Category Archives: Travel

CA: Days #16 & #17

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Thursday we did end up on a rooftop overlooking the vines of a local (& BIG) German winery called Alde Gott. Had a local spätburgunder (dry pinot noir) & a bacon/onion/cheese flammkuchen & enjoyed the view & the people watching. We did get to sit under a rather large umbrella,  (stretched across 4 or so tables), but I would have been perfectly fine one floor down in the tasting room with actual a/c & (just about) the same views we enjoyed from the roof. (Point of order: the roof views were far superior to the next-floor-down views, but the draw of the a/c made it all-the-more attractive to me. But not to anyone else who decided to go to Alde Gott that day… esp. the one I am married to.)

Eventually made our way back to Julia’s flat for a chill evening & a Hallmark movie (in Englisch!) that had received 4.8 out of 10 stars. It earned every single bit of it & was actually really funny & enjoyable to watch with the girls.

Friday was a day to hang out with Julia & her sister, Linda, & her husband, Heiko. Heiko is a leader in the Arche church led by Roland & attended by all Julia’s family, & helps oversee the Royal Rangers program that is really popular all over Eurasia (& beyond.) He’s like the ultimate boy scout & youth pastor & survivalist & great cook & so many other things all rolled into one. He recently joined a local association (Man Group)  that is connected to a local vineyard that has the distinction of being (one of) the most steeply graded vineyard in all of Europe. With typical American hyperbole I claimed it as THE most steeply graded vineyard in Europe, but with also typical German precision, I was voted down based upon the fact that we couldn’t know for 100% surety that it truly was THE most steeply graded vineyard in Europe.

Based upon Heiko’s access through his Man Group (he’s the youngest member – 38 years old; there are guys still active in the group in their mid-90s, which after accessing ONE OF the most steeply graded vineyards in all of Europe & hearing that these nonagenarians not only ACCESS the property, they help MAINTAIN it & actually cut the grass on the hillsides), we entered through a gate & began our hike.

When I say “hike” I mean “part-hike, part-climb, part-trek, part-hanging from security cables so you don’t fall off the side of the hill & tumble to your death on the rocks 50 feet below” kind of thing. He & Linda did bring Joah, their 6 year old, but he is evidently part mountain goat & weighs about 50 pounds & does more before 9 a.m. than most people do all day & his dad is the Head Royal Ranger, so he’s probably been training & stuff…

it was daunting. Fun. Exhilarating. Stretching. Beautiful. Scratchy (the brambles from the blackberry bushes snagged us a few times. Oh, & we ate blackberries til we didn’t want no more blackberries at all.)  The best part? When we (finally) made it to the top of the hill (about 500 meters/1600 feet or so climbed, NBD) we discovered the Man Group maintains a spartan little shack with table & some solar power. Heiko & Linda pulled out a German picnic: baguettes, salami & meats & cheeses; some hummus w/garlic & tomato that tasted like pizza sauce, a red-wine made from the actual vineyard we were sitting it (Engelberg – Angel Rock is what Heiko translated it as) & enjoyed the view & the respite. Took lots of pictures, but mostly just sat & conversed, laughed, & enjoyed the presence (& GIFT) of friends who were sharing their precious selves & lives with us.)

Eventually we navigated back down the mountain (different way – still rocky & steep but no safety wires required) & made it to where our cars were parked. The whole thing took about 3 hours & now, evidently, it was time to head to the place for dinner, so we dragged our sweaty & tired carcasses to the car & drove the 5 minutes to their house.

Klaus & Pia, Julia’s parents, joined us for dinner on the open-air terrace, which was a Raclette -party (click the link to make it easier on me). Kinda like a fondue-party feel, but with everyone having personal sized buffet to choose from, heat up on the flat-top in the middle, & then smother with cheese. We ate to our hearts content… lots of laughter, good talks, & never-ending entertainment with Joah. He has batteries that never run out.

It was 10:30 pm by the time we were done & Julia is usually in bed by 9:30 every day… so we scrambled to the car & drove to her house before she completely turned into a pumpkin. Showered when we got home (so good to get the stink & sweat off me) & then  TheBean & I sat up & hung out in our room for a bit… enjoying each other’s company & conversation.

We’ve got a rest day Saturday (plus doing a little wash & packing up,) then we are headed out to Frankfurt late Sunday. Really thankful for a great trip & visit here, wishing we could fit Julia in a suitcase or ship her back with us.

CA: Days #11 & #12

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Sunday morning we woke up early-ish & I took the time to drink some coffee & review my notes. Speaking through an interpreter requires (for me) a different kind of approach than ‘normal.’ Meaning – i went through my notes & wrote down ‘jumping off’ words… the kind of words that I could use to trigger memory to point me in specific direction for making sure to hit the main ideas of the message. Think about it – if 30 minutes total are allotted for the Speech, that means you’ve got about 15 or so minutes to communicate, plus an additional 15 minutes for the interpreter to speak, clarify, etc… That ( for me)  means taking a swing at a smaller, more compact chunk of Scripture, & trying to keep my ideas & inspiration focused & on point, having thought through introduction & closing so that I don’t waste the entire time saying “hello” & then “goodbye.”

Something that helps with this is speaking from a passage that I’ve spoken from before &/or that is especially familiar/alive to me at the moment. This trip this meant Colossians 2:6,7. Today I ended up adopting a ‘tree’ analogy that I carried throughout the whole message, hopefully giving the picture of something lasting with deep, established roots not affected negatively or destructively by the storms & winds, & other crazy weather & circumstances… a strong, healthy tree with roots that spread out deep & wide in the good soil that is Christ. I think it went well… in spite of the 4 or 5 interruptions of the guy with the cell phone that kept going off… not with a ring, but with random phrases of German. It sounded like someone randomly spouting questions or thoughts & was disconcerting at first & “I want to punch you in the neck” frustrating by the last time it happened. Fortunately (for him? for me? for everyone?) he took his phone & left the room; not sure if he came back; I tried to focus on the other half of the sanctuary (the room is divided like a “V” with a support beam in the middle of the room providing a man-made separation of the building into 2 similarly sized ‘wings;’

After church we stuck around for coffee & I may have helped myself to a chunk of homemade banana bread – a first-time experience for me in Germany. Had an opportunity to reconnect with Jana, a young lady we met last November. She remembered that I’d talked about my affinity for peanut butter & chocolate chips; she told me back then that she like to make her own peanut butter & that when i came back, she’d made me some.

