Chapter 47 - Monkeys on the Porch
I wake up the first night at the Youth with a Mission Penang base to the sound of frogs croaking in the lily padded sea marsh beyond our window. Their deep and discordant chorus drones on all night. A ceiling fan whirrs above me, but I am sticky hot—and sick.
“How are you feeling, honey,” Larry asks, turning over.
“Better. I think the antibiotics from Dr. Pauline lowered my temperature, but my insides ache.”
“Try to get more sleep. Jared’s bunking in the guys’ dorm for now. He’s comfortable.”
“I’m glad we’re safely here. But I’m worried about the future. How are we going to rent a house, buy a car, function here in Penang with so little support?”
Larry squeezes my shoulder and speaks softly. “Well, last time the Lord did provide the $1,000 a month pledge right as we were leaving. Maybe this time he has a different lesson for us. A steeper learning curve in faith.”
In the following days Jared enrolls in seventh grade at Dalat School, reuniting with former classmates. As I feel better Larry and I wander the seaside Tanjong Bunga area near the base, after meeting new YWAM staff. Of our original team only Tom is here, returning from the States with Teresa, his radiant bride. SH and Emily the leaders have labored faithfully, and now there are several new staff, including six Korean girls who are here to serve and improve their English. Jeff and Diane Littleton our friends from Kona, Hawaii are now based here to travel and teach in Asia.
Larry and I trudge up the hill to the main road where small shops cluster. We find a teashop and order the strong Boh tea Malaysia is famous for. With cream and sugar, it’s delicious. We sit outside where palm trees wave, and cars and rickshaws buzz by. A hawker passes, carrying plastic dishes for sale on his shoulder. Cigarette smoke drifts behind us where older Indian men congregate to sip their tea. I slap a fly that lands on my sugared donut.
“It’s wonderful to be back, isn’t it,” Larry comments.
“Yeah. I feel like we belong here. Sort of like we’ve come home.”
“But I wonder how we’re going to fit in at the base? Our roles have changed.”
“Well, you know my dream is to teach, whether in Malaysia or in other countries,” I answer.
“But our first goal should be to raise more support so we can stay here.”
Larry nods. “Tom is leading the DTS this spring. Maybe we can offer to staff it as well as instruct a week or two. Later when we have more support, we can travel out to teach in other countries.”
After we mail out around 130 newsletters our support begins to slowly rise. Meanwhile Dr. Pauline offers to share her hillside mansion with us. She is an energetic Chinese Malaysian, brisk and efficient in her senior years, generous and hospitable. “You can use the bedroom and bath at the end of the house,” she says. “It has a large veranda in front. And Jared can sleep downstairs where others have bedrooms. You can eat with us too, until you find a good house to rent.”
“Thank you so much, Dr. Pauline. You are so gracious,” I respond. “Would it be alright if we cook on the front porch under the eaves? We can buy cupboards and a two-burner stove. This way we can have family life with Jared more easily. And we can eat once in while with the whole family.”
“Of course."
“And I can help with housecleaning sometimes, in the rest of the house.”
This arrangement works well for several months. We borrow an old DTS van, clean it up, spraying ants out of its base. It has no air conditioning, so we swelter in the heat…but it’s free!
As we staff the school we get to know the students—it’s fun and challenging. There are about ten singles with two mature couples. The first couple--Dass and Rani--are Malaysians Indians. Dass is an outgoing leader who’s grown up on a rubber plantation, and Rani has been trained as a teacher. The other couple Colin and Jo are college graduates, Brits who have been travelling the world. This time in Penang is for spiritual growth and direction.
Peter Jordan, our former Crossroads leader comes to teach for a week. We host Peter for dinner on our veranda. “It’s good to see you guys doing so well here,” he comments, leaning back in his chair. “And what a view of the harbor!”
We watch lights twinkle below on the coastline as the sun sinks slowly into the sea. “Yes, we’re really enjoying it,” Larry reflects.
“Except when the monkeys from the jungle below climb into our cupboards,” I laugh. “They’re so cute, but one time they got into the flour and rice and made a mess! Exotic living does have its disadvantages.”
We laugh and have a meaningful evening of sharing stories.
It is Jeff Littleton who finds the empty house for us to rent on Haji Rafaie. A three bedroom, two bath home with cream colored floor tiles. The back yard is lined with greenery, the front yard faces a road and a hill from which loud Indian music floats down during the evenings.
