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Faith "Birdie" Lytle interviewed by Lois Boyd and Doug Brackenridge, 1979, side 1.
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- speakerIt we can just stop the recorder. and let's say. This
- speakeris Lois Boyd of Trinity University with R. Douglas
- speakerBrackenridge of Trinity University talking with Mrs. William J. Lytle,
- speakerBirdie Lytle, on October 2nd 1979
- speakerat 101 East Longwood San Antonio Texas.
- speakerMrs. Lytle, I didn't even ask you your your given name. We call
- speakeryou Birdie. What is your given name?
- speakerMy real name is Faith, but I've been stuck with Birdie ever
- speakersince I was a junior in high school. And, we can't seem to
- speakerchange that. BilI [Lytle, William Pierce] would say that we when we go to a new field that he'd start out
- speakerwith Faith, but we never ended up with it.
- speakerYou don't mind if we call you Birdie? Not at all.
- speakerWe're talking with you today primarily about your year, about your
- speakerexperiences as the wife of the moderator of the United Presbyterian Church
- speakerUSA. We talked with your husband about his experiences during the
- speakeryears but before we get into a discussion of that year, would you tell us a little
- speakerbit about yourself: Where you were born, where you were educated, when you married Bill.
- speakerWhat has been your your role, your experiences,
- speakeryour profession.
- speakerI was born in Maplewood, New Jersey, so I am one of these displaced Yankees.
- speakerwent to a little Presbyterian college in Tennessee by the name of
- speakerTusculum. Everyone, when you say Tennessee, they say oh Maryville?No, it is
- speakerTusculum. And it was there that I met Bill. It was
- speakerbetween his. What year did? Middler
- speakerand senior year the first president
- speakeror Junior Middler year that he came down to Tennessee to
- speakerwork in the little mountain churches. And I had already been going up to the churches with the priest
- speakerand so I got to introduce him to his first field. I was
- speakeralready planning to study in a seminary somewhere. I wanted to
- speakerbe a missionary. So after I met Bil,l it wasn't too hard to decide to go to Princeton.
- speakerWe were married then, following his senior year. What
- speakeryear was this? This was in forty-seven. So I had a year and two
- speakerterms in the School of Christian Education
- speakerin Princeton. It was a three-year course at that time. F
- speakerollowing our marriage,
- speakerwe went immediately under the Board of National Missions, the old Sunday School missions program to
- speakerNew Mexico. And, we spent seven years there in one field, we took a year out to go back to Princeton. Bill got his
- speakerMaster's. And, I took some more work then.
- speakerAnd then we went back for another seven years to a
- speakerdifferent town, but the same type of work.
- speakerAnd at that time if you looked it up in the Yearbook of Prayer, you know,
- speakerI was one of those parentheses wives. It always used to make us National Missionaries very
- speakerunhappy because we thought like that we were equal
- speakerpartners with our husbands on the mission field.
- speakerI went with Bill everywhere on the mission field.
- speakerI believe. it was. We always considered ourselves a missionary team. I worked with
- speakerthe children, had children's choirs. And, that was my role. D
- speakerid you have a contract with the Board of National Missions yourself? No. No.We were
- speakernot hired. And you were not paid. No sir. Would you
- speakerfell at that time say that you would. You said that you had talked about being a missionary. That it never
- speakernever crossed your mind to think in terms of ordination? Or, Did you ever feel
- speakerany frustration or dissatisfaction that it
- speakernever was really possible?
- speakerNo it really wasn't. Not until these later years, you know. This is bringing it
- speakerup. If you
- speakercreate a sense of resentment I think in women of our age that we think
- speakerall we've been doing for all these years and we're never paid for it, and never considered as a
- speakerprofession. At that time, I never thought about it. I loved the
- speakerwork, was happy. Enjoyed it, still do. Well,
- speakerafter you left the mission,
- speakerThe Board of National Missions, did Bill take a church after that? No.
- speakerWe didn't really leave it then. We had 15 years there, and then we were
- speakercalled to the College of the Ozarks in Arkansas, which at that time, had just been over by the Board of National Missions.
- speakerSo we were still with the Mission Board. Partly with them, partly with t
- speakerhe college. But there again, our
- speakerresponsibility was to the area around the college. Here again,
- speakerI worked in the field in a small town.