And today she gave me my very own jar of homemade peanut butter with some chocolate swirled inside. Later, she sent us a message saying, “One thing that is important to me is keeping my promises. I told you I’d make you peanut butter, & so I did.” She was super proud of it – both the PB & the promise keeping.

I’d have to agree Jana. Keeping your promises is HUGE. Greatly appreciate the love & care shown to us by The Arc Church; thankful for them receiving us again.

Made our way to Julia’s for a light lunch – eggs on a dense brown bread, & then dragged ourselves to bed for a nap… slept for an hour or so & woke up (mostly) refreshed in time to pull ourselves together to head over to Pastor Roland & Manuela’s home for dinner; he was grilling out.

It was still super hot so we sat on their terrace & drank cool water (spritzed with mint & elderberry syrup) & talked with our friends & their 2 teenage daughters – 15 & 13. It was great to catch up & work through the awkwardness of communication using our translation apps, & our interpreter Julia. The whole family spoke at least a little English, so we were able to converse a bit; thankful for them making the effort, & also for the conversations about life, family, church, daughters, & seasons of life.

Roland grilled pork steaks, chick kabobs, & a variety of sausages; he can really cook & also EAT. Homeboy finished any food left on our plates & kept going back for more. He’s tall (6’1″) & about 180, but he eats like a champion. We were impressed.

By the time we looked at the clock, it was already 10 p.m. so we gathered up our stuff & said our goodbyes for the night; not sure if we’ll be seeing them again on this trip, as we decided to hold off making any decisions on the week until after a good night’s sleep.

Woke up this morning around 9 & made our way into the kitchen for coffee. TheBean & Julia decided today was the day to make Raisin Bran muffins… something I’ve been craving for several weeks, & haven’t been able to find in any of my usual hang outs at home. Not sure WHY I was craving raisin bran muffins, only that I wanted ’em. It seemed like forever (it was 30 minutes max) until the muffins came out of the oven. I took a bite of one – plain & in all of its glory – & was immediately rewarded with a taste explosion. YES. This was what I’ve been craving & wanting. 2nd muffin got the butter treatment; it’s only self-control & wisdom that is standing between me & the rest of the muffins disappearing.

Not sure what else is on our agenda today – rest; food; talks with Julia; etc. But now seems like a good time for a nap. Happy Monday to me.

CA: Days #9 & #10

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Planes – Trains – & Automobiles… DISCLAIMER: I have lost track of days/time/hours etc. I had to confirm (2x) that it is, actually, Saturday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. as I write this.

AUTOMOBILES: It seems more like 4 or 5 days since we said tearful goodbyes to our hosts & our CA team members sometime around 12:30 a.m. early Friday to make the 45 or so minute trek in our trusty & oh special Toyota Siena van to head to the airport. Each trip in the van with our local drivers was an experience that brought you closer to Jesus… usually in frantic prayer for protection as the drivers whipped in & out of traffic like wanna-be Formula One drivers, going from 0 to whatever the top acceleration speed is of an early 2000’s Siena that has been driven hard for > a decade & a half. Imagine driving down Mt. Rose Hwy in heavy traffic… with Mario Andretti as your driver… a Mario Andretti who believes all his loved ones will die unless he passes EVERY, SINGLE, CAR in front of him… in the next 45 minutes.

PLANES… Made it to the airport with about 3 hours before our flight, meaning we needed to wait to check in, as Lufthansa only opens check in about 2 hours (max) before flight time in this part of CA. Grabbed a flat-white from a storefront & shared a few moments of conversation with the team-members that traveled with us to the airport this morning. Shared time/space/experience gives a great recipe for building relationships; our time together over the last 9 or so days has really bound us together.

Eventually the time came for check-in; got through with no issues & navigated the security line without incident. TheBean & I decided to walk the terminal & discovered it was super-small… kinda had a John Wayne/OC airport feel, so it only took about 15 to circle our whole concourse. Made it to our gate & sat & talked with Teresa, an Aussie now based in SF at a 4square church there, the lone team member traveling on the same flight as us. We talked & I crushed a coldish Coke Zero.

The time for boarding came… & passed. Everyone headed out on this flight gathered around the gate opening in a way that would have made most gate attendants apoplectic; ours seemed to think this was normal & they went about their business checking their paperwork & who knows what else until all of the sudden, out of nowhere, surrounded by increasingly agitated people waiting for the flight, she started scanning boarding documents. No rhyme or reason; just first-come, first-served.  TheBean & I made it to our seats & found that we were in a 2 seat row of our own in Economy – no middle seat for us.

Flight was about 30 minutes late taking off, but we made good time to the first stop, then had a record speed reload with passengers headed to our destination for the day: Frankfurt. It was about 7 1/2 uneventful hours in the air – a daytime-ish flight, not really conducive for sleeping, so I watched a couple of movies, read my books, & ate selections of whatever foods that were brought to us… including a sample of the very worst sandwich in the history of sandwiches… a fact that has been confirmed by theBean, a normally positive woman who, I discovered after 36 years together, is capable of incredible negativity when it comes to disappointment associated with food, unmet expectations, & esp. those sandwiches.

NOTE: we’ve been sitting so much (flights, meetings, services,) over the last 9 days that, after this flight, my tailbone & seat feel like they are severely bruised. Coming to a standing position & then sitting back down has been excruciating. It got better through the day (walking helped) but still is a pain in the rear.

BUSES… Landed in Frankfurt around 11;45 a.m. local time (3 hours earlier than where we were in CA,) & grabbed our luggage & eventually made our way towards where we thought the buses might be located. NOTE: Because of construction, our normal & easy routine of ‘get on a train at the airport & head towards Baden-Baden’ was instead a “find the replacement bus station, which is different from the regular bus station, get on the correct replacement bus which will take you an hour down the road to the Mannheim Main Train station at which point you’ll then get on a train & continue to your destination.’

And we couldn’t find it.

I was hangry & had not slept in > 24 hours, so my hangry was at DEFCON 2; I was alert enough to recognize it, but not alert nor coherent enough to fully contain it. An impromptu stop at McDonald’s helped (yay Double Cheese Double meat Royale,) but we were still stymied on how to get to the “Replacement Bus” station. Doesn’t help that the FRAPORT is as big as the entire city of Fernley.

