The Year Between

 

    The year away from the mission field used to be called furlough, which led to the concept of an extended vacation. More recently that time away is referred to as home assignment to avoid such misconception. 

    The missionaries ministry expectations are to visit all the supporting churches to report on how God has been at work, remind them of their partnership in the Gospel, and encourage their continued faithful support. More importantly, they are meant to reconnect, strengthen relationships and build new friendships. As delightful as these visits may be, for the missionary family it is work, much travel and speaking, often out of their comfort zone.

    What was that first furlough like for the Solon Hoyt family? When we left the US in 1946, we were only three, and now in 1951, we were a family of five. I could only imagine my grandparents' excitement as they anticipated the long-awaited reunion. I read my maternal grandmother's entries in her five-year diary, to learn dates and details related to that year.

 

 Saturday, February 3, 1951  Finally got a letter from Kathryn today They expect to move to Río Cuarto for a few months. And expect to come home by July. 

 Tuesday, July 10, 1951  N.Y. S.I.M. [New York Sudan Interior Mission] home. Could hear real well. Rita and Lynn said goodbye too. 

Tuesday, July 17, 1951 This noon we went to Pittsburgh to meet Sam and Kathryn and were at the Allegheny airport for 4 hours. And then left too soon and missed them. Came home . . . My did I feel badly.

    I can feel Grandma Hirschy's emotion hearing our voices on the phone, and later her deep disappointment at the delayed encounter. 

    There were many more relatives to visit in that first month. There is no precise record of our travels, only a few photos and notes..

    Grandma Hoyt, who kept an itinerary of her moves from birth to age 72, wrote in 1951: "The last of July, Solon's (home on furlough) came to Tennessee  and the 1st of August Solon's brought me to Lowell's where I stayed until Brethren Conference began . . . " Anna Leola Dorsey Hoyt raised ten children and in her latter years moved around, living with each one for a few weeks at a time. She also lived on her own for a while in a little white house in Grandview, Tennessee.

    Two relatives' names appear in Grandma Hirschy's later diary entries. 

Monday, September 3, 1951 When we came home Kathryn and family were home and Lowell [Dad's brother] came with them and stayed here all night.

Thursday, September 6, 1951  Solon and Kathryn came home Monday night a while after Harlan [Mother's older brother] left. Seems Harlan misses them every time.

Kathryn and family left about 9:45 for Winona Lake. Hated to see them go. Seems we have seen so little of them . . .they expect to spend the winter there. Solon wants to build a house there for himself. We kissed them good bye and we will not see much of them this furlough and according to time of life they will not see us the next furlough they have.

    Again, I was saddened by the notes of disappointment, crossed paths, and longing for more time together. But, alas, my parents chose to make Winona Lake, Indiana, their home base for the year, and even build for a future there.

    That year, I attended an American school for the first time. Jefferson Elementary was, and still is, located next to Grace College and Seminary. This is a more recent photo. I cannot recall what the building looked like seventy years ago.

                                                               

    A few memories of that second grade remain. My teacher's name was Mrs. Little, but she was far from small. My mother made Valentine cookies for everyone in the class. She painstakingly wrote each student's name with icing on their cookie.

Second grade school picture

    Other photos add details to our whereabouts during that interim year. We probably visited our Pennsylvania grandparents again that winter. Despite its poor quality photographically, this one stands out not only for the enormity of the snowball, but more because of the new winter experience Lynn and I shared with our grandfather.

Grandpa Hirschy's snow lesson

    

    Some ten years ago, my brother Lynn visited us here in Upland. I had always counted on his help to write our family memories. But as I let the years slip by without any accomplishments, he became impatient. 

    I remember that day in August when he sat in my kitchen and began to write. He kept at it till he had filled fifteen handwritten pages. I treasure these memories. Lynn is no longer with us to share in this project. How many times I wish I could consult him.

    Here I quote what pertains to that year in the US when he was only three or four years old. Some are cute and comical anecdotes and the house Dad built during that furlough stood out in his little boy's mind.

 What I remember . . .

    I can't really pinpoint the age I was when I begin to have clear memories, but it was very early in life.

 

    The earliest home I can remember was the brand new unfinished house Dad built on Robson Road in Winona Lake. I was present when Dad was installing the toilet in one of the bathrooms. Since I had no idea of mechanics, hydraulics or physics, my simple and young mind put together a few things - a hole in the floor, a vacuum cleaner and a loud swoosh - and came up with an image of a machine that would suck me in, possibly chew me up and put me into a bag, which would then be thrown into the garbage pail.

    Another memory was being deathly scared of dentists. This happens because at more or less three and a half years of age. I fell down the basement steps and knocked one of my lower incisors thru my skin just below my lower lip. The dentist determined that the best solution was an extraction. I became so hysterical that I called the worst bad word I could think of: "You alligator, you . . ." Proof positive that my parents did not use profanity or vulgarity in their speech.

