I can’t remember any time in my life that was as empty as that
first month after Mary Charlotte’s death. From a life full of
her care literally 24 hours a day (in responsibility at least) I went
to a life with no responsibilities except caring for myself.
Literally I had nothing to do many hours a day. There were a few
continuing tasks, such as teaching my adult Sunday School class and
doing the donation receipting for HAFF, but these occupied only a few
hours per week. I got tired of doing puzzles, playing solitaire, and
what little reading that interested me at the time. I never did like
watching TV, but I did subscribe to a full channel offering by
Time-Warner. Some of the programs I liked, such as the history
channel, and the discovery channel, but even these had so many ads,
including what was coming next which they showed over and over again,
until I got sick of it and canceled my subscription.
Several
ladies in the church have invited me to dinner on a number of
occasions, particularly that first month. Their concern was an
expression for God’s love to me and assured me that He had not
abandoned me. Among these are Carolyn Faris (see left) and
Diane Smith (see right, with her husband Dan).
For
several months our church had been promoting a Work/Study team of
adults and teenagers to visit our pet mission, HAFF (Haitien-American
Friendship Foundation) — a secondary technical school in the
little town of Bohoc, Haiti, about 40 miles south of Cape Haitien, in
what is called the Plateau Area of Haiti. We had two missionary
families from our church serving there, Barbara and Greg Van Schoyck
with Zach and Gabi (see left) and Jim and Barbara Howard (see
right) and several of our key leaders, including our present and
former pastors, had been very much involved with the mission. We had
sent many teams there in the past years. The trip was finally
scheduled for April 17-25, and I signed up, with Bob Johns (one of
our elders) and his daughter Jenny as the only other persons on the
team.
Even
before going to Michigan for my annual visit with Mary Jo (see
right), she persuaded me to accompany her and Margaret to attend
the marriage of her lovely grand-daughter, Laura to
Thomas Sloan on May 13th, (see left: left to right: Thomas, Laura,
Carol, Chuck, and proud grandmother Mary Jo) the third of Carol and
Chuck's children to start their own families. This was a lavish
affair indeed, comparable with those of Laura's brothers Glen and
Alan, which I had not attended.
I
was able to use my free ticket to get to and from Detroit, where Mary
Jo fetched and returned me to her summer home on Kelly Lake. During
my 9-day visit, I went with her to Solon OH (near Cleveland) to visit
our old friends Bob and Marilyn Baldwin (see right). Part of
that visit involved a boat trip through Cleveland under about forty
bridges.
We
returned to Mary Jo’s home in time to welcome Will and Judy
come from Midland the following day with Emily and Brynn, so that I
got to spend all of a half day with my only granddaughter (see
left), now nearly one year old. That was the highlight of the
visit.
Some time before May first, I had been invited to come to South
Africa to help Laura Haas, a lady missionary to the Xhosa people in a
huge squatter city called Khayelitsha. We settled on the entire month
of October, with my principal duties to teach the Bible to several
different groups in the purview of Laura’s work.
Before
leaving for South Africa, I taught an adult Sunday School class in
September, comparing the creation account from the first chapter of
Genesis to the modern theories of creation. The class was a great
success, and since there was little competition from other options,
most adults attending Sunday School came to my class. When l got to
South Africa, I had many opportunities to speak to groups on this
subject, and it was just as well received as in my Sunday School
class.
Most
of my work was with a Black church (which grew out of Laura’s
earlier missionary efforts) pastored by a Zulu man named Siegfried,
who had learned the Xhosa language as well as English, and had
graduated from the seminary run by the Church of England in South
Africa (CESA), of which my long-time friend Frank Retief was
presiding bishop. I simply took over the regular meetings of two
young adult groups (see left) and two older groups (see
right), including several pastors. I also spoke to a half dozen
white audiences, including the seminary just mentioned, a new
store-front church, a large high school class, and a university level
YMCA group.
The
first three days of my visit I was hosted by Cedric and Tyree Harris
(see left), dear friends from our South Africa days. They had
me share a birthday party with their daughter and son-in law. The
second Sunday I was there Laura arranged a tea at the church, where I
could meet my (and Mary Charlotte's) old friends again, and then made
these photos of them.