In our impaired states, we finally navigated to a DB travel center & found a very direct & very pointy German who gave us directions to the Replacement Bus center. Instructions that, point of order, didn’t fully make sense at the time, but after getting a clarifying couple of pieces of input from a very helpful airport worker, we were able to understand & apply. Navigated all the way down to where our Replacement Bus stop was, & discovered it was directly outside a Starbucks. Since we had a good 90 minutes to kill, we grabbed some iced drinks & sat in comfy chairs in blessed cool silence.

TheBean & I got on our bus – it was not a ‘normal’ bus, but more like a deluxe charter bus, with A/C & a WC in the back. TheBean slept for the hour it took to get to Mannheim; I read & tried to stay awake… feeling like if I slept I’d not be able to wake up fully.

TRAINS… 

The Replacement Bus stop was about 1/4 mile from the Main Station, so we dragged our bags through the streets of Mannheim along with the other passengers. Found our track & had another Coke Zero while trying to determine where we needed to stand on the long concrete spit that made up the train station & loading area. (Gotta get on the right wagon…)

A little helper gave us the direction we needed & we made it onto our correct wagon & found our seats. (Close to them at least. They were taken, but the ones next to them weren’t. A different Louie might have asked for MY seat, the one I was assigned by the Man. This Louie, hangry tired Burnt Toasty Louie just thought about it while taking identical & available seats right across from the ones we’d been assigned.

It was a quick trip & < half hour until we had to hustle off our train at Track 2 & drag-run our bags to Track 12, all in the space of 5 minutes. And we made it.

But…

There was no space for me to sit, nor to put the bags. So I stood off to the side of the exit on the train, along with a few close strangers, & sweated profusely while waiting til the 75 minutes & several stops were done & we would arrive in Achern to see our Julia.

AUTOMOBILES #2… 

We made it to Achern & I shuffled off the train, literally dripping w/sweat, trying not to look miserable – because I wasn’t. Just sweaty. At this point, I was almost past  feeling anything. Just wanted to get to Julia’s.

She & her mama, Pia, were at the station & helped us wheel our bags through the small-town station in Achern. We loaded our bags into their cars & drove the short 10 or so minutes to Julia’s flat. She lives on the 3rd floor, so we dragged our stuff upstairs & got settled &  showered.

Julia, Pia, & TheBean made tacos & then we sat around the table & ate & laughed & enjoyed catching up. We talk on a pretty regular basis with Julia via Marco Polo, we our catching up curve isn’t too great. Tacos were on point.

Cleaned up from dinner & hung out, trying desperately to stay up as late as possible before going to sleep so as to get on the local time… we made it to 8:20 pm & dragged ourselves into bed & promptly crashed.

Woke up around 8 a.m. & had coffee & read. Ended up going back to bed around 10 a.m. & sleeping for another couple of hours. Woke up around 12:30 p.m. & theBean & Julia made brunch – brown bread, eggs, cheese, salami, etc, & ate to our hearts content. TheBean made our grocery list & brushed up on my teaching notes for Church tomorrow at Die Arche Ottersweier; – aka “The Arc of Ottersweier.”

We went with Julia to the store; spent about 45 minutes shopping (I love shopping in German grocery stores) & came back to her flat & put away the groceries.

And then I sat down to blog. So there we are.

Thank you for your prayers. Thankful for food. Good sleep. Time with chosen family. Gracious wife. That hangry doesn’t last forever. And fans that blow a steady stream of air over you.

CA: Day #8

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Last full day of DLT began with breakfast & discussion-heavy presentations. I love the discussion elements because we got to hear from people with a varied background what it might look like to them to put their faith into practice; it allows you to get beyond the acquisition of information into the practical application of a Christ-following life.

For example – as a part of the marriage & relationships module of DLT, we spent a chunk of time processing through polygamy… something that is a fairly common (& accepted) practice in many parts of Central Asia – & especially among Muslims. In a local church context, Christ-followers need to have an understanding & consistent Biblical ethic on navigating polygamy when it involves people in it coming to Christ. It’s not like a newly-saved individual with their wives can be instructed, “just keep wife #1 & divorce the rest.” To do so could be catastrophic for those women cast off in the name of fidelity to the Christian faith, as a divorced woman in many of these cultures would have next to no rights, no viable means of support or living, & most likely no opportunities for remarriage. So what might be suggested is something like “2nd generation monogamy;” where the next generations of new Christians would be taught Scriptural principles around marriage (1 husband/1 wife) while the 1st generation family learns to live in a new reality following Jesus with remnants & reminders of ‘the old ways.’ Definitely a lot to think about.. & lots of fascinating discussions.

Our team was told we would have a late night as we were volunteered by our hosts to minister to our DLT attendees in prophetic prayer starting at 9 p.m. So theBean & I took advantage of our afternoon break (1:30-3 p.m.) to rest, read, & recharge. And by that I mean we crashed hard. HARD. I don’t know what it was that woke me up, but when I looked at my watch, it was 3:05 & we were late to the session. I didn’t have a clue WHO I was, let alone WHERE I was, & it took about 20 minutes for my brain to adequately reset to the point that I could gainfully participate in the happenings in our session.

Haven’t been sleeping great… waking up between 5-6 a.m.& not able to go back to sleep which is ok unless you are going to bed late… which we are. Naps have been helpful but today really hit me with a hammer.

Navigated the last afternoon session & had an opportunity to talk with/pray with a team of people from the northern part of the country: G, O, V, & S. After 20 years of pastoring in the same city/area, they are in the process of trying to decide what their next phase of life & ministry will be, as they lean towards starting a new church a few miles down the road. People are people… so similar to the plans, hopes & dreams you might hear about at home, with added intrigue & the challenges that come specifically targeted at each of us.

After dinner, (7-9 p.m.)  we decided to rest some more in preparation for our late night… I lightly napped & read (I’m on my 3rd paperback) & eventually got up & got ready about 8:45 p.m. Felt a little like burnt toast, but we took the time to pray for energy & to thank God in advance for giving us what we’d need over the next couple of hours as we prayed for our new friends from a variety of CA countries.

There was a brief message/encouragement, & then our team was divided into 4 groups of 2 or 3 & sent to the 4 corners of the room. The DLT attendees were instructed to get together with the people from their city/church/region &/or country & identify different things that they wanted to receive prayer for: things going well; points of need; areas of struggle; etc. Some instrumental worship music was put on & people began to make their way to the corners of the room. It wasn’t like they were standing in lines; they were encouraged to talk & pray with each other in the middle of the room, & then to make their way to a corner for prayer when the opportunity presented itself.

