A Season of Travel
Last week kicked off a season that will most likely continue to be a blur for us until January. Our time in South Carolina and Georgia was a joy, meeting with our friends in a missions conference at Westminster Presbyterian in Rock Hill, but also reuniting with our daughters Abigail and Emily (in Dahlonega, GA and Rock Hill, SC).
We also were able to meet with Anya D., our very close friend who we worked with in Odessa, helped to evacuate to Brasov, and now has relocated to Lawrenceville, GA. Her life has been nothing but change since the war began and we’re amazed at her resiliency.
Now we’re back in Brasov, trying to convince our bodies that it’s okay to sleep at night. The basic rule for jetlag is that you need one day to adapt for every hour time change, so it should just be a week, but when you travel over the Atlantic for a week, and then turn around and come right back, it really does a number on your brain, so it might be a big longer.
Next week we’ll take a few days with our team in the mountains to regroup, pray, and plan for the next season, but much of it has already been laid out.
Immediately following our team retreat, I (Bob) will start a two day trip driving a van loaded with humanitarian aid to Bucharest where I’ll pick up another traveler coming in from America, and then into Ukraine for two days. My hope is to be back in Brasov in time to lead church on Sunday morning.
The following week I’ll repeat the same trip, but with a different traveler.
The next week I’ll drive to L’viv Ukraine and back, and then two weeks later I fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a week long global MTW meeting for team leaders.
A few weeks after that our family will fly to the States for Abigail’s graduation, and we’ll stay in the States for a few weeks to celebrate Christmas with family.
I’m really not complaining - we are extremely thankful for the work that God has called us to and we’re glad we can be used. Often we look at this senseless war with frustration that there is so little we can do, so we look forward to any opportunity to help out in some way. Just typing these things out, however, makes me mentally tired. Each trip to Ukraine involves about 32 hours of driving, and takes it's toll, mentally and physically - I’d appreciate your prayers. Please also pray that my car will make these trips. It’s a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe, and in the past year we’ve had to replace most of the engine, the brakes, the starter, the turbo, the wheels, and some damage to the body. I think my mechanic is going to dedicate a new bay to me. It’s got 300,000 km on it, and these trips can be rough, but so far it’s gotten me home every time. Pray it’ll continue to do so. Whatever comes our way though, we know that our God is good, and faithful. Whatever He allows is for a purpose, and a good one at that.
Thank you Pastor Honeycutt (& Judy) for the hospitality you showed us in Rock Hill, and for the great conversations (I especially enjoyed the Smokewagon fireside chat the last evening! :-) May God bless all of you at WPC and continue to use you as an instrument of His grace.
