The circuit overseer, Les Franks from Singapore, was scheduled to visit Penang to assess the degree of interest of these two young girls. He was amazed at their depth of understanding and zeal.

Meanwhile, Les Franks, who was serving as circuit overseer, traveled up and down the west coast of Malaya. This was a dangerous time to travel because of the guerrilla warfare then being waged against the British colonial government. “When traveling by train,” Les reminisces, “my fellow passengers and I spent most of the time lying on the carriage floor, as the guerrillas would shoot indiscriminately from the jungle along the railroad track.” But it also had its lighter moments. Once, for example, when visiting a tin miner in charge of several dredges, Les turned on what he thought was his bedroom light. However, the switch he flicked had actually let loose a blaring warning siren and turned on emergency lights that flooded the entire compound. To his embarrassment, this brought all the residents to arms immediately, expecting a guerrilla attack.

In 1958, Les married Margaret Painton, an Australian missionary serving in Japan. They were now assigned to Kuala Lumpur, to take over from Norman and Gladys Bellotti, who were then moved to the city of Ipoh.

[Picture on page 228]

Les Franks served as a traveling overseer, and after his marriage to Margaret, they both served in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya