Yes, it has been a long time since I have looked at my blog or added to it. Katy's decision to go back to blogging gave me a shove in the right direction and I will resume a chronicling of family and personal events, beginning tonight. This will be of interest to some of you and others will give it a pass, but I am doing it for myself I guess! And to leave behind a historical legacy of sorts for my extended family. So here goes....
We were asked recently what we think about death and Heaven, now that we are 80 and 85 years old??! I guess we are so busy in what God gives us to do each day that we do not seem to have the time for prolonged, introspective thoughts about the future. In thinking of death, my mind always goes back to Aunt Donna ( a death out of season I thought) and also to Josiah (again a death that was not supposed to be (in my mind). And I again mourn their leaving us so soon..... My parents were not well and were a ripe old age when they died, and it was time for them. I mourned but not as deeply or as long as I have for Aunt Donna and Josiah.
Death - and even Heaven - do not preoccupy me - when I sing about heaven, it makes a warm feeling in my heart and I would certainly say that I am ready when the Lord has my place prepared in Heaven, but I do not dwell on that in my day to day living.
Probably part of the reason for this is that we keep so busy. God has led us into so many ministries and friendships and our lives are more than full. When we have a day without activities, we enjoy it together and it becomes a day of rest physically and emotionally and mentally. Our lines have fallen to us in pleasant places and we enjoy what God is giving us to do in our lives right now. We realize how fortunate we are to be together thus far in life. And we do often talk together about that - God's special grace to us. A teenager whom I have befriended recently and who is always asking for relationship advice, wrote recently on FB to me, saying "I love the relationship that you and Mr. Milt have - I want to be like you!" Quite a sweet compliment.
So with this post, I go back to where I left off a few months ago, And chronicle some of the good things that are happening in our lives right now.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
OH, THOSE MISSIONS TRIPS!!
Missions trips to many countries of the world have become almost a missions mania in today's church world. Not just in the Alliance but in many other denominations also. The youth sign up eagerly and then look to the adults to provide funding. Spaghetti suppers are planned, frozen chicken is sold, the church young people hire out to work for cash - all in order to go on a missions trip to some far off area of the world. Young people, old people, pastors, youth leaders, - everyone is going to some new and interesting country overseas, it's the "in thing" in missions today! I recently read about a group of young children who made a special trip to hold a VBS in some far off country!
Some of our training schools in the United States and Canada require every missions major to spend a semester overseas - or at least make a shorter trip to another country. TFC is one of those schools, and almost every year I get asked by students to help prepare them culturally and in some cases even linguistically for what they will face. Actually, I enjoy that part of missions trips!
When we first went to Africa, we had never heard of untrained, English speaking young people coming to help in our work. But during a Home Assignment in 1983-1984 we were missionaries in residence at Nyack College and a group of students wanted to visit us overseas and "taste" missions firsthand! So we succumbed!
We had already decided on a list of proper comportment for our team of 18 young people. (Yes, 18!!
We were aware of what had happened when a carload of American Christian tourists came to our city bringing large bags of hard candies. These people loved to drive through town (with the Mission Protestante sign painted on the van!) and wave to all the children lining the streets and toss handfuls of hard candy to them. For weeks after they left, we had children coming to the Mission asking for more candy - long after the work team had gone!!
We also experienced the visiting college student who had learned how to say "Jesus loves you" in French. He would go to the local market - a block from the Mission - and say Jesus loves you in French to a young person, and then take him by the hand and lead him to the Mission, find a local missionary deep in his work to whom he would say, I've told this boy "Jésus t'aime", now you can lead him to the Lord in his own language.
Given all of this, we prepared some cultural lectures for our College group arriving from Nyack College, and really they adapted quite well, given the big leap from Nyack-on-the-Hudson to Santidougou village!
But 18 extra people are still a lot to feed and sleep and to keep occupied. You girls worked hard along with me to feed and entertain this group - plus giving them a meaningful experience. All in all, that was a very positive experience, and a number of them later went on to be international workers in several countries.
