55 Years

The Way it Was

     It all started on May 24, 1957 when I had my first date with Ronny Brown from Columbia, Tennessee.   It was my birthday and the only reason I went with him was because I didn’t have another date and it was my birthday!   A week earlier, a friend of mine at Lipscomb University, asked Ron to try to sell a rocking chair for her.  He was working in the bookstore and as the school year was ending, she wanted to get rid of a rocking chair she bought from someone going around with a truckload of rocking chairs early in the school year.  When she ask him to put the rocking chair in the bookstore to sell it, he commented, “Sell it to that girl you run around with.  She looks like she’s about ready for a rocking chair.”  When he called to ask me for a date I reminded him of what he said about me.  I was irritated that someone would make that kind of remark about me.  He laughed and said he was just joking.  After we talked a while, I accepted his invitation because he said he wanted to take me to Cross Key’s Restaurant for dinner and it was my birthday!    Cross Key’s was a very good and expensive seafood restaurant and no college boys ever offered to take a girl there. 

     We enjoyed the time together and at the end of the evening, he asked me out for the next night.   I already had a date so he suggested we go to the Nashville airport on Saturday and he’d treat me to a tour over Nashville.  He was not the pilot!   It was a fun experience and then he asked me to Centennial Park to an outdoor concert on Sunday afternoon.   We were together every night after that for the next two weeks. 

      We were studying for final exams and the girls could not leave the dorm after 10 p.m.   My friends decided they wanted a pizza but no one delivered pizzas in 1957.   The other girls started chiding me that I could call Ronny to go get us one. They reminded me that I had said he was nice and if he was that nice he would do it for us.  He lived off campus with Ken Davis (who is now an elder at Wood Avenue in Florence, Alabama).  I had been taught never to call a boy but I finally gave in from the pressure.  We had our money ready to pay for it when he brought it to the door of our dorm.  They all agreed that he really was nice.  My friends were all impressed.  They said their boyfriends would never have done that for them.   They began to tease me that I was in love but I denied it for having known him for less than two weeks.

       The school year ended and my brother, Leon, came to get me to take me back home to Oxford, Mississippi, for the summer.  Ronny left to serve six months active duty in the U.S. Army.   He asked me to take his class ring and write him.   We wrote every day until he got a leave in August.  He called me every Saturday night.   I told my mother he waited until 8 p.m. to call to be sure I wasn’t on a date.   Anytime boys called me, she’d give me a sharp look that would have pierced anyone’s heart.  She said I’d have to send his ring back if I went out with anyone.  I kept his ring and didn’t go with anyone.

       Ron was different.  He was nicer than almost anyone I had dated.  We enjoyed being with each other and after 55 years together, we still do.  He was ambitious and hard-working.  I didn’t want a lazy guy.  I didn’t mind working hard myself but I didn’t want to be the only one in the family doing it.  He was a dedicated Christian so he didn’t smoke or drink.  He had the best list of good qualities of anyone I had ever dated.   I thought I’d be a fool to let him go.   Even though we’ve had a lot of rough times, I still think that.  I don’t think you can get through life without some rough times regardless of who you marry.  I know a lot of people who’ve had it much harder than us so I’m thankful we have weathered the storm.    There may have been a lot of wind and rough seas along the way but the boat is still intact!

       When Ron returned to Oxford, Mississippi in August to see me, he began talking about where we’d live.  He didn’t really propose but just kept beating around the bush.  I got the message regarding his intentions.  I decided not to return to Lipscomb but keep the job I had so I could save money.   My brother, Billy, kept telling me that if I wanted to return to school, I did not need to worry about money.  He would help me with the tuition.  I had gone to school the previous year on my part of my inheritance after my father’s death.  He died before I was 4 years old but the money had been saved for my education.

      When Ron came to visit me for Christmas (December, 1957), he brought me an engagement ring.  We talked about waiting for summer to get married.  He was out of the U.S. Army active duty and beginning his Reserve status and enrolling in Lipscomb University in January, 1958.   My job at Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) ended at the end of February but I didn’t know at that time how long I could work.  I had been filling in for a girl having a baby.  She decided she was ready to return to work.   With this new turn of events, we decided we might as well get married on spring break so the date was set for March 15, 1958.

      Sometime in between these times, Ron came down and took me to Columbia, TN for a weekend to meet his family.   Gayle, two years younger, threatened to let the chickens out so they could roost on the front steps while I was there.  Ned was also at home.  He was two years younger than Gayle (much quieter) and probably a senior in high school at that time.  Ron’s mother and Dad were very kind and sweet and I had a nice time.   In the spring, Ron’s mother had to sign for him to get married.  In Mississippi, the boy was supposed to be 21 and the girl 18 to get a marriage license.  Ron would not be 21 until June 29^th so his Mom signed the document.  She and I loved each other all the years so I don’t think she ever regretted it.

