Memories - Part two

Tonight I will share an excerpt of a letter received by way of another missionary that we served with in Africa. The letter is from "good neighbors and all the missionaries loved them very much".

"Thank you for letting me know that John Blann had passed on I was sad to hear about it. I immediately started to think about him and our original meeting of around 47/48 I think, and the circumstances that surrounded it. John and Eva got off the train with little Rose Marie at what must have been for them a very bare station only to find no one there to meet them, and how by good fortune on that afternoon, I had taken my Mother into Pemba to meet and socialize with the wife of a railway employee for an hour or two, and then somehow I had met up with John on the deserted platform of Pemba Station, and to be asked by him if I knew of a Jembo Mission?? Apparently, John had sent a telegram to Jembo Mission advising of his arrival but as you will doubtless remember in those days, telegrams were not delivered but were treated as letters in your postal box awaiting collections. Anyway, what happened was that my Mother and I took them out to Jembo, with Eva and Rose Marie sitting in the front of our old 1938 Chevy pick-up with my Mother and myself, and John sitting in the open back with their luggage. When we arrived at Jembo there was much consternation amongst the 2 or 3 ladies who were the only staff on the Mission as nobody knew when the Blanns were arriving and I seem to think that there was no male Missionary staff in residence at that time. Those first few weeks/months must have been quite an eye-opener for the Blanns at that time! To my mind John was a highly capable mechanical genius and was able to turn his hand to almost anything that needed repair. I remember him installing new ceilings in the lounge at our house and also one of the bedrooms. He also did an overhaul of the engine on that old Chevy and installed new rings and bearings. I remember quite clearly going out with John when they were stationed in the Zambesi Valley on the edge of the mighty Zambesi River on at least 3 occasion, hunting crocodiles at night with the aid of a powerful spotlight and the various dramas we had; one in particular which included you, Ray, and Roger, when we ran aground on a sandbank in the middle of the river which nearly catapulted all of us into the river! On another occasion, one of the crocodiles we had shot and dragged into the boat, suddenly came alive causing severe consternation in the boat until we could get a light on the scene. I then had the task of dispatching this sudden burst of life by administering several blows to the crocodile's head with a hammer, as a sort of coup de grace which in the process and excitement, I somehow managed to inexplicably throw John's precious steel handled hammer in the Zambesi.

Yes, John was a great and honorable person, and he will be remembered by many for the fine person he was. Please convey my deep sympathy to Eva and to remind her that I remember their days in Zambia with deep admiration."

In my last post I mentioned the simple faith and trust in the life of my Dad. This letter also shows the faith and trust this young family had to have to start this adventure of theirs with the Lord. But it also shows the spirit of adventure, thirst for a challenge and the creative ingenuity that defined my Dad. I sure do miss him!