- speakerI used to ride, drive the college bus out to these little towns once a week,
- speakerto work with the children, did puppetry.
- speakerI guess my main satisfaction in the years in
- speakerArkansas were establishing puppet theater,
- speakerwhich we took out on the field and used in Christian Education. And
- speakerat that time, I was also a part-time secretary for Bill.
- speakerin the Ozarks Area Mission Program. Living on as a program assistant. That
- speakerwere. So that was the only time I ever
- speakerworked for pay. And, it isn't too bad to work for your husband! How
- speakerlong have you been here in San Antonio? So. This is starting our sixth
- speakeryear. When, when. In light
- speakerof this background you have had as rather a team worker with your
- speakerhusband. What was your reaction when he was approached with the
- speakerpossibility that he'd be a candidate for moderator?
- speakerWell. I was delighted. I just. I guess my
- speakerremark was, "It's about time!" That was
- speakerright.
- speakerDid you think of yourself at all? About what you would do? or what your role would be?
- speakerNot really.
- speakerI don't know Bill's reaction to this, but I think that, for both of us, it was just such
- speakera far off possibility. And, we were so involved in
- speakerwhat we were doing here that it was just one of those things well, if it happens. Fine. If it doesn't. Fine. The
- speakerthing with Bill did not make the approach. He was asked. So it was not his doing.
- speakerSo we just kept on about our business, which is. We were
- speakerstill new here. We still had so much to do with Madison Square.
- speakerI don't think we stopped doing what we were doing long enough to look ahead.
- speakerAnd of course in retrospect we wish had done that at the time.
- speakerDid you go to the
- speakerAssembly with him? Yes. Well, at the Assembly when you got here he was under, I guess,
- speakergreat demand to be available to the public. Were you with him
- speakerwhen, for instance I believe, they set up rooms where people could come by and talk. Were
- speakeryou with him then? Yes. Yes. Did the other moderators have their spouses with
- speakerthem? Yes, yes.
- speakerYes they did. Some of the candidates had done a lot of
- speakerpreparation and sort of politicking
- speakerin that they had big posters and things and pictures of their families. And, a
- speakercouple of them had coffee and cookies and so on. We didn't have anything. I had
- speakerpictures of the four kids. That was it.
- speakerBut it was fun.
- speakerIt was a good experience to meet the others. And, we all became very very appreciative of each other. It was a great experience.
- speakerWell when he was elected then, were you sitting out in the audience?
- speakerAnd I was sitting in the balcony where the visitors were supposed to sit. I
- speakerwas sitting with Wes Baker's [Baker, Wesley C.] wife. He was the one who gave Bill's nominating
- speakerspeech. She had a little calculator there and was adding up the scores. And, Rafael Sanchez [Sanchez, Rafael, Jr.] , who had put Bill's name in, was
- speakerthere. I guess after the first ballot, the second ballot was
- speakercoming nice, "I think he's going to do it. I think he's going to do it!" And
- speakerright before I guess the final
- speakertotals came in on the third ballot. I'm not just sure, Bob Stevenson [Stevenson, Robert F.] came
- speakerinto the balcony area and looked for me. He just went like that, you know, "Come on down." So then, of course I knew he had won.
- speakerCould we just one minute. Wes Baker is a minister in the church? At that time, he was a pastor in
- speakerWayne, New Jersey. And it has to be a
- speakerdelegate to General Assembly who nominates you. So when the list came out. Bill went
- speakerdown the list to see who knew.
- speakerAnd he had always thought a great deal of Wes. And, he asked him if he would do it.
- speakerAnd Raphael Sanchez? Is the Executive Presbyter of Alamo Presbytery
- speakerAnd, he is the one who asked Bill to run.
- speakerAnd, then the Stevenson, Bob Stevenson? Bob Stevenson is the Associate
- speakerStated Clerk of General Assembly,
- speakerwhose responsibility is to take care of moderators' itinerary. Oh my.
- speakerAnd, he came and got you out of the balcony? Yes.
- speakerWhere did you go then?. Well they took us to this room where the candidates had all been standing.
- speakerThey all came out of the door.
- speakerHe just looked at me and said, "How about that!" a particpant in that General Assembly, trying to separate yourself from the fact that it is your husband. You
- speakerprobably liked him and thought he was the best one there.
