Introduction
The 9/8/2022 article, "Kilimanjaro Missions: The Stafford Family, in Moshi, Tanzania," introduced Noel and Jessica Stafford and their children, Lorelai, Claude, Arabella, and Juliette. In June 2022, the family began their five-year, cross-cultural evangelistic ministry in the African nation of Tanzania. In late May, they took their first furlough to the States. They will be stateside until the middle of this month, after which they return to their home in Moshi, Tanzania. Their online newsletters are available at Kilimanjaro Missions.
This 14th article in the Mission Work topic section celebrates the Stafford family and their visit, on Friday, August 2, to our home in Corryton, Tennessee! Claude and Juliette were absent. They were staying with their grandparents. Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I look forward to meeting them in the future.
Missionary Furloughs
A note on missionary furloughs is in order. My wife and I were full-time missionaries in Russia from 10/1/1994 through 9/30/1999. We were a part of a three-family team called Mission Moscow. Our work focused on the cities of Moscow and Klin.
Our annual four-to-six-week furloughs were from late December to late January or early February. Furloughs included visiting family and friends, obtaining new one-year Russian visas, and getting some rest and relaxation. Mainly, however, furloughs involved traveling and reporting to supporting churches. As memory serves, my wife and I were supported by 14 churches in seven states and by one trust fund in Texas. Our supporting churches were in Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Visiting supporting churches is vital to long-term foreign mission work. Supporting churches that send good Christian helpers, for short-term mission experience, is a blessing to the work.
The Staffords understand why I say that reporting to stateside supporting churches involves “frequent driver miles!” They are supported by over 20 churches in several states. Last Friday, they traveled by automobile from Clifton, Tennessee, to our home, an approximate 313-mile drive in over five hours (including stops and traffic delays). That night, they overnighted in Knoxville, to continue the next-day leg of their journey into Virginia, where they visited a supporting church yesterday (Sunday).
On Wednesday evening, 7/3/2024, the Staffords visited and reported to a supporting church in Mississippi. Noel's audio-video presentation is online at “KILIMANJARO MISSIONS - 07.03.2024,” Kensington Woods church of Christ (YouTube), streamed live on July 3, 2024. The Kensington church is located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The video is just over 40 minutes in length. Brother Noel begins speaking at the 2:38 mark. (He had to change microphones about the 21:16 mark.) Please pause to watch and listen to his presentation.
Noel's presentation mentions life in Tanzania and provides an amazing record of conversions, church growth, and ministry in the area. The images shown are much better than the old slide projector images that I showed, while making similar presentations to churches in the 1990s.
Missionary furloughs are like a whirlwind. You whirl from one location to another, resting when you can. Visiting family, friends, and churches is enjoyable, relaxing, and beneficial. All the “frequent driver miles,” however, do wear you out.
The Stafford's Visit
Delayed by Interstate I-40 traffic problems, the Stafford family arrived at our home at 7:15 PM last Friday evening! My wife was finalizing supper preparations, while I was sitting in a front porch rocking chair.
Aside from being 25 years older, Jessica (Bryant) Stafford looked about the same as she did, when my wife and I last saw her in 1999. Her husband, Noel, and she met during a mission trip to Tanzania. They are blessed with four outstanding children. Jessica, your sweet, lively, and spirited personality, which my wife and I remember from 25 years ago, has not changed!
My wife came outside to meet Noel, Jessica, Lorelai, and Arabella. The six of us hugged and talked for quite a while outside. Molly, our “ol' puppy,” entertained and was entertained by the Staffords.
Settling indoors before supper, conversations flowed naturally, like fresh water flowing from a clear mountain stream. Noel's father, who has passed on to be with the Lord, was a trailblazer in Tanzanian mission work among the churches of Christ. Noel, as a next-generation missionary, continues his father's work. Jessica continues the missionary focus of her parents. The Bryant family was a part of the Mission Moscow team. The 8/5/2023 short story highlights Joe Paul and Lynn, in the section “Mission Moscow Reunion (7/14/2023).”
As an aside, last Friday morning, Mrs. Appalachian Irishman, my “long-suffering” wife, had a “high dollar paint and cut” hair salon appointment. The 3/22/2023 article jokes about her “paint and cut” shop.
After getting “gussied up,” my wife returned home to start preparing supper vittles. The six of us dined on my wife's good southern home cooking! Thanks, dear! That was a fine supper. Noel led the prayer before we ate. Thank you, brother Noel.
