Browse Items (134 total)

  • Tags: Kenneth Landon in Siam 1927-1950

Brad was most alarmed when Kenneth retired from the mission field. He thought Kenneth and his family were going to come back and be a charge on him. He was planning to sell the house and prevent that from happening. This, of course, was the last…

The very next day after he arrived in Bangkok, Kenneth began taking steps toward getting a driver's license. 

Kenneth and Margaret had dinner with a family named Elder. After dinner, as he was turning the car the wires on his horn broke and almost immediately were on fire. Kenneth got a few burns but the car was fine. This was a miracle. 

Kenneth played basketball with a group of young Siamese boys. He had a good time with them and the leader of the group offered him some tekal buttons, the real, old-fashioned ones.

Kenneth began taking long evening walks. He was getting used to walking several miles at the time, seeing but Siamese and Chinese, visiting shops, and talking with people. This gave him an opportunity for street evangelism.

The second week after the Landons arrived in Siam, Kenneth preached in a Siamese church to a white congregation. On Thursday, the vacation day, they went to visit a snake farm, where they saw vipers, cobras, and hamadryads. The handler of the snake…

The Danish Legation held an auction and Kenneth bought Margaret a China set there, the kind called Royal Copenhagen, for only $30 US gold (it was probably worth $300). Years later they sent it home to the US. 

The Landons' house was outside the town and was not lit by electricity, so the nights were completely dark. They used a flashlight while going around in the house. One day as Kenneth walked into the toilet he saw a cobra, coiled on the seat of the…

Kenneth attended a civil Chinese wedding. Mrs. Seigle played the wedding march. It was quite a feast, with plenty of food that Kenneth enjoyed. The heat in Thailand was affecting him: he had gone from 140 to 131 pounds since arriving there.

Al Seigle and Kenneth went to register Peggy's birth both at the American Legation and the local police station. Both men did not speak Thai, and the police officers did not speak English, but they were able to communicate about the registration of a…

Kenneth reads a letter to his mother about Peggy's birth and his mother's health. He wrote to her, "I can tell from your letters, Mother, that you do not feel sure of seeing me again in life here."

Kenneth describes a normal day for the Landons at the beginning of their missionary life. They would wake up at 6:30, exercise, have breakfast, wash and play with baby Peggy, spend the rest of the morning studying Thai, have lunch, and go to school…

Kenneth's Siamese teacher taught him the high, scholarly Thai language of the Bible, and this turned out to make him sound funny when speaking the language in ordinary conversation. He was told that he spoke Siamese like the Bible.

The Siamese in Bangkok had tried to keep the Landons there but other missionaries were resentful of Kenneth's ability with the local language and culture. The mission sent him to one of the worst fields in Nakhon, on the east coast. This turned out…

Kenneth and Margaret discuss Kenneth's letters that have gone missing. He wrote weekly to his parents, but Margaret suspects his father threw them away. 

Margaret stopped her language study because the strain had become too much. Kenneth went on and took his second year exam. He passed all the tests, but he was downgraded because the teachers had to grade him on the basis of two years in the country…

The Landons tell again about their first year language study and exam, and Kenneth's first sermon in Siamese. It was about "A Friend of Jesus" and he prepared the sermon in English before translating it into Siamese. He was afraid, but he delivered…

The Landons went on a vacation, each to a different destination. Kenneth wrote Margaret about his vacation and all the fun he was having while preaching the gospel as well. He tells about the songs he was learning every day.

The Landons discovered that their best cook, Ah Chuan, was deceiving them about money for the groceries. It got to the point where their monthly bill was much higher than that of other missionay families that had more people to entertain. Kenneth…

Margaret gave a tea on Kenneth's birthday because that was the day that Wattana had its commencement, and they all had to go. Margaret explains the missionary work in girl education in the region and how these girls later were in high demand for…

Kenneth had dengue fever. Margaret roasted a small chicken for him and he ate the entire chicken. Peggy had whooping cough at the same time. Margaret did not got the fever until later, when Kenneth had recovered. 

On an evangelistic tour Kenneth called on the head of the monks and offered to teach them about Christianity. They set up a time when the monks would come to the Landons' house. They had many of these sessions, and at the end Kenneth rewarded them…

Margaret tells about Kenneth's first evangelistic tour, a four-week long tour. She tells about their problem with insects and vermin in the house while Kenneth was gone. Kenneth makes a few comments on this first tour and the impact it had on him…

One night Kenneth woke up suddenly and heard two men walking by and talking about him. One urged the other to come listen to Kenneth's preaching because it might be true and they needed to know.

At Thanksgiving the mission meetings opened and usually last for six or seven days. Kenneth was elected recording clerk of those meetings, a hard job. In the midst of this he took his third year language exam. 
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