The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

Eddie doesn't know about this, so no one tell him!!!! Not that he reads emails or anything anyway..........

Ashley found an old reel-to-reel at Eddie's mom's house a couple years ago and took it, but had never done anything with it until now. She figured it was from Africa, but didn't have a clue what was on it. She finally took it to a place that converted it to a 28 minute DVD. I told her not to expect to see her late grandpa, because he probably was the one who actually was filming.

Well, she got it back and called me SO excited. The very first part is Eddie and his dad playing in the ocean when Eddie was about 7. There is a lot of footage of the family, where evidently Bro. Cupples had a tripod set up. There is a lot of the natives and some church footage. (Some half naked women, but that's the jungle for ya!!). There is also film of them standing at a dock waiting for a ship to come in with another missionary lady on it. Of course there's no sound, so Ashley didn't know who it was, but I'm sure Eddie & his mom will.

Ashley is getting one made for Eddie, his sister and his mom. I think they will be so excited about this; it's the only movie footage they have that they can actually watch. Everything else is on ancient old reels. Now it makes me want to take all of them and get them done, but it's $90 just for one!

I think it will even bring some closure for the family. I can't wait to see it!!!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

Is he the emotional type, I imagine that this will be some real tears, even for the strongest manly male. I can't wait to hear his response to it. What a gift!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

You know, the older he gets, the more emotional he gets about his dad. He's older now than his dad was when he passed away, even though at the time he thought his dad was ancient.

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

Sherri!!!!

That will be awesome! What a gift!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

That IS a nice gift!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

Wow! Sherri I can not imagine the impact this will have on Eddie-

I am sitting here crying myself, especially when I read the part of Eddie and his dad playing in the ocean.

You have to tell us how he reach to this-I know everyone will probably be crying too!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

I can't even think about it without crying, but then I cried at Mickey Mouse's Christmas too. LOL! I'm a cry baby!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

This will mean so much to Eddie!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

What a very special gift!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

How absolutely wonderful. God is so good. This will be an awesome Christmas for your family.

I've heard so many stories of Bro. Cupples from Sis. Freeman. He was such a great man of God.

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

Yeah, I wish I could have known him. I've never heard anything negative about him.

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

That is tremendous!

Memories are priceless!!

We have a bunch of slides that we need to get made into pictures!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

That is so precious Sherri...what a gift from God for your family. Our family loves you all.

I can imagine there will be lots of tears...
What were the years he worked in Africa?

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

Awesome! :thumbsup

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

A great gift- I think as we get older, we realize how precious those years with our parents are- What a wonderful gift to give his family. Let us know how they respond.

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

ok, Sherri, nobody here can top that gift! Ashley gets the prize. WOW!! WOW!!! WOW!!!

I know for sure that I would be in major tears. I can't imagine that Eddie won't. I'd be willing to bet on it that he'll be snottin' all over the place :santathumb

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

I think they went the first time to Liberia in 1955. Eddie was born in 1959 during their second term. They stayed until 1966 and then returned to Tennessee. He pastored here until 1973 and then went to Kenya, and he died in 1974, if I have all my numbers right! In Liberia, they were 135 miles back in the jungle; in Kenya they were in Nairobi in the city, so it was quite different.

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

BUMP for TStew!!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

That is incredible. I'll have to get you all some new footage as well.
I may have top trade DVDs with you :). Your footage may be some of the oldest of the works and people in Liberia. So much got destroyed during the war. I'm sure they would be able to identify those in the vids. Some of the younger ones may even be some of the leaders today.

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

I'll get you a copy made if you'll PM me your address. We can copy them here at church on our machine.

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

Well, we watched the DVD yesterday at my MIL's after opening gifts. It was SO exciting! You know....no one cried at all! But they were all so excited pointing out the places and all the people from 40+ years ago. Eddie was just 7 years old when he left there, but he recognized the villages of Fassama, Bomi Hills (where he was born), Monrovia, and Bella Yella as soon as he saw them. He also could point out their house, Sis. Gruse's house, the church, the laundry room, and the mission school.

They found Sis. Gruse and Sis. Lund - two other missionaries, as well as the Assemblies of God missionaries who were visiting them. They saw their "house girls" and the school teacher, and a couple getting married at the church. There was film of the Africans beating the husks off the rice, and of them beating the palm nuts to get oil. I'm sure TStew can relate to all of this!!

There was a huge parade in Monrovia because queen Elizabeth was there. She was making a tour of Africa, and was stopping in Liberia, so they flew their little plane in to be able to see her.

After that, we went back and dug through an old closet. Eddie was looking for an old Farrah Fawcet rug that he had when we got married and Zac wanted to see it. Well, we never found the rug, but we found an old briefcase of his dads and it had a Mickey Mouse wallet of Eddie's in it, as well as something he had made for his dad out of a bar of soap. It also had his dad's wallet, his passport, all of their PIM information, and letters from people in the states. There were also pictures from the wreck, which was horrendous! I don't know how Bro. Freeman survived, seeing where he was sitting. There was even a picture of him in the hospital!

It was very hard for my MIL to see those pictures of the car. She had not seen them since the funeral in 1973. Anyway, it was an emotional day, and we got to bring the briefcase home with us to go through it later and read all the stuff. I felt like I was holding a case of Pentecostal history!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

Oh Sherri, that is so neat!

That will mean a lot to Eddie to be able to have the briefcase and read things of his dad's.

Best gift of all times!!!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

I cried....just reading what you wrote ....so glad you did that. Wonder if Eddie remembers a lady called Geneva Bailey? It may have been before or after his time there. What a rich history he has!

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

What a wonderful treasure!

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She was the missionary who died right before Eddie's family went there, if I remember right. I've read about her in a book about UPC missionaries of the past.

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

Thanks for sharing about this. My dad has talked about getting some old reel-to-reels of his digitized, and I think I'll encourage him in this, before he loses more of his eyesight and can't see them at all.

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

Sherri. That is so neat and such a great piece of history. I'll soon have some pics and vids to forward on to you.

Re: The Coolest Gift - but it's a secret
 

Well, I will soon have a copy of this DVD to send to you. :santathumb