Times to Cherish!

A while ago, SEND USA asked if it were possible to stop by (Farmington, MI) at some point before retirement so that they could have a time of celebrating with us the years that we served with SEND. (You may remember that we were hindered from attending the SEND North American Area Conference last July due to the sudden death of Laura’s youngest sister.) As our Ontario planned trip began to take shape, we realized we had an opening to stop by on Tuesday, April 30. SEND then planned a chapel service in our honor during which we shared a brief update of our ministry; Laura and Ernie also added to the celebration. Another heart-warming gesture was connecting via a video call with SEND Canada which made it possible for the SEND Canada Director, “Mags,” to be present via video—we saw and heard him and he saw and heard us during the entire time. Both he and the Personnel Director of SEND US shared humbling and encouraging words with us followed by a time of prayer during both the SEND US and Canadian Directors interceded for us. They unveiled a beautifully decorated cake in our honor with “Salamat sa iyong katapatan,” written on it—Tagalog for “Thank you for your faithfulness.” We left deeply blessed and grateful for the mission God has given us the privilege of working with for the past 32 years.

From there we traveled on for yet another rich blessing from the Lord. A few weeks ago we realized that the timing was perfect to connect our trip to the USA SEND office with an opportunity to see our Ugandan colleagues who are currently in the US, Beth and Dennis, who were staying in Elkhart, Indiana. The hosts were a couple that we met in Uganda through Beth; they were wonderful hosts in every way. What a joy to see all of them again and get caught up somewhat with current happenings in VOICE Africa in Uganda, among the South Sudanese refugees, also in South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. Laughter, sighs of wishing we had the answer to some complex situations, expressions of praise over victories, and prayer times were plentiful. The hours went by too quickly but we’ll cherish both of these special times for a long time to come.