Transformation: One Minute After You Die...

Paul Munday, is one of my favorite writters .  He publishes a Blog that i truely enjoy .  A resent one he resently published i found particulaly helpful.  I hope you enjoy it as much as i did.  

Transformation: One Minute After You Die...: No matter your political persuasion, most are moved by the witness of Barbara Bush...as she dies. For Barbara has stopped a..

The Most Soboring Scriptire I Have Ever Read

I profess that I have no right to ever judge you for any thing you do. I am not judging anyone. Only you can answer whether I even have a right to say or write what I write. But I feel so strong about what I write I have no choice but to write it.  I am concerned for us.

At age 16 I believe with all my heart I was called to be God’s minister. I have tried to be faithful to that calling. If I continue to be faithful would it not seem appropriate to be concerned about the souls of others? If I felt that I had knowledge that your soul is in danger should I risk offending you or do I quietly keep my mouth shut? On this Sunday Morning the question lays heavy on me. The reason is I have a deep concern for our souls. Yours and mine. I want you to consider what I believe is the most sobering scripture I know. It is also one of the most political.  I already know it will offend some of you. But I must risk it because I care. Because for more than 50 years I have had a call. Here is the scripture: 

Matthew 25:31-46

The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Brothers and sisters all the law hinges on how we are loving one another and how we love God. How we love one another IS how we love God. The scripture asks the question," How do you love God who you have not seen, if you don’t love one another who you have seen?"

Can we grasp brothers and sisters, when you tell me, you refuse to give up your gun, even if it might save another’s life, then I suggest you may be placing a higher value on a possession than on another child of God. Let me be clear,  I am not asking you to do this. You please keep your gun. What I am asking is, please help pass some reasonable laws on gun safety and use.

This is very personal to me.  My dad had a horrible illness of the mind. He was bipolar. He held almost an army of people off while his family frantically tried to talk him down. He used a 12 gage shot gun. Thank God, no one was hurt and thank God, no one killed my father.


As a family we made certain he never had access to guns again. My dad was the hardest working man I have ever known. He was a good Christian and had deep beliefs. But when he had those dark moments he struggled terribly. I am very proud of the man he was. But as a family, we all know the potential was always before us for tragedy. The rest of the story is he lived to be 97 years old. Many of those years were wonderful. He was hospitalized for 8 years off and on. Please understand. I am not trying to hurt or offend any one.

The scripture i quote above has much more meaning than one issue.  I could write a ton more about it.  I am pretty sure, I would offend more, than I already have.   I will say, it also has meaning in regard to how we treat all people and how God wishes Government to function as well. To say that it does not apply, we miss what the Pilgrim parents believed. Why William Penn established the government he did in Penn. please read it carefully. It applies to our individual lives as well. Please try to understand my heart here my friends. If I’m wrong ok. But know this I have not written the above lightly.

I am deeply concerned for our souls. Please forgive me. I have to prayerfully ask you to consider what I write.

Guilty as Charged

Guilty as charged

Sometimes my brain goes into overtime. Questions?? This is a case in point:

All have fallen short of the Glory of God.      We all are sinners. 

At times some would have us forget these words. Some would suggest that we should not carry guilt and it is harmful to us. I have been thinking about that for some time.

I am reminded of a story that a preacher friend of mine use to tell. He said he was a terrible counselor. When some one came to his office and wanted to bare their souls, often they would begin by telling how they kicked the dog and beat their wife and kids, and my friend would throw them out of his office with exclamation, “You are a terrible person, get out of my office.” 

I have been giving a lot of thought for a while about the subject of guilt. Some tell us that we should never carry guilt and that it is harmful to us. I have always supported that notion. With Jesus coming into our lives we have no need to carry guilt I have felt. 

But as of late I am not sure that always allowing scape goats is always beneficial to us, especially if we don’t change our attitudes and directions.

I do not doubt, I/we need forgiveness. But we must grasp the cost of that forgiveness. I am not sure that we don’t need to carry some guilt over that forgiveness. How can we be thankful for it if we don’t understand that the cross was a horrible thing? It cost God his whole being. This Holy God laid down His life for us. The Cross was about the most horrible death that can be. Jesus took on the cross abd death to make a point. Not that God needed some blood offering but that God wants us to lay down our lives out of love for Him. Not because of guilt but because we recognize the great love He has for us. 

Guilt should be carried at times I am thinking. We are guilty. And Yes I need a Savior, because without Him I could not bare up over the weight of my sin, my guilt. 

How can we live with ourselves ?                                                                                                                                             To often we live with ourselves by calling attention to other’s downfalls. I’m not as near as bad as you are.” 

