EBuefiN cemezJUl\/

/ 3^ ̂

■ %

P. 0. 5« 1^1 " P't^4M^.

Sent SUu_ _ , June, 1985Bear Co-workers:

Greetings once again in Jesus* dear name! We arrived "back in the U.S.just about one year ago and this past year, althou,^ it has ha,d its minor problems, hasbeen one of the best we have ha.d for many years. Kost of our time has been spent invisiting our supporting churches and v;hat a joy that has been! v/e can never thank youenough for the gracious way in which you have received us! We wish v/e could thank eachperson personally who has been so good to us in these visits. It has been a joy to seeyour interest and concern for the v/ork of the Lord you have been helping us to do forthe past 25 years in Korea! It ha.s been a most gracious reward to us after the longyears of isola.tion vdien we have not been able to see you all personally,

' For the first few months vie v;ere on the road most all the time and when v;e did have

a few days off \ie spent it vath our son, John, in V/hea.ton, Illinois, 'Then in July theFleming Garden Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana offered us the use of a housethey own and we moved dovai here early in August, V/hen we arrived v;e found the folks hadspent a great deal of time cleaning and painting and fixing the house up for our use.They had almost completely fumsihed it, to the extent that v;e had an electric compopper, an electric carving-knife, an electric can-onener and almost anything else thatyou could name, super-luxury for us! Since arriving here and when we were not out visiting our supporters vie have taken part in the life of this congregation. It is certain

ly good to be a part of a group again after the v/ay v/e have lived for so long. Thefolks have taken us in and really made us feel at home! Bert has been assisting v;herevcrhe can in preacing and teaching and he has enjoyed that, too.

As we told you in our personal visits, finances have become a real problem to thevrork. It is not that we have lost support; our support has remained steady nov; for a, number of years because of your constant sharing with us. But inflation is rampant in Korea, as in many countries throughout the world. Inflation there is far vrarse than inthe U.S., perhaps 10 times as hi^. That is not as bad as it may seem, at least for theKoreans, for their wages and incomes have also increased va,stly luitil they are, for themost part, living better than they ever ha.ve, V/e are most thankful for this, rememberingthe stark poverty v;e faced there 25 years ago! 2Iven the preachers are doing v;ell, forthe most part receiving a far better salary than we do. As we informed you in our visits, we have foimd it necessa,ry to have a large increase in the support for the v/ork, even to continue what v;e have lately been doing, without even considering new opportunities, All of you have sympathized with our report and many promised an increase. Some ofyou have been able to follow up that promise and some could not, v/hich v/e understand, V/etold you we would leave it to you, our supporters, as to v/hether v/e returned or not. Thetime has come to make the decision, Althou£^ there has been some increase in support,there simply is not enough money in prospect to warrant our return.

Certainly we have some misgivings in making this report to you. One does not spendmore than half of their adult life in a place without building up some deep attachments!There are still things to be accomplished in Korea that we think we personally can do.If someone were to talce our place they would be behind by 25 years of experience, and ina culture such as Korea, it takes many years before one can be of real value to the v/orkof the Lord's kingdom, V/e v/ill certainly miss the many loyal friends v/e have there.

BI^RT >:LLIS KTPORT ISTT3R - June, 1905 - r3.se 2

'.Jo have felt certain the Lord would open some door of seirvice if the door to Koreav;ere closed, 'Je have had alrea.dy 2 proposals put before us and it a.ppears one will be

vjorl-cins out shortly. These are both pa,rt-time positions v;here v/e will have to supi^le-ment our salary, Tor the present we will be rema-inin^ here in Indiana.nolis, ",/g arenot yet at a finnncia.1 crisis as rc^-rds our persona,! living" but could be in the nosTfuture, \Iq remind you once more that after almost 47 years in the ministry, the salaryv;hich v;e have been c.Tp.viins for a nuiaber of years, 3500 a month, is the Inrf^est salary v;ehave ever received! One does not s-ave too much on that! ".,'e are not covered, by SocialSecurity because for so many years \re simply could not mei:e the payments, as v/c oftenhave not received even our full salary, 3ert v;ill be 65 in I'ovember rnd we v;ill thenbegin drawing a sm.all private pension, about ';200 monthly. That, .end the interest fromour sovings, will be the only income of v;hich we are sure after we go off mission oc.lcxy,':Je V70uld ask you, therefore, that you consider continuing at least partial support to usuntil V7G ceui maize a transition.

One other development in which you vjill be interested. As you lznov7, John gradu<atedfrom rilligan and after spending a year ba,ck with us in ICorca v/ent to '.heaton College tocomplete his education. He completed the clr?„ss v.'orl; for the 2 yens? progrem for the ria-s-ter of Arts in ITev; Testament degree at V/heaton Graduate School, one of the raost highlyregarded programs in the U,o. Having decided not to return to liorea he remn-ined at'.Jheaton with a position on the physical staff. He has been worlcing there for some 8years and had for some years been in the supervisory position of Chief of Security andSafety, In Julj'-, after our return, he resigned that position, and has decided to go intothe ministry! Although he han not served a pastore.te he is really not a novice. He wasri?j.sGd in the parsonage, ha.s assisted us with the work in Kore.i, and for many years diddeputation v/ork for us in churches and camps so has had a lot of experience in preachingand teaching. This, coupled v/ith his good education and his supoirvisory e::perienco at'./Ineaton fits him well for the loca.1 church. He moved to Indiananolis v'ith us and hasbeen content for a while to help 1-,'om and I)a.d vrith our work .end has certainly been a viol-come help. He, too, has been assisting at the Indianapolis church, IFe is now a,ctivelyloolang for a church and will be glad to hea-r from you of pny leads where he miipet be ofservice. His ercpecta-tions a-re not great, he just wants to be of service, and will replyto any and all inquirios. You can address him here at our address.

Miss Lora.ine Lindsey of Cabool, Missouri has served this viork as forv-iarding agentfor some 26 years, the only agent vie have had. There is simply no via.y that vie can ox-press cnir deep appreciation for vihat Loraino ha.s done aJ.1 these years, 3he has not onlybeen our agent but our dear, dea.r friend, as close to us as family! She retired, not solong ago from her viork at the bank and has asked now to turn over the responsibilitiesof the mission to us, since we will be here in the U,S, We Iznow it has been a burden toher, one about which she has never complained, and so vie have agreed. She will maintainher interest in the Korean viork but we ask novi that funds end inquiries be a.ddressed tous at the Indianapolis address, Tliank you, thonic you, Loraine! Some of you who havecorresponded with her over the years raa.y viant to send her your viord of thanlcs, also!

Again, may vie thaniz you all for your encouragement, your kind words, your prayersand your financial help through all these yeans, ',.*0 can never be able to show our aoT)-rocia-tion but vie ane confident that the Lord has a reviard for you for your faithfulassistance in this pant of His program, V/e will remain here in Indianapolis until fu2>-ther notice. Please let us hear from you all and v/e viill continue to keep in touch viithyou, V/e will continue to represent the viork in Korea vihon opportunity is given, Ma.yGod continue to bless you all real good, and continue to pray for us and for Korea!

Palthfully yours,Bert & Ilarge Ellis

519 o, Taft Ave. (All funds &. correspondence)Indianapolis, Indiana, 4624ITEL; (317) 244-6656 For Bert Llarg© Ellis