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| Our family while we were in CA. |
It began with travel to California. Some of the highlight:
Quality time with Gram and Granddad: our daughter and Gram found a fairy village in the backyard!
Sharing with Foothill Covenant Church: Megan’s children sermon had some excited contributors.
Labor Day BBQ: 68 people came--everyone who was invited and then some! We got to share with them about the struggles of brothers and sisters on the island and the difficulty of following Truth on the islands.
Monterey Bay Aquarium: our son says “fsh, fsh, fsh”
From California, we went to Archbold, Ohio where we had an action packed week:
Hospitality and dogs: Wonderful friends and our son chasing Jada and Nika around the houses.
Hospitality and Dance: The room in process of a makeover becomes the ballet room for Grace and Joey to dance and dance.
Hospitality and Shotguns: Great conversation at Pastor Erich’s house when all of a sudden we hear an airhorn and the sound of gunfire. “Oh that’s my neighbor,” says Erich, “The Browns must have just scored a touchdown. He fires his shotgun to celebrate.”
Sauder Village: Picture this, riding on a miniature train around and 18th century village with a group of Amish teenagers.
Sharing with the Sunday School: Some great/tough questions: Why do people change religions? Is working in a difficult area a good use of time and money?
Sharing during children’s church: Our daughter raises her hand to give some excellent wisdom, “God made me.” Unfortunately, it was completely out of context.
Sharing with Sister Chicks: Megan got to transition from silly fun with hats and singing into sharing about life for island women.
Sharing with the Youth Group: Talking to young people who are inspired to serve God in other countries.
From Archbold we went to Missouri. This was mostly a family visit and we were so blessed to see a lot more family than we expected:
Wonderful moments with Great Grammie and Great Granddad. “Come on Grammie, let’s run,” says our daughter. “Sorry honey, but that’s not going to happen,” say Grammie (whose legs aren’t up for running these days).
A big dinner with cousins, aunts, uncle and Great Grammie and Granddad.
Staying with Aunt Nancy and Uncle Dwight and celebrating Uncle Dwight’s birthday.
It has been so great to be able to share with all of these people formally and informally about life on the islands, about the hope we have for the work, and the exciting things going on there. We’ve also shared about the struggles of islanders--the fears, the darkness, the uncertainty. If you’ve been reading the story over the past few weeks, you may have felt a sense of that darkness. It is such a blessing to be able to help our friends here understand the darkness that we work against and the hope that we bring. We continue to share and pray.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
Back on the islands...Abby’s homestay is going really well. “The family is amazing!”, she tells us. The storytelling seminar went well, pray for them as the team continues to process how to apply this information in to their sharing. Back in the States...our son’s teeth have moved down quite a bit (after being pushed up in a fall) and they don’t seem to be hurting him anymore. We are making progress toward getting our French visas (there are several hoops before we can even get a consulate appointment). We had a chance to attend some talks as part as a conference held at our old school and we heard some encouraging words.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
Back on the islands... our teammates are getting back into English teaching and school. Pray for our teammate's son who has had some hard days adjusting back to French-based preschool. Pray for all those on the islands working to spread hope and truth. Back in the States.... This long weekend we are at a family reunion with all Tom’s side of the family. Pray for a blessed time with everyone and safe travels for all those coming. We are planning our trips to Maine and Vermont, we pray for God’s leading as we plan those logistics.