Can we not see, the playing field has been leveled?
“The wages of sin is death.”
“All have fallen short.”
No sin is lessor than another.
We all fall under the curse.
We all deserve jail time. Even more.
We all deserve the death penalty and we have received the sentence. 

Jesus one time said, “It is harder for a rich man to get into heaven than a camel to go through the eye of a needle.”    The Disciples response, “How can anyone be saved? “ is the proper question.   Jesus responded, “For man it’s not possible, but for God it is.” 

The fact is, it is not possible for us to save ourselves, if it was not for God and His Grace.       You may ask, David, do you feel guilty?   Fact: I AM guilty…..

But here’s the deal. I need a Savior. And I got one. “My sins be as scarlet, But I have been declared “Not Guilty.” “Yet, you are as white as snow.” I am not guilty.     That’s a little hard to grasp and I guess I feel a little guilty about it.

 Do you ever lose sleep over stuff like this?       Could be we should.

I am . To Be

David Mckellip
I am told 'Be not Afraid' is found 365 times in the Bible.   So many are afraid today.  So many think death is the worse thing...... but I am not so sure.....


I am. To be.
Bring me life.
I am alive with anticipation. Not fear. Do not try to tell me to be afraid.


To BE
I refuse to be afraid.
Fear is something that can move us to do horrible things. 
I am. To be.
I will not carry a gun to shoot someone.
I am not afraid of my neighbor.
I am not afraid of a friend I do not know yet.
To live in fear is to miss life.

If by a small chance I die in violence, know this,
I did not die afraid.

I have a friend I trust even in the face of death.
There are things worse than death.
It is to not live in faith, in hope, in love.

Bring me life. I am not afraid.
Grasp another way to live.
Trust the great I Am and Be who you are called to Be.
Be not afraid.

The History of the Seagoing cowboys.......

My Brother Lewis McKellip, was a draft resister and had a deep love for this nation.  He wanted to serve his country,  but he felt Jesus did not want him to go to war and Lewis did not want to kill anyone to  do it.  So he joined Brethren Volunteer Service. He served for two years, He was a part of a group that took a load of Cows to Greece after WW II.
 
I print below a site that gives a video, and a song  sung by Lewis' grand-daughter's husband, singing group, Friends of the Weather.  It shows a little of the history and tells the story..


.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0j8iXUy0nU&feature=share..

Below is a reprint written originally by Peggy Miller that tells the story of the Sea Going Cowboys . 








