhoos whistles began to blow, an alert for a thief in the area. They also picked up some electronic equipment on their way out!
Of course the theft was reported but nothing came of it. I was just thankful that those guys didn't shoot us as they were really hyped and angry! God delivered us is the only answer! Someone ran up to alert Dad, who came sleepily down to see what was going on! I had a hard time sleeping that night. The next morning I was to begin to teach my classes in the pastoral graduate school, CEFCA, where I had a classroom of great pastors from all over West Africa to teach. I felt a bit shaky as I began, but was able to make it through and again God helped me and took away my fear so that I could teach. Debs and Steve, you arrived from France at that time also. What an introduction to Africa!
Probably the scariest event of our many years in Africa happened just the year before we were to retire. We had been working day and night to finish the Bible translation. As in most translation projects, there were "many adversaries"! And we felt a lot of pressure in trying to get this work done. We had to make a trip to Abdidjan for checking our manuscript, so we left early in the morning. Dad had driven away and then I offered to drive, as we drove down that paved road on the Burkina side of the border - destination, Abidjan, where our checking was to take place! I was at the wheel and we were going through a stetch of road where the village had been divided by the highway. It was very early morning, not many people around, when suddenly a little naked boy, about three years old, streaked out to cross the highway. He hit our car hard enough to make a mark on the car and of course the child was thrown and fell, seemingly dead, on the road! There were black marks on the highway where I had slammed on my brakes to stop, but too late to avoid the child. A trucker driving a big truck was right behind us, and kindly stopped to help us. By then the villagers rushed out of the village. The child's grandfather grabbed my by the arm and pulled me toward the village to beat me for killing their child, and I was terrified and crying. Dad and the truck driver were trying to talk to the people but they were all screaming and starting to mourn the death of their child. Of course inside we were praying, and finally that little body made a move to show us he was still alive, though hurt! What a miracle! We were a little ways from a town where there was a small hospital, so we took the grandfather and mother with the child to the hospital. We also had to stop and declare all this to the police - the truck driver stayed right with us for a witness. Before long, the Conkles and another missionary couple came down the same road on their way to Bouaké, and they also stopped to help us. We went through the dispensary processed, paid all the bills, and sent the family, with a hurting - but alive! - child back to their village. The police exonerated me, for which I was thankful! But what a scary incident! Strange things happened to me when I was finishing the Bible - the devil does not want God's word published for people, and we become the victim of his tactics sometimes.
Nazinga, a name that brings pictures of elephant grass and woods and ponds and rustic living to our minds when we hear it. It used to also be a difficult place to get to until the government improved the road in order to attract the tourist trade. An MK from a sister mission in Burkina Faso was the one who started it as a small game park with various kinds of interesting wild animals, as well as quaint little huts and houses for tourists to live in when visiting. Nazinga Park is south of Ouaga a few hours' drive. We went there as a family one time - not sure who all was with us besides Clousers. Mark was still in high school so he was there too.
One afternoon we all went out in our private cars to try and spot some animals. There was no guide with us. Our party separated. Dad and some of the group went one direction upstream and Mark I stayed near the widening in the stream where the animals came to drink in the early evening before dark. I stayed up on the little rise and Mark ambled down nearer the pool where the animals were drinking. Suddenly, someone upstream made a noise which frightened the beasts and they got restless and one elephant started right in our direction. Mark ran hollering for me to get in the nearby car, and he came pounding after me and got in too. I guess the elephant lost our scent when we got in the car and ambled off the other way. Lessons learned: don't mess with an elephant, they're HUGE and they're scary!
During that same trip, the others in the group decided to go out in the Nazinga jeep and look for animals - lions, monkeys, elephants. I decided to stay at the guest house and relax. The houses there were built of pressed mud bricks with straw roofs. They had very large glass windows, low to the floor. This way you could look out and see any game that might be near the houses. I was sitting there quietly, relaxing, and all of a sudden a whole troup of elephants marched by, swinging their tails and their trunks - even little baby ones. I had a front seat view and there was no scariness involved - there was plate glass between me and the big beasts! The laugh was when the others got back from an afternoon of "viewing" the ranch, looking for beasts, and nary saw a single one. I was the only one who enjoyed the animals that day!