        We married in the preacher’s study at the church building in Oxford, Mississippi.  My mother said it was too hard for her to go to the wedding but she wanted to prepare lunch for all of us that day.   My two brothers and their wives were present and a couple we knew stood with us to be our maid of honor and best man.  It was short and sweet and then we went to Mother’s for lunch.   After lunch, we left for Nashville, TN.  

       Ron rented an apartment in the rear of a church member.   It was a garage apartment but very cute.  There were no curtains so I remember spending a few days that first week, sewing curtains and a couch cover by hand.  Ron was campus policeman in those early days of our marriage.  I quickly got a job at AVCO Corporation as a secretary to a member of the church.   We didn’t see each other very much.  He was on duty until about 1 a.m. and was still sleeping when I left for work at 7:00 a.m.   He would attend classes during the day and go back on duty at night.

      Mother told me later that she liked Ron but thought we would starve.   She just didn’t know how hard-working we were.   I took off work about six months after Leigh Ann was born in 1960 and a couple of months after Ronald was born in 1964 but I worked all the rest of the time.   (There was a little time I could not work in St. Bart, French West Indies.  We were missionaries on that island during the years 1989-1991).  But, to keep busy, I baked goods to sell to the public and no matter how much I baked, it was all sold daily at a little market nearby. 

      That’s the way it was when I met Ronny Brown.  I’d have to write an entire book to tell about all the years in between 1958 – 2013 (55 years later).  This was our anniversary dinner.   

 

 

 

Iron Horse

 

For Texans, my reporting about our travels may be boring but for those not familiar with traveling in Texas, you may read a few interesting things.  I wrote all of what's below last week but did not get it posted.   We have now completed our week in San Antonio so my next segment will be after  we leave here on March 11th.  I have some pictures to post about this part also as soon as we are in a location where I have sufficient internet.

We left Alice, TX right after Sunday morning service on March 3rd and arrived in San Antonio, TX about 3:30 p.m.   Ron didn’t think we had time to eat lunch with the preacher and his wife.  Ron does not drive the speed limit with the RV pulling a car so it takes us longer than it would just to drive a car.  We had to park, unhook the car, and be at a church on the west side of the city by 5:30 p.m.   Instead of going to Chili’s for lunch, we split the small loaf of banana nut bread given to visitors that morning at the congregation in Alice.  Our lunch consisted of some nuts, banana nut bread and juice.   Usually, we only eat a granola bar when traveling through lunch so the banana nut bread was a treat. 

It was desolate country driving from Alice with miles and miles without towns or people.  As we drove through George West (yes, that’s a town), it looked like a western movie could have been made there.  Along the road, I saw a for-sale sign offering 2000 acres for sale.   I heard that a ranch in Texas must have a minimum of 100 acres to be called a “ranch”.  Otherwise, it’s just a farm.  We see gates along the roadway identifying ranches with a winding road back into the landscape with nothing to see from the road.  Perhaps, they have a mansion like “Southfork” from the TV show Dallas somewhere but we cannot see it from the road.  Even with a house like that, you could not give it to me.   I need to be closer to some neighbor or at least to a Wal-Mart!    Most of the land we saw yesterday was not farm land and did not look like it had ever been cleared (at least not along the roadside).  

We saw a billboard advertising a Wildlife Safari (it said “African Safari, Texas Style” but I have no idea what they mean.   We have not so much as seen an armadillo (even dead on the roadway).  We do suspect that there are thousands of rattlesnakes in the wild areas.  It’s so dry that nothing grows but scrub trees and cactus.

Oil has been discovered in stretches along this highway so we saw many new oil wells pumping away.  A convoy of trucks and digging equipment on vehicles passed us and turned off heading to a new location.  It made me think of a story about a man that lived on desolate land in Texas and has experienced drought for a number of years and got so fed up that he sold his land cheap and moved to California.  Within a short time, the new owner discovered oil on the property and became a millionaire.  Sometimes, we think the grass is greener somewhere else when we are sitting on a goldmine and do not realize it.

We passed a big oil refinery along the way that is owned by Valero (many Valero gas stations exist in Texas but their gas is never cheap).   At night, the refineries are beautiful with so many lights it looks like a huge city many miles away.    The oil industry keeps many people employed in Texas and we see “Hiring” or “Help Wanted” signs in many cities.    The State of Texas actually has a surplus of money so there’s little poverty in Texas except for the illegal immigrants that do not have jobs and many of them are unskilled.   We see large orange and grapefruit groves in these southern cities so I know there is one area many of them can work.

Between McAllen and Alice, we crossed a border check.  It’s probably 50 miles or more inland from the valley cities but it is at a point where roads from many of those areas would meet before reaching this check point.  I looked at the map and expected us to find a check point at that location.   They looked at our driver’s licenses, asked if only two people were aboard and then waved us on through.  Another RV just ahead of us went through easily but the car right in front of us was inspected by a dog, and then pulled over to the side for a thorough search. 

