“Just a word or two about Durwin’s wife, Canda, before I go on,” continued Collin. “Canda was made up of similar characteristics as Durwin to a large extent; she too was a warm, open, friendly type of person; an honest to goodness, down to earth friend to all who accepted her friendship.
“Durwin and Canda were a well matched pair who got along well throughout their many years of marriage. Their major difference was that Durwin was a more reserved person to a degree, at least more so than Canda. Durwin had been very shy and lacking in self-esteem in his younger years and teens. But he conquered it adequately in his twenties. After thirty, as I indicated before, there was no place or people that Durwin would hesitate to go or take his place with in private or public. However, he preferred to remain himself, naturally low-keyed, rather than be the exuberant type; one would say he was calm, cool and collected under most circumstances.
“Canda, on the other hand was very extroverted and outgoing, the leading conversationalist in a group, often the initiator of new and challenging ideas and projects, the spirited venturer with usually sound ideas. Durwin on the other hand, was more cautious and had always been the epitome of diplomacy and tact, skillfully endeavoring to go about things in a manner that would not offend or disturb. You may have often heard it said, as I have, that every reserved or quiet person needs an extrovert as a partner, and vice versa. Durwin and Canda complimented each other near perfectly in that manner. Most people appreciated that about them, but not all.
“I wish to emphasize again, they were both very highly intelligent, and the majority of people appreciated that, but not all, as you shall see. They were both fine people and well rounded personalities. And I would add to that, because the majority of people liked them for all that they were, one would think the world was at their doorstep. But not so, as you members of this group can well surmise because of your own experiences in life.”
Collin knew his friend Durwin Lawton quite well, had a full knowledge of his ministry and keen insight into its problems and what it did for and to, mostly to, Durwin. With the group members listening very attentively he continued with another significant preliminary to the story of Durwin and Canda Lawton as Durwin was a pastor in Terraprima.
“During his several years as a minister in both Secundaterra and Lower Secundaterra, Durwin had more than his share of troubles with belittlers in the church and elsewhere, as you in this group can well imagine. We need not go into the details of these ministries and difficulties here because I wish to get on with the story of his ministry in Terraprima. Just one more thought before I do.
“The Lawtons had travelled much in Terraprima over the years. They had come to know the land and its people somewhat, although visiting a place is not the same as living in it, as they were to later find out. When you visit a place, people show their best side for you. When you live there you get drawn into the nitty-gritty of life and see its other side.
“During the sixties and seventies, when its society was in a turmoil, Durwin and Canda still visited Terraprima often. Many of their colleagues and acquaintances in both Secundaterra and Lower Secundaterra derided them heavily for their favoritism of Terraprima, and said it was on the way to self-destruction.
“In the Secundaterras at that time, and even on into the eighties, both government and church derided Terraprima and established policies that would prevent Terraprima culture from overwhelming the Secundaterras, thus allowing them to develop their own distinct cultures. It was extremely unpopular for anyone to speak favorably of Terraprima. Yet Durwin and Canda did so. They insisted that, in time, Terraprima would pull itself together again and become the promising land it had always been.
“The friendly people allowed them their opinion whether they agreed with it or not. The belittlers used it as a means to degrade them. ‘How shameful, how stupid, how utterly wrong,’ they would say, ‘to stand up for a nation so deeply enmeshed in chaos and corruption, decline and decay!’ Durwin and Canda always stood their ground and insisted that Terraprima was basically a good land and would eventually wend its way to a higher plateau. It would once again have life on a higher plane than ever before.
“Some years later, there were indications on the horizon that the Lawton’s predictions of the renewal of Terraprima were evident. It was around that time Durwin secured a position as minister of a church in that land, as I mentioned last week in conjunction with their immigration problem. Before he entered into negotiations for it, he discussed it with a friend in Terraprima who somewhat understood Durwin’s predicament with belittlers. Durwin inquired of his friend and was given the opinion that in no way would officials place him in a situation where a fine person like him would be mentally mutilated for what he was. The friend felt sure they would place him where he would be among people of his type. The friend’s opinion was influenced by the fact that his area of the church was under sound leadership at the time.
“In addition to this, Durwin was very careful in his interviews and negotiations for the position, being careful at his age at the time to insure that he would have continuing membership in a pension plan, guarantee of employment, and access to disability benefits as did the long-time ministers of the denomination. He was offered a good salary, not quite as much as he had been making in Secundaterra, but adequate to enable his pension in Terraprima to be built up to a satisfactory level.
“He was also told at the time that he would be given standing in the denomination that guaranteed him employment until retirement. He would not have moved there were it otherwise. To risk being out of a job when he was too old to get anything else worthwhile, or, to jeopardize his pension at that age would not have been acceptable to Durwin. He was pleased with the good deal he was offered and accepted it. It would give him an opportunity to live in the land where individual initiative, ingenuity, and hard work would be welcomed, so he thought. He was in for the shock of his life a little later on.
“The church to which Durwin went in Terraprima was located in a small suburban city. The church buildings were of white clap-board siding with a tall white steeple rising high over a large segment of the city. The city itself was built on a very flat plain that was filled with older type houses, also mainly of clean white paint appearance. The adequate lots around these homes were well studded with large trees, oak and maple, and beautiful shrubbery. The newer parts of the city, further from the center, had more modern type houses of many different colors, but equally nice in appearance.
“The church was set back a hundred feet or so from the street, as was the minister’s residence beside it. Both church buildings were notably in need of paint. The grounds around the church were not impressive. It was obvious they had been well planted at one time, as there were trees and shrubs in the right places, but they were not well kept. The shrubs were growing wild. The lawn had bare spots and looked badly in need of nutrition all over. The church-owned heavily treed vacant lot beside the church had grown wild, with no pruning, or clearing of underbrush. The church property on the whole was not by any means one of the nicer places of the community as Durwin thought it should be.
“Durwin decided at the start that he would try to do something about that as soon as possible. It would be one item of his infrastructure for church growth-to have the church buildings and grounds first class instead of among the shabbiest in the community. He could visualize a renewed church exterior standing tall over the already beautiful community, making it an imposing and impressive delight to the eye. He would try to bring it about. It needn’t take much money to do so. The Lawtons were always very thrifty and innovative in ways that would get things accomplished with a minimum amount of spending.
“The church interior was a practical type of building for its purpose. It had a medium sized sanctuary-medium size in comparison to the general size of churches in the area, a fellowship hall, several classrooms, and a good size office. It was noticeable that the sanctuary interior had very good appearance, having had work done on it recently. Durwin was to learn that there was an interior decorator in the congregation who had headed up some work on it. She had done an excellent job. There were other improvements that could be made, but for the time being it was quite satisfactory. The remainder of the church rooms, although not worked on in recent years, were in good enough condition.
“The