- speakerWhat do you? How do you account for his election? What was it? Did you? Did
- speakeryou feel anything or did you think why it was they selected him
- speakerover the other candidates?
- speakerWell I guess, Doug, because
- speakerbecause he came across as a missionary and just himself. And, he spoke,
- speakerprobably more personally than the other candidates.
- speakerAnd, I think that we tend to forget that most Presbyterians
- speakercome from small churches, really. And they're
- speakermission-minded people. And, I just think they appreciate
- speakersomeone who is just an every day pastor and who had been on the mission field. And, this is what Bill stressed.
- speakerI felt like. I didn't think he had a chance when
- speakerwe first went out there, but Monday night, the Outlook always has a dinner. The Presbyterian Outlook, at whi
- speakerch time all the candidates are introduced. A
- speakernd, this was a long meeting, it was a dinner
- speakermeeting. And, it was in honor of Hutchison, I guess, who was retiring. And, so they had
- speakermany speeches, many speeches before they ever got around
- speakerintroducing the candidate and then they drew the names out of a hat. Lois Stair did.
- speakerAnd, Bill's was the last name. I thought, "Oh, my goodness! Everybody is going to be asleep by the time we
- speakerget to him. And then she began to pull them
- speakerout and they came up and when she finally got to Bill, she couldn't remember even how to
- speakerpronounce his name. What a beginning! But, he
- speakergot up. And, I don't remember what he said at all. But I could tell,
- speakerby the way the audience responded, that they were still listening and that they were responding
- speakerto him.
- speakerSo I thought to myself, he's going get it. And. That is interesting. And
- speakerhe was elected then on Tuesday afternoon? L
- speakerate afternoon. And, as he described it to us, he immediately then had to make very
- speakervery important decisions on selecting persons for the
- speakercommittee. So what what did you do then?
- speakerWell we were invited to have dinner with Bill Thompson [Thompson, William Phelps, Stated Clerk] in his apartment.
- speakerAnd. So I was there.Just at in while they were going into this
- speakerprocess.
- speakerAnd I believe I did go back to my room before they were quite through.
- speakerDid they make an effort? Did you feel it was an effort made at that point to involve you in
- speakerthis whole thing? Or was it just polite to have you there?
- speakerWell no I was not. There was no way I could be involved in that at all.
- speakerBut, they were very very gracious.
- speakerBill Thompson has to be one of the most gracious people I have ever met. And, to me, it was one of the
- speakerprivileges of the year to know him. And, he couldn't have been more kindo me there. So that
- speakerduring the rest of the week, then
- speakerwhat did you? What did you do that?
- speakerWell it was very unusual in that to see
- speakerthat Tuesday. OK.
- speakerI really did not get to participate in the Assembly as I would like to have because
- speakerI met an old friend, who I had gone to high school with, who lived in California
- speakerand she came down from Claremont. And, we spent two days together. And at that time,
- speakerI believe, it was the next two days, Wednesday and Thursday, that there are all the committees sessions anyway. There's really not much business going on on the floor.
- speakerSo I wasn't there.
- speakerAnd then on Saturday I flew from San
- speakerDiego to Connecticut to be at my son's graduation from Yale University.
- speakerIt came at the exact same time. And, this was graduate school from Yale. And, I thought that someone from the family had to be there. I wanted to be t
- speakerhere. So
- speakerI didn't get back until Tuesday.
- speakerAll the big issues of homosexuality had been already, gone.
- speakerSo that's disappointing to me. But that was one of those choices that mothers make.
- speakerI don't regret it.
- speakerWell then essentially nothing is really
- speakerexpected of the spouse of the moderator. You did not have. If it was, I was
- speakernot, not informed that it was expected of me. After the Assembly, did you not stay over a week? Yes. We had
- speakera
- speakerwonderful dinner at the Coronado Hotel out there.
- speakerNow, that was the first opportunity Bill had to sit down with Bob Stevenson and
- speakerbegin to talk about itineration. I guess at that
- speakertime there are already invitations that come the very, very first
- speakerday. There are some places that the moderator is automatically expected
- speakerto go. So these are already on the calendar before the moderator is even elected.
- speakerWith obviously with all the emotion and the
- speakertension you're having to fly across the country and back, you must both of you be awfully tired..