Many times our homes were broken into - sometimes when we were absent but also when we were sleeping. When that happens, you feel very violated and check all the locks. Beggar children on the streets also love to filch things from cars in the city, so you have to be alert. I always made friends of the poor, ragged children on the streets and was somewhat protected by them. I also pitied the little "galiboud boys" who were sent out by their Muslim teachers to beg for money. They often came to my car when I parked by the bakery in Bobo. I would always talk to them and even tell them their way was wrong and tell them about Jesus. I would not give them money to give to their owners, but I always went into the bakery and bought a couple loaves of bread for them to share as they were hungry, and had been sent out to find their own food and get money.
I was thankful for all my little beggar and thief friends on one occasion. Dad was leaving on the plane the next day to go to Nairobi for mission meetings. He had just received his visa in his passport and had put the passpor in the glove compartment of our car. We went to the Eau Vive for the evening meal and left his papers in the glove compartment. Never thought of thieves. When we came out of the restaurant, the passport was gone as well as some money. I went to one of my little thief friends and explained to them what we had lost. A few hours later they brought back the passport to us and got a reward and much thankfulness from us. I also had my purse stolen out of my car while I was buying vegetables beside the street there in Bobo. Again one of my little thief boys found it, intact with passport and other papers, but missing the money from my wallet!
Dad and I were visiting you, Mark, at Bouaké and had taken you out to the mission for supper. You had a friend with you. I was standing at the sink doing up the dishes and Dad and you guys were in the other room. There was a small rug in front of the sink that I was standing on. I felt something hit at my ankle as I washed the dishes and kept flicking it away with my other foot, thinking it was a mosquito. Then I looked down and saw that it was the tail of a deadly viper! I screamed for Dad - who was a little slow coming as I also screamed for roaches! (And there were lots of them in that guest house!) But he realized I was serious and came running - the guys chased that fast little viper our towards the door and I think he escaped to strike again! Scary experience!
Abidjan was also a great city for thieves, and because of our translation project and also several mission schools I was involved in, we visited there fairly often. One day Aunt Kathy Solvig and I were peacefull strolling down a busy commercial street, crossing a street, when a young man flew out of the crowd, grabbed the pretty pendant on my neck and tore it right off, cutting my skin - he took off with his trophy through the busy crowd! I felt particularly bad about that theft because it was a pretty rose necklace that you had given me, Elin.
Abidjan was a dangerous - as well as a beautiful - city, as we found out one night. Again, Mark, you were with us at the mission guest house and you went along with a gang of ICA kids for an evening at the Hotel Ivoire. Always a fun place with skating and bowling and ice cream and a beautiful hotel! We had just drivem a long ways that day, Dad had a huge stack of money to make purchases for missionaries in Burkina and for us, and he was very tired. So he stashed his wad under the mattress - in case of thieves - and went sound asleep. As was always my habit, I could never go to sleep until my children were all in, so I waited up for you, Mark, down on the open front porch. I was there by myself as the family living there had small children and had gone in to put them to bed. I saw a car stop - your friends letting you off, and as you came up the darkened driveway I called out to say "Hi" and ask if you had had fun. They had no dog and no guard at that compound. (But got both the next day!) You did not answer me and had a funny look on your face and when you got into the light, I saw there was a tall man right behind you, he had a gun stuck in your back! I felt like fainting but persuaded myself that would solve nothing. Another thief jumped over the wall, also with a gun in his hand. They saw the light in the family's apartment, and herded us up against their door, with the guns in our backs! Wow, talk about scary! The family had their door locked and would not open up, but we persuaded them that they had to. The wife and children hid way in the back of the building but the man was there and did open the door for the four of us to go in. They asked for the safe - "Le coffre!" So Paul led them with us into the bedroom where the safe was. There was some church money in there and also some money a missionary had left with the family before travelling to the States. So the thieves at least got a bit of a haul! They also rummaged through drawers and found a bit more cash. Then we were herded into one bedroom - as the neighborhoos whistles began to blow, an alert for a thief in the area. They also picked up some electronic equipment on their way out!