Got to partner with theBean & Will – pastor from Atascadero – as wave after wave of people came for prayer. Some readily identified specific requests, like “We need a place to meet that is authorized by the government,” or “We need workers to help us in our mission,” or “We need to know what we’re supposed to do next.” Others left it intentionally vague & asked us just to pray “as the Holy Spirit leads.”

Really cool how in every situation, specific things came to mind to pray for; sometimes related to the request; other times out of left field. The one that stood out to me the most was a group of 5 from the northeast of the country. They are all 30-something & are all 1st generation Christians. They don’t have elders in the faith in their area to look up to, to be discipled by, to learn from. They have the Bible & each other (as well as the confederation of other pastors spread waaay out in this vast land.) They prayed for spiritual parents: fathers & mothers in the faith to come alongside to help them grow in knowledge, experience, & perspective. They want so desperately to do well in making disciples & to not mar people with their unnecessary mistakes caused by inexperience &/or lack of good Bible teaching/practice.

As I listened to them talk, I was overwhelmed with emotion – they see themselves as inadequate & know all the things they DON’T have & WISH they did. They feel alone & desperate for help – for divine intervention in the form of people, elders, to stand alongside them & encourage them in the Way of Jesus. And I had a deep sense (& prayed about) God’s great love & joy that He has for these people; for their pure hearts, simple obedience, & active fatih… a faith that doesn’t wait until they know ALL there is to know on a topic before they start living it out. I felt like I could see in the spirit realm & when I looked at them, I saw warriors (not in a natural conflict/war kind of way,) but warriors who are battle tested in spiritual things. I saw God shaping them & making them to be the very thing they were praying for in there desperation… spiritual fathers & mothers. And though they may be 1st generation Christians, the first ones in their area of CA, they have what they need because they continue to see the One who will supply all their needs according to His provision.

So sweet to hear their prayers & their thanks at being able to be a part of the DLT: to learn from others & to grow in things of God that they would be able to do the same for others in their own place.

I was deeply moved & affected by this group, & I will continue to be praying for them long after we get home.

Finally wrapped up our prayer times around 11:30 – thankful for translation team – & made our way back to our room. We were pretty wired still (pretty normal for nights like this,) so we sat up & (finally) got the WiFi to work well enough to watch a show on Amazon & nurse a CA Coke Zero. Eventually nodded off around 1:30 or so (according to the FitBit) & (unfortunately) woke up at 5:30 again.

We’ll be leaving the hotel & headed to the airport around 2 a.m. tonight (8/9 – & technically Friday); then we have a flight & a bus/train ride to get to our Julia’s home in Germany. It might be a minute before I get to catch up on Day #9 & #10 – but – thank you for your continued prayers. Please join me in praying for these precious people of CA… & give thanks for the God who hears & responds… the same God who HEARS you & RESPONDS to you in your needs as well.

CA: Day #6 & #7

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The last couple of days have been a bit of a blur, as there’s been lots of sitting in meetings in the same few of spaces in the hotel: eating room; conference room; snack bar room; our room & balcony, etc.

Early-ish Monday we ate breakfast & gathered in the conference room (not as cool as the one on the Office; think more hotel-nouveau randomness,) for a “Intro to Menaca” where we learned about the international region (classified by our parent organization) we are currently in. MENACA is an acronym for  “Middle East – North Africa – Central Asia.” Click the link for more information & to hear more about a HUGE region of the planet/the planet’s people.

Couple things that stand out:

  • Very little US project funding is given towards this region: only about 5 cents of every $100 given to “Good News projects” goes to this area;
  • There’s a lot of apathy & even animosity towards the people of this region; possibly because over the last several decades ‘we’ (the West) have been at war with ‘them.’
  • The peoples of this region are often seen as ‘other’; Muslim nations, radical, extreme, dangerous, etc.
  • While many/most of the nations this region are ‘closed’ to the Good News in theory, in practice there are actually guidelines in place that allow believers to actively live out & share their faith & gather publicly for services.
  • What is called or seen as persecution, isn’t. It’s consequences for insisting on doing ‘outreach’ in the most ‘self-focused, go for the big bang’ way. It is often a response to unwise violations of the laws set up to keep real cults & subversive movements from taking root in-country; the local believers in the fellowships don’t see it as persecution; they see it as opportunity to invest person to person & to also to really consider how one person’s actions affect those of another. Even my inept dancing around saying/using certain words (in this blog & others) & referring to to it as CA (instead of the specific country name) are out of deference to the local believers & their desire to not draw attention of those in authority to themselves by having a bunch of unknown & self-focused ‘foreigners’ come to their country with who knows what message, & then go home leaving behind messes of all sorts. (Please bear with me today – the words aren’t flowing easily; I’m less than articulate this early morning.)
  • A final illustration: A few years ago, I made an off-hand comment at church during a message about Jesus dying for the sins of ALL people, not just Americans. Including the people in the Middle East. One of our members came up to me afterwards & told me that a person sitting next to them, after hearing me say that, muttered under their breath, “Jesus didn’t die for those muslims…” The next week, I specifically addresses that comment – not knowing who made it – & talked in depth about the ‘false Good News’ that is only Good News for American people/people like ‘us.’ If it is not Good News for everyone, its not the real Good News. This isn’t a blog about X-ian nationalism, USA first (only?) religion, etc… But it is a reminder to check our hearts (& our faith) for prejudice, racism, hatred, ethno-centrism, & the like… & to urgently submit our own hearts & lives to the regular examination of the Holy Spirit for Him to expose & remove the more-deadly-than-cancer hatred of fellow man that manifests when we identify them as “other” or ‘not like us.’ Nuff said

We’re here for a Discipleship Leadership Training (DLT) for the locals from the greater CA region of MENACA. They’ve been in a cohort for the last several months exploring the theological & working on practical application; our team is here to help with the presentations of this round of DLT, & each of us team-members has been assigned a topic dealing with “Family.”

Tuesday, theBean & I did a module on marriage, & then she taught another session, the dreaded late afternoon, everyone is toast & ready for dinner session, on Women & Mothers. She knocked it out of the park – everyone loved the direct, applicable, real-life stories & self-revealing testimonies about our own struggles. More than a few came up to us to say “thank you” for being real about the struggles of marriage, parenting, etc. One guy said, “NO ONE talks openly about their own issues; this is freedom to be able to not have to be perfect, but to share how God has worked in you to transform your life.” It was precious.

After dinner we met with a couple from another country in CA & listened to their stories & testimonies about how they are living out the Good News in their context; the main part of the purpose of these interactions is to solicit prayer & prayer partnership, & it is moving & faith-building to hear stories of how “the fervent prayers of God’s people are powerful & effective.”

