by Robert Brown
I had been on IOWC for five months when I volunteered to go to MFT. In March of 1975, there was a seven day workshop at Barrytown for members ready to join MFT. It so happened this was also the time those chosen to be sent out as missionaries to 120 nations for the first time were having their workshop in Barrytown. Father came and spoke to both groups separately several times. When the MFT were divided into teams and walked out of Barrytown to head out on our new teams the missionaries were lined up along our path thanking us and giving us small gifts, apples, oranges, a flower. That was very moving, as they were going out to an even greater unknown. My first captain was Larry Krishnek along with Tom Phillips, Richard Panzier, Lee Shapiro, Cynthia Hiromitsu (married name) and Lori Gagne. On our way down to Texas in the evening we stopped in some town in Tenessee to experience our first fundraising on MFT. We were selling candles in little glass cups. As it got dark, we were going house to house and it started to rain, and then the rain got pretty heavy. We were carrying the candles in cardboard boxes and mine was getting quite soggy. I stepped on a porch and rang the doorbell, but right before the door opened my box fell apart and all the candles went crashing onto the porch one after the other. The shattering glass was louder than the rain. All I could do was apologize and help clean it when the lady brought a broom and plastic bag. So began MFT.