Missions Textbook 14 Missionary Kids
All Grown Up

We Never Saw It Coming: An Introduction to Christian Missions (textbook)

Summer 1993 – Empty Nest is Coming

“Where are you going, My Little One, Little One?

Where are you going, my Baby, My Own?

Turn around and you’re two; turn around and you’re four;

Turn around and you’re a young [man] going out of my door.”[1]

Oh my. Erich was graduating from high school, and would soon be going off to college. Our lives were so busy, and time was galloping by. Erich took the SAT test at the American School in Vienna, and we barely had time to write to colleges before Geneva College in western Pennsylvania offered him scholarships just because he was a missionary kid. A bright and talented missionary kid.

He was nineteen, and I don’t think it occurred to any of us to plan anything differently. This is what happens to missionaries, we thought: their children grow up and return to the home country for more education or to get a job. We didn’t think he’d be able to get a job in Austria.

We’ve since learned a lot. He probably could have gone to university in Austria. He probably could have gotten a job, since he had lived there his whole life. And he really wanted to stay home. (Remember, this is the kid who didn’t like change.) But we really had no one to ask for advice, so we did the best we could.

Graduation was very low-key, since he was going to high school by correspondence; there was only one in the class. I’m sure we had a farewell party for him, but I have no written record of it.

Sue’s Thoughts on Prayer

Dear Christine,

Your questions about prayer were real soul-searchers for me. Do I feel the need to pray? Yes, more so now than ever. Somehow as you get older God makes you more aware of your own tendency to sin. Not that I’m occupied with thoughts of sin all the time – but more a sense of the close calls that I’ve been protected from – nasty wrong choices, problems in relationships, etc. Add to that a burden for family, friends, those dear to me who have to live in this rotten culture. Yes! I need to pray – more so now than ever before in my life.

Do I want to pray? No, not always, but I usually do anyway. I have established a habit of many years of getting up at 5:30am to spend an hour with the Lord – prayer and in the Word. Now I wake up without an alarm – always – even when I’d like to sleep in. That’s part of old age!! And for the most part, I miss it if I miss it. Sometimes it’s intense in fervency, sometimes not, but I feel I’m in touch with God. I am confident God rewards faithfulness in little encouraging ways.

Do I like to pray? One special treasure that has taught me to like to pray is my 12 years of praying weekly with Margaret. Along with my salvation, husband, family, and church fellowship, my prayer time with Margaret is one of my life’s great blessings. We don’t go to lunch together, or socialize, but look forward to our time in prayer together and find more pleasure in that than probably anything else we could do. She has really taught me to pray. Our time together is one of the highlights of my week. You must know that we are not always on the top of the world when we meet. Sometimes one or the other of us is low with a burden, but bearing it together is really honey to the soul. I have a wonderful relationship with my husband and can talk to him about anything. Our love-friendship is very satisfying to me, but my prayer time with Margaret is another dimension. I hear her ask God for things for me, that she perceives from her point of view. That brings a refreshing perspective and a sense of peace. Of course, she is a woman of the Word with a vital relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. How was I ever so fortunate to be blessed so abundantly in being teamed with her? When she was young, she asked God to create a hunger for the Word within her and He has done just that and her life reflects the results.

My prayer life has changed over the years; it is more enjoyable than ever before so don’t try to hurry things. You have a desire to pray and fellowship with God. Let that seed germinate. Water it with the Word and don’t hurry God. It will grow and as time passes, you’ll feel roots go down and maybe, someday, even fruit and flowers appear. However, we don’t always see the flowers. I see flowers and fruit in Margaret’s life; she doesn’t.

My goodness, I’ve gone on and on and haven’t said half of what I wanted to say! I’ll close by saying, “to be continued.” Maybe in another letter or over a cup of tea. Meanwhile, Margaret and I will be praying for you as you pray.

Two weeks later:

When I re-read my last letter, it seemed so clinical. In addition, I don’t believe I mentioned I’ve had periods of coldness and a sense of failure in my prayer life, so I am still only learning and am very much a beginner. . .. I’ve decided to read Andrew Murray’s With Christ in the School of Prayer.[2] Each short chapter is a lesson based on a verse of scripture related to prayer. He gives many rich thoughts. He said, “Jesus never taught his disciples how to preach – only how to pray.” Those men who were so close to the Lord had to be taught to pray. How much more, we.

January 1993

When Margaret and I met for prayer just after the first of the year and spoke of goals and desires for 1993, she stated her desire to become a woman of prayer – confessed to feeling so inadequate and even a failure at times. In my book, she’s a prayer warrior, but she sees need for growth. You can see we’re all in the same boat. I think the yearning of the redeemed heart is deeper fellowship with God – a companionship with the Lord Jesus Christ that is satisfying and joyful.  That desire that continues to draw us back to God is implanted in our hearts by the Spirit of God, I believe. It is a sign of His life in us. I’m always thankful when the Spirit reminds or convicts me to pray and have decided to thank Him instead of feeling guilty. That way, instead of centering on self, failure, etc., I can rejoice in His ever-present love and concern, and I can thank Him that the process of my conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ continues.

Hope this doesn’t sound lofty and unreal; there’s really nothing lofty about me!

More persecution – Closer to Home

It was inevitable that with the hundreds of people Walter and Floyd came in contact with, there would be someone who really, really did not like what they were doing. In autumn of 1992, a thirty-year-old man, Kurt, started coming to the Bible study in one of the towns, looking for relief for his extreme depression. He often came over to Walter and Esther’s home and just hung out for hours, telling them that in their home, he found peace. At the Bible study, he was often very restless and didn’t always seem to understand what was being said. Sometimes, however, he expressed a desire to change his life, have forgiveness for his sin, and to give his life to Christ.

Around that time, Floyd and Walter began to receive phone calls from Kurt’s father, accusing Floyd and Walter of being from a cult. He told them that he had burned the Bibles they had given to his son, and they wanted Walter and Floyd to leave Kurt alone.

Well, over that year, Kurt kept coming to the Bible studies, and there were times when we thought the difficulty was over. Then one evening, Walter and Floyd were leading a Bible study for eight unsaved people who said they loved the Bible study and would come back the next time. After the study, as Floyd and Walter were leaving the restaurant, six of Kurt’s father’s friends accosted Floyd and Walter in the parking lot and started yelling at them and calling them names. They wanted Kurt “released” from the Bible study and for Walter and Floyd to leave Kurt alone. They were screaming and shouting, and later Floyd described it as a war.

In addition, Kurt’s father called up Floyd and Walter and threatened to blow up their families. I took a couple of those phone calls (Remember, phones were attached to houses back then; no cell phones and no caller ID.), and it was scary and left me shaking. Kurt’s mother told Esther that she, the mother, was going to damage Walter’s children, and that Esther would be alive to see it. The father threatened to murder Walter, and Walter finally had to go to the police to register the threats and to get a restraining order.

The story of Kurt ended sadly. We don’t often consider opposition to the Gospel to be directed by demons. But in this case, we believed it was. His parents, who really seemed to evidence demon-possession, yelled and harangued poor Kurt until he had a nervous breakdown. He was admitted to a mental institution, after which his parents washed their hands of him. He refused to eat. He heard voices and had terrible nightmares. Those running the clinic were unable to understand Kurt’s desire to read the Bible and considered it more evidence of his illness. Walter and Floyd visited him occasionally, and one day when Floyd was visiting him, Kurt admitted that the reason he wouldn’t eat was that he was certain someone was trying to poison him.

“How about if I eat with you?”

He was skeptical, but it was obvious he really wanted to eat.

Floyd called in the orderly and asked for some food.

When the food came, Floyd prayed with Kurt and he tasted the food first and encouraged Kurt to try some.

The orderly came by again and saw them eating and said to Floyd, “I don’t think you should be here. I think you should leave.”

It was then that Floyd really realized that Satan did not want Floyd near Kurt.

Floyd stayed, and then prayed with Kurt again before he left.

The next day Kurt committed suicide. Catholics believe that suicide is unforgiveable and the person goes to purgatory to suffer, and can never get out. We believe that Kurt’s soul was finally set free to rest in the presence of Jesus.

