DARLINGTON MWENDABAI, Lusaka
AT THE age of six, Ted Wilson had to sail to America in an American rescue military sea vessel following a 1956 Suez Crisis, when Britain along with France and Israel invaded Egypt to recover control of the Suez Canal.
The Suez Crisis began on October 29, 1956, when Israeli armed forces pushed into Egypt toward the Suez Canal, a valuable waterway that controlled two-thirds of the oil used by Europe.
Scholars state that in July of that year, Egyptian president then, Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the canal.
The Israelis were joined by French and British forces, which damaged their relationships with the United States and nearly brought the Soviet Union into the conflict.
In the end, Egypt emerged victorious, and the British, French and Israeli governments withdrew their troops in late 1956 and early 1957.
The young Dr Wilson, never envisioned himself one day to be like his father and grandfather who held positions as Seventh-day Adventist general conference presidents.
He sailed to America leaving behind his father in Cairo to take care of the church members.
All he recalls is that he was a child when the 1956 Suez Crisis began.
Dr Wilson was born in Takoma Park, Maryland on May 10, 1950.
He is the son of former Adventist worldchurch president Neal C. Wilson and Elinor E. Wilson who spent part of his childhood in CLICK TO READ MORE