The preacher in Alice told us they have a sign up at this checkpoint listing the number of illegal immigrants they have caught at this check point and it is over 5,000.  They also list the weight of drugs confiscated.  I don’t know what period of time their totals cover. 

Last week, we heard on the news that they found a small house in Brownsville with 90 illegal immigrants inside.  Some of them had been there over a week.  They had enough food brought to them but there was not even sitting room for all of them.  I think someone in the neighborhood tipped off the police.  This is common in the valley cities.  How so many get across the border, I don’t know.  I suspect we have the same problem as China – bribe some border patrol officers and they turn a blind eye and let them through.  There are smugglers that professionally get them across at certain points and help them get inland.  Many mix in with relatives in these cities and stay but others are caught. 

When we arrived in San Antonio, we parked our RV at Iron Horse RV so we can get the RV serviced while we are in San Antonio.  Ron thinks Iron Horse is the best service we have found - dependable and thorough.  They are expensive at $125 per hour for labor.  An RV service man makes as much as some professionals but he gets much of his experience with on-the-job training.  The workers here do seem to know what they are doing and we trust them.  They have a good reputation and a good business.

Iron Horse is a great name because that’s what I’d like to call this vehicle.   Ron saw in the lobby that there are estimated to be 20 million RV’s in America.   I guessed 1 million and thought that was a high figure.  But, they always have quite a few RV’s lined up for service every time we have arrived at Iron Horse.  Some of these RV’s are worth as much as $300,000 (some are almost new) but with anything mechanical, there will always be things that need servicing or repair.  They may look luxurious inside but I can assure you that the lifestyle is anything buy luxurious.   I’d take Holiday Inn for trips any day if we did not have to travel full-time and be in so many cities.   

We connected to one of their power outlets yesterday afternoon with RV’s parked on both sides of us awaiting service.  We save a little money on the parking but not enough to pay for the things they have to do.  We can’t connect to internet here.  They gave us the code for their wireless.  Ron was able to connect but I never could get my computer to connect.  For a short time, I connected to Lowe’s customer service wireless but after I lost that connection, I could not get it again.  I’ve worked on things off-line all day today.

The RV’s on each side of us have blocked our TV signal as well.   We do not take satellite TV because it’s just too expensive and it’s still a lot of trouble.  We see people trying to set up their satellite dishes in front of their RV and tinker with it for hours to get it set right.  Ron claims to hate TV so I won’t put him through that just for me to have TV.   He watches news and some programs on PBS but complains about a lot of stuff.  I agree that there are some horrible sitcoms and other stuff, but I don’t watch them anyway.   Like anything else, you can select the good things and leave off the bad.  Usually, with the antennae on top of the RV, we are able to pick up three or four networks in big cities and maybe one or two in smaller cities.   If I can get a major network and a few programs, it’s enough.  We work all day and have only a short time for TV at night.   In the Rio Grande Valley most all the channels are in Spanish.   If I can get one English station, it’s lucky.

Today, it was 85 degrees.  I think we had a low of about 40 this morning and it will be 40 again tonight.  About 4 a.m. in the morning, a cold front is coming in (no rain expected) with strong winds with gusts up to 40-50 mph.  It will be in the 60’s tomorrow.  These drastic temperatures change like this almost weekly in these southern parts of Texas.

We had a good time meeting some new folks last night and look forward to three other congregational meetings while we are in San Antonio.   Dr. Fred and Peggy Massey always have dinner with us when we come through here.  We will meet them Thursday night at a restaurant.  Ron wants to talk to Dr. Massey about the new hospital in China and get his idea about equipment and tools we will need.  We have three Chinese sponsors from one of Lily’s visits to San Antonio with a heart patient last year.  Ron is going to meet one of them for lunch tomorrow.  They have been very helpful when we bring children from China for surgery at Christa Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio.  Some of these families have served as host families for the poor children.  We know other people who live in San Antonio but may not have time to see everyone.

Moving On

We are moving on.  I will post this segment to my blog while I have a free internet connection.

Our work in the Rio Grande Valley has finished.  It’s been a good two weeks in this southern tip of Texas.  We have been well-received by the churches but it’s our second trip to visit most of them.  Some Christians have been very generous to give donations for the work. We find some new people each year that have not heard of our work and are quite amazed that we are able to do this in China.  God has certainly blessed us.  It’s isn’t humanly possible to accomplish a lot without God’s blessings.  HE goes before us to soften hearts that give up permission to care for the poor children.  We read in the Bible about Christ’s compassion for the people and his love for the little children.  We are merely servants trying to follow HIS example.  The need is great in many third-world countries.  It is certainly this way in China.

