Back Home Again in Indiana

 I had a great three week trip to Eastern Europe and South Africa, but I've enjoyed. . .

. . .arriving back in the USA via Chicago

. . .boarding the plane and seeing someone I know (Cheryl Hartigan from Ossian!)

. . .being greeted  at the Fort Wayne airport by Neil, Eric, Jeni, Liam, Kate, Owen and Zane!!!

. . .going to church

. . .participating in a 5-K

. . .doing laundry on Nov 1 & 2 and being able to hang it outside on the clothesline

. . .having a regular Monday lunch date with Janice

. . .digging up bulbs in the yard

. . .seeing neighbors and friends

. . .making fall foods like stew and chili

. . .spending the afternoon and evening with my GRANDchildren

. . .catching up on the mail and newspapers

Life is good. :)

Sunrise

Jack is the youngest cousin on the Birdsall side of the family. He is 15 years old already!

What a beautiful, large, hilly park right across the street from Brian and Cathy's apartment. I enjoyed walking in and around the park prior to and after coming back from Cape Town. Brian, Cathy, Brooks, Mary Catherine, Tory, Beau and Jack have lots of family memories in this park.

     I’m watching the sun come up in Frankfurt, Germany.  As the plane headed west from Kiev and approached Frankfurt I could look out the window and see the first light of day on the horizon behind us. As we proceeded, the pilot directed the plane to the north and the silhouette of the earth’s curvature was highlighted in gold. The captain came on the p.a. system and said that we were going to have to go in a holding pattern for about 20 minutes. While making a large circle we were able to see the horizon again with more color in the east. I could see other planes in the same big circle. We landed and made a hard turn to the right. Looking behind us, I would see the lights of seven other planes in the sky lined up and ready to land. I saw two more of them set down and by that time I spotted the lights of two more planes that were in line to land. I had never seen such a line-up in the sky.

  My lay-over here in Frankfurt is five hours. L I’m in the right terminal for United Airlines flights to the US. My flight to Chicago is not even posted yet. This is my third consecutive day of long flight—Thursday Brian and I covered 5,000 from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi via Johannesburg; yesterday we covered 3,000 miles from Abu Dhabi to Kiev. Today’s travel time and distance  will be the longest yet. I will be glad to be “grounded” in Berne for quite some time.

    It was great to take a walk in the park yesterday afternoon when we got back to Brian and Cathy’s apartment. Cathy arrived home from school within 10 minutes of the time we arrived. It was obvious that two weeks of autumn had passed since being in the park. Lots of leaves were on the ground and I loved the sound of shuffling among them. After a park in the park Brian and Cathy went home. I proceeded to walk the circumference of the large mid-city park. People were hurrying home from work on a Friday afternoon in their stylish clothes. I stuck out like a sore thumb in my Nike shoes, casual pants and hooded sweatshirt. J It felt great to be really walking and not just shuffling in line with a crowd of other passengers. I walked a block further than I planned to and even realized where I was. The little bit of familiarity with where I was felt good.

  Beau and Jack had activities last evening so it was just Brian, Cathy and me for a good soup supper with pickled apples delivered by a Ukrainian friend and home baked banana bread by Cathy. I preferred Cathy’s food.  Jack arrived home at 9 pm and we all visited for an hour. Brian and I were fading fast! It was a short night—Brian knocked on the door at 3:20 to wake me. I told him ahead of time to just get a taxi for me. He said he would lie awake worrying about me so he might as well get up and drive me to the airport himself. He has been a great traveling companion. Thanks for taking such good care of me, little bro!

  It was amazing to see the streets of Kiev so empty. I thought traffic congestions might be a 24 hour problem there. Brian saw to it that I got in the right line at the airport, gave me directions for the next two steps—security and immigration—and then headed home. The line was moving very slowly. After awhile a man came over and said something to me. I had a hard time understanding him because of his accent and low voice. He gestured for me to follow him. He took me to another line and I got right through! He walked me over to the escalator and pointed where I should go next. I thanked him and he said, “Twenty dollars, please.” I honestly had no cash except a few Euro coins left from my stop in Munich. That’s all he got. Brian had told me over and over that money will get you anything in Ukraine.




