Recent Activity
The Executive Board met March 10, a quarterly meeting to handle business of the Furlough Home. We sadly acknowledged the passing of longtime corresponding secretary and recent FH Board chaplain Monnie Tingle, who died February 21. We also expressed our sympathy for the family of Ted Trautwein, the husband of Gayle Trautwein and father of Andrea Trautwein, who died Feb. 28. Gayle is our hospitality chair and Andrea serves on that committee. The Board voted to send memorials to the churches of both the Tingles and the Trautweins.
We celebrate the recent $1,050 donation provided through the offering taken at the full Synod meeting on Jan. 25 and are grateful to Presbyterian Women Moderator Jan Albert, Synod of Living Waters, for suggesting that the Furlough Home be remembered. Charlie Evans and John Oldham were there representing Mid-KY.
With gratitude we note that Ben Blake of Harvey Browne Church recently donated beautiful hand-carved creches for each apartment to use next Christmas.
At our May 10 Annual Meeting we will welcome these new Board members, nominated to a 3-year term beginning 2021: Debbie Braaksma (Beechmont), Al and Nancy Pollock (Harvey Browne), Don Seeger (Highland), and Jerry VanMarter (Crescent Hill).
Needs
Board members are encouraged to take an active role in the work of the Furlough Home. Below is a list of ways you may be of assistance:
Find new board members: We currently need a seamstress, a gardener, interior decorator, apartment cleaners, a graphic artist to lay out a new brochure, technology folk, a handyperson and someone with a truck who wouldn't mind occasionally transporting donations.
Encourage your church to donate: In additon to monetary donations, which are always welcome, our current wish list includes quilts, sets of stainless flatware, decorative pillows for sofas, framed art work, Chrismon ornaments, and printers for residents' computers.
What if…….
What if……a terrible virus changed the lives of Mission Co-Workers, who were living in countries far away from family and safety?
What if…..there were a Home especially built for these people to have a safe place to stay if they returned to the United States?
What if…..cookies and bread made regularly by committee members led to a fully, stocked food pantry available to the residents of the Furlough Home?
What if……face masks made by STITCH were purchased and given away to new residents?
What if…..all apartments filled up rapidly with Mission Co-Workers, moving us to set up quarantine requirements?
What if…..your mission assignment was Malawi and you didn’t need a winter coat there but it’s snowing here?
What if….you experienced your first Thanksgiving and first snow here on the Seminary campus, and sleds were available to ride down the Seminary hill?
What if….as the holidays arrived, you were unable to travel to family and faced being alone instead?
What if… you were scheduled to retire from your mission assignment and you ended up retiring at the Furlough Home, not knowing where you’re going next?
All of these “What ifs” have taken place at the Furlough Home. But our “what if’s” have been answered with “how can I help?”
“Can I help teach someone to us Click-It?” “ Can I help with a Zoom Birthday Party for a little girl?" “Can I donate Christmas ornaments for apartment trees?" “Can I help with needed clothing?”
We who serve on the Care and Nurture Committee feel privileged to live through the “What ifs” and find ourselves surrounded by the “Can I Helps,…” We would love to have you join us in this rewarding experience.
--Emily Seeger and Faye Fedlam Care and Nurture Committee
Current Residents
Apartment 1: Cora Wigger (month of March) is here escaping the Chicago snow, paying rent while no mission co-workers need the space (and therefore helping defray Furlough Home expenses).
Apartment 2: Jerry Van Marter and wife Eva Stimson (11/2/20 to 3/25/21) Jerry is the Presbytery Stated Clerk. He and his wife are also renting. Jerry has recently volunteered to serve on the Furlough Home Board of Directors, so we are excited that we'll still be seeing him even after they return to their home.Apartment 3: Tyler and Rochelle Holm and daughter, Mphatso Holm (3/27/20 to 6/21) Tyler serves in Ekwendeni, Malawi, at the invitation of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), Synod of Livingstonia. He is a lecturer of systematic theology and church history in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Livingstonia, which prepares future CCAP ministers and community leaders. Contact him at Tyler@tylerholm.com.
Apartment 4: Jo Ella Holman (7/4/20 to 7/31/21) She retired as regional liaison for the Caribbean on September 17. Jo Ella will stay at the Furlough Home for a year as she transitions. She can be reached at joella.holman@gmail.com.
Please share this information with your church. Furlough Home residents can be a valuable resource for your church programs. You might ask a resident to fill your pulpit; to speak to your youth groups, church school class, or women’s/men’s groups; to give a “minute for mission” during church services; or to speak at a church potluck or other event.
Prayer List: Please keep our residents and Board members in your thoughts and prayers. We especially lift up Gayle and Andrea Trautwein, whose recent loss was shared at the beginning of this newsletter, as well as the family of Monnie Tingle. Resident Jo Ella Holman's brother is fighting cancer. Barb Link, housekeeping committee member, is hoping to complete chemo soon.
Please also pray for all mission co-workers, many of whom are uncertain as to when they will be able to return to their posts.
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