Where oh where to begin? We could begin at the end and just tell you: “We are back in Michigan!” But then you might not read on. So, just forget the end of the story and let’s go back three weeks to the beginning when we first asked you to “walk by faith” with us to see God bring us back to the States for our delayed Home Assignment.
Three weeks ago, we celebrated our last Sunday in the village with the believers. It was a day of mostly joy, but there were also a few tears as we said good-bye to our friends, brothers and sisters-in-the-Lord, and also to our family pets.
At that time, throughout the Philippines, new cases of covid had spiked to all-time highs and the country was locking down, again. As a result, flights were canceled both domestically and internationally. Amazingly, the one flight we booked two months ago to fly domestically in the Philippines, was the one flight our airline did not cancel even though the plane was less than 20% full. Likewise, the flight from Manila to Los Angeles was cancelled several times the week before our flight, but wasn’t cancelled on the day of our flight.
As we walked by faith together, the Lord continued to leave the path open for our return, exactly the way we planned it 2 months ago. There were no last-minute cancelations or last-minute flight changes. Exactly as the Lord provided our tickets two months ago, is exactly how He brought us back to the States.
So, now we can share with you the end of the story: “We are back in Michigan!”
Now with it all behind us, would we want to do it again? No way, especially not the covid test!
During these past few weeks, we asked you to walk by faith with us in our travels back to the States. Now, just as important, we ask you to walk by faith with us as we begin our Home Assignment. Most of you are now used to the new normal, but we don’t know yet what the new normal is like in Michigan. In one of our layovers yesterday, we witnessed something that made our family a little uncomfortable. During that event, one of our kids asked: “Can we go back to the Philippines?” We expect this Home Assignment to be full of new experiences. Unfortunately, we will probably learn by unknowingly doing something we thought was ok. So, we have much to learn, especially when our quarantine is over. Thank you all, again, for walking with us.
We look forward to seeing many of you during our Home Assignment. Check out our current schedule entitled “Coming to an area near you!” (Found below on a mobile device, found to the right on a pc device). If your church is in Michigan, and you would like us to come, fellowship, and share, please send us an email or go to our “contact” page and send us a message.