The Turkey Story

When I was a young Turkey, new to the coop, my big brother Mike took me out on the stoop--then he sat me down, and he spoke real slow, and he told me there was something that I had to know; His look and his tone I will always remember, when he told me of the horrors of...Black November;> "Come about August, now listen to me, each day you'll get six meals instead of just three. And soon you'll be thick, where once you were thin, and you'll grow a big rubbery thing under your chin; And then one morning, when you're warm in your bed, in'll burst the farmer's wife, and hack off your head; then she'll pluck out all your feathers so you're bald n' pink, and scoop out your insides and leave ya lyin' in the sink.> "And then comes the worst part" he said not bluffing, she'll spread your cheeks and pack you with stuffing. "Well, the rest of his words were too grim to repeat, and I sat on the stoop like a winged piece of meat.> I decided on the spot that to avoid being cooked, I'd have to lay low and remain overlooked; I began a new diet of nuts and granola, High-roughage salads, juice and diet cola;> And as they ate pastries, chocolates and crepes, I stayed in my room doing Jane Fonda tapes; I maintained my weight of two pounds and a half and tried not to notice when the bigger birds laughed; but 'twas I who was laughing, under my breath, as they chomped and they chewed, ever closer to death;> And sure enough when Black November Rolled around, I was the last turkey left in the entire compound;> So now I'm a pet in the farmers wife's lap; I haven't a worry, so I eat and I nap; She held me today, while sewing and humming, And Smile at me and said "Christmas is Coming"!

Update On Prayer Request

Evidently Brother Linkous
did not receive any serious
injury, however, Sister
Linkous has a bloodclot
on her brain from the acci-
dent. This poses some
problems. It needs to
move either on its own or
bu surgery. Either way
presents some serious challenges.

The Big Wheel

In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two. Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared.Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds. He did manage to leave $15 a week tobuy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no morebeatings, but no food either.If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it. I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress, loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove off to find a job.The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town. No luck. The kids stayed crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince whomever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything.I had to have a job. Still no luck. The last place we went to, just afew miles out of town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that hadbeen converted to a truck stop.It was called the Big Wheel. An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the grave yard shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65cents an hour, and I could start that night.I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat forpeople. I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep.This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal.That night when the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers, we all thanked God for finding Mommy a job. And so I started at the Big Wheel..When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent herhome with one dollar of my tip money--fully half of what I averaged every night. As the weeks went by, heating bills added a strain to my meager wage.The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons andbegan to leak. I had to fill them wi! th air on the way to work andagain every morning before I could go home.One bleak fall morning, Idragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires! There was no note, no nothing, just those beautiful brand new tires. Had angels taken up residence in Indiana? I wondered.I made a deal with the local service station. In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to do the tires.I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't enough.Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys.Then hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys pants and soon they would be too far gone to repair.On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. These were the truckers, Les, Frank, and Jim, and a state troopernamed Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up.When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning, to my amazement, my old battered Chevy was filled full to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door, crawled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat.Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: Itwas full of shirts to go with the jeans. Then I peeked inside some ofthe other boxes. There was candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes there was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was hole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items. Andthere were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll. As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas ! Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning.Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December. And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop....THE POWER OF PRAYER. I believe that God only gives three answers to prayer:1. "Yes!"2. "Not yet."3. "I have something better in mind."God still sits on the throne, the devil is a liar. You maybe going through a tough time right now but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that you cannot imagine. Let's find someone in need and be an Angel this Christmas.

The Dental Team that visited Peru

More News From Peru

Bro. Nick is to the left and Bro. Cooper in back beside him. The rest are people of Peru.