Whirlwind Travels and Conferences

We are just catching up with ourselves, our mail, and some of our suitcases. Not to mention our very-much neglected blogs!

Since my last post we have been in a whirlwind of travel and activity that I can only summarize briefly.

Joy and the other missionary wives who lead the Pastors' Wives Retreat gave a good report of the retreat held at El Prado Baptist Camp. Several of the Ecuadorian ladies mentioned that the fellowship, refreshment, and lessons were a blessing. Joy participated in spite of being smitten with the flu.

Upon ending the retreat Joy returned to Manta for Sunday services and then we packed for our trip to the States. We left home on Monday via Quito, and from there through Miami to Detroit, Michigan on Tuesday. What a climate change! It was about 10 degrees (F) in Detroit. We had felt that we were getting over our sickness, but by midnight Tuesday when we checked in to our hotel room we were exhausted.

Our first Missions Conference was at our home church in Flint, Michigan. We had a tremendous time of renewing our friendships there, catching up on news, and getting to know the new pastor and his wife. David Chittenden and Vicky are doing a great job of leading the church forward while keeping the outstanding emphasis of the church on world evangelism. The snowfall in Flint was a lot of fun for Teddy. He even got to ride a snowmobile!

Next we went to Knoxville, TN and another one of our favorite churches, West Park Baptist Church. This large and still-growing congregation treated us like royalty and provided many opportunities for us to share our vision for the work in Manta with small groups throughout the week and in the Sunday evening service. Several of the families of the church shared meals with us, and one family took Teddy to the circus.

Finally, we had a break in the action, and on Monday of this week I flew to Miami to pick up a car, and on Tuesday I drove it to Tennessee.

Pray for us this week as we visit a supporting church in Bremerton, WA.