The Story of Uncle Ivan Fowler

Family and Friends,

God has a way of giving you exactly what you need exactly when you need it.  As missionaries we are deeply committed to the calling God has placed on our lives and the people He has given us to serve.  However, we are still human, and from time to time we need a new infusion of passion and energy for the work.  Sometimes the best way to get that is to receive a clearer vision from God of how connected we are to the big picture of what He is doing in the world.  Specifically, God recently gave us a picture of how intertwined we are with the entire tapestry of World Missions in the present, past, and future.  Please enjoy this story and be inspired!

I always knew very little about Uncle Ivan Fowler, my late Grandma Grimm's younger brother who died in a plane crash as he prepared to be deployed as a missionary.  The most important part of that story for our family narrative had been the way that this shocking news came at a very unfortunate time.  My grandparents, Betty Fowler and Dean Grimm, were planning to get married that same week in 1950.  After the family lost Ivan everything was scaled back, and in fact it was just the bride and groom, the pastor, and a few others who attended the brief ceremony.  Famously, it took place at 7:30 or 7:45 in the morning just before the Pastor had to help out with VBS at church.  It was a very sad time.  

Last week my dad and I went on a little road trip.  He wanted to show me where his grandparents (Fowlers) were buried in a little country cemetery in southern Iowa.  On the way we recalled some of the famous family stories and called up uncle Jim, who was Grandma Grimm's (and Ivan's) youngest brother and a a brilliant and impressive man in his own right.  Uncle Jim served in the military and was stationed in Georgia.  After that he married and took a job as an engineer with Lockheed-Martin.  He moved up the ranks and eventually was selected to be a cabinet member of the Georgia state government during the period when Jimmy Carter was governor.  My dad tells stories of how after designing and building airplanes and jets, Uncle Jim could take apart any car and put it back together like it was nothing. 

Uncle Jim shared more of Ivan's story with us over the phone as we drove.  Ivan was a WWII vet, just barely, because he was only 18 when the war ended.  He was a pilot.  After that he went to Moody Bible Institute and studied for ministry.  He was preparing to be deployed for overseas ministry work and was engaged to be married.  The part of the story that absolutely blew me away was to hear that Ivan was involved in the early stages of planning a team to be sent to Ecuador, a team that included Jim Elliot and other famous missionaries.  This is the very team that famously was speared to death a few years later by the Waodoni Indians, the same people who were later led to Christ by the families of the men who were killed.

Uncle Ivan never made it to Ecuador.  In May of 1950 he was taking off with one passenger from a small airport in Illinois to fly to Chicago.  The engine of the small plane began to smoke, and smoke began to fill the cockpit.  Ivan circled around and tried make an emergency landing.  Just before reaching the landing strip he passed out and hit the fence surround the airport.  The plane flipped over and burst into flames.  According to Jim the family was notified that Ivan had been "seriously injured in a flying accident."  They ran from the newly planted cornfields, jumped in the car, and took off speeding accross Iowa into Illinois.  Then they heard a news report on the radio which announced the same accident and the confirmation that, in fact, no one had survived.  The family was devestated and finished the trip at a slower pace.

After that Jim Elliot and the others continued to make plans, and eventually Nate Saint was added to the team as the pilot, and most of you know the rest of that story.  The woman who was engaged to Ivan remained in contact with my Grandma for the rest of her life, telling my dad at Grandma's funeral that she "always felt a part of the family." 

It was heartbreaking to hear all of that story, and yet for me 60 years later it was a great blessing from God to learn more about this fellow missionary in our family.  I had always felt a kind of connection with Ivan, almost as if my family's calling was a fulfillment of his, but this took it all to a whole different level.  Thank you, God!

I hope to find out more about this story in the years to come, even researching the newspaper articles and such that must have been written.  I need to find out if Ivan had a journal and if it still exists.  If that research ever gets done I'll be sure to keep you posted on this blog.  But for now we are just so thrilled to be serving God's people and helping on the front lines of his ever-expanding kingdom.  Many have paid hefty prices to have a chance like this, and we cannot take that lightly as we seek to remain faithful to God's call.

May God Energize Your Calling Today!
-The Grimm Family Adventurers

Resting, Rejuvenating, and Recommitting

The kids with their cousins on the Grimm side...enjoying some fun at a local park in Newton

At the Des Moines Zoo watching the Lions...Elizabeth's little stuffed lion is happy

Alexandra (with G'ma Grimm) trying to feed a dinosaur at the zoo

Kester got to play for the White Sox in Newton

We enjoyed a day at a state park near Ankeny

We rode the train in Boone, IA...looking out the window over a big bridge

Riding the train and enjoying a breeze on a hot day...the weather reminds us of a certain place!

Family and Friends,

This summer has been really good for us as a family, giving us a chance to spend quality time together and with other family members.  In the past month we have been busy with the following:

-Attended Kester's baseball games with the White Sox and made new friends
-Attended a full week of VBS in Newton ("Pandamonium" theme)
-Spoke in three churches locally about Mission Haiti
-Visited the Des Moines Zoo
-Visited the Des Moines Science Center
-Visited Red Rock Dam in Pella
-Visited a State Park near Ankeny
-Attended the annual hog roast (without hog this year) at Cory's sister Mara's home in Iowa City
-Enjoyed a visit from the great-grandparents as they passed by from Sheldon, IA, to Michigan
-Attended the Newton parade, band concert, and fireworks on the 4th of July and stood a few rows behind Governor Branstad as he made a speech to the crowd
-Lots of bike riding (G'ma Marlys is preparing for RAGBRAI)
-Landscaping and painting with Grandpa
-Kester has begun taking piano lessons
-Going regularly to the library (Kester and Elizabeth knock out several "chapter books" each day)
-Visited a handful of old friends who happen to live in this area

In short, we have been a pretty normal American family this summer, and it has been a nice break for us from the life we live in Haiti.  The life we live in Haiti is the life we prefer, and this is our calling from God at this time, but our summer break has been a nice change of scenery for the time being. That is something we all need now and again.

