It was August of 1960 when Lloyd
Miller (now deceased) and I met Alan for the first time since we said farewell
to him some three years previously. We were leaving Nappanee, Indiana on our
way to South Korea with the PAX program administered by MCC (Mennonite Central
Committee). Actually, Lloyd had said his farewell to Alan four months earlier.
Lloyd and I planned to return to
Indiana going West by boat from South Korea when our assignment was finished.
The boat would take us from Yokohama, Japan through the Suez Canal to Port
Saied, Egypt. We were on the boat for one month stopping in at various ports
along the way.
One of the ports was Saigon. There
to meet us was Alan. It was so neat to meet someone we knew from back home and
someone we knew in a new, strange setting. He had come down from Banmethuot for
supplies in an old truck. Soon we were winding our way through the jungle on a
paved road. By evening, the leprosarium came into view. It is here that Alan
used his construction skills and creativity giving leadership to building two
wings to the existing building. We stayed for two nights and observed the
interrelationships of the volunteers as they ate and worked together. It was a
blessing to see Alan and the others taking their work seriously and enjoying
the act of bringing the kingdom of God near to the tribes people living in the
high lands.
Early the next day, we were on
our way back to Saigon driving with Alan who was our pilot guiding us through
that very dense jungle. Alan was protecting us from anxiety because he waited
to tell us that there were Vietcong roaming the area when we were on our way
back to Saigon and not on the way to the leprosarium.
Last October, Fran and I had a
wonderful visit with Alan in Williamsburg. Our conversation went very well. His
usual pauses didn’t seem as long as before. We found him sitting in a chair
bent over a puzzle. It was a beautiful day. We took him outside into the
terrace while he was in his wheelchair. We visited. He really brightened up
when we told him of the possibility that we were going to Albuquerque to visit
three of our grandchildren and that we wanted to see Don Voth as well. About
two weeks later, we received a card in Alan’s hand writing with Don’s contact information.
Alan was very kind and went out
of his way to make sure all was well. He was bent on bringing the kingdom of
heaven to earth wherever he went. And it was so!
Thank you Alan for sharing your
many gifts to the persons you were with; I being one of those.
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