Support has now risen to about $1,000 a month. We pay the first and last month’s rent, clean and paint inside the house, scraping grease from the grillwork at the kitchen window. We drip with sweat in the tropical heat, but the results are worth it. After buying bamboo furniture and curtains from a missionary couple who are moving back to the States, we sit in the living room and sip lemonade. “It’s beautiful,” I exclaim. “And I’m so thankful Dr. Pauline offered her small piano for Jared.”
Larry agrees.” You’re getting so good, Jared, it’s even a joy to hear you practice!”
“Thanks,” he grins. “I’m glad you made me keep practicing when I was younger, Dad. I love it now.”
The Lord keeps providing! We buy a car that has air conditioning and begin to use it for outreach. We visit with Bob and Kelly Parr, newer staff who work with village people and host YWAM teams. As we relate to Malaysian villagers our hearts are knit together in love and prayer for their work. We enjoy worshipping and serving at the large Full Gospel Assembly Church. I’m sometimes used prophetically, and one Sunday Larry and I preach. Sometimes we teach in other churches, driving through small towns, jungles, and rice paddies on the mainland.
In the summer of 1992 we begin to live on the edge again. Though we communicate faithfully with family and supporters, we barely have enough income for food and living expenses. And I begin to miss Nick more. It’s expensive to call, so we only telephone him 20 minutes every two weeks. He seems to be doing well in classes at ORU and later with summer work, but he does miss us. “It’s not like I wish you were here in Tulsa,” he explains. “But you’re on the other side of the world. There’s no one around if I really need something.”
Our situation brings back painful memories from my college days. I wonder if we are neglecting him…as I had sometimes felt forsaken when my parents were in Irian Jaya and I was in the States. Often I leave the phone mourning, wondering why life seems so hard. Do families in missions always have to be apart to spread the Good News?
As Larry and I pray I ask, “Father, why did I have to be alone those four years of college and nurses training? I was so lonely sometimes. I know the Dani's needed the gospel, but I was emotionally malnourished much of the time--like a plant starved for nutrients. I needed family! Lord, are we doing the same thing to Nick now?
“Yes, Lord,” Larry agrees. “Please show us your highest will. Heal Marti’s wounds from the past, and provide all Nick needs right now.”
One day we receive an unexpected letter—from the Internal Revenue Service! Larry tears the envelope open. “They want to audit us,” he says. “We’ve never been audited before. And our records are stored in Colorado. I have no idea how we could work with the IRS right now.”
We answer them with a handwritten air form, detailing our mission work and inability to provide records.
Our finances continue to be tight through the summer. As Jared turns thirteen in August and enters eighth grade, his Dalat tuition is added to our monthly expenses. That fall Jared experiences painful sores in his mouth and throat. He has difficulty eating and begins to lose weight, so Larry takes milkshakes down to Dalat at noon to provide more nutrition. We keep praying.
Then one day Larry arrives home while I’m preparing dinner with surprising news. “S.H. and Emily are moving to Ipoh to pioneer a base.”
“Really! He’s the base leader and the YWAM national director. Why wouldn’t someone else pioneer a new base there? Penang is a much larger city from which he can work.”
“Well, he’ll stay the national director. But he wants me to take over the Penang base leadership. Are you interested in doing that together?”
I sit down at the dining table, pondering. “My passion is for us to teach together, to travel in and out of Malaysia. If you’re tied up with administrative work, how can we do that?”
“It would be more challenging. But we’re the natural choice for this, having pioneered this base.”
“That’s true, but are we called to do it? God could use Tom in that capacity, or Jeff and Diane, if they wanted to take it on. Right now my focus is on getting enough support to live on.”
We keep praying about the base leadership, and a few days later I have peace. “It’s alright for you to lead,” I tell Larry. “In time we could travel and teach more, after our support improves. But our finances are so tight now. We pray and pray, but I still worry.”
“I know,” Larry agrees. “It’s not easy.”
“So much of our emotional and spiritual energy is spent on just surviving financially. Is this God’s best? In the Alliance my folks had their support provided, and they could just concentrate on mission work. Are we doing something wrong?”
“Let’s just press on…keep praying. God will come through. He’s always faithful.”
One lunchtime Larry arrives home after the base prayer meeting with news. He seems both subdued and excited. I am home recuperating from flu.
“They prayed over me today, installing me as base leader,” Larry says soberly.
“Today? I’ve barely said ‘yes’ to God in my heart about this. I wanted to wait until our finances improve. I still hardly have faith to stay here, much less take on that responsibility with you. Why didn’t they delay till I was there too?”