Last Sunday morning, we met a couple from Illinois.  They took us for Mexican food after services.   It was definitely real Mexican food! This sweet couple spends six months each winter in McAllen and live in a 5^th wheel camper.  They said there are 1000 slots for campers in the park where they stay.  As we drive around, we see parks on each side of the roads.  When I say there are thousands living in motor homes in southern TX in the winter, I’m not exaggerating.  Sometimes we can see them lined up for miles.  They are referred to as “Winter Texans” rather than “Snow Birds.”   It doesn’t matter where they are from – they still “winter in Texas.”

I saw one RV park mentioned on the 6:00 p.m. news.  They must also have thousands of motor home residents.  They have activities planned for them day and night.  There was a roomful of them (all senior citizens, of course) so it looked like an activity room at a nursing home.  I’m sure these older people enjoy meeting other people and doing things together.  If they live in a very cold area, this life style provides them with several months of vacation in a warm climate. 

This Sunday morning, we will be at the church in Alice, TX.   We will arrive Saturday about noon and park overnight in their parking lot.  Sunday afternoon, we will drive to San Antonio.  Ron is scheduling appointments in San Antonio now that will take about 10 days to complete.  He is working on appointments for other places after that. 

Our weather in the Valley has been in the 40’s at night so it’s good sleeping weather under a warm comforter.  The days warm up to the 70’s.   One day this week, a cold front moved all the way down to Mexico and brought winds that were unbelievable.  We know we had sustained winds up to 40 or 50 mph and gusts much higher.  We brought in the sliders of the RV in order to protect the canvas covers over the sliders and reduce some of the noise and movement.   We are too heavy to turn over with winds like this but we do “rock and roll” in high winds. At night, it was impossible to sleep some of the time because of the noise.

We did not complain about the winds when we saw this front dumped 19” of snow in Amarillo, TX (panhandle of TX) and took its toll on many people as it moved northeast.   Old man winter is not sleeping yet. 

February is usually a low-income month.  Many contributors give donations during December in order to have a tax credit in 2012.  Many orphan sponsors pay yearly and send in a large donation in January every year.  February usually dwindles down for these reasons, but we were very blessed with a very good income this month. 

March brings many expenses for China Mission because the spring semester of school begins in China.  We now have a large number of children in high school.  They live at the school during the week so we have cost of living expenses in addition to tuition.

Ron is working on travel arrangements for a group of 14 going from Buford, Georgia to China,   They will be going to Wesley’s House in Pingguo to work for a few weeks at the end of May.  We know it will be a very rewarding and exciting experience for them and for the children at the care center.

A group of doctors and nurses from Houston (I think they may all be  Chinese) plan to go to the new hospital in WaDian, Henan in July to conduct our first medical mission.  Ron thinks it will primarily be to give physicals to the children in that area to determine their health needs.  This team will not do surgery on this trip, but they will identify problems with children, such as congential heart disease, TB, hepatitis, and locate other problems such as cleft lip/palate and dental needs.  We can schedule heart patients to Xi’an or to the U.S. for surgeries.  Future medical teams will be able to handle some of the less severe illnesses.  We are excited about this new method to help poor children.  When we can expand our borders, it gives hope and opportunity to help children that would never receive treatment otherwise. 

We are hopeful that the government is this area will be proud of the work and support it with approval and offer help in various ways.

Ron has been working on the Form 990, the yearly income tax return that must be filed for all non-profit institutions.  It’s taken a lot of his time and is very complicated.  I helped add some columns for him last night and checked his figures. I got a close-up view of the complicated return.  The IRS audited us a few years ago and when the worker went by our house in Georgia, Judy, our Chinese worker, answered her questions.  Judy was very fast with her work and I’m sure her explanation was too complicated for the IRS worker.  She didn’t stay very long.  Keeping our books really is difficult because of the uniqueness of sending funds to China and receiving petty cash forms from China as to how the money is spent.

We received good news this morning that Ryan and Rachel Swanson, our workers at Refuge of Grace Christian Care Center in Luxi, have a baby girl.  They have been full-time teachers working at this care center since last June.  They were educated at Freed-Hardeman University and have majors in Bible so they are well-prepared to help the children.  For six or seven years, they have taught English in China and are fluent in Mandarin.  They are a great blessing to our work.  We are so happy that Rachel and their new baby daughter are doing well.

Well, that’s all I can report at this time.  We don’t get a chance to venture out of the RV during the week except to shop for food and visit the churches.  I hope to write again and have more interesting news next time. 

Keep us in your prayers.  Not only for our health and safety but also for our workers and the children we care for.  Thank you.

