Teresa & the kids have safely arrived back in Canada. They had cancelled flights, re routed flights, a short 24 hour vacation in Los Angeles paid for by Korean Air, a great time with Aunt Jenna for her wedding, a short stay in Toronto with family & then flew to awaiting family at the airport. It's hard to believe that it has been 3.5 years since we left for Mongolia.Please continue to pray for Teresa & the kids as they adjust to Canada.
As for me, the ywam team from Perm Russia left this morning after living with me for 10 days. It was really nice to have them with me, someone to cook with/for, to serve with them, to serve them, to minster to them, to build a friendship & to practice my Russian. Please pray for me because I am really, really tired. Between still serving others here I am meeting all of the Mongolians, Russians & other foreigners I have served to say good bye. This means spending hours together each day eating, talking, laughing, praying, & crying. I usually have 4-6 appointments everyday until I leave. To be honest I didn't think that I had served this many people, but now that they have been calling me asking to come for meals, coffee or tea to say good bye do I now realize how many people I have met/served here.
Next week I will be traveling to another country to rest most impotently, but also to see if there are possibilities to serve. Please pray for this time. God & I are still working on placing Mongolia into his hands & the world for what is next. I am not totally ready to return to Canada yet. I have been asking God for answers as to what is next & all he keeps telling me is to rest because in his time will share with us what is next.
Teresa & the kids have been gone for a while, the kids cats are gone, all the furniture except Esme's bed is gone. The TV will go tomorrow. The kitchen cupboards are almost totally bare & the fridge has many empty shelves.
I got up at 5am this morning to feed the ywam team their last meal before going back to Russia. After they left I got my camera to walk around taking pictures of home & some places I will miss around home. The one thing I will miss the most: "speaking Mongolian & practicing Russian with my friends"
Please pray for a dear friend Lori. Wes her husband passed away last night. This is a real shock for me. Lori & Wes were part of our ywam DTS in the US. We love them & they love us (the kids especially) & we spent a lot of time together & had many Skype conversations/emails while we were here in Mongolia. They continued to study with ywam going on an outreach to the Middle East. Wes became ill after returning from the Middle East & in a 2 year time frame passed away. Lori & Wes are/were in their 50's.