Lives Less Ordinary - Extract 1

Sabbatical Joys

One of my tasks during sabbatical - a joyful one -  is to publish the biography of my parents, a fifteen year labour of love!

 

Marlin and Barbara Summers spent 8 years in India followed by 12 years in Pakistan as missionaries. Then they came to Wolverhampton in 1973 and by God's grace founded the Asian Christian Fellowship there (follow this link: ACF.)

Every week on FaceBook I plan to write an extract from the book...

Marlin and Barbara Summers were very ordinary people. They were not well educated, were not wealthy, were not from posh backgrounds, and yet the Lord was pleased to use them for his glory in a remarkable way.

EXTRACT 1

 Chapter 1

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

War, Depression and Turmoil

When Yip Harburg penned his lament, Brother Can you Spare a Dime? it struck a chord with millions of Americans caught up in a deep economic depression. His generation had worked long hours in the opening decades of the twentieth century to build their country into a mighty industrial giant. They had offered up sons to war. But now in 1932, caught in the grip of the Great Depression, it seemed as though their sacrifices counted for nothing, and their dreams lay shattered in the dust:

 

They used to tell me I was building a dream...

Once I built a railroad, I made it run...

Once in Khaki suits, gee, we looked swell...

Say, don’t you remember? They called me ‘Al’

Why don’t you remember? I’m your pal?

Say brother, can you spare a dime?

 

Marlin Summers was shaped by the hardships and turmoil of the Great Depression and the two World Wars sandwiched either side of it. He was born to Charles and Mary Summers on the 6^th of August 1912 in the small town of Carrington, North Dakota. Younger brother Laurel and older sister Mildred completed the family of five....