Richard Duane Brandon

1. 3/24/1923 Portland, OR

 

Spouse/Family

Wife: Elizabeth Ruth (nee Schumacher) 6/29/1924 Seattle, Washington USA

1. 5/13/1944

Children: Christine Mariah (1945), Paul Richard (1946), Susan Elizabeth (1949),

Mary Louise (1956), Martha Ann (1958)

 

Dates of Service Field Call Assignment

1962-67 Papua New Guinea Business Manager

1977-80 Papua New Guinea Town Ministries

1986-93 Ghana, West Africa Leadership Training, Business Manager

1997-98 South Africa Volunteer Religion Teachers

2000-01 South Africa Pastoral Ministry Volunteer

 

Biographical Summary

Richard (Dick) and Elizabeth (Beth) Brandon began their missionary career when they were almost forty years old, and they functioned as field support in their first assignment. Both grew up in the Pacific Northwest. They were teen friends. Dick enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1943.  It was a serendipitous moment when the Air Force sent Dick to Reed College in Portland for a year of study.  Beth moved to Portland in late 1943 to live with her favorite aunt, and friendship became romance.  They were married in 1944.  Dick was discharged in 1946 and began work as an engineer for Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone.  He was transferred to Salem, Oregon, in 1955, and the family attended St. John Lutheran Church in Salem.  By then Salem was not only home for Dick and Beth but also for their five children and both of their mothers.

 

In 1960, their lives changed.  Walter Boss, the St. John pastor, received a letter from LCMS Board for Missions asking if he knew any layman who might be willing to serve as a mission business manger. When Dick was asked he said, “Might be; never considered changing vocation.” In 1962 they were called to serve as business manager in New Guinea (at the time New Guinea was still separate from Papua.)  Three months of prayer and introspection followed. They were comfortable and secure, and they had a promising professional future as well as five children and two grandmothers in the household.  The older children said they were willing; the younger were probably just trusting and the grandmothers found other options. They accepted the call and arrived in New Guinea just after Thanksgiving in 1962.

 

As business manager Dick managed a supply house providing food, personal needs, school, medical, and some building supplies. He was responsible for the radio communication system and air and road transport for missionaries.  Beth often provided housing and food for travelers, since the family lived near the airstrip. She also worked in the post office and bank; assisted with the well-baby mission clinic; taught local women to sew; and had women’s Bible studies.  Just after Christmas 1962, their older children Chris and Paul left for a year of school at Concordia College, Adelaide, South Australia.  Sue, Mary and Martha were boarded and schooled during the week at Highland Lutheran School in New Guinea.  This was a difficult time for the younger children, with a lot of tears each Monday when they had to be picked up in a Jeep to head to school.  The separation from family was the most difficult part of the Brandon’s time abroad.

 

In 1967, after five years of service in New Guinea, the Brandon’s were asked to stay on as Lay Missionaries. However, Dick thought that if he was to be an evangelistic missionary he ought to have seminary training, so they returned to the U.S. and Dick enrolled at Concordia, Springfield. Chris, Paul and Sue were in college and Mary and Martha enrolled at Trinity Lutheran School. Beth worked nights as a computer billing clerk for Illinois Bell.  While on vicarage, Dick, thanks to Zion Lutheran Church in Portland, was able to obtain a degree in Cultural Anthropology. In 1971 he was assigned by the seminary to serve as pastor for Redeemer Lutheran Church, Baltimore.  Because of changing neighborhood demographics it was another cross-cultural experience. During these years Beth was a sales representative for a Bernina sewing machine and fabric store.  Mary and Martha graduated from Western High School.

 

In 1977, Dick and Beth returned to what now, with U.N.-mandated independence, had become Papua New Guinea (PNG). The Gutnius Luteran Sios assigned Dick to serve as advocate and advisor for indigenous pastors who were serving Enga people living in the highland and coastal towns of PNG. Dick also served as pastor for Messiah Lutheran Church, Wabag, which worshipped in Pidgin (Neo-Melanesian) English. After three years the funding for the town ministry expired, and Dick felt expatriate missionaries serving these areas could also best serve this ministry. They returned to the U.S. at the end of 1980.

 

Dick began studies again, with a year-long master’s program at the Fuller Seminary School of World Mission.  If funding had been available Dick would like to have completed the doctoral program.  He said, “I wish I had the Fuller experience before going to New Guinea in 1962!”  In 1981 they accepted the call to continue a new ministry with a group that became Evergreen Lutheran Church, Seabeck, Washington. Beth assisted with Sunday School and directed the choir.

 

By 1986, a new building was completed for Evergreen, and they felt they would like to continue where they began – in cross-cultural ministry. Upon inquiry, the Board for Mission Services called and assigned them to leadership training for the Lutheran Church of Ghana in the city of Kumasi   Dick was to replace the current missionary who was to move to a new area in Ghana.  However, this did not materialize before Dick was asked to replace the current Business Manager who had resigned.  They moved to the capitol city of Accra until the new Business Manager arrived.  They then moved to the port city of Tema as pastor for the local Ghanaian congregation.  During their time in Ghana, Beth spent some time teaching local women to make bread, and she also remembers that shopping for anything took an inordinate amount of time – just getting supplies for the two of them was quite a job.  The Brandons returned to the U.S. in 1993 and “retired” at age 70.