    Some time in that year or year and a half of furlough we visited my grandparents in Pennsylvania. Grandpa was pastor of the Evans City Baptist church there, and we spent a short time with my grandparents. I was a very active child, always getting into things. At one point my grandfather nicknamed me his "private investigator." But though that tendency could have served me well in future years, it came coupled with the characteristics of a person who lives up to my grandmother's nickname for me. Her endearing though not flattering description of me came from the Switzedeutsch "schutz katter" roughly understood as meaning "one who does before he thinks."

    This characteristic of flightiness was not approved procedure in our family. Mother did not accept this as a possible acceptable behavior . . . To this day, I am extremely risk averse - fear of heights, poverty, debt failure etc. As far as I know the one area of risk I am not afraid of is language. I love languages and have no fear of making a mistake. I only ask that instead of just laughing at my mistakes the person I am speaking with will have the courtesy to CORRECT me.

    Another illustration of my "acting before I think" occurred at the same house in Winona Lake. I had seen Dad shave (he used a straight razor and a shaving brush & strap) and, wanting to be like Daddy I decided to shave, too. I don't know whether I cut myself or not, but I did give my parents a scare.

     Lynn had an eye condition (Strabismus, lazy eye) that required surgery to correct the misalignment. I have a vague recollection of the procedure taking place, but cannot be sure when or where. I know he had surgery when he was only four years old, but was it in Pennsylvania where we had grandparents to care for the other children?

    Grandma Hirschy's diary adds a few notes of interest.

Friday, April 4, 1952  Kathryn and family came around 10:30. Rainy weather.

Sunday, April 13, 1952  Rainy Easter day, Joyce's family and Kathryn & children also the two Roger's girls were here for dinner. We had chicken etc. Joyce spoke for Y.P. [Young People's meeting] in Kathryn's place. Lynn had quite a temperature. [Was it related to the surgery?]

    Joyce, Mother's older sister, was also in the US on furlough with her family of four (Karin, Eddie, Rosie, Freddy). The youngest was born around this time. Four of the six Hirschy siblings became missionaries, two went to Africa and two to South America. We always felt closest to Joyce and Ed de Rosset's family because our furloughs coincided regularly.

Enjoying time with cousins Karin and Eddie

Monday, April 14, 1952 Sam got in at 1. They left for home about 11 o'clock. Still rainy weather. 

    A News Brief in the April 19 issue of the Brethren Missionary Herald, confirmed what I suspected, Daddy was speaking at one of the supporting churches. "Rev. Solon Hoyt presented the work of Argentina in the Summit Mills and Meyersdale churches April 6. Pictures were shown in the evening service."

    A couple weeks later, our grandparents visited us in Indiana and helped with the ongoing house project.

Tuesday, April 29, 1952  Got up early again and got to Kathryn's for breakfast. We have been landscaping their yard. Weather is very hot. Got a lot done. Went over to Warsaw for tile.

 Wednesday, April 30, 1952  Did some more lawn and sowed seed. Pop's bones are creaking. Sam's too I think.

                     

                          

    Dad was not only building a house, and traveling to speak in churches, he was also teaching a semester of Spanish at Grace College. Returning missionaries were expected to fill those faculty positions. As such he participated in the closing ceremonies and gave the invocation at Baccalaureate, May 18, 1952. 

    

    That was also my eighth birthday. One photo of our family celebration remains. Sadly, I cannot appreciate from the photo the details of the cake Mother made for the occasion.

 

    There is one church visit that stands out in my memory. We went as a family to Canton, Ohio. It must have been  on my birthday or close to the day. As I remember, it was the biggest birthday party I ever had. There were many gifts, they made a big deal of my birthday. Now, in retrospect, I wonder whether that was merely my self-centered eight-year-old perspective?

    A News Brief in the June 7, 1952 issue of the BMH states: "Rev. and Mrs. Solon Hoyt have transferred their church membership to the Canton, Ohio, church. It is from this church that they receive their financial support as missionaries to the peoples of Argentina." Over the years, they remained loyal supporters far beyond the monetary contributions.

    Our year in the USA was coming to an end. Grandma Hirschy wrote:

Tuesday, July 8, 1952  We took Kathryn and family into Pittsburgh. Took the train to N.Y. at 10. Ed's went in too. It rained hard on the way back.

Wednesday, July 9, 1952  We have that empty left behind feeling today. 

Thursday, July 10, 1952  Kathryn called from . . . (ship?)

    Looking back, I question to what extent furlough objectives were accomplished:

• Reconnect with family and friends. For the children it may be a first meeting.
• Renewal - many missions require a debriefing.
• Retrain - methods, techniques, technology are constantly changing.
• Raise - prayer and financial support.
• Report how God is at work and remind churches of their essential partnership in the work.
• Refocus - distance and time allow for reassessment

    Furlough guidelines and practices have changed over the years. In those early days, and throughout my growing-up experience, missionaries returned to the US every five years. On this occasion, my parents had volunteered to stay on in Argentina an additional half year to cover all the needs. It was indeed time for them to "Come away . . . and rest awhile. (Mark 6:31 ESV)" But, was it restful? 

    Despite mission organizations' improved provisions, rest remains an area to be guarded jealously and creatively.