Saturday, July 30, 2016

Partners for life


Linda and I began to raise funds for our ministry back in 1984. We had some early supporters among family members (Phil's folks, siblings and Linda's Mom and sister), among some friends (college classmates, friends from our local church, etc) and a few churches from the then Baptist General Conference (now Converge USA): Bethany Baptist in Pittsburgh (where Phil had been an intern), Northwest Baptist in Chicago (where Phil had been youth pastor and was ordained), Calvary Baptist in State College, PA (where Phil was baptized) Grace Baptist in Erie, PA and Lakewood Baptist in Lakewood, NY. Also there were a couple other churches, which joined in at that time: Grace Church in Harmony PA, St Stephen's Church in Sewickley, PA and New Life Bible Church in Walworth, NY (near Rochester, NY).

It's amazing how many of these churches and individuals have continued to support us for the entire 30 years we were with Greater Europe Mission. When we moved two years ago to Eastern Mennonite Missions, we were afraid we would lose support from some. In fact the loss was minimal. Except for churches, which have folded or faded, and friends who have gone on to glory, the majority have been partners for the entire 32 years.

Our EMM Missionary Support Team Coach, Barry Freed, once remarked in an email that it seemed like most of our supporters seemed prepared to support us for life! While that might be a bit of an exaggeration, most have in fact stuck with us.

Through our supporters we have seen the Lord meet our needs throughout the past 32 years. Some of our supporters have gone to glory, as I mentioned. Some are proud to be octogenarians! Many are pushing 80...

We trust that the Lord will continue to supply what we need through our partners. It's been a joy to share our lives together. We try to pray for our partners just as they pray for us. Though not all our prayer partners and supporters publish a newsletter, some of them send annual letters with their Christmas cards or send an email on occasion.

We are glad that our supporters aren't just financial investors, but friends!

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Crash Pad


Jeanne & Dave Swaisgood


Crash pad

Wikipedia defines crash pad as “a location used by airline flight crews for temporary lodging.” I have often felt that my parents’ home and now my sister and brother-in-law’s home have been and are our crash pads.

We all know what a “Launch pad” is.  When a rocket ship is launched, it has a launch pad.

NASA always had a landing in the ocean.  The command module descended through the atmosphere and then sprouted a parachute and dropped into the ocean to be picked up by a special Navy frigate.

Soviet and current Russian rockets have a launch pad in Kazakhstan.  However, Russian command modules don’t land in the sea.  They land on land.

Throughout our missionary career, I have felt like we were repeatedly launched into space.  My parents’ house was our launch pad.

We moved into my folks’ house when I did an internship at Bethany Baptist Church in McCandless Township, near Pittsburgh, PA.  We lived with our new born daughter, Beth, in my parents’ home for a year and a half until we could take some salary from our account with Greater Europe Mission.  We then lived on 8th St in Ambridge, PA near Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, where Linda was studying, before we left for Europe.

On August 14th, 1986 we were launched off to Vienna, Austria, where the Eastern European Bible Institute was located.  EEBI was a ministry of GEM and was an undergraduate school for training pastors, evangelists and church workers for the then Yugoslavia.

We returned to the US in June of 1989 and landed at my parents’ house.  Though we didn’t stay there all year during that furlough, it was a place we could count on returning to during our career.  Many times after that I or we would return for a short fund raising trip.  Dad also kept a second car running, so that we always had wheels.

Many years later when we sent Beth and then Steve off to Pennsylvania to college, Grandma and Grandpap Gottschalk’s home was a crash pad, a place to spend vacations and the summer, and later for Steve a place to live for a couple years while he was just out of college.

We will always be grateful to my parents for being the crash pad.  We could come and go as we needed, but they didn’t just help us.  My parents were on the mission board at North Way Christian Community and several younger couples from their Bible study went out as missionaries.  Uncle Bob and Aunt Pat had a BNB before anyone knew what that was.  Dad paid a former missionary to renovate the attic room (my old room), so that it was a comfortable place for missionaries to stop by or stay as they needed.

When Mom sold the house in 2011 and moved to a retirement community in north east Ohio, Jeanne and Dave Swaisgood’s house became our crash pad.  Jeanne and Dave have many times picked me up from the Cleveland airport as I arrived or left.  They have a “room for the prophet” upstairs on their second floor.

They have always been gracious and flexible with me (us), as we have bombed in and out (launched again and returned) from many deputation trips west to Chicago, or north to New Hampshire or south to South Carolina and back, and then returned to Europe. 

Our lifestyle when on Home Ministry Assignment is hectic and erratic.  It’s hardly comfortable to try to figure out where we are and when.  However, Jeanne & Dave keep the light on and Jeanne keeps the food in stock. Our schedule which changes all the time when we are on deputation.  We often don’t know from one day to the next what our schedule is.  Still Jeanne and Dave are always ready with a warm welcome.

Aside from giving us a place to crash, Jeanne arranges many family gatherings.  We have missed many family gatherings in past years, but Jeanne does her best to get us all together, and she succeeds.

Dave is a business man and he has patiently helped me (Phil) to figure out a variety of business issues from retirement options and savings to how loans work and how to pay them down faster. I often feel like a total putz in this regard, but Dave guides me along to a clearer understanding.

So, thanks Mum (& Dad) and Jeanne & Dave for having been and being our crash pad.  Though our landing is on land, it’s still soft!

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

The Truck

Someone at a supporting church volunteered to let us borrow their truck for a couple weeks.  I haven’t ever driven a pickup truck, but I figured it was no problem.

I was expecting an Isuzu or a Toyota. It is a Ford F-150 with power steering, power brakes, an automatic transmission, cruise control, air conditioning and a great radio!

It rides like a dream.  It’s no effort to steer. It has a powerful motor, no trouble pulling onto a highway.  People steer clear! It’s big! But it’s easy to drive and no problems. At 70 mph the gauges don’t even waiver: oil pressure consistent, gear box temperature no movement, engine temperature no movement, the gas gauge dropped only ¼ between McCandless Township and Erie, PA.

So after 440 miles I went to fill the tank.  It was about 7/8ths empty.  I started to fill it… It kept on and on and on…

In the end it was $58 to fill the tank with 28.9 gallons at $2.02 per gallon.  If my math is right, that’s about 15 mpg.  [My first car, a Plymouth Fury with a V-8 318 cubic inch engine, got about 12 mpg… but gas was cheaper in 1980.]

I was shocked at the cost, not overwhelmed but very surprised.  I don’t know trucks.

My brother-in-law said, “I wondered what you’d think after you filled the tank.”…

So, I thought about it… My Fiat Punto in NL get about 36 mpg (5-6 liters / 100 km).  When I fill the 30 liter (about 8 gallon) tank, it costs about 60 Euros ($67).  Gas in NL costs about 1.53 Euros PER LITER (that is converted $6.09 per gallon).  So, $2.02 per gallon sounds pretty good.

I still need to drive 880 miles with the truck, which will cost about $120.

If I rented a small car, the cost would be about $1100 (If I can get the waiver for insurance using my VISA card, I’d still pay $600 + gas at 36 mpg [24 gallons at $2.02 mpg = about $50]). So, I’d pay $650 at least or at most $1150.

Unless my math is off, the truck will save us over the next two weeks about $1000 of rental costs or at least $530.

So, thanks, good friends!  It’s a great ride at a great price!

Now where am I going to park a truck near the Pittsburgh Athletic Association for Steve & Renee’s wedding?