Seagoing Cowboys and the Heifer Project: The Maryland Story by Peggy Reiff Miller This article first appeared in Catoctin History, Fall/Winter 2005 Do you want your summer vacation to include a free trip to Europe and $150 in cash when you return? You can at the same time be helping to relieve the acute food shortage in Europe.1 So begins an April 30, 1946, news release issued from the Brethren Relief Center, New Windsor, Maryland, recruiting cattle attendants, dubbed “seagoing cowboys,” to care for livestock being shipped to war-devastated countries. Many similar ads had been circulating throughout the country since the preceding summer in newspapers, farm journals, church publications, on radio, and by word of mouth. World War II had ended in 1945 – in Europe in May and in the Far East in August. Churches and governments alike had been planning what they could do when the war was finished to help war-devastated people get on their feet again. A unique church and government partnership, forged that summer of 1945, put sleepy, bucolic New Windsor, Maryland, into a hub of international activity. The seagoing cowboys, and heifers housed in barns of Brethren farmers, were the riders on that hub in and out of Carroll County. The world was their range – a world devastated by war but pregnant with possibilities. Heifer Project Meets UNRRA The Heifer Project was the idea of Dan West, a Church of the Brethren leader and peace advocate. In 1938, during a break in his relief work for the historic peace churches in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, West was haunted by the gaunt faces of mothers and starving children to whom he had been distributing reconstituted powdered milk. Alone under an almond tree, he scanned the grassy Spanish hillside.2 “These hills could easily support cows,” he thought. “Why not give a cow instead of a cup of milk?” West’s idea slowly caught on after he got home and was expanded by the concept of sending pregnant heifers so each recipient could give the first female calf to another needy household – thereby “passing on the gift.”3 The Brethren Men’s Work of Northern Indiana took the lead in organizing a Heifer Project Committee on June 25, 1942.4 By January 1943, the Brethren Service Committee (BSC), the outreach arm of the Church of the Brethren, had adopted a denomination-wide plan for “The Heifer Project,” ecumenical from the very start.5 Farmers and churches all over the country began donating heifers to their local committees. But what to do with them? In 1943, World War II was raging. Shipping them across the ocean was impossible. So the first Heifers for Relief shipment was made from Nappanee, Indiana, to Puerto Rico on July 14, 1944.6 In 1945, when victory in Europe was imminent, Brethren Service Committee executive M. R. Zigler pondered the question of how to ship the Brethren heifers to Europe. The answer came in the form of another plan in the making at the same time as the Heifer Project. In November 1943, representatives of forty-four nations met in the White House in Washington, DC. They signed a document creating what was likely the first international relief Miller, Seagoing Cowboys Page 2 agency in world history, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). By March 1945, UNRRA was able to make its first cargo shipment of relief supplies.7 Zigler contacted UNRRA officials. “They reported they were not shipping live gifts,” he recalled. But when the Near East Foundation requested bulls from UNRRA to establish a breeding program in Greece, UNRRA contacted Zigler. He in turn contacted Ben Bushong, a farmer active in the Pennsylvania Guernsey Breeders Association, who, according to Zigler, “was always available for church work beyond the usual.” Bushong arranged with UNRRA the first shipment of “Heifers” for Relief to Europe – six bulls to Greece.8 On May 14, 1945, the M.S. Boolongena sailed from St. John’s in Canada to Athens, Greece, with Bushong and six Brethren bulls on board.9 The seeds of a BSC/UNRRA partnership were planted. Soon thereafter, Zigler got a phone call from UNRRA. “Where are your cows?” they wanted to know. “We have seven boats.” They also needed people to take care of the cattle. Zigler made some calls to set the wheels in motion for obtaining heifers and men willing to make the trip. At the June 3, 1945, meeting of the Heifer Project Committee, Zigler drafted Bushong to go to Washington to work out details with UNRRA. “From that hour,” Zigler said, “Ben Bushong was responsible for the Heifer Project.”10 On June 24, 1945, twenty-six cattle attendants left New Orleans for Greece on the SS F. J. Luckenbach with 588 UNRRA horses aboard. Another twenty-six cattle attendants left Baltimore for Greece two days later on the S.S. Virginian with 722 UNRRA horses, heifers, and bulls.11 The “seagoing cowboy” program was born. Bushong worked out the details of an agreement with UNRRA: BSC would supply the cattle attendants UNRRA needed for the more than 200,000 animals they planned to send to Europe, and UNRRA would ship Brethren heifers under the terms of the Heifer Project. New Windsor Takes Center Stage A 1944 development placed the town of New Windsor, Maryland, at center stage in this Brethren/UNRRA partnership. On September 6 of that year, the BSC purchased the former Blue Ridge College at public auction. Located on a hill at the edge of New Windsor, it was an ideal facility for the Church of the Brethren to house its emerging service and relief ministries. Serving “as an assembling station for ‘heifers for relief’ in preparation for shipment from the port of Baltimore or other eastern ports” was one of the immediate projects identified by the BSC for the Center.12 By the time office space was needed in mid-1945 to coordinate the seagoing cowboy program and the Heifer Project, the campus had already become a “bustling center of service activities.” It was a collection point for relief supplies being donated by churches, and it was home to a Civilian Public Service (CPS) unit focusing on soil conversation on area farms. The college dormitories were ideal for housing the CPS workers and the multitude of long- and shortterm volunteers who came to assist with processing the clothing and other supplies that were pouring into the Center for shipment overseas.13 This increased activity had its impact on the town of New Windsor. Additional employees had to be hired at the post office to handle the many packages arriving daily. The Western Maryland Railroad had to add express cars to its Baltimore-New Windsor run. Brethren college students from across the country spent their summer vacations volunteering at the Center. Church women’s groups around the