Life in a Jar--Irena Sendler

Irena Sendler, a Polish Christian, recently passed away. The name is probably unfamiliar to most. Irena was responsible for the lives of 2500 Jewish children she rescued from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation of Poland. She worked for the German government as a medical person. Under the ruse of treating children for Typhus she entered the Warsaw Ghetto, talked Jewish parents into giving up their children, and taking the children out. All the children were smuggled out in one way or another and given to non-Jewish Poles who cared for them. Irena kept all the information in a fruit jar she had buried in the backyard of her home. Eventually she was caught by the Gestapo, severely tortured in an effort to find out where the children were, but she never broke. Finally she was sentenced to death. With the aid of a jailer she escaped prison and remained hidden until the end of the war. The secret of the children was never discovered.

This past year Irena was nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, but the prize was given to a much more high-profile person supported by the environmentalists and Hollywood--Al Gore. Perhaps if Irena would have had a good PowerPoint presentation . . . .

For more on Irena, see the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZSu00RN2wk

Rachel Paddock's graduation 2008

Arletta and I did not have time to let the dust settle when we were off again to a graduation. We drove to Oklahoma City to attend the graduation of Rachel Paddock, Geoffrey Paddock's daughter on May 20. We had a nice supper at the Spagetti Warehouse in OKC and then went to the graduation. Because I had a meeting on May 21, we left in the morning and returned to Manhattan.

Nick's Graduation--Central High School

Tad, Nick, Gloria, Nathan
Nick and Brittney
Proud Grandparents with Nick

Graduation in Colorado

Another Grandson graduates from high school

Thanks to the good graces of Dean Ingmire I was able to take off in the midst of test week to attend the graduation of our grandson Nicolas Ryan Paddock in Grand Junction Colorado. Nick would graduate from the same high school I attended, just fifty years later.

The old Central High School was an adobe brick building that sat on North Avenue across the street from Coopers Conoco Station. Jerry Cooper, son of the owner, graduated from high school with me. Central High School had walls that were three feet thick due to the adobe bricks that were used and a gymnasium that resembled the surf rather than a place to play ball. All of our games were played at Grand Junction High School's gym which was much newer and nicer than ours. That building is gone. The school Nick attended was built in 1959 and has been in use ever since. Our own children, including Nick's father, Tad, attended either East Junior High and/or Grand Junction High School because that was the district we were in. My nieces and nephews attended Central.

The trip to Colorado began Monday morning, May 12. The trip was uneventful except for a downpour from Eagle to Grand Junction. We didn't see much except downpour and other traffic. Once you leave Vail Colorado you are in the midst of busy work traffic going home, so we spent our time dodging people anxious to get home.

Near Ellsworth Kansas we saw the new wind generator farm going in. At this time there are 50 erected with an additional 99 to be in operation by November. If there is anything that Kansas has plenty of, it is wind. It is definitely a renewable resource and non polluting. The farm stretches for several miles and adds a nice touch to the scenery.

We enjoyed being with our family in Grand Junction. We got better acquainted with the girls that are involved with our grandsons. Actually we are expecting our first great-grandchild, a little girl, in September. Everyone is excited about the future arrival. Vicki came down from Alaska and it was good to see her again since she has been gone now for a year.

The baccalaureate service was well done. An evangelical youth minister, a middle-aged woman was the speaker and she did not hesitate to present the gospel to the graduating class. Graduation was long and cold at the football stadium, but it was very good. Nick graduated 9^th in a class of 346 and received the superintendent's scholarship which was given to eight others.

Our trip home on Thursday greeted us with snow as we exited the Johnson Tunnel (next to the Eisenhower Tunnel). We drove in the snow all the way to Denver. At the top of Floyd's Hill, just a few miles out of Denver we saw a small herd of deer followed by around 200 elk alongside the road. Later in the day we saw antelope in western Kansas. We also saw Mountain Sheep outside of Georgetown.

We have reached the age when it is hard to leave home. We have pets and we hate to leave them. I always thought it was odd to hear people say they couldn't go anywhere because of their pets. Now I understand. We do have good people who care for the zoo while we are gone, but it is almost like leaving children behind.

Christian giving to world need

The Christian Post has the following article discussing the extent of Christian giving in the world. I found it impressive that Christians provide one-third of aid that goes to the world. See the article
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080514/32354_U.S._Religious_Donations_at_%248.8_Billion_for_Developing_World.htm

380,000,000 to go

If you should ever wonder how many people in the world do not have the Word of God translated into their heart language, now you know. According Wycliffe Translators, the figure is 380,000,000. They have set a goal of getting the Scriptures, at least part of it, into the languages of all these people by the year 2025. When you take into consideration that it normally takes from 30 to 40 years to produce one translation, then the enormity of the task even is more daunting. But their philosophy is, "We have a big God and with his divine help, we can do it."

On Thursday evening, May 1, 2008 I attended a Wycliffe Associates banquet in Manhattan, Kansas. I took with me two of my fellow college professors and two students. One of the professors was very excited about what he saw and heard. The students were quite impressed. A young lady from MCC who attended said she wanted to be a translator. So the trip was more than worthwhile.

Wycliffe Associates is the backup team for Wycliffe Translators. They endeavor to keep the machinery running while the translators put their time into translation.

It is important to remember that the first stage of this project is reducing the language to writing. All of the languages left that do not have the Bible translated are also languages that are not in print form. So the translator must exercise his listening skills and piece together an alphabet from the sounds he/she hears in the new language. Eventually primers and grammars will be produced. Finally the big project of producing a translation begins. This is done with the aid of language helpers who guide the translator through the intricacies of the language.

The guest speaker at the Manhattan banquet was a Philippine national named Nard Pugyao. To get a picture of where Nard lived in the northern Philippine islands you need to hear his description of how the first Wycliffe translator got there. The government of the Philippines arranged with the Wycliffe Translators for them to come and help bring literacy to the distant tribes who were scattered throughout the islands.

To get to the Isnag people, Dick Roe flew from the United States to the Philippine Islands. He boarded a bus that took him as far north as the bus could go. He then went up the river by ferry as far as the ferry would go. He then went by rowboat as for as the rowboat could go. Finally he hiked over the mountains for over eight hours and finally reached the village of the Isnag people, who were headhunters.

The Isnag people had no idea what this tall white man was doing among them. Did he come to exploit them or take advantage of them? What did he mean when he indicated he wanted to learn their language? He ate their food and slept in their homes and gradually learned the language and reduced it to writing.

These people lived in deep darkness spiritually. They lived lives of fear from the demons that continually harassed them, always demanding sacrifices, sometimes even human sacrifice. When Dick Roe presented the possibility of a god who was greater and more powerful than the demons that oppressed them, they became excited. But they had a difficult time understanding how such a powerful God could allow his Son to die in such a horrible way.

Nard would eventually accept Christ. He was selected by the Wycliffe Translators to be trained to be a JAARS pilot and continues in that role until today.

The program was excellent. I will go again when they return in 18 months. I will take as many students and others as I can to hear what is happening. Perhaps a few more will get the vision.