Personal stories from Ian’s life that are included in Gems and available to read and search as stand-alone stories here.
We Asked the Lord to Baptize Us With Fire
Why Didn't You Tell Me This Was True?
Back in the early 1970's there were a 110 of them left. They had been typical Papua New Guinean warriors and they had gone out and savaged other villagers and those tribes had come in reprisal and revenge upon them, and their numbers were being decimated. When Des and Jenny Oatridge first went into their village in 1959 there were 110 people left. People could be forgiven for saying to them as they did at the time, and saying to me as Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators, why on earth send a couple to work with 110 people in Papua New Guinea? Why just a 110? God cares for all people groups. The Word says that all people groups will be standing before His throne in glory.
Back then Des and Jenny stared with Matthew's gospel, they started with the first gospel. He opens to Matthew 1. What is in Matthew 1? The genealogy. Des probably had the same reaction as you would. He figured "I'll do the genealogy later; I’ll start with the real story. He went through 2 to 28 over a period of time working with Sisia, his co-worker. Finally Des and Jenny were ready to go back for furlough, and came to the point of thinking it was time to leave, when Des thought, “No, I should finish off Matthew, if we go on home assignment I should finish Matthew."
So he spent one day with Sisia working through the genealogy. It didn’t take long. Once you have the formula it is just a matter of putting the names in there. Des said Sisia went strangely quiet. Normally at the end of a translation session he would excitedly tell the others what had happened, but he went strangely quiet. He left the translation house but told Des to bring what they had been working on to the men’s long house. Then Des heard the sounds of the men gathering in the men's longhouse and excitedly talking. He said he went down there.
As Des walked in Sisia said to him "Master Des, why didn't you ever tell me this was true?" Des said to Sisia, "But I have". He knew what Sisia was on about, "Sisia, I have, I have told you that Jesus walked this earth, I have told you the things we have been working on are the words of Jesus when he walked on earth." Sisia said, "O master Des you never told me it was true." What had clicked in Sisia's mind that day was the genealogy. He knew that nobody writes this kind of stuff, and writes that he’s the son, the son of, the son of, without it giving the pedigree of the people. For the Binumarien people that was the seal of fact upon the gospel of Matthew and that was the beginning of the Binumarien church, through a genealogy of Matthew.
An Offer of Tomatoes Late at Night
I met a man in the back blocks of Papua New Guinea while on a linguistic survey. We (5 of us white strangers) arrived at a remote village unannounced at dusk. The people proceeded to clear out a house and clean it to allow us the use of it for the night. They took their last chicken and cooked it so we had something to eat. After the meal I got into a conversation with an old man. He asked me if we had tomatoes for the trail the next day. [Tomatoes are good as a vegetable that has high water content when hiking]. I told him no we didn't. He invited me to go with him to his garden so he could give me some tomatoes. I declined the offer knowing PNG gardens are far from the village and it was already approaching 10.00 pm. Also, it's hard to follow a Papua New Guinean through the bush in the dark. As I was leaving with the others on the trail the next morning, this man came up to me carrying a bundle of tomatoes, as we made our way out of the village. He had gone to his garden for me in the middle of the night and had come back early with the tomatoes, to make sure I had something for the trail. Me, a white stranger he would never see again and all of my friends. I suspect he gave all he had to care for us. Now that is hospitality. To have done anything else would have been inconceivable in a culture which places high value on hospitality.
The Car Reversing Without A Driver
One day while living in Matamata, New Zealand before we became involved with Wycliffe I had been thinking about the things of God. I had been musing on worship and people being eternal. I took Tania to the hairdressers and while I waited for her, was sitting in the car which was angled-parked to the curb. I had a cassette playing worship music at the same I was reading my Bible and praying. I started looking at people passing on the street, some I knew; some I didn’t. Suddenly I noticed the car beside me was reversing out of the car park WITHOUT A DRIVER. I was amazed and totally focused on this car backing out without a driver. Then my car hit the curb. I had not put the handbrake on and the car had been in equilibrium until my moving around caused it to roll forward. While my senses told me the car beside me was backing out, in fact it was my car moving forward.