We’re wiped out – sleeping ok, but the Kauai style roosters start crowing early & often… Our access to coffee here is NOT the Machine of Joy; it’s a collection of Starbucks VIA that we brought, fed by a hot-water kettle in our room.

Talks with others are life-giving; they are also draining because 90% of the time they have to be run through a translator (or at least an app on our phones.)

Today – Wednesday – are the final sessions of the DLT, followed by an opportunity (requested by the local leader) for our team to pray for & bless those in attendance. Looking forward to that for tonight.

Thank you for your prayers – please keep them coming… esp. for soft hearts, life transformations, & for the marriages & families represented here by the precious men & women who faithfully serve all over CA. My faith is being built as well – & I can definitely see the “why’s” about theBean & I being on this trip.

Blessings to you

CA: Day #5

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Had a quick & earlier than normal breakfast & said goodbye to the last “coffee on demand” we’ll get for a while. (Really enjoyed the Machine of Joy.) Checked out of our hotel rooms & brought our luggage down to the Transporter, S, then piled into a couple vans & made our way over to the Mother Church – MC.

There are 10 services from Saturday to Sunday night run by a variety of people in several languages; the lead pastor of the MC said he goes to 1 or 2 a week, (usually different ones so he can make sure to see what’s happening with the people in each one.) He said his/their philosophy about adding services is: when a service starts to fill up, he will appoint a couple of faithful people from that service to hive off to another day/time & then let people know this is where they’ll go. Very grassroots & fluid – very grace-filled & empowering… especially since formal Bible education & training programs are forbidden by law. Really interesting that the govt “oversight” that many at home would see as persecution & repression only seems to fuel the church’s mission & creativity; they seem to work well in the face of what we’d probably see as a major point of discouragement & reasons why we can’t raise up leadership.

Our team went to first service & worshiped together; its the main ‘official language’ service; went about 2 1/2 hours with lots of joy, good, solid teaching on the power of God’s Word, communion & several opportunities to engage in vibrant worship. Before, during, & after the message. The worship team was fun – & for those who may remember, it seemed like Sue Leishman was running sound & that Dave was playing bass, because the bass was DEFINITELY driving & thumping & filled the hall with rhythm so clear that even I could move to it. A little.

Someone dropped off a selection of pizzas for the team & we ate in the pastor’s office, our own version of the upper room. We had about an hour to kill before the next service, a 2nd language meeting run by one of the pastoral staff. Worship with this people was a little more subdued, but just as pervasive throughout every aspect of the service. I spoke from Colossians 2:6,7 (Rooted) & the give & take of the translation went well; thankful for gifted language people who were able to interpret what I said & make it understandable to their church… not an easy task as every language group has their own “ways & means” of understanding & interpreting language so that what is said makes “sense” to the hearers. My guy was visibly relieved at the end of the message… said he was nervous that he would not do a good job (imagine that.) We had a good laugh & some good encouragement for each other as we both celebrated the fact that the Holy Spirit gives us what we need in the time of need. Amazing how much we have in common with other believers in Christ, regardless of country/region of origin.

After the services I was toast, but we needed to wait until the transport came back. Thought it would be about 5 p.m. but it turned out to be closer to 6:45. There’s lots of hurry up & wait times… not because of poor planning or someone dropping the ball, but because life happens & in a city of a couple million, there are a lot of variables beyond our control, including traffic, tech, life surprises, & extended service times. Our team rolled with & took the opportunity to talk together & with new friends from one of the represented congregations. While we were waiting for the vans, the evening service started; the pastor told me it was specifically created for people who have been burned by church, by life, & by various combinations of the 2… people who couldn’t bring themself to come to the morning services (high energy, high interaction/community, & production) but who wanted to push through & find a space to allow the Holy Spirit to heal, restore, & help them see HOPE restored in their lives.

Of course I was intrigued so i watched & listened to part of the service from the foyer (on the TeeVee.) It had a very informal opening, with just a piano playing a gentle & haunting & worshipful melody for several minutes. (Think From Eternity by Jeff Deyo). ; I didn’t know it had started until I heard a person talking on the microphone, obviously giving brief introduction to the evening, but it was so brief & to the point & low energy, I wouldn’t have associated it with a ‘welcome to service’ if I didn’t know. I wish I could have stayed for the whole time & that I could speak the language; would have loved to be a fly on the wall & hang out on the off chance one of those attending would have wanted to talk. Jesus is near to the broken-hearted, & His gentleness & compassion in dealing with people knows no bounds. This is one aspect of ‘church’ & ‘ministry’ I hope to continue to grow in.

The team got transported to our hotel in shifts, & my van was the last to make the hour-long trek to the hills, meaning, by the time I arrived, theBean had everything set up & unpacked. I felt pampered, & I needed it (remember the “I am toast?” Still toast, except darker brown than I was before.)

Had a quick & interesting dinner together, then got a tour of the facility. TheBean & I were crashing so we navigated to the respite of our room & settled in for the night, albeit after a few minutes soaking in the views on our upstairs balcony. Booyah & Hey now! Thankful for the unforeseen & continuous blessings. And thank you for your continued prayers.

Things shift tomorrow as pastors from around CA will gather here for talks, teaching, & building community. We’ll be taking it where it goes & seeing how we fit in with the programming I’m sure.

Blessings to you!

CA: Day #3

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I woke up this morning at about 3 & couldn’t go back to sleep, so I read for about an hour & then tried again. Next thing I knew it was 9:30 a.m. & I was alone in the room. I threw on some clothes to get down to breakfast before our vans left at 11. Sat with theBean & Will from Atascadero; they talked & I ate my oatmeal & a sausage, egg, & cheese omelette. Ever have those mornings when you don’t have any words to offer & you just need to BE & drink your coffee & get something in your belly & pray that you don’t sound as snippy & grumpy as your voice sounds in your own ears? That was me this morning… Coffee from the MOJ helped, but I definitely felt discombobulated for a while.

The team headed out to our ‘mountain trek’ in a collection of 3 vans; theBean & I in different vans. Our driver was T; a guy I met years ago through FB world, through a mutual German/Kazakh friend, Eddy Dueck. I’d been trying to find some Russian language translation for some songs John P was writing. Very cool to hang out & get to know him a bit on the drive. We headed into the foothills of some pretty big mountains & went on a short (1 mile or so) hike, straight up a canyon to one of a series of waterfalls. At the first waterfall I sat with one of our guides, a pastor from the local Church named Al who is about 33 years old. We spent about 30 minutes talking about life & ministry & how relationships are the foundation of both. I shared with him my saying that it takes shared time, space, & experience to build relationships; he has a similar philosophy: share food, clothes, & experiences to build relationships.

