October blues!

Jill and I are getting geared up to fly to Moscow, Russia October 27 and then on to St. Petersburg that Friday to preach on Sunday the first of numerous messages. This will be an exciting week for us. It is always wonderful returning to the place where God called you. For us that place is Russia.

However, this month, October, is one of the most difficult for me personally. It is the month before leaving that everything changes among family, friends and you. They all desire as much of those ‘last days’ as possible knowing that you will be gone for a length of time where they can not see or visit with you easily. It is difficult for them and us to face that good-bye moment. In addition both Valerie and Alex will not return with us for the first time in nearly 17 years! This is the hard factor of missions.

Although Jill and I travel to some extreme areas in ministry –to me this is more challenging. Bearing all this in mind, we are grateful for the countless friends and family who make this dream possible. So here is the ‘sweet sorrow’ we face this month: hating to leave but yet excited to go.

I say all of this to simply ask you to pray for us as we pack, visit, say our good byes and do a modest bit of crying. We are appreciative for every one of your prayers knowing God hears and answers them.