A cross outside Crystal Ridge Community Church

We’re tired, so for the next few days we’ll be relaxing and seeing some of the sights in Tennessee, Alabama and Missouri. After all the work Sharon put into her Cherokee analysis and the days of traveling we need to take a few days to slow down, catch up on our mail, and prepare for our next meetings.

We had a great time with in Tennessee today. This Sunday we will be in Missouri at Prosperine Baptist Church. Monday we fly to Arizona to spend time with family for the holidays.

Our last day on the trail that week proved stiflingly hot and the trail grew steep as we climbed to a mountain ridge from a river valley. When we reached the top of the ridge, we thought our troubles were over. The terrain was relatively flat and we only had about six miles to the shelter we were stopping at for the night but it took us hours to make the trek because the trail was so overgrown.

Overgrown trail is not typically an obstacle hikers on the AT face, but this particular section looked like it had not been maintained that year… and we were hiking in August. As we rounded a bend in the trail I saw in the distance a man sitting on a log that did not look like a hiker at all. As we approached I noticed he wore blue jeans, heavy black leather boots, and a cotton shirt. Beside him lay a very heavy-looking pack.

After our first two months on the trail we’d learned to be very careful and trust our instincts when we came across things that looked out of place. In this case we needn’t have worried. A kind, relieved smile spread on the man’s face as we approached and after a brief hello he asked in a slow southern drawl where he was.

After a fifteen minute conversation we learned he was the pastor of a church and he learned we were missionaries. We hit if off immediately and had a great time talking with him. That night we shared our water and offered our food to him. We all slept in the shelter that night (he upstairs and we downstairs) and the next day we shared a ride with him back to his car. Random chance? Probably not.

The drive here proved… frustrating. Two major interstates over the Appalachians were closed, forcing us to take slow and windy back roads. The payoff: we saw some amazing country. Below are some pictures we took.

Yesterday, however, we did squeeze in a little fun before the heavy rains and wind. We went to the Virginia Beach Aquarium and had a great time looking at the animals. Here’s a sample of what we saw:

Sharon is done with her paper!

On the road finding internet is always a problem and when we do get it we snatch every precious second of it we can get. I’m in the process of adding pictures to our online albums, checking our email, updating our website, downloading important files and updates for my computer, and managing our contact lists from the churches we’ve visited. The most important thing I’m doing, though, is sending Sharons paper off to the grader’s. Here’s how it came in:

Pages: 115

Hours: 100+

Sharon is SOOO happy to be done. Now we party. We’re going to the beach and then shopping. Wednesday we will go to the aquarium here in town.

This coming Friday we head to central Virginia to visit some very good friends and then will drive on to Tennessee on Friday. Please pray for Sharon as she finishes up her paper and for safety as we travel. Thank-you.

Tonight is our last night at the conference in Maryland. We are headed on to our next destination: Virginia. There we will be sharing at my brother Sam’s church on Sunday morning and spending time with Sam on his birthday.  I am getting my presentation notes together for church and Sharon is still working on her linguistics paper.

This is just the first stop on a very long route that will take us from Michigan to Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, and Arizona before we head back to Michigan for the winter. Please pray for safety in travel and for our meetings. We desire to be clear, helpful, and informative during this time and we always seek to be a blessing to those we visit. We will be posting pictures in the next few days of our time here.

Thailand: the land of smiles

If you haven’t heard by now then let me be the first to tell you: Sharon and I are now headed toward Thailand. We recently discovered that NTM will no longer be expanding the field of Cambodia under the current arrangement, leaving us with a tough decision: to pursue Cambodia with another mission or choose another field.  After talking with our home churches, seeking wise council, and meeting with missionaries from Thailand we decided to begin pursuing ministry in Southeast Asia via Thailand.

Thailand is a natural choice for many reasons including its close proximity to Cambodia. Thai culture is similar in many ways to Cambodian culture and the minority people groups within the country are numerous.

It’s been great to see how the body of Christ has come around us to help us make this decision and support us during this time. Continue to pray for us as we sort through the implications of this change and seek to keep all of you up to date with the latest!