Gathered Together in My Name: A Gospel Hospitality By Della Ruth
If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house. Acts 16:15
It was the Great Depression. Men were riding the rails, seeking to increase their hope in a discouraging era. My mother tells the story of an occasion when her mother, at home with seven children, encountered a man at the door who by his motions--he spoke no English--wanted food and a place to sleep. Grandpa was away for six weeks teaching at the Bible School, the forerunner of Covenant Bible College. Somewhat warily, Grandma ushered him in, warmed up some dinner, set a place at the dining room table, and left him to eat his meal. The children, curious about this stranger, peeked through the crack in the door to observe him. What they saw put to rest any anxiety their mother may have had about the stranger’s presence. They saw the man bow his head in thanksgiving, then hungrily begin to eat.
That man, a tailor and a Russian refugee from the atrocities of Stalin, stayed on for several weeks, repairing and making clothes for the family--a wonderful testimony to God’s provision for all his faithful. But the incident, and others like it in the life of Ottilia Carolina and her husband Rev. Daniel Ericson, established a model of Christian hospitality that has continued to be expressed by each of the nine Ericson children in their own way. My mother, Evangeline Ericson Dennis, or Vangie, is no exception. Or perhaps I should say, here are the roots of my mother’s exceptional hospitality. During the years I have witnessed time and time again and heard from others about her inimitable and unstinting hospitality. Her Dad always said, "Come in, there’s always room for one more." Plates were squeezed together, small children asked to share a chair, and the unexpected guest drawn into the welcoming circle. So also my mother has made it her business to include as many as come to mind or to her door.
Born in Whitemouth, Manitoba, Evangeline first encountered the mission movement at Norquay, Sasakatchewan, where the lantern slide show of Ella Locken, a missionary to Africa, stirred her young heart to respond to a call to ministry as a missionary. She spent several years growing up and growing wise, moving with her family from pastorate to pastorate throughout Western Canada before she was finally able to answer this call. An avid reader and clever student, Evangeline could often be found escaping the bustle of family life curled up behind the wood stove, reading a book, a magazine, anything she could find. She completed twelve grades in eleven years. At the time of her graduation, her parents were serving Alberta churches in Wetaskiwin, Malmo, and New Sweden.
After completing normal school in 1942, Evangeline began her teaching career the next fall at the age of 18. Meanwhile, she was maintaining a lively correspondence with an attractive young man named Vernon Dennis, who had worked at the Malmo Store one year. Vernon left Malmo to attend Bible School, and then entered the Royal Canadian Air Force in January 1943. Every visit on leave further advanced the courtship kindled in ink--their secret engagement at Christmas was confirmed by a ring in May 1944.
The were married on September 23. Within a week, Vernon was off to England. Evangeline kept busy all the while, teaching for another year, working as a nurse’s aide in the summer, and then attending Bible School in the fall of 1945. When Vernon returned from England in 1946, they began their life together.
They settled in Edmonton where Vernon started his university studies. It was here that Evangeline made a disturbing discovery about her new husband. Vern was not pleased at the prospect of having guests--ever. The question, "shall we invite friends for dinner after church?" always met with resistance at best, usually a flat refusal. But as much as he did not like the idea of company, he was generally a welcoming host when guests were actually present. This fact was not lost on Evangeline. They had no telephone, so Vangie would sneak invitations to people. When the guests arrived at the door, there was nothing her uncooperative husband could say about it. Gradually she wore him down. Over the years, he came to enjoy the gatherings as much as she did. This was only the beginning.
In their first 10 years of marriage, while Vernon completed his medical training, they had four healthy babies born to them--a son and three daughters. When they were accepted for mission service in the Belgian Congo, they moved to Chicago to take the required missions course at North Park, and from there went to Belgium, where they were to study French. Vernon also needed to complete a course in tropical medicine as required by the Belgian government. Once Evangeline had completed her French course, the prevailing wisdom dictated that it would be better for her to travel to Congo with the children and stay with her sister Ruth. Vernon would stay behind to complete his course. Neither Vernon nor Evangeline were asked their opinion in this matter.
So off she went, four children in tow, flying to Bangui with the Enos family, crossing the Ubangi River from Bangui in an overloaded dugout canoe, to Zongo, where a mission representative waited to drive the newcomers to Karawa.
The couple, again separated, renewed their correspondence. After a separation of four months, they were reunited and stationed at Karawa, the headquarters for the Covenant missions in Congo. As such, it was a hub of activity with a steady stream of visitors from within and beyond the missionary circle. With no hotels, restaurants, or corner grocery stores at hand, guest relied on mission residents for hospitality. Evangeline soon assumed the mission hostess position, arranging for beds and scheduling guests for meals in the various Karawa households. When 30 or 40 guests arrived for conferences or other meetings, she prepared and distributed schedules so every household and every guest knew the plan for their stay. She also taught for a year in the mission school. In 1957, attended by her husband, Evangeline gave birth to their fifth child.
