ROLAND RIPPLES NEWS OF WILLIAM JEAN ROLAND - MISSIONARIES TO INDIA VOL. 5 JANUARY 1975 ROLANDS BACK IN SERVICE ON THE OTHER SIDE O F TH E WORLD Wednesday, Nove^,er__^27, homes preparing f o r Thanksgiving t h e following day, t h e National Missionary Convention assembled i n Cincinnati, a nd t h e renowned Queen Elizabeth I I sailing out of New York-harbor fo r Europe. Among those boarding that early winter afternoon were William an d Jean Roland—after long an d careful preparation finally o ff on their dreamed-for n e w term of service in ndia Rolands JanuaryQlestination^isthe missionarylep rosy hospital started by Benevolent Social Services i n Andhra Pradesh near Madras, India As a Registered Nurse an compassionate teacher, Jean)will be busy with patients a t th e hospital compound. William s ministry and industrial arts training will center i n th e new project of vocational rehabilitation f o r those whose Hansen's Disease (leprosy) has been sufficiently arrested to permit their return to their homes and their self-support. The young hospital was organized iH-^a leprosy area b y David_^d.. Dois Rees, with whom Rolands will associate i n t h e work. The Rolands will supervise a staff o f native medical personnel during th e Rees' 1975 furlough. Jean and William are^ sponsored by t h e Christian Church in-.La. Crosse, ,ICasl Sas,^ where they have been members (he an elder and teacher) during their period o f active field preparation. Support funds thus f a r have come from t he La Crosse church a n d several other midwestern congregations, plus two i n the south, a girls dorm group in the east, and th e Eisden, Belgium, congregation planted by their daughter and son-in-law, Mary Esther and Henki Boonaerts; with special gifts from other friends an d churches f o r initial transportation and equipment. Note_the. mailing addresses i n t he box elsewhere in this issue. Friends an d prayer-partners will b e delighted t o know t h e Rolands were_ahJ.£_to-...take- t h e _ truck-camper and much extra requested-field equipment so_useful t o thj.s_type work. The camper unit will b e a mobile medical dispensary and home-office, as previously neglected villages are visited. Enroute, however, i t served i t s multi-role n o t only as self-propelled freighter, b u t a s personal transportation, lodging, and restaurant , f o r th e majority o f t h e halfway-around-the-world trip They left from their Bison, Kansas, home., the.weekend o f ^^i^overaber 16 to drive to ew York, pulling behind the pickup-camper a-coye.red.,utility trailer with tools f o r vocational teaching and additional hospital construction, as well as a stand - b y electrical generator and other hospital supplies. The entire unit was swung and bounced aboard t h e ocean liner; then unloaded on to t h e autobahn at Cherbourg, France, t o be driven acrosssouthern Europe and the Middle East. Mimeographed copies of the fascinating travel * v^ diary (Roland personal correspondence) are available upon request from t h e stateside address. Th e eventful trip as traced in their letters h a s included their unusual Christmas celebration: I doubt i f we will b e nostalgic f o r a White Christmas again soon. e have seen enough snowl Much o f t h e da y the road, landscape, an d sky were s o white yo u could hardly tell where on e ended an d t he other began. When t he sun d i d show we h a d to put on / NO. 1 CUNARD QEZ
