Sunday, June 29, 2008

1904 and a Premature Russian Invasion

The hard times in Queensland caused Dad’s two brothers, Harry and Frank, to migrate to New Zealand, from whence they sent back such favourable reports that Dad decided to follow them, which he did at the end of 1904. Just about this time there had been a great Russian scare in Australia, it being feared that an invasion was imminent. A Chinese market gardener used to hawk his products in our area in a couple of baskets swinging from a cane which he carried on one shoulder. We were always delighted to see his baskets bobbing up and down as he trotted along the street. He took a fancy to Arthur and me as he always got a good reception at our place and reciprocated at Christmas time by presenting us with a packet of crackers each. Since Mother thought that we were too young to appreciate such things, she put them away till we should be older. It was a Thursday afternoon and Dad was making a clearance preparatory to packing up, when he came across the four packets of crackers. In his opinion at least we were now old enough to enjoy some fireworks, so he planned something really worthwhile. In order to assure the maximum effect he placed them in a four gallon kerosene tin, tied the fuses together and applied a match . He had no sooner retreated into the house that the cannonade commenced. The din was terrific and in a trice threw the quiet street into confusion. The general impression was that the Russians had landed and taken the town by surprise. A horse broke out of his stable across the street and came prancing down to the front gate. The dog next door broke his chain and, dragging it behind him bolted from his kennel as if he had seen the devil himself. The neighbour's white cockatoo went out of its mind and set up a terrific sqwark as he endeavoured vainly to break its chain. The fowls escaped from their pen and went tearing about in all directions and pandemonium reigned as long as the cannonade lasted. The neighbours came rushing out of their houses to discover the cause of the commotion but it was nowhere to be seen. Not having foreseen such a rumpas Dad deemed discretion to be the better part of valour , and he discreetly kept out of sight, contenting himself with peering through the curtains at the commotion in the street.

Queensland Childhood Memories

At the commencement of this century times were hard in Queensland. A severe depression had hit the country accompanied by a prolonged drought which extended over a period of seven years. Water was so scarce that had to buy our household supply and be careful not to waste it. Mother taught us when saying our prayers to tack on a petition for rain, which we duly did. Then suddenly the drought broke. It was a Thursday afternoon shortly after lunch. Thursday afternoon was special to us because Dad did not have to go back to work on account of the mid-week half holiday. Black clouds had gathered overhead, the lightening flashed and loud peals of thunder rent the air. Then with a deafening roar the storm burst upon us. The din of the rain on the corrugated roof was deafening. We stood on the covered porch between the kitchen and the living room and watched the deluge. Great drops of rain splashed into the puddles which quickly formed and in a matter of minutes the back yard was flooded. I was terrified for I had never seen anything like it before. Mother did her best to comfort me and allay my fears by explaining that this was God’s answer to our prayers for rain. I remember thinking that He might at least have turned the tap on more gently.

With Dad at home we had some memorable Thursday afternoons. One that I shall never forget was when he made is a cart. He worked in a wholesale grocer at the time so was able to help himself to discarded crates and cases. His tools were limited, however for he had only an axe, a saw, a hammer and a poker. He made the wheels from the hardwood of the boxes in which plug tobacco was packed. He marked out the circles with a dinner plate and formed the wheels with the aid of the saw. The holes were made for the axles by the use of the red hot poker. Arthur and I stood by watching as the wonderful cart took shape and when it was finished, weren’t we proud of it!!

Our next acquisition was rather more elaborate. It was a rocking chair, the sides of which were dapple grey horses in full gallop. My uncle Herbert was a coach builder and painter and so had access to all the tools of the trade. In our eyes this contraption was a masterpiece, and nothing could have delighted us more. We kept it on the front verandah and could be depended on to rock it at length as we made our imaginary journeys to Gladstone to see a certain Miss Nellie Gilmore, who was destined to be my aunty.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Interview with Dr Herbert Money (7)

Emilio Castro, Chairman of the recent Conference held in Melbourne is represented as the spokesmen for Liberation Theology in Latin America. To what extent does he represent the evangelical movement in the continent?