 

Rio Grande Valley Trip

On February 4^th we arrived at Sunny Glen Children’s Home in San Benito, TX.   We followed the coast line from Corpus Christi and then drove straight south to reach this area of the Rio Grande Valley.   While parked at the Children’s Home, we visited churches in La Feria, Pharr and Harlingen.   We had some wonderful visits with Christians in these churches.  We had good meetings at Pharr and Harlingen congregations.   We have been to Pharr and Harlingen the past two years, but this time we added La Feria.  After the Sunday night service at 8^th & Harrison in Harlingen, we were invited to one of the small groups in the home of one of the Hispanic members.  There were about 15 people there.  It was a very delicious Mexican meal, prepared by the host family.  I could not tell you what was in the main dish but it was very good. 

Our first Wednesday night in the valley was not scheduled so I went on the web to see what other churches were near us that we had not visited before.  In past years, we went to San Benito and Port Isabel but those churches are very small with less than 20 members.   I could see that La Feria was small but thought it would be nice to meet more Christians.  There were about 20 present that night.  They asked Ron to give them a quick report about the work in China.  At the end of the service, they asked if he would come back Sunday morning and give the power point to the entire congregation.   At the end of the worship Sunday morning, they asked if we had a place to go Sunday night.  When Ron said he did not have an appointment, they asked him to come back and give a lesson Sunday night.   We quickly felt at home with this group of kind, welcoming Christians.  When we passed the area of their church building on our way to Palmhurst, TX, I almost felt like we were passing by “home.”

 

We relocated to Palmhurst on Feb. 19^th.   We drove an hour west, going through Weslaco, McAllen and Mission, TX and then a few miles north to Palmhurst.    Highway 83 going west follows the Rio Grande River, which is the border between the U.S. and Mexico.    There are a lot of illegal crossings in these areas along the river (which must be shallow) with borders not too secure.  We hear a lot about securing the border but we have not done a good job protecting the U.S. from people walking across in many areas of Texas.   One day last week, there was a wreck on Highway 83 and the car had 7 illegal immigrants crammed inside.  Most were injured in the accident and taken to a hospital.  The news in this area is often reporting arrests of drug leaders and Hispanic criminals.   The news also reported this week that at least 100 bodies were found right across the border in the U.S.  Some Mexican group was transporting the immigrants across the border, letting them out and telling them they would return soon to bring food.  They never returned and the people starved.  There are some desert areas along the border so the people did not know where to go or what to do to get help.  We have been warned that it’s not a safe area so we do not venture out except to visit churches and go to Walmart.

The North Mission church in Palmhurst has RV hookups and invited us to stay here as long as we need a place to park.   We were able to drive in and park easily and comfortably.    They have a huge park next to the building that belongs to the church for the community to use.  It has a paved walking path with park benches and enough space for two ball parks.  There’s a small building with restrooms for the public.  I think they also have a gym that can be scheduled for the public’s use.  They have flood lights all around and keep the grass watered and cut.  We have people in the park until 10 p.m. every night and people walking all day.  It’s a very busy place.   At first, they said we could use showers in the church building but then we found out that their hot water is not working.   I prefer showers in a small RV stall with warm water!

The weather has been strange.  It is very flat and dry in the valley.  They really need rain but it always rains north of here.  There are very few trees, some tall palm trees and nothing else.  We see a few flowers but not very many due to the very dry conditions.  Yesterday, it was 90 degrees; today it’s in the 70’s.  We have had a lot of cloudy days with winds up to 40 mph.   At night, it’s so noisy with the wind that we pull in the sides of the RV so we can sleep.  The sliders that give us more room when we are parked, have a canvas covering and they flop and whistle in the strong wind.  We see the weather news across the U.S. that dumps lots of rain and snow so we are not complaining.

We will be here another week to visit churches in McAllen, Brownsville and Weslaco.  Our next stop is Alice, TX, heading straight north from the valley.   We will just be there overnight for Ron to speak on Sunday and then travel on to San Antonio.

With the Chinese workers and orphaned children off to visit relatives for Chinese New Year, our workload has been slower for a few weeks, with few reports coming from China.  We need these breaks to catch up with work we put off and seldom get around to doing.  It refreshes the children to get a break from school in China and it refreshes us to catch up with our work occasionally.

We are very thankful that we had a very good year in 2012.  The income was good so all the works had sufficient funds to operate.  The hospital is much closer to completion than in this picture. 

This was taken at the end of November.  They are ready to paint the outside of the building now. The new charity hospital has been Ron’s main concern because of the cost.  Raising funds for it has been generous from some donors but still it takes so much to build a hospital of this magnitude, even in China.  It is still small, compared to any hospital in the U.S.   It has two OR’s and 12-15 beds.  The hospital building construction is almost completed. 

It looks good!  We are thankful for the good job Ronald has done supervising the construction.  It was not easy.  He had many setbacks and obstacles to overcome.   Anything done in China is not simple.  Now, Ron has the task of furnishing it and adding the equipment, which is another major expense.  Dr. Lou Smith, a surgeon in Tennessee, is delivering a truckload of small equipment and hand tools to Leigh Ann’s home in Georgia this afternoon.  We will ship these items from the U.S.  They will buy the larger equipment in China.  

