Arrival in the States

When we arrived at the airport in Georgia we were met by Deb and Rex who took us, first, to eat at a Chick-fil-A, our first encounter of this popular fast-food eatery, then we proceeded to their home in Montgomery, Alabama, where Rex was working in a Christian book-store. We spent our first American Christmas there before leaving for Abilene, Texas, and Abilene Christian University – my old Alma Mater. Rex had an old Chevy Vega which he sold to us for $1.00, just to make it legal for us to own it. It still worked very well and lasted us until we were ready to return to Southern Africa Bible School (SABS). We left Alabama shortly after Christmas and drove down to our new destination. On the way there we spent the night in West Monroe town before going on to Abilene. That night there was snow storm and the roads were covered in snow. As we entered Texas, we had to cross an ice-coated bridge. One abandoned car was on its side just across the bridge, so we entered the bridge with some trepidation (well considered) and soon found ourselves sliding. Melville is an excellent driver, and knew the technique to follow in such a situation, and we arrived safely, but shaken with fear, on the other side. Paul and Steve were sitting in huddled positions in the back seat – too scared to speak. Then we proceeded to Abilene with no further traumas. We located the house where wwe were to make out home for the next couple of years. It belonged to Dr. Everett Ferguson and was adjacent to his house. He had divided the house into two apartments and we had the larger section Everett was now professor at ACU and was an ex-student with whom I had enjoyed a speech class in our undergraduate days.