 

30 years of mission-related ministry

  Thursday evening continued to be a family time after our leisurely free day. Brian and I had been invited to attend a dinner for board members and guests of Asian Access, the mission organization that Doug and Jeanie have been associated with for 30 years.

  Doug and Jeanie left for Japan in 1980 soon after Doug graduated from Gordon-Conwell Seminary north of Boston.  Doug had met Ken Wendling, founder of LIFE—Language Institute for Evangelism—and caught Ken’s vision for evangelizing Japan.  Jeanie was six months pregnant when they left home and crossed the Pacific for the first time. The name of the mission was later changed to Life Ministries and later, as they expanded into other Asian countries, the name changed again to Asian Access. Until Doug was “loaned” to the board of the Lausanne Congress four years ago, he had been president of Asian Access for several years. 

   Doug and Jeanie looked forward to meeting for supper with the Asian Access board but did not know they were going to be honored by that group. Doug’s schedule was very tight last week so the program moved quickly. After supper about five or six individuals made comments primarily about Doug and his leadership in missions. Jeanie was recognized also for her partnership with Doug in ministry and for a good family of three children all born and raised (for the most part) in Japan—Stacia, Judd and Jessa.

  As his sister, it was nice to hear others who have been much closer to Doug in the last 30 years affirm him as a man of vision, passion, integrity, hard work, humility and humor. He was that way even as a little boy and a definitely as a teenager.  Doug has an incredible ability to remember names and faces and stories about the first time he met people and where and when that was and the circumstances surrounding the introduction. Someone joked about being in Doug’s close circle of 25,000 friends.

  Doug responded by talking about his early days in Japan and the incredible influence of Ken Wendling on his life. Ken recognized Doug as a confident young man and reminded him that “apart from me you and do nothing” and, as Ken would say, “nothing ain’t much.” Doug told stories of how excited Ken would get when he heard the word “impossible.”  “With God all things are possible.”

  Ken has gone on to start two other mission organizations in China.

  It was nice for me to meet people whom I have heard about and seen their pictures but never met. One of them was Adrian DeVissar of Sri Lanka. I have heard Doug speak very highly of him several times and Adrian’s picture has been in many of Doug’s prayer letters. Adrian made some comments about Doug so I saw who he was. After the main activities were over I went to use the restroom. When out in the hall and heading back into the room I saw Adrian in the hall also. I introduced myself to him and his response was of pleasant surprise. He said, “So you’re the one who has threated to shoot Doug.” It seems as though many people have heard of my threat on Doug’s life—and Brent’s and Brian’s, too.

Asian Access board members and friends lay hands on Doug and Jeanie to ask God's continued blessing on them and their missionary ministry.

A Japanese businessman tells about his involvement with Asian Access and his support of that mission organization and the leadership provided by Doug and Jeanie.

  Many years ago after all the scandal related to Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and other well-known evangelists, I looked all three of my brothers (all three involved in ministry) in the eye and poked my finger in their chest and said, “if you ever do anything to bring shame to the name of Christ or to our family, I will shoot you.” I’ve repeated the threat several times. They know I’m serious but at the same time we’ve laughed about it on many occasions. The extended family knows that Doug, Brent and Brian are walking the straight and narrow so I won’t rot in jail because of their misconduct. Everyone needs someone to hold them accountable, right?

  Doug is an incredibly God-gifted man. His life of service, faithfulness, and integrity has been his gift back to God. I was pleased to see him in action this past week and especially to see him honored by those who have known him best and longest. To God be the glory.

Free Day on Thursday

    The congress organizers were very wise in planning one free day in an event that lasted an entire week. Sunday evening had primarily been a fantastic welcome filled with pageantry unlike anything I have ever seen in honor of the King of Kings!