Australia used to be untidy like that
Our cultural upbringing determines a lot of how we perceive things too. We see the world through our cultural glasses; rose coloured or otherwise. I knew the theory of all this but my first personal encounter with cultural perspectives that were significant, was when we left New Zealand for the first time and headed to our nearest neighbour, Australia. We can be deceived into thinking we are not all that different. Don't you believe it. After we had been there a while, a friend asked me what my first impressions of Australia were, since this was my first time in Aussie. I replied, "Coming into Melbourne and flying over the city I was struck by the sameness. The uniformity. Similar coloured tiled rooves, mostly brick homes with various shades of brown but still mostly brown". He asked me what was it like in New Zealand. I told him, "Houses are made from a variety of materials, brick yes, but also stone, cement, wood, etc. And there are varieties of colours of paint used". Certainly not the uniformity I had seen when coming into Melbourne. His response: oh yes, Australia used to be untidy like that but now there is more uniformity. I was speechless. That is perceived as untidy! Mmmm.
Holding Hands With Saxon
Just Like Bower Avenue
One of my father's favourite sayings seemed to be "just like it was in Bower Avenue". He was referring to an incident that happened when I was 18 months old and he wanted discipline me but my mother refused to let him spank me. So he took offence and from that moment on he stated that he was taking his hands off me; I was my mother's child and not his. He would refer often to "that son of yours". You can tell this parable strikes a chord with me. I can almost hear my father saying these words as I write. My father couldn't get over the thing which became an issue for him and it coloured the rest of his life and created a major problem for my mother and me (guilt by association). How incredibly sad! All my growing-up-years with my father I felt like I was "that son of yours". I am sure you know what I am saying. I am sure too that you know I am not telling you this story to get these things off my chest. I have long since dealt with these issues. I forgave my father and squared it all away. I am adding this Ian Story to this Gem for your sake, dear Reader.
These Are MY Grandchildren
I have spent the last few weeks with my grandchildren and I have been amazed at times what things spark arguments and crying and "melt downs" between them. Generally it is because of wanting what they don't have. One child has what the other wants. One takes a piece of cake and the other wants it too. They didn’t actually want it until the other took it. Then when they see their brother or sister with it, they want it. It is a comparison thing. Yes these are MY grandchildren. I confess it. Where did they get this wrong attitude? It came from me, I got it from Adam. James talks about this tendency within us.
Man Stranded On An Island
A man was on a small yacht in the middle of the ocean when a rogue wave hit him and capsized the boat. He grabbed onto a life preserver and prayed for God to save him while he watched his boat sink. Soon, a dolphin came swimming along side him. The man pushed the dolphin away so he could continue to pray for God to save him. A little while later, a fishing boat came by and offered to pull him out of the water. "That's OK", he told them, "God will save me" so the fishing boat went away. Yet later, a cruise ship came by and offered to pull him out of the water. "That's OK", he told the captain of the ship, "God will save me" so the cruise ship sailed away. Eventually he died of exposure and dehydration. When he got to heaven, he was mad at God and asked "Why did you not save me when I asked?" Peter told him: "A dolphin was sent to tow you to the nearest land mass and you pushed it away. A fishing boat was sent to help you and you sent it away. A cruise ship was sent to rescue you and you sent it away. What more could God have done?
Footprints
One night I had a dream...
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and
Across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand;
One belonged to me, and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before us,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
There was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life
This really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
You would walk with me all the way;
But I have noticed that during the
most troublesome times in my life,
There is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why in times when I
needed you the most, you should leave me.
The Lord replied, "My precious, precious
child. I love you, and I would never,
never leave you during your times of
trial and suffering.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.
If Eye Witness Testimony is Exactly the Same; Police Suspect Collusion
Besides which let me share with you something that a police detective told me after a God's Awesome Book seminar I conducted in New Zealand some years ago in Masterton. I had been talking about the differences in testimony recorded in Bible. I made the comment that where human eye-witness testimony is concerned no two people will see things alike. There will always be little differences of perspective. Ask any husband and wife. It is just how it is. After the seminar had finished a police detective came up to talk to me. He told me that detectives working on a crime scene and interviewing witnesses look for the differences to substantiate the factuality. If two or more people's testimony agrees on every point and word for word the same they suspect collusion. It is more likely that the people have concocted their testimony in order to make sure their stories match than if it were true. True eye-witness testimony contains little differences which prove to us it's true. This testimony of what happened at Peter's denial fits right in with that.