THE LIFE OF RICHARD WILLIAM MUELLER, JR.
(Continued)

Dad’s Autobiography – Chapter 19 – In Book, Page 42

Tears, Deb, Dick, and Tim in Copenhagen, Our Last Trip to the States, Oslo, Fourth Furlough, Deb’s Graduation and Marriage, Irene’s Mom’s Horse Accident, Divine Call to Lakeside Lutheran High School, Waiting for Belongings from Africa

When Deb and Dick went off to the States the previous year, Irene wept tears. I was able to hold them in. But not this time. My tears flowed freely as we saw three of our children leave us for another year.

Before they left, I had made arrangements via ‘ham’ radio for them to be met in Copenhagen, Denmark, by a family there. Nevertheless, we sent them off with fear and trembling because the day before they left Zambia, there had been a terrible plane crash in Copenhagen. However, our heavenly Father did what He always does for us. He sent His holy angels to watch over them and take them safely to the United States. Perhaps toward the end of my memoirs, I will tell you how our Lord did that again and again. We must not close this paragraph without telling you that the people in Copenhagen treated our children royally. They fed them Danish food and took them sightseeing. They visited Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park which we never had the chance to see. It was always closed when we were in Copenhagen.

In one respect, the Fall of 1971 and the Spring of 1972 passed slowly. We were eager to see our children again – half of our family. However, as far as our work was concerned, the time flew by. We had more than enough to do in watching over pastors and evangelists serving eighteen congregations and preaching places – some of them over six hundred miles away. Our Lord blessed our labors richly – and visibly.

On the way back to the States, we visited places which we had not visited before. One of those places was Oslo, Norway. In the days of our travels, the airlines granted passengers the mileage from the point of embarkation to the destination point. A traveler was permitted to go anywhere within that mileage – with the stipulation that the same airport could not be visited twice. Side trips were not allowed. It was as a result of that benefit – and privilege – that we were able to visit Oslo. We had wanted to take a sight-seeing train over the mountains to the west coast of Norway and a catamaran around the south coast back to the airport in Oslo. It was a dream – and we did not have the money to make that dream come true.

When we left Central Africa, we had every intention of returning to our ministry there. So much so was it our intention to do so that we did not pack up our belongings. It had become mission policy for families on furlough to do that, just in case they would not return to the field. The Mission Board did not provide for transportation back to the field to pack up. However, so sure were we of returning to the mission field to which the Lord had called us – and to the work which we loved with all our hearts – that we stored all of our belongings in one room of a mission house in Lusaka. Little did we know at the time, that we had left extra work for the missionaries who were on the field. They had to pack it all up for us.

Shortly after we returned to the States, it was graduating time at Dr. Martin Luther College. Debbie was to graduate from High School – and, of course, Mom and Dad had to attend her graduation since we were on furlough. After the graduation ceremony, she informed us that she wanted to be married. The man she loved is Glen Wilson. They were married in California – so, off to California we went. The knot of Holy Matrimony was tied there – and it has remained tied for thirty-six years. “Until death do us part.”

Then, shortly after we returned to Wisconsin, Irene’s Mom had an accident with one of her horses. She was riding alone. The horse spooked. She tried to get off thinking her horse would fall on her. Her foot got caught in the stirrup – and her leg twisted. Both lower leg bones broke. The leg was put into a cast – and she was incapacitated for many months. Irene was called up to take care of her. She did so without complaint. Her mother had taken care of her – and now she took care of her mother.

The time to return to Africa was fast approaching. We had fully intended to return to Zambia. However, the situation had changed. Our family was beginning to be fragmented – part of it in Africa, and another part of it in the United States. We decided that should not be. Either we would all return to Africa or we would all stay in the States. Because another one of our children would be staying in the States to attend one of our Christian Schools – a child who would not do well with Mom and Dad far away, we began to lean toward remaining in the States. However, we left it in our Lord’s hands to lead us into the future.

Pastor Paustian, one of the pastors at St. Mark’s in Watertown, knew that we were in the States. He also knew that Lakeside Lutheran High School was looking for a pastor to teach Religion at that High School. Being on the Board of Directors at Lakeside, he put my name on the Call List – and not too long after we received the Divine Call to teach Religion and United States History at the school.

After much soul-searching, we decided to accept that Divine Call. We really wanted to return to Zambia to continue our labors for our Lord there, but it became clear to us that that is not where our Lord wanted us to serve any longer. The result was that all of our belongings that we had left behind, unpacked, fully intending to return to Africa, had to be packed by the missionaries in Zambia. As you can well imagine, that took some time. The upshot was that we spent a year living out of our suitcases. It took that long for our belongings to arrive. They traveled by rail, by boat, and finally, by truck to our door in Watertown. They came in two large wooden boxes on a flat-bed truck. It was like Christmas in the midst of summer.

Before I go on to our life in the States, I have some random thoughts to share with you – thoughts which cause our lives in Africa to continue to live in our thoughts – and move us to pray for our mission there.