q \ t \ a \ r i e S — AcAxavvA vms to places of historic interest and beauty; the times of spiritual re freshing, seasons of prayer, happy “ singsongs” ; blessings of field re ports from older workers, messages of challenge from the Word, and above all, the times alone with the Lord when the heart burned anew with a passion to do His will and We mused, as in the quietude of Xochimilco’s perfumed beauty, we found time for reflection and un hurried thought. This is being a pio neer missionary? No, not exactly. All of these things had their place and were, in a small way, part of that “ hnudredfold” which the Lord prom ised to those who left fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, houses and lands, to follow Him. HOW QUICKLY THE SCENE CHANGED! Papers were through; then followed the mad rush of packing; the wild ride by cab to the depot; the unrea soning and unreasonable baggage officials; the dismay of discovering that pickpockets had been at their light-fingered work; the overcrowded train; the baggage which arrived days late; the careening trip far into the night as we perched pre cariously atop an over-crowd ed, over-loaded truck over pre cipitous mountain trails, in a drizzling rain. In addition, there was the futile feeling to make Him known. "SO THIS IS BEING A PIONEER MISSIONARY!"
/A V*5?S T he exciting experience of enter ing a strange land, of moving among people speaking an unknown tongue, of arriving in a foreign city with crowded streets and busy mar kets, of meeting fellow-missionaries and forming many new friendships: this is one side of being a pioneer missionary. Then there are the pro saic, almost interminable business sessions; the weary plodding back and forth to government offices; the hours of impatient waiting for pa pers to be put through; the hectic days of shopping and bargaining for equipment. Again another side: the welcome days of relaxation and di version spent in sight-seeing trips SO THIS IS BEING A PIONEER MISSIONARY
rpc ( C a \\ of being “ taken for a ride” when the In dian c a r r i e r s five hours out from the nearest town, staged a sit-down strike for more money. The hours seemed endless near the close of a day of ceaseless s t r u g g l i n g up appar e n t l y t o p l e s s mo un t a i n s and descending i n t o apparently b o t t oml e s s valleys while feet became sore, hips and back ached with fatigue, and the destina tion was still nowhere in sight. Later were never- to-be-forgotten nights of sleeping on floor or ground to the delightful ac companiment of inquisitive, grunt ing pigs and the sniffing of gaunt village dogs. The burden of the heart grew heavier as the great pall of spiritual darkness engulfing the peo ple became more and more apparent. 16 THE KING'S BUSINESS
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online