Edited by Daniel Allen

Each of you have treasured memories from your past that you value just as I do. I want to share with you some of those memories that have helped make me who I am today and for you to know me better.

Mom (Birdie Burnett) was 13, living in Carolton, Missouri, during the Missouri River flood of 1903.

Dad (George Monroe Furrow) was born in Barber County, Kansas and his father filed on an Oklahoma Claim. His school was across the river and he never completed 4^th grade, but he was able to bid on a construction job knowing how much material and the cost, something I couldn't do today.

Mom and Dad met through their illness and Grandma (Sally Ann Rayl) bringing Christian men to pray from the Gospel Trumpet Co. Grandma told Mom to get up if she was healed. Because of Grandma's experience of healing, she was the first one in Waynoka, Oklahoma to put money down to buy property to build a church. She did this by doing laundry for railroad men.

I remember one time Mom was walking a mile in the snow to be with a Christian friend who was dying. When she knocked on the door, the woman's husband — who was not a Christian — refused to let Mom in and she walked back home. As she was entering the house the telephone was ringing. The friend was asking for Mom and she returned to the home to be with her friend as she passed from this life.

I have known nothing but strong faith in my Mother that she has handed down to her children.

For some reason or another, it seemed there was always relatives at our house spending the night or even the week. It seemed Mom was always helping to raise relatives' children. She taught childrens' Sunday school and spent 50 years teaching Sunday school in general. She was honored when she was 72 years old for her dedication to the church.

My Father was always known as an honest man: “his word” was good. He led the family worship after breakfast that included kneeling for prayer with everyone saying a word of thanks. Curse words were not allowed in front of his children and I was in the 4^th grade before hearing slang words describing bodily functions that are so common today with our youth.

From the love I received as a child, you would never imagine I was unwanted, but because of economic circumstances I probably was not the most exciting news when Mother found out she was pregnant with me.

I was born on a farm in Oklahoma when times were hard for my Dad. I was the 6^th child with a brother (Delmer Meril Furrow) only 18 months older. I was also born in the dead of winter in a snow storm. Dad was helping with the building of the Waynoka parsonage at the time without pay, but from this experience, later in life he was able to use his skill in the construction industry.

Our family was not wealthy. Just as others of my generation I had few toys, and needed to use my imagination when at play. While still in Oklahoma, one cousin my age spent a lot of time at our house.

Mom always read to us from the Egermeier Bible Story Book, which taught us memory verses from the Bible. When I was 8 years old our family moved from a farm in Woods County Oklahoma to a 6,000 acre ranch in the flint hills of Kansas. The owner of the ranch was the only near neighbor and my brother and I walked three miles on a gravel road to school.

This moved our family away from a local Church of God except for a Black church. This was in the 30s (poor transportation, narrow gravel roads, 16 miles from town) and I hated the long services.

Despite this, I never rebelled from my Christian teaching — I always had faith. At the age of 15 I was baptised in the Smokey Hill River when my parents moved into the town of Salina, Kansas where there was a Church of God and an active youth group. I still have the Gospel Trumpet that used my article written for the Youth Page and won myself a Bible. The name of the article was “Is it worth while to be a Christian.” At the age of 17 I believe I attended the first Youth Camp held in Kansas and many years later friends I now have said they were there also.

I have always loved camp meetings and was raised thinking the only place you went on vacation was to a camp meeting and I did enjoy the event. Meeting other teenagers was always good and more than once this led to a correspondence during the winter months.

I was married at age 19 to a neighbor boy (Paul Eugene Allen), who I met two years earlier when he came home on furlough to visit his parents who had moved next door to my parents. When we married, Paul was still in the Navy and was stationed In San Diego for his last months with the Navy. After Paul's discharge from the Navy we returned to the Midwest near my parents.

Paul worked for the Santa Fe Rail Road. He was hired at Waynoka but began working at Amarillo, Texas. Paul worked for this company 40 years and retired in 1986. While working for the rail road we were transferred three times. From Amarillo to Wellington, Kansas to Chicago and back to Kansas City, Kansas.

We have always able to find a Church of God to fellowship with. When we moved to Amarillo, the church was meeting on a fourth floor court room of the county court house. At that time I owned an accordion and brought it each Sunday to church via public transportation. The Amarillo church was started by Brother Merchant who found a Gospel Trumpet at a railway station and asked the editor for more information and help in beginning a church.

Before we were transferred from Amarillo, a building had been constructed by members of the congregation.

It was 1962 when we were transferred to Wellington, Kansas, and we drove 26 miles one way to the Haysvile congregation three times a week. While we were there I was elected to the State Women’s Missionary Society as treasurer. I had the job about three months before we were transferred to the Chicago area.

I had never been to a large city. I had never seen row houses or people setting near the curb just to get a breath of fresh air in the summer. At the time Jim Albrecht was pastoring the Oak Lawn church and one of his members was in real estate and tried to help us find a house to rent. The day we were house hunting it was very hot when we stopped for lunch and the waitress asked if I wanted soup or juice when I gave my luncheon order. I thought she said “superjuice” and I asked if it was hot! She replied “the soup is.”

Our family began worshiping with the Sunny Place Church of God in Bensenville and again I was elected to the State Women’s Missionary Board as chairman of the president’s council. If my memory was better I would tell you of the many women I have worked with by being involved with this ministry.