area sent volunteers. Amidst all of the comings and goings, nationally-known church leaders stopped in to add their insights and visions in speeches and discussions on topics of peace and world affairs.14 Miller, Seagoing Cowboys Page 3 It was into this environment that many of the cowboys shipping out of East Coast ports arrived to receive their instructions. Not all cowboys made stops in New Windsor. Some were ordered directly to their port of departure. But through the nearly two years of UNRRA shipments, many cowboys did experience the hospitality and stimulation of New Windsor, a place that took seriously the words of Christ to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and the imprisoned. Many of the cowboys joined in the festivities and the work taking place at the Center. There were trips to Brownie’s Restaurant for sundaes, sodas, and cheeseburgers. There were folk games and ice cream socials organized by the CPSers and college volunteers, skating parties in Hanover, Pennsylvania, and ball games between the New Windsor and Sykesville CPS units. Some cowboys hired out to local farmers for a day and s Miller, Seagoing Cowboys Page 4 encouraged to arrive by day, but Olive recalls one trucker from Virginia who persisted in coming at night, blowing his air horn and waking baby, Elaine.21 Many local people caught the spirit of the Heifer Project. Union Bridge trucker Vernon Gladhill donated his truck and his time to transport heifers from the train depot to the Roop farm and back to the train when they were ready to be shipped. Likewise, Dr. George M. Zinkham, the local veterinarian, donated his services for the care of Heifer Project cattle.22 Not all people were supportive, however. Directional signs to the farm were at times torn down. The Roop’s third-grade daughter, Pat, came home from school one day asking Olive Roop the definition of “communist.” She had heard “that Dad was a communist and that he was being paid an enormous fee for doing this work for them.”23 There were times when the work was overwhelming, with as many as 453 head of cattle on the farm at once. Long days were filled with sorting and preparing cattle for shipment, checking in and dehorning new arrivals, and retesting cattle if they had not been exported within thirty days of their tests for various diseases. A couple of stampedes added to the stress. The second one gave Roger Roop a personal understanding of “Saint Elmo’s fire.” A herd of spooked cattle came rushing towards him and his assistant, Ted Arbaugh, one moonlit night. “We could see the bluish-green light in their eyes which was caused by fright,” Roop said. “We were too far from any fence to outrun them so we ran toward each other, cupped our hands and yelled at the top of our voices. The cattle did part and ran on either side of us. If they had not done so we would have been trampled to death. I’m wondering what was the color of our eyes!” Despite the trials, it was in Olive’s words “an endeavor with many satisfactions.” The first shipment of cattle from the Roop farm were 150 heifers that left for France from the port of Baltimore on the S.S. Zona Gale September 6, 1945. A dedication service was held on the farm for these heifers on Sunday, August 26. The animals were dedicated “that the spirit of brotherhood might come into the hearts of men,” and “that love and goodwill may triumph in the world and bring a new dawn of peace.” Olive recalled, “There is satisfaction in having been a part of that which has and is making life better for many.” The Roop farm was in use by Heifer Project until Roger Roop contracted undulant fever in 1948 and had to withdraw his services.24 The Seagoing Cowboys See the World The seagoing cowboys signed up for various reasons, from seeking adventure to putting their convictions of “loving your neighbor” into practice.25 Some, having served as conscientious objectors through the war doing work “of national importance” on the home front, were eager to be a part of the healing process of reconstruction overseas. Others, who were too young to join the military or CPS during the war, saw it as a way to get a piece of the action. Whatever the reasons, they responded – some 6,739 of them – for 321 UNRRA shipments from June 1945 through March 1947.26 Ads requested men of good moral character, ages 16 to 60. The minimum age was raised to 18 in mid-1946. Joseph Long, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, got caught by the change. He set sail at age 17 for Poland in May of 1946. “When I got back in July and went to sign up for another trip, I was too young!” The age limit was raised while he was overseas. William S. Barkdoll, of Naperville, Illinois, was the oldest cowboy to be accepted at age 72.27 To be able to work legally on a merchant ship, the cowboys had to join the Merchant Marines. Many cowboys who shipped out of the east coast got their seaman’s papers in Baltimore, beginning at the Chamber of Commerce Building. “Here the fun began,” wrote Miller, Seagoing Cowboys Page 5 Clarence Friesen. He had to first obtain a Social Security number. “[T]hen we had to have our picture taken at another place, fingerprinting taken at a number of places, a lot of information asked.” The next morning they had to have four vaccinations and a physical exam, “which is a close one at that,” he said.28 Cowboys who were subject to the draft were required to have a permission form from their draft board to leave the country, and cowboys under the age of 18 needed parental permission. For many Brethren and Mennonite cowboys, the swearing of the seaman’s oath to receive their papers was a moral dilemma. They were allowed to “affirm” rather than “swear.”29 On their return, the cowboys received one cent per month for their Merchant Marine service and $150 per trip from UNRRA, their real “employer.”30 The experience of one cowboy compared to the next is as varied as his port of departure, destination, type of ship, cargo, the time of year, the weather, and the composition of the cowboy crew and the ship’s crew. No two trips were alike. Ships departed from Baltimore, Houston, New York, New Orleans, Newport News, Savannah, and Portland (ME). Destinations were ports in Poland (the majority of shipments), Belgium, Greece, Italy, Yugoslavia (via Trieste, Italy), Czechoslovakia (via Bremen, Germany), China, France, Albania, and Ethiopia.31 UNRRA had a total of seventy-three livestock ships crossing the oceans.32 Most of them were converted Liberty or Victory ships that had been mass produced as supply ships during the war. The Libertys, smaller and slower, carried 300 to 400 animals and a cattle crew of about sisteen cowboys.33 The Victorys carried 700 to 800 