Personal stories from Ian’s life that are included in Gems and available to read and search as stand-alone stories here.
Gem Stories
You’re No Son of Mine
I have a personal story to tell at this point. I think I escaped a bullet by being born when I was. My father was a hard man working as a carpenter and who became an alcoholic at an early age. He had a passion…
Evaluating the Interpreters
One day arriving at church with JPCC I was asked to take part in the annual evaluation of the Interpreters ministry. I initially told the person who offered me a head set that I didn't need it, I could understand and speak Indonesian. But he…
Yes, That’s the Names God Told Me
Riss had put Vaeh to bed but she came out to the lounge again saying she was scared that there was going to be a fire in the house. There had been several occasions when Vaeh had been afraid that a fire would happen. Riss…
Prayer for the Deli Worker
I have already shared the story (not in Gems but via FaceBook) of my daughter Marissa (Riss) going to the supermarket and praying for the person behind the counter at the delicatessen and them being healed. You too can live and move and have your…
Omawusi, I am Yoruban
I know what Omawusi would say. Allow me to introduce you to her. She is a nurse in Ward 31 of the Middlemore Hospital - the Cardiac Ward. I met her during my stay in the Ward after my stroke in 2023. The change of…
What Sort of Man is He to Feel Faint Over A Little Blood?
One night around midnight, while living in an Indonesia village, I was woken and asked if I would accompany a large party of men to a neighbouring village and asked to bring my camera. The headman's brother-in-law had been murdered in a machete attack. The…
Human Heads on the Picket Fence
One of the worst things I have ever seen are photos of human heads stuck on every second paling of a long picket fence in Indonesia, after an atrocity committed by a tribal group in response to massacre from a Muslim group who attacked one…
Ian, If You’re Thinking of Selling Your House . . .
I began to have second thoughts when faced with the cost of all that lay before us, despite all the LORD had confirmed to us. I was faced with giving up my job and income and faced with the prospect of more training as well…
‘LORD, When Should I Go Home?’ ‘Tomorrow.’
In the August holidays in 1981 I was scheduled to go a Geography Conference in Wellington but began to question the wisdom of it if as I suspected I would not be teaching Geography much longer. But as Head of the Geography Dept I was…
The Problem with My Name Stamp
In June 1984 we produce a Vail Vagaries newsletter with an amusing account of something that had happened. Well we thought it was amusing at the time but others didn't. We had had a delay in our visa's coming through and wondered why. I had…