"...thus saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father, I have heard thy prayer,
I have seen thy tears, behold, I will add unto thy days...
" Isaiah 38: 5b
I have mentioned the "Fellowship" that our family was a part of in Spain, in previous blogs. For that reason, and because we don't have anything equivalent to it in the states, I decided that you, my readers need to have a further description of it. The following story will provide that for you.
When we returned to Spain the second time, Ted was a licensed Baptist preacher. That means he was not yet ordained but had been licensed by the Southern Baptist Convention to preach.
We arrived in February of 1965 and rented a room in a small boarding house until we could get into base housing. There were several G.I.s and their families in that same boarding house and one of them, upon hearing that we were Baptist, told us about a small group of Christians who called themselves the Baptist Fellowship. They met in the base chapel on Sunday evenings and Wednesday for prayer meeting.
Of course we went to check it out the very first Sunday. We were thrilled to find that there were about thirty-five people (mostly Baptist) who had called a pastor and who met faithfully for worship in the chapel. "You must be my replacement." said the pastor to Ted when we were introduced after the service. We were surprised by the statement, so he explained that he only had three weeks left before he was due to rotate to the states and that the Fellowship had been praying for a couple of months for God to send them a replacement. Thus began one of the greatest adventures of our lives.
We immediately became close to the congregation. They were young families...some of them new believers, and all very enthusiastic about serving the Lord in this place. They were hungry for the Word of God and eager to apply it to their lives, the kind of congregation that most pastors dream of.
Judy and Jerry Harrison were GARBC Baptist from New York. They were examples of great faith in waiting upon the Lord. There were several families of Southern Baptists, the Comforts from Arkansas, the Lees from South Carolina and the Lamberts, (can't remember where they were from). There were a couple from Texas, the Reeds who were Independent Baptists and another, I can see their faces but their names have long since vacated my mind. There were several single G.I.s who were Nazarene, Mary Campbell and her children who were Assembly of God, one couple, the Boles, who were Church of God and a single nurse from Houston, Texas. Then there was Major Miller and his family from Washington state, also Southern Baptist the Busbys from Louisiana, Bob Massingale from somewhere down south, and the Frobichino's from New York City. Like I said, there were others who's faces remain in my memory but who's names escape me. I'll know them in heaven!
Now I know that reading that last paragraph to many of you is like reading the "begats" in the Old Testament but to us who were there, they are precious names, connected to precious memories. Just apply them to the "fellowships" in your own lives and memories and you'll understand.
At the time Ted accepted the pastorate of this fellowship, the congregation was searching for property to buy, off base. They wanted to move off base so they could establish a church. We were unable to organize into a legitimate church while on a U.S. Air Force base. That's why we called ourselves a "Fellowship".
They had searched for months for a place but to no avail. The search went on for a few weeks after we joined them. It seemed that every door was closed to us.
After a while Ted began to feel that God would have us stay on base and work in the chapel, rather than leave. We were all involved in the chapel ministry in some way or another. I had taught myself to play the organ because the chapel needed an organist. Judy Harrison was the pianist. Major Miller was the Sunday School Superintendent and several others, including Ted, taught Sunday School classes and were Bible School leaders in the summer for the kids.
Ted looked at this and his "mixed multitude" in the Fellowship and thought, "It would be insane for us to dissociate ourselves with this ministry on base, move off and go into long term debt for a property whose members came and went through a "revolving door"." He approached the Fellowship (in one of his first tasks as a leader) and told them what he was thinking. It was hard for many of them to give up their dream of a church but most of them agreed with him. A few left the Fellowship but most stayed with us.
After this the Fellowship flourished. We were busy and happy and in a very short time we were up to a hundred in attendance every Sunday evening. The base Chaplin, a Presbyterian, attended once or twice a month. He said he enjoyed Ted's preaching and the close fellowship of our people. Chaplin Mixon was a kind man, single, and drove a red convertible. I think he also had his eye on our single nurse from Houston.
