Tag Archives: retirement

Four Weeks with Neither an Insight nor an Outburst. What Gives?

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Four Weeks with Neither an Insight nor an Outburst. What Gives?

The Explanation.
I love writing my Insights and Outbursts blog post. For decades, I published one every week. But a few years ago, I initiated a new plan: “A Post Every Other Week.” That plan has worked well. I wrote an Easter oriented Canela story that came out around Easter time. But this past month, my new plan was put On Hold.

Our youngest grandson, Aidan, honoured me by asking if I would officiate at his wedding to his fiancée, Lindsay, in a ceremony near her hometown, Vilonia, in Arkansas, about 60 kilometres north of Little Rock! So, for eight days, Jo and I joined many of our family members in Arkansas, 2,700 kilometres south of Edmonton, Alberta. Yes! Writing a blog post was the furthest thing from my mind! Then, to add to the confusion, the week we returned, I had three medical appointments. Go figure. But here is the blog post, although a couple of weeks late.

My Retirement
I mentioned in my last blog post that I am now 87 years old, and June 30 marks the last day of my being a member of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Jo and I joined Wycliffe in 1965, sixty years ago. Jo retired earlier because of several serious medical issues. Even in retiring from Wycliffe, I expect to keep attuned to the ideas and stories that my Main Editor, God’s Holy Spirit, puts into my mind. And as He leads, I will write a blog post, probably one every other week.

One of the last major services I performed for Wycliffe was to write the memoir of our twenty-three years of ministry as Bible translators among the Canela people of Brazil. The full name of the book is The Great Adventure: Our Life Among Brazil’s Canela People.

Where to Buy the Book
Check it out online at Amazon.ca or on Amazon.com.
Just search for Jack Popjes The Great Adventure.
It is also available to buy through the FriesenPress bookstore.
Search for FriesenPress bookstore, The Great Adventure.

Here are some readers’ comments:
“I’m already at page 31 and enjoying every word.” PG.
Your book was a page-turner, and I have passed it on to my sister.” I.
“I devoured the book, and it is now going the rounds of my friends.” K.
“Your book is one of the best books I have ever read.” AM.
“I love the way your whole family, wife, and daughters were fully involved.” S.
“Your decades of keeping daily diaries paid off and made your writing so interesting.” A.
“The prayer thread woven through each chapter made me praise God.” R.

After June 30, my jack.popjes@wycliffe.ca email will be scrapped, and I will be using this one, jackpopjes@gmail.com. Any gifts for us coming through Wycliffe after mid-June will not be passed on to us. We expect to live on our CPP and OAS income and our savings. We continue to trust that God will provide for us all that we need, as He has always done.
Blessings,
Jack and Jo

 

God Loves All the Cultures in the World.

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God Loves All the Cultures in the World.
All the cultures missiologists have studied had “redemptive analogies:” cultural ways illustrating how God made peace with sinful mankind. Canadian missionary Don Richardson’s book Peace Child describes the way warring tribes made peace with each other by giving a baby as a “peace child” to the other tribe.

In our book The Great Adventure, I described several Canela ceremonies that picture what Christ did for human beings. One involves a young man who is about to receive a painful public punishment for wrongdoing, but suddenly another person, called the Place-Taker, runs up and takes the punishment instead. We described Jesus as our Place-Taker.

The Canela Easter Story
One of the heroes in ancient Canela stories is called Awke. (This story didn’t make it into the book.) Awke did not have a human father, but he loved people. He treated people well and taught them how to live good lives. The elders of the village, however, hated Awke because he was more popular with people than they were.

One time, the elders pushed Awke over a high cliff, but he turned himself into a leaf and fluttered down until he landed on the ground and then turned into a man again. In the end, they clubbed him on the head and then burned his body in a large fire outside the village: the traditional Canela way of executing a criminal.

Three days later, some women came to sit by the ashes and mourn his death. Suddenly, Awke appeared, fully alive, and said, “I am going home, and I will prepare a home for you and all those who are my friends. Someday you will live with me there.”

We praise God that He has put these types of illustrations into every culture to help people understand His great plan of salvation.