  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with activity from morning ‘til night. It was nice to know on Wednesday evening that we could take it easy the next day.   There had been the opportunity early in the week to sign up for mission related activities or sight-seeing on Thursday. Some were close by and some were further away and covered a variety of price ranges.

  I would have enjoyed doing a mission related project because I knew that Brian and I were planning to stay for three days after the congress to do some sight-seeing.  Judd, Doug’s son, planned a family-outing right in Cape Town. All of us had seen each other a little bit but we had not spent time together as a family so I obviously was pleased that the opportunity finally presented itself. We were in three different hotels.  Judd said we should meet at 10:30 at the one closest to the convention center.

  Even without an alarm clock I had been waking each morning at 6 am. I would get up and get dressed and go down and have breakfast. Brian would follow a little later. There were several little tables for two that were side by side. I would usually sit at one of those and engage someone else at a neighboring table in conversation.  Many of the guests at our hotel were congress participants but not all. If they weren’t congress participants, they were quite curious about who we were and why we had gathered.

  Thursday morning I slept until 8 am! When I went for breakfast, the area was more crowded than usual and I sat at a little table way over against a wall. When going through the line to select my breakfast I saw the tall South African pastor with AIDS who had given his testimony. I told him I appreciated what he had shared. I went back to my little table and became absolutely overwhelmed with God’s grace in my life from protecting me from so many of the atrocities I had heard about during the week—human trafficking, AIDS, being displaced because of natural and man-made disasters, persecution, ignorance, etc, etc. I felt completely unworthy of the good life with which I have been blessed. I became more than just a little misty-eyed. I wept. When I started back to my room I hoped nobody would notice that I was visibly upset. However a maid met me in the hall and gave me a very sympathetic look. I stopped and put my arm around her and said, “I am so happy.” She smiled and obviously understood. When I walked in the room, Brian was on his computer. He also could see I had been crying and gave me a quizzical look. I said, “Why me?”

    “What’s wrong, sister?” I told him God has been too good to me. Brian asked what prompted my emotions and we talked about how incredibly and undeservedly blessed we are.

  When we got to the hotel lobby where we were supposed to meet the rest of the family we heard another example of God’s marvelous grace.  There was a young man who Judd knew that was of mid-eastern ethnicity. This young man was quite a story-teller and was telling a group several “getting- through-airport” stories. Most of them had to do with his ethnic appearance and the fact that he was formerly a member of the radical military group. Judd asked him if he could give a shortened version of his testimony. He was raised in a proud Muslim home. This young man did everything he could to be a very good Muslim. He did not find contentment and begged God to make Himself known to him. When in prison for political reasons he had a dramatic conversion experience like I’ve read about but never heard in person.  It was spine-tingling. My testimony of being raised in a Christian home in the USA will never give anyone chills. . .but I’m grateful for God’s grace which dramatically saves some and graciously protects others.

  It was awhile before our family outing began.  While sitting there in the hotel lobby Jeanie (Doug’s wife) and I talked to one of the ladies on the same communications team as me. She is an English and French professor at Gordon College and attends the same church in South Hamilton, MA, as Doug and Jeanie. She grew up in St. Louis, attended DePauw University in Indiana. She was raised in a mainline denomination but never heard the gospel. While at DePauw she spent a year abroad at the University of Lausanne and became friends with a daughter of the late Francis Shaffer. When she heard the gospel for the first time she knew it was different than anything she had ever heard previously. She became a Christian by Thanksgiving of that year and had the opportunity to be discipled at L’Abri. Yet another example of God’s amazing grace!

