Missionary Kids

You know we have been doing too much travelling when the kids make believe "customs." The other day Gracey was pretending to be the customs official, Sam was the traveller, and Betsy was the bomb-sniffing dog. Sam would bring his "luggage" and Gracey would ask for his id. Then Betsy would check the bags. Then Sam would go back and do it again. They did this over and over. I almost died laughing.

Please pray that our kids would be rooted and established in Christ as they go through a lot of transition. May we all find our identity in Christ.

Peace and Quiet

I got home last Monday night. We've enjoyed a week of catching up on sleep, going through two months of mail, laundry, and unpacking all but 2 of our 12 suitcases. Many people are asking when we are leaving for the Philippines. We are waiting for some info from the field and getting things squared away with the home office. We should be able to give you a better idea by March 1. In the meantime please pray for us as we get stuff ready to ship. Please pray for wisdom in the many decisions facing us during this transition.

We're Back!

We are back in the United States! We returned to Atlanta Sunday evening, February 4th. My Grandpa Vaughn passed away early Sunday morning. Tuesday I flew to Las Vegas, Nevada for the funeral. Last Thanksgiving, Grandpa wandered off in a demented state. He ended up hiking 35 miles to Red Rock one of his favorite spots. He was found a day and a half later walking back. The day after the funeral, we hiked Red Rock in memory of Grandpa. We are thankful for the two extra months to spend with him. Gracey, Betsy, and I got to visit with him last Christmas. I returned to Atlanta this morning and took Heather and the kids to the airport where they flew to Wichita. I am currently in Chattanooga, TN where I will speak at a Sunday school at Covenant Presbyterian tomorrow. From there I will drive home. Please pray that God will give us peace and rest following our two months of travel. We need to recharge our physical and spiritual batteries for more transition ahead.

Thank you to the many of you who have been praying faithfully. And I especially want to thank our small group at Heartland who turned on the hot water heater, bought groceries, and had a hot meal waiting for Heather this evening.

Here are the newsletters our group put together over the last four weeks in Belgium:

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

To view the PDF, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader:

Little Morroco

Heather and I spent the day in Little Morroco on the border of Scharbeek where we have been working. We loved the food, the people, and the music. Heather said it was more fun to hang out down there than sightseeing in Brussels. One of the things that struck us was all the kids. We've rarely seen couples with more than two children. But this neighborhood was teaming with kids and young people. The traditional Europeans have a low birthrate while the immigrant population is booming. I wonder what the demographics will look like in 100 years.

We ate hummus and kabobs at an Egyptian restaurant and had tea at a Morrocan tea house. Everything reminded us of our Algerian neighbors in Wichita.

Tomorrow we have presentations summarizing what we have learned. We have made incredible friendships here and though we are looking forward to going home, we will miss the community we have experienced.