Today missions trips seem to be an integral part of many Alliance churches. Some are "Taste and See" tours, others are work teams sent out to accomplish a specific job. But none of them would succeed without the involvement of an on site international worker to help care for them: driving them around, interpreting for them, caring for them when they become ill, and a dozen other jobs required of local workers - to help this multitude of work team people have a positive experience!
All of this also uses up a lot of money that might perhaps be better used by local international workers and local Christians. At the same time, work teams are a fact of life in international missions it seems, and in this day of seeing is believing, many churches in the U.S. have become more involved in the Alliance Missions program in the world. To my knowledge, no one has calculated how much is spent in Missions trips each year in the Alliance. Nor has anyone articulated clearly the positive side of all this rush to the nations by amateurs in our churches
A couple weeks ago I was asked to help interview a TFC student in our church, headed for the Far East for six weeks this summer. A nice guy but not a clue about most things culturally. I wish him well and will pray for him. He will certainly return to us wiser than he is now!!
Some of our training schools in the United States and Canada require every missions major to spend a semester overseas - or at least make a shorter trip to another country. TFC is one of those schools, and almost every year I get asked by students to help prepare them culturally and in some cases even linguistically for what they will face. Actually, I enjoy that part of missions trips!
When we first went to Africa, we had never heard of untrained, English speaking young people coming to help in our work. But during a Home Assignment in 1983-1984 we were missionaries in residence at Nyack College and a group of students wanted to visit us overseas and "taste" missions firsthand! So we succumbed!
We had already decided on a list of proper comportment for our team of 18 young people. (Yes, 18!!
We were aware of what had happened when a carload of American Christian tourists came to our city bringing large bags of hard candies. These people loved to drive through town (with the Mission Protestante sign painted on the van!) and wave to all the children lining the streets and toss handfuls of hard candy to them. For weeks after they left, we had children coming to the Mission asking for more candy - long after the work team had gone!!
We also experienced the visiting college student who had learned how to say "Jesus loves you" in French. He would go to the local market - a block from the Mission - and say Jesus loves you in French to a young person, and then take him by the hand and lead him to the Mission, find a local missionary deep in his work to whom he would say, I've told this boy "Jésus t'aime", now you can lead him to the Lord in his own language.
Given all of this, we prepared some cultural lectures for our College group arriving from Nyack College, and really they adapted quite well, given the big leap from Nyack-on-the-Hudson to Santidougou village!
But 18 extra people are still a lot to feed and sleep and to keep occupied. You girls worked hard along with me to feed and entertain this group - plus giving them a meaningful experience. All in all, that was a very positive experience, and a number of them later went on to be international workers in several countries.
Today missions trips seem to be an integral part of many Alliance churches. Some are "Taste and See" tours, others are work teams sent out to accomplish a specific job. But none of them would succeed without the involvement of an on site international worker to help care for them: driving them around, interpreting for them, caring for them when they become ill, and a dozen other jobs required of local workers - to help this multitude of work team people have a positive experience!
All of this also uses up a lot of money that might perhaps be better used by local international workers and local Christians. At the same time, work teams are a fact of life in international missions it seems, and in this day of seeing is believing, many churches in the U.S. have become more involved in the Alliance Missions program in the world. To my knowledge, no one has calculated how much is spent in Missions trips each year in the Alliance. Nor has anyone articulated clearly the positive side of all this rush to the nations by amateurs in our churches
A couple weeks ago I was asked to help interview a TFC student in our church, headed for the Far East for six weeks this summer. A nice guy but not a clue about most things culturally. I wish him well and will pray for him. He will certainly return to us wiser than he is now!!
Friday, May 31, 2013
A QUESTION OF MONEY................
Of course, all of the changes in Missions taking place today also require more money! A new mission job at national office means a new director and a furnished office, an administrative assistant and travel expenses - the list goes on and on. Sometimes - to us sitting in our armchairs and contemplating missions - it seems like it costs the GCF more and more money to provide all of these trappings which go along with a new missions position and a new office with all the trimmings. But then, what do we really know??
