Blown Away (A 12 String Mystery)

I just got off the phone with a man I’ve never met but have known for a long time…

A couple of years ago my dad started telling me about a man he met walking at Shelby Park. He said he had been a missionary overseas but had now settled in East Nashville. I wondered why dad was telling me this…(and why East Nashville) I figured he was just passing the time, talking about the little things.

Then dad goes to the board by his phone where they keep all their notes and appointments and phone numbers. He said he had written this missionary’s name down. Only my dad would write down the name of some man he met once and would never see again. I mean really, how important could this be.

Dad said, “He has kind of a funny name. Here it is….Kenneth Rideout.” “Dad!” I exclaimed, “I know who he is, I’ve heard him speak…I’ve plagiarized his sermons. You remember the one where I said you couldn't stick your foot in the same creek twice? That was Kenneth Rideout”

It had been at least 25 years since I last heard him. My best friend Tom and I were mesmerized by what he was saying. One night he must have preached for 3 hours and we wanted more. He could have preached all night. But he didn’t and life moved on.

Tom started a family and I moved away. We stayed in touch but were moving in different directions. Tom stayed in church and I stayed out late. One time when we were catching up Tom told me he gave his 12-string guitar to Kenneth Rideout. I could not believe it. That is all he ever wanted. I watched him save his money and was with him when he bought it. Tom loved that guitar and now he’d given it away. I wondered why Tom didn’t buy a cheap guitar to give to this guy if all he was going to do was take it to some foreign country and sing Kum Ba Ya. Tom was not as cynical as I, but I sensed regret in his voice.

Tom is working very hard to help the Karen refugees from Burma with their resettlement in this area. Not many really know or can fathom the horror they experienced in Burma and the trials of beginning a new life in this country.

About six months ago, Tom said he wished he knew how to find Kenneth Rideout. For some reason he remembered hearing him speak about Burma and that he lived there for a while. It’s a real struggle sometimes because most of the Karen speak little, if any, English. The ones that do are still hard to understand. The combination of knowing the language and culture along with being a man of prayer would be a great help. I got excited. I reminded Tom that my dad had met him in the park and he lived close to both our parents! Dad even had his address and phone number.
I called Dad and asked if he remembered meeting Kenneth Rideout at Shelby Park. That was only a formality, because Dad never forgets anything. (That was a real problem when I was a kid.) Of course he said yes. I asked if he still had his number. He looked, but it wasn’t on the board anymore. I hung up and planned on trying to find him after work. Within minutes, Dad called back and gave me his address and phone number. He found them.

I gave the information to Tom. Tom tried to call a few times, but finally gave up. It seemed the Rideout’s did not have an answering machine and were not home very much.

Tom calls me daily to let me know what is going on in the community. Sometimes I don’t say anything (constructive) and try to listen. Sometimes I try to offer a little advice. Sometimes I just laugh with him about how crazy things get.

A Church of Christ close to the Karen Community has opened their doors for them to have meetings and ESL classes. The pastor of the Church of Christ has asked that they respect the leadership of their church with regards to worship, so the Karen have church somewhere else – but this week the pastor was a little upset.

A man from Thailand was in town and wanted to meet with the Karen Community. They were meeting at the church. One of the Karen pastors called Tom and asked that he come meet this great friend of theirs who helped them in Burma and Thailand. Tom said he needed to spend some time with his family and could not go. The Karen pastor insisted but Tom still refused. The other Karen pastor, the one who leads the community, called Tom and insisted he come meet this great man who helped them in Thailand and Burma. Tom still refused. It’s not that he did not want to go, but Tom knew he needed to be at home to spend time with his family.

ESL was Friday Night at the Church where the “Thai Guy” had spoken the night before. As soon as Tom got there, the pastor of the Church let him know he was more than a little upset at what had taken place the previous night. They were singing and raising their hands and some guy prayed for almost thirty minutes. They prayed for everyone there. (Tom talked to the first Karen Pastor who invited him to come and told him how much the prayer had helped and they prayed for the needs of everyone and he knew everything was going to be ok) Since Tom wasn’t at the prayer meeting, he did not know what went on or what to say to the pastor of the Church of Christ. Tom asked Jesse, our Free Burma Ranger friend, if he knew what went on that would have made the pastor so upset.

Jesse wasn’t sure what went on, but he said he knew a friend of his was there to meet and pray with the Karen – a missionary named Kenneth Rideout……………

I found that number my dad gave me and called Kenneth and Sandra Rideout tonight. I had to tell them. Mrs. Rideout wondered why their answering machine did not work when Tom tried to call a few months ago. I can’t explain it anymore than that for things to mean what they do, they had to happen the way they did.

This is only about me in that I was a witness to the events and have been allowed to share them with you. A while back, I asked God to let me see His Hand and let me know He is real. There have been so many little events working with Tom and his wife Sherie that cause my eyes to glisten over because they are little revelations and little answers to that prayer. When Tom told me the story, I sat in my car stunned. Tom said he nearly fell out when Jesse said, “Kenneth Rideout.”

When Tom told Sherie, he said her jaw literally dropped. Then she reminded him of what Kenneth told Tom when he gave up his beloved 12-string. Kenneth Rideout told Tom that guitar was a seed and he had no idea where it would end up.

When Mr. Rideout was in America making church visits he met a lot of people making it hard to remember who he met. He did remember the 12-string and where it traveled 15+ years ago. Its last known location was in a Karen village in Burma….



Danny Butler
August 2, 2008.