Many – probably most – of the beautiful Austrian traditions are wrapped up in ancient druid and Nordic traditions, wrapped in Catholicism, and the people, naturally like their traditions and don’t take kindly to people who question them. When we were there, most people believed that being Austrian meant being Catholic with all its traditions and superstitions. Giving up being Catholic and questioning the traditions and rituals meant you didn’t want to be Austrian anymore.

Catholicism in the early Middle Ages tried to convert northern Europeans, but found it too difficult. Instead they simply adapted the heathen customs and worked them into Catholicism. For example, while excavating for the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the workers discovered a cave with an ancient statue of a woman with a baby. It was dated pre-Christianity, but the church decided that the woman was Mary and the child was Jesus, thus declaring that location doubly significant for a cathedral. The Catholic religion is a religion of adaptability. A missionary from the Philippines, who visited us in Austria, told Floyd that when given a choice between Islam or Catholicism, the animistic tribes chose Catholicism because they could retain their animistic practices.

Catholicism has adapted well in America too, and there it looks very evangelical. America had a truly Christian – born again – character for a while, and the believers who moved to the New World either abandoned their heathen practices or re-defined the traditions so completely that for many years no one knew of the heathen origins.  For example, the stars on the Christmas tree, symbolizing the star the wise men followed to Jesus, were originally connected with the Roman winter feast to Saturn to chase the demons of cold and darkness away.

In Europe, many of those feasts and ceremonies are still practiced in their original form by people who believe in them. For example, in East Tirol in Austria in the 1600’s, to keep the plague away, a ram was sacrificed and, according to the story, the plague ended. For centuries afterwards, several villages have continued to sacrifice a ram every year, although today the ram is auctioned off.  Many Austrians go to church in the early spring for the pussy willow blessing. The priest sprinkles the pussy willows with holy water, and then the people put the bunch over the doorway inside the house to ward off bad spirits. Many think it’s just a sweet, harmless tradition.

Especially in small villages, when people become Christians, they have to make a clean break from the heathen ceremonies and beliefs; they want to make a break, because they are finally free from superstition and fear. One lady I met won’t wear her beautiful brocade dirndl costume with the traditional hat because the women thus clothed represented good spirits driving out the bad. I hadn’t known that when I sewed my dirndls which I wore for many years.

Life Must Go On

We missed Erich, but life quickly returned to the usual busy-ness. We worked regular, long-distance phone calls into our tight budget. Remember, we had no Skype, no FaceTime, no way to talk to one another cheaply. The time difference and Floyd’s Bible study schedule often made the best time to call for us in the morning, when it was 2am for Erich. He was especially excited when we sent him money for a plane trip home for the Christmas holiday.

Floyd and Walter and Walter’s intern, Oliver, were running eleven evangelistic Bible studies in an area the size of New Jersey. Floyd spent a lot of time in the car, but it wasn’t wasted time. He had language-learning tapes and was working on Hebrew in preparation for a trip to Israel – which, so far, he has not taken. He wanted to learn Arabic so he could talk to the Egyptians who ran the gas station in our village. And he was working on Russian, because ever since Eastern Europe opened up for the Gospel, he had been trying to figure out how we could go there and do what we had been doing in Austria.

When he wasn’t leading Bible studies and learning languages, he was writing a commentary on the seven churches in Revelation, preaching most Sunday mornings, training a number of husbands and fathers, writing lots of letters, and spending time with me and with Michael.

Floyd and I continued to keep our once a week breakfast date, and we enjoyed trying out the many cafes and pastry shops in the area. Michael’s correspondence school was very intensive, but on Thursday evenings, he went with Floyd to Bible study. They would study First Timothy in the car until they picked up two other young people. They would take them to MacDonald’s and then they would all go to the Bible study, where they were studying the Gospel of Luke.

And me? I led a Friday morning ladies’ Bible study to disciple the women who had come to the Lord in the last two years. Floyd also handed over his Wednesday evening evangelistic study in the Gospel of Mark to me because it was all women. In addition, I was tutoring several Austrians who wanted to improve their English for business purposes. I also traveled with Floyd at least once to each Bible study, so that I could meet the people who would eventually become a part of the church. The regional Bible conference with John Lennox was coming up in the spring, and I was in charge of the children’s program for the entire weekend – 60 children, but I had many helpers.

