Brad was pleased with the news of Kenneth and Margaret's move to Thailand to the mission field--for him it was a natural religious step. Mae was not, and she was afraid that she would never see her son (Kenneth) again. She was right; she never did.
Kenneth tells of how he began thinking about missions in his two missions classes at Princeton. Until now he had thought only of working in the United States. He shared the new idea with Margaret and she was deeply disturbed by it.
Adelle approved of Kenneth's desire to go into the mission field. She said she and her husband had always prayed that one of their children would become a missionary, and it looked as if Margaret was going to be the one.
Margaret tells how at age 19 or 20 her mother, Adelle, felt a strong urge for mission. It seemed to Adelle that there was no way to fulfill her desire, since there had always been someone who depended on her financially. Margaret tells of other…
While at Princeton Kenneth met a missionary called Van Ness. He tells how the preaching of this missionary urged him again for mission. Kenneth then met with Mr. Speer the next week in New York to discuss his desire to go to the mission field.
Margaret realized she had upset Adelle, her mother, with her lack of interest in mission. She later wrote to tell her that she now felt better about going into mission.
Kenneth tells about his decision to go into mission business and to do so rapidly. This upset Margaret, but it was Kenneth's way of doing things, and it will always be thoughout his life. He reads about his visit to New York to talk with people on…
Margaret asked her mother to get a letter from the board of her church testifying to her good Christian character. The letter was to go the mission board for her application to become a missionary.
Early in January Kenneth and Margaret learned that they were accepted as missionaries if they were willing to go to Siam. They were given several weeks to make a decision. Margaret reads a long letter about their meeting with the mission board in New…
John Aiken decided that the mission would not work among the Chinese in Siam, only with the Siamese. This was a mistake because the Chinese in Siam were perfectly Siamese and were open to missionaries. They were the most powerful people in the…
Margaret wrote to her mother about a book by Arthur Judson Brown. He was expressing his point of view, and there were many differences in opinion, especially between men and women. They discussed with other missionaries about getting into the field.
On January 19 Kenneth wrote his parents to announce Margaret's pregnancy. "And Mother, if you have loads of good advice for Margaret, I know she'd appreciate it," he wrote.
In February Kenneth wrote that he and Margaret had been officially appointed to Siam. The plan was for them to depart in August, about a month before Margaret gave birth to their first child. Margaret reads a list of the items they were advised to…
Kenneth and Margaret went to talk with missionaries from Siam to prepare for their assignment. With Kenneth, Jr. they discuss missionary training and new ideas in preparing missionaries
Kenneth and Margaret went to talk with missionaries from Siam to prepare for their assignment. With Kenneth, Jr. they discuss missionary training and new ideas in preparing missionaries.
Kenneth and Margaret left their apartment and stayed for free at the seminary. They began to pack, applied for passports, and bought things they would need in Siam.
Kenneth talks about taking Margaret out for a walk every day pretty much against her will. "I guess I'm incorrigible; I never improve," Kenneth says. Each day they would walk farther and Margaret was getting stronger.
Kenneth had a tailor in town making clothes for him. He needed suits for every day of the week in Siam. The tailor was a Jew, and so was Kenneth when it comes to byuing cothes, says Margaret, so the two of them got along fine. Margaret reads about…
Margaret was called by several names. Kenneth always called her Margaret, but Adelle called her Peggy of even Peggotty, which she tended to use in her letters to Margaret.
Margaret's birth certificate came and was wrong about her date of birth and her name. Adelle had to provide an affidavit about the right information. The passport office kept the original documents.
Kenneth was given money from the church to pay the note off on his car and take it with him to Siam. Mrs. Ridgeway presented Kenneth with the gift and tried to make a speech, but she began to weep instead. Other people in the congregation began to…
Margaret reads a letter to her mother telling her that Kenneth's visit to the passport office was not fruitful because her birth certificate wasn't worth anything. The letter explains to her mother what needed to be done so that she can get proper…
Kenneth had wanted a good pictures of both his father and mother since college days, and for his birthday that spring of 1927, they sent him pictures which they had specially framed and which he kept the rest of his life.
Kenneth was called in to New York in April for further examination because the doctor suspected a heart problem. The heart specialist cleared him, but the mission board doctor remained skeptical. Finally, after a long interview, the doctor…