Emilio Castro is the authentic spokesman for Liberation Theology in Latin America but he certainly does not represent the evangelical movement as a whole. It may be true to say that he speaks for the main line denominations but these constitute an insignificant minority. He may even speak for a few nominal evangelicals but those who read and study the Scriptures for themselves know that Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. Those who know the voice of the true Shepherd do not pay attention to other voices and this is the strength of the evangelical movement in South America.

(Final question and answer in this interview)

Interview with Dr Herbert Money (6)

To what Extent has Liberation Theology affected the evangelical movement in Latin America?

While the great majority of evangelicals reject Liberation Theologyas anti-Biblical and do not wish to see the evangelical churches hitched up to any political chariot whatever, they are certainly not unmindful of the social implications of the Gospel. However there is a definite polarization taking place in Latin America. The Evangelical Seminary of San Jose de Costa Rica, which was originally Biblically based, has changed its stance by admitting to its staff teachers sympathetic to Liberation Theology. This change is serious threat to the Biblical solidarity of the evangelical community, owing to the prestige enjoyed by this institution as a bastion of Biblical truth. The offer by agencies of the WCC of subventions to libraries of Bible Institutes and scholarships to their brightest students for further study in liberal seminaries and colleges in the States, prove very tempting. I think however , that it is fair to say that up to the present the WCC has been disappointed at the slight progress it has made in ushering the evangelical movement into its fold.

Interview with Dr Herbert Money (5)

It would appear that you are of the opinion that Liberation Theology is strongly influenced by Marxist Theology. Is this so?

Yes, that is so. The official organ of Church and Society in Latin America is “Christianismo y Sociedad”, in its issue No 13 of 1966 bears this out. This publication which is octavo in size and about ¼” thick makes no mention of any Bible basis for its doctrine and does not mention God or Christ but quotes Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Marx as its authorities. Che Guevarra is quoted as advocating Agrarian Reform by violence, condemned all United States aid to Latin America is pernicious and had nothing but praise for Cuba and Russia. This is characteristic of WCC sponsored agencies in Latin America.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Interview with Dr Herbert Money (4)

Could you outline your experience with the advocates of Liberation Theology in South America?

As Secretary of the National Evangelical Council of Peru I read all the news releases of the Information Service of the WCC and took note of the development of its revolutionary theology. I also kept myself informed of the activities of the Student Christian Movement, Church and Society, and the Committee for Evangelical Laity in Latin America. By 1966 it was abundantly clear that these bodies were decidedly leftist in tendency and their ideology fundamentally different from what the National Evangelical Council represented. I therefore kept a file of all this information and at the Annual Assembly of the Council in January 1966 presented a report on the Communistic infiltration in the Evangelical movement of Latin America. This caused quite a stir and met with a hostile reception from the Methodists. However with the single contrary vote of this body it was decided to pursue the matter further and appoint a committee to investigate the charges. At the following Assembly these were amply sustained and the situation found to have grown worse in the meantime.

At the same assembly in 1967 the council was invited to send a delegate to take part in the arrangements for the Third Latin American Evangelical Conference. I was unanimously elected to represent Peru at this meeting, which was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Chairman was Emilio Castro, coordinator of the Committee for Evangelical Unity. He outlined the programme, which was to be focused on social action, his slogan being “Doctrine divides, Social Action unites”. I immediately challenged this and was amply supported by the Chileans and Brazilians. When it became evident that the representative bodies of these countries were not prepared to follow the WCC line, the Committee for Unity did nothing but hinder plans for a genuinely evangelical conference. The final upshot was the Castro’s committee held a relatively small conference in Buenos Aires while the Conference on Evangelism held in Bogata later the same year drew three times as many delegates. It is alleged that the Bogata conference was the result of North American engineering. In part this is true but it was the result of a definite appeal from Latin America. As for the WCC engineered conference in Buenos Aires, the WCC butted in without any invitation from Latin America and gratuitously thrust itself upon the evangelical movement through the intermediary of the Committee for Evangelical Unity which it had itself spawned. It was through the National Evangelical Council of Peru that the National Association of Evangelicals was appealed to and I personally carried the request to the States.

I should add that in the mid 60’s Peru was subjected to guerrilla attacks under the leadership of Che Guevara and with the tacit approval of “Church and Society”. Much bloodshed and damage resulted till the movement was eventually put down by the armed forces. As for the Indians on whose behalf the invasion was launched, they failed to rally around the banner of their pretended “liberator”.