Ron has decided that the hospital will be primarily used as a “children’s” hospital because there is no way we could accommodate all the people in that area.  Henan Province has 94 million people and most of them are poor and without health insurance.   We will have to accommodate some older people but cannot take on many advanced diseases of the older people. We have our first team of doctors and nurses going in July from Houston, TX.   We have many doctors and nurses expressing an interest in going over there to work on their vacation time. 

We have good news from Lily and King in Singapore.  They say they are doing well with their schooling.  Lily reported that King made 100 on a memory quiz recently.   When Lily was with us in the RV (June, 2012), Ron asked her a lot of questions and found that she had a good knowledge of the Bible.  But, when questioned about her baptism, she was vague but confident that it was biblical.  She was taught by a Korean missionary and his wife in Xi’an.   Yesterday, Lily called from Singapore to tell us that she was being baptized.  I guess she’s realized that her baptism in China was not biblical.  She told Ron she knew he would want to know about her baptism and be happy for her.   We have not heard from Timothy or Jackie at the school, but assume they are doing well.

We continue to bring children to the U.S. for surgeries.  A little girl returned to China last weekend after having successful heart surgery in San Antonio.   Two more heart patients are scheduled to arrive soon (one in New Orleans).   A little girl from one of our care centers was brought for cleft lip surgery about a month ago.  She had surgery on our cleft palate medical mission two years ago, but it was not good.  They did another surgery in China but it still looked horrible.  Now, she’s had another surgery in the U.S. and will return to China next week.  She is about 8 years old.  A three-year old girl was brought to the U.S. about a month ago and is now undergoing skin grafts at Shriners Hospital in Cincinnati.  She was burned very badly in her face so she will probably be in the U.S. for a year. 

We are very thankful, every single day, for health and opportunities to serve Him by helping the poor children.   The world is in a mess in so many ways, but there’s hope because we find so many people along our travels that are willing to sacrifice to help others.  God must look down on all of the evil in the world and see the shining light of Christians still carrying the torch of love, kindness and service.   Our thanks goes out to our many supporters that freely give so generously.

 

 

 

 

Gypsies

We are like Gypsies, moving to a new location every few weeks.  This isn’t exactly what most people think of when they say they want to travel and see the world, but we do see a lot of things, places and people.   Blogger keeps changing it's format so my pictures are not well spaced in this segment.  I have to read up again on how to do this stuff.

In January, we put 616 miles on the RV and 884 additional miles on the car as we traveled back and forth from the RV to churches in each area.  Ron and I are doing well.  We have the usual aches and pains for our age, but we are able to continue doing our work.  Ron tells people he knows more than he can remember.  His other favorite saying is “I can now hide my own Easter eggs.”    He is proud that he’s still alive (and able to work) at this age – I don’t tell my age but he does, and then people know how old I am also.  I tell him it’s like little children that say after a birthday, “I’m going on 3-l/2 now.”    To start telling people you are 76 when your birthday is still six months away shows you are reverting back to childhood!

We returned to Texas before Thanksgiving.   We always enjoy our time with the Lewisville church so much and now it seems more like home when we get back there.  When we return, we park at a Corp of Engineers’ park in Hickory Creek and at another one across the Lewisville Lake at a park owned by the City of Lewisville.  We are now familiar with roads in the area and can easily find all the places we need to go.  This time, we added another park owned by the city of Highland Village.  We can only stay two weeks in each location although after 14 days, we can return to two of the parks.  You have to be away 28 days to go back to the City of Lewisville park.  To move, we have to put everything away in the RV, strap everything down so it won’t shift around during driving and then reset up again when we arrive at the next park.  Therefore, it’s a lot of trouble and a bit of a nuisance.  I can understand the limitation of not letting people park long-term, however.  When we have to park at a regular RV park, people can make reservations for a month or a year so these parks have a lot more junk around each camper.   We stayed at one in Richmond, TX (south of Houston) that looked more like a junk yard than a park.  It turned out to be a good stay but the view out my window as I worked was of three old dilapidated pick-up trucks (I don’t think any of them would run) that were used for some working guy’s warehouse of tools, materials and equipment.   He lived next to the trucks in a very small camper.  The park was quiet, had sewage connection and we could pick up free a Wi-Fi connection.  At Corp of Engineer parks, we have security with a gate guard and a car pass is required to come and go.  The main gate to the park is locked at 10 p.m. and opens at 6 a.m.  Anyone can drive out of the park, but no one can drive in during those hours.  The private RV parks do not have any security.