animals with a cattle crew of about thirtytwo. A Victory ship cowboy could plan to be home in four to six weeks. On a Liberty ship, it often took two to three months, depending on conditions. But the pay from UNRRA was the same, whether it took four weeks or four months. A cowboy’s job entailed feeding and watering their charges two or three times a day. Each cowboy was assigned twenty-five to thirty animals to tend. Horses took more attention than heifers. Some of the horses were wild off the range and gave the cowboys a wild time caring for them. Lucky was the “horseboy” who didn’t get bit. The equines had to be kept standing the whole trip. This was not a cruel practice, as horses legs lock in a standing position, enabling them to sleep standing up. On the contrary, if a horse got down, it was doomed to die. When cowboys were unable to get the horse back on its feet, the veterinarian assigned to the ship was called. Rarely could a horse be saved. Dead animals were usually winched overboard with the ship’s booms and buried at sea. On some of the older merchant ships that were not equipped to extract the bulky animals from their holds, the carcasses had to be cut up and the parts thrown out the portholes. Wagner Miller, of New Windsor, recalls the death of a heifer that met a different fate on his ship. Members of the ship’s crew cut off some large chunks, put them on a hook into the water, and snagged a large shark. The ship and cowboy crews’ diet was enhanced with fresh shark steak that day. The births of calves or foals often brought to the saltiest of seamen a reverence they rarely experienced on board. Members of the regular ship’s crew would go out of their way to pay visits to the newborns that survived. With the birth of calves came additional work for the cowboys, however, as the heifers then needed to be milked. In turbulent weather, trying to coordinate aiming a stream of milk into a bucket with the lunging of the ship presented a challenge. The milk was a welcome addition to the cowboys’ diet. One thing all trips had in common was seasickness, whether the ocean was smooth or rough. Some cowboys couldn’t get their stomachs to adapt and were sick the entire trip. “One minute Miller, Seagoing Cowboys Page 6 you’re afraid you’re gonna die, and the next minute you’re afraid you’re not!” was a familiar quote. The lucky ones were able to weather even the storms without succumbing to the malady. Dangers lurked everywhere on the voyages. The William S. Halsted had no more than pulled out of port in Baltimore in a dense fog on November 2, 1946, when it collided with a fuel tanker and the hay on the top deck caught on fire. Bob Ebey, of North Manchester, Indiana reports, “Cowboys grabbed the water hoses for watering their animals and had the fire out before the ship’s crew could get to it.” “The storms were particularly frightening, when you see water higher than a two-story house coming at you!” remembers Carl Shultz, of New Port Richey, Florida, also on the Halsted. Wayne Lawson, of Milford, Indiana, tells of a two-day storm on one of his trips. “When we came up on deck, the horses and stalls were gone! Some horses were still hanging over the edge and we had to cut them off.” Luke Bomberger, of Lititz, Pennsylvania remembers sliding across a wet deck on the S.S. Mexican on his back after slipping off a ladder in the rain on his night watch duty. A one-and-a-half inch steel lip at the edge of the ship on which his foot caught was the only thing that kept him from sliding overboard through a chained opening on the side of the ship into the dark waters. Many cowboys saw aquatic mines left over from the war. Walt Gingrich, of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, tells of his ship receiving orders to stop as it was sailing up the Adriatic Sea to Trieste. A military ship passed them and began shooting its guns when it was a mile or so beyond them. “After a while, somewhere way up ahead of it, there was a terrible explosion,” Gingrich said. “We discovered they were firing at a mine to blow it up.” An earlier ship was not so lucky. Ben Bushong wrote that it “had gone to the bottom of the harbor of Trieste, having hit a mine, crew saved, cargo lost.”34 Young boys fresh off the farm were exposed to the seamier side of life on these trips. Cowboys were tempted by the black market prevalent in their port cities; some were propositioned by young boys for their sisters or by the sisters themselves, desperate to put food on the family table; and none could escape the spicy language of the seamen on ship or their drunken, womanizing behavior off ship. Many cowboy crews, however, served as an example to the seamen. Some crew members accepted invitations to join the cowboys for a worship service on board. Many a captain was struck by the decency of the cowboys. Ross Noffsinger, supervisor of a trip, told his family how the captain had said, “On the sea, the captain is the law. I have a gun and I won’t hesitate to use it!” Upon completion of the voyage, however, the captain admitted to Noffsinger, “If ever there was a trip when a gun was unnecessary, it was this one.”35 Shore leave was a window to the world for the cowboys. Side trips to Paris, Rome, Athens, Pompeii, or Venice were exciting. Seeing annihilated cities or exploring battlefields in Poland covered with corpses still unburied a year after the war was sobering. Witnessing the poverty and low value placed on human life in places like Shanghai was heart wrenching. Many a cowboy’s life was changed by the experience. Career paths were determined. Roger Ingold of Hershey, Pennsylvania, credits his trips to Germany and Greece for setting his life direction as a missionary to Nigeria and then a mission administrator.36 Seeing people’s lives turned upside down by war caused Joseph Long of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to come home from Poland and immediately change his college major from science to psychology and sociology. “I realized I wanted to work with people,” he said.37 For some cowboys, like Clarence Friesen, the trips reinforced and strengthened their beliefs. “Having the opportunity to see these destructions of humanity,” wrote the former CPS worker, “we are more convinced that we were Miller, Seagoing Cowboys Page 7 right in our convictions. ...The teachings of Christ have become even more real to us through this trip.”38 For others, like Harvard theologian Harvey Cox, the experience challenged their beliefs. Humiliated by a ruthless supervisor on his trip to Poland and sickened by the devastation in Gdansk, Cox did a lot of thinking on the trip home. “As the long, empty days passed,” he wrote, “I became aware of a conviction growing inside me that there could not be another war. ...