DADDY....
DADDY WAS BORN TO MISSIONARY PARENTS.
HIS PARENTS WERE FIRST MISSIONARIES TO CHINA,
THEN HAWAII, AND FINALLY BOLIVIA.
HAVING BEEN LEFT WITH A TRIBE OF NATIVE INDIANS,
AT THE AGE OF 17, WAS PROBABLY
WHAT BEGAN TO USHER IN TO HIS SPIRIT
A CONVICTION AND A CALLING
THAT WOULD IN A FEW YEARS
CAUSE HIM TO BECOME A MISSIONARY ALSO.
HIS FATHER, MY GRANDFATHER,
LEFT DADDY AND HIS 12 YEAR OLD BROTHER,
WITH A TRIBE OF INDIANS,
TO PROVE TO THE CHIEF
THAT HE REALLY DID WANT TO HELP THEM,
AND NOT HARM THEM.
(WHAT A TREMENDOUS FAITH IN GOD, THAT TOOK)
AFTER THAT, DADDY WORKED WITH THE INDIANS,
ALONG WITH HIS FAMILY, FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS,
BEFORE COMING TO AMERICA ON A FURLOUGH
AND MEETING THE PERSON
WHO WOULD LATER BECOME HIS WIFE
AND THE MOTHER OF HIS CHILDREN.
I LOVED SOME OF THE STORIES
THAT MY FATHER USED TO TELL
ABOUT HIS WORK WITH THE INDIANS,
IN THE JUNGLES OF BOLIVIA.
IN MY EYES, DADDY WAS A GREAT ADVENTURER.
I BELIEVE THAT IT WASN'T IN MY EYES ALONE,
BUT ALSO IN THE EYES OF ALL THOSE WHO KNEW HIM.
IN THE JUNGLE AREA,
WHERE THEY MET THE INDIANS
THAT THEY WOULD BE WORKING WITH,
THEY MADE A CLEARING
AND INVITED THE INDIANS
TO COME AND LIVE THERE WITH THEM
SO THEY COULD TEACH THEM HOW TO BUILD
MORE PERMANENT HOMES TO LIVE IN.
UP TO THAT TIME THESE INDIANS
HAD ONLY LIVED IN LEAN-TO HUTS,
AND BECAUSE THEY WERE A TRIBE OF NOMADS,
THEY WOULD PICK UP THERE BELONGINGS
AFTER THEY HAD HUNTED
AND FISHED EVERYTHING IN THE AREA,
AND MOVE TO A NEW AREA
WHERE THEY COULD FIND NEW FOOD.
DADDY TAUGHT THE TRIBE HOW TO PLANT CROPS,
SO THEY WOULD HAVE FOOD LOCALLY,
AND NOT HAVE TO KEEP FINDING
NEW PLACES TO LIVE.
DADDY AND MAMA ALSO TAUGHT THEM
HOW TO MAKE CLOTHES AND SHOES FOR THEMSELVES.
LITTLE BY LITTLE THEY WERE TAUGHT
HOW TO READ AND WRITE.
ALONG WITH ALL THAT DADDY TAUGHT THEM,
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
WAS WHAT HE TAUGHT THEM ABOUT GOD,
THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE
AND HIS SON, JESUS.
INTERESTINGLY, THIS PARTICULAR TRIBE
DID NOT HAVE ANY FORM OF WORSHIP
AND KNEW NOTHING ABOUT ANY GOD.
IN FACT, WHEN DADDY WANTED TO BEGIN
TEACHING THEM ABOUT GOD,
HE FOUND THAT THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE
A WORD FOR GOD IN THEIR DIALECT.
SO DADDY THEN PROCEEDED TO TELL THEM
ABOUT THE 'BIG FATHER',
OR IN THEIR DIALECT HE CALLED HIM THE
'TAITA GRANDE'.
DADDY AND HIS BROTHER,
WOULD PERIODICALLY TAKE A TRIP OUT INTO THE JUNGLE
TO LOOK FOR ANOTHER GROUP OF INDIANS
AND BRING THEM INTO THE VILLAGE THEY HAD BUILT.
