Funeral & Family Time in KY; Cherished Action Happens Again

The last weekend of February was spent in central Kentucky with my Watts relatives. We gathered in Winchester to remember and honor my Dad's sister, Fannie Watts Palmer. Her minister described her as a humble, quiet country woman of few words. She was a faithful woman - to God, her church, and her family. She touched the hearts and impacted the lives of many...the funeral home was packed. Eighteen of us first cousins were there plus many second cousins, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Aunt Fannie had expressed her love for us and others in so many caring ways.

I appreciate Aunt Fannie's support and encouragement of my Christian Education ministry; I did several programs with puppets and more at her church through the years. I cherish her support of my African missions work. She had a special heart for missions. 

Aunt Fannie was a wonderful role model for service. You'd frequently find her in the church kitchen at Epperson First Church of God during various events and funeral dinners plus cooking at Camp Glenn Eden. I was told that if she could not be at a funeral dinner to help serve, she would quietly slip a covered dish into the church ahead.

 What a special treat it was to see all those cousins, two I had not seen in more than 40 years. It was a blessing to spend time after the funeral with some family members. Above is my cousin Pam Pennington, I hold Pam's granddaughter Caroline Grace, Aunt Ruth Abney, and Aunt Mayme Crowe.

There is something I’ll always remember and cherish. It happened again 42+ years later. It comforted my heart and lifted my spirits back on that cold rainy day in October 1967 as the funeral procession followed my dear beloved father to his burial place a few miles away. Cars coming the opposite direction pulled to the side of the road and waited for the procession to go by - out of respect for the deceased and sympathy for the grieving. No laws demanding you stop and wait as with a school bus stopping to pick up students. It deeply touched this then 14-year old broken heart that these complete strangers gave a hoot about our deep loss.

I thought things had probably changed after more than 42 years…but it happened again. This trip from funeral home to cemetery was longer, but four lanes across a divided highway some people pulled off the road to wait for our procession to go by. Again, my deeply grieving heart was comforted by this silent yet powerful act of kindness. It makes me proud to be a native of Winchester, Kentucky.

ECHO Visit

On February 17th, I visited ECHO (Educational Concerns For Hunger Organization)  to get an overview of their library organization, secure resource recommendations, and to explore potential for long-range expansion of H.E.A.R.T. Institute Library, Lake Wales.

ECHO a non-profit, inter-denominational Christian organization located on a demonstration farm in North Fort Myers, FL that exists to help those working internationally with the poor be more effective, especially in the area of agriculture. Their mission is to equip people with resources and skills to reduce hunger and improve the lives of the poor. Students from ECHO and H.E.A.R.T. Institute in Lake Wales FL often visit each other’s program.

ECHO Reference Librarian Jane Volker was very gracious in giving me a tour of their library, an overview of their cataloging system, organization, and collection procedures, and in sharing documents of key resources by subject area and more. More photos are posted in my Facebook ECHO Library Visit Album.

 

 

Visit to CCCI and Wycliffe Bible Translators Headquarters

Our Titusville Spring Perspectives class was invited to join a prayer group which met last week at Campus Crusade for Christ International (CCCI) Headquarters to pray for oral missions. Orality is thought, and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy (especially writing and print) are unfamiliar to most of the population.

We ate lunch at Wycliffe Headquarters as Galen Miller introduced the StoryRunners,  a mission of CCCI to help  effectively communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ to unreached people groups—even people with no scripture or written language. Following was a mini behind-the-scenes tour of Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Back at CCCI, we went through the Jesus Film Project tour. I won't forget  the "Wall of Honor" of persons who died in the process of scripture translation. More pictures and stories will soon be added to the wall.

A number of us in the tour group were moved to tears viewing a DVD depicting the impact  the Jesus Film in a new language translation funded by one couple had on its first audience.

Lastly we had opportunity to purchase the Jesus Film and some other resources and a few more minutes of fellowship.

Wow! The day was too short. It only whetted my appetite to learn more about orality, Bible Storying and the various ministries and methods to reach unreached peoples.