Still Evangeline craved a more hands-on approach to mission work in the field. Although she was glad to serve missionaries and their children, she had, after all, been called to be a missionary herself. In her second term in 1962, without any directive from the mission, she began to walk down the long palm lane to the village beside the mission to help the women with their reading. Once a week, they gathered to spend time reading the Bible together. The women enjoyed this encounter with the Word made flesh, the presence of Christ in their struggles to learn to read, in their conversation, in their laughter. When Evangeline returned to North America, these women continued to meet on their own. Over the years, missionaries would report that the meetings were still going on. "You really started something, Vangie," they would say.
In 1987, Vern and Vangie traveled back to Congo to fill in for a doctor’s six week furlough. At that time, 25-years later, the women were still gathering on a weekly basis, having a wonderful time, reading, talking, laughing, sharing their joys and sorrows--sharing the Life that is the light of all people. By that time, when missionary women joined the group, they came as guests. No one knows how much longer they continued after that--at last report, the women were meeting still.
In 1963, the Dennis family moved from Congo to Chicago so Vernon could finish a residency in obstetrics and gynecology. They hardly expected this would be their home for the next 33 years, but by 1965 they were planning to stay. Soon Evangeline heard that a grand old house was up for sale. She knew this house--its spacious vestibule opening into an expansive living room and dining room. Just what she needed! There was no hesitation. They bought the house and oiled the hinges to the front door. This door swung open to countless friends and strangers, to invited guests and unexpected company. The house at 5408 North Bernard in Chicago became a way station for sojourning family and friends. Nieces and nephews found safe quarter here for a night or a year when they came to Chicago for school or work.
Missionaries and their children are often rootless creatures, not so much by choice, but by circumstance. Frequently, these tumbleweeds roll into Chicago where the presence of the Covenant head office, Swedish Covenant Hospital, and the North Park campus offer a familiar place to get their bearings or their education. The Dennis home was often the point of arrival; many stayed on for weeks at a time.
With family and place of origin far away, Christmas can be an especially lonely time. For years, Evangeline opened her home to 20 or 30 Congo "ex-patriots" on Christmas morning. She would attend the Julotta service, come home for a quick nap, then serve a light breakfast at 10 a.m. It wasn’t much trouble, she said. Everyone was so busy with each other, so she had little to do to entertain them. Retired missionaries and young adults whose parents were still in Congo, were glad for a chance to celebrate with their missionary family. At about noon, they went their separate ways while Vangie created a big Christmas dinner. She was quite cavalier about her effort--she never wanted anything to seem to be a big deal. The platters that sallied forth from the kitchen, including the cauliflower crown with mixed vegetables smothered in her tangy cheese mixture or feather light snow pudding in raspberry sauce, were nothing at all. Just spend several hours in the kitchen and serve--it was really just a two-step process. Never daunted by "quantity cooking," she worried more about being sure to include everyone than about formal invitations or an RSVP.
Other crowds came for dinner (the 50-voices of the Swedish Minister’s Choir on tour), or refreshments (the monthly meetings of an International Students group), or breakfast. For more than two decades, Vangie and Vern initiated and hosted a prayer breakfast at 7 a.m. on Friday mornings to pray for their church, their pastors', ministries, and the personal concerns of those who gathered to break bread and pray with them.
Evangeline believed in the importance of coming together to pray. She also took seriously the exhortation to the Hebrews, "encourage each other while it is still today." My mother knew that isolation and loneliness are not solely companions of the wayfarer. People in all stages of the journey, in all walks of life, encounter the shadow side--pastor and parishioner alike. She herself experienced the bleak fellowship of grief when her youngest child died of cancer when he was only 14 years old. Her response to this sorrow was to continue the good work she had begun, to continue to welcome guests being "not forgetful to entertain strangers."
Many of her guests were part of her Christian community--whether or not she had ever met them before. But others also enjoyed her open door policy. One Sunday evening, a church member, Diane Hawkinson was driving down St. Louis Avenue in a late summer downpour when she noticed a man dragging two suitcases behind him. Diane stopped to offer him a ride. He gratefully accepted. The man had just arrived at O’Hare Airport from China--he was coming to study at nearby Northeastern University. But when Diane asked him where he would be staying, he asked her to drop him at campus, saying he would find a place. Diane knew there would be no help for him on a Sunday night, but what was she to do? Immediately she thought of the Dennises. She drove her passenger to 5408 North Bernard and knocked on the door. Yes, of course, he was welcome to stay.
This is the heart of my mother’s ministry. There is room at the inn, there is a place for everyone at the table. You may come as you are, be who you are, whether a friend or a stranger. Guests are welcome to stay, to go, to share, to receive--whatever the need.
Evangeline is at home now in Canada, close to her children. In August 2003, she said farewell to her dear husband who had come to cherish her gift of hospitality and became her most eager collaborator. When they arrived in Edmonton, their first project was to build a guest room in their new condominium where they continued to welcome guests who invariably found the way to their door, to a place at the table. The invitation is still open today.