Surprising End of a Mission Trip
Another Twist of the Kaleidoscope
From Daycare to Graduate School
Full Throttle Down Memory Lane
Afterword by Dr. Allen Benjamin Bedford
“He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”
Zechariah 9:10, NIV
Shellbacks and Pollywogs
Nancy’s eyes grew wide and she clapped her hands in excitement as the waiter set the cake with two glowing candles on the table and her one hundred and twenty fellow passengers broke into a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday.” Every night for the remainder of the voyage she expectantly awaited a repeat performance.
Sailing from New Orleans to Buenos Aires was sheer luxury for the entire Bedford family: three whole weeks of rest and relaxation. For Ben, the gangplank onto the ship was a release from his indentured servitude to higher education (two years crammed with classes, dissertation and oral examinations to earn his doctorate in theology), although he was still bound by one paper chain—he boarded with a sheaf of finals to be returned to the professor for whom he had been grading. For La Nell, it was literally a chance to catch her breath after having a lung collapse during a bout of double pneumonia brought on by the stress of keeping the family going while Ben studied, typing his endless papers and dissertation, seeing her teenage son through painful knee surgery and, most of all, dealing with the death of her only sister. The graded papers and mandatory medical reports would be mailed from the first port of call. They were taking no chances on delaying their return to the mission field.
The month of pampering after their breakneck pace and the penny pinching required by nearly half a year off salary was simply delightful. There was no housework, no cooking and no errands to run. Their spacious cabin was kept in order by a steward whose performance rose from merely perfunctory to devotedly assiduous as the end of the voyage and the hope of a good tip approached, while delicious meals were served at their assigned table in the dining room by a charming and efficient waiter, except for the days when abundant and delectable buffet lunches were offered in the lounge. Trays with tempting delicacies were passed around in the afternoon to bridge the gap until dinner.
They were traveling on the S.S. Del Sud, one of Delta Line’s “Del Triplets” (Del Norte, Del Sud and Del Mar) that carried passengers and cargo between New Orleans and eastern South America. The vessels were 495 feet long and 70 feet wide, capable of traveling at 17 knots and accommodating 120 passengers and 367 crew members. Built some fifteen years earlier, in the late 1940s, they were the last word in comfort for the time. Their distinctive appearance included tall twin smoke uptakes just behind a squat dummy funnel that housed two decks of officers’ quarters, the radio room and the emergency generator. The forward superstructure was almost circular, giving a wedge shape to many of the staterooms, all located on the outside and equipped with private facilities and air conditioning. Each ship had a Grand Lounge, library, deck café and domed dining room as well as a large salt-water swimming pool on a spacious deck.