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Dearest Folks

Letters home from a missionary wife and mother

by Margaret Watts

In 1956, Sydney nurse Margaret Watts and her husband Horrie set out on the adventure of a lifetime: mission service in Vanuatu (then the New Hebrides), followed by further years serving on the island of Bougainville in the then-Territory of New Guinea.

In these letters (1956-1966), sent home to family in Australia, Margaret gives a thorough account of daily life working as a missionary nurse in remote areas of the Pacific.

"If I had tried to tell the story of our mission experience by relying on memory, so much would have been lost. These letters are from the heart of a daughter, sister and friend."

Contents:

  • Prologue
  • Dear Reader,
  • The New Hebrides
  • A time of milestones and change
  • Bougainville —1960 to 1962
  • May, 1960
  • June, 1960
  • January, 1961
  • Another baby and a welcome visit
  • October, 1962
  • Family tragedy and furlough
  • Bougainville —1964
  • May, 1964
  • August, 1964
  • October, 1964
  • November, 1964
  • December, 1964
  • Bougainville —1965
  • January, 1965
  • February, 1965
  • March, 1965
  • April, 1965
  • May, 1965
  • June, 1965
  • July, 1965
  • August, 1965
  • September, 1965
  • October, 1965
  • November, 1965
  • December, 1965
  • Bougainville —1966
  • January, 1966
  • February, 1966
  • March, 1966
  • April, 1966
  • May, 1966
  • June, 1966
  • July, 1966
  • August, 1966
  • September, 1966
  • October, 1966
  • Farewell
  • Glossary
  • the South Pacific, 1960s
  • Bougainville, 1960s
$24.95

Publisher: Signs Publishing

ISBN: 9781925044515

Format: Paperback

STATUS: AVAILABLE TO ORDER (item is either in stock or quickly/soon obtainable from supplier)

Pages: 304

Reviews and Endorsements

[Endorsement]
"This is a remarkable book about a remarkable couple. While including the frustrations and loneliness, this book is redolent with the adventures and joys of being given the opportunity to serve as missionaries for Christ. This book is a 'must Read' for anyone who seeks a glimpse of what real missionaries have done" - Dr John Hammond, retired missionary and educator.
[ Bookshelf Review ]
Living in the Pacific islands as a missionary wife today is far different to what it was 50 years ago. The stories of the wives of those adventurous men continue to inspire and encourage me, despite the few inconveniences I might experience. As such, the letters collected in Dearest Folks touch my emotions deeply. I am profoundly impressed by author Margaret Watts’ tenacity and courage.
These letters were written by hand or tapped out on a typewriter, then often took weeks to get to her loved ones at home in Australia. They could not know what was happening or how her heart was hurting, frightened or sad because of a sick child with no medical help nearby or when a cyclone hit or a tidal wave threatened to engulf her home and clinic.
They found out only much later about her panic when her baby almost drowned or about the loneliness she experienced when her husband Horrie was away in that small mission ship yet again.
Even when Horrie was home, Marg would frequently dart between the clinic where an emergency demanded her attention and the lunch table where visitors and children needed a meal. But still she took time to write these regular letters and her descriptions of the exquisite island places she visited are all well known to me—I could feel the warm sea, see the swaying coconut palms and the brightly coloured fish.
Margaret wanted to honour the many missionary wives who have faithfully gone to often lonely and isolated places where they faced the unknown. Along with Margaret, I honour those women and hope that many more stories will be recorded to tell the other side of the missionary’s life that has often been neglected. For me, Dearest Folks is an inspiration, as well as an insight into one woman’s mission life. I finished reading it with tears in my eyes and heart—then wanted to read it again.
—Joy Butler, missionary wife, Papua New Guinea

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