A week of resting after 10 months of running: WHM team leaders meetings

We are sitting in the cozy home of the Stonehouses who have generously agreed to house us on our way to NYC for a two day date (catch up after 10 months dateless) and meeting with our dear friends the Lin-Liaos whom we lived with in Boston.

What a blessed week to meet with the other team leaders for WHM fields that are scattered around the world. Sitting with the East African leaders delegation, I was encouraged by their years of experience and input as we are the newest newbies on the field.

In one week it is hard to imagine so much can happen:

-Lilli had a stomach bug (thank you Grammie for taking care of her!)

-Travis and I were prayed for during the Grace Community Church services (though we missed it because we were in the church lobby talking with supporters! Oops!)

-We met with the Grace short term team that is joining us in January, hearing their personal stories and sharing ours.

-We almost missed our flight through Newark to Philly because the time between the first boarding call and the final call was 30 seconds.

-Travis appreciated the fine molding work behind the Stonehouse’s toilet as he also had the stomach bug the night before the meetings.

-We reconnected with Scott and Jennifer Myhre, sharing stories of life in Bundibugyo, over a mug of pumpkin latte in a cool artsy cafe.

-Topics such as strategic planning, individual personality typing, mobilization process, financial policy, conflict resolution, and team leading were covered in a week of meetings.

-Though Travis was sick, we shared about our journey and work with our dear friends at the Westchester Community Bible Study and were loved by Paul and DeeDee Cass.

-Patton’s broken tooth (that initiated from a fall in Boston to the breaking off in Kenya to the pinhole in Kampala to the major breakage in SC) developed an absess which resulted in an extraction. Thank you, Dr Paul Galloway and Grammie and Poppy for taking good care of Champ! We hear he was rather humorous when he was under the gas!

-We had enough streaming internet to watch our favorite show, Psych, on our computer.

-Having a cell phone with unlimited minutes (our Ugandan phone charges per second), we contacted 6 individuals interested in Bundibugyo.

-We heard from two families that we are friends with in NC that are praying about upcoming vision trips!

-We ate ice cream. And cake. And brownies. All that someone else baked!

-We slept through the night without waking to the call to prayer being played over the mosque loudspeaker at 5am.

-We laughed at stories told around the lunch and dinner tables.

-We took a walk, holding hands, without neighbor children following us or calling “mzungu!”

Though this week was rather full, we needed the time and space for processing among safe and seasoned missionaries. It was restoring for our weary souls. Thank you, WHM, for caring enough to invest in your leadership. And thank you, supporters, for making it possible to attend a week of investment. We feel encouraged.