She Set the Table for Me!

Auntie Anne and Uncle E.R.

I grew up poor; we had very little, but we didn’t know what we were missing. My dad was a single parent for a few years. An unfaithful wife left him alone with four kids under ten. We managed. We survived. We stayed close together through it all. Dad was the breadwinner and the bread-maker. There was no Friday night pizza tradition for us. It was the time to do laundry at the laundry mat in Grinnell.

Occasionally we made a trip south to Auntie Anne’s and Uncle E. R.’s house. They lived near St. James, Missouri, in what we thought was the most beautiful home we ever saw; it was one of those modern ranch homes complete with large windows overlooking a manicured lawn and flower garden. We had never been around anything so elegant.

We had no fancy silverware; ours was a hodge-podge of several sets. Our drinking glasses were the colored aluminum ones that set your teeth on edge when they touched the rim. Tableclothes and crystal were non-existent for us; we only heard about the rich having such luxuries.

But always, when we visited our dear auntie, she set her table for me. Crystal glasses were used which created rainbows and colorful prisms when placed on a sunny table. Plates were pulled from the china cupboard. Tablecloths and flowers covered the tables along with napkins, coffee cups, saucers, and soup bowls. The table was full of colors and smells.

I often think of this act of kindness and love and wonder how often I “set the table” for those around me who need to enjoy a crystal glass or two. Am I too self-absorbed in my own life to stop and consider the neighbor who is down on their luck and needing some care?

During the summer at camp, we try to set the table for many campers by offering them scholarships so they can attend. For the past several years, Hidden Acres has provided over $40,000 each summer in scholarships for families who need a touch of crystal and tablecloths in their lives.

We are grateful for our churches supporting us throughout the year with their regular gifts from the church budgets. In addition to our scholarships to campers, churches’ gifts allow us to keep our summer costs down. For every camper that attends Hidden Acres, it costs us $40 more than we receive from the registration fees. We had 2,012 campers last year, and lost $80,000+. Again we are grateful for the gifts from our churches which off set this loss.

You will be celebrating most of this month- too much food and too many presents to people who have everything they need. My challenge to you– set the table for someone or for a family around you that could use a touch of mercy and kindness.

Just last week I returned to Missouri to visit my dear auntie and uncle; it was their 70th anniversary celebration and I was asked to conduct the renewal of their vows. It was a thrill for me to be involved and to share the love and care they had shown me 50 years ago.

Kindness and generosity never go unnoticed; look around and set the table!

The Long Bus Ride

On Friday night, I get to travel to LaCrosse, Wisconsin and speak at Bethany Evangelical Free Church; I will be speaking to a group of deer hunters and eating chili with them. I am especially interested in being there because this is Dave Martin's former church where he put together a rag-tag group of high school singers and travelled all over the United States winning every national Free Church choir contest. It was this wonderful group of young people whom Dave transformed from the radical 60's and 70's into a crowd of future preachers and missionaries that would serve all over the world in the years after. I am thrilled to return to Bethany and to hear one more Dave Martin story from a member.

The following story is a slice of Dave's life while serving at Bethany EFC.

“The choir was the gas that ran my engine” said Dave. “I loved everything about it: the kids, the travel, and the opportunity to lead young people in their faith. I never turned one kid away, and I never kicked one person out. I came close a few times.”

By 1979, Dave and the choir were known all throughout the Evangelical Free Churches in America. They received invitations to come and sing locally and as they traveled to national conferences.

The choir was loaded up on 3 green school buses in to attend national conference in San Diego. The 115 voice choir had grown and matured, and Carol and Dave had recruited as many chaperones and drivers as they could to help keep the kids corralled and in place on time. Rick and Jackie Perry were one of the couples who went with the group.

As usual, little Bethany church from La Crosse Wisconsin won the national choir contest. The Arlington Height’s leaders were heard saying, “Next year we will have our new youth choir director in place. Things will be different.” They weren’t.

After the conference, the choir was scheduled to spend a day at Knots Berry Farm, before the Sunday morning concert in the Hollywood Evangelical Free Church. Dave was awakened at 4 a.m. that Sunday morning by a phone call from the Annandale Free Church pastor. "Dave, there has been a gas explosion at Jackie’s parents house. Both of her parents were killed along with their baby daughter Jessica, but the small baby boy Jonathan, was blown out of the house while on a couch and is still alive and at the hospital.”

