MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 01-08-2009

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Greetings from sunny southern California! We had a great Christmas break, but on January 1 it was back to work. We drove out to California and are out here 'til mid-February for a series of meetings. We just finished up a missions conference in Central Coast Baptist Church with Pastor William Wallace. We had a great meeting, with Bro. Mike McCombie as the speaker, and are enjoying the warm weather while folks in the MidWest are suffering with the usual frigid winter weather. We are at 80% of our support at the moment, and are on track to be done with deputation by the Fall. Pray that our support will come up dramatically in the next few months, and that we'll be ready to go to the field soon.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 11-27-2008

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Happy Thanksgiving! On Sunday morning, we were in Ketchikan, AK, and last night around 8 PM we finally got home to St. Louis. It was quite a ride! Our ship out of Ketchikan was delayed because of high wind. Once we got underway, it got steadily worse. Anna was in the stern where she could see out, and I had the kids in our berth watching a movie. Then it got bad very quickly. I realized that we were going to have puking kids on our hands if I didn't act, so I quick got everything secured, turned out the light, and made everybody lay down. I was fighting the nausea myself, because as it turned out, we were experiencing 25 foot swells, and 105 mph winds. I couldn't stand up to go check on Anna, because the boat was rocking so violently, and because every time I got up, the nausea and dizziness got really bad. I don't get seasick typically, so I discovered that it takes 25 foot waves to get me there.

I knew Anna must be about dead if I was feeling queasy, but I couldn't get to her, so I just prayed she was alright and waited for the sea to settle down. It took two hours to get out of Dixon Sound and back to sheltered water. The boat would ride up the wave, then slide back down as the Captain fought to keep the ferry from rolling over. Huge waves would come crashing over the bow, and I had to assure the kids we weren't going to drown. Gaelin was lying in the berth with me. He thought it was fun. "Dad, this is fun! The boat keeps going up and down!” he'd say. I didn't find it very fun, however.

The boat finally settled down, and my dizziness cleared up, so I got the kids situated and went to check on my poor wife. She was on the other end of the ferry lying on a pile of mats. I was correct. The seasickness had wiped her out. She couldn't move without vomiting, and I'm not talking about polite vomiting either. One move at the peak of the storm, and she'd be right in the bathroom trying to eject her entire digestive tract. She finally found a prone position that worked, covered her face with her coat, and waited for it to be over. I was able to get her back to the room, but it was very hard for her to walk because of the vertigo. We were very glad to make it back to nice, stable dry land.

Then began our long journey home. We drove to Smithers, BC that night, and made it to Seattle, WA by 10 PM on Monday. Thanks for praying. The weather was perfect. The roads were dry and the weather was clear, with no precipitation of any kind the whole way. We pulled out of Seattle Tuesday morning, and it took 34 hours to get to St. Louis. I drove through the night to Fargo, ND, and then handed the wheel over to Anna and got some sleep. Then I drove us the rest of way from Sioux City, IA, and we finally made it home last night. It is very good to finally be home. We will be making the rounds of our parents' homes today, and enjoying Thanksgiving together.

God bless you all. Have a great Thanksgiving!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 11-20-2008

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Greetings from Ketchikan! Thanks for praying. Our travels have gone smoothly so far, and everyone's healthy. We had great meetings in Gateway Baptist Church (Pastor John Judson) on Ketchikan, and in New Hope Baptist Church (Pastor Richard Ensley). God has blessed and provided every step of the way up here in Alaska, and we are now preparing to head home.

I'm getting the tire put on the back tomorrow. It finally caught up with us, days before we are set to return home to Missouri. I got in touch with Wings of Alaska, an air courier service in Haines that handles FedEx shipments, and they had my tire shipped from Haines to Ketchikan in two days. We are in Ketchikan until Sunday, when the ferry to Prince Rupert, BC leaves, beginning the first leg of our long return trip. Pray for clear roads and good weather. There is much that can go wrong on the Alcan between Prince Rupert and Seattle this time of year. Pray for the driving as we try to get home in time for Thanksgiving. Anna and I are going to drive in shifts after we stay the night in Seattle until we get home to St. Louis.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 11-09-2008