- speakerYes but you're still on a high. And our. The folks at Madison Square were just so wonderful.
- speakerThey sent telegrams and letters, you know. And, they are on the phone back and forth to the children. And,
- speakerMr. Garcia.
- speakerFrank Garcia, had taken some beautiful pictures of Bill, right when he
- speakerreceived the stole and the cross.And, he had blown it up into a big picture so when we
- speakercame back home, many of the congregation met us at the airport with the big
- speakerbanners and the kids had a big welcome sign at the
- speakerhouse and then very shortly afterwards we had a reception at the church.
- speakerSo this euphoria lasts for quite a long time and
- speakerthe congregation was just tremendous Dan. Frank had sent the pictures over so the
- speakercongregation could see them the very next Sunday. We really appreciated him. The
- speakerplans for the year had already started at the Assembly?
- speakerSo after you go back to San Antonio, how did you two
- speakerarrange your plans for the year? You obviously were aware by the time
- speakeryou left San Diego is that it was going to be a busy year for him.
- speakerWhat what did you two decide about the year?
- speakerWell I was given to understand that there is was a
- speakerspouses' fund in General Assembly. In the General Assembly offices
- speakerthat someone gives a large amount anonymously every year to this fund.
- speakerAnd then the Synod itself is invited to contribute to the spouses' fund. And so, Bob Stevenson
- speakertold me that I didn't have to worry about it. If I wanted to go with Bill, I could go,
- speakerany time anywhere.
- speakerIt was a very good year for me to be able to leave
- speakerbecause our two daughters were at home this year. One of
- speakerthem working in and one of them going to Trinity. And so, they were here to take care of the household.
- speakerSo there was noproblem with me being able to go. the first. The
- speakerfirst trip was to Ireland. And that was an
- speakerunexpected trip. I believe Oscar McCloud [McCloud, J. Oscar] was supposed
- speakerto go and was unable to we go. And, they asked if we would go in his place. Who is Oscar McCloud? He
- speakeris the chairman or Director of the Program Agency. He is the top man in the Program Agency. So
- speakerwe were thrilled to have this opportunity to go. It was sponsored by the
- speakerNational Council of Churches or the Irish Council of Churches. And,
- speakerit was purely an informational week
- speakerin Belfast, in Northern Ireland, to try to help
- speakerAmericans understand the troubles that were going on there. And,
- speakerI have to admit, I was very nervous about going to Belfast. And,
- speakerthe second night we were there in the hotel, we had a bomb scare. We were all routed out of our beds. B
- speakerut it turned out to be nothing. But the
- speakerexperience of meeting the leaders of the Irish Church.
- speakerAnd, the thrill of seeing the Catholic and Protestant leaders sitting down together round the table with us, which
- speakerthey said ten years ago would have been absolutely impossible. It
- speakerwas a beautiful experience. Very sad to see what has happened there both in Londonderry and through areas in Belfast. It was my
- speakerfirst experience seeing a war-torn city. How
- speakermany attended the seminar? There were thirty-two. Thirty-two. And you travelled with the group? No. We. We flew by
- speakerourselves. We met them there. And, they were from all over the United States.
- speakerCatholic and Protestant, clergy and lay. Well. That
- speakerwas your first trip.
- speakerSo that was that was the big thing that summer.
- speakerAnd then we also went back and I believe we went almost directly to
- speakerColorado to the Mariners conference outside of Denver. And,
- speakerthis was. This was what was so difficult was trying to adjust
- speakerso quickly from such intense experiences.
- speakerI'd have to look at my journal on the order of that. or the other. But the other. also
- speakerthat summer went a weeks conference at Ghost Ranch on church
- speakerchange, clergywomen, which was a very intense week.
- speakerAnd Bill had asked you to attend this, so that we might learn more about the
- speakerproblem of clergy women. This is a very very excellent conference what
- speakerwe thought was getting Cynthia McHala at Madison Square.
- speakerSo I began right away to realize what we were in for. In
- speakerother words you had to change gears Change gears. immediately.
- speakerAnd how. How. Well I guess this is a
- speakersimplistic question, but is that not tiring in the
- speakersense of being emotionally tiring?
- speakerYes. I think it is more emotionally tiring than it is physically tiring.