After four years in the Chicago area we were transferred to Kansas City, Kansas, but at this time our oldest son (Chester Paul Allen) was in the Navy, our second son (David Eugene Allen) in college, and our daughter (Paulett Gae Allen) had married. The one son (Roy Monroe Allen) that came with us was in the 9^th grade and when he was out of the house — and that was most of the time if he wasn't making telephone calls — I was alone, as Paul worked the afternoon and evening shifts. This was almost the empty nest syndrome.

When John Spear came to KC. in 1977 in one of his sermons he mentioned he could use office help as he was the only one on staff. This touched me deeply, and I wanted to help, but at the time I was drawing a very good salary were I was working in the trucking industry; and because I was the church treasurer I knew the church needed our money. I told this concern to the Pastor, and he assured me God would take care of His work. I resigned my work with the truck line in 1978 and became a full-time church secretary serving with John Spear, Gary Kendall and Phil Canipe. When my husband took his retirement, I also took mine. The pension was more than the church was paying and Pastor Canipe’s wife became his secretary.

Soon after moving to Bonner Springs, Kansas, I was invited to join an organization known as BPW or Business and Professional Women Organization. It seems I am always getting involved and I served the local organization in all of the offices: district director, state treasurer, and state executive secretary. I retired when I reached the age of 62. I love to travel and while I was the State Executive Secretary my way was paid to the national conventions. This allowed me to travel and I have been in several of the larger cities of the USA. I love to travel and claim the promise found in Psalm 37: “Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of your heart.” I do not belong to the organization any longer.

Four of our children were born while we lived in Amarillo. While we lived there my parents moved to Amarillo as well as two of my brothers and my sister. We had many happy occasions with our family.

Our fifth child (Jennie Belle Allen) is adopted from Seoul, South Korea! This was after our oldest son returned from the Vietnam conflict. Jenny was 11 years old when she came to us not knowing the language. She is now married and has four beautiful children.

I have worshiped in my parents living room, a storefront after a flood destroyed the church, a church basement as the church was being rebuilt (it was a house church in Bensenville), a country school house, the county court house (4th floor walk up), a camp meeting when they were still held in tents, but I have never worshiped in a “brush harbor.”

My parents didn’t miss very many church services. Neither do we. I can remember on several occasions they would keep the evangelist at our home. We have kept several missionaries in our home. Another memory of a worship service was when in the early 30s, on the road to Sunday school, the car had a flat tire. These was the days when you carried tire patch with you. As my Dad repaired the tire, my Mom gave the Sunday School lesson to me and my brothers along the side of the road.

My first memories of attending a women's missionary meeting was as a teenager going with my mother to the weekly meetings where items were made to sale and information shared about those who were serving on the foreign field. After I married and we lived in Amarillo, where we were part of the congregation that planted this work, a missionary society was in place before the church was constructed.

We were transferred to Kansas City during the middle of December of 1968 and when it was time in March to elect new WCG officers, the Pastor at that time discouraged the women's meeting because of previous misunderstandings. But with a new pastor, by 1978 we again were involved with the organization and I was president of the local group when Venture was in Kansas City.

The National WCG office staff came to visit the site in Kansas City and asked the 8 local WCG presidents to be part of the event by being hostesses, helping the women find their way around Kansas City and the convention center. One interesting incident took place when my roommate, who was the local president from Topeka and was also involved, was going to bed after a busy, tiring day, when she noticed a bottle of nail polish with the initials “CG” and remarked she didn’t know that the Church of God made nail polish!

After this I was invited to serve on the National Board with the Spiritual Life Committee and Nell McManis was still in the office and I was the staff person for the committee. Elizabeth Pistole was the Director but quickly changed the title to Coordinator. At the beginning of my second term I was asked to allow my name on the ballot as Missions Program Coordinator (now called Missions Program Resource Coordinator), this would be following the talented Jenny Schweiger who had served the time allowed in one office before a year off the board. Carla Teffler’s name was on the ballot for the same office. She had written material for WCG and was studying for her PhD.

At the meeting the election was to take place, I was there but Carla was not, and I was elected. I must tell you I am amazed at what God has allowed me to participate in. Women who have served with me have been more talented and creative in producing material. It has always been easy for me to delegate but Kay, my staff person, carried much of the responsibility. I was off the National Board one year before I was asked to be your regional coordinator, a work I am enjoying. To attend the State Conventions and meet the women who love and appreciate the WCG is a joy. A couple of years ago, Marie Meyers told me she was the one who suggested my name to serve on a national committee.

We have seventeen grandchildren. The oldest is 29 (Cristy Lynn Goorsky) and the youngest is 2 (Josette Amanda Allen). Seven belong to the same family. Last November we lost our 21 year old grandson (Benjamin David Allen) to cystic fibrosis. He was a brave man needing a lung but it didn’t happen. He wrote a poem a couple of months before he died. I would like to read it to you. We find comfort in knowing he was a believer and he is out of his discomfort in Heaven with Jesus.

I treasurer the beauty of nature of viewing the handy work of God. Living in the flint hills of Kansas, with lots of space and a family that truly extended their love to me, hearing the voice of the water, wind, and birds — but I must say, the crickets do disturb me. Where we live now, I can sit at our table and look out our kitchen window and watch the birds at the feeder or using the bird bath. There are many trees around the community and praise God for his handy work.

I have said all this to say to you I treasure and value my life’s journey for the people I have met who have been a part of my life. The experiences I have encountered have helped to mold me to who I am today. I value my heritage as it has allowed me to walk with many friends including you who are here for this convention and best of all to know I have Jesus in my heart.