Interview With Dr Herbert Money (3)

You mentioned the Evangelical Union of South America. Does this represent the whole evangelical movement in Latin America?

No. The EUSA as it is popularly called in Latin America is not a union of evangelicals as a whole but refers only to a mission of that name. During the last decade of last century and the first of this one, the Regions Beyond Missionary Union began work in several countries of South America including Peru. However in 1912 this mission withdrew from the continent and the Evangelical Union of South America was organised to take over and develop the work thus started. The EUSA has been the parent body of the Iglesia Evangelica Peruana, the Peruvian Evangelical Church, which is the principal indigenous evangelical church in the Republic and of which I was an elder.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Interview with Dr Herbert Money (2)

In what shape did you find the evangelical movement upon your arrival in Peru and what significant changes have you witnessed in the attitude of the Western World towards missionary work in Latin America?

When I arrived in Peru in 1927 the evangelical cause was only 36 years old and many of the earliest converts and workers were still active. Prior to my arrival comity arrangements had been arrived at whereby the Evangelical Union of South America occupied the southern part of Peru, the Methodist Episcopal Church of America the central highland region, the Free Church of Scotland Cajamarca and the territory to the east, and the Church of the Nazarene and the Holiness Church of California the northern coastal region. The recently arrived Assemblies of God were allotted the Callejon de Huaylas which is a large valley between the Black Range and the White Range which includes the highest peak in Peru, Mt Huascaran, which is 22,200 feet high. The capital city of Lima was regarded as free for all.

As for the changes I have witnessed in the attitude of the countries of the Western world toward missionary work in Latin America I think the most notable would be the increasing liberalism in theology of the Methodists and Presbyterians of North America, the adoption by these churches of the recommendations of the Jerusalem International Missionary Conference of 1928, the proliferation of small denominational and faith missiones (sic) since that time, and finally the attempts of the World Council of Churches to infiltrate the evangelical churches, especially during the 60s.

Following the Jerusalem Conference of 1928, which was a victory for Humanism, a commission of laymen visited the principal mission fields and published its findings and recommendations in a book entitled “Rethinking Missions”. Its principal recommendations were: 1) Emphasize the Social Gospel; 2) Remove Evangelism from Schools and Hospitals; 3) Recruit only liberal candidates; 4) Regard non-Christian religions as fellow seekers; and 5) Form one central Board of Foreign Missions in the U.S.A to ensure the carrying out of this policy.

In the missions which subscribed to this policy the result was stagnation. On the other hand the proliferation of conservative missions resulted in the spread of Biblical evangelism throughout the continent so that it would not be far wrong to estimate the present strength of his segment at 90% of the whole Protestant population.

Especially during the 60’s the WCC has endeavored to infiltrate these groups through agencies such as the Student Christian Movement, Church and Society and the Committee for Evangelical Unity in Latin America. These agencies have been welcomed by the mainstream denominations, which constitute an insignificant minority but so far they have made little headway among Biblical evangelicals.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Interview With Dr Herbert Money (1)

This interview, caught up in some of Dr Money's papers is undated and unsourced. Not good academic credentials if we are concerned about such things (which we are not right now) but an interesting insight into the heart of his work in Latin America and some of the missional issues of the day. I will post them up as a series.

Dr Money, although you were born in Australia you have spent many years in Latin America. How long were you there, in what capacity did you work and in which country?

I went to South America in 1927 and left in 1968, so that my period of service extended over 41 years.

I went to Peru as a teacher on the Anglo Peruvian College in Lima, a boys college which functions under the auspices of the Free Church of Scotland and is one of the most prestigious colleges in Peru. I was a full-time teacher there for 12 years and a part-time teacher till my retirement in 1968. From 1934 onwards I was a lecturer in the Peruvian Bible Institute and became General Secretary to the National Evangelical Council of Peru upon the formation of this body in 1940 and continued to serve in this capacity till my retirement. I also founded a Bible Institute for the lowland Indians of Peruvian Amazonia in 1957. This now functions under the auspices of the Swiss Indian Mission. I took part in the founding of the Lima Evangelical Seminary in 1962. I was Vice Rector and taught Church History and Systematic Theology. In 1968 I was decorated by the Peruvian Government and made a Knight Commander of the Order of Magisterial Palms for distinguished services to education. Although always based in Lima, I travelled extensively both in Peru and the rest of the continent.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Hand to the Plough

Herbert had a view that his work in Peru was perhaps preparation for his work in retirement! He certainly never slackened in his missionary endeavors.

