Oregon Trip

Peter —  October 15, 2016

I (Peter) had a great trip to Portland and Sunriver with my colleague, Mike.  We went primarily to run a Cor Deo Intensive, as well as a one-day seminar, and for me to preach in two churches.  We also thoroughly enjoyed hanging out as I showed Mike my old neighbourhood (it still feels like I’m going home, even though I was the foreigner who married the local!)  We stayed with Melanie’s sister and family, which was great.  We also enjoyed a few chances to eat at some old favourites places, such as the Mongolian Grill I used to eat at fairly regularly when I was living and working in the area (I can’t believe the same guy is still working the grill after all these years!)

The Intensive went extremely well.  We had a full house with 20 of us present, made up mostly of folks from Westside Bible Fellowship (our sending church).  We so appreciated the tone in the room, the eagerness to learn, the openness for God’s Word to challenge, etc.  This was the second Intensive that Mike and I have led together and again it was a very enjoyable few days.

We then had a day to travel down to Central Oregon where we enjoyed a one-day seminar at Community Bible Church in Sunriver on the Saturday, and then being with the church on Sunday morning.  We headed back up to Portland only to discover our flight had been cancelled and we had been rebooked on a flight through Chicago.  This meant two “red-eye” flights on consecutive nights as we flew overnight to Chicago, and then overnight to London.  Thankfully we were able to get a few hours of sleep at the house of some kind friends in Chicago, plus a bonus meal in America, before we got home tired but safe at 7:30 on Tuesday morning.

Thanks for your prayers for this trip – it really was one answered prayer after another, and we thank God for the blessing of this trip.  Now if only I could sleep at the right time!  (Actually it is quite a busy season here at home with visits to Guildford and Union School of Theology, as well as preaching at Trinity Chippenham on Sundays, etc.)

Here are a couple of pictures you might enjoy:

img_4940

When we arrived in Portland we took a little driving tour and saw places like Multnomah, where I studied until 2004.

 

Even in October we got to enjoy some stunning weather as we drove down to Central OR

Even in October we got to enjoy some stunning weather as we drove down to Central OR

 

After the one-day seminar in Sunriver we drove out past Mt Batchelor for views like this (is this South Sister, or Broken Top? Not sure!)

After the one-day seminar in Sunriver we drove out past Mt Batchelor for views like this (is this South Sister, or Broken Top? Not sure!)

 

An 11-hour layover in Chicago meant sleep and an opportunity to enjoy the famous Chicago style pizza - a bonus US meal!

An 11-hour layover in Chicago meant sleep and an opportunity to enjoy the famous Chicago style pizza – a bonus US meal!