Michael was learning at home by correspondence, and he would go into Vienna to visit friends. He confessed not long ago, that he didn’t always visit friends very long. It was very evident to him that he might never get to live in Vienna, Austria again. He started visiting the Historical Art Museum, palaces, and other places of interest. He would tack them onto the end of a visit to his friends. In this way, he was educating himself and storing up priceless memories.

Floyd and I also made time for fun occasionally. We discovered that we didn’t care for opera much, since everyone in an opera dies at the end, as a result of a massive misunderstanding. Operettas, on the other hand, were fun and funny, and the productions were beautiful. We would dress up and have an evening out. It was good for our marriage.

Our Christmas Letter – 1993

“Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light,

Like a little candle burning in the night;

In this world of darkness, we must shine,

You in your small corner, and I in mine.”

By Susan B. Warner

The children in Sunday school are going to sing the German version of this song during our Christmas program in the church. When we asked the children how they could shine for Jesus, little six-year-old Berni said, “You have to have the light in your heart first.”

Many unsaved people seeking more light, have asked us if we could hold the Bible studies more often. However, since we have a dozen studies in a dozen towns, we can only hold them every other week. I still can’t believe that so many people have such a hunger for God’s Word!

One of the biggest events of the upcoming year will be our first regional Bible conference right after Easter. John Lennox has agreed to come and speak. We look forward to seeing him and his wife. We are expecting between 200-400 believers, and in addition to putting up everyone in homes, we hope to run out of hotels! Please pray for those planning the conference.

Another event had to take place, sooner or later. When young, single believers get together to evangelize, some of those believers fall in love with one another! Oliver, one of our best young co-workers, has asked Walter’s daughter to marry him. The entire church is excited about helping to plan their first wedding in June.

We continue to need your prayers for our family and for the ministry. We are convinced that your prayers are one of the most vital parts of our work here. We have chosen to stay with the basics of evangelism, discipleship and church planting, as we understand it in the New Testament. The Lord has generously blessed this choice. Through informal training in preaching, the Lord has even given the church five young men who are showing great promise as teachers and preachers.

We receive so much encouragement from the new believers. The testimony of one newly-saved woman in the Melk Bible study characterizes what is taking place all over Lower Austria. “I’m coming to realize the Bible is the only authority God has given us today. If we don’t read it regularly, then we can’t know how to get into heaven, nor can we discover what God wants from us. I’ve been looking for God all my life. I’ve finally found him in this Bible study, and I pray that He will lead me to more people like myself, with whom I can share my new-found faith.”

We wish you all a very merry Christmas. The Lord came first as a baby. Maybe He will return this Christmas season as Lord. We are still waiting expectantly. Until He returns,

“Let your light so shine before men,

that they may see your good works

and glorify your Father in heaven.

- Matthew 5:16

Emptying the Nest

Dear Sue,

It’s been ages (It’s February already?) since I wrote to you but you have often been in my thoughts and also in my still-much-to-be-desired prayers. Each time I’ve begun thinking through what I’d like to write, I can’t handle it emotionally – so I haven’t written. Well, here goes.

Do you feel like you have an “empty nest?” I do, even though only one fledgling has flown. Everything seems so incomplete, and I wish we’d decided to have six children!

I teach Sunday school because it needs to be done, and someone’s got to show the new believers how to do it and how important children are. I enjoy preparing the women’s Bible studies, but I find it very difficult to get to know the women, especially with the new dialect here. I’m glad to have people in to eat and to make it possible for Floyd to talk with them in a comfortable setting. These are ministry.

But I love being a mother, and I feel like that job is being wrenched away. There’s so much I don’t know about being a mother of grown children. All of the old patterns have changed, and I don’t know what to put in their place.

Erich’s a fantastic young man, and sometimes I feel like he’s someone else’s now. It’s so difficult to share this life – let alone to make a tactful contribution – when minutes cost a dollar apiece. We do splurge on phone calls (we don’t eat out very much at all anymore!), and I’m grateful for that, but there’s so much left unsaid – and I’ve never been away from him on his birthday before.

