October come and gone

Wow, October has gone like a flash and we have both flown the Atlantic Ocean twice in 30 days.

Rachel headed home in Sept to help Joanna prepare for her wedding to Keith Lowe. Our exchange student from the 99-00 school year, Christine, came from Norway with her baby about the same time as Rachel. It was great to reconnect with her. We also found out what it’s like to be around a baby again! Sofie really is precious.

Steve traveled 10 days later and with much less success on flights excepting that he eventually made it both directions. Of the 8 planes he took, only one was on time or the scheduled flight he was supposed to take adding 8 hours coming to the States and 24 returning. (At least he got to sleep in a bed twice during the 78 hour stretch.) The good thing in all of this was meeting some amazing people working in Zambia and Swaziland. Who knows, maybe someday we will cross paths again.

The wedding was outside and we were most thankful for sunny weather and 60 degrees, after all it was the middle of October. It was a bit chilly during the ceremony as a stiff breeze picked up and the clouds came out but we all survived, even Joanna with her sleeveless gown. As soon as the ceremony was over, Keith gave her his coat. It was great to celebrate with friends and family that have had an important part in our lives. Many people commented that now all our children are married. It’s true and we’re happy for all of them.

We both went to Baltimore for the WR Congregate meetings October 17-20. It was a good time of connecting with new people, reconnecting with people we have met since being with WR, planning for the future and learning from others who have done development more than we have. We had the wonderful opportunity of staying with Rick and Sandy plus family, getting to know them and feeling like long lost relatives. Steve met them during an earlier trip to Baltimore. We didn’t get to spend enough time with them as the meetings kept us out until nearly 10 each night. Our favorite quote from Sandy after giving her some coconut oil: “I have a problem with this coconut oil. I like it too much!” She is one of three people we met who would love to distribute the oil for us in the U.S. Maybe in the future, but for now we will concentrate on selling in Mozambique and S Africa.

Saturday after the conference we caught a ride with one of the speakers to DC where he dropped us off at the doorstep of David and Janelle’s apartment. We slept on the futon and ate their food, including lunch in the park just across from the White House where Janelle sometimes eats as it is close to her work. We saw some new sites such as the WWII memorial and walked way too far on Monday trying to see all that we could in the shortest time possible.

It’s good to be back in Moz. The first week or so always involves some readjustments and getting back into the swing of things. Rachel is working in the new area (for her) of church development. The first thing to do is to hire a national director which will hopefully happen in the next month or so.