Senior Adult Ministry: Senior Spotlight

 It was interesting to look through what some of our church staff call, our church’s - Book of Life - actually it’s the Membership Book of Athens First Presbyterian Church – on one of the first pages you will find the name:

 Marie Montez Scott. 

Marie’s name was recorded as a new member over 80 years ago.  During a recent morning conversation with Marie, that included her brother George & John Kipp she said “I was born into the church, our church has had a tremendous influence on my life.  It is like my second home.”  At the present time, Marie has been a member longer than anyone in our congregation.

Marie thoughtfully prepared remarks about her memories but cautioned – “they are as I remember them, not necessarily as they were.”   She began by telling us that First Presbyterian Church Pastor E. L. Hill, our pastor from 1908 to1949, married her mother and father and following the birth of an older brother & sister their third child - Marie was born in Athens on Feb. 19, 1917.  A treasured picture in Marie’s living room shows the Scott family just 20 years later.  It was taken on the Sunday after her mother’s death.  In the picture Marie is a lovely young woman who then became a second “mother” to her brothers & sisters along with help from their young cook Lucy.  Marie says about those years after her mother’s death: “Lucy & I tried to keep the house going.” After their mother’s death, older siblings Connie & Eugene returned to work and the three younger children, Anna Louise (Nan), Julian & Stella returned to school.  Brother George was just five and started school the following Sept.

An early memory of the Scott home on Mell street offered quite a bonus, because a house two doors away belonged to a former First Presbyterian Church pastor Dr. Walden.  His daughters were very active in our church.  Miss Julie Walden and Mrs. Mae Walden Morton taught Sunday school classes and Miss Carrie Walden was Marie’s kinder garden teacher at Lucy Cobb.  At another home on Wilcox Street lived a next door neighbor Miss Laura Blackshire – beloved aunt to Laura Fortson.  Laura frequently visited in Miss Laura’s home.  Marie shares – “Laura Fortson is one of my oldest friends, along with Grace Winston Stephens, and later I became best friends with Sarah Carlton Pearson Proctor and her family.  Years later Laura Fortson and I were members of the same Presbyterian Women’s Circle.”

When asked about her memories of the church in the 1930’s Marie remembered the opening exercises of the Sunday School. She told us the children and their teachers began in what is now the Children’s Ministry Suite where they would gather and sing hymns on the wooden pews that we still find throughout our church. 

There were constant connections with First Presbyterian Church.  Even walks and drives thru Athens would remind Marie of her former Sunday school teachers: Miss Edna (Mrs. Edna Garland Hulme), and Mrs. Hartford, and Bob Stephens.  She reports “I am interested in the comings and goings of my family which includes my church friends.” It was a blessing when her brother George returned to Athens after retirement and became active in our church.  She says “He can keep me informed about many of my church friends.”  Not surprisingly, she hears from and has visits from many, church members.  She has fond memories of Sunday School, and those that led those classes.  She mentions the kindness of Richard & Fran Lane who “took me to Sunday School and church for many years.”

Marie’s devotion to her family is so much a part of who she is.  She mentioned her brother George and niece Barbara Carlson “who I couldn’t get along without”, her pride in great niece Tanner Scott, her appreciation of her nurse Sonia, and friend Mary.

There are others parts of Marie’s life that included her work at our local Ben Epps Airport.  As record keeper she was there to record the two tornadoes that tore off the tin roof. She was also employed by Wilkins Industries and for many years at UGA in the Dairy Sciences Dept. But her life has always included, and will continue to include, a heartfelt and sincere devotion to First Presbyterian Church and to those of us who consider it our church home.

Senior Adult Ministry's Senior Spotlight: John Kipp

Interview of John Kipp

By Alex Noakes
 

Our First Presbyterian Church family has an incoming freshman at MIT as well as a grad – Alex Noakes & John Kipp.  The two sat down for a chat and Alex asked questions about John’s life experiences, faith development and what he experienced as a student at MIT.

John was born in 1936 & was baptized at age 5.  He remembers holding his parents hands, and as they returned to their pew after his baptism John was heard by the congregation to ask his parents about the “Holy Ghost.”

He became a Presbyterian at age 12 & at 17 had a conversion experience.  He was alone in the woods, at night praying when he said “I knew then, that God heard me.”

Growing up John was exposed to lots of music & his love of music grew & and continues even today.  He played baritone horn in school and that resulted in a scholarship to attend Valley Forge Military School.  He spent two summers at Interlochen Music school and camp in Michigan.  He was offered a scholarship to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY but by that time he had committed to attend MIT.

While at MIT his faith grew.  Some of his friends suggested that a Reformed Presbyterian minister visit him weekly.  John credits this minister with teaching him how to read the Bible & to pray.  During this time & over the span of three years he memorized 3 verses a day and studied a chapter in the Bible each week.  While at MIT he attended the Park Street Presbyterian Church.