The Alliance is also requiring their international workers to "pick up the tab" on some of these new ventures. Yesterday I received a letter from an Alliance overseas worker, which was totally devoted to finances! The thing in it that amazed me the most was that, among other personal financial requests for supporters - us! - was one for international workers' contribution towards funding a regional conference. This conference is one planned and led by International Ministries, for which workers are asked to raise money so that they can attend! To me, this was a low point in International Missions of the Alliance. And the plea for money did not motivate me to fund this missionary - even if I had the money, which I do not!
Pleas for money come to us from all sides. But it is not now just independent missions - or "those other missionaries" - who send urgent pleas for money. It is our own beloved Alliance who has fallen to a new low in financial matters. At least from my long term experience in the Alliance, this is how I see it!!
The Alliance is also requiring their international workers to "pick up the tab" on some of these new ventures. Yesterday I received a letter from an Alliance overseas worker, which was totally devoted to finances! The thing in it that amazed me the most was that, among other personal financial requests for supporters - us! - was one for international workers' contribution towards funding a regional conference. This conference is one planned and led by International Ministries, for which workers are asked to raise money so that they can attend! To me, this was a low point in International Missions of the Alliance. And the plea for money did not motivate me to fund this missionary - even if I had the money, which I do not!
Pleas for money come to us from all sides. But it is not now just independent missions - or "those other missionaries" - who send urgent pleas for money. It is our own beloved Alliance who has fallen to a new low in financial matters. At least from my long term experience in the Alliance, this is how I see it!!
CHANGES.........CHANGES
The old saying goes, that "The old person sees more sitting down than the young person does standing up". And this is certainly true in the area of missions. Having been in missionary work for more than fifty years now, we have lived through an abundance of changes! And those changes seem to be taking place at an increasingly rapid rate....
(We now attend an Alliance church which many international workers call home, so some of my observations come from present contact with present day international workers.)
It used to be that newly appointed West African missionaries were sent to France for a year of language study and than went directly to their fields of service where they remained to work for four (or more) years. Than came a one year furlough, which was partially filled with speaking tours in the U.S. Some workers did come back to the U.S. for family marriages and deaths, but even this was not always possible. Those were not ideal times either!
Now the pendulum has swung the other way. In an Alliance church like ours, we see a constant parade of international workers back here in the States for not only weddings or funerals, but also for vacations, mid-term tours, etc. Money certainly flows more freely now, but we do wonder sometimes, wonder how folks can leave their place of service so frequently?? What does the sending church think when they observe their international workers making trips to their home country so often? And how is the ministry overseas affected by the frequent comings and goings to their home countries? I guess everyone just makes adjustments. One does wonder what the national churches of the world think about this innovation??
The Alliance is also giving birth to new programs on mission fields, and of course all of this involves huge bites of money from the Great Commission giving as these new programs have to be directed and funded... It also causes confusion on some fields, as there are unresolved questions about money and personnel. As international workers adjust to new means of funding (such as "the ask") and also question how some of these new entities (such as Envision) relate to the rest of the staff already working in an area for many years. Finances are involved as well as administrative adjustments. All very interesting changes, which we personally saw on our recent trip to Africa, and which makes us glad for the times in which we lived. The lines were clearer then!
We still are trying to wade through the terms of "team leader", "team developper", and "regional team leader" and just hope that they do not stumble over each other trying to lead!! It looks to us like some team developers do not have many people to develop.....and what is meant by developing someone who has been at the work on the ground for many years?? From our vantage point, in our armchairs, it should be an interesting future for the current crop of workers!!
(We now attend an Alliance church which many international workers call home, so some of my observations come from present contact with present day international workers.)
It used to be that newly appointed West African missionaries were sent to France for a year of language study and than went directly to their fields of service where they remained to work for four (or more) years. Than came a one year furlough, which was partially filled with speaking tours in the U.S. Some workers did come back to the U.S. for family marriages and deaths, but even this was not always possible. Those were not ideal times either!
