Guest Post: A Portrait In Courage and Faithful Obedience

By Jennifer Z. Major

The year is 1918, and all across the world, The Great War and the Spanish Flu were killing millions.

You come home to find that your young adult daughter has disappeared, along with her beloved Corona typewriter, and her steamer trunk. You call out for her, but all you find is this letter...

Dear Mother and Father;-

When you read this I will be on the way to Toronto, and please do not mourn for me as one dead but as one who has been called to do a privileged work for the king of kings. I cannot say what I would like to, it is just as well that I cannot. (I) realize that it will be years before I see this home again, and then you may be living in some more suitable and even pleasanter place. There has never been such a heart wrench as this and never will be again, for each succeeding time it get easier to pull up stakes. My thought is not for myself but for the lonely days that you will be called to see, but remember you are sharing in the work of spreading the "Good News" and nothing worthwhile comes easy.

First Page of Mrs. H's Letter
© Jennifer Major

At home I would eventually become a nuisance, at my work I will be fulfilling the purpose for which I was created, and which you are one with me in. I look forward to the days when darkened by African suns with laurels won for the master. I shall spend pleasant days with you both, I know. I feel that you will both be spared to each other for many years, and take it easy. I have one request and that is that you both take time to read the Bible and pray every day for me. My love for you both has not often been apparent, but my heart holds no two others so dear.

I shall be happy in my work and you will be in yours and you will think of me in a different way than if I were unhappily married in some home.

Second Page of Mrs. H's Letter
© Jennifer Major

I would not change palaces tonight with any king. It is indeed a privilege to suffer with the Lord, and loneliness was one of His trials.

Though oceans will roll between (us), we are as near in heart as if I were in Toronto. God has been very good to us and we have been spared many a heart ache that others have had to go through. I will not be in danger that a nurse at the front will have to face before these days are over, and will return to you in His time. I wish I could express the feelings that well up in my heart at this moment, and the gratitude I feel for your kindness, of which I have often been most undeserving.

(I) forgive all that has been unkind as I know you have, and be cheerful for the sake of one that loves you.

Isaiah 41:10

                                                        Your loving daughter, Winifred.

Can you imagine the parents? I'd have fainted. Or worse.

My daughter? Running off to become a missionary during a war and a killer pandemic that was decimating the entire planet?

From this letter, which I corrected a bit for grammar and flow, it appears all was not well between her and her parents. But no matter what, Winifred was as brave as brave gets.

Mrs. H's Corona Typewriter
© Jennifer Major

And yes, Winifred survived her missionary adventures and returned home to Canada. I'm not exactly sure when she returned, but she was very special to my family. Many decades after this letter was written, my dad arrived in Canada and had nowhere to live. Someone gave him the name of an older lady who ran a rooming house in her big Victorian home. He lived there until he married my mother in 1975. She loved my dad like a son, which was a gift, when his own family was on the other side of the world.

She’s long gone, but never forgotten. I have her steamer trunk, and now her typewriter and farewell letter. I also have her bird's eye maple dresser, and her dining room table, at which I am sitting as I type this. I met her when I was younger, when I was too clueless to see beyond her white hair and her age. I wish I'd have known then what a courageous girl she was. She was a ground breaker for many women for whom more was out there, they just had to get from where they were stuck, to there.

Tell me your thoughts on the letter, I'm curious to know what you see between the lines.

The Isaiah verse is..."So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

******** 

Bio: Jennifer Z. Major is a Vancouver native, now living in Eastern Canada. She and her tree scientist husband have four children. She's crisscrossed the American Southwest and Latin America several times, and hopped, skipped and jumped across Europe, once. She has written two novels based on Navajo history and will soon complete her third. She’s never been arrested, but takes fence-climbing very seriously.

Historical Pandemics by Vickie McDonough

All of us probably know what a pandemic is by now, but just in case you don’t, it’s a disease epidemic that spreads across multiple continents or worldwide. COVID-19 may be new to us, but it certainly is not the only pandemic the world has faced.

The first known pandemic happened in Athens from 430 to 426 BC. A typhoid fever broke out during the Peloponnesian War and killed a quarter of the Athenian troops. It also killed one-fourth of the general population over four years. The cause of the disease was unknown for centuries, but in January 2006, researchers from the University of Athens analyzed teeth recovered from a mass grave beneath the city. They confirmed the presence of bacteria that was responsible for the typhoid.

The Black Death, which occurred from 1331 to 1353, was responsible for the deaths of 75 million people worldwide. It started in Asia, reaching the Mediterranean and western Europe in 1348. It killed between 20 – 30 million Europeans—one-third of the population—in six years. It was the first of a cycle of European epidemics that continued until the 18th century. There were more than 100 plagues in Europe during this time. The disease recurred in England every two–five years from 1361 – 1480. England’s population had been reduced by half by the year 1370. The Great Plague of London (1665-66) killed 100,000 people, 20% of London’s population.

In 1855, another plague pandemic started in China and spread to India, where 10 million people died. It was during this pandemic that the United States saw its first outbreak – the San Francisco plague of 1900-1904.

During the 1800s, there were 7 cholera pandemics worldwide. The first started in India, and eventually spread to China. It hit especially hard in Russia, with over a million deaths during 1846-1860. In 1866, a cholera outbreak in North America killed some 50,000 Americans. An estimated two to six Americans died per day during the outbreak.

The Spanish flu began in 1918 and lasted until 1920, infecting 500 million people around the world. Even remote places like the Arctic and Pacific Islands were affected. 50-100 million people died. Most flu outbreaks attack the elderly and very young, but the Spanish flu attacked young adults. The Spanish flu killed more people during World War 1 in just 25 weeks than AIDS did in its first 25 years. It is believed that the soldiers were more susceptible than normal people because of stress, malnourishment, and chemical attacks. 

Why am I sharing this discouraging information? It’s to show you that the world has faced many outbreaks like we are facing today, and it survived. What I reported on is by far not all of the pandemics our world has faced. I didn’t even touch on smallpox, yellow fever, scarlet fever, or diphtheria epidemics. It makes you sit back and wonder how any of our ancestors survived. But they did! The truth is that we’re stronger than we think. People are survivors. Yes, we need to take COVID-19 seriously, but let's also look at history. The Coronavirus pales in comparison to previous pandemics. So hang in there, hunker down, and be wise.

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A prodigal’s hope for a happy homecoming is derailed

Clay left home after his brother’s death—a death for which he was responsible. After years away he’s finally returning, hoping for reconciliation with his father. But when the stagecoach he’s riding in wrecks and he is injured, he finds himself in a fight for survival.

Jolie is fleeing a nightmare situation. She desperately hopes becoming a mail-order bride doesn’t land her in a worse place. When the stage crashes and she spends the night alone with a wounded man, she wonders if her intended will still want her. If he doesn’t, what will she do? She has no money and nowhere to go.

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Vickie McDonough is the best-selling author of 50 books and novellas. Vickie grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead, she married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams penning romance stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others living in the Old West. Vickie’s books have won numerous awards including the Booksellers Best and the Inspirational Readers’ Choice awards. When she’s not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, doing stained-glass projects, gardening, watching movies, and traveling. To learn more about Vickie’s books or to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website: www.vickiemcdonough.com