"After Dr Money had visited us a few times in Palmerston and we had talked on various topics, one of them being Graham's parents in Christchurch, a few things fell into place for him. After hearing that Graham's mother was Gloria Best, he said "You know, I am sure I know your mother - I taught her in Christchurch when she was in a class of girls aged about 15 or 16." Then he added "And they all cried when I left!" Dr Money was then about 22 years old. We thought "Ha! we've got Nana now. She will never admit to crying because a teacher left school. How soft."

We could hardly wait to put the question "Did you happen to know a teacher by the name of Herbert Money?" "Herbert Money!" she replied. "Oh, he was lovely! He had brown wavy hair and he used to read us such wonderful stories." Dr Money said that he was worried about his "reading aloud" and he used this class on which to practise his reading skills.

In the providence of God, this relationship was used by Him over 50 years later to bring Nana to Himself. She had always been antagonistic to Christian things although raised in a God fearing and church going family.

When finally confined to bed because of terminal pancreatic cancer Herbert Money used to visit her every Tuesday and read the Scriptures and pray with her. There were other influences also happening at the same time but isn't it amazing how these contacts bear fruit so many years later?!

Dr Money rang Graham one day and said "Your Mother is a Christian now." We had prayed for Graham's parents for decades but, like Rhoda when she heard Peter at the door, we could hardly believe it was true. Graham went to Christchurch to visit his Mother (taking Rebecca who was 4). When he returned he said "The old girl has been converted alright!" The change in her was amazing. She was confined to bed for the rest of the year until she was taken Home but she became a calm, quiet, kind patient, dying peacefully at home and ministered to to the end by the faithful Herbert.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Background and Call to Peru

Death of Arthur and Education

The following year (1915) I went to work at five shillings a week at Turnbull and Jones, a firm of electrical engineers, and by 1916 was earning seven and sixpence a week. In 1917 I transferred to T.H.Green and Co., a firm of wholesale grocers. My brother, Arthur, who was fifteen months younger than I, had worked there until his death at the end of 1916 (see below) and it was on account of the excellence of his work that I was offered this position. In the meantime I was attending evening classes at the Technical College in preparation for the Matriculation Examination which I successfully passed in 1920. That year I was appointed probationer at the Christchurch East School. The following year I entered the Christchurch Teachers College and commenced my University studies, my major subject being Education. I graduated from Training College at the end of 1922 and completed my B.A. the following year, during which time I taught part time at the Technical College. Under Professor James Shelley, who was an inspiring teacher I won the distinction of being the first student in New Zealand to gain a Master’s Degree with First Class Honours in Education. That year I took the middle term off in order to write my thesis on “The Effect on Children of the Transition from Primary to Secondary School”. This proved to be a most profitable field of investigation, which continued to interest me during the whole of my teaching career.

Note: Christchurch Teachers College
The College began in 1877 as a department of the Christchurch Normal School. There were 31 students on the roll: 25 women and 6 men. In 1905 the teacher training section of the Normal School was redesignated as the Training College with its own Principal. Initially a pupil-teacher system of teacher training operated. Under this plan, which lasted until 1931, students between the ages of 13 and 16 were engaged as pupil-teachers.