Now the pendulum has swung the other way. In an Alliance church like ours, we see a constant parade of international workers back here in the States for not only weddings or funerals, but also for vacations, mid-term tours, etc. Money certainly flows more freely now, but we do wonder sometimes, wonder how folks can leave their place of service so frequently?? What does the sending church think when they observe their international workers making trips to their home country so often? And how is the ministry overseas affected by the frequent comings and goings to their home countries? I guess everyone just makes adjustments. One does wonder what the national churches of the world think about this innovation??
The Alliance is also giving birth to new programs on mission fields, and of course all of this involves huge bites of money from the Great Commission giving as these new programs have to be directed and funded... It also causes confusion on some fields, as there are unresolved questions about money and personnel. As international workers adjust to new means of funding (such as "the ask") and also question how some of these new entities (such as Envision) relate to the rest of the staff already working in an area for many years. Finances are involved as well as administrative adjustments. All very interesting changes, which we personally saw on our recent trip to Africa, and which makes us glad for the times in which we lived. The lines were clearer then!
We still are trying to wade through the terms of "team leader", "team developper", and "regional team leader" and just hope that they do not stumble over each other trying to lead!! It looks to us like some team developers do not have many people to develop.....and what is meant by developing someone who has been at the work on the ground for many years?? From our vantage point, in our armchairs, it should be an interesting future for the current crop of workers!!
Friday, May 3, 2013
MEMORIES OF AUNT FRAN
We just received word of the death of your Aunt Fran. The news was not totally unexpected as she had had a severe heart condition and had been in a rehab facility. But death usually does surprise us - hope springs eternal in the human heart, and we had hoped and prayed for her recovery again. But God had other plans for Aunt Fran and she is now whole and well and happy in Heaven, even as we mourn here.
Aunt Fran was a Southern Belle from Alabama. Uncle Luther was in the Army and stationed in Dotham, Alabama, which was Aunt Fran's home. The Dotham Baptist church held a dance for the U.S. servicemen stationed in their town, and thus it was that the Alabama belle and New England soldier met, fell in love and married. You may remember that Aunt Fran maintained her Southern accent all of her life.
Aunt Fran was also mother of four rambunctious boys.Their family had a lovely home next door to Grandma Pierce's home on the hill, the one you al remember from your childhood. Later they moved to Miami and then Hallendale, Florida, and we visited them there. Aunt Fran was the perfect hostess, a great cook also.;
I don't ever remember Aunt Fran looking unkempt or dowdy - she always had every hair in place and was fashionably dressed for every occasion. She was also a great housekeeper and cook. Visiting in their home was always a special pleasure.
She suffered greatly these last years - brain surgery and other illnesses.....and this past week her sweet spirit left that worn body and went to be with her Lord in Heaven. We will all miss her.
Aunt Fran was a Southern Belle from Alabama. Uncle Luther was in the Army and stationed in Dotham, Alabama, which was Aunt Fran's home. The Dotham Baptist church held a dance for the U.S. servicemen stationed in their town, and thus it was that the Alabama belle and New England soldier met, fell in love and married. You may remember that Aunt Fran maintained her Southern accent all of her life.
Aunt Fran was also mother of four rambunctious boys.Their family had a lovely home next door to Grandma Pierce's home on the hill, the one you al remember from your childhood. Later they moved to Miami and then Hallendale, Florida, and we visited them there. Aunt Fran was the perfect hostess, a great cook also.;
I don't ever remember Aunt Fran looking unkempt or dowdy - she always had every hair in place and was fashionably dressed for every occasion. She was also a great housekeeper and cook. Visiting in their home was always a special pleasure.
She suffered greatly these last years - brain surgery and other illnesses.....and this past week her sweet spirit left that worn body and went to be with her Lord in Heaven. We will all miss her.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
LIFE GOES ON FOR US ............