I (Cory) had a nice visit with my long-time mentor, Michael Ginn, this past Sunday.  He is also my uncle, married to my Mom's youngest sister.  Michael is the one who got  me started memorizing Scripture all those years ago, and we always enjoy sharing a great conversation full of laughs and deep insights from the Word.  I went to hear Michael preach at a church in Des Moines, and afterwards we went to get lunch together and sat for a couple of hours. 

(side note:  I just finished memorizing the Gospel of Mark and have begun working on Acts.  After that all that remains to finish the New Testament is the Gospel of Matthew)

I came away from that meeting refreshed in the work God has for me at this time.  As I shared with Michael some of the plans for the Bible School in Haiti, I could see he was very supportive and even envious (in a good way) of the things we are doing.  Just talking through some of those ideas with someone who could understand the passion behind it was very energizing.  I felt like God used that encounter to help me recommit myself to the plan.

This coming Saturday we will sit down with Mike and Pam Plasier (the directors of Mission Haiti) and talk through the goals and plans for the coming year.  That will be a good opportunity for us to get on the same page with each other concerning everything that is going on.  With a ministry like Mission Haiti, so much happens from day-to-day and it is easy to get out of the loop in a hurry.  I'm sure we will discover that the Holy Spirit has been speaking to all of our hearts in similar ways.  That is always how it is with us and the Plasiers which is why we are doing what we are doing in the first place.

This Sunday we will be sharing stories and pictures in Alcester and Sioux Center.  The meeting in the evening at Sioux Center has been changed to 5PM, so plan accordingly!   

We eagerly look forward to spending time with family and friends in NW Iowa, Sioux Falls, Alcester, and other places for the remainder of the Summer.  Please continue to pray for us as we pray for you.

God Bless,
The Grimm Family Adventurers 

A Few Pictures and a Mid-Year Missionary Giving Summary

Playing cards with Emmanuel, our dear friend

Talking with Adrien, the director of the clinic

Lynn's lap is Kenny's sanctuary

Getting ready to play baseball when we return to the US this summer...no nice grass or flat inflields to practice on in Haiti!

Nice photo on the porch of the Mission House

Family and Friends,

The photos above were taken by various members of visiting mission teams, and we thought they would be nice to share on the blog.  At this point in the summer we are really missing Haiti, especially all of our friends and neighbors.  However, we still have many churches and friends to visit before we head back on August 29th.  We also need to pause and enjoy these moments while we have them...and the ability to retreat into air-conditioned homes!

Below is a brief report of our missionary giving for the first half of the year, followed by some comments and explanation.  We will put out a more detailed report at the end of the year on how everything was spent for ministry.

Year-to-date giving:     $20,884

                January:     $1,755
                February:   $10,440
                March:       $3,599
                April:         $2,805
                May:          $1,110
                June:          $1,175


First of all we want to say "thank you" to everyone who has sacrificed to allow us to serve in Haiti.  It truly means the world to us to have you behind us prayerfully and financially.  God is providing for us day by day, and month by month.  As you can see by the numbers above, part of the adventure of being missionaries is raising support.  We never know exactly how much individuals or churches will give.  It tends to fluctuate wildly from month to month.  God has a way of letting you get to your last dollar before opening the floodgates.  He's funny that way.

If we take a good, honest look at our ministry support both prayerfully and financially, right now we can spot an alarming trend.  For example, back in January and February we were blown away to see an average of 100 people reading our blog every day (these stats are available to us through the blog host), and we enjoyed regular emails and comments of encouragement.  There was a real sense of being held up by the prayers of many people.  However, towards the end of our term, in May and into June, the number of people reading the blog declined to around 25-30 per day. 

The same downward trend can be seen in our financial contributions as indicated on the chart above.  During the first quarter of the year we received over $15,000 in giving!  Unfortunately, the giving in the second quarter plummeted to around $5,000.  Our overall giving for the first half of the year is fine, in relation to our needs, but if the current trend continues and the 3rd and 4th quarters are like the 2nd, we will be in big trouble!

We are new to this whole missionary journey and adventure, so we aren't leaping to any conclusions just yet.  We are trusting God to provide for our needs, both spiritually and financially.  Part of the downward trend can be explained by the inevitable fact that the earthquake continues to fade from memory for many people.  Also, now that we live primarily in Haiti and have irregular internet access at best, we struggle to maintain consistent correspondance with existing donors, much less recruit new ones. 

All that being said, we remain optimistic about the plan God has for us in Haiti!  As we look to the second half of the year and our future beyond that, we are praying that God will inspire more churches to support us in various ways.  The churches where we served on staff in the past have gotten behind us in very tangible ways, and we are so thankful for this, but we have struggled to break ground beyond those established relationships. 

We have been and will be speaking in many churches this summer, but we need individuals to carry the torch after we are gone, both through prayer and through advocacy for missionary funding from the church where they attend.  Right now we are still trying to piece together missionary support just for our family, but by this time next year we are hoping that will be firmly in place and we will also have a substantial amount raised for the opening of the Bible School in the fall of 2012.  We are counting on God to do some miracles, for sure!      

God Bless!
-The Grimm Family Adventurers