Important Announcement
After sixty years of service with Wycliffe, on Tuesday, June 30, I will join my wife in retirement and will no longer be a member of Wycliffe.
Our first major task with Wycliffe was the Canela Bible translation program in Brazil, which took nearly twenty-five years. Our last task was writing the story of those decades in The Great Adventure, which we finished late last year, and which we have promoted and distributed since then.
I expect to keep writing these blog posts, as well as newsletters and will keep all of you up to date on our future activities.

Still Bearing Fruit in Old Age

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The Question
“So, when do you plan to retire Jack?” somebody texted me last week when Jo and I were celebrating my 82nd birthday by ourselves at home. Hmm, a provocative question. I thought about it for a while.

I started earning a wage as an electrician’s helper when I was 13 years old. In the past 69 years I have been employed by more than a dozen different organizations and businesses. Some notable occupations: mental institute orderly, pastor, linguist, Bible translator, CEO of Wycliffe organization, fundraiser, motivational speaker.

The Answer . . . Sort of
I have “retired” from all these jobs and positions, and for the past few years I’ve focused on a career in writing and publishing five books of God-stories, the first volume of my memoirs and am working on the next two volumes. After that, if God grants me physical and mental health for a few more years, I want to complete the half-finished children’s stories books on my computer and in my head.

The Angelic Visit Twenty Years Ago
“Jack,” my supervisor said, “as the new CEO of Wycliffe Caribbean, the first problem you need to tackle is the accounting system. It’s a mess.”
I’m the WordMan, I thought, not the NumberMan. Sending me to fix a finance accounting system is as helpful as sending a firefighter to aim his spouting hose at a drowning man.
The bookkeeper explained that Caribbean countries use a British system of accounting, but Wycliffe uses the North American system. No wonder things got confused!
I explained the problem to Wycliffe International’s VP of Finance, asked for help and got it.

A few weeks later a retired couple arrived from Great Britain. They were experienced accountants familiar with both British and American accounting systems and started work immediately. In a couple of weeks, they had solved the problems, revised our procedures, written a new manual, and trained our staff in the updated system. Then they left to enjoy a week on the beach before returning home – job well done. Not even angels could have done it better. Maybe they were.

Oh, how I appreciated those volunteers! We happily provided hospitality and meals. They radiated good will and oozed expertise. Like God the Creator, they turned our chaos into order.

This couple was neither the first nor the last of many highly effective retired people who practiced their skills on the mission field. I asked some of these folk why they volunteered. Here are their answers:

The Testimonials

  1. I hope God gives me many years of healthy retirement since I just love helping missionaries use their computers more effectively.
  2. In our retirement, we want to focus on what is important in our lives. So, we spend lots of quality time with our grand kids, but we also volunteer where we can use our experience in printing and publishing to help build God’s kingdom.
  3. Since I enjoyed certain aspects of my career more than others, I look for opportunities to volunteer my services in God’s service in missions in the areas I enjoy the most.
  4. My wife and I volunteer on the mission fields where we can use our chiropractic skills to improve people’s lives, but work at our own pace and on our own time schedule. We usually include a time of vacation after our volunteer service.
  5. I have always loved being a businessman. Now I love consulting on site with people who have gone overseas to start a business that meets physical, economic and spiritual needs.
  6. During my career as a medical teacher I missed the hands-on service to people in medical need. Now that I’m retired, I focus on volunteering where I can directly meet the needs of individuals and show my love to them as I build God’s Kingdom.
  7. I’m now 85 years old. I look on the two years in our late seventies that my wife and I spent overseas helping Bible translators become more effective as the greatest two years of my life.

The Opportunities
Every year, hundreds of retired people volunteer to go overseas to practice their professions and skilled trades to build God’s Kingdom. Wycliffe offers numerous opportunities for volunteers to get involved. Check them out on these sites and, when the COVID-19 pandemic is over, volunteer to serve somewhere:
https://www.wycliffe.ca/serve/volunteer/
https://www.wycliffe.org/serve/volunteer  

http://www.ibecventures.com

“The godly will still bear fruit in old age; they will stay fresh and green.” Psalm 92:14 (NIV).