Within the Fellowship there were three gospel pianists, Judy Boles, Jeanie Busby and Bob Massingale. (Bob got out of the Air Force when he went back to the states and became a professional Gospel Pianist.) They were all three very talented and a delight to us all. They played for the men's quartet and and for our after service sing-alongs. We couldn't believe we had been so blessed by three such talented musicians.
Along with these services we also had a lady's Bible Study group that met in individual homes and a board of men who made all the important administrative decisions. We were an active group.
Ted and I learned so much from them. He learned to study and preach the Word and most valuable of all he learned to "Pastor" a flock. He was challenged by counseling to really listen to people. He learned that even though he had always been quick to form an opinion, he didn't have the answer to everything and had to dig into the Word and consult wise people for most of them. I learned to teach women and children and how to be hospitable in my home, to welcome lonely, homesick, people. It was the beginning training in the Pastorate and the most important "schooling" we ever had.
As I said, we were all very close. We picnicked together in the mountains north of Seville. We had "singings" in the chapel, pot-luck dinners and we ate in each other's homes and encouraged each other daily. As we grew as a body, God showed Himself powerful in our lives in many ways. We experienced many answers to prayer. The following account is one of the most exciting of those answers.
Jeanie Busby was expecting her first baby when she and her husband, Sherman, arrived in Spain. They hadn't been married long and her husband was a nominal Christian who attended the Fellowship sporadically. He was unfriendly and standoffish to most of us when he came. We tried to draw him into the group but he continued to hold us at arms length.
Jeanie, on the other hand had jumped into the ministry with both feet. She was a sweet person and like I said a talented gospel pianist. Shortly after they arrived she began teaching piano lessons. Kelly was one of her first students.
When she was about a month from her delivery date, we received a knock on our door late one night. None of us had phones, (except for Major Miller, because he was a squadron commander), so messages had to be delivered the old fashioned way, in person. The messenger was one of the men from the Fellowship.
Ted opened the door and the man said, "Pastor, you need to come with me. Sherman Busby just hit a Spanish child with his car and killed her!"
Ted dressed, grabbed his bible and accompanied him to the Busby home. There they found a distraught man, who would not be comforted. He kept repeating in his misery, "God is punishing me and He's going to take my child because of this!" Of course the whole thing had been an unavoidable accident. Even the Spanish people on the street said that the child had run out in front of Sherman's car and he couldn't avoid hitting her. He would shortly be exonerated by the Spanish and American authorities, but in his grief and confusion all he could think about was how God was going to "get him"!
Ted began meeting regularly with him. He tried to comfort him. He assured him that God didn't work that way...that although He may use that terrible accident in Sherman's life to get his attention, He wouldn't take his child because of it. But as I said before, Sherman was inconsolable. He came very close to having a nervous breakdown but with the frequent meetings with Ted and others in the Fellowship and regular church attendance, he slowly but surely began to heal. His faith was renewed and he became a student of the Word.
About a month later, Jeanie gave birth to a tiny little girl who they named Tammy. She was born with a hole in her heart. We received word on a Sunday morning while we were in chapel that the baby wasn't expected to live. It certainly looked like God was going to take their child. Mother, father and daughter were airlifted to the hospital at Torrejon Air Force Base in Madrid. It had the largest and best equipped U.S.Hospital in Spain. Before Sherman left he called the Chapel and talked to Ted. he asked him if the Fellowship would fast and pray for his baby until we heard from him again.
That night our meeting was dedicated to praying for little Tammy Busby. Ted suggested that we fast along with our prayers and confess our sins as it instructs us in the book of James, so we did. On Tuesday morning, messengers were sent around to our houses to let us know that successful surgery had been performed and that Tammy was going to be alright. That was one of the scariest, faith-stretching experiences any of us had ever gone through.
The Busbys were sent back to the states shortly after that, but not before they became two of our most dedicated members. I learned years later that Sherman went to seminary and became a Baptist preacher and is pastoring a church in Louisiana today.
Little Tammy lived only five years, but her parents know without a doubt that she was their "mercy child". She brought her daddy close to the Lord and taught a fellowship of believers how to pray for a miracle.
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