We have had a definite connection & I told theBean it reminds me of the first time God spoke to me about our connections with brand new friends in Germany in 1997. We will see what comes & what develops, but at least right now it feels like I have a much better idea about God’s ongoing direction for our lives with coming to CA…

The team drove down from the foothills to a local restaurant on the side of a hill. It was really cool (atmosphere, not temperature. it is hot as hot right now) & had a long table for us all to gather around. Several rounds of appetizers, (breads, pasties, meat salads, eggplant dishes, tomatoes & vinegar,) were followed by the main dish, which consisted of rice (think pilaf style) with shredded lamb, boiled quail eggs, & round slices of horse sausage. I tried the horsey: it was meaty.

NOTE: Coke Zero is a delicacy & tastes like heaven in the heat of the day. Lots of mineral water keeps us hydrated. Probably going to walk to a local market for couple 1 liter  Coke Zerios (the biggest they got).

We went over to the local host church & gathered in one of the rooms where we got to hear the story of our host team leader; spent some time hanging out, talking & then praying for him, & now we’re back at the hotel for a 1 hour recharge & rest. In about 30 minutes we head out for a night tour of the city. Evidently we’re going to get in a gondola that goes over the city so we can get a (literal) birds-eye view.

The tentative plan for tomorrow includes breakfast & the MOJ; trips to several ‘rehab homes’ set up for men, women & kids, & just women as they work through addiction, homelessness, gaining job skills, etc.  There is some sort of service tomorrow night & but its hard to think that far ahead right now.

Step by step.

Thanks for your prayers & your patience – I’m posting when I have the time & space to do so, & my brain is still catching up with the 12 hour time difference.

Central Asia Mission – Days #1 & #2

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We started our 24 hours of travel on Tuesday with the 1st of 3 flights. All of our scheduled connections & connecting flights were too close together (from 40-80 minutes each) but it was beyond our control to change. So, we purposed to be present, to be positive, & to “roll with” whatever our travels brought us. (NOTE: as we “rolled with” our travel curveballs, never did we actually, nor will we ever “Roll Tide.” But I digress.)

Flight out of Denver to Frankfurt was delayed by an hour; the “trip alert” software used by our airline let us know while we were still IN Denver that we’d miss our Frankfurt to our “final destination in Central Asia that shall remain unnamed throughout this series of blogposts other than calling it ‘Central Asia’ or “CA” for short, per the request of said hosts in CA.”) We purposed to stick with our chosen “be present/positive/& roll with it” motto. Got very little sleep on the almost 9 hour flight due to a very loud 18 month old in the row next to us & also (most likely) the excitement of the trip.

Upon arrival in Frankfurt, we found that even though we’d left Denver an hour later than scheduled, we still made our scheduled arrival time. Yay.

And then we sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes waiting for our gate to open.

And then we got news that we were assigned to a “bus gate” meaning we got to drive for 20 minutes in the plane to an empty spot where we’d be picked up by buses & transported to the terminal where we’d then scan our boarding passes, & — theoretically — get on OTHER buses & drive to another open area with a plane headed to CA.

And it took > 90 minutes.

And yet… we still made the flight to CA because our flight was delayed by > 90 minutes.

But our travel app, powered by the latest greatest versions of AI, informed us that our Bags were possibly missing & that they MAY have taken an earlier flight to our destination. But not for sure.

No worries. We had our carryon backpacks with supplies for 3 Louie outfits (black polos & shorts for the win!). TheBean prayed for an upgrade on the flight, & I must say, I wasn’t too hopeful (man of great faith!) only to find out that we were indeed upgraded to Premiere Economy, which meant MUCH bigger, recliner-lite style seat with footrest & menus. Thank you Jesus. Made for a much more comfortable flight, albeit with just A little tiny bit of sleep on a ‘daytime’ flight.

Eventually we Made it to CA at just before midnight Wednesday, & noted that we are exactly 12 hours ahead of home on the clock. So when it is 7 am in CA, it is 7 pm the previous night at home. (My brain still feels silly at this point, so I needed to talk that out.) Met up with Teresa, a team member from a church in the Bay (by way of Australia) & got our BAGS(!) from the baggage claim; navigated customs & met our driver, a wonderful man named S that spoke no English but used his translator app to communicate with us while driving us to the hotel. (Adventures in Driving in CA.)

Hotel is super-nice & very Soviet-era chic. Spacious room, incredible A/C & big Euro style bath & shower. Headed to bed around 1:45 am & slept fitfully til about 7:30 (4 good hours or so). Made our way to the breakfast area & had several cups of premium coffee made by the Machine of Joy. I ate beef vienna looking sausages & oatmeal w/raisings. Tried the yogurt only to find it was sour cream. Talked w/Teresa & theBean for a couple hours, milking our access to the Machine of Joy (MOJ)… the ladies stayed to talk & I decided to tour the exercise room & sauna area, which I plan to hit later today.

Only thing on the agenda is lunch & team-time from 1:30 – 4 p.m. The rest of the day is dedicated to rest & getting acclimated to CA.

Very thankful for traveling mercies. Made connections in SPITE of all sorts of rumors & threats of missing them, & got our BAGS even though the Machines told us we most likely wouldn’t. (Don’t trust SkyNet. Ever.)  God is already answering prayers, & we are both looking forward to our time here with our team & new friends.

Deutschland 2023 – Day #17 – Home

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Woke up at the crack of doom to put the final touches on our bags & gather & place all our belongings in the appropriate suitcase. Took our bags downstairs & across the courtyard (sorry for the noise. It’s hard to be quiet when you’re rolling a suitcase across cobblestones) & parked them inside the entryway of Alex & Linda’s building. Linda was ready for us with plenty of coffee & snacks to take with.

You know those last few moments you have with dear (& faraway) friends, those moments before the Uber arrives? Those are precious & those are hard. Together we rehearsed our thankfulness for the time together we had; for the great talks; for the food adventures; for the time shared. Too soon we had to navigate downstairs, grab our bags & then make our way to the sidewalk in front of #13, hoping that the Uber I’d scheduled (& had confirmed the night before) would come on time. Evidently there were threats of major snafus on the roads today as the Deutsche Bahn/transit system went on strike this morning. Woohoo.