One of the organizations that added to his faith development was the Navigators.  This group began in Colorado and was created as a non-denominational religious group by the Navy.  Another meaningful group was Intervarsity.  They held weekly Bible studies in the dorms.  While at MIT John helped to create the Campus Christian Fellowship and served as their president.  John & Dottie his first wife were married the week he graduated from MIT.

After MIT, John applied to Princeton but wasn’t accepted and instead began working for Proctor & Gamble.    John had been in ROTC & therefore had an obligation to serve 3 years of active duty.  Instead of entering Princeton John entered the military and was sent to Mississippi to attend a 10 week radio school course.  After completing that course he was stationed in Redbluff, CA where he was 1 of 6 officers serving at a radar station.   John became active in the Redbluff Presbyterian Church and that church played a large part in his faith development.  While there, he was elected an Elder and also served as a youth leader. The church asked him to preach and conduct a funeral and all of his experiences, continued to confirm his sense of call to ministry.  At the end of his 3 year military commitment, he reapplied to Princeton and was accepted and a month later entered Princeton.  John would love to tell you how his Mother’s phone call played a part in all of this.

He has many favorite hymns but mentioned his love of:  Great is Thy Faithfulness.

The best life lesson: it reflects in part this stage of his life – He feels a gentler approach and broader focus on people and to life in general.

The most important lesson he has learned evolved from two of his life experiences – the death of his first wife & surviving kidney cancer and the surgery it required:  He is grateful every day to God for the gift of life and knowing that God’s love is constant and in feeling God’s presence in ALL of life’s experiences. John especially appreciates the church family we have at First Presbyterian Church, Athens.

Haiti Mission Trip Day 7 -- Mission Accomplished

We rose on our last full day at Ecole St. Barthélémy to enjoy the flag ceremony for a final time. The children sang "How Great Thou Art" in either French or Creole and we were thrilled to recognize the tune. At breakfast, we enjoyed bread for the first time in several days (after likely depleting the supply ourselves) topped with the sweet homemade honey we've all come to love.

We planned to tour the northeastern part of Haiti at some point during the day, including a jatropha farm known as a pepinye, the town of Phiaton and Fort-Liberté. At breakfast we received the news that our adventure would not be until the afternoon, so we had another leisurely break. Several people napped, read or played cards, while some interacted with the children at the school.

After lunch, we loaded into the tap-tap and began our journey. We drove first to Fort-Liberté, where we drove through the town and out to Fort St. Joseph, which sat on the rocky coast of Liberté Bay by the Atlantic Ocean. All four of our youth shed their shoes and dipped their feet in the astonishingly clear water. We then walked around the fort and climbed to the top, where you could see the ocean all around.

We headed from there to one of the jatropha pepinyes, where we saw how the plants are grown in rows and relaxed for a minute under the only two trees in sight. Afterwards, we drove over to see the building where the Haitians train people to farm the jatrophas. Here, we saw several piles of shells and beans. A few of the youth retrieved beans from their shells and sorted them into the appropriate piles.

We piled back into the tap-tap and rode over to the beach at Phiaton, where Gary and Adrian had visited on their trip to Haiti eighteen months ago. At that time the area was doing very poorly, suffering from a loss of tourist activity. The people were very desperate and the beaches were almost completely empty.

We arrived at a gate constructed since that time and were surprised that they asked for an entrance fee. Our interpreter, Edward, negotiated a fair price. We drove in to find what Adrian called a "Haitian Fort Lauderdale." He and Gary were thrilled to see that the area was thriving. Many people were swimming in the water and structures had been constructed -- all great news for the people in Phiaton. Again, several of us dipped our feet in and we enjoyed a few minutes observing the area.

With our spirits lifted, we headed to our last stop to see how the jatropha plants are placed in a machine where the juice is removed. We were excited to learn about how each part of the plant is used somehow, whether to create the biodiesel or for another integral process.

Unfortunately, when we arrived we were unable to see the machinery, but Adrian and Gary shared the information with us and we will look at pictures from their last trip during our down time at the airport tomorrow.

When we returned we ate dinner and shared our nightly devotion, then broke into small groups and talked about what we will take away from this trip. Many of us talked about how much we learned about the culture here and how excited we are to bring our newfound passion for Haiti back to Athens to share with all of you.

We are excited to return home tomorrow to family, friends and air conditioning, but the departure is bittersweet leaving the people we have come to love here. We hope to continue our relationships with them and will always remember our time spent in Haiti.

