Cross Country

Having become somewhat habituated to living in a tiny West African countries where you can drive across the country in less than a couple of hours, our recent travels have left me a overwhelmed at how vast a country America is, and how amazing it is that we can so easily navigate across it. We've looked at different ministry opportunities in Louisiana, Texas, and Oregon. We've come away from each place with the feeling that we could happily live and minister in any one of them. As God unfolds his will for us, I'm thankful for the rich variety of experiences that we have had. We see God at work in so many places (could it be everywhere?), and we are blessed to be his co-workers--right now in Birmingham but, so it would seem, soon to be somewhere else.

Here are a few photos from our journeys.

Jeremy & Jonathan over the Mississippi River at Vicksburg.

We were thrilled to spend some time with our Togo teammates, the Hollands, in Abilene. Here Jeremy and J onathan hang out with their old friends Rebecca and Elliana. My first words upon entering the Hollands' home were, "You have your stuff!" We can't wait to get ours out of storage, but are grateful to the folks in Tyler, TX who are storing the things we shipped from Africa.

I'm afraid we may have overwhelmed the Albany, TX church with our "cheering section" who came to see us. The Baileys (left), former missionaries to Benin, now live in Brownwood. Andy & Rhonda Wilson (right), teammates from Benin, live in Albany, where Andy is assistant school principal. In addition, the Hollands (Togo/Abilene) and the McVeys (Ghana/Clyde), showed up at worship Sunday morning. It was a great West Africa reunion.

After beautiful West Texas, our next trip took us to the Pacific Northwest. We had a chance to see God's handiwork, both in nature and among his people. Above is the Columbiana River just as it reaches the Portland area, and below is an aerial view of Mt. Hood. I do need to dispel any nasty rumors that you may have heard concerning the weather in Portland. We had beautiful weather in the 80s with clear skies for both flights. The view alone was worth the price of the air tickets!