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In 1970 Harriet and I had a "out of country" vacation granted once in a term of service, which we had never taken. We flew to Manila to be with Joe and Molly Esther for a few days. Harriet's sister Molly was a very dear sister who gave us two days in cool and beautiful Bagio, the mountain resort in Northern Luzon. We then went to Japan on the M/S President Cleveland. Joe took us to the wrong entrance to the ship but the officers in charge said it made no difference ¨C "Salvation" had come that way too ¨C (Salvation Army people). We had a very good trip on the big ship for the four day journey to Japan. The sea was calm. We saw many porpoises on one side of the ship. We met several ships on their way to Manila or Hong Kong. Harriet and I remembered the many trips we took on this fine ship. I in 1932 from Hong Kong to San Francisco, I with baby Phil on the same route in 1940, Harriet and five children in 1949 from Hong Kong to San Francisco, I in steerage from Hong Kong in 1965, and all these interesting trips were via Honolulu and ports in Japan. We were met in Yokohama by Helen Zander a classmate of mine at Hope College. She taught in Ferris Institute, a school for girls. She loved baseball, as we did, and so on the day of landing we went to a ballgame. Helen had arranged a three day holiday for us in the Hakone Mountains at the base of Mt. Fujiama. We had not seen the summit of this majestic mountain all the while we were in the beautiful Hakone Mountains but we did finally see the gorgeous summit of Mt. Fuji as we flew from Tokyo to Taiwan. After a brief stay i Taiwan we got back to work in Hong Kong with memories of a wonderful vacation. In the Fall of 1970 I returned to Taiwan to represent the RCA at the 100th Anniversary of the Canadian Presbyterian Church Mission in Taiwan. This brought many good memories. In 1931 I had visited Jim and Lillian Dickson in TamSui North of Taipei. Then, the MacKay Hospital in Taipei on North Chung Shan Road was a small wooden building. Now, it was a huge Institution with a name throughout the Island. The three day celebration the English Presbyterian Church had in 1965 was island-wide, being the first overseas church group to enter the Island. The celebration was confined to the North. In April, 1971 Dirck, Marielle and little Marc returned to Europe via Nepal and South Africa. Not long after their departure we were devastated in Hong Kong with the news that our beautiful daughter-in-law Linnea, David's wife had been killed instantly in an automobile accident and David was seriously injured. A drunk driver had driven headlong into the car from the wrong lane. Harriet and I went to the US in July, 1971 to see David and to attend a conference on Evangelism in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when we landed at Hopkins Airport in Cleveland, we saw David in a wheelchair pushed by his sister-in-law Darcia Fransen, who remains a cherished family member. Perhaps, my feelings now of not wanting to be in a wheelchair come from the sight of our strong son David. all-conference soccer player, and one could drive a golf ball a quarter of a mile, sitting helpless in a wheelchair with bandaged ankles, his left arm in a sling and visible scars on his chest and forehead. Harriet and I returned to Hong Kong in the Fall of 1971, to work our last year before our retirement. Dave came to us for three weeks in November, his ankles strong again, his cast taken off his broken left arm. He then went to visit Dirck and Marielle and Marc in Paris. We found winding up our seventeen years in Hong Kong not an easy thing to do. I had enjoyed so many opportunities of service in this great city and environs. We had many dear Chinese friends in Hong Kong, some going back to the 1930s in the Amoy area. Connections with six Amoy speaking Churches was a happy tie. Church World Service had been a great experience in helping thousands of refugees from the mainland and Russia. In our years in Hong Kong we had seen Chung Chi College develop from being housed in a few temporary rented buildings on Hong Kong Island to the beautiful campus in Ma-Lui-Shai in the new territories in Kowloon. We had seen the growth of giant individual towns in the new territories out of sleepy agricultural villages. The growth of population in Hong Kong staggered the imagination. In 1955 when we transferred from the Philippines it was two million, in 1972 it was more than double that figure. In 1929, when I first saw Hong Kong, seventy years ago, there were 600,000 people. We had seen Hong Kong rise to be a fantastic musical and artistic center which drew world famous artists from all around the Globe. Hong Kong for us had been a most unusual experience. We left thanking God for the opportunity we had had in working there for seventeen years. We returned to the United States via Siberia and Europe which I have written about in my account of the retirement years. I cannot but stand in awe with a humble heart as I recall all the wonderful years. To God be the glory.
Last Updated: October 2007 |
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