It also seems as though we’ve pulled the rug out from under him. He’s adjusting so well to college, enjoys dorm life, and works hard. But he misses us and I don’t know what to do about it. I know some young people are glad to get away from home, and it’s a great joy to us that Erich doesn’t feel this way.

Do you have any advice? Am I normal? Are there any books on this subject? How can I learn to be an effective mother of adults? Michael’s time is rushing upon us, too!

I do write to Erich every week and I also send little presents and clippings from Austrian magazines and newspapers. He and Michael are the only people I pray for every day. I do feel guilty that he’s not in my thoughts more often throughout the day, but I guess I’d be a basket case if I always felt the way I’m feeling right now!

Floyd and I are talking about taking at least a year in the States when Michael graduates. We can’t get away any sooner, and we both hope that it won’t negatively affect Erich that we didn’t come back longer with him. He always seems to be the guinea pig in our child-rearing as we collect experience.

How do you maintain a great relationship with Scott and Leslie and their children without missing them terribly? Do you tell them how much you miss them? Are there even any answers?

I am so thankful for so many things: that Erich has admitted that missing us has forced him closer to the Lord; that my sister and brother-in-law are nearby and that his relationship with them is good; that he wants to come home.

Sue, I’m sorry to dump this on you; Maybe Margaret will have some help too. I know you and Dave struggle with changing relationships with your other children, and my questions must seem like so much whining. Perhaps, if I were more mature, I’d throw this away and try again, but there’s no one else to talk to. I know that Floyd misses Erich too, but I fear that his feelings are even deeper and more raw than mine. He avoids talking of this except to plan for our time in the States. We want to be available to our children; we would never hang on to them. America needs evangelists too.

Thank you for caring. I’m praying right now that my letter won’t wipe you out. If there is a good scripture-based book on caring for adult children, I’d love to have the title. I need some help.

Sue is So Wise

Dear Christine,

I loved getting your letter. I wish we could talk over some tea. I’ll try to answer your questions, but hope to have time to talk this summer, when we come to the European Worker’s Conference. I hope you haven’t thought I’d ignored your letter. Far from it! I’ve read and reread and given it much thought and prayer, and I feel so inadequate to respond. I’m in a bit of a transition time myself as Dave and I cut back to working only two days per week [at the optical office they owned]. I’ve always had to plan every minute of every day and now things are changing. What does God have in store for an old lady?

Your letter did not wipe me out; it brought back some of the bittersweet feelings I’ve had. I miss Scott and Leslie. I remember the first year they were in Austria, we knew they were where they wanted to be, where God wanted them to be, were happy, etc., but nonetheless there was a deep gnawing grief that was always there. Maybe that made our times together sweeter and more fun. . . .

I fully understand how you feel about Erich being so far away. I remember when Scott went to university as a freshman. We got him settled in his room, said goodbye, then went to the car where I cried my eyes out. At least he and his roommate were spared a blubbering mother. He might as well have been in Austria, though, because it was Christmas before we saw him. I kept reminding myself of the fact that he had a fine roommate, a heart for God, and a purpose in life, but there was a vacancy that nothing else filled.

At the same time, our friends had a son who had run away from home and for several months they had no idea where he was. So that helped me to focus on the positive side of our kids’ situations and give thanks in everything. But I’m like you: I love mothering and everything involved in it. It’s so hard for me to understand young women who “climb the walls” because they are “tied down” with families. Those were wonderful years in my thinking; I loved every minute. 

Erich misses you. That’s great because now he’ll begin to think adult thoughts about what he appreciates about you, Floyd, and home. And those things will influence his judgment as he chooses friends (girls) and so many other things as well. It seems young men need some distance to mature and become independent. Dave said he probably would not have chosen a profession if he’d not been drafted right out of high school into the army, and had that time to decide he wanted to do something with his life.

In some ways, the rug is pulled out from under the young man, and it’s a sink-or-swim situation. But where he is loved and supported from home, there is a sense of security that carries him along. Dr. James Dobson talks with wrenching feeling about his empty nest feelings, and I think he may have written on the subject, so I’ll see what I can find. [I wrote to Focus on the Family and they sent me – free – a book entitled, Just Because They’ve Left Doesn’t Mean They’re Gone, by Stephen A. Bly.[3] It was very helpful.]

