Brother Knorr was to give his public address on Sunday morning at ten o’clock. The talk was well advertised by the 18 congregation publishers and one missionary then living in Rangoon.

MORE AID FROM GILEAD

On July 4, 1947, the brothers assembled at the jetty to welcome Norman H. Barber, the second missionary to arrive in Burma. What a delightful surprise to see two brothers disembark instead of one! The unexpected arrival was an old associate. At Singapore, Brother Barber had met Frank Dewar, who had decided to accompany him to Burma.

At that time, Burma was seeking independence from Britain. After much negotiation, she became independent on January 4, 1948, at 4 a.m. Would this particularly affect our work? It did not, for the Burmese government promised freedom of worship.

Two more Gilead graduates, Brothers R. W. Richards and H. A. Smedstad, arrived on January 15, 1948, just 11 days after Burma had attained independence. As they landed, the immigration officers asked: “Where are your visas?” “We have no visas,” was the answer. The brothers explained that they had left Canada (a self-governing dominion of the British Commonwealth of Nations) in November 1947, when Burma was part of the British Empire, and they had expected to arrive in this country before it became independent; so no visas were called for. However, the officers were unimpressed. Their country now was independent. “How can you enter Burma without a visa?” they insisted. After long deliberation, one of the officers relented. How relieved the new missionaries were! With that problem resolved, they were taken to the recently rented missionary home at 39 Signal Pagoda Road, Rangoon.

The missionaries were pleasantly surprised to find that the Burmese generally were approachable, friendly and hospitable. Even when a stranger called at their homes, often he was served tea and cake and made to feel welcome.

Speaking of food, the Burmese dread the odor from frying food, particularly when there is a sick person in the house. They claim that this odor can cause the death of an individual having any kind of sore and also that of a newborn baby and its mother. Fearing this, they close doors and windows, then cover the “odor allergic” person with a thick blanket, even in the hot summertime, till the odor has passed away. This is the reason why a Burmese housewife, when about to fry something in her own home, will loudly warn her neighbors.

The missionaries were unaware of this Burmese viewpoint. So, one day when they were frying something for their lunch, the Burmese lady who lived upstairs came down and angrily exclaimed: “Now look here! If you want to fry anything, tell us first and do it on the pavement. Do you hear?” The confused missionaries could not understand this until the local brothers explained the matter to them. Well, Brother Barber was frying fish out on the pavement one day, when, to his surprise, a number of children gathered around him with money in their hands. They were waiting patiently to buy the fish. It is common to see men frying and selling eatables on the pavements here in Burma.