Things changed quickly. Hysteria ran wild amongst the girls; tears and more tears. The young men were stunned. Plans were changed. Flights were scheduled to get Rick and Jackie home quickly. Instead of staying in California with Carol and the girls to visit relatives, Dave would replace Rick as the bus driver to get back home. The service would go on at the Hollywood church, and the rest of the group would leave early Monday morning.

Even the three pigeons used in the magic show felt the emotions of the day. Throughout all the prior performances, the 3 young magicians and their pigeons had behaved beautifully; but not in Hollywood. The three boys pulled out the birds from their cage, and the birds exploded into the church auditorium. In their confusion and excitement, two birds flew directly into the back wall and fell lifelessly to the floor; there were feathers floating down into the back pews.

There was another evening performance and the plans developed that Dave would take one of the loaded buses and go as fast as he could in order to make it back home in time for the funeral. Dave drove straight through, without a relief driver. The 1700 mile trip was made without any sleep. “There were hundreds of miles that I don’t remember driving,” comments Dave.

Dave continues, “I limped into the Des Moines airport, and was met by a small plane that would take me up to Annandale. Another driver had arrived from La Crosse to finish out the bus ride. I arrived 2 hours before the funeral began. They sat me up on the platform.”

Dave fell asleep immediately. Later, Rick commented, “The deaths of Jackie’s parents and our daughter were devastating, but as we sat in church during the funeral, both my wife and I poked each other and smiled often as we looked up and saw Dave sound asleep throughout the entire service.”

Missed Opportunity

Many of us have encounters everyday that could/should lead to our sharing our faith or encouraging someone in need. I have written a story about my good friend and mentor, Dave Martin. Trust this might spur you on to be ready and available to reach out and touch someone's life today.

The Gideon’s were responsible for the Sunday afternoon service at the Crow Wing County Jail. They contacted Dave and asked if he would like to take one of the afternoon services. He would lead music and preach.

It was a different set up; Dave couldn’t see the inmates from where he was standing in the entry level room. Dave was told, “Just preach loud enough and they will hear you while locked in their cells.” That was easy for Dave. Away Dave went with the music and his sermon, and as he closed he spoke, “If any of you heard what I said, and you want to accept Jesus as your Savior, repeat the prayer after me.” Dave prayed the sinner’s prayer without knowing if anyone had heard, let alone responded to his challenge.

A letter arrived on Wednesday. In the letter one of the prisoners wrote, “I heard you on Sunday and I did what you told me to do; I asked Jesus to save me.” Dave went to visit him the next time there was visitation at the jail. The young man was named Evans and he had been put in jail for stealing something small from a local store. Every time Dave visited Evans, he was always receptive and seemed to have a hunger for his new found faith. Dave was excited to bring this young convert along in his faith.

The family had been down to Minneapolis singing on a Saturday; on their way home they drove past the prison on Highway 10. “On the other side of that wall is where my friend Evan is in jail.” Dave told the girls. “He is the one we have been praying for and the one that accepted Jesus. Isn’t God Good?”

When his family got back to Brainerd, they had supper at Ken and Jen Wagner’s house. The kids were tired after an enjoyable evening of fun and fellowship, but Ken said, “Why don’t you stay and watch the news Dave before you head home?” Dave loved the news, so he was more than willing to watch.

The first news reported was an alert: Prison break from the prison farm near St Cloud. Three prisoners are unaccounted for; one of the three was Dave’s friend, Evans. “My emotions were drained from me. Just seven hours earlier I had said, ‘I really don’t have the time to visit with my friend today’. I will come again another day.” remembers Dave.

Dave was crushed. The story soon came out that two of the older men were the ring leaders of this escape from the work farm; Evans was forced to come because he knew what they were planning. The two were captured within the day, but a day a two later Evan’s body was found floating in the Mississippi River. Nobody ever knew what had happened.

Dave had Evans funeral, but the family was distant and wanted nothing to do with the church or Dave’s religion. Dave recounts, “It took me years to get over Evan’s death. I could have visited him that day as we drove by on Highway 10. Perhaps something I could have said would have helped him during the escape.”

Dave let the memory of this event etch itself deep into his mind and heart; whenever there was an opportunity to minister to someone in need; regardless of how busy Dave was, he dropped his chores and took care of eternal business.