ON ONE OF THEIR EXCURSIONS, THEY WERE TIRED,
SO DECIDED TO GET OFF THEIR HORSES
AND REST FOR A WHILE.
THEY SAW A LARGE LOG THAT WAS LYING CLOSE BY
AND WENT TO SIT THERE TO REST.
AS THEY BEGAN TO SIT DOWN, THE 'LOG' MOVED.
WHAT WAS THERE WAS NOT A LOG AT ALL,
BUT INDEED A VERY LARGE AND DANGEROUS BOA CONSTRICTOR.
WHEW!
SNAKES OF ALL KINDS WERE IN ABUNDANCE IN THE JUNGLE
AND THEY HAD TO BE
ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THEM AT ALL TIMES.
I REMEMBER HIM TELLING
ABOUT GETTING READY FOR BED ONE NIGHT,
AND AS THEY TURNED THE COVERS BACK,
A VERY POISONOUS RATTLE SNAKE
WAS CURLED UP IN THEIR BED.
(JUST ANOTHER ONE
OF THOSE EVERYDAY LITTLE OCCURRENCES.)
ON ANOTHER OCCASION
AS THEY WERE TRAVELING THRU THE JUNGLE,
IT TOOK THEM LONGER THAN THEY HAD ANTICIPATED
AND THEY WERE CAUGHT BY DARKNESS.
IT WAS VERY DANGEROUS
TO TRAVEL IN THE JUNGLE AT NIGHT,
AS IT WAS FULL OF 'CREATURES'
THAT COULD DO SOME HARM TO YOU.
WELL, OK. THEY COULD KILL YOU.
THEY DECIDED TO MAKE CAMP FOR THE NIGHT
AND BUILT A FIRE FOR SOME PROTECTION.
IT WASN'T LONG AFTER THAT,
WHEN THEY SAW SOME EYES A LITTLE WAYS AWAY
FROM THEIR CAMPFIRE,
STARING INTENTLY AT THEM.
BEING MEN OF FAITH, DADDY AND HIS BROTHER
PRAYED FOR THE LORD'S PROTECTION THRU THE NIGHT.
WHEN THEY AWOKE, THE NEXT MORNING,
THEY WENT OVER TO THE AREA
WHERE THEY HAD SEEN THE EYES STARING,
AND SAW LARGE FOOTPRINTS,
WHICH THEY IDENTIFIED AS THE FOOTPRINTS OF A JAGUAR,
COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE SOUTH AMERICAN TIGER.
ONCE AGAIN THE GOD THAT THEY BELIEVED IN
AND TRUSTED, HAD PROTECTED THEM
FROM HARM.
AFTER WORKING AMONG THE INDIANS
FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS,
MY PARENTS FELT LIKE THEY SHOULD GO TO COLOMBIA
AND BEGIN A MINISTRY IN THAT COUNTRY.
THE WORK THERE WAS QUITE DIFFERENT
FROM WHAT IT HAD BEEN IN BOLIVIA,
BUT NOT ANY LESS OF AN ADVENTURE.
HOWEVER, IT WAS IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT WAY,
AS THE PEOPLE THEY WOULD BE WORKING WITH THERE,
WERE NOT PRIMITIVE.
BESIDES STARTING A CHURCH
IN ONE OF THE LARGER CITIES IN COLOMBIA,
HE ALSO STARTED A CHRISTIAN DAY SCHOOL.
NOT ONLY WAS MY FATHER THE PRINCIPAL OF THE SCHOOL,
BUT HE ALSO WAS ONE OF THE TEACHERS IN THE SCHOOL.
DADDY WAS ABLE TO SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH,
AND HELP MANY PEOPLE IN THAT CITY.
HE WAS VERY WELL LIKED
AND RESPECTED BY MANY PEOPLE,
INCLUDING MANY OF THE BUSINESS PEOPLE
AND IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN TOWN.
I REMEMBER HE OFTEN HAD MEETINGS
WITH THEM IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CITY.
WHEN I KNEW THAT HE HAD A MEETING
IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA,
OR HAD TO RUN SOME ERRANDS,
I ALWAYS BEGGED TO GO WITH HIM.
