The last few weeks

The last few weeks have gone by in a blur. On September 12, we became "official." We were appointed to serve in Lisbon, Portugal during a very special service held in Asheville, North Carolina. We spent the week with other people like us who will be living and working around the world. Some people will be in countries we can name. Some will be in countries we cannot say. It was encouraging to be around so many people willing to go, to leave everything behind to share the gospel.

We spent time meeting with trustees of the IMB, which was very encouraging. We were prayed for, and we learned more about the logistics of getting to our countries. We are now beginning the visa process. Pray the visa process goes smoothly and quickly, so we can leave for Portugal at the beginning of April.

While we were at appointment week, Bethany's grandmother got really sick. We received a phone call as we were getting into North Carolina saying she was found unresponsive, and they thought it was a stroke. We were scared and upset and stuck. We had to be at appointment week, but we wanted to be with our family with Mammaw. This really showed me (Bethany) that I might not be as ready to go as I thought I was. I thought I was prepared for facing Mammaw's death and changes in the family from a distance--knowing I couldn't be close. This showed me that knowing these things will happen doesn't mean that I'm ready for them or that they will be easy. But Christ sustains us and comforts us.

We made friends there, and our trustees prayed for Mammaw. By time appointment week ended, we found out Mammaw did not have a stroke--she had a very bad case of pneumonia. They originally said she would not leave the hospital, but by the end of the week, she was getting better.

We were still able to go on the vacation we had planned to the Northeast and parts of Canada. We saw the parts of the country we had left to see. We are filled with love for the U.S. as we are ready to go. In Canada, we spent an evening with the former president of the Portuguese seminary we will be working with, so he was able to advise us, teach us, encourage us, and pray for us. We truly valued this time and feel refreshed.

We changed our vacation some so we could go spend time with Mammaw. By time we got to Mississippi to visit her, she was no longer in the hospital; instead, she was in a nursing home for rehabilitation. God was gracious. He gave us time to go and speak to Mammaw again. He gave us an opportunity to write her a letter to tell her all the things we wanted to tell her. We spent three wonderful hours with her yesterday. We shared pictures from our appointment and from our vacation. We prayed together.

And I'm now optimistic she will get well enough for me to see her again in the spring before I leave. But if that is not the case, we were able to say the important things--to say good bye and to tell her how much she means to us and how she has impacted us.

We will never be ready when these kinds of things happen when we go. They will never be easy. But family encourages us--even if we aren't near. And God sustains us and strengthens us and comforts us.

It may not be easy. It may be lonely at times. But we are called. We see a need. We are ready to go. We are now commissioned. Portugal, here we come.

Pictured above after our appointment service in Asheville, North Carolina.

Paulo and Rute--Portuguese friends in Toronto. Paulo is the former 

president of the Baptist Seminary in Lisbon, Portugal.