 

Back in the U.S., Beth and Dick again settled in Seabeck, Washington. After about a year, a friend from St. John Lutheran Church, Salem, Oregon, the church they had left in 1962 for New Guinea, asked if they were interested in serving St. John as an assistant pastor, primarily for visitation. They moved to Salem and served in that capacity for about three years.

 

In 1997 cross-cultural ministry again beckoned.  Dick and Beth offered themselves as Board for Mission volunteers and became teachers of religion for the 1997 school year at the Siyathemba Boys and Girls High School in Dierkiesdorp, Mpumulanga Province, South Africa. The school was a ministry of the Niebuhr family, German missionaries of South African descent who began the schools to serve indigent Zulu children.

 

In mid-2000 Dick and Beth again offered themselves to the BMS for volunteer service.  Dick served for a year as pastor of 40-50 English-speaking German members of Christ Church Kirchdorf in Wartburg, KwaZulu Province, a congregation of the Free Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Africa, who wished to worship in the English language. They had rented a small house in the village of Wartburg in the Kwazulu Province to use as a chapel for Our Saviour Lutheran Church. It was a “typical” congregation. This was another most interesting year in South Africa, especially as apartheid had ended; the black majority were now the government and security was not very “secure.”

 

They returned to the U.S. in mid-2001 and continue to be active members at St. John, Salem, the church they left in 1962 and to which they returned forty years later, where they continue to be as active as the Lord permits at 84 and 85 years.

 

Nota Bene

In Ghana the Brandons served in several different capacities as needs arose.  They moved around and took on new duties more than was typical for a missionary couple.

 

Phase 2 Information

 

Biggest missiological issue faced?

The Brandons faced their biggest issue in mission work before they went overseas.  Their call to go to PNG was a complete surprise, and it took them a long period of discussion and prayer to determine that it was the right action for them at the time.  To an extent, there was a financial consideration – Dick was doing well in his job, and they knew it would destabilize their financial situation to go overseas.  They also had to confront family concerns: both of their mothers were living with them at the time they received the call, and other arrangements had to be made for them if Dick and Beth were to undertake foreign mission work.  Beth’s mother decided to live with her sister, and Dick’s mother moved into a retirement home.  A further hardship once they had begun serving in PNG was that Beth’s mother died while they were overseas, and because of poor communication methods Beth was not able to find out about it until three weeks later.  Moreover, when they left the U.S., Dick and Beth’s own children had to be uprooted and moved to a new country.  Even more significantly, their children had to attend boarding school while they served in PNG, and the separation was difficult for both children and parents.  Many of their friends and acquaintances thought they were completely crazy for even considering taking the call to PNG.  In the end, they determined they must follow this call because they did have an interest in cross-cultural experience, and because like Isaiah, when they received God’s summons, what could they say but “Here am I, send me.”

 

In Ghana in particular, the Brandons found they were very aware of a number of issues, including among staff, regarding the partner church, personal matters, and country issues.  They write:

• “Staff  – the usual hermeneutical disagreements.
• “Partner Church – Strong Ghanaian leaders strongly differing with expatriates and BFMS on various matters.
• “Personal – Dick was called to serve for leadership training in the Kumasi area, but logistics were never favorable.  He was then reassigned to several ministries in succession: Nigeria Seminary, Accra area missionary, establish Ghana School for Evangelists, replace resigning business manager, and finally pastor Trinity congregation in Tema.
•  “The country itself – Ghana was very dysfunctional, coup-ridden, and had severe problems with supply of food, goods and services, communication and transportation.”

 

Issues on the mission field in general:

• “The decision to go to New Guinea in 1962 given family issues and needs as described above  We knew it would  destabilize our financial needs in years to come.  In 1962 there was no ‘vesting’ in pensions so we gained nothing in financial terms for Dick’s fifteen years with Bell, and in that sense began again financially at age 40. Today we are well aware of financial restrictions; yet we value and are thankful for the service opportunities.
• “Sending our older children to school in Australia for a year, as well as the younger to boarding school each week. It was difficult at one moment to have a household of nine and then at the next just two.
• “We are not gifted in learning other languages.  The training offered on the fields was not, in our opinion, adequate.
• “Realizing that expatriates can never be ‘one of them.’
• “Remembering the importance of first understanding the culture and then identifying points of contact to enhance communicating the Good News.”

 

Most significant contribution during missionary service?

In Papua New Guinea, because of the role as business manager and because they lived in a central area of the mission, the Brandons were able to provide support for the missionaries on the field in many ways and were pleased to have the opportunity to do so.

 

In Ghana, the Brandons were older than most of the other missionaries on the field and were able to provide counsel and a certain amount of stability among the missionaries because of this.  Dick also enjoyed leading theological studies with local pastors, who would then do outreach – it seemed a good mission principle to focus on support for local preachers while they shared the Gospel.