Haiti Mission Trip Day 6 -- One Fish, Two Fish, Stinky Fish...Ewww, Fish

Today, we helped feed 160 families in a nearby, secluded village called Patrico, and then returned to Ecole St. Barthélémy to serve another 200 families.  We rode in a tap-tap to the village and had to deal with the wonderful smell of the fish we packed the day before.  During our ride, we had to avoid branches smacking us in the head as we drove down narrow, dirt road.  The people at Patrico were very appreciative of the bag of rice, two bags of spaghetti and fish we passed out.  Unfortunately, we only brought 134 food bags, but handed out 160 tickets for families to get food.  Even though we were short, the people in Patrico never seemed upset.  The people of Patrico gathered around us as we were heading out and all thanked us for helping to provide for them.  A couple people, including the local pastor, rode back to Ecole St. Barthélémy to get the extra food.

On the way back from Patrico, before we arrived at Ecole St. Barthélémy, we stopped at Peré Bruno's farm to help water his cattle.  Peré Bruno had purchased some mangos for our group and then we washed them and enjoyed the sweet, juicy fruit.  We returned to the school and helped distribute food to local families.  Several of the families coming to receive food have students in the school.  It was nice to see the children outside of their uniforms and school discipline.  People trickled in all afternoon turning in their tickets to receive their bag of food.  During our down time, we played some cards and enjoyed each other's company.  We also played with Lulu, the four year-old boy who lives with Peré Bruno and his wife.

We had an afternoon of leisure.  After dinner, we walked into town for some ice cold Coca-Cola, which happened to be Will's first ever Coke.

We ended our evening as we do every night, with a devotion studying the Bible examining a different passage involving light imagery.

Haiti Mission Trip Day 5 -- Bumpity-Bump Bump

Question: Of the following people, who was able to walk the 7 kilometers to the top of the Citadel: a varsity football player, a dancer, a soccer player, a trumpeter in the marching band, a 77 year old doctor, 3 moms or a girl who ran three miles before coming to Haiti?  Answer: NONE!  It was the youth director who was able to handle it.  Nine people rode horses to the top of the Citadel while one walked.  We spent most of the morning getting to the top, bouncing on the very bumpy road.  We rode to the Citadel in a tap-tap (the local taxi where people literally hang off the side and tap the roof to let the driver know they want off), riding in the back, getting bounced around on the unpaved road.  Then we bounced some more on the way to the top of the Citadel.

After we arrived at the top, we toured this old fort, built in the early 1800s.  We learned the history of the building and enjoyed the great views.  You literally could see for miles in any direction, so we were able to see most of Haiti from the top.  The view was stunning!  We enjoyed our guided tour and lunch in the Citadel before heading back down.  The horse ride down was more uncomfortable than going up due to the steep angle and the bumpity-bump  bump that the horse riders experienced.

When we returned to Terrier Rouge, we helped pack food bags for our food distribution tomorrow.  We packed bags of rice, spaghetti, and fish, breaking down 110 pound bags of rice and boxes of salted fish.  We will visit a small village and distribute food to those in need.  We will also distribute food at the school for the village of Terrier Rouge.  Apparently, the village has been recently hit by hard times and there is a shortage of food.  We will help with the food distribution tomorrow.

Today was a wonderful adventure up to the Citadel, back down, and even packing food afterwards.  We enjoyed the trip today but not the bumps and bruises.  We look forward distributing food tomorrow and interacting with the locals.

Haiti Mission Day 4 -- A Different Shade of Blue

Yesterday afternoon, after the blog was posted, we had an impromptu soccer game with several of the local children who attend the school.  We brought a soccer ball with us and brought it out to play with six children.  We divided up and had a couple Americans on one team and a couple on the other and had several Haitian children on each.  Communication with teammates was difficult, but everyone understood "pass" and "match" to begin or continue the game.  We played for at least an hour with our Haitian friends, enjoying many laughs and many high-fives.  Almost everyone on both teams scored (sorry, Will Corry), including Sara Cotton scoring one of her two goals on Adrian.

The match was a great experience for everyone involved and a great way to get to know some of the children.  We saw some of the same kids Tuesday morning and wanted to play more soccer.

On Tuesday morning, we had the opportunity to observe the kindergarten classes and participate with the children as they worked on writing.

After lunch, we finished painting the inside of the clinic that we were instructed to paint.  As it turns out, we were able to paint more than anticipated.  Near the end of the our painting, several Haitian children came to the clinic to see us and we wound up playing different games (tag, hand games and other things children enjoy).  Several of the hand games (patty-cake type games) were the same rhythm and cadence as we enjoy in the states.  The children also tried to teach us "The Macarena" and were surprised when we knew what they were doing.  Beth taught some of the children "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and they laughed so much at her performance.  Several of the youth gave piggy-back rides to the children and the children in turn gave flowers to a couple of our girls.

Words cannot describe the fun and excitement we had today.  We look forward to uploading pictures and videos upon our return home.  Until then, envision our youth playing games with Haitian children!