- speakerAnd my frustration came in that there was no
- speakertime to sit down and write your feelings, your reflections from the distance.
- speakerAnd I had more time than Bill. I would just come home. Bill tried
- speakerto preach once a month here in Corpus.
- speakerEvery time we came home I would try to work up a bulletin board for the
- speakerfolks at Madison Square for a map and show where we had been, pictures.
- speakerSo on. Trying the best I knew how to keep the
- speakerfocus so I did have that outlet, but Bill was
- speakeralways having to think about the next thing and the next.
- speakerI didn't have to give a big talk. Rather
- speakerextraordinary you thinking of that.
- speakerYou and him both being receptacles of information. Then, what you're
- speakersaying is there was no sharing of this information. There was no time to
- speakershare them. No time, correct. Did the General Assembly office?
- speakerIs there anything built into the whole routine for the moderator that gave you an
- speakeropportunity to to share with people who do the
- speakerplanning for this about your feelings? About your experiences? you
- speakerknow they don't at the end of the year ask you if you want
- speakersomething you know kind of, as it were, de-briefing or anything like that? Not
- speakerthat I know of. Bill could tell you more about that.
- speakerHe spent more time in the office going over itinerary, times
- speakerthat I did not know of. So he did have options. And, Bill's the
- speakertype of person who likes to be used. So, if someone asked for him, he'd say, "Sure."
- speakerSo he was always looking ahead, rather than.
- speakerReally people in the United States are not so concerned about what's going on in Ireland and
- speakerlater on in Africa. I find I find I'm having to say
- speakerI would like to be invited to talk about Africa, no one had asked me
- speaker. Still shows our provincialism, I think.
- speakerIt's almost ironical I. I. This is the first I heard of your trip to
- speakerBelfast. Now, perhaps I don't read the right papers or magazines. I read the little lapse there apparently in communication. Well. On these
- speakertravels, you. You did go to Africa on some of them? Yes. Well you. Did you
- speakerusually accompany him to the meetings? Or did you ever
- speakeryourself make plans to go do something else, for example, visit schools while he was visiting
- speakerhospitals or whatever?
- speakerNo.
- speakerJust about every place we went, it was to a church primarily, other than
- speakerthe seminaries and the colleges and nursing homes. And, I was
- speakerinterested in going to all those places.
- speakerI really don't know where there would have been time to do anything like that.
- speakerI don't see myself as a speaker. One or two times after
- speakerwe returned from Africa. In fact, I believe, they were
- speakerboth lunches put on by Women's Associations. Bill and I
- speakershared some of our experiences in Africa.
- speakerHe asked me to share some of them. And, as I look back, I thought well if I had known ahead
- speakerof time, and if the host churches had known that I was coming,
- speakerI would love to have taken the morning time in the church to visit
- speakerSunday school classes and share some of the African experiences
- speakerwith the children. That's where I would have felt comfortable. Many times, Bill spoke at two
- speakerservices, but it would often be that the minister would want me to be
- speakerin the church so he could introduce me, whereas I would have preferred
- speakerto have talked to some Sunday School class. So, I put this in
- speakerthe report later on. The report you're talking about. After
- speakerthe year was over, you put down some of your thoughts. Is that correct? Yes. To whom did you send it? Well, I sent it
- speakerto Bill Thompson, Bob Stevenson, and to John Conner [Conner, John T.] And, I
- speakersent it to the young woman in the Synod of
- speakerCalifornia, who set up our itinerary there, because she was so helpful and really was interested in my reaction.
- speakerJohn Conner is? Past moderator. Past moderator. The moderator just us. Have you
- speakertalked to the present
- speakermoderator [Rice, Howard L., Jr.] at all? Yes. I shared. shared it with him at General
- speakerAssembly.
- speakerSo, you had prepared this before the General Assembly meeting? Yes.
- speakerHave you gotten any reaction to it?
- speakerNo. No.
- speakerI think the main burden that I was concerned about was, was itineration.
- speakerAnd evidently they had thought of some of these things before.
- speakerIt seemed that we were we were backtracking a lot and flying back and forth.
- speakerAnd so I wondered why we couldn't. Why the modeator couldn't
- speakerbe itinerated by synods
- speakerand not be in the northern synods in the middle of winter.
- speakerThe weather was quite a factor.