Getting back to Erich: everything is so new for you this first year. After you weather it, you’ll find a leveling out, I believe, that you can enjoy. You have a wonderful closeness even at a great distance, and I don’t think that changes. He will miss you and be lonesome, but that can work for his good in his walk with God, and also time at home will be dearer to him. More and more I see that my joy in God has deepened in these difficult times. Do I want less for my children? I remember when Cindy had half her lung removed and was so sick. Dave and I even had to face the possibility of her early death. I wished I could have been sick for her. I’d prayed for conformity to Christ in my own life, but at such an expense, Lord?

Don’t feel guilty about not having Erich in your thoughts constantly. That’s impossible! Your devotion to him is not measured in that way. I think Erich will actually be stronger for having this experience at this time in his life. Look at Floyd and how the hard knocks of life have fortified him in a wonderful way – and yourself as well. The very hardships you’ve experienced in your relationship with your own mother and father God has used to build character qualities of loyalty, dependability, stability, strength, level-headedness, love, and I could go on and on. Not negative qualities – do you see? You are the woman you are today as a result of the life experiences you’ve had. I certainly would not have designed that background for a woman I planned to develop into one of godly strength and character, but that’s what our dear loving Father had in mind for you.

I still have a mother’s heart to shelter and protect my kids – and now grandkids – so that feeling never departs, but it motivates me to pray because I can no longer do it physically. I feel like I’m wandering all over and not saying much. I’m not too good at words on paper. Margaret and I are praying and she feels deeply for you. She is well acquainted with a mother’s yearnings for her children.

Thank you again for your beautiful letter. It is a privileged trust you’ve given me to share in your concerns and I don’t handle that lightly. I will continue to ponder and pray.

With Love and Concern,

Sue

Walter’s Interns: Oliver and Danielle’s Wedding

The gardening ministry could not have continued without the hard work and commitment of several interns who came from Germany and Switzerland. They lived with the Mauerhofer family when they first arrived in St. Pölten. Their assignment was to care for the Mauerhofer’s huge yard and to make sure that the gardens were ready for the Days of the Open Door. They also coordinated the volunteers who helped at the gardening seminars. Two of them, Jörg and Oliver, decided to remain in Austria. Jörg married Bettina from Munich, and Oliver married Daniella, Walter and Esther’s oldest daughter. They got jobs, but continued to assist Walter in the many ministries. They would come to Bible studies, and they were very good at engaging those who came in conversations. They learned from Walter and Floyd how to lead evangelistic Bible studies, and they became good at conversing with the unbelievers and challenging them to consider taking Jesus Christ seriously.

Summer 1994 – Trip to Romania

Walter, his interns and Floyd had already taken two trips to Romania; it was time for a third. This time our Michael and a few other teens from the church were going along as well. They packed three vans and our car full of Romanian New Testaments and Christian literature, a projector, outdoor screen, and invitations to show the “Jesus” film, and hundreds of packets of seeds. It was illegal to bring seeds into the country, although at that time, the Romanian people were starving. Walter’s plan was to teach them how to plant their own gardens. In the backs of the vans, they packed chocolate, gum, and coffee. They also brought chemicals to purify their drinking water and their own food supplies for the entire, two-week trip, as there was no food in Romania. The following is an article about the trip, written by our son, Michael.

“What God Taught Me in Romania”

by Michael E. Schneider

[Reprinted from “Missions Magazine”, November 1994]

Michael is the 17-year-old son of Floyd and Christine Schneider. He is a senior in high school, studying by correspondence, and lives with his parents in Maria Anzbach, Austria.

The first two weeks in July I went with a group of European young people to Romania to hand out Christian literature and Bibles.

The week had started out driving. Driving. Driving. Driving. We passed the Austrian-Hungarian border without any problem at all and drove the length of Hungary. We prayed that the Romanian border would go just as well. What we had actually prayed for was that Romania would win the soccer game that day so the border guards would be in a happy mood. Romania won.

In our group were four Germans, four Austrians, three Americans, and three Swiss. In spite of the different nationalities, going through the border took only about an hour. The guard, going through our food supply, kept removing things and saying, “For my kids.” Mostly he took chocolate, gum, and coffee. So we drove on.