In
the first photo (see right), from left to right, Hilary Retief
(who has helped us in many ways over the years), standing behind me
Drina Binedell (who gave us her apartment for three months in 1980),
Arthur Hughes (who visited me in Florida), and Albert Retief (Frank
Retief’s cousin, who has been like a brother to me).
In
the second photograph (see left) are Colin Holtman (St. James
church treasurer for many years), me, Rosie Holtman, and Joyce and
Ernest Elmes (Joyce was Mary Charlotte’s
principal correspondent and still keeps me posted on South African
doings).
The
third photo (see right) shows Helen and John Higson, (John and
Helen were also close friends from our earliest days in South Africa)
separated by Tyree Harris and me, and Tanya and Ian Donaldson
(another couple with whom we bonded).
In
the fourth photo (see left) are Radie Goatham, Lorraine and Ken Keet,
separated by Stella Hofmyer, a lady whose names I don't remember,and
me.
I
also had many invitations to dinner with many of these folk, with
whom we had kept up through Christmas cards and our visits in ‘85,
‘89 and ‘95. It was good to see these old friends again.
Laura took very good care of me, providing this comfortable little
room (see right) and bath attached to her garage and fixing
all my meals when I didn’t eat out. I had dreamed up a scenario
wherein I would spend 4-6 months a year helping Laura with her work,
but it turned out that a knowledge of the Xhosa language was a must.
Even though the young people learn English in school, it is still
necessary to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their heart
language if they are to understand what it means. Thus my
presentations were interesting to them as far as they could
understand my English, but I don’t know how much of the
spiritual content they got. So my dream bubble burst, and I must seek
other pastures.
My
friend Albert Retief (see left) had a sports news program on
the first Christian radio station in South Africa, established by
HCJB World Radio at a Baptist church in a southern suburb of Cape
Town. Since the movie "Apollo 13" was then showing in South
Africa, he interviewed me about the movie and my part in the
mission.
The year wound up with perhaps the closest election
contest for president in our history. Florida was the key state,
where the vote was so evenly divided between George W. Bush
(Republican) and Al Gore (Democrat) that the result hung in the
balance for several weeks, finally being decided by a 4-to-3 vote of
the Florida Supreme Court favoring the Democrats, and a 5-to-4 vote
of the US Supreme Court favoring the Republicans. A Miami TV station
made a private count several months later and declared that Bush had
won by several hundred votes, but I don't know what criteria they
used for the disputed ballots.
You
have also met two of our closest friends, Cora Bowen and husband
Lance (who died in 1996). We visited them every time we went to
California. Now let me show you Eric Mullinax (with his wife Boo whom
you have already met, and their children: Kyle, Heath, and Leigh)
(see left) who was our pastor for several years and a friend
for more than a decade. As already mentioned, without Boo’s
help and advice, I don’t think I could have coped with Mary
Charlotte’s illness and death.
Also
among those we got to know in Homestead, you have already met our
close friends the Kalmeys and the Polks. Meet Martin and Bonnie Price
(see right). In many ways they are the most remarkable among
our friends. Martin is executive director of ECHO (Educational
Concerns for Hunger Organization), the Christian technical support
for Third World farmers and their missionary helpers in more than 140
countries. Bonnie is CEO of HAFF (Haitien-American Friendship
Foundation) which I visited last April (2000). 1 do volunteer work
for both.
Among the last families to show you is the Meier family: Gary, Kathy, and
daughter Leisl (see left). The Meiers are missionaries with
HCJB, and for several years have been conducting tours to Quito,
including the one I went on. Two other dear friends who have meant a
great deal to both Mary Charlotte and me are Peg and Jerry Smyth (see
right). They participated in many of the same activities as we
did in the church, and Jerry took me to or fetched me from the
airport many times.Returning from South Africa, I picked up my Sunday School class
and covered the rest of Genesis by the end of the year, comparing the
Noahic "world-wide" flood account as recorded in Genesis
with modern scientific theories. This brings this update to the end
of the year 2000, but much has happened in these last six years that
need to be recorded. Not only did I want to cover these six years,
but I also wanted to include additional photos of relatives and
friends, events such as weddings and local family reunions, and a few
other things. I am
including the epilogue I wrote ten years ago for the first edition,
even though it is a bit lengthy, it still expresses my beliefs as
well as I could write them today. And with that, I’ll say,
“Bless you if you have read this far. May you experience the
same lifetime of miraculous events as those with which the Lord has
blessed me."
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