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October 1976 Newsletter
COLOMBIAN CHRISTIAN MISSION
Dale and Jeanie Meade
San José del Guaviare in Colombia, South America
Volume 4, Issue 10 October 15, 1976
COMING HOME
"Congratulations on the new little baby. When are you coming home?" So read a recent letter from a friend. That last question posed so often in letters and conversations set me to thinking. I knew what he meant. Addressing me, as a missionary laboring in a foreign country he could only have been inquiring about my upcoming furlough. He was asking about the date of my return to the U.S.A. but the question did not set easy with me. How do you explain to someone that you feel more "at home" when about the Father's business, wherever that might be. People do not understand when you explain that you are not really looking forward to furlough.
Thinking about the same theme, it occurred to me that we were heading "home." But that we could head home wherever we lived. The journey that carries us there is not made in a jet plane or in an ocean line; but in life. Paul spoke of running the race and finishing the course. He could have easily closed the epistle by saying, "now I'm going home." Yes, I'm heading home, but the time spent in the United States is but one step in that trip. We are all "heading home." Perhaps I should have responded to my friend's query by saying," I'll be going home when the Lord invites me to cross that mysterious border that we call death. Until then I'll just keep plodding along, whether it be in Colombia or in the States."
Johnny Cash sang that "home is where I hang my hat." His country ballad could well have described the earthly sojourn of a missionary laboring in a foreign field. For our earthly dwelling is so very temporary. Since my wife and I have been married (5 1/2 years) we have moved nine times. As missionaries we go where there is greatest need or opportunity.
So you see, when we return to the U.S.A. in late October, we are not really going home, we are just changing houses. We look forward to seeing all of you. We want to share with you what the Lord has done. We want to thank you for your prayers and help. But when we get there, we still won't be home.
(PHOTOS)
Forcing a smile while singing one of the many choruses.
Dale marries Rito and Ubalidina and this young couple tries to do "works worthy of their repentance."
Typical house in the San Jose area. The separate roofs allow the family to live apart from the smoke of the cooking fire.