Reminds me of sitting at Carlos Propp's, probably nearly four years ago now, with two of our children (Duncan was away in Toronto, but had faxed a letter that a.m. to Willis, to which he never got a response), about 60 friends, including a number of elders, and about ten or so of the "senior" workers, including Eldon Tenniswood. I do not know what you heard about that meeting, but I saw honest concerned elders and dear friends pouring out their hearts' concerns to men who we truly hoped and prayed would respond in the spirit of Christ.

To begin, Dick Middleton read a letter about how some Californian had great confidence in Willis, that the friends in California were not concerned (so why should we be?) and how fortunate it was that just when they needed some money for a medical bill, someone left them their estate. So not a good start!

Not one of them had a Bible; a number of the friends had brought theirs or a hymn book. No one referred us to any verses or scriptural examples for direction or comfort. No one suggested that we pray. Remember, these are the "seniors"! No one even answered a question or responded to the concerns, except after considerable prodding. It was the first time I had seen that technique used, in retrospect, fascinating, somewhat effective for their purposes, but incredibly frustrating for the listeners.

I imagined if our four children had come to us because they had found out that we were no longer practicing some of our integral family beliefs. They might be hurt, confused, agitated, but at the same time, wanting reassurance and a statement that what had been commonly taught was still valuable, and if things had changed, on what basis and for what purpose? What if we sat there and said nothing, or (as Paul Sharpe did), did not make eye contact but fiddled with our watches, appearing far more interested in that than in them and their concern. They would be MORE than frustrated, hurt, disappointed, confused, and, in Dale's words, disturbed, and rightly so!

Willis tried to send Jim Knipe off to find more documents in his "other" briefcase, until someone, I think Merle Layden, said that we did not need or want more legal documents. Don Nixon stood up three times near the end of the "meeting", each time asking them very respectfully what they thought. Eldon Tenniswood finally told us to look to Christ as our shepherd, which was good advise. (Unfortunately, his subsequent behaviour and attitude toward the AB "situation" did not demonstrate the same confidence in our Shepherd.)

Earnest Nelson said that such a large group of friends before them was a great tribute to the workers who had pioneered the work in AB, sacrificing so much and that was what he thought of when he looked at all of us. At risk of sounding disrespectful, the choice was, by then, to laugh or cry....

INDEX     CORRESPONDENCE THROUGH MARCH 2001