We were in the Greenville, TX area during the Christmas and New Year holidays.   We went into Greenville to have lunch with a friend on Christmas Day and then we hurried back to the RV parked at Boles Children’s Home (also known as Arms of Hope or Medina) at Quinlan.   It started snowing before we got back and then for the afternoon we watched a blizzard outside our windows.  It was very quiet on the campus of this orphanage since most of the children and staff had gone somewhere for the holidays. 

Ron and I went to see Les Miserables in Greenville, TX as our treat for the holidays.   It is a very sad and depressing story but the acting and singing were fabulous if you like that kind of production.  We saw the Broadway production in Montreal, Quebec in 1991 but it probably was in French (I know I didn’t understand most of it).  We didn’t have close up seats so I didn’t get into it or appreciate it very much that time.  Understanding the story and singing helped, even though it was really sad. 

We were fortunate to park in the driveway of the minister’s house in Bay City, TX a couple of weeks ago.  He installed a 50 amp plug in his garage just for us to use.  It was a little challenge getting into the driveway because of low limbs on the huge live oak trees that grow in this area.  Larry, the minister, actually got his ladder and saw and cut some limbs so we could back in safely.  We spent five days at their home and had a fabulous time.   Mary Ann cooked for us the first night we arrived but after that, we each cooked part of the meal and put it together at their house.  We really enjoyed the food and fellowship.  

We arrived in Port Aransas (Port A to the locals) two weeks ago.  We have to cross a bay by ferry to get to this area unless we want to go a long way around that has a bridge over to Mustang Island and on to Port Aransas.  This is not us!  It's the smallest camper I have even seen!

 

 

I nearly freaked out the first time we drove the RV (40’ long with the car pulled behind) onto the ferry.  We were the first to drive on and they motioned for us to come all the way to the very front.   Brave woman guided us on!

We were sitting up so high, it seemed that we would just go on over if we went forward a little bit more.  I posted pictures on Facebook a year ago because it was an awesome view from our high seat in the RV.  This time, it wasn’t nearly as frightening.  I’ve seen that 18
wheelers and other large vehicles, gas tankers and construction trucks go back and forth over the ferries all the time.  Four ferries go back and forth 24 hours a day for five days.  They have a few less running over the weekends.  Dolphins were playing in front of the ferries as they cross.

The GPS does not recognize the ferry and says “Go straight ahead on highway 316”.  I guess 316 in this particular area is also called “Cemetery Road” and by the time we are in the middle of the waterway, the GPS is saying “Take Cemetery Road.”    I told Ron that’s not a very comforting comment when I’m already nervous that a ferry could go “down.”   It is a quick crossing and we see dolphins, pelicans, fishing boats and even large tankers come by so it is very interesting. 

A very kind man, a member of the church in Port A, owns Tropical Motel and RV park and he gives us a parking space each year when we come here.  It is a well-kept park and it’s a beautiful, tropical resort.  In January, it’s too cool for the pool or an ocean swim, however.   We enjoy the palm trees and sea breeze when it’s not too cold.  The temperatures have generally been good since we arrived.  Yesterday, the winds were about 30+ mph and a bit chilly.  It is about 50 and night and low 70’s during the day.  We have taken 30-minute walks each day as the weather permits.  The tropical houses (every color you can imagine) are of every kind from little shacks to million dollar estates.  Many houses are up on stilts (I call it that not knowing the proper word for it). I think they drive pilings into the ground and the house is built with this foundation.   Cars are parked underneath the house.  It is designed for water to flow under the house during a hurricane to keep from washing the house away.  

 

We are near Corpus Christi and Padre Island so hurricanes have come into this area in the past.  On Friday, we walked to the beach.  It is about l-l/2 miles each way.  We didn’t stay – just looked around and took some pictures and walked back.  Both of us had one knee hurting by the time we got back to the RV.  Our old joints aren’t what they used to be.

Port Aransas borders the Gulf of Mexico so the ocean we were viewing was the Gulf.  Just down the strip of land from Port A, there’s a strip of land called Mustang Island.   Further down toward Mexico is Padre Island.   A lot of college kids come to this area for spring break.  I remember than many years ago, Ronald came to Padre Island for spring break from Abilene.   Last night, it sounded like kids had already arrived.  We woke up at 2:30 a.m.  because of car racing on the street next to the RV park.  It went on for about l/2 hour.  By that time, I was awake and could not sleep for the next two hours.  Ron said he never did go back to sleep.  He heard a barge or large ship come through (the water is just on the other side of the street about 4:30 a.m.  If they blow their horns as they come through the port, they are sometimes very loud. 

We have enjoyed some good fellowship and meals with church members in this area.  It’s our third year to come down here so we know a lot of people and meet some new ones on each trip.  The restaurants with seafood are especially good, but not cheap.   The seafood is brought in fresh from the ocean by commercial fishermen, so it’s delicious.

