SaturdaylSunday update

After what seemed like a "never ending journey:, we made it to Amman at 2:00 AM Sunday morning. The trip was lengthened after a 12 hour layover in Frankfurt,when several of the team members took a train ride out to the country side and enjoyed a nice view of the country along the Rhine River and enjoyed a brief walk around the quaint town of St. Goar. The rest of us stayed around the airport and rested the best we could and did some work. Unfortunately, the only bag that didn't make it was Kitty's, though she has been quite a trooper about it. By the time we made it to the hotel and checked in it was 3:30 a.m. , so we were really pooped and had a very short night's sleep.

One of our local leaders invited us to her family's home for lunch, which is always a special time. Not only did we have delicious traditional food, but a wonderful time of fellowship with her family and several of her friends who took time off from work(Yes, Sunday is a work day) to meet with us. It was an added treat for John and me as they presented us with a delicious cake decorated with candles that set off a small pyrotechnic display i honor of our 40th anniversary (which was Aug. 31, that day). What a great way to celebrate an anniversary!

Later in the day we met with two Jordanian sisters that we meet last year in Tunisia at the conference and had some time to spend with them, which was a particular delight for Kitty who had gotten to know them at the meetings. We are always amazed at the "connections" we find all over the world! One of our friends in Houston had mentioned that she knew a woman in Jordan whose husband was president of a seminary and wondered if we might connect with her at some point. Realizing that Jordan has 6 million people, this seemed rather unlikely, but as John asked one of the women if she knew such a woman (not having her name), she smiled and said, "Yes! My sister!" who was sitting right beside her. It is indeed a very small world!! So this just added another "connection" with us in Jordan. We had a good visit and will be be visiting the seminary later this week and having a meal with them. Everyone was ready for a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. As they abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk, the believers here are committing ongoing prayer for them to come to know the Lord, the Bread of Life and source of Living Waters that never run dry. We are humbled by their heart for prayer. May we have such hearts as well!

Already we are feeling very bonded with our "family" here and feel "full" from a very blessed day.

Heading out tomorrow

Our team is heading off tomorrow and then to the AW for a couple of weeks of visiting with our partners there.  It will be a great experience for all of us, most have never been to this part of Africa.  We are looking forward to some incredible meetings and seeing some wonderful sites from many years ago.  I hope that you will join us as we travel to ancient cities and places where many have walked before us.

Our blog entries may not appear everyday, so please keep checking back with us.  It will be early Sunday morning before we make our first stop in Africa for the first week.

We would love hearing from you while we are gone so please feel free to drop us a note on the blog.