While we were in Surabaya our children were getting on well at school and we were thinking about a career for Ann. She had a certificate for kindergarten teaching, but really wanted to be a nurse. As she could not get her qualification at the Surabaya Hospital (it had to be all Indonesian now) we began to make enquiries about her returning to Denmark, to take up her training there. So, in 1953, she travelled to Denmark and entered the Training Hospital in Aarhus and graduated in 1955. We missed her terribly, but thought it had been the right thing to send her home. She had been a guide and a corps cadet in Surabaya, and so joined up at the Aarhus corps. Among the 200 nursing students in the training hospital, Ann was the only one belonging to the Salvation Army. After she had qualified, she worked in a hospital until the time came for her to enter the Training College.
When we left Surabaya for the homeland furlough, we left Francis behind to finish his last term at school, as he would not be returning to Indonesia.
The voyage home this time was a real refreshment and joy. We arrived in England at Whitsuntide and spent a lovely holiday with my two sisters and their families in Devon. It was almost worth having been abroad for so long to see the beautiful English countryside at that lovely time of year. After that, we returned to London to meet Ann, who was coming to England on holiday. I shall never forget her smiling face as she greeted us. Three years had been a long separation for us all. In Aarhus she had found Salvationist friends who had opened their home to her, and the years had passed happily enough. Soon after, Francis arrived from Surabaya, so once again we were all together and telling each other our adventures since last we met. This was a very happy time but, all too soon, Ann had to return to Denmark. We followed soon after, and had the joy of spending Christmas together in Aarhus. It was then that Ann told us she wanted to become engaged to her friend, Benny Nielsen. This was quite a surprise but we were very pleased for her, and a combined farewell and engagement party was held in the Aarhus Hall. Ann sang a beautiful solo on this occasion, and her friends had composed a song for her, incorporating all the important events of her child hood and youth (as is the custom in Denmark). We all sang this heartily to gether, and it remains a very lovely memory for us.
Niels had been called to London to follow a course at the International College of Officers at Sydenham. We travelled to England via Holland, where Francis would be finishing his final year of secondary education in Haarlem. After this, Francis was hoping to go on to a three year course at the College for Tropical Agriculture in Deventer, provided that he won a scholarship. It was difficult saying goodbye for 5 years, but we felt this was best for him (and so it proved to be. He made very good use of his qualifications overseas in the years ahead).
While Niels was at the College, I was able to spend more time with my mother but, all too soon, the two months slipped by. Just before we left, mother celebrated her 85th birthday and the whole family gathered together to do her honour. Before we all sat down to a meal, she rose in her quiet manner, and prayed with us all - her eight children and their wives and children. What a blessing she had been to us all! When we left for what would be our last period of mission service, it was quite a while before I could allow myself to think of my children and my own family left behind but, gradually, I dwelt on ‘the promises of God’ - especially the one: ‘He who leaves family and house and children for My sake, shall be rewarded an hundredfold’. We looked forward to the soul-saving work which still lay ahead, and tried to banish other considerations from our thoughts.