[Oe List ...] [Dialogue] A Great Life Completed

[the telfords]

Dear colleagues

Oh, what stories we can tell about this unique human being. He spent some
time with us in Kapini, the Human Development Project just north of Lusaka
in Zambia. He had a passion for Zimbabwe so would hitch a ride from Lusaka
to Harare where he used to stay in a small  'English' style Private Hotel
and from there go out to a village project we were working with. I remember
having tea with him in this hotel when I travelled to Zimbabwe with him. He
must have been in deep despair over what has been happenning in that country
recently.

When he first arrived in Kapini he wanted to know where the vacuum cleaner
was so that he could vacuum the room he was to share with Tommy. I produced
a broom and said 'This is it'. (We depended on a generator for power and
only ran it for lights from dusk till 10:00pm)

We celebrate his completed life and the wonderful passion he brought to
everything he did.

Grace and peace
John & Elaine


On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 6:34 AM, Marilyn R Crocker <marilyncrocker at juno.com>
wrote:

>  Dear Gordon and all of our "beloved" community,
>
> Yes, there must be a multitude of stories that allow us to remember the
> intersection of each of our lives with the great human being  to whom JWM
> lovingly referred as "the Wild Man."  Rupert was so passionate and committed
> to his vision for Africa's renewal and the Order's vision for local
> community renewal that he often seemed a bit "off the wall," hence the
> affectionate moniker.
>
> Joe and I were just remembering, with deep thanks, our dear friend and
> colleague:
>
>    - In Kenya after the Kawangware Consult, Rupert took us and others
>    out into the bush on a Rupert-made safari. The HDP Consult in November 1976
>    coincided with the meeting of the World Council of Churches in Nairobi, and
>    many of our clergy on site attended.  Joe and I were invited by Bishop Jim
>    Mathews (Joe's former Bishop in New England) to join him on an excursion
>    to the famous Treetops resort. However,  there was no way we could swing
>    that financially and we declined.  When Rupert heard about this he quickly
>    arranged an even better alternative. He did the driving in some kind of bush
>    jeep and took us into what we were convinced was totally unexplored
>    terrain.  The earth seemed heretofore untrodden, save by animals -- whose
>    gentle presence there in a natural habitat was more than breathtaking to all
>    of us.  I began to understand Rupert's deep connection to this part of
>    planet earth.
>    - Our last in-depth time with Rupert was about 15 years ago when he
>    simply "showed up" in the Boston area, where we were living.  Actually I
>    think he had been visiting with Abednego who was somewhere nearby,
>    perhaps in New Hampshire.  We invited him for dinner, and he became like
>    that proverbial man who came to dinner and stayed for almost a week.  During
>    those several days of long, late-into-the-evening conversations, Rupert
>    expostulated passionately on his agricultural dream for Africa, especially
>    for Kenya.  He also spoke at great length of his love for his three sons.
>
> As Joe and I celebrate Rupert's life, we are conscious of the members of
> his wonderful extended family, whose lives have been indelibly marked by his
> being, and whose gifts and energies also profoundly shaped his life.  Joe
> and I think especially of those we have known over the years since 1968:
> Linda; Abednego: Daudi & Elena; and Jonathan -- and extend to them our
> condolences on the loss of this wondrous human being.
>
> Grace, peace and love,
>
> Marilyn and Joe Crocker
>
> On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:56:50 -0700 Gordon Harper <gharper1 at mindspring.com>
> writes:
>
> Colleagues --
>
> Just a brief note at the moment.  We'll want to pause for a moment to
> celebrate the completion of a wondrous life, that of John Rupert Barnes, who
> died yesterday in Kenya.  I just had word of it from daughter Elena.
>
> Ah, the stories we'll tell . . . .
>
> Gordon
>
>
>
> Marilyn R. Crocker, Ed.D
> Crocker & Associates, Inc.
> 123 Sanborn Road
> West Newfield, ME 04095
> (207) 793-3711
>
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>
>
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