After supper, fine conversations continued along several lines. Lorelai and Arabella did a remarkable job washing and putting away supper dishes! Thank you! Noel and I talked about the practical aspects of mission work. Having met for the first time, we talked as if we had known each other for years. Jessica, my wife, and I talked about life in Moscow back in the 1990s. What was Camp Rainbow? Which of Jessica's brothers accidentally stuck a fork in their youngest brother's head? Well, ask Jessica or my wife! On the back deck, as darkness approached, Lorelai and Arabella relaxed and entertained Molly.
Where did the time go? We could have talked all night! As 10 o'clock approached, the Staffords were needing to leave, to overnight at a nearby motel. They had already reserved a room, before my wife and I asked them to stay the night with us. The reservation couldn't be canceled without cost.
Before leaving, I gathered the Staffords, who were somewhat perplexed, in the master bedroom bathroom (my bathroom). I had to show off my “bathroom library” and share the story of my “redneck toilet handle!” (See the 8/4/2022 article, if you are curious.)
Back in the living room, I think that Noel took the following photograph of Jessica, my wife, and me.
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Twenty-five years ago, my wife and Jessica looked about the same, except for the very few facial wrinkles they have now. I, on the other hand, have aged with “graceful, gray-haired dignity!” The painting on the wall behind us was a gift from the church of Christ in Moscow to my wife and me, on 9/26/1999, our final Sunday in Moscow.
Later, at 10:01 PM, I took the following photograph of the four Staffords, standing on the front porch.
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From left to right are Jessica, Lorelai, Noel, and Arabella. Lorelai begins her freshman year at Freed-Hardeman University (FHU) this fall. My wife and I wish her well in her studies and life at a fine Christian university. Her family will miss her in Tanzania, and she will miss being with them there. Other family members, who live under a two-hour drive from FHU, will be nearby.
Conclusion
The Stafford's Facebook page is Kilimanjaro Missions. The page includes almost daily posts, photographs, or video updates on their work. At times, humorous posts include photographs or videos of strangely-titled food or of motorcyclists hauling seemingly impossible loads on their motorcycles.
The Hoover Church of Christ in Hoover, Alabama, is a primary supporting church for the mission work in Tanzania and the main supporting church for the Stafford family. The church's Ministries: Foreign Mission Works web page includes Tanzania. A secure link, “Give to Tanzania Work,” opens to welcome online donations to mission work in Tanzania.
My wife and I were uplifted by last Friday evening's visit to our home by Noel, Jessica, Lorelai, and Arabella Stafford! (We hope to meet Claude and Juliette sometime.) Our prayer to God is that He continue to bless, guide, honor, and protect the Staffords, as they advance His kingdom in Tanzania!
As a closing and humorous note, just before the Staffords left, I handed Jessica a can of Sun Drop soda, to give to her father. Joe Paul, that can of soda is for looking at and remembering only! Don't drink it! Do you remember the first can of Sun Drop soda that you gave me, shortly after my wife and I arrived in Moscow? I do. That story, folks, could become a future article in itself.
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2 comments:
I vaguely remember offering up an extremely precious commodity to someone who is truly a great friend and brother!! Thanks for reminding me. I am interested in your recollections of that time. Love you and your lovely wife! Thanks for entertaining the kids. They loved the time together with you both. BTW: A bathroom tour???
Howdy, Joe Paul! In late 1999, my wife and I had not been in Moscow long, when you offered me that can of Sun Drop soda. (Not sold in Moscow; your stock of Sun Drop, from the States, was certainly precious!) We were at your first apartment. I was frustrated by something. You offered me a delicious can of Sun Drop soda! I had never had one before. That and your humor relaxed me. I keep a 24-can sleeve of Sun Drop at the house. I drink a can every week or two and always think of you.
We greatly enjoyed our visit by the Staffords! I hope that we can meet the two, who were absent.
The Staffords, in all their travels, may never get another “bathroom tour!” I had to show off my “bathroom library” and share the story about my “redneck toilet handle!” I even showed them the improvised coat hanger that I fashioned into a window blind rod.
My wife and I love you, your wife, and all your family. Our mission work in Russia sowed seeds. We saw some harvest. In 1999, we didn't know how our work would inspire a next generation of missionaries, but it did.
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