Sorrow can be devastating......we experience sorrow because of sin coming into the world and with sin came sorrow. Experiencing sorrow can alter our pattern of living. Josiah's death was so unexpected, so untimely and so unimaginable that this sad event seemed to sap all my creative juices I had always loved to write and I enjoyed doing this family history of sorts. It was an historical account of our family for you in this generation to enjoy and to learn about your roots.
But after Josiah's funeral, I just could not get back to writing. Just thinking of it made me dissolve into tears. The tears still come along with the thoughts, but at last I feel I can get back to chronicling family history for you of this and the next generation. Josiah is in a better place and we all look forward to also being with him again some day. Josiah lived his life not selfishly but for others and remains a wonderful example to us all. And so I can finally think of getting back to adding to these family musing - as processed by this mother.
I have not touched this blog for nine months, and so had no idea where to start technically. You all know what a technical dunce I am! But Steve and Dad worked long hours to me back into my blog mode and so I continue with more sharing of events, emotions and history for all of you. My thanks to my menfolks for their help getting me technically going again!!
But after Josiah's funeral, I just could not get back to writing. Just thinking of it made me dissolve into tears. The tears still come along with the thoughts, but at last I feel I can get back to chronicling family history for you of this and the next generation. Josiah is in a better place and we all look forward to also being with him again some day. Josiah lived his life not selfishly but for others and remains a wonderful example to us all. And so I can finally think of getting back to adding to these family musing - as processed by this mother.
I have not touched this blog for nine months, and so had no idea where to start technically. You all know what a technical dunce I am! But Steve and Dad worked long hours to me back into my blog mode and so I continue with more sharing of events, emotions and history for all of you. My thanks to my menfolks for their help getting me technically going again!!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
COMFORT IN SORROW.......
Having gone through the recent shock and mourning because of our Josiah's promotion to Heaven, I am learning a lot about comfort for the bereaved. It was a comfort to have so many of the family on both sides be at the actual funeral procedures and burial. We were all mourning together with Joel and Elin, the girls and Rebekah. Many close friends and relatives were also present, and we were all in a state of shock and deep mourning. From the time the news was out, our email box and our PO box were full of consolation greetings - often from people we had not hear from in years even, as well as close friends and extended family. Death often brings people together through mutual sorrowing.
The night we got the sad news of Josiah's homegoing our pastor and his wife came over and prayed with us, and the Albrights were also here to weep with us. This was all a comfort to us, as we made plans to fly to Chicago for the funeral. Our tickets for the planned wedding in August had to be changed to tickets for a different destination and a funeral. What a sad change! We were gone just three days and those days were so full of family grieving together and receiving condolences from so many hundreds (literally) of people who were there for the visitation and then the funeral the next day. We marveled at how the Wheaton church took over all the physical aspects of such an occasion - food, lodging, everything was provided. We all cried together there in Wheaton, trying not to question why God had allowed this to happen.
When a young person dies, a whole life has been struck down - a planned lifetime of ministry, marriage, a family, the joys and pains of old age. It seems so contrary to nature, to the way things should be. And we question and wonder why...We just have to reassure ourselves that God does do all things well, and even though we as human beings do not understand all the "why's", we sorrowfully accept God's will.
Coming back to Toccoa after the funeral, we went through a continuation of the grieving process. Many people phoned us and talked to us at church and sent beautiful sympathy cards and emails. We are grateful to all who took time for this. That first Sunday back everyone expressed sympathy in the congregation at church. Tears were never far from falling as we returned home. But there did seem to be something lacking....... and I was not sure what it was.....
