Pre-launch Party

What: Pre-launch of Elayne Palmer’s new children’s book, Jameel’s Plan
When: 5:30 p.m. July 25
Where: Seven and One Books, 1138 N. 2nd Street
Who’s invited: Everyone
Book prices: $12.99 soft cover; $22.99 hardback

By Loretta Fulton

“I know,” Jameel whispered. “But I have a plan.”

Those intriguing words are found on page 15 of Elayne Palmer’s new children’s book, Jameel’s Plan. To learn who Jameel is, what plan he came up with–and why–you’ll need to read the book, which will be featured at a pre-launch party at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 25, at Seven and One Books, 1138 N. 2nd St. The public is invited. 

The book, published by Booklogix, will actually launch on Aug. 20. Jameel’s Plan is beautifully and insightfully illustrated by Aaron Sacco, an animator, illustrator, and muralist who lives in Austin. A native of Lebanon, Sacco met the Palmer family when Elayne and Phil Palmer were missionaries in Cyprus.

The book, written for children ages 7 to 12, is set in “a small, dusty house next to a narrow, dusty path near a wide, dusty road in a faraway, dusty land in the East.”

Elayne Palmer with her new children’s book, Jameel’s Plan. Photo by Loretta Fulton

That setting comes from a real-life experience for the Palmers. Phil, a physical therapist, was appointed by the Baptist Foreign Mission Board in October 1978 to the Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Elayne taught missionary kids piano lessons and transcribed Arabic music to be played during worship services. The Palmers’  first child, Julia, was born in Gaza. Those years were gratifying for the family. 

“The Palestinian people were so loving, hospitable and interested in us,” Elayne said. “We learned customs, and the Arabic language, and how to cook Arabic food.”

Elayne also is the author of three Sunday school song books and a whimsical photo book titled, Where Is Radar? Radar, the family cat, was fond of hiding in various places around the house. Elayne photographed him hiding and added captions.

The story that Jameel’s Plan is based on also comes from a real-life experience that Elayne heard about while in Gaza. She wrote the story as an assignment for the Big Country Writing Project in July 1996. She is just now publishing it after years of nagging from her oldest son, Tim, a teacher, musician, and songwriter. 

“I’m his cheerleader.” Elayne said. “He’s my cheerleader, too.”

Jameel’s Plan tells the story of what happened on a fateful day in Jameel’s life. 

“One Thursday, Jameel rushed into his garden shouting, ‘Immy, Immy! Our school is closed! Soldiers would not let us enter.” A glossary at the end of the book lists many of the names and terms that might not be familiar to American readers. Among them is the word, “Immy,” which means “mother” in Arabic. The word, “Baba,” means “father” in Arabic. 

Elayne’s goal is to get Jameel’s Plan into elementary school and public libraries. She also is in the process of getting it translated into Arabic for distribution in other parts of the world. As an educator and a mother, Elayne knows the value of education and makes that point in her book.

“Everyone deserves an education,” she said. “If the government doesn’t provide it, there are ways to provide it for yourself.” 

Before spending time as missionaries in the Middle East, the Palmers lived in Texas. Elayne and Phil met as students at Baylor University while both were attending a College Mission Conference at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

“It was love at first sight,” Elayne said.

That was in 1973, and the couple will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in December. At Baylor, Elayne was majoring in elementary education, with a music minor. Phil was studying to become a physical therapist. 

A year after they met, Elayne and Phil both were feeling a nudge toward foreign missions. They were required by the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board to work for two years before applying to be missionaries. That requirement brought them to Abilene, where Phil worked as a physical therapist at Hendrick Medical Center and Elayne taught at the old Ben Milam Elementary School and at the former Jackson Elementary School, which has been renamed Alcorta Elementary School. They got their first foreign missions appointment to Gaza in October 1978. 

After several years in Gaza, the Palmers were granted a furlough to the United States, where Tim was born. After the furlough, the family was assigned to the West Bank, where Phil worked at three Arab hospitals. The family became members of a local church in Bethlehem.

“As the only English speakers in the church, our Arabic ability soared,” Elayne said. 

The final stint of the missionary years, 1987-1991, was spent in Larnaca, Cyprus, where their second son, Luke, was born. That was during the civil war in Lebanon, and the Palmers worked with and hosted many Lebanese Christains in their home.

“Phil and I both started speaking Arabic with a Lebanese accent!” Elayne said. 

The years spent in the Middle East greatly influenced the children’s lives. In 2018, Tim and Julia, along with videographer Nathan Driskill, traveled to the Middle East to produce a documentary, “Where Is Palestine?” It premiered in November 2018 at the Paramount Theater and recently was shown at the People’s Plaza. (Click here to read Loretta Fulton’s article about the making of the documentary that was written for the Abilene Reporter-News in 2018.)

After their missionary years ended, the family lived in Fort Worth, Elayne’s hometown, for two years and then moved to Abilene where Phil was hired to manage the new Hendrick Center for Rehab. He then was a physical therapy professor at Hardin-Simmons University for 15 years. The Palmers moved to Georgia in 2010 and lived there until Phil retired in 2021. They moved back to Abilene to be close to their three children and nine grandchildren.