Insights Into The Past

Here is a letter my dad wrote that talks about his roots, where he came from, and how he and my mom came together and decided to become missionaries. I thought it might be interesting to share here.



Dear Daughter:

It has occurred to me that perhaps you have wondered about us, your parents. How we came together and why we became missionaries. I would therefore like to give you a little insight into my past and reasons why we do what we do.

I was born in Muskegon Michigan. My dad was a foreman in Lakey Foundry and in charge of the core making and setting department. He was a very hard working man. When we were very small my mother tells me that my dad almost died of pneumonia. It was then he quit smoking. While we were young children, we went first to the Methodist Church downtown. Then we moved to the Heights and went to the Baptist Church. We didn't have a car, but went with the Wabaldas in their car to Lake Harbor (Michigan).

It was there my folks heard Oswald J. Smith of Toronto and there they heard the gospel and there they accepted the Lord as their savior. We went to church faithfully every Sunday.

My mother was born in Winnoa Minnesota, and her dad had a large orchard there at Sugarloaf Bluff. They were Presbyterians and my grandfather was an itinerant lay pastor and traveled preaching in Iowa and Minnesota. He took sick and died when my mother was a young lady, I believe. My mother went to work in St. Paul and drew designs for a tomb stone manufacturer... angels and etc. Their name was Janke, later changed to Yankee due to World War 1. My father learned the foundry business in Glasgow, Scotland and was a foundry man all his life. They were married and went to Waukasha Wisconsin, and then on to Michigan and Lakey Foundry.

Jean was the first child and the smart one of the family. Peggy and I (twins) came two years later (1918). Peggy and I went to school together, hand in hand, right up to High School. She was very timid and especially afraid of bugs. I was afraid of snakes, although we never saw any in the city.

We went to church and had a happy family relationship. I liked to play a lot and get dirty an awful lot. But still, I thought I was the best boy there could be. I would surely go to Heaven. I had never done anything really bad, or even a little bad.

A group of men lead by Dean Pennet formed a boy's club. The Christian Boys Alliance. They had a sports program, and we in the Heights were the Heights Tigers, and played Baseball. We had to attend a boy's meeting in the Dutch Reformed Church every other Friday evening and when we were present for three times, we got a pin with C.B.A. It was one of the happiest days of my boyhood when I got my PIN. I was thirteen years old.

Then, one Friday I got to the church a half hour early and began playing hide and seek in the rooms of the basement of this big church. I ran down the hall and into a room. There were about fifteen boys and men there, praying for the coming meeting on their knew. They thought I had come for the same purpose, so I was trapped. It was my first encounter with real honest to goodness Christians.

I left that meeting shocked. And for the next two weeks remembered the things I had done. I remembered the dime I took out of my mother's purse. The following Friday evening the speaker spoke on Isiah 1:18, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow." I left the meeting that night filled with a peace and joy that has never left yet and never will.

We didn't have television and for a long time without radio, as radio was new and very expensive. Antennas had to be long and complex. So, I would sit on the piano bench with my mother and we would sing the best loved hymns, and I will always remember the wonderful wonderful times I had then.

As time went on I did graduate from High School, and took my old bike my father had, and went to work for Western Union Telegraph as a messenger boy. Four years I was there, and it was there I began to grow in my Christian life. I made a good friend of Kirby Johnson.

There was a time of a real working of God in our young peoples meetings, and we were busy almost every night. A revival came to our church and many many people came to know the Lord. Among them was Kirby Johnson, and from that time we were always together even though he lived on the other side of town. We planned to be missionaries. Then came World War II.

I was working in the employment office of Lakey Foundry. I worked long hours and was called in the first draft. The medical report was that I had a heart murmur. I was rejected and heartbroken. Kirby went. He had his training here in El Paso, Ft Bliss.

It was just before that, that my father, on the way to see the foot doctor had a collision with the train and was killed. I took on the care of my mother. A year or two passed, and I received the news that Kirby had been killed in the Battle of Italy. I was heartbroken.

Soon after, I was called up and passed, and went into the Army. I was shipped to Ft McClellen in Alabama. We shipped out of Boston Harbor a week or two before Christmas.

After two years in Germany and seeing the Lord's hand of protection over me, I determined that I would go to Bible school Moody's was filled, so I went to the Kansas City Bible College.

I had been a confirmed bachelor and after three years there I felt the need to get married and the Lord helped me in this decision. I shall ever be grateful to the Lord for bringing Gladis into my life. She too was interested in missions. She graduated a year before I did, and went to Toronto for medical training, and I finished. We were married in Muskegon Michigan at my church on June 4, 1949 and went off to Ecuador on July 9, 1950.

We looked forward to ministry and to family. We prayed to the Lord and when Shirley came to bless our union we were so happy and thanked the Lord for her. We dedicated her life to the Lord, and she was such a lovely girl. Later Billy came and was with us for three days and went to be with the Lord. He was a little red-headed boy. I was very sad for us, but then Gracie came to bless our home and we were thrilled to have her. She was so sweet.

From here you know pretty well what happened, our travels, etc. So how come we decided to become missionaries? Well, the Lord laid upon our hearts the needs of the peoples of other lands and the Bible gave us the commandment to "go ye into all the world and preach the gospel." We heard missionaries from GMU and the Lord had impressed this upon us so clearly. We trusted the Lord for support and went out with promised support of one hundred dollars per month.

The Lord has been faithful to us and has blessed our ministry. We have never lacked any good thing. He supplied the needs for the schooling of both of you, and many many times protected us while flying over the jungles.

If we had it to do over again we would still do it all again. Yes, there have been many heartbreaks and many tears, and there still are. We are confident that the Lord will keep his promise concerning you both. I hope this long epistle will answer some of your questions.

We love you very very much.

Sincerely
Dad