Lennart John Holmquist

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1980 Travels with Brother and Father

Len's father and brother, Carey, flew into Amsterdam and with Eurail train passes in hand set off to tour Europe. They traveled from as far north as Sweden, and as far south as Morocco. In Morocco they traveled no further than the port city of Tangier. In Sweden they stayed at Len and Carey's uncles cabin, named Sulatorp, near the town of Björketorp. They also visited their cousins, the Hermanssons, in Uppsala. Åke Hermansson, a lecturer in history at Stockholm university acted as a personal tour guide, showing the three the historical sites, and explaining their significance. Among the sites was Tensta kyrka (Tensta church) the family church of Hedvig Rinell side of the family. In the church graveyard they stopped by the grave of Carey and Len's great-great-grandparents, Jan and Johanna Ersson.

1980 Poland

An acquaintance of Len's, Gill Brown, was planning to smuggle bibles into Poland, and interview a dissident Roman Catholic priest, Father Blachnicki. Gill hoped to sell the story to the BBC. Gill ask Len if he would like to accompany her. He said yes. They drove to to a farmhouse outside the town of Tegernsee in southern Germany. When they arrived a crew was readying a car that had been fitted with a false compartment. Len was instructed on how to open the door of the compartment located on the floor of the back seat, by pressing two buttons simultaneously located behind the dash using two long pencils. He was then asked to memorize a map to a particular house outside the town of Zakopane in southern Poland.

The next morning Gill and Len traveled through Czechoslovakia to Poland sleeping in the car one night. Len found the house. Before making contact they drove to a lonely stretch of road where Len opened the false door and extracted the bibles, about 24 bibles and instructions on how to operate a short wave radio, a short wave radio which had been smuggled by someone on a previous trip. they then drove back to the house, handed over the bibles and Gill interviewed the Father Blachnicki. Len took photos of him. They were the only photos he took during the trip. He was concerned that if he took photos along the route, and the authorities what he and Gill were up to, the authorities could use the photos to capture the priest.

Gill was invited to spend the night in the house. Len slept in the car. He had not showered or bathed in more than three days. No doubt he did not smell like a rose.

1980 Soviet Union

Len traveled with other Christians from Holland to the Soviet Union during the 1980 Olympics. Their goal was to talk to Russians about Christianity. Len brought with him a bible and several books on Christian apologetics. He was stopped at customs where the customs offers, presumably, KGP, requiring that he empty all his pockets and open his suitcase. Christian literature was not normally allowed in the Soviet Union. Apparently, the customs officer did not want to insist on this during the Olympics. Len and his fellow Christians traveled to Moscow, Tallinn and Leningrad. Len gave out his literature to particular people he met who he though might benefit from them.

1980 Greece

YWAM - Heidebeek and other YWAM bases were to have an evangelistic 'outreach' in Greece. Len signed up and got a seat on Heidebeek's bus. Sitting next to him for nearly the entire four day journey from Holland to Greece was Jill Martin. Jill was an actress with the acting troupe Toymaker and Son. The days in the bus were long, they had plenty of time to talk and get to know each other.

In the evenings a place was found to pitch a tent, one for the guys and one for the girls.

Len wanted to get to know Jill more. The acting troupe needed a photographer for publicity photos. Len volunteered so that he could spend more time with Jill. Jill did not seem to mind.

The bus arrived in Athens and then headed out to a camping site in a small town of Loutsa, not far from Athens. A few hundred other 'YWAMers' arrived from other parts of Europe. They pitched tents throughout the campground. They all ate meals in common, prepared by a cooking team lead by the American Sarah Lanier. Sarah asked Len to accompany her once or twice, very early some mornings, before the sun had risen, and the air was cool or cold, to purchase fresh vegetables, fruit, grains, spices and meat at the local market housed in a large warehouse. The market was full of vendors, buyers, smells, and colors. It was only open in the mornings. By late morning nearly all the vendors were gone. Remnants of fruit and vegetables littered the floor.

Len and Jill found they both loved coffee. When Len did not go with Sarah, he and Jill got up earlier than most other YWAMers, boiled water in each of their coffee cups using a heating coil, dumped in a teaspoon full of Nescafe instant coffee, and a dab of Carnation evaporated milk and sugar. After their cup of coffee or with coffee cups still in hand they got into line for breakfast as soon as they saw the line forming. Considering the line would become a couple of hundred people long, it was worthwhile getting into line early.

They were in Loutsa for a month with Len often accompanying the drama troupe to their performances, usually in Athens.

The drama troupe finished with Greece and left for Berlin, West Germany. Though the outreach continued in Greece for perhaps another month, Len headed back to Holland, getting a ride in a mini-bus with a bunch of Danes from the Danish YWAM base. They being Scandinavians, Len felt a bit at home among them, though Danish has a bit of a different sound for someone used to the sing-song lilt of Swedish. The journey north was extended about three days longer than expected when the mini-bus broke down in Yugoslavia. Some of the members of the traveling group found a place to stay with a kind family. Len had a two man tent with him. He pitched it on a nearby riverbank and offered the extra space to a Dane.