- speakerAnd, why the itineration couldn't be done out
- speakerof synod office directly, between the synod office and the General Assembly office, which is
- speakerthe way is done California and Washington. Those are the only two synods that do the setting up.
- speakerIn that way,
- speakerthe churches that are going to have a centennial celebration
- speakerwould know ahead of time which month the moderator was going to be in
- speakertheir synod. And they could set up their celebration at that time.
- speakerIt seems s
- speakertewardship-wise that it would save a lot of money as well.
- speakerAnd, it would save a lot of wear and tear on the moderator. It is varied travel. From one time zone to another. It must be. The time zone travel
- speakerAirplanes. Waiting in the airports. We got a lot of good books
- speakerread. Lots of reading. Was the? Was the year healthy for both of you? Very healthy! Very healthy! John [Conner, John T.]
- speakerhad told us this. He said somehow or other you are upheld in a
- speakerway that you. It's hard to believe. And, that is certainly true. No question about it. We
- speakerwere never sick. It was wonderful. Not even in Africa. Did
- speakeryou.
- speakerDid you learn anything? Or did anything about the Presbyterian Church that you felt
- speakeryou didn't already know? Or have a, or have some awareness of? Or was there anything? In other words, d
- speakerid all this change in any way your apprehension of the Presbyterian Church?
- speakerI had no apprehensions.
- speakerNo I just had fears as to how
- speakerWhat my role would be and how I could be of help. I just
- speakerfound out how many beautiful people there are in the church. And, how warm and
- speakerloving and open they are.
- speakerYou know, it just, just makes you very very proud to be a Presbyterian with that kind of experience.
- speakerAnd I think the the joyful
- speakerpart about it was that people on both
- speakersides of issues were willing to talk.
- speakerI think definitely were trying to come closer together. And, to me,
- speakerthis was Bill's gift for the year. His tact and his understanding and his willingness to
- speakerlisten to both sides. A
- speakernd, I think I felt especially good about that. And, the question, the whole question, of the World Council grant. And, to
- speakerme, the question and answer periods were the most beneficial.
- speakerI saw some people have their minds opened to new
- speakerthoughts on the African situation. And, I
- speakerheard one person say that he had his mind completely changed after hearing Bill's presentation.
- speakerThis to me was very encouraging. And then, I
- speakerthink the fact that it was the big emphasis on the Major Mission Fund. And, we went to two m
- speakerission programs that were outstanding in my mind. One
- speakerwas a presbytery mission in Wellsboro, PA, which was small
- speakerchurches. It was the finest mission program I've ever attended. The spriit was
- speakerjust tremendous. The singing was great.
- speakerI think maybe I I was surprised at how conservative most Presbyterians are.
- speakerIs this? Did you visit? Would you say that you visited virtually every
- speakerpart of the country?
- speakerYes I think I figured out we went to either thirty-seven or thirty-nine
- speakerstates, and several of those many times. I believe we went to
- speakerevery single presbytery in Pennsylvania.
- speakerSure.
- speakerI think there were some areas we missed. You know. I'm hopeful. I think that Howard [Rice Howard L. Jr.] is
- speakertrying to get to those. We're disappointed we
- speakerdidn't get to Puerto Rico, but I know Howard has gotten to Puerto Rico. There just wasn't time. T
- speakerhe trip to Africa was
- speakerto visit the mission fields, stations or? The request
- speakercame from Zaire, the church there is celebrating 100
- speakeryears of the Gospels introduction into Zaire. They were having a weeklong
- speakercelebration in Kinshasa.
- speakerAnd, there hadn't been a moderator go to Africa in quite
- speakersome time. And, they thought this was the. ideal time to go.
- speakerAnd, I was really scared about going to Africa, especially when I knew we were going to Ethiopia first. We
- speakerhad an afternoon's briefing with Paul Hopkins in New York. He was our African man.
- speakerHe didn't really allay my fears at all.
- speakerSo I really didn't want to go, but I didn't want to stay home either. So.
- speakerIt was a very tension-, emotion-filled experience.
- speakerDid you two travel alone? Yes. Yes, we did. Do you ever travel with accompaniment,
- speakeraccompanied by anyone from General Assembly?