Note: Extract from Christchurch Cemeteries Database
Surname: MONEY
First name(s): ARTHUR THOMAS
Date of death: Thursday, 28 December 1916
Cemetery: Linwood Cemetery
Date of burial: Saturday, 30 December 1916
Block number: 35
Plot number: 306
Age: 15 years
Address: 16 MERSEY STREET
Occupation: CLERK
Place of birth: QUEENSLAND
Years in New Zealand: 12
Comments: Died: Appendix abcess, toxaemia

Background and Call to Peru

I have a photograph, which I reassure very highly. It is of my father and mother on the occasion of their Golden Wedding. I think it is the best portrait ever taken of them because it captures an expression of the peace and joy that goes with godly living and which characterised them throughout their long life. They were devoted Christians, who to my knowledge never strayed from what they regarded as the right course on which they always maintained an even keel. Nothing seemed to daunt or discourage them. They instructed us well in the Scriptures, commended us to God in our daily, family devotions and set us the finest example of Christian living that parents could possibly offer their children. It was they who set my feet on the straight and narrow path and from my earliest years encouraged me by word and deed to follow in their footsteps. It was their ambition that I should be a missionary and to this end they fostered in me from childhood the determination to prepare for it by applying myself with all my might to whatever task was assigned me. This did not mean that life was by any means dull in our home. On the contrary they made it so interesting for us children that we could not imagine anything better than their companionship and way of living.

Both of them had been early settlers in Queensland, their parents having migrated from England while they were still quite young and having to battle against the elements when that state was still in its infancy. Their tales of the pioneering days always delighted us and my father especially could keep us enthralled with his adventures for as long as he cared to talk about them. How we wished we could have lived in those times too! Father must have sensed this longing, so he did the next best thing for us. He took us out on hikes and camping expeditions and taught us the art of fending for ourselves and making ourselves comfortable anywhere. My earliest recollection of a camping expedition was at the Queensland Coast near Bundaberg. I was scarcely four at the time. Dad borrowed a horse and cart from his mother who had a farm at a place called Barolin, just out of the town. He borrowed a tarpaulin, piled us and the camping equipment on board and headed for the coast where we pitched a camp with the tarpaulin stretched over the cart, covering the shafts and extending out on either side beyond the wheels. My brother, Arthur, and I slept between the shafts, mother and father occupied the space between the wheels and our provisions were stored in the covered space on either side of them. It was all very simple and primitive but we as boys could not imagine anything more delightful. It must have brought back memories to Dad too, for it was not far from this spot that his father met an untimely end endeavouring to save his only daughter from drowning in a water hole at a similar camp. That sad event is still commemorated by the place-name Money’s Creek, by which the place is still known to this day.

Note: Money's Creek lies on the coast on the outskirts of Bundaberg. You can move this map to around, and alter scale to get a perspective of where it lies. Barolin is now represented only by a suburban street in Bundaberg
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Sunday, April 13, 2008

Background and Call to Peru

Background and Call to Peru
(Milford Sound, 1926)

In January of 1926 I accompanied my father on a walking trip to Milford Sound. We travelled by train to Lumsden and thence by bus to Lake Te Anau. The following day we went by launch to Glade House at the northern end of the lake and from there commenced the walk through some of the most beautiful bush scenery in the whole world. The trek took two and half days. The first half day along the Clinton River brought us to the Pampolona Hut where we spent the night. Provisions were constantly being taken on pack animals and very good meals were prepared and served by the guides in charge of each party. The second day took us over the McKinnon Pass to the Quinton Hut near the Sutherland Falls. Heavy rain fell during the day and the party was well and truly drenched by the time this place was reached. However the scenery had been magnificent and made up for any slight discomfort. Our guide soon had a blazing fire going before which to dry our clothes and in a remarkable short space of time was serving up a hot meal. An easy walk next day brought us to the last hut and the Sound itself. The scenery there was truly magnificent but there was only one snag. It was the sandflies, which existed in Plague proportions. Sandfly repellent was unknown in those days. So we just had to put up with them and develop our own technique of rhythmically swotting our faces, necks and hands. During our stay at the Sound we took a launch trip out to the heads calling at all the principle points of interest on the way. A remarkable feature of this Sound is the precipitous nature of the mountain sides, which fall perpendicularly into the sea so that vessels of the greatest draught could literally tie up to the trees as if to a wharf.

