The Show Me State

We are back home again in Indiana after soaking up some rays in the Sunshine State, launching through the Gateway Arch, and diving into pure Michigan.

Our whirlwind tour, a phrase which here means traveling for 16 days, through multiple states, consisting of over 30 hours in the car, a couple of plane rides, and some very good news, has come to a close. We now have travel arrangements to depart for Kenya on August 14th!

Leaving for Marco Island, Fl for a family vacation, question marks surrounded us. Will we raise enough money? When will we leave? What should we be doing? What are we forgetting? We flew into St. Louis for missionary orientation, where we spent about a week and a half listening, learning, and discussing issues related to traveling, cross cultural experiences, and most importantly the Missio Dei. During our time at the LCMS International Center, God brought pieces together financially and logistically to allow us to move forward and book plane tickets for Kenya! We praise God for His wisdom and provision.

Char and Tim outside our hotel saying good bye,
as Tim and Megan left for Michigan.

Our time in the Show Me State was blessed not only with meaningful worship and loads of information, but we also with extraordinary connections, a phrase here which means meeting a friend of Tim's mother, who served with her as a missionary in Japan over 20 years ago. That's us in the picture. Meeting Char was a wonderful highlight from our time in St. Louis. Each day in St. Louis we had been traveling to and from the IC on hotel shuttle vans. The second week, some more people joined our group to work with missionaries teaching English as a foreign language.  Char was one of these ladies. During one of the 20 minute commutes back to our hotel we spoke with Char. Eventually our conversation led to the realization that Char and Lois (Tim's mom) lived in Japan and both served with Volunteer Youth Ministry. Both in seeing Char and speaking with Lois on the phone, we could see the joy and love between fellow mission colleagues and friends. We are amazed and humbled to witness God's hand at work in our lives in ways begun long before we were even born.

From St. Louis, currents blew us north to Michigan to celebrate two of our friends getting married. The cool Lake Michigan breeze refreshed us after the humidity of 90 degree Missouri weather. With the turbulence of travel dying down, Keep us in your prayers as we work through all the final necessities before departing for Kenya. The Lord be with you.