Our reason for being there was simple: to pass out New Testaments and to visit some Christians that our leader, Jörg, knew. The witnessing was exciting. We would each load up our backpacks with tracts and New Testaments and then go from house to house either jamming a book in the door, or, if anyone was there, saying in Romanian, “For you; it’s a New Testament.” Most times, the people would be sitting outside watching the world roll by and would be happy to have something to do and to shake the hand of an American, Austrian, Swiss, or German. Once a man shouted at me, “America?” Then he came over and started pumping my hand furiously.

Another time I gave a tract to an older lady and she started talking to me in Romanian awfully fast. The only word I caught was “New Testament.” I asked, “You want a New Testament?” She nodded furiously. I somehow communicated to her that I had no more but I could run back to the car and get her one. I returned with one of my Romanian friends who translated what the lady said after I had given her a New Testament: “God bless you, peace be with you,” and so on. She was practically in tears for joy.

I only had two experiences when a New Testament was refused. However, I didn’t understand one nasty thing that was said, since it was all in Romanian!

We were camping each night and the fourth night was particularly bad because we became mosquito food. Most of the group was gathered around the campfire listening to my dad talk about tips on doing private devotions. I had left the group and had begun to plan mine for the next morning. However, I could literally not write one word without hearing some blood-thirsty mosquito buzzing in my ear. I closed my Bible in frustration and joined the others just in time to see them getting up to leave. The pesky bugs hadn’t just been bothering me!

We moved about a mile down the road to a hay field that had recently been mown. The hay provided us with something soft to put under our sleeping bags, but the mosquitos were still there. I covered myself entirely with my sleeping bag but then realized that it would soon suffocate me in this 80-degree night.

I woke up feeling sick. Really sick. I looked at my arms and they were covered with bites. My forehead resembled the worst case of acne. With that much poison inside one’s body, who wouldn’t feel sick!

I was angry too. Not at the mosquitos but at . . . yes, the Person who could control them. Since God knew that I was so allergic to any kind of bite, why did He allow this? I started to throw my things around, looking for my toothbrush and comb. I looked and felt terrible. I had just chucked my backpack a fair distance away from me when a member of our group, Richard, one of the leaders, said, “I thank God for the mosquitos.” Right! I thought, I don’t want to hear this. That was my first reaction, but I knew I was wrong getting upset at God, and I knew there was some truth in Richard’s statement. I just had to find it.

Richard then proceeded and said, “This is nothing compared to what Christ did on the cross.”

I had accepted Christ and believed in what He did when I was seven, but on this day, I began to realize how much pain He had gone through. Then this thought came: “Jesus went through more than I was going through, and He didn’t even have a free hand to swat mosquitos because each hand had been impaled by a rusty nail.” I left camp and wandered around the field for about fifteen minutes, sucking deep breaths, hoping that the sick feeling would go away. During quiet sobs, I asked His forgiveness for acting so stupid in the morning, and I felt very close to Him afterwards. Right after I had finished praying, I didn’t feel sick anymore. Two days later the bites were gone. I learned a lot from the mosquitos.

I also learned a lot about contentment. Most of the houses [in Romania] were just walls with roofs – truly “only a roof over your head.” But I’m comparing Romanian houses with American houses. That’s the problem with my thinking. The people in Romania seem to be content with what little they do have. If they’re not content there usually isn’t any way that they’ll get more. Then I started thinking of my life back in Austria. Mosquitos: almost none. I can drink the water without mixing in some chemical first. I can go get a snack from the fridge anytime . . . the list could go on and on. The main thing I learned on this trip is not to get bent out of shape when the sound on the TV doesn’t work. Not to pout when there’s nothing sweet to munch on. Don’t get upset about having to walk to the train. Besides, it beats riding in a horse-drawn cart, as they do in Romania. This is one of the biggest experiences I’ve had in my seventeen years.

Life is a lot more enjoyable to me when I have everything in perspective. God has given Christians the command to evangelize. Getting things into perspective makes me want to do just that.