Of course the theft was reported but nothing came of it. I was just thankful that those guys didn't shoot us as they were really hyped and angry! God delivered us is the only answer! Someone ran up to alert Dad, who came sleepily down to see what was going on! I had a hard time sleeping that night. The next morning I was to begin to teach my classes in the pastoral graduate school, CEFCA, where I had a classroom of great pastors from all over West Africa to teach. I felt a bit shaky as I began, but was able to make it through and again God helped me and took away my fear so that I could teach. Debs and Steve, you arrived from France at that time also. What an introduction to Africa!
Probably the scariest event of our many years in Africa happened just the year before we were to retire. We had been working day and night to finish the Bible translation. As in most translation projects, there were "many adversaries"! And we felt a lot of pressure in trying to get this work done. We had to make a trip to Abdidjan for checking our manuscript, so we left early in the morning. Dad had driven away and then I offered to drive, as we drove down that paved road on the Burkina side of the border - destination, Abidjan, where our checking was to take place! I was at the wheel and we were going through a stetch of road where the village had been divided by the highway. It was very early morning, not many people around, when suddenly a little naked boy, about three years old, streaked out to cross the highway. He hit our car hard enough to make a mark on the car and of course the child was thrown and fell, seemingly dead, on the road! There were black marks on the highway where I had slammed on my brakes to stop, but too late to avoid the child. A trucker driving a big truck was right behind us, and kindly stopped to help us. By then the villagers rushed out of the village. The child's grandfather grabbed my by the arm and pulled me toward the village to beat me for killing their child, and I was terrified and crying. Dad and the truck driver were trying to talk to the people but they were all screaming and starting to mourn the death of their child. Of course inside we were praying, and finally that little body made a move to show us he was still alive, though hurt! What a miracle! We were a little ways from a town where there was a small hospital, so we took the grandfather and mother with the child to the hospital. We also had to stop and declare all this to the police - the truck driver stayed right with us for a witness. Before long, the Conkles and another missionary couple came down the same road on their way to Bouaké, and they also stopped to help us. We went through the dispensary processed, paid all the bills, and sent the family, with a hurting - but alive! - child back to their village. The police exonerated me, for which I was thankful! But what a scary incident! Strange things happened to me when I was finishing the Bible - the devil does not want God's word published for people, and we become the victim of his tactics sometimes.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
FAMILY SOLIDARITY............................................
As I have been mentally researching past events and relationships, I am struck with the great solidarity we enjoy in our extended family. Even though we live in different countries, we keep in contact with each other. Of course FB and emails and cheap phone systems help in these days, but this has always been the case. When one of us suffers, we all want to help. This is a comfortable way to live. I hurt when people talk to me about their broken family relationships, and just praise the Lord for such a great bunch as you all are!
Another thing which has impressed me is the way we reach out to help each other and others who are hurting. Opening our hearts and homes (be they ever so humble!) to others comes back as a blessing in our own lives. So keep it up! When I was a pre-schooler, we lived in the States for some time waiting for the War to stop so we could get back to Africa. My Dad pastored a church in New England, and in that church was a very sad family situation: the man was drunk most of the time, they were very poor and the woman had some severe mental problems. So my folks offered to take in young twins from that family to live with us. I was much younger than they, and I can remember my mom scolding me when I kept asking them if they weren't homesick! I had never known anything but the love of my own home and felt sorry for these displaced kids. This was not an easy thing for my parents, but they lived with us for some time until they could be settled as a family elsewhere. Many years later I met the girl and she was a student at Nyack College. I was so happy to think that our family had had a part in the big change in her sad life.
In our family, when one hurts, we all hurt and do what we can to help. I just mention a few of the situations that come to mind........
- When we were first married, we took in Uncle Dave and Aunt Donna as they had no home in the U.S. We loved that time as I have written elsewhere.
- One time Grandma and Grandpa took John in to their home in Florida when he had no place to go.
