Margaret cared for the children during the day, but Kenneth was always the one who put them to bed at night. They counted on this, and they always wanted him to tell them stories. He made the stories up as he went, continuing stories that went on and…
The officials in southern Thailand were mostly Chinese, so Kenneth began to learn the Chinese language from them. He used cards on which he had the Chinese phonetic word on one side and the English meaning on the other. He later got the Chinese…
In his parish, there were at least two million people, and a substantial portion were Chinese working on rubber gardens and tin mines. They had no Chinese schools for their children. Kenneth had the bright idea that perhaps he could interest them in…
Kenneth learned that a Chinese Christian community was divided over the issue of baptism: sprinkling, one-time immersion, three-time immersion. He gather the group and asked them to sit silently and think about the matter for about five minutes. Then…
Graham Fuller was the designated missionary to the Chinese, and he became very angry at Kenneth's ability in the Chinese language. He resented Kenneth's success with both Thai and Chinese, although he was an otherwise gentle person. Many years later…
Kenneth explains how he and Margaret decided to resign from mission work. One trouble they had related to a monthly letter to their fellow missionaries that caused some resentment among them. The second was Kenneth's involvement in collecting…
Kenneth sums up his work in Thailand. During his years there, he started five or six Chinese schools and churches. He preached and evangelized in all the major population centers of his parish, and many small villages. He published a monthly journal…
When the Landons went on furlough in 1931, Kenneth traveled around the world one way, on his own, while Margaret traveled around the other way with the children. She went east, and he went west so as to travel to the Holy Land. One memorable…
On his trip, he came first to Egypt, hoping to tour around Cairo and see something of Egypt. He was walking along the street when a very tall Arab in a long gown, with a fez on his head, came up to Kenneth, spoke to him in English, "Good Morning,…
The guide and Kenneth toured around Cairo, sometimes by taxi, usually by tram cars, and Kenneth paid for everything. The man seemed to be enjoying himself, though he was bemused. Then he took Kenneth out to ride on a camel to visit the pyramids and…
From Egypt, Kenneth went over to Jerusalem and stayed with a resident American community there. There were riots between the Jews and the Arabs, and the Armenians were caught in the middle. Kenneth fell in with a young Armenian who was driving an…
While visiting in Palestine, Kenneth eased himself down into the Sea of Galilee, and swam out a quarter of a mile from shore in the moonlight. There he lay over on his back and floated in the water. He became aware of a typewriter going, looked…
John, Kenneth's guide in Beirut, had some friends there, and he learned that they were fresh out of a hotel manager. They made Kenneth a proposition, that he become the manager of the hotel. John would run the taxi business, and the other fellow…
The ship Kenneth boarded passed through Greece. He still remembers sliding through a narrow channel in Greece. It was eerie because there were sheer walls of granite in those straits. "You could reach out off the side of the ship and touch the walls,…
Kenneth tells the story of two nice rugs he bought in Damascus. On his way to New York he passed through Marseilles (France) and was required by customs to pay $100. Eventually an American shipping company representative offered to ship them to New…
Kenneth tells again of his experience with the phosphorescent sea off the coast of Thailand. It was the Gulf of Siam. Kenneth was traveling on a moonlit night for twenty-five to thirty miles. He describes the sea and the strong impression that the…
Kenneth tells of two paintings he acquired from Mrs. Yipintsoi. He found her painting outside and recognized her style of painting as reminiscent of Matisse. He told her this, and recommended she go to Paris and study with him. Years later, he found…
Kenneth recalls the story of Norm and Betty Hanna visiting. They greatly admired the paintings by Mrs. Yipintsoi and remarked that they were quite rare and expensive.
A story from the Thailand years. The Landons had a leper who used to come and beg. He would come once a week to the Landons' house and stand under the veranda, begging. The man came weekly for several years, never any more than once a week. One day…
Ah Peh was clearing out the pineapples behind the house, under Margaret's direction. There were hundreds of them, making a haven for cobras and vipers. As Ah he worked, a viper struck him in the lower leg, and he became very sick. Kenneth rushed him…
Kenneth started working with seven evangelists and started firing them one by one. He had caught them lying to him and being dishonest. He remembers one of his evangelists turning at night the church into a "disorderly house." Margaret explains that…
There was a young police lieutenant in Trang, slender, inconspicuous, not at all the kind you would expect to arrest a "tiger bandit." Yet he was absolutely fearless and quite courageous, without ever showing a sign of these qualities. He managed to…
Kenneth reads letters to his dad telling him about his trip with Margaret to Bangkok to get the children. He talks about Peggy's complexion, Bill's birthday, the pictures and movies he took, and his first game of golf with Richard W. Post. He also…
In a letter to his father Kenneth talks about Mr. Alan and the pictures they took together, especially the ones at the King's palace. Margaret tells the story behind the piece of land where the mission station was.