When they moved into the hayfield, a group of gypsies came and asked why they were in “their” field. One of the Romanians explained about the mosquitos, but he also took the opportunity to share the gospel with them. They were able to start a kids’ club with a group of the gypsy children who were also camped in that area. Much of the work the group did was carried on by the Romanian believers after the team left. God can use mosquitos to force workers into His harvest.

Trip to Pacific Northwest with Oliver and Walter

Dave and Sue came to the European Worker’s conference that summer and brought their grandson, who was Michael’s age. While there, they came up with a wonderful idea.

Oliver was one of Walter’s best gardeners and right-hand-man. He had come from a church in Germany, and after his internship, he decided to stay in the St. Pölten area. As mentioned earlier, he had just married Walter and Esther’s daughter, Daniella.

When Floyd suggested that Walter and Oliver accompany him to the Pacific Northwest, Walter was euphoric, and decided that he would take his camera, and would plan a multi-media presentation of beautiful pictures from America. Oliver wasn’t so sure because the trip was planned for September, and he would have been married only three months. Daniella, on the other hand, saw it as a wonderful opportunity for her new husband, and she did not ever want to regret keeping him at home.

In Portland, Walter spoke at our church – in German, of course – and Floyd interpreted for him. Afterwards, one of the elders wanted to talk to Walter and thought if he spoke English louder, Walter would finally understand! Dave and Sue invited everyone to lunch. They also invited Horst and Larissa, who spoke German, so Walter would have someone with whom to talk.

They took a one-day trip to Seattle for another speaking engagement, and on the way back tried to find their way to the Mount St. Helens National Monument. Floyd apparently turned too soon, and they drove through twenty miles of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest before realizing it. As they turned around to go back, Walter commented on how much wilderness there was, and how many people could live there. Austria is 32,000+ square miles; the G. P. National Forest is 2050 square miles, 1/16th of the size of all Austria. The men had quite a long discussion about the differences between American free enterprise and European government support and control. Eventually, they found Mount St. Helens.

They flew back to New Jersey and stayed at the CMML castle and then drove to Niagara Falls. To this day, Floyd cannot remember how they got there, where they stayed, and when they flew back to Austria, probably because they were not in the States long enough to fully recover from jetlag. The trip was short, but Walter had taken a lot of pictures, and he found renewed interest in his Gardening Seminars, when he added pictures from America.

Creative Home Schooling

Floyd was traveling in the States. It must be noted, that it’s always much more fun to travel than to be left behind at home. Michael was quite lonely, but he actually thought the problem was that he missed the classroom. A couple of his classes were on video tapes (now so obsolete that my computer editing system identifies it as a mistake!), and he did enjoy being able to answer questions, even though only I could hear. He still took piano lessons, played drums in a band with some friends from VCS, and he was learning how to ride and care for a horse. The Austrian border guards often used horses to patrol some of the more remote parts of the border, and their mount of choice was called the Hafflinger, a shorter, stocky horse with medium-length hair. Initially, the instructor thought Michael would not be a good rider because he was a boy, and boys want to be John Wayne! However, once she saw him with the horses, she changed her mind, and even let him help in the stables to help pay for his lessons.

Another creative idea came to us while we were on the east coast, getting Erich settled. A childhood friend of mine, her husband and their six children had come to visit at my sister’s home. My friend’s oldest son, Aaron, was Michael’s age, and they hit it off right away. My friend’s children were being home schooled, and we had the wild idea for Aaron to bring all his schoolwork to Austria and stay with us for six weeks. It would be a wonderful opportunity for Aaron to see Europe, and Michael would have a “classmate” for part of his senior year.

While Aaron was with us, we took him to the art and history museums and palaces and castles, and we saw some things we had never had time to see before. Michael wanted to take him to Graz, as well, so we visited the church and went to an outdoor farmer’s museum.

[1] Words and Music by Harry Belafonte, Malvina Reynolds and Alan Greene.

[2] Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, (The New Christian Classics, 2018).

[3] Stephen A. Bly, Just Because They’ve Left Doesn’t Mean They’re Gone: How to Love and Support Your Adult Children, Thomas Nelson: Grand Rapids, 1993.

We Never Saw It Coming: An Introduction to Christian Missions (textbook)

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