Just before arriving in Yugoslavia or upon arriving, Yugoslavia's longtime dictator Tito died. The Yugoslavian family had the funeral event playing on their television. Len did not know what was going on at first. He saw the family gathered around the TV and looking very sad. One of the Danes then said that Tito had passed away.

After they were both back again in Holland Len and Jill continued to spend time with one another and eventually decided to get married.

Ditjes en Datjes, literally 'Little This and Little That', which can also be translated 'Bits and Pieces' was an announcement and news sheet put up regularly on the bulleting board at Heidebeek. Though though the Ditjes and Datjes here are after Len and Jill left Holland, it still reflects life for Len and Jill when they were still at Heidebeek. In the announcements note that 'DTS' stand for 'Discipleship Training School'. The 'Library' is the small one-room Heidebeek Library that Len managed. Ed Sherman, Bill Muehlenberg, and Jonathan Lorenc were members of Len's research team. The reports on cults, minorities, countries and other subjects were the reports that Len's research team produced.

1982 California

1982 - 1995 Apple Computer and Marriage

Len got a job in a little-known young company called Apple Computer in Cupertino, California. He worked first in Apple's corporate library which provided technical and marketing research, and books and periodicals to Apple's employees.

Len and Jill got married and lived in a grove of redwoods near Felton, followed by a year in Menlo Park, five years in Palo Alto and eight or nine years in Oakland.

Years later Len found out that his heroin addict friend, Dietmar, got back into heroin and died of an overdose in Amsterdam in 1982.

1985 China

During this time Len was invited by Herman Pai, an employee of a medical library at Stanford University, to join him speaking at medical universities in China. Len wrote a proposal to Apple's Jean Luis Gassée that he accompany Herman Pai speaking about automating library functions using Apple computers, which at that time was an Apple II. He also took with him the new Apple Macintosh which was an instant hit. Herman would speak on American library practices, and translated for Len. The proposal was accepted by Jean-Louise Gassée. Len applied to the China consulate in San Francisco for a visa as a 'technical expert' for this speaking tour. The visa was accepted.

Len's 1981 to 1986 passport with China visa.

Herman and Len spoke in Hangchou, Shanghai, Beijing and Jinan. Their lecture tour lasted five weeks. During this five weeks Len also visited the city in which is mother was born, Tsingtao (Qingdao), and the town in which she grew up, Kiaohsien.

China Itinerary

1988 Father Dies

Both Len's father-in-law and Len's dad were sick with cancer. Len and Jill alternated weekends visiting Jill's dad in Grass Valley, California and Len's dad in Ventura, California. Drive from Oakland to Ventura was about 350 miles and took about five hours. When the drove to Ventura on the weekend they always stopped at Mission San Miguel Arcángel to stretch their legs and use the bathroom facilities. And, they often spent a bit of time in the mission church whose thick adobe walls always kept the air cool when the temperature outside was hot under the California sun.

The night before he died Len sat up with him though Len's dad probably didn't know he was there. Though drugged, he still felt pain and moaned from time to time. When he did Len got up out of the chair he was sitting in and stroked his father's head, just so he would know someone was there if he was aware. Len's mom got up a few time during the night, came downstairs and suggested Len go to bed. Len said it was OK, he wanted to stay.

The next day Len's dad was still hanging in there. Len's mom suggested that he and Carey and perhaps Meilynn take a break and go into Chinatown in Los Angeles, which they did. They visited Mr. Fong's furniture store, which the kids knew from their childhood. Old Mr. Fong often gave the kids small toys from his shop. Mr. Fong's son was running the store when they visited, but remembered them from when he was a kid.

They then went to a Chinese restaurant and ordered lunch. During that time the restaurant received a phone call from Len's mom, which Len answered. She said they should come back to the house, but didn't say why, but they all guessed. The question was to leave without finishing their meal or not. Len said that knowing how much Len's dad loved Chinese food, he would want them to finish. They did, but the mood was solemn.

Upon arriving back at the house in Ventura Len's mom said they he had died. They all walked to the room where he was lying, and stood there for some minutes looking at him. Len cried.

Bud's doctor was there, Dr Harrison, who pronounced him dead. Also, in the house was Bud's good friend, Norman Weed whose presence was very much appreciated.

The mortician was called and after a while vehicle pulled up and two women got out a came into the house. They were kind and efficient. They wrapped Bud's body up in a white cotton cloth, and lifted his body onto a gurney, which they lifted, one woman at each end. Len helped lift the gurney. One of the women said he needn't help. They could take care of it. Len didn't respond and didn't let go. He wanted to help with the last segment of his father's journey in this life. He helped lift the gurney into the vehicle, and they drove off. Len waved good-bye to his father and they drove out the driveway and down the street. Len loved his dad. It was tough seeing him go.

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Footnotes