Leslie and I fell in love around a Bible, a piano, and the vision for Ellerslie Discipleship Training. The vision for Ellerslie originated even before the two of us exchanged our vows. It has been a deep part of our lives together — a stirring that never left us throughout all those years leading up to the day we launched it.
The sun was thinking of setting, so I trundled my way across the field to sit and behold its glory. It had been a whirlwind of a day, and — to be completely honest — I just needed a couple of minutes to regroup, pray, and refocus my mind and heart on truth before doing the next thing on my list for that busy day.
It was the summer of 1978. The blazing summer sun beat down on the 35,000 excited people who had gathered near Salem, Oregon for the Jesus Northwest Festival. Campsites were overflowing with thousands of tents. The scene resembled a Christian version of a Woodstock hippie gathering. Excitement and chaos was in the air.
All the muscles in my upper body burned with pain as I paced the length of the airport terminal — a sleepless infant in a front carrier, a loaded backpack on my back, and a heavy diaper bag repeatedly slipping from my shoulder…
In a split second, my lively pace came to a halt when I heard a bloodcurdling shriek come from the valley to my right. The cool air of the early morning stood still as I looked around with wide eyes and paused to listen.
When Amy Carmichael set off for Japan on her first missionary venture as a young woman in her twenties, almost immediately she faced unexpected disaster. As her ship approached the shoreline, it was caught in the tail end of a typhoon — causing it to pitch back and forth sickeningly, making landing impossible. She had already said a heart-wrenching “forever goodbye” to her beloved friends and family in England. Now, she was completely alone on a foreign ship on the other side of the world, and caught in a deadly storm.