I was born in Osaka, Japan to missionary parents. My mom came from Worcester, Massachusetts and my d

I was born in Osaka, Japan to missionary parents. My mom came from Worcester, Massachusetts and my dad from Värnamo, Sweden. park inn and suites anaheim california They were both single missionaries who met and married park inn and suites anaheim california in Japan. My mom was with the Evangelical Covenant Church of America and my dad with the Evangelical Covenant Church of Sweden (SMF). As children my siblings and I played with our Japanese neighborhood park inn and suites anaheim california friends, spoke Swedish park inn and suites anaheim california with our mission family and then spoke English in our home.
Every five years my parents would go on furlough and we would literally circle the globe because we would visit family in the US and Sweden, then return to Japan. I remember when I was six we flew over the North Pole. The pilot of the airplane told us if we looked hard enough park inn and suites anaheim california we might be able to see Santa’s workshop. I looked and looked but we were too high to see anything park inn and suites anaheim california but white below us.
As a child of missionaries I learned early that we were all part of the ministry. We lived in a town called Tamano during my earliest childhood (until I was 6). It was located on the Japan Inland Sea. There was a big shipyard where huge ships were built. Many people in Tamano were also seafarers. Our next door neighbor was a sea captain, Momotani-san. He had a god-shelf in his house where he set out food for his ancestors and prayed to them. As children we were curious park inn and suites anaheim california and wanted to know why. His wife became a Christian and a very active member of our church but Captain Momotani held fast to his beliefs. park inn and suites anaheim california Much later he came to know Christ as his personal Savior and part of his testimony had to do with my siblings and me and how we questioned park inn and suites anaheim california him about his beliefs.
I remember park inn and suites anaheim california going on a field trip with my kindergarten class to the inland sea. We all walked together and when we got to the beach everyone went to the shrine to pray to the god of the sea. My mother and I walked along the beach and prayed to our God who created the sea and everything in it.
When I was ten years old my parents made a decision to leave the mission field after having served for 15 years. We left Japan on a Russian ship and traveled through the Soviet Union via train and plane. The U.S.S.R. had only just “opened” to tourists the year before and it was during the height of the Cold War. It was a fascinating country to visit. We saw the embalmed Lenin in the mausoleum but the best part of the trip was visiting the Moscow Baptist Church, one of the few to be allowed to hold services. It was standing park inn and suites anaheim california room only; few people had Bibles or hymnals so the preacher would shout out the words so everyone could follow along. We saw hunger in the eyes of the worshipers for God. It was a moving and vastly profound experience for all of us.
From Russia we traveled by train and then ferry to Sweden where we visited our Swedish church and my father’s family. We left for America on a ship and passed under the George park inn and suites anaheim california Washington bridge and by the Statue of Liberty as we came into port in New York City.
Our new life had begun. We settled in Lexington, Massachusetts not far from Boston and Worcester, my mom’s hometown. I desperately wanted to fit in with my school friends but we were kind of geeky kids. We wore missionary barrel clothes – far from the latest style and we certainly didn’t know American slang. One day coming in from recess my classmates were gathered around a dictionary. I asked what they were doing and was told they were looking up swear words. I had to later look up what the word “swear” meant because I had never heard of it before.
As time passed and I became more Americanized I felt rebellious about church and my faith. I never rejected God but I had to make my faith my own. During a Youth for Christ meeting when I was 16, I went forward and publicly acknowledged Christ as my Savior.
When I was in my second year at North Park College I was accepted as a short-term missionary to Japan. I felt so lucky to have been selected and to be able to return to Japan for a year. It was an influential year for me full of hard work and life changing experiences. I taught English classes to Japanese students of all ages, helped in the church and assisted the missionaries where I could. I was especially heartsick for a young man I’d left behind in America named Randy Olson.
After my year in Japan I completed my college education and Randy and I were married. He was the Manager at Covenant Point Bible Camp at the time we married and I worked park inn and suites anaheim california for the US Forest Service but God had other plans for our lives. We applied and were accepted to work for Covenant High School in Unalakleet, Alaska. Covenant High was a Christian boarding school for native Alaskans. At the time Randy and I worked there CHS had been serving the people of Western Alaska for over 30 years. It allowed the village kids to remain in Alaska for high school instead of having to travel to the lower 48 for their high school education. This is another story in itself of how God has worked in our lives. What an adventure living in Alaska was for us and getting to know the Native people of western Alaska. Unfortunately in the mid-eighties the US economy hit a slump. The Covenant could no longer support a private high school and the decision was made to close CHS.
We left Unalakleet park inn and suites anaheim california and came to live here in Jamestown and we’ve been quietly serving God and raising our family park inn and suites anaheim california in this community. For me I have enjoyed setting down roots in one place. I moved a great deal as a child. I’ve enjoyed seeing a generation of children (including my own) grow up and now marry and have children of their own. I’ve enjoyed fellowshipping and worshipping park inn and suites anaheim california here at Zion Covenant Church. There has been so much change and growth the last few years. It’s been wonderful to feel our church remain vital and alive. I look forward to what God has in store here for Zion in the future and also in my own life. Thank you for being a part of my life.