[The SS Robert Hart] took me to a place where ... I found out something about who I was and what my life was meant to be.”39 Cox, as did many other cowboys who witnessed firsthand the carnal destruction of war, went on to be a lifelong activist and advocate for nonviolence, peace, and justice. The cowboys returned home telling what they had seen to their churches and local newspapers. Their stories brought the world to New Windsor and enhanced the promotion of the many relief programs there. Most of all, the cowboys’ stories were a boon for the Heifer Project. Over 300,000 cattle and draft animals, including some 3,500 Brethren heifers, were delivered around the world through the BSC/UNRRA partnership.40 When UNRRA was disbanded in 1947, the momentum was in place for Heifer Project to continue on its own. And continue it did, developing into today’s massive Heifer International.41 A recruiting ad in a September 1946 Ephrata Review sums up the cowboys’ legacy: Men of good moral and ethical ideals who will conduct themselves in a manner which will be a tribute to their country and the program of which they are a part will be welcomed and respected by the people of Europe. It is felt that by learning to know these people and understanding their problems that the ‘cowboys’ will become more valuable citizens to the country and the world.42 And so they have. *** Footnotes: 1 This news release entitled “Sea-Going Cowboys Take Livestock to Starving Europe” was found in Box 245973, “Publicity” file, Heifer International Archives, Vital Records Control, Maumelle, AR (VRC). 2 The “historic peace churches” are the Brethren, Friends (Quakers), and Mennonites. 3 Glee Yoder, Passing on the Gift: The Story of Dan West (Elgin, IL: The Brethren Press, 1978), 101-103. 4 Heifer Project Committee (HPC) Minutes, June 25, 1942, Box 217820, VRC. 5 Brethren Service Committee (BSC) Minutes, January 15-16, 1943, Brethren Historical Library & Archives, Elgin, IL (BHLA). 6 HPC Minutes, August 21, 1944. 7 The Story of U.N.R.R.A. (Washington, DC: United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, 1948), 3, 11. This document was found in the Dan West collection, Box 60, BHLA. 8 M. R. Zigler, “Ben Bushong,” undated essay found in the “Benjamin Bushong” file, BHLA; Rebecca Bushong, “Ben Bushong – Apostle of Mercy,” Brethren Life and Thought XXIV (Spring 1979): 73. Miller, Seagoing Cowboys Page 8 9 Robert Lintner, UNRRA Livestock Program: A Historical Report (Washington, DC: United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, date not discernible) found on microfilm in the Mennonite Historical Library, Goshen, IN. Page numbers in this document are not discernible. 10 Zigler; HPC Minutes, June 3, 1945. 11 There are conflicting dates (by one or two days) for the departures of these trips in various publications. I am going by the dates recorded in the diaries of cowboys who were on these two trips. All reports indicate the SS F. J. Luckenbach was the first to leave a U.S. port. 12 BSC Minutes, November 7-9, 1944, Addenda. 13 Kenneth I. Morse, New Windsor Center (New Windsor, MD: Brethren Service Center, 1979), 19, 24. 14 Ibid., 46-47; Kathryn Root, unpublished diary. 15 Root; Diaries of numerous seagoing cowboys. 16 Roger and Olive Roop, personal papers. 17 Ibid., Letter from John D. Metzler to Roger Roop, July 9, 1945. 18 W. Roger Roop, “Summary of Activities of Heifer Project as Seen from Farm,” undated report found in the Dan West Collection, Box 40, File 48, BHLA. 19 Roop, “Summary of Activities of Heifer Project as Seen from Farm.” In this earlier account, the name was Wilmer Kline. 20 Roop, personal papers. 21 Ibid.; Interview by author with Olive Roop, November 17, 2003. 22 Ibid.; Conversation of author with Pat Roop Robinson and William Zinkham, August 13, 2005. 23 Pat Roop, “A Place for Heifers,” Messenger (May 1976): 39. A letter in the Roop papers dated May 9, 1947 from John D. Metzler to the Heifer Project Committee proposes a raise in Roop’s initial salary, begun when the entire farm was given over to the business of the Heifer Project, from $1800 to $2100 per year, with additional reimbursements of $800 for rent of farm, $840 for use of machinery and equipment, and $400 for travel and meal costs – hardly an “enormous fee.” 24 Roop, personal papers. 25 The information not footnoted in this section comes from interviews by the author with over seventy seagoing cowboys to date. 26 Lintner. During this time period, additional cowboys went on a small number of trips arranged directly through the Heifer Project that were not UNRRA trips. Lorell Weiss in Ten Years of Brethren Service (Elgin, IL: Brethren Service Commission, 1952), 57, said “Brethren Service reported that 7,412 men had served as ‘cowboys’ for UNRRA through Brethren Service channels.” The author has to this point been unable to verify that figure, but her research suggests that a figure over 7,000 is tenable. 27 Lintner; Galen Erb Barkdoll, The Barkdoll Horse-Hair Chair, self-published, no date available. 28 Clarence Friesen, “My European Voyage,” unpublished document found in Hist. Mss. 1-204, the Mennonite Church USA Archives, Goshen, IN (MCA-G). The required vaccinations were typhoid, typhus, tetanus, and smallpox. 29 The belief in affirming rather than swearing an oath comes from Matt. 5:33-37. “....Do not swear at all.... Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” [NRSV translation] Miller, Seagoing Cowboys Page 9 30 Lintner; “Agreement Between BSC & UNRRA,” Heifer Project files, “Correspondence ‘45- ’46” file, BHLA. 31 Lintner. The shipments to Belgium and France were not through UNRRA, but rather arranged directly with the foreign governments by Heifer Project. 32 Lintner. 33 A small number of Liberty ships, designed with four larger holds instead of the usual five, had the capacity of a Victory ship. 34 Letter from Benjamin G. Bushong to Paul W. Kinsel, February 25, 1946, found in Box 217784, “Benjamin Bushong” file, VRC. 35 Conversation of author with children of Ross Noffsinger, January 23, 2004. 36 Stephen Kiehl, “A Last Roundup,” The Baltimore Sun, August 15, 2005. 37 Ibid. 38 Friesen. 39 Harvey Cox, Just as I Am (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1983) 31-41. 40 Lintner; George Woodbridge, ed., UNRRA: The History of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (New York: Columbia University Press, 1950) I, 487. 41 Information about Heifer International can be found at www.heifer.org. 42 “Brethren Need 2000 Sea-Going Cowboys,” date on clipping not completely legible, found in “Seagoing Cowboys, Information on” file, MCC collection, IX-12-1, Box 22, MCA-G.

