GLO B AL VO ICES
Turnkey Ready Lorraine Triggs On paper, Missionary Furlough Homes (MFH) was incorporated in 1962, but its roots go further back—back to 1940 when Dave Gieser’s parents, Dr. Ken and Kay Gieser, medical missionaries to China, left the country they loved and served since 1934. “My father contracted malaria, and nearly died,” relates Dave. “His recovery was slow, and my two older brothers were ages two and four.” The war between Japan and China was raging, and the young family’s safety was at risk. “They had built a rudimentary bomb shelter and placed sandbags under a stairwell where my mother would quickly scurry with my brothers to protect themselves from shooting in the streets,’” Dave describes those harrowing times. “My parents realized the time to depart their beloved China had come, and their escape from the hostilities was fraught with danger. “Mom and Dad arrived in Whe aton physically and emotional ly drained, penniless.” And as on a previous furlough home back to the States, the family had a difficult time finding a place to stay. “Eventually, they found a twobedroom unfurnished apart ment in a house on Scott
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Street,” Dave continues. “They were so broke, they initially had to rent one of the two bedrooms to make ends the States and had great difficulty find
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