Legacies

 If I were reading “Pilgrim’s Progress”, I’d think I had slipped into a “Slough of Despond” … at least if my blogs lately are any indicator.

So today I’m slapping on the happy face! (Ouch! That hurt!) Here comes a happy note from a happy Marsha. Okay, so there’s a sad part as well, but bear with me.

One of my heroes died this week. This calls for a huge flashback ….. fasten your seatbelts!

The year was 1977.  We arrived in Monrovia, Liberia to be Dormitory Parents to our missionary kids there so they could attend high school in the capital city. The posting was a spur-of-the-moment decision, made by our mission because our visas to go to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where Tony’s parents were missionaries, had been denied.  That in itself is a loooong story, but you’ll have to buy the book for that one.

Anyway, we arrived to the fresh gleaming faces of 5 beautiful kids.  We found out much much later that they’d hidden the fact that they’d been at the dorm without supervision for the last week.  Something about a breakdown in communication when the previous dorm parents had to leave suddenly. But I guess some things are better not known.

Two of these lovelies were from one family, another two from another and one single girl all alone from a neighbouring country.

The adventure began. Tony and I added a determined two-year-old to the mix, so there was never a dull moment.  Looking back, I have to admit that we knew as much about parenting  as we did about neurosurgery.  There was no lack of advice from well-meaning fellow missionaries, and we accepted it all for trial runs. One week, we’d ignore him and let him scream, the next week we’d spank him for blinking. Poor thing.

Some months into the assignment, we decided to take the kids up to see the Williams family where they served in northern Liberia.  It was an all-day train trip and one to remember, especially because I almost dropped Trevor thru the one holer that emptied onto the tracks,  but we were young and adventurous. 

We were welcomed by Earl and Jane with arms wide open.  I just couldn’t get over how they seemed to be so HAPPY, how they LOVED having us there, no matter the inconvenience.  Then the real ‘charm’ started when they began to talk about their work.

“We’ll be at church all day tomorrow; nobody speaks English; don’t ask what the meat is; you’re gonna love it!”  No apologies, no side-mouthed explanations or cautions.  Just a solid “You’re going to love it!”

And we did!  All day……. with a two-year-old who was put to work entertaining the local grandmas and eating whatever was offered him.   All the other kids fell into place seamlessly, teaching, carrying food, whatever.

And now comes the sad part.

After 30 years of this life, and it wasn’t always easy, the curtain came down. Besides all the mundane ins and outs of any church plant, there was enough drama.   They happened to be the ones who discovered some martyred coworkers. I can’t even imagine.  

But they soldiered on, always giving God the glory.  They retired to much African fanfare (and they certainly know how to do it) and came home to live out their days, working in a church in Louisiana.  

After some time, Earl died, and Jane soon came down with Alzheimer’s.  She was relatively young and fit but had to be put in a home ……. where she lived peacefully in her own little world, not knowing anything, for EIGHTEEN years till she finally went home this last week.

I kept asking God、 “Why”？  She was hands down the best missionary I think I’ve ever known and now this? I can’t even begin to understand。None of us can.  And sadly, I have to realise,  we may never know what God had in mind till Glory, but Jane is HOME now, where she knows who she is and surely feels our Saviour’s love and delight. I can just hear him saying “Well done, good and faithful servant”.  

So I want to say thanks to this couple, because in their natural way, they taught us how we wanted to be a missionary family.  We learned by their example that children are OK with what their parents are doing, because not only do the parents love the work and challenges, but they always include them and credit them with ownership of the call. Everything they did meant “Family”

I still maintain today (even though some would say we were bad parents, imagine that!)  that to be a Missionary Kid is a gift.  Who else gets to share the Gospel with (usually) little sacrifice, speak two or three languages, eat anything, travel the world and be ‘pampered’ with elite schools, camps, healthcare, you name it.

Earl and Jane have 5 kids.  I think all of them are involved in part or full-time ministry.  My son got to do some exciting mission work in South Africa with one of them in his youth.  They too, now have lovely kids who love the Lord.  A few months ago several of them found Liberia safe enough to go back and touch base with the past. (They even went to the old dorm and remembered jumping from the second story balconies onto the couches below while they had no keepers!).  So wonderful for them all, as well as the myriads that were affected by this family there.  

Thanks for letting me share my feelings this morning.  Let’s think about the legacies we’re leaving for others.

Marsha