“I think S.H. just wants to hand the leadership over.”
“Couldn’t you have asked them to wait till I could be there also? We work as a team. Usually couples are prayed over together.”
“I’m sorry,” Larry responds. “I should have asked them to wait.”
The process seems wrong to me, but there is nothing I can do. In a few weeks the staff host a farewell dinner for S.H. and Emily before they leave for Ipoh. Larry begins to lead the base meetings and we start taking staff out for coffee to get to know them better and pray for their needs.
I decide the base needs decorating, and there are funds in an account for it. In the coming weeks the wicker furniture cushions are reupholstered, with new curtains that coordinate, all the walls are repainted in soft colors. I tape and Larry paints. We hang pictures and oriental wall hangings. “Don’t you love the new look!” I exclaim to Kelly one morning.
“Yes. It lifts one’s spirits to have good decorating.” We laugh together.
I keep praying and trying to trust the Lord but continue to fret about our finances. I miss Nick and pray that he won’t struggle. Jared is enjoying school and music. Larry is steady, he doesn’t seem to worry…he just hopes and prays, on and on. As our rent comes due, we check our dwindling bank account and discuss our options.
“Well, we can pay the rent and trust God for food for the rest of the month,” Larry offers. “The Lord has always been faithful.”
“Or we can use our rental deposit as payment, and have plenty for food,” I answer. “I feel like we’re on the end of a limb, and it could crack off.”
That week we receive a telephone call from Dennis Stern, one of the New Life elders. “There’s news from your renters,” he tells Larry. “The well on your property has gone dry, and they’re having water delivered by truck. A new well drilling will cost around $5,000—I could oversee it for you. Think about it and call me in a day or two.”
“Thanks, Dennis. I’ll let you know,” Larry responds.
That night Larry and I splurge and drive toward Batu Ferringhi to the seaside Lone Pine Restaurant. The antiquated eatery serves reasonably priced food under feathery pines. You can hear the waves wash the beach and the wind whisper in the branches as candlelight flickers on the tables.
We sip tea until the food is served. “What shall we do?” I ask Larry.
“Well, thank God the IRS cancelled their audit. But we don’t have money to drill a new well.”
“Even if we borrow the money, it might take years to pay it back. We need a miracle.”
“Well, we were sent out by New Life,” Larry says, looking out at the waves. I suppose I should call Pastor Ted and explain our situation. We could stay or fly home, depending on his advice.”
Pastor Ted is difficult to reach because he is suffering from inflammation of the vocal cords. He can only whisper. But Gayle his wife relays his encouragement and tells us the church will lend us the money to drill a new well. We can pay it back as we’re able. “Thank you,” Larry tells her. “We’ll keep in touch.”
In the coming days I share with friends on staff about the dry well and our financial dilemma. I tell them we’re wondering if we should return to the States.
Jeff drops in on us one day to advise us not to talk about returning home. “It’s not helpful to the staff to hear you discuss the possibility of leaving,” he tells me. “We can pray about your finances. But if you’re struggling a lot here, perhaps you need counseling.”
“I understand about not discouraging the staff,” I answer. “But some are close friends, and they can intercede with us. We’re even told in scripture to bear one another’s burdens. You know, Jeff, I didn’t want Larry to take on the base leadership until our finances were stable. I agreed reluctantly.”
“And I should have had Marti there when I was installed as base leader. She’s felt left out,” Larry added.
“Maybe you need counseling as you go through this,” Jeff suggests.
“Right now we need more money for the rent and food—or I need a big gift of faith,” I respond, crossing my arms. Jeff prays with us, then leaves.
A week later we decide to return to the States. No financial miracle happens…we use our last month’s deposit to pay rent for the month, sell furniture, the car, and give Dr. Pauline her small piano back. Tom Davidson is installed as base leader, and after hugging staff goodbye we leave for the airport. I feel badly that we are taking Jared out of school in the middle of the semester.
“It’s OK, Mom, he tells me. “I have friends in Colorado.” His blue eyes glow under thick brown hair. “We’ll be together with Nick soon, too.”
“How are we ever going to catch up financially?” I murmur to Larry as we fly from Kuala Lumpur to Los Angeles. “We have to pay off the airline tickets and drill a new well. And since our home is rented, we need to find a small apartment. Nick will have to hand back our car that he was using in college, too.”
“I know,” Larry sighs. “But God knows all about this. We’re his children. He’ll use this for good somehow.”
Comments