I WOULD SIT IN OUR STUDEBAKER PICK-UP TRUCK
AND WAIT FOR HIM AS HE TOOK CARE OF BUSINESS.
(IT WAS IN THOSE DAYS,
THAT I BELIEVE I LEARNED TO BE
A VERY ENTHUSIASTIC 'PEOPLE WATCHER.')
THE OTHER REASON I LIKED TO GO WITH HIM,
WAS BECAUSE WE ALMOST ALWAYS ENDED UP
AT A COFFEE SHOP/ICE CREAM PARLOR.
I LOVED SITTING THERE EATING ICE CREAM,
WITH ALL THESE, WHAT I THOUGHT WERE 'IMPORTANT' PEOPLE.
MANY OF THE PEOPLE THEN SMOKED A LOT,
SO I WOULD SIT THERE SMELLING THE CIGARETTE SMOKE.
TO THIS DAY, EVEN THO I DON'T LIKE SMOKING
OR THE SMOKE AND PROBLEMS IT PRODUCES,
I GET A VERY NOSTALGIC FEELING
WHEN I SMELL A CIGARETTE BEING SMOKED.
DADDY AND HIS STUDEBAKER PICK-UP,
COULD BE SEEN THREE NIGHTS A WEEK,
GOING ALL OVER TOWN PICKING UP PEOPLE
WHO WANTED TO COME TO THE CHURCH SERVICE.
(NOT MANY PEOPLE HAD CARS IN THOSE DAYS
AND BUS SERVICE WAS NOT AVAILABLE AT NIGHT.)
DADDY WAS A VERY EASY GOING MAN.
HOWEVER, ONCE IN A WHILE
THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT WOULD GET TO HIM.
ONE OF THE THINGS HE DID FOR A PASTIME, WAS GROW ROSES.
HE LOVED HIS ROSE GARDEN.
IF ANYONE GOT INTO HIS ROSE GARDEN
AND DISTURBED IT, YOU WOULD SEE HIS TEMPER.
I ALSO SAW HIM LOSE HIS TEMPER ONE TIME
WHEN HE HAD PLANTED AND NOURISHED
A WHOLE GROUP OF GRAPEFRUIT TREES.
MY SISTER DECIDED THAT SHE WAS GOING TO BE
A GOOD HELPER AND WENT AND PICKED
ALL OF THE GRAPEFRUIT OFF THE TREES.
THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS -
THEY WERE STILL GREEN
AND NOT READY FOR PICKING.
I THINK MY SISTER STILL REMEMBERS
THE CONSEQUENCES. BOTH DADDY AND MAMA
BELIEVED IN SPANKINGS
AND WE EXPERIENCED THEM QUITE OFTEN.
FUNNY HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED.
TODAY YOU MIGHT EVEN HAVE
YOUR KIDS TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU
IF YOU SPANK THEM.
I KNOW IT MADE ME A BETTER PERSON
AND I BELIEVE IT WOULD DO THE SAME
FOR SOME OF TODAY'S KIDS.
PROBABLY ONE OF THE THINGS
THAT IMPRESSED ME THE MOST ABOUT DADDY,
WAS HOW EVERY MORNING, WITHOUT FAIL,
BETWEEN SIX AND SEVEN IN THE MORNING,
DADDY COULD BE FOUND IN THE CHAPEL,
ON HIS KNEES, PRAYING FOR GOD'S GUIDANCE AND WISDOM.
IN HIS LATTER YEARS,
DADDY HAD MANY HEALTH PROBLEMS,
BUT I NEVER REMEMBER HIM COMPLAINING.
HE KNEW THAT HIS LIFE HAD BEEN,
AND CONTINUED TO BE IN GOD'S HANDS.
SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME THAT MY FATHER
WAS WHAT HE CONSIDERED A 'REAL MISSIONARY.'
I AGREE.
HE WAS ALSO A VERY REAL DADDY.
AN EXAMPLE OF GOD, HIS FATHER.
OH THAT TODAY,
WE WOULD HAVE MORE FATHERS LIKE DADDY!