It was during a walk with my father through a delightful beech forest on the Sunday afternoon that he asked me if I had forgotten my missionary call. My reply was that I certainly had not but up to that time had received no clear indication about that line. However when such a call should come, I was prepared to act on it immediately. That call was not long coming.
(Memoirs)
Note: Sutherland Falls

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Extract from Memoirs

I went to South America in 1927 and left in 1968, so that my period of service extended over 41 years.
I went to Peru as a teacher in the Anglo Peruvian College in Lima, a boys college, which functions under the auspices of the Free Church of Scotland and is one of the most prestigious colleges in Peru. I was a full-time teacher there for 12 years and a part time teacher till my retirement in 1968. From 1934 onwards I was a lecturer in the Peruvian Bible Institute and became General Secretary to the National Evangelical Council of Peru upon the formation of this body in 1940 and continued to serve in this capacity till my retirement. I also founded a Bible Institute for the Lowland Indians of Peruvian Amazonia in 1957. This now functions under the auspices of the Swiss Indian Mission. I took part in the founding of the Lima Evangelical Seminary in 1962. I was Vice Rector and taught Church History and Systematic Theology. In 1968 I was decorated by the Peruvian Government and made a Knight Commander of the Order of Magisterial Palms for Distinguished services to education. Although always based in Lima I traveled extensively both in Peru and the rest of the Continent. Memoirs (Interview)

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Flounders in the Catlins

My Dad tells the story of Herb, Gordon Mackie and himself going out spear fishing for flounders in the Catlins Estuary. It has always been a good spot to go floundering. The Estuary is a maze of splintering channels and old oxbows which stretch 2-3 km in each direction. Low tide, and night time is the best time for floundering. The channels are easily seen by moon light. However as the tide comes in, it is easy to become lost and stranded. This is what happened on this particular evening. My Dad said to Herb and Gordon that they would have to swim back to the car as he could not find the route back. At this point both Herb and Gordon declared that they were unable to swim!!

A solution was found whereby Herb and Gordon floated across the channel holding onto the rubber inner tube which supported the 12 volt battery used to power the underwater lights. Dad swam on ahead, started the car and turned on the headlights. All the men had stripped off and somehow carried their clothes above their heads. The description of "all shapes and sizes emerging from the water" is still told today. One has to appreciate the large frame of Herb contrasted to the somewhat skinny frame of Gordon to understand the description. You are probably best to get my Dad's version of this story Bruce. Anyway Herb must have been in his 70's then. I used to do a lot of floundering in my teens and early 20's but don't know that I would care for it much in my 40's. The water temp is 6-8 degrees Celsius. Steve

Cunning Mules

"I was just a young child in Peru when Dr Money visited the mission house at Cajamarca, [Google Earth 6°12'17.95"S 78°36'14.29"W] which is approximately 600km north of Lima. My parents James and Elizabeth Turnbull went to Peru in 1928 and remained there until 1937, serving the Evangelical Union of South America, known as EUSA. My father, an ordained minister and qualified to teach went to serve as a teacher and pastor/evangelist and my mother as a nurse/midwife. I was born in Peru and was 5 years old when we left in 1937.

I remember Dr Money as a very special and very very tall man. I liked him very much and his visits were full of laughter and teasing. My parents thought highly of Dr Money and there was much mutual sharing of their work and of their love for the Peruvian people.

My father went up country to visit Indian villages from time to time on horse or mule. On one occasion Dr Money accompanied my father. As they saddled up I was standing nearby. After placing the saddle in the animal Dr Money proceeded to tighten the girth strap. But mules are cunning animals and this one was seemingly unwilling to be involved in the hard work of carrying such a large man and so, as the strap was tightened he took a deep breath and expanded his body. As Dr Money mounted the mule it let out the air, the girth strap was no longer effective and the saddle slipped around the mule's body and Dr Money was deposited on the ground. No damage to Dr Money but much laughter and teasing." Margaret

Luna Park 1912

"I took Dr Money to Luna Park. It was some time in the 1980s so he was getting on. He had a choice of the scenic railway or the Spider. The railway was the roller coaster with the usual roller coaster excitement. The latter was a device that would violently fling us around the sky. When I offered to put him on the Scenic Railway he snorted a scoffed reply "I don't need to go on that thing. I rode on it in 1912 when the park opened!" We rode the Spider." Frank.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Driver

Reminiscing about Dr Money invariably turns to the fecundity of his humour - rich, loud, always just under the surface ready to break out. And he was a great lover of practical jokes. This in from Phillipa:

"Herb loved life and loved outings. His driving ability was marginal in 1986 but he was still driving in 1993. Herb had befriended an old blind lady by the name of Mavis, known to us as "Cousin Mavis." Herbert and Cousin Mavis were on an outing and in a car park somewhere when Herb accidentally reversed into another car and did considerable damage. Before the police arrived Herb suggested to Mavis that they swap seats so that when the police arrived they would question Mavis....the blind lady!"