 

They write of their time on various fields:

• “New Guinea 1963-67: satisfaction of being of service to ‘real’ missionaries.
• “Papua New Guinea 1977-80: serving the material needs of Town Pastors, and being their spiritual mentors.
• “Ghana 1986-1993: Weathering the storm of dysfunction and uncertainty. Being at least twenty years older than the other expatriates we feel that we were a stabilizing influence – whatever that may mean!  We like to think that Dick was helpful with limited leadership training.
• “In South Africa in 1997 – in addition to teaching, being helpful through consultation regarding school staffing problems.
• “In 2000-01 – provided a more open style of ministry. Beth made 64 T-shirts for the AIDS orphans at ‘God’s Golden Acre’ near Durban. Dick and Beth supported this ministry materially and with prayer.”

 

Connection to today’s mission?

Mission work in the three fields in which the Brandons served has changed somewhat since their time of service, but Lutheran churches in all three areas continue to partner with the LCMS and to conduct evangelism and worship.

 

Dick and Beth are members of the Papua New Guinea Mission Society, a coalition of former PNG missionaries who continue to partner with the Gutnius Luteran Sios. They have participated in biennial gatherings and have helped fund the sending of former missionaries to PNG as teachers and advisors.

 

The Niebuhr’s visited the USA in 1999 and the Brandon’s hosted them at their home for a week while they sought to expand their USA support. Dick and Beth continue to correspond with the Niebuhr family and have given money for the ministries of the Themba schools.

 

Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Wartburg now has its own FELSISA pastor. Dick and Beth correspond with members of this church.

 

Lessons Learned

• First and foremost, humility.  All missionaries should, and most do, realize that being from the “first world” does not mean a person knows more or has a better opinion than anyone else.
• The Brandons’ time overseas certainly gave them an appreciation of the material blessings enjoyed by those in the Western world.
• All people have the same basic concerns: food, shelter, family, peace.
• At the same time, the Brandons gained an awareness of differing world views.
• One problem that should be avoided is that the LCMS constructed many structures in PNG which the Gutnius Lutheran Sios had little means to maintain.
• In mission work, it’s always best to try to work through local people; the best model is when missionaries can train locals who can share the Gospel among their own people.

 

Best Practices

• The PNG model: Pastor, Teacher, and Nurse at every station.  The mutual support of missionaries one to the other was important to the welfare of the missionary family and to the mission.  All expatriate positions were well defined, and given the freedom to carry out responsibilities.

 

Phase 3 Information

Inspiration for entering foreign missions?

The Brandons write: “We had no plan to do so, but given the opportunity and the challenge, after three months of prayer and deliberation we saw an opportunity for service and the growth offered by accepting challenge as well as adventure and expanding our world view. We thought it a great growth opportunity for our children.  And we like to think we were responding to the words of Isaiah: ‘Here we are; send us.’”

 

Quotation by/about or brief story:

 

• The first day the Brandons arrived at their new home in Papua New Guinea, local people gathered to watch them and just laughed!  They never figured out why.

 

• The buildings in Papua New Guinea, including churches, were very basic structures and much more open to the outdoors than churches in the United States.  Dick remembers dogs running around the sanctuary during many of the services he attended or helped with.  Everyone just ignored the dogs while they worshipped.  They did try to keep out the pigs, however, which also tended to walk into houses and other buildings but which were a bit noisy for church.

 

• Space was used as needed for the people of the area.  One of the Brandons’ first introductions to PNG was in their first meeting with other missionaries in the hospital chapel.  While they were meeting, a group of people came to the hospital carrying on stretchers some of their comrades who had been killed in a local battle.  The hospital did what they could, and since there was no morgue to store bodies in prior to burial, they just used the freezer!

 

• Weather in PNG came in two seasons: dry, with temperatures around 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit, and wet, with a few inches of rain overnight a common experience.  Overall the weather was good, but the water tanks sometimes ran empty in the dry season, and clothes had to be washed using swamp water in a gas-powered Maytag washer.

 

• Beth remembers when she and Naomi, wife of MAF pilot Alan Collicutt, were listening on the radio as Alan radioed that the engine had quit on his single-engine 180 Cessna.  He was above 8/8 cloud cover and was going down!  They prayed and rejoiced when Alan reported he had sighted a dry river bed and would land there, which he did, safely.

 

• PNG: “Sitting on logs in open air communion service.  Coke can sometimes used as a chalice.”

 

• One of the most memorable experiences from Ghana was unfortunately a frightening one, when one of their fellow missionaries was robbed and shot.  He nearly died of his injuries before Dick could convince KLM airlines to provide transportation to the U.S. for treatment.  By the grace of God he did survive.

 

• Dick, speaking of their continued desire to serve abroad: “Once you’ve done cross-cultural work, it gets into your blood.”

 

• Beth on the experience as a whole: “Besides doing the Lord’s work to which we were called, all the travels were very interesting, and we got to see a lot of the world.”