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Greetings from Tok, AK! We drove up from Kenai today, and are staying the night before heading back to Haines tomorrow to catch the ferry to Ketchikan. Our tire failed to arrive in time (no surprise), so I got a non-studded snow tire put on the back so at least we wouldn't have to drive with one all-weather radial all the way to Fairbanks. We drove up to Fairbanks on that, and had a great meeting in Hamilton Acres Baptist Church (Pastor Bruce Hamilton). I spoke in their Christian school chapel, and had the Wednesday night service to present our work and preach. We drove from Fairbanks down to Kenai, and gained 30 degrees of warmth in the process (it was -10 degrees Fahrenheit the morning we left). We made it just in time for the Thursday night service of Immanuel Baptist Church's missions conference (Pastor Ray Boutwell), and finished out the week today. While here, I also got the opportunity to preach in Jubilee Baptist Church in Sterling (Pastor Nick Bickish), a young church newly planted there.

Immanuel Baptist Church has supported us for three years now. The last time I was here, I was still a part-time missionary, and came to Alaska alone. I was glad to get the opportunity to bring my whole family to see the folks at Immanuel.

We took the kids on a hike on Saturday, and afterwards, we got to go shooting. All five kids got to shoot a .22 rifle, even Gaelin. They were so proud of themselves! Anna and I shot a larger caliber, scoped-rifle. You can see all our current pictures in the Gallery.

Pray for us as we finish up the drive to Haines, and as we make our ferry trip to Ketchikan. Pray for the meetings that remain and our long drive home in a few weeks. The kids are suffering from fevers, so pray for their recovery. Pray the tire shows up. I have no great hope that UPS will get it there in time, since they have been very consistent in their inability to make deadlines. We will have to work out some way to get the tire to Ketchikan I think when they once again miss the boat. Pray for us!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 10-30-2008

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Greetings from Juneau, AK! The tire saga continues, as UPS FAILED to get me my tire in time on Friday. It arrived on Monday. In Whitehorse, YT. We're in Juneau. Big help, UPS. The good news, though, is that KalTire has a 30-day no-hassle money-back guarantee, so I got a full refund for the Canadian tires I bought. Yet, the tire failed to show up, so I had to get the three good snow tires put back on, and our all-weather radial spare put in the back. We were delayed getting out of Whitehorse due to the whole fiasco with the tire, but we decided to make the drive to Skagway anyway. It was 107 miles over a mountain pass, with one bum tire, and only two hours to make the drive. There was quite a bit of snow as we headed up to the pass, although they had plowed and put down gravel. Nonetheless, it resulted in two hours of white-hot terror as I attempted to get us to Skagway in time and not get us all killed in the process. We made it, with 15 minutes to spare and they let us on the ship. We had just enough time.

I'm very glad I decided to risk the trip through the pass, because we had two great meetings here, with Bethany Baptist Church (Pastor John Bigelow) and Lighthouse Baptist Church (Pastor Joe Michler) respectively. We had great meetings and the LORD blessed. I'm glad people came to Juneau to plant churches, and stay here, even though it's remote.

Juneau is, in fact, a rainforest (yes, a rainforest in Alaska), and lived up to that status most of the time we were here. We got to see the governor's mansion, where Sarah Palin lives when not out campaigning. We visited the Alaska State Museum, where we saw a variety of items of interest from Alaska's long and varied history.

The last day, today, the miraculous happened – the weather cleared up, the clouds departed, and we had one of those rare clear, beautiful days in Juneau. We went out and spent the day at the Mendenhall Glacier, hiking around the trails, taking pictures, and getting ourselves very cold and tired by the time we got done. We got some gorgeous pictures of the breathtaking scenery here, which I'll post in the Gallery when I get a chance.

Tomorrow, we ship out to Haines. We stay the weekend in Haines, while we wait for our tire to catch up with us. They are shipping it on Monday by way of a Canadian shipping company called Purolator, which has a truck that runs out to Haines on Mondays. Pray it actually makes it this time. I'm quite tired of dealing with this whole mess, and would like to have four good snow tires on the car before attempting to drive up to Fairbanks on Tuesday. Pray for that drive, that all would go well and that we would all be safe.