Elmer Lehman - One Step at a Time: Our Missionary Pilgrimage

N ot for us, but for Him.

That sums up the heart of Elmer and Eileen Lehmans missionary pilgrimage. You could say this phrase represents the story of their lives. With much prayer and a little persuasion, they decided to pen this journey so that the calling on their lives might encourage others to know that God is faithful to those who obey the call. The call is not always convenient, and true servants never feel qualified. God has a way of calling His people into responsibilities far too great for them, but never too great for Him.

Elmer dropped out of high school after his sophomore year to help out on his familys dairy farm. Eileen, as a farm girl, enjoyed her studies and was encouraged by her mother to pursue a teaching career in elementary education. She interrupted this career once she married Elmer in 1953 and they settled down in a mobile home on his fathers dairy farm.

God does not wait for His people to get a degree or a title behind their name to do the one thing required of us, and that is to hear and follow His plan for our lives. As we pray and seek the Lord, step by step and day by day, opportunity after opportunity comes. So, for more than 60 years, that is what they have done. Prayed and sought. Sought and prayed.

Elmer and Eileens prayer was that with the telling of this journey, a young missionary family might be encouraged. A seasoned believer might be ready to respond to that God-given call, forsaking the mere pursuit of worldly possessions, taking up their cross and following Christ. They pray other fellow missionaries will be spurred to share their testimonies as well.

There is truly nothing new under the sun and while someone reading this may be seeking Gods plan for his or her life, Elmer and Eileen hope that you know they can relate. They want to encourage you to pray until you hear from God and do not doubt what He tells you to do. Trust in your ability to hear the voice of the Lord through the working of the Holy Spirit.

They want to leave you with the scripture that meant so much to them as they began their journey, carrying them through the more than 60 years of their marriage, and all of their missionary journeys: from northern New York State to Puerto Rico; back to the states for study in Harrisonburg, Virginia; from there to Costa Rica; and back to America to Rosedale and Hilliard, Ohio.

You are my portion, O Lord; I have promised to obey your words. Psalm 119:57.

April Barker

Founder and CEO of Dream Builder for Empire of Dreams, LLC

M y parents were married in 1923 and the next year my father purchased the home farm from his father. This was in northern New York State where dairy cows provided the major source of income. Dad and Mom raised eight children. After two sons, they had a daughter, but she only lived 2 months. Then they had a third son, followed by another daughter. I was next as child number five, and I sometimes wondered if this was a disappointment to them to now have four sons but only one daughter. But, God was good to them. The final children were all three daughters, so our parents raised four sons and four daughters. All of us were approximately two years apart in age.

They named me Elmer Junior, and I grew up being called Junior. When I became a young man, my wife-to-be was able to get people to call me Elmer. I was born on June 28, 1931, which was right in the middle of what was known as the Great Depression. It was a difficult time financially, but I never heard my parents complain about their large family. You could say that we were poor, but we did not know it; so we were happy.

There were always plenty of jobs for children to do on the farm, and we were a hard-working family. The farm developed into what, at that time, was a large operation with about fifty milk cows, plus another twenty heifers and calves, plus two teams of workhorses. When the time came to start school, we walked three quarters of a mile to the local elementary one room school. There was one teacher for approximately 25 students in grades one to six. There was no kindergarten. After first grade, there was a teacher change and I had the same teacher for the next five years. A music teacher came around one day a week, and she taught me to love to sing. I sang alto, and on one occasion, I was really putting my all into it, and soon the entire class was singing alto with me.

That walk to and from school through the northern New York winters was often made with cold feet, but it seemed the normal thing to do at the time. After sixth grade, we transferred to the local high school where grades seven to twelve were taught. We continued to walk to and from the local elementary school, where we traveled by bus to the high school. Eventually, the bus routes were changed and we boarded the bus in front of our house. But, we were some of the first ones to board the bus in the morning, so even that could be a cold ride until the bus gradually warmed up.

The school arrangement was now much different, as we had a homeroom teacher and a different teacher for each class. There were about 25 students in the class. Several of them were my peers at church as well. Our family was not involved in any after-school sports, but went directly home on the bus and quickly changed into work clothes to help out on the farm.