Poured Out

Just to let you know that the travel went really well yesterday.  We left home at 8:30, wandered through Heathrow Airport without delays, flew for 8.5 hours with the children handling things extremely well.  As we were sitting at the gate Joel kept looking out of the window and asking me, “Are we flying yet?”  He grabbed my hand and said gently, “I’m scared, a little.”  Very cute.  He doesn’t remember flying before, so this felt like a first for him.  After sitting at the gate for what felt like ages the plane starting pulling back from the gate.  ”Are we tilting?”  I asked where he heard the word “tilting” and he replied, “I made it up.”  Anyway, he fell asleep before the drinks came round, so I had to wake him for lunch (and therefore he didn’t sleep again).  Ah well, we made it to Chicago where Aunt Carol was waiting for us.  We arrived at around 5pm, although it did feel a lot like 1am (UK time).  The children are delighted to be here, of course, and we’re looking forward to the next few weeks too.  Now the only problem is keeping them all quiet at 5:30 in the morning!

The front room is now full of large duffel bags (how do you spell that word?)  and we are ready to go.  Time for a quick shower, packing of the toothbrush and a brief breakfast.  I’m reminded of the chasm of difference between the experience of travelling alone (which I know well), and the experience of travelling across the ocean with four little people as a tag team of parents.  At least this time we don’t have any tiny people, and really just one total non-reader to entertain (although Joel thinks he can read, which might be useful today).  We fly at lunch time on a Continental flight operated by United – just nine hours.  The children are very excited.  We’ll see if they have any energy left at the other end where their excitement will be mirrored by Melanie’s aunt waiting for us!  We should have email access in the next weeks, so please stay in touch.  We fly on to Portland on May 20th.  Thanks for praying for us during this trip.

This afternoon we were driving over to Otford Manor when we had a tire blowout.  We were on the motorway travelling at 70mph, without warning, boom!  The back right tire blew out completely.  Thankfully we were able to get across a couple of lanes and onto the hard shoulder without further incident.  It could have been so much worse!  It’s a bit disconcerting having trucks speeding past three feet behind you as your changing the wheel, but with a bit of help from a good friend we were able to get the wheel changed and carry on to the Manor (slowly, for the spare is a space saver).  Aliyah was a bit distressed by it all, but we are all thankful that it wasn’t much more serious.  So easy to take safety for granted when you’re traveling all the time, but a good reminder that we are always moments away from disaster!

The volcano issue was interesting last week when airports were closed for a few hours.  Now they have been closed for a few days and problems are mounting for many around us.  We have friends missing holidays, others missing missions trips, others whose businesses are in jeopardy.  Our friend Ron Frost was supposed to be flying in to London tonight, but he is stuck in Estonia for now.  Cor Deo has a trustee’s meeting on Wednesday, but we’ll have to mark Ron as absent . . . which is a shame since these meetings always feel more like fellowship than just business.  Tomorrow I have a meeting that several key people are unable to attend.  Friday I’m supposed to be flying to Belfast for a conference on Saturday, but we’ll have to see what happens in the next couple of days.  Next week we’re scheduled to fly to Chicago, so as the week progresses I suspect the children will grow more nervous.  It’s amazing how one volcano in Iceland can create such widespread problems.  We can only imagine what the world would be like if things were really let loose.

I understand many have been praying for me this week and I really appreciate that.  This post will be necessarily short, but I plan on writing a more complete report for prayer partners who want to request that.  The conference went ahead almost without adjustment despite all the “normal” happenings (for some parts of the world) transpiring outside the walls.  God has protected and blessed us this week.  It was such a blessing to work with the people returning from last year and to see the progress in their lives and ministries.  It is a week that I won’t forget in a hurry for multiple reasons!

I had a long night in the airport – safe, but noisy (if only someone would press pause on the PA announcements in the middle of the night!)  Flights home today went smoothly.  My two colleagues are scheduled to fly out tonight.  Amazingly a man I spent the first flight chatting with last week had rearranged his return travel and we were on the same flight again today.  It was great to see Melanie again, and the children, of course.  Everyone in the house is extra tired tonight, so we’re hitting the hay early.  If you are going to see us in person, please ask about this week and the encouragements we’ve seen.  If you’re not going to see us, I’ll try and do something of a report to share the encouragement with you.

As always, thank you so much for praying for me while I’ve been away – it means so much and certainly makes a difference.  Melanie and I have both had a very peaceful week!

Peter texted me from Moscow to say he arrived there. His flight should be landing in London in just over 2 hrs. time! Thanks to everyone who has prayed for his safety. God has given me his peace throughout the past few days in a way I have not really experienced before.  I attribute that to so many people praying!  Thanks to everyone who texted, phoned and emailed and PRAYED, especially prayed the Scriptures for Peter.  Quite a few people let me know they were praying Psalm 91 for Peter . . . God’s word is powerful and so very precious.

The next post on here should be from Peter.  I’m sure he will have adventures to share and most importantly, how God worked in the lives of the people he was there to minister to.  Please keep praying for the situation in the country – for peace and for the God to bless his church with an explosion of growth through this difficult time in their nation.

Peter made it to the airport safely and now has a long wait til his flight (about 10 more hours). So far flight is on schedule. Thanks for praying! It looks like he’ll make it home tomorrow! God is good.

Peter should currently be travelling to the airport.  He said he should be there by 2pm British time so if you are reading this before that, please pray for a safe journey.  I will update the site when I hear more.

I was able to speak to Peter on the phone a few hours ago. . .  Peter’s colleague is very ill so Peter has been doing all the teaching.  Pray for stamina for him.  One more day of teaching tomorrow and then he needs to get to the airport.  I still feel amazingly calm and Peter does too.  He even texted me a funny poem this morning about his situation so he is keeping his sense of humour.  God is definitely at work, guarding our hearts with his peace.  It has been a beautiful sunny day here and the we have enjoyed a visit from Peter’s sister and her family.  The children loved playing out in the garden with their cousins and it was a nice distraction to keep my mind from worrying.  Life continues on as normal for us and we hope and pray to have Peter back safely on Saturday.  (Please do not talk to the children about Peter’s situation as I am not wanting to scare them.)

Peter is safe at the moment but please pray that he stays safe in light of the major events going on in the country. I am not sure if the teaching programme will continue tomorrow or not, but in case it is please pray for effective ministry and for God to work in people’s hearts through what is happening in their nation. Also pray that he can get out of the country when he is supposed to on Friday. The kids and I are fine. They don’t know what’s going on where Peter is as I don’t want to alarm them. Pray for stamina for me, taking care of them alone and for me to sleep well tonight with a peaceful heart. Thanks to everyone who is praying. I have been able to text with Peter all day but phones seem to be down so haven’t spoken to him. I actually feel quite calm and Peter says he is feeling the same.