Until towards the end of that first week we had a visit from Ed and Sue Potoroff, former assistant pastor and his wife. They were in town only for a few hours and had business to take care of, but they stopped by to see us and to cry with us and pray for us and the whole family. And it dawned on me what was lacking in our church - we no longer had a pastor like Ed who has a big heart for the sick and grieving and who is a great visitation pastor. We have a terrific senior pastor (whose wife is a very caring person) and we have a great worship pastor and a great youth pastor. But the board has divided up the congregation under a group of elders. Each member is assigned alphabetically to an elder - all good people - and the comforting and/or visitation aspects of ministry are assigned to these men. Our elder is someone we know and we have seen him from a distance in church, but he has never come to see us, nor even expressed his sorrow to us at church. We miss that wonderful ministry of empathy and visitation that Ed and Sue did so naturally. Our pastoral staff is composed of wonderful people and we appreciate them, but real empathy is somehow lacking.
However, the church people more than make up for that. Dozens of people have mourned with us personally and talked with us and assure us of their prayers. And all of that has been comforting as we learn to live with the idea that Josiah is no longer here on earth but is in a better place. But still we grieve..... Interesting to see how God is sending some new positive things into our family and this is a comfort. First of all, we got the announcement of Chris and Elizabeth's engagement. Then the following week we heard from Rachel that she and Josh are expecting a new addition to the family in six months. So we do go on living, but there is always that sad feeling that God has taken to be with him Josiah who was so precious to all of us. And we continue to mourn for his parents and sisters - and for all of us who were blessed to know him.
The night we got the sad news of Josiah's homegoing our pastor and his wife came over and prayed with us, and the Albrights were also here to weep with us. This was all a comfort to us, as we made plans to fly to Chicago for the funeral. Our tickets for the planned wedding in August had to be changed to tickets for a different destination and a funeral. What a sad change! We were gone just three days and those days were so full of family grieving together and receiving condolences from so many hundreds (literally) of people who were there for the visitation and then the funeral the next day. We marveled at how the Wheaton church took over all the physical aspects of such an occasion - food, lodging, everything was provided. We all cried together there in Wheaton, trying not to question why God had allowed this to happen.
When a young person dies, a whole life has been struck down - a planned lifetime of ministry, marriage, a family, the joys and pains of old age. It seems so contrary to nature, to the way things should be. And we question and wonder why...We just have to reassure ourselves that God does do all things well, and even though we as human beings do not understand all the "why's", we sorrowfully accept God's will.
Coming back to Toccoa after the funeral, we went through a continuation of the grieving process. Many people phoned us and talked to us at church and sent beautiful sympathy cards and emails. We are grateful to all who took time for this. That first Sunday back everyone expressed sympathy in the congregation at church. Tears were never far from falling as we returned home. But there did seem to be something lacking....... and I was not sure what it was.....
Until towards the end of that first week we had a visit from Ed and Sue Potoroff, former assistant pastor and his wife. They were in town only for a few hours and had business to take care of, but they stopped by to see us and to cry with us and pray for us and the whole family. And it dawned on me what was lacking in our church - we no longer had a pastor like Ed who has a big heart for the sick and grieving and who is a great visitation pastor. We have a terrific senior pastor (whose wife is a very caring person) and we have a great worship pastor and a great youth pastor. But the board has divided up the congregation under a group of elders. Each member is assigned alphabetically to an elder - all good people - and the comforting and/or visitation aspects of ministry are assigned to these men. Our elder is someone we know and we have seen him from a distance in church, but he has never come to see us, nor even expressed his sorrow to us at church. We miss that wonderful ministry of empathy and visitation that Ed and Sue did so naturally. Our pastoral staff is composed of wonderful people and we appreciate them, but real empathy is somehow lacking.
However, the church people more than make up for that. Dozens of people have mourned with us personally and talked with us and assure us of their prayers. And all of that has been comforting as we learn to live with the idea that Josiah is no longer here on earth but is in a better place. But still we grieve..... Interesting to see how God is sending some new positive things into our family and this is a comfort. First of all, we got the announcement of Chris and Elizabeth's engagement. Then the following week we heard from Rachel that she and Josh are expecting a new addition to the family in six months. So we do go on living, but there is always that sad feeling that God has taken to be with him Josiah who was so precious to all of us. And we continue to mourn for his parents and sisters - and for all of us who were blessed to know him.
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