Samuel's age test for Grand dad

Samuel's age test for Grand dad:

1. How old are you now?      June 10, 2018, I Turn 72. So I guess that makes me 71.    Does that feel “old” to you?

There are days I feel that old. I really do not see myself much different than I was at 50. I have a bad back. If I set in my chair and don’t have to walk I don’t feel old. I’m not sure I feel old when I must walk as much as my back hurts. 

2. Has your attitude about what is “old” changed over the years?

Yes, when I was younger old has was 50. Now Old is 90.

3. Do you feel differently about yourself now than you did 5 or 10 years ago? In what ways?

Since retirement, I have had to redefine significance, and purpose for living. Seeking value of one’s self becomes different. When working I felt I valued what I did as did others. I found who I did defined who I was. So naturally when I no longer was doing things as I once did, figuring out who I was had to be redefined. “What is my purpose?” Becomes a serious question to answer?  

4. When you were 20, did you think that your life would take you along the pathway you have been going?

I felt my life calling at an early age. I think I was 16-17 years old when I figured out what I wanted to do. But that meant I had to go to school to be able to do what I wanted to do. At the time I did not like school much and after a couple years of college decided it just was not worth the effort. So, I quit school and took a job selling shoes. I truly loved the shoe business. I was very good selling shoes. However, I did find ways to follow my original calling in volunteer type work. Basically, one can do what one wants if they don’t have to be paid for it. Especially if there is a need for the work done. Sometimes one can even be paid, but it just won’t be as much.

5.  Is there anything you would have done differently if you had the chance to relive part of your life?

Looking back, I would have stayed in school. But, maybe not. I think I learned to appreciate it more, the way I worked it all out. Going back and finally finishing in the way I finished, was very rewarding. I had advantages of life work and experiences to draw from.