Fortunately, our driver was just a minute over his scheduled time, &, after hugs & a tearful goodbye (yes, me) we piled into the back of the car & prepared for the loooong day of travels. Berlin’s new airport isn’t huge, but it is big. Even more fun is trying to figure out WHERE you’re supposed to drop off your luggage, because the system used in most other parts of the world isn’t organized even remotely close to what we know at home. I remembered seeing some numbers when I checked in the night before, & sure enough, those corresponded to the place we were to drop off our checked luggage. BTW – I happened upon a German couple saying their passionate goodbyes outside the entrance to security/what we’d call TSA. It stood out to me because I don’t think I’ve seen a make out session like that one since… maybe ever. The dude (he was staying behind, she was leaving) was left a disheveled mess, in need of a hairbrush & a towel. 2 points for Germany.

With that first exchange in the books, theBean & I made our way towards the gate for the flight that would take us to Munich, where we’d catch a flight to San Francisco, where we’d catch a flight home. Wandered the terminal looking at the snack options & finally decided to go with a version of a salami & cheese on brown bread. When it came time for us to board, we lined up with our carryon & backpacks, only to discover that the Lufthansa lady at the gate had decided we weren’t making it by her with our backpack… that we’d have to check it all the way through. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but the justice part of me was more than a little frustrated by being singled out (Merica!) amongst a virtual plethora of other passengers’ bags bigger & more numerous than our own Lil Samsonite. There was no stopping her, so, we scrambled to put as much of the ‘stuff’ we’d packed in there into my backpack, & sent the bag on its way.

The flight to Munich was uneventful, though I was more than a bit concerned that our international flight to SF had started boarding 10 minutes before we landed in Munich. These concerns were compounded when we discovered our gate was an estimated (thank you AI estimating tool used in the German airports) 20 minutes walk away. To further complicate the issue, I needed to find a WC before we did any fast moving.

We speed walked/jogged through the crowds, & slowly made our way toward the gate. Airline officials lined the spacious hallways, asking questions, then funneling us toward the appropriate lines leading to our eventual gate entrance. Caught our breath & headed down the tunnel toward the plane… where we stood for another 10 minutes waiting to board. Elation.

We made it – shortly we’d be on a plane headed to the US… but alas, our bags did not. At the switchover/customs check in in SF, we discovered that our bags hadn’t made the super-quick connection to Munich. After checking in with our carrier & reporting the issue, we were left with the understanding that NO, the bags didn’t make this trip, but YES, they knew where they were & had a decent guess when they’d show up. First world problems. Sigh.

By this time (14 hours into our day) I was feeling bleary, made worse by the fact that I didn’t sleep on the flight over. TheBean did, so she was in a little better shape, but still… Time passed slowly as we waited for the invite to board the last leg to Reno, but it did eventually pass. After landing at home, we met with the carrier again in the Reno-Tahoe Airport to officially file a missing bags report, & were assured they’d be delivered sometime the next day.

Our Gracer & the girls (Jane Alish & EloWEEZ) picked us up & transported us home. What a joy to hold family after a few weeks – the girls seem to have grown at LEAST 4 inches & 40 pounds apiece (I exaggerate, but you get it.) They came inside & Jane ran around Poppy’s house for a bit as EloWEEZ got herself together in preparation for her final 10 minute trip home. So good.

Home. No place like it.

The aftermath – the next day, 2 of the 3 bags showed up at our front door. The only missing bag? TheBean’s main suitcase. I talked to customer service again & it turns out her bag had always wanted to go to Anchorage, Alaska, so it would, hopefully, come the next day (Saturday) after a late fall excursion to the biggest state in all the land. It did arrive Saturday.

Takeaways:

  • There is nothing like being physically present, in the room, with friends. I’m thankful for technologies that allow regular & close communications, but it isn’t close to the same.
  • One thing we heard in every place we went (Frankfurt, Achern/Ottersweier, Oberwesel, Bielefeld, & Berlin) was “Thank you for your encouragement!” I believe it is a superpower given to us to be able to share, authentically & regularly, with the people we interact with. This tangible thankfulness that emerges in the aftermath of a person who’s been encouraged by another, SEEN by another, has given me a new appreciation of Barnabas, the OG “Son of Encouragement.” Makes me want to grow in this area & be more intentional with encouraging others.
  • The enemy of our souls, the devil, seems to hammer humanity equally, with a barrage of negative thoughts & perspectives about ourselves, how God (& others see us) & to rub in our face our unworthiness, insecurities, inadequacies, & real/perceived failures. THAT is why encouragement, friendship, & real fellowship are so vital for us inside/outside the Church. Doing that, being that, sharing that… helps combat those destructive, hyper-critical voices.
  • I love to partner in life, love, & work/play with theBean. I KNEW this already, but man, nothing like a 17 day voyage to the other side of the world to remind me of the Good Thing God gave to me almost 35 (!) years ago.
  • We’re looking forward to future trips to Germany (& beyond), but for now, we’ll be enjoying home, family, familiar food, friends, & our very own bed.

Thank you all for your prayers, your support, & your ENCOURAGEMENT to us. It helped sustain us in perfect health & good spirits, with everything we could ever need or ask for. You are loved & appreciated.

Be an encourager today.

Deutschland 2023 – Days #15 & 16 “Fun with Alex & Linda, which mostly involved trying out new restaurants & street food… “

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Day 15 – the afternoon & evening

We met Alex & Linda in the courtyard of the building where our flats are located, & made our way through the maze to one of the adjoining streets to meet our Uber. They typically employ 1 of 4 modes of transportation: walking, riding a bike, hiring an Uber/taxia, or (rarely) taking the public transportation system (combo of buses/S & U-bahn trains.) The driver dropped us off & it was just a short walk to Parma Pizza. To say it was a hole in the wall makes it seem bigger than it was… there were 3 or 4 tables crammed into 2 rooms, & the ‘kitchen’ was literally 2 steps from our table. Alex stepped into the kitchen twice & was reprimanded each time for violating the ‘chef’s’ space, but it’s not like he could access his seat without stepping into the kitchen. Inside of the rooms looked like a half-finished construction site where the workers had gone home for the weekend, leaving a bunch of stuff half-done, with tools & supplies strewn around the room. There were two guys in the kitchen area; one, the owner/chef, the other, a guy who kept sampling the box of wine on the edge of the super tiny refrigerator. He reminded me of someone who was probably a buddy of the owner who comes to hang out at his buddy’s place in the hopes he’ll be able to sponge some free food & drink if he hangs out long enough. The chef guy looked as though he was an Italian photographer just returned from a taxing & oh-so-draining photoshoot somewhere & by the way he acted, it sure didn’t seem like he was happy to have customers. I dubbed him “Artist Guy” & the other guy was “the Leech.” 