- speakerThe only time was when Jim Giddings , the Associate Editor of A.D., spent
- speakertwo or three days with us in Oklahoma. A
- speakernd, out of that, came his article that he wrote toward the end of the
- speakeryear, which I guess he always does about the moderator. So. Literally, you two got on a plane and flew to Ethiopia. Right. Right.
- speakerAnyone there to meet you? Well. There were supposed to be, but
- speakerthey missed us at the airport in Ethiopia.
- speakerSo when we flew from. We flew from L.A. We
- speakerhad gone back to our church in New Mexico, to our original churches there, and
- speakerhad a very emotional-filled time in New Mexico.
- speakerThen, flew from there to L.A. and got on the Ethiopian plane. So we
- speakerleft on a Sunday from New Mexico. We arrived in
- speakerEthiopia the following Tuesday ,never having gotten off the plane. That struck me a little big
- speakerback. But we really.
- speakerWe really did very well in the Ethiopian
- speakerChristians are just so beautiful and
- speakerso loving. And, I think, probably though it's their
- speakerdignity and their courage that impressed me the most. The church there has
- speakerbeen persecuted by the new communist
- speakerregime.
- speakerThey're still functioning, but I believe it
- speakerwas the second day we were there, the officers gave a beautiful banquet in our honor at noon. And, that
- speakerafternoon, the General Secretary of the Ethiopian C
- speakerhurch was arrested and thrown in jail.
- speakerSo the next morning when we met with him, it was in an upper room office. And, we really
- speakerfelt like we were back in the New Testament days because we stood there in a circle
- speakerand held hands and prayed for this brother who had been arrested. And,
- speakertheir prayer was not so much that he be released, but simply that he have the courage
- speakerto witness to Christ in his imprisonment.
- speakerWe later learned from Paul Hopkins that he had been released, but since that time we've
- speakerheard that he's been arrested again.
- speakerSo, all throughout Africa they were so grateful that we had come such a long distance to see them and especially in Ethiopia and in Mozambique. They just. They said, "Please do not forget us." They didn't ask for anything, but they just said, "Please, do not forget us.". And, they are
- speakervery joyful people. Of course, their singing, their music was just tremendous
- speakerWe arrived in Kenya
- speakerjust in time for the inauguration of President Moi [Moi, Daniel arap] who was the
- speakersuccessor to Kenyatta [Kenyatta, Jomo]. And, that was a joyful
- speakerexperience, a very happy experience, after the sadness of Ethiopia. W
- speakere then had the privilege. Did Bill tell you abour our
- speakergetting to meet the president of Zambia? We had a g
- speakerreat privilege of meeting Kaunda, [Kaunda, Kenneth David] who is a Christian.
- speakerHe and a minister and Bill and I, the four of us, sat in his parlor
- speakerand had prayer together. That was an
- speakerexperience I'll never forget. He's under a
- speakerterrific pressure and asked us to pray for him.
- speakerSo you know I just want to say to people wherever I go,
- speakerplease pray for Christians in Africa. The
- speakerother thrilling experiencet we had here in Johannesburg was to meet Beyers Naude, who is a
- speakerDutch Afrikaaner Christian, who has been banned by the government because of his stand on apartheid. We were
- speakerprivileged to go into his home.
- speakerHe broke the rules because when you're banned, you're only allowed to talk to one person at a time.
- speakerHe said there's no way I won't welcome you into my home. We prayed there together with him.
- speakerAnd then we had the final week in Kinshasa.
- speakerAnd, Bill and I both have the privilege there of speaking in this huge soccer stadium to
- speakerabout 25000 Christians, who had come
- speakertogether for this celebration.
- speakerAnd I was the only woman on the platform. And, I was able to say
- speakerI'm bringing my sisters in Zaire the greetings of their sisters in Christ in Africa. I love my freedom. And, that was a
- speakerthrill. That must have been thrilling to be in that kind of situation. In every country there
- speakerwas something really extra special.
- speakerAnd, God really took care of us.
- speakerWe flew from the little town of Beira in Mozambique back to Maputo. And,
- speakerI thought the plane was going to crash.
- speakerWe were caught in a tropical storm. That was really the most scary time.
- speakerHe just couldn't land. He'd start down and then he'd go up againnd, he'd start down. I
- speakerthought, "Well, I don't mind dying, dear Lord, but I'd rather die back home."
- speakerBut it was a tremendous experience.