  Our family outing finally began and we went to a fort called the Castle of Good Hope that is one of the oldest buildings on the cape of South Africa built in 1666. We saw some military re-enactments and took a tour of the grounds. Part of the fort included a prison and a torture chamber. Each morning just prior to the Bible exposition, the passage to be studied from Ephesians was read aloud by a member of the drama team. A prison cell was pictured on the big screen behind the stage. It was interesting to be in that tiny, centuries-old prison cell and think of the world-wide and eternal influence Paul had during his confinement.

 From the fort we walked through a part of downtown and saw some open air markets. We saw several beggars. Local tourist information and congress information encouraged us not to give them money but to give to local charitable organizations.  We had lunch at an ethnically diverse location—Kentucky Fried Chicken. J There were some pieces left over in our bucket so I carried them to give to the next beggar we encountered. It wasn’t long ’til we saw two beggars on a bench. I gave them the bucket which included a loaf of bread. The woman told me over and over, “I love you to Jesus, I love you to Jesus.” I told her I loved her to Jesus, too. 

  Our downtown walk included a visit to an Anglican church where Desmond Tutu had presided. It was the only church which allowed both blacks and whites to worship together during apartheid. Beautiful cathedrals are so conducive to worship.

  The parliament building in Cape Town is beautiful and is surrounded by large and gorgeous gardens. The trees, grass, flowers, and plants were lush. The birds were different than we see at home but they had squirrels which had been imported from the US. They look just like the ones we have running around in our yard on High Street!  The afternoon was spent leisurely. We stopped at a coffee shop for something to eat and drink. On our way back to the hotel we walked through another open air market, the Green Market, that has beautiful jewelry, tapestries, and wood carvings. It was a very pleasant afternoon with Doug, Jeanie, Jessa, Judd, Joji, Brian and me.



"I love you to Jesus" all because of KFC!

L to r; me, Jessa, Jeanie, and Joji--Doug's sister, daughter, wife and daughter-in-law at the gardens surrounding the parliament building in Cape Town.



This man's conversion experiece is similar to that of the Apostle Paul.



World Faiths

   I mentioned John Piper's message the other day and the fact that he addressed the importance of the meeeting currrent societal problems and the need for" people saved." I wasn't as clear as he was in saying the two must go hand in hand. We cannot neglect one for the other. We must address homelessness, hunger, poverty, HIV/AIDS, etc but he said we must remember to claim the gospel as well. If people don't accept Christ as Savior their eternal suffering will be much greater ithan any suffering they are currently experiencing here on earth.
      
 Libby Little, the window of a recently martyred missionary to Pakistan gave a testimony following Piper's talk. Her husband and 9 others went into a remote part of Pakistan only available by foot. They went to do medical work. Little called his wife 2x a day for one minute. She read notes from the brief comments he made. After completing the medical work, the team started to return home. The entire team was killed. Afterwards someone presented her with some notes from her husband's Bible. He had been asked to deliver devotions to the group which on their trip. It was obvious that he had cared for physical needs to aleviate people's current pain but he had also delivered the gospel while in that remote area. What a powerful testimony.
 
When Mrs. Little finished her testimoy I noticed a fairly loud "moaning" sound. I thought it sounded as though it was meant to be disruptive. I assume security would take care of it quickly. I found out soon afterwards that it was a Muslim man just experiencing deep sorrow for the lostness of many of his people. Apparently several people surrounded him and prayed for him.

John Piper and me.

  I wrote in my notes that day that I yad noticed delegates who came in wheel chairs, with walkers and a blind man being led by another.
 
  There is defitely more to be said about Wednesday's activities but I can harly hold my head up any longer sitting here in the Abu Dhabi airport. It is time to try again to get as comfortable as possible in a molder plastic chair.

Reconciliation

Ned and Robin Kiser and me in the chairman's office.

The topic for the second day of the congress was reconciliation. The Bible exposition was done by Ruth   of Costa Rica. She emphasized the words dealing with time—you “were” dead in sins, but “now” you are alive in Christ. The second chapter of Ephesians also talks about the “one new man instead of two.” The session which followed dealt with examples where reconciliation was needed—in countries where there has been civil war, in places were human trafficking is very prevalent, etc.

