Heading Back

I’m writing this before and after Christmas. While I’m writing this, I’m listening to my favorite Christmas cd – “Child of the Promise”. Amidst all the craziness, this helps me put things into perspective. We are scheduled to leave on the 29th, and finally received clearance. The late timing of this has left us in a state of stress and anxiety. We know where we are supposed to be, but all this has its effect on us, In one of the songs on the cd, there is a line, “I thought my life was set”. That has described us so many times in our lives, and then God changes things. Right now we are having to depend on Him and His plan for us. Easier said than done. Yes, we are going back. We will remain there until the summer of 2011. That is when Anna will graduate college and Kenan will graduate high school. We will get him into college and see what God’s plans for Anna are. Between now and the 29th, we have a full schedule. The 19th is our anniversary – 21 years. The 20th and 21st we will be with our friends at Red Bank, in Chattanooga. The evening of the 21st, we will be sharing with a small group from Grace. We have a few appointments that week, one is when Kenan gets the last of his braces off! On Christmas Eve day, we head down to Georgia to see my family. We will celebrate with them. On Christmas morning – once the kids awaken – we will have our Christmas. There are lunch plans with Trish’s family. Both our moms have had surgery. Both made it home before Christmas. And we also will be with other friends, either eating (one of my favorites) or just seeing them.
As we travel back, we will connect with our new teammate, Kirk. We are very excited about how he will be used during his two years. We will get Kenan back into his school, Kirk set up with housing and school, and getting resituated with the work and workers. We will then head south for our last yearly meeting. We will get to reconnect with many friends whom we have not seen in a year, and may not see again.
Speaking of reconnecting with people, we have had a full few months. We have been able to spend lots of time with Anna, who served on a team to Greece right before we returned. Kenan was able to play football while we were here. We spoke over 60 times, to large churches, small churches, and groups in 10 states. We were also able to spend time with many we have not seen in years. We’ve passed out chopsticks, prayer cards, magnets and lots of info on our people. The kids got to visit D.C., the Space and Rocket museum, Baltimore and many other interesting places. We’ve paid $4.99 for gas and $1.34 for gas – and since we traveled about 20,000 miles, we liked the $1.34 much better. We were here while the Olympics were there. We saw the madness that is political campaigning and have confidence that He is in control.
So what does the work look like? We believe that areas that were closed when we left will be reopened. We will still partner with locals and continue training new believers to share and grow the churches that are there. Our big project is an oral Bible. Since most of our people can’t read, written scripture is not an option. We are in the midst of having a national record the scriptures via digital recording. That recording will then be placed on an mp3 type player. The player will be ‘read-only’, nothing can be added or deleted. But it will be able to choose book and chapter so there can be studying of His Word.
So here we are, our last Sunday in America until June 2011. Packed? Close. Too much stuff? Oh yeah. We have been blessed during our time. We have been staying in a house that has become home. We have reconnected with friends and made new ones. We have gotten some rest, but yet stayed pretty busy. We have received tools that will help us in the work as well as partners who will walk alongside us. As 2009 begins, we will just be arriving back home. We are excited – and a little nervous – about what the year will hold, but we do know who holds all things.

Thank you for your prayers and love. We (okay, me) will try to be better at keeping you in formed about the work.
Continue to check our blogs, sometimes it may be pictures, and sometimes words.
http://www.mastersheart.blogspot.com/
http://www.trekkingblaze.blogspot.com/

In Him, For His
Mike, Trish, Anna and Kenan