- Uncle Dave and Aunt Margot took John in to live with them when they lived in Nyack and he needed a home.
- Joel and Elin invited John and Jennie to live with them in Coudersport for a time.
- Mark took in Tawni and Susan when they needed a place to stay.
- John and Jennie also had Tawni living with them for a time.
- We had Ruthie living with us in Ouaga while Tim went to his Dad's wedding.
- We were happy to have Michael come and live with us for a while when he needed a place.
- Mark and Katy took in John and Jennie when they first came back from Puerto Rico and converted their basement into a little apartment for them.
- Then when John and Jennie had their own place again, they had Daniel living with them for a while.
I have no doubt forgotten some events, but it is so comforting as a family member to know that you are lovingly covered by your other family members. Thanks to all of you who have opened your homes and your hearts and continue to do so.
A good job for Daniel, a car for Elizabeth, air fare trips for us, the list goes on....... you are gracious people and we love you all! Keep up the good work!
Another thing which has impressed me is the way we reach out to help each other and others who are hurting. Opening our hearts and homes (be they ever so humble!) to others comes back as a blessing in our own lives. So keep it up! When I was a pre-schooler, we lived in the States for some time waiting for the War to stop so we could get back to Africa. My Dad pastored a church in New England, and in that church was a very sad family situation: the man was drunk most of the time, they were very poor and the woman had some severe mental problems. So my folks offered to take in young twins from that family to live with us. I was much younger than they, and I can remember my mom scolding me when I kept asking them if they weren't homesick! I had never known anything but the love of my own home and felt sorry for these displaced kids. This was not an easy thing for my parents, but they lived with us for some time until they could be settled as a family elsewhere. Many years later I met the girl and she was a student at Nyack College. I was so happy to think that our family had had a part in the big change in her sad life.
In our family, when one hurts, we all hurt and do what we can to help. I just mention a few of the situations that come to mind........
- When we were first married, we took in Uncle Dave and Aunt Donna as they had no home in the U.S. We loved that time as I have written elsewhere.
- One time Grandma and Grandpa took John in to their home in Florida when he had no place to go.
- Uncle Dave and Aunt Margot took John in to live with them when they lived in Nyack and he needed a home.
- Joel and Elin invited John and Jennie to live with them in Coudersport for a time.
- Mark took in Tawni and Susan when they needed a place to stay.
- John and Jennie also had Tawni living with them for a time.
- We had Ruthie living with us in Ouaga while Tim went to his Dad's wedding.
- We were happy to have Michael come and live with us for a while when he needed a place.
- Mark and Katy took in John and Jennie when they first came back from Puerto Rico and converted their basement into a little apartment for them.
- Then when John and Jennie had their own place again, they had Daniel living with them for a while.
I have no doubt forgotten some events, but it is so comforting as a family member to know that you are lovingly covered by your other family members. Thanks to all of you who have opened your homes and your hearts and continue to do so.
A good job for Daniel, a car for Elizabeth, air fare trips for us, the list goes on....... you are gracious people and we love you all! Keep up the good work!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
THOSE WONDERFUL GRANDCHILDREN......................
All of you wonderful children have given us the best treasures we could ever have - grandchildren! And now one of those grandchildren has also given us a beautiful greatgrandchild, Levi. How wealthy we are to be grandparents and great grandparents to such a special bunch of humanity! Just a word about each of you:
Daniel, great cook, deep thinker, loves the guitar....We will never forget your lovely wedding in that beautiful back yard, and your surprise for your bride, singing to her with your guitar - wow!! Jodi is the perfect mate for you and we pray that you may know God's blessings in abundance.
Sarah, pretty and petite, a gifted teacher and mother, married to Jordan, just the man for you. You have given us our first great grandbaby, a wonderful gift from you and Jordan - and from GOD!
Elizabeth, multitalented, top notch student, attended French school as a child and then international school - you never had to go to boarding school. It has been a gift to have you here at Toccoa Falls College. You are steady and a good friend and we look forward to how God leads you in the future.
