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Wrapping up one’s life in the States is certainly time-consuming.   Our final three weeks we’re spent taking on the task of scaling down our possessions one last time.  The photo above indicates all that’s left of our worldly belongings (besides our keepsakes), some of which Scott’s family will bring to us once we get to our final destination in Mexico (sometime in 2009). 

One of our big praises for this post was the incredible timing of the sale of our car.  Our plan was to rent a car on Tuesday, before we were to leave for Texas on Friday, in order to transport the stuff Scott’s family would be keeping for us.  We picked up the car at noon on Tuesday and our car sold at 4:30 that afternoon!!  We know it was God’s miraculous timing!!  Thanks to all who were praying specifically for it to sell!!

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Saying goodbye to family and friends was bitter sweet.  On our trip back to Oklahoma City from Richmond we had one more opportunity to visit with family and friends.  What an encouragement they’ve been every step of the way.  During our stop in Kansas City, we experienced some car trouble.  Thanks to Greg Sower’s expertise (in the white shirt in the photo), we were able to get back on the road in a timely manner.  We are so thankful that God has graced us with wonderful family and friends who will be faithful to lift us up while we are on the field.

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It’s hard to believe on September 28th of this year Scott and I celebrated 11 years of marriage.  This year, Scott promised to take me to Costa Rica (ha! ha!).  I think I’ll take him up on it!  Jim surprised us with this cake, which was a nice touch.  God has been so faithful to guide our path as we’ve walked in obedience to Him. We know He will continue to be faithful as we journey into our new life ahead.

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September 14:  With subway and bus routes, a map of the city, and Gospel tracts in hand, our team set out to locate Bladensburg, MD also known as “Little Mexico”.  Five subway stops and two bus rides later, we had finally made it to our destination.  Once we got off the bus, we would need to walk about seven blocks to get to the Mexican Restaurant we had researched, known for their great Mexican cuisine, called El Tapatio. 

Once we arrived, the sign on the door indicated the restaurant was CLOSED due to plumbing problems.  Ugh!  It was 2:30 pm and we were starving!!  We asked around to see if there was another Mexican restaurant in the area and about 15 minutes later, we arrived at The Mermaid.  I was a little reluctant to eat there, but then again it was almost three o’clock and we hadn’t eaten since 7:30 am.  Needless to say, they served us the best Mexican tacos we had ever eaten!!  We inhaled our food and caught our next bus 20 minutes later.  I believe we caught a small glimpse of what our life will be like in Latin America!!

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The Cultural Worship time has been a really neat experience.  The first week it was a mixture of Spanish songs, Korean scripture reading and a prayer in Chinese.  The second week was worship South Asia style, which meant we all sat on the floor and sang songs in Hindi (well, we attempted to sing…).

The third week was a Korean worship service.  This time we all sat on the floor with the women and men segregated.  We learned that before 1860, there were no Christians in Korea.  Now, Korea is the second largest missionary sending country (US being first).  The speaker blessed us all with his testimony of being orphaned at a young age and how an orphanage missionary showed him love and led him to Christ.

This fourth week was the Latin America service which meant it was exciting, very interactive and full of life!!  Most of the songs and the message were in Spanish (with interpretation), but we couldn’t exclude the Brazilians, so we had a prayer and a kid’s song in Portuguese.

Last week’s worship experience took us outside under a tree which is typical for worship services in Africa.  There are so many things we take for granted, like our song services complete with PowerPoint.  When church is outside, songs must be memorized or, in our case, written on poster board.

I would love to share more pictures of these services with you, but unfortunately, some here will be going to countries where the Gospel is not welcomed and by putting their pictures on our blog would put them at risk.

Please take some time right now to pray for the missionaries going to countries closed to the Gospel.

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