We drove back
from Vermont this past week and got to see the damaged roads left behind by Hurricane Irene’s flooding. On one mountain pass Tom was swerving out into the middle of the deserted road to avoid the worst of the holes and cracks that had been filled with dirt. “I feel like I’m driving back on the islands,” Tom said.We laughed. We’ve only been in the States for a few months but we’ve already been spoiled by all the smooth roads. They’re everywhere, every town and almost every neighborhood in the US has these nice paved roads. Even little used roads are often in good shape. On the islands only the biggest roads are paved but they aren’t necessarily maintained. Some of the major arteries in the capital are so potholed that you have to drive them at a crawl and hope you don’t have a low-riding car.
Our trip from Vermont was our first road trip over 3 hours (most of our travels have been flying). We dutifully put our kids into their car seats, put the music on and hit the road. But it wasn’t too long ago that a road trip meant sitting with a child on our lap, crammed onto the bench seats in the back of the team truck, waiting to see if Chris (our team leader) was going to pick up another person thumbing for a ride and trying to entertain the kids through all the bumps with singing and stories.
We have a map of the island that we have been using when we share with people about the work there. “How big is the island?” comes the common question. I started by answering with the facts I knew, “Well it usually takes over an hour to get from the capital to this city at the northern tip (perhaps 1/4 of the way around the island).” “Well how many miles is that?”, the follow-up question came. At first I struggled to look at the map’s key, when I remembered-- that is the route of the island marathon. “About 26 miles.” “So that means, you’re only going 25 mph?” “Yeah, I guess we are.” (And that’s on a pretty good stretch of road by island standards.)
So by island rate, our trip home from Vermont should have taken more than 8 hours. Yet another thing to be thankful for...it took less than 4.
PRAYERS ANSWERED Tom’s approval came! So we now have our appointment at the French consulate, which should be the last step in the visa process. We are excited to be so close to having that settled. We made it safely from Vermont and didn’t have to deal with snowy roads at all. Thanks for praying.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
We have opportunities to share at our church and youth group this weekend, pray that it goes well and that people get excited about God’s work in the world. Continue to pray for our friends on the islands-- we tried to skype with the islands this week and didn’t get through. Pray for the islanders and others that are right now doing their great religious pilgrimage-- pray that they might find truth.