Nathan, your traumatic birth in a Beirut hospital in the midst of bombs falling on that city must have been a sign of the life you would leave. In and out of countries at war, speaking only Arabic as a child, a gift that gave you a good job as you got older. You are fun and affectionate and it is always a treat to visit with you!
Glenn, another Arab, clever, artistic, a good phographer. You have a tough exterior and a soft heart. It is always fun to be with you!
Rachel, organized, thoughtful, a good wife (with a great husband, Josh), a student, loves children. I will never forget when we were visiting your family in Sidon, you took money from your savings and went down to the corner flower shop and brought me back a beautiful rose for our trip back to Africa! I smelled it all the way, as the cigarette smoke was so awful in that cabin!
Josiah, bi-lingual, a good student, a deep thinker, you get fluent in conversations taking place after ten pm. I have always loved our long conversation - whether in French or English! You have a great future....
Angèle, tall and pretty, a bubbly personality, outgoing, a good student, friends, friends, friends! We were there in Abidjan when you were born!
Nadia, thoughtful, shy smile and piercing, beautiful eyes that look right through you. I love your freckles - do you still have them??
Carey (who joined our family recently!), a student, pretty, sweet personality, thoughtful. So happy for you to be part of our family!
Alex, pretty, precocious, loves cats, thoughtful, a reader. You will go far!
Michael, mischievous, affectionate, LEGO man, a mechanical genius, a great future!
Jacob, shy, handsome, beautiful eyes, like your Dad when he was your age!
Audrey, our baby, pretty, bubbling with life, affectionate, a delight!
____________________________________
Levi, a beautiful, cuddly baby, the darling of us all, Debbi's first grandchild and our first great-grandchild! May your tribe increase!
Daniel, great cook, deep thinker, loves the guitar....We will never forget your lovely wedding in that beautiful back yard, and your surprise for your bride, singing to her with your guitar - wow!! Jodi is the perfect mate for you and we pray that you may know God's blessings in abundance.
Sarah, pretty and petite, a gifted teacher and mother, married to Jordan, just the man for you. You have given us our first great grandbaby, a wonderful gift from you and Jordan - and from GOD!
Elizabeth, multitalented, top notch student, attended French school as a child and then international school - you never had to go to boarding school. It has been a gift to have you here at Toccoa Falls College. You are steady and a good friend and we look forward to how God leads you in the future.
Nathan, your traumatic birth in a Beirut hospital in the midst of bombs falling on that city must have been a sign of the life you would leave. In and out of countries at war, speaking only Arabic as a child, a gift that gave you a good job as you got older. You are fun and affectionate and it is always a treat to visit with you!
Glenn, another Arab, clever, artistic, a good phographer. You have a tough exterior and a soft heart. It is always fun to be with you!
Rachel, organized, thoughtful, a good wife (with a great husband, Josh), a student, loves children. I will never forget when we were visiting your family in Sidon, you took money from your savings and went down to the corner flower shop and brought me back a beautiful rose for our trip back to Africa! I smelled it all the way, as the cigarette smoke was so awful in that cabin!
Josiah, bi-lingual, a good student, a deep thinker, you get fluent in conversations taking place after ten pm. I have always loved our long conversation - whether in French or English! You have a great future....
Angèle, tall and pretty, a bubbly personality, outgoing, a good student, friends, friends, friends! We were there in Abidjan when you were born!
Nadia, thoughtful, shy smile and piercing, beautiful eyes that look right through you. I love your freckles - do you still have them??
Carey (who joined our family recently!), a student, pretty, sweet personality, thoughtful. So happy for you to be part of our family!
Alex, pretty, precocious, loves cats, thoughtful, a reader. You will go far!
Michael, mischievous, affectionate, LEGO man, a mechanical genius, a great future!
Jacob, shy, handsome, beautiful eyes, like your Dad when he was your age!
Audrey, our baby, pretty, bubbling with life, affectionate, a delight!
____________________________________
Levi, a beautiful, cuddly baby, the darling of us all, Debbi's first grandchild and our first great-grandchild! May your tribe increase!
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