A trip down memory lane

Mufundisi Mutasa baptizing a new convert near Sasame in 1973 (I'm the kid in the red hat.)


Mark relaxing in a tree (1968)


In our backyard in Sasame

We are getting ready for a Schleiff family reunion this coming weekend, so I've been helping Mom go through old photos and put together some memories.

It has been fun. We opened some trunks that have been stored for most of my life, and found some pictures from when I was little. We could not get film in the bush of Rhodesia, so pictures from that era are few and far between.

I discovered that I cost a whopping 2 pounds and 80 shillings when I was born (if I had been a boy, then I would have cost even more. Circumcisions were 10 shillings each.) There was also a recipe to make the formula I was given as a baby, as well as congratulatory letters from the Richmond office of the Foreign Mission Board.

We found an FMB report showing total missionaries on the field, churches planted, etc. from 1948-1973. It is amazing how far we have come in just over 50 years. There was a picture of Gordon Fort from his teenage years, WMU uniforms, Commission magazines and enough FMB memorabilia to fill a museum someday. We had a good laugh going through it all.

One other fascinating find was a Sunday School Board quarterly from July-August-September 1918. My great-grandfather carried it with him during World War I.

And there are hundreds--maybe thousands--of native artifacts. An ancient camel bell Dad picked up in the desert of Afghanistan, jewelry made by unreached tribespeople, Shona hymnals, and about 20+ more trunks with souvenirs from around the world. This house is a WMU Director's dream.

Well, I've gotta run. I've got a few thousand more slides to go through, and we can't find a working carousel. So it may be a while until I post again. : )