Biography

Extract from the 1966 New Zealand Encyclopedia.

PERU
Money, Herbert

(1899– ).

Field director of the New Zealand Fellowship of Peruvian Bible Schools.

Herbert Money was born at Hughenden, Queensland, on 29 November 1899. He was educated at Christchurch Technical College and graduated M.A. from Canterbury Univ. College. He holds diplomas in education and social science and, in 1931, gained his Ph.D. in philosophy from San Marcos, Peru.

Money taught at Christchurch Technical College from 1923 to 1927 and at the Anglo-Peruvian College at Lima from 1927 to 1940. Since 1934 he has been lecturer at the Peruvian Bible Institute and, from 1940, has been secretary of the National Evangelical Council of Peru. In 1948 he became field director of the New Zealand Fellowship of Peruvian Bible Schools. He founded the first Bible Institute for Jungle Indians. Dr Money has written Procedimentos Parlamentarios — Peruvian Laws of Special Interest to the Evangelical Community.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Introducing Dr Herbert Money

Sometimes people touch and shape your life when you least expect it. And continue doing so even after they have gone. Dr “Herb” Money was one of those, pictured here in his MA gown in the 1920s. It is hard to know where to start with Dr Money. At the beginning probably makes most sense. Well, at my beginning that is. I met him in the early 1970s when he was 70 something. He was born in 1899. But there was nothing 70 about his disposition. He had the spirit of a teenage boy about him. The inquisitive. The “game for anything” approach to life. He was keen painter and I remember him sitting down with me at Akaroa one summer afternoon and walking through some oil painting techniques with me as he looked over my shoulder at my childish attempts. Then he pulled out his favourite sketching device - a square edged carpenters pencil - and rapidly sketched in the scene for his own later reference. He loved coming rabbit shooting with us although he never had a subtle approach to the hunt, stomping around and talking as we went. No one minded.

He was a big man. Over six feet with a shaggy mop of white hair. And a booming irrepressible laugh to match. When we moved to Australia and he would visit - often but never often enough - from his hometown of Christchurch he would slip into the family routine as if he was always there. We lived in Melbourne in those days and he would invariably come to the house via the markets or ensure he had visited there as soon as possible after arriving. He loved grapes and olives. Especially olives, and he would park his huge frame at the kitchen table from where he could immerse himself in the “to and fro” of family conversation and fuel himself from a tin of olives at the same time. They were always bought in bulk. A $5 case of grapes from Mildura was especially a treat.

Even as teenagers we were in awe of his forty years pioneering work from the 1920s through to the 1960s as a missionary in Peru where he made himself a name for his work in education - both building and reform. And for which the Peruvian government awarded him the highest education accolade they could - the Palmas Magisteriales. His intellect was always sharp and his memory and story telling of and from those days were something enthralling and bordering on the mythical. I count myself fortunate to have been able to listen to any number of lectures which he gave and even as an older man he was sharp and forthright and lucid and commanding.

He described himself as a “bad Baptist” in part because he held to some doctines loved of Calvin. Also in part because he liked the occasional drop of wine. Which he made himself in the garden shed. The code word cue to follow him and have a quiet tipple was anything that referred to “the Lord’s tender mercies”. After Nette (his wife) had finished serving up scones and tea it was “come on boys, let me show you some of the Lord’s tender mercies” and off he would stomp down to the shed. If it engaged in photosynthesis in some remote way Herb found a way of turning it into a wine.

I could ramble on in reflection but I won’t. He was large in my life as a young man and seems to loom larger and larger as the years slip by. He was an Everyman yet never was so at the expense of his faith and he lived a long, fruitful, modest and influential life. It sure is something to aspire to and a model I could do no better to emulate.

If you knew Dr Money in any way I would love you to introduce yourself and perhaps share some of your own insights into the character and person who is “Herb.”