5. Has your self-confidence changed since 20 or 30?

The process of growing older can be a very humbling experience. Having the misfortune of staying in a hospital for any length of time one can experience one can lose sense of modesty. Growing older can do that to self-confidence in similar ways. Driving in traffic, going places alone, attempting to work physically, all take on different confidence testing areas.

6. Have any of the changes associated with growing older seemed particularly dramatic to you? If so, please describe them.

Doing simple things, like walking a block, bending over to tie your shoes, going to the store alone can at times be challenging. Driving places at night. It surprises me how the stress level has changed. All my life, I have enjoyed driving and that was in all kinds of weather and time of day. I still can drive fine, however, I now would prefer others drive.

7. What do you like most about your life now? How does that differ from what you liked most 10 years ago?

I really enjoy retirement. I now don’t have a schedule to do things. I can do them when and if I want. I can sleep late and stay up late. I now tend to be a night owl. I don’t have to get up until I want. I can go fishing when I want and when I don’t want.

8. What do you like least about your life now? How does that differ from what you liked least 10 years ago?

I have neuropathy and my feet and legs, and I have a lot of pain. As I take medication for the problem, it makes me sleep a lot. At times this is debilitating and frustrating.

9. (If relevant) When your children left home, what kinds of emotional reactions did you have?

The four children left in different ways. It seemed we move about the time several moved. Susie, our youngest said, “Most kids grow up and leave home. Not us, I grew up, and you guys left.” As parents, we recognize that little birds, grow up and leave the nest. Our kids are always welcome to come home. That goes for their families. We see that as being a parent. (note, it is a good feeling to see our kids in the adult role and be who they are as adults. When they each left our house to go be adults, it was hard to see them go, and yet, it was time for them to go.  I guess, in one sense of the word, it was good to see them go. They needed to go. We needed them to go. Not that we wanted them to…. There comes a time when a child needs to grow up and parents must let them do that.

10. (If relevant) When you retired from your job, what kinds of emotional reactions did you have?

I was given a retirement party when I retired. As I left the party, I felt a sense of accomplishment, but also like a large load was off my back. I felt a sense of relief and that responsibility was finally over. I have been able to let go of what I was doing and seek new ways to find purpose. The best part, over the last year, I think is I feel I really don’t need a purpose anymore only to love my family and each day as it comes. As I said earlier, I really like being retired. I enjoy each day and can thank God for the day brings. Kind of weird isn’t it…. ?

11. (If relevant) How did you feel when your first grandchild was born?

I was totally excited when Terry was born. I very much looked forward to be a grandpa. I honestly have felt the same with each grandchild (4). I will say, with the birth of a great grandchild now… that too has been very exciting.

12. What are your plans and goals for the future? How have those changed over the last few years?

When one reaches 70 plus years old plans and goals change greatly. I recognize, I will not live forever. I want to somehow finish life correctly. I’m not sure what that might detail. I am not afraid of death and my faith helps bring me comfort. I would like my grandchildren to know me better. I would like them to know how faith in God, the Bible, and the Church has shaped my life and how it has given me significance, purpose, and direction for living. Why I spent more than 60 years, do what I did as a pastor.  

13. What are your biggest fears for the future? Why do you think you feel this way?

My biggest fear, is that I might reach a place physically, that I cannot take care of myself and I become a burden for my wife and family. To lose self-sufficiency for me would be very hard. (one day I may/ will have to cross that bridge. Not something I want.) The other part I think is one that will happen…. That a day comes, that it will not have mattered that I was here. Life for me is summed up as significance, and purpose, 

14. Do you feel that people treat you differently because of your age? In what ways?

Yes, some see me as an old man that cannot possibly understand them or what they want and need. Others recognize that I have tons of experiences and know a great deal. These send me little tests and ask me questions. 

15. Please tell me anything else you would like me to know about how it feels to be at this stage in your life.

I truly find each day as a kind of adventure.  Each day is new. There are new aches and pains. Life can have pain, hurt, frustration.  but it is life.  if we don't have adversity, I am not sure we are living.  Adversity is not the enemy.  Giving up . Losing faith. Losing hope. Losing love.  That would be for me would be the greatest loss.  Bring on the new day.  Bring on living to the fullest.  Give me that mountain.  Bring it on.  When one storms the gaits of hell, sometimes all we need is time.... Lets get'er done. 

Romans 8 New International Version (NIV)

Life Through the Spirit

8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you^[a] free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,^[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.^[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life^[d] because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of^[e] his Spirit who lives in you.

¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.^[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,^[g] Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Present Suffering and Future Glory

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that^[h] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[i] have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

More Than Conquerors

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^[j]

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.