Today, Feb. 3^rd is our last day here.  We will go down the valley to San Benita, McAllen, and Brownsville from here.  This carries us almost to Mexico but we don’t get too close to the border.   There are a lot of Hispanics in these cities and in stores and restaurants Spanish is about all we hear spoken.  It is dangerous in the southern cities so we don’t venture out shopping or exploring.  We will visit churches in this area for about two weeks.   We can park at the Sunny Glen Children’s Home and at the church building in McAllen.   There are no lakes or Corp of Engineer parks) in southern Texas.

Ron stays very busy making appointments, planning the trips, keeping the RV in good repair and working on the computer at least 8 hours every day.  Some days, he is on the computer much longer but with appointments and travel, it’s broken up from time-to-time.   When we are parked, I am also working.  I just completed the dreaded tax letters to our contributors.  I am thankful for all the donations but being required by law to get a tax letter to everyone in January is quite a task.  The law, like many other laws, does not make sense anyway.  To back up a donation, IRS requires that you obtain a letter for any charitable donation of $250 or more.  The strange thing to me is, you could give 100 donations of $249 and IRS would not require a letter but claiming one donation of $250 needs a letter for the individual’s tax records.   As an accommodation to our sponsors, I prepare letters also listing all of their donations (including those under $250) if they gave as much as $250 in total.  

Leigh Ann and I made a deal this year – she handled all of the reports and letters from the care centers in China, sending everything to the children’s sponsors, while I worked on tax letters in January.  Usually, we divide up the work but this seemed to be the easiest for both of us this month.  This is the last day of January and all the tax letters are out and Leigh Ann is caught up on her work from China.   Groundhog Day is coming soon, but we won’t care about his prediction since we will be in the warmer climate for the next month or six weeks.

We had a wonderful surprise last week.  A young man from Lithuania was just like a son to us while we were in Montreal, Quebec (1991-1998).  We lost track of him and when we saw an email from him, we almost jumped up with joy.  He searched the internet and found us because of our work in China.  Technology can be used in a bad way but it’s wonderful in so many ways.  I have located lost friends on Facebook and searching the internet.  I also found Jason, another young man that came into our lives in St. Croix in 1985, by searching the internet recently.   It is truly a shame to let people out of our lives and not keep in touch but over the years with us all going our separate ways, it’s going to happen.  We are so grateful for the opportunity to meet up with these young men again and also to be able to chat with our son in China, our daughter-in-law in the Philippines and our daughter and granddaughter in Atlanta, all just a minute away by email or Skype. 

We miss our family so much but keeping in touch helps some.  Ronald, our son, has the charity hospital in Henan about 98% completed.  He has worked 7 days a week since mid-July.  It’s not been an easy task, as he faced many obstacles.  I don’t know how he’s hung in the way he has under difficult circumstances.   The government gave him a small apartment and furnished two of his meals a day, but it’s minimal.  Very few people would live in these conditions at all, much less for more than six months.  He seldom has hot water or internet and the meals are not good.   Gigi, Ronald’s wife from the Philippines, was able to get a VISA to be with him for three months.  She had never experienced cold weather before and she saw snow for the first time.  She told me they rode the motor bike to the market (I think she cooked more of their meals when she got there).  I am sure it was hard for her but I’m also certain that she brought much joy to Ronald’s life just getting to share life with her.  (Hardships of life are easier when we are with someone we love.)   Gigi returned to the Philippines mid-January.  They are trying to plan their future now that the major projects are completed.

King, a Chinese boy of 13, came to the U.S. in 2006 for skin graft surgeries.  His parents were killed in a house fire and King was burned very badly over much of his body.  He lived with us (and part of the time with a family in Ashland City, TN) for 19 months.  He was home-schooled in English until he could go to public school in Georgia.  He went to the 8^th grade there.  He returned to China by the 9^th grade but they put him back one year because of his Chinese (he had been away a couple of years by this time).  King graduated from high school in June, 2012.   On January 3^rd, he entered Four Seas Bible College in Singapore.  Classes are taught by American professors in English so King had to brush up on his English to be able to take these courses.  He says it’s a little hard but he is sure he will be able to succeed and he’s promised himself that he will do it.  This is probably the greatest confidence I have seen in him.  He is now 20 years old.  We are so proud that he has overcome so many obstacles in his life and remains strong and determined to have a good future. 

We still have many churches to visit in many cities of Texas.  Texas really is big!    That claim is well-established when you travel around.  We have also found Texans wonderful people.  Everything may be the biggest and best in the state, but they should boast about having some of the nicest people in the world too.   The economy is still good in Texas.  We see signs “Hiring” and businesses are all busy.   Today, we had lunch with Phyllis and Gerald Lee, dear friends in Portland, who own a Century 21 Real Estate business.  Phyllis said sales are good.   I probably would not hear that if I talked with Bobbie, my friend in Georgia at Century 21.  We hope the economy will continue to improve in every state.

Until I can find time to write again, may God bless you all!