He finally got around to bringing us our menus & made a big show about the artistry of his pizzas… he took the time to explain several of the pizza options to us, in German & English, even though we already knew what we wanted to order. Once we ordered, he engaged in conversation with the Leech for about 15 minutes, seemingly forgetting we were there. Eventually our drink orders came, with our bottled water & the finest boxed red wine the kitchen had to offer placed hurriedly on the table so Artist guy could get back to his conversation.

He remembered we were there to EAT, so he frantically began to assemble the ingredients for the pizzas we’d ordered on his prep counter & then painstakingly made the pizzas, popping them 1 by 1 into the pizza oven on the far side of the kitchen. Good thing they only had to bake for about 90 seconds. Artist guy deposited the pizzas in front of us & stepped back into the kitchen. 

About this time, a younger guy arrived, complete with a dark mullet of curls on his head (theBean said they were the size of the classic pink 1 1/2″ sponge hair roller that hadn’t been brushed out after removing the curlers); he spoke only broken English & his native Italian, & he seemed to be there to do all the jobs Artist guy didn’t want to do.

Pizza was ok – I got a Salamewurst & Tomato & Mozzarella & theBean had a ham pizza (ham put on after the pizza cooked, much to her chagrin & displeasure.) We ate our fill & laughed a lot around the tiny table in the bizarre pizza place/construction zone while the Leech drank more wine & the Mullet guy went through the motions of cleaning & puttering around looking for something. 

We had a blast… time with Alex & Linda is always the BEST time. Good conversations on a variety of topics: Jesus, church life, health, exercise, conspiracy theories, Joe Rogan, specialty meal replacement shakes, work (Alex works in a start-up that does high end health supplements & Linda is a supervisor in the educational system, focusing much of her life on helping foreigners & others trying to make the best of school in Germany.)

Alex had us rolling with his active & quick sense of humor & Linda’s joy & love of life are evident in every conversation we had with her. Truly dear & much loved friends. 

After our meal, since it wasn’t raining (YES) we decided to stretch our legs & walk home through the dark back streets of Berlin’s Kreuzberg & Neukölln neighborhoods; it only took about 30 minutes & it was really refreshing, esp. considering how much we had sat around with little activity the first week of our trip. Went up to their flat for more talks & a late night glass of wine… eventually made our way across the courtyard to our flat & were in our room a minute later. It was a good day.

DAY 16 – Templehof, Street Food, & Crazy Kim’s

Woke up late & headed to the Cafe Bread for coffee & a breakfast pastry… guy from yesterday wasn’t working (bummer) & but the new girl hooked us up & quickly as we settled into our spot to read, enjoy our coffee & people watch. Alex worked until 1 p.m. & Linda until 5, so theBean & I went for a walk through the neighborhood & picked up some supplies from the local grocery store. When Alex called us, we met him outside at an Uber & made our way downtown for some “on the go” site-seeing & a quick stop for a ‘snack’ at Goldie’s Smashburger &.I’ve had smashburgers in the US & they were ok… nothing compared to a good 3×3 animal style, protein style, w/extra grilled onions & cheese, no tomato, no spread, ketchup & mustard please @ In-N-Out burger, but ok.  

This was > ok. This was incredible. Keep in mind, we stopped here for a snack… & also because we hadn’t had a burger our whole time in Germany. So of course, we ended up getting doubles, which were the size of my two fists together. We came at the perfect time, so no line. By the time we were done eating, the line had wandered down the block. We crushed our burgers (so good) & took turns sampling the fries until we couldn’t eat any more. This was, by far, the food highlight of our trip. 

After eating waaaay too much for a snack, we wanted to do some walking, so we made our way through the streets til we finally got to the old Templehof Airport (check out the link for Templehof above), the site of the Berlin airdrops that saved Berlin in 1948 & 1949 (go USA). This massive former airport is now a recreation area, where miles of former taxi & runways have been turned into places for exercise, (bikes, roller blades, scooters, & foot power), with large grassy areas here & there for picnics, kid-friendly recreation, & a couple designated dog parks. Very cool, & lots of places to stop & read about the history of the place. Spent about 90 minutes walking & ended up on the far side of the airport, where we (thank the Lord) found bathrooms that were open & available for usage, without any fee. (NOTE: most of the time to use a toilet in a store/restaurant in Germany/Europe, it will cost you at least 1 Euro. Put that on your list of Even More Things to be thankful for at home.) 

Caught an Uber home, with just enough time to rest, change clothes, & meet Linda to catch another Uber to our dinner place, Crazy Kim’s Korean. We got seated by Kim herself at a table in the entry way, & placed our orders. This restaurant was one they hadn’t been to before, but our coming to visit gave them an opportunity. Food was decent & there were 15 appetizer bites brought to our table (no choice in the matter) & it was fun to try different things. For our main dishes, I got bulgogi & theBean got Korean short-ribs.

But the highlight of the night, for me, was the 2 women who came in shortly after us. One of them HAD to be the owner’s daughter & the other seemed to be a beloved best friend, because Kim doted on the super fancy & chic ladies, dressed in what were probably pretty fashionable (definition: super weird clothes that real people don’t wear) all the while snapping photos of themselves, each other, & the little pocket sized dog the daughter brought in in her purse. If you’ve ever seen wanna-be IG ‘influencers’ in action, you have an idea of our entertainment for the duration of dinner. They helped themselves to all sorts of things behind the bar, often leaving their table to walk around the building, often retreating into the “private” & “Staff only”, only to emerge later & hit the bar again. So. Funny.

Finished dinner & made our way to our Uber outside. The drive home only took 5 minutes, so we had to be close, but it was raining & we’d already walked about 8 miles earlier in the day. As it was our last night, we made our way up to Alex & Linda’s flat again, & sat around their table trying to pack as many conversations as possible into the time we had left. So precious. 

We sadly made our way back to our flat to sleep the short night’s sleep that comes before the departure flight home. We’d made plans to come to their flat in the morning for a cup of coffee & hugs goodbye, so we knew we’d get to see them at least one more time before we left. 

Slept well, with dreams of home in our minds.