  I believe I already mentioned that there was very effective use of video, dramas and creative dance. That morning a video was shown which depicted young boys being forced to become soldiers at very young ages; a creative dance at the beginning of the session depicted incredible discord and the same group presented an image of beautiful harmony at the end of the session. A Jew and a Palestinian were on the platform together giving personal testimony of the reconciliation that Christ provides for people of nationalities/ethnicities that traditionally hate each other. The message conveyed that morning was powerful.

  During some of the free time, I went to the chairman’s office and helped Ned and Robin Kiser (formerly of Huntington) with some of the constant minu of details that need to be cared for throughout the week. Ned was one of the “point men” on Doug’s behalf. He was constantly on the move. Robin cheerfully handled the never ending mundane tasks such as folding and stuffing, writing names on name tags or placards, making sure rooms for Doug’s appointments were properly prepared, etc, etc.

  I had met a gal that day named Sandy Smith from Quebec who was instrumental in a prayer request I had later in the week.

  I also mentioned earlier that I went to the multiplex session in the afternoon on the environment. That was considered one of the areas of reconciliation that should be important to evangelical believers. God created two things before the Fall—family and work in caring for His creation. During creation he pronounced everything that He had made as “Good.”  Its our job to keep it that way, or in many cases to help restore it.

  The time and praise and worship was incredible. After two days of 5,000 participants being together we were definitely worshipping as one body!!!

 The regional focus that evening was on the Middle East. It was great to hear reports of how open the church is in Iran. On our flight down here, the airplane captain pointed out the lights of Tehran as we flew over it. Based on what I remember from 30 years ago, I was surprised to hear how open that country is to the gospel.  However, in many of those countries persecution comes with salvation.

  The global issue was HIV/AIDS and human trafficking.  A tall white South African pastor talked about his experience with AIDS. A beautiful, passionate woman from Zambia told of her work among HIV/AIDS patients in her country. The pastor acknowledged that the church is sympathetic to AIDS patients who have “accidentally” contracted AIDS through unclean needles but are generally quite judgmental to those who got the disease through a promiscuous lifestyle. He acknowledged that by the grace of God his life has been transformed. Such testimonies side by side helped people like me to realize that no matter how a person became ill or became a victim, they need Jesus. The Zambian princess closed in the session in prayer. She prayed first in her native language and then in English. Her praying was powerful!

  The evening session was closed by reciting the Lord’s Prayer simultaneously in many languages and then singing the Doxology.  I loved the celebratory praise early in the evening and equally loved the older hymn to finalize our time together as believers.

   Later in the week we heard about a group of Portugese who formally went to some Nigerians and asked for forgiveness from decades ago regarding slavery. We also heard to reconciliation between two men at the congress where animosity have been present for a long time.

Abu Dhabi

This is the second largest mosque in the world. It is still under construction. It is huge and beautiful.

   Brian and I are heading to Abu Dhabi today. We left the retreat center this morning at 6 am to head to the Cape Town airport.  I’m sorry to leave such a beautiful country and this place where I’ve experienced some of the highlights of my life. Once again the sun was brilliantly flooding the valley where we spent the last three nights. Those very nice accommodations were courtesy of a generous Christian couple who have supported the third Lausanne congress since the initial planning to come to Cape Town three years ago.

   Abu Dhabi is the capitol of one of the United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf.  The website said it is crime free (because of severe punishment if caught) and has 24/7 bus service from the airport to the city. One of the newest, largest and most beautiful mosques in the world was recently constructed in Abu Dhabi. The outside is made of Italian white marble and is supposedly even more beautiful at night than during the day. We have a 9-hour lay-over from mid-night to 9 am so we are hoping to take advantage of a night time tour. A young Christian lady we met at the congress, Kavita Mathews, lives in Abu Dhabi and agreed that it is safe and beautiful to visit the Arab city at night.