Travel Plans

Our plans are set for our travel to Central Asia. We received permission yesterday to proceed with purchasing tickets for our move. We will drive from Colbert to Portland on August 16th to spend a few days with Suzanne's parents. We fly out of Portland on Monday, August 25th about 1 PM. Since we cross the International Date Line we won't arrive at our new home until Tuesday close to midnight. I don't know just when we'll get to the school. It will almost certainly be a few days before we move into the house. There is an apartment in the city that might be available, but, the more likely option will be a small apartment at the school that is used for visiting professors. I believe that we'll be there for a few days while the house is made ready. (Note: the first picture in the previous blog post is a view south from the room at the school. Pretty cool, huh?)

We've discovered that the cost of airline tickets has gone up. Is that a surprise to anyone? The round trip (we're scheduled to return to the US on June 23, 2009) is about 25% higher than it was a couple months ago. With the increases in air fares we're having to rethink our option of returning to the States around Christmas. We have been planning to do some fund raising for a couple projects at the school while in the States. We included that trip in our budget for the year along with an ECC trip to Japan. There is now another ECC trip to Bangladesh I'm encouraged to make. We'll have to watch the fares and make sure that the schedule at the school is clear to make such travel plans. We also have to pray about wisdom to know what travel has His approval.

We haven't moved in 26 years and are out of the habit of packing up. We've discovered that we collected too much stuff over the years and it's hard to get rid of some things. As part of this move we have to set up a home. We have the blessing of a house on the school's grounds, but we will need to provide the furnishings. We are trying to purchase the previous president's things to set up the house. He and his family have left the country and moving their possessions wasn't an option. It is an advantage for us to be able to purchase them as we don't have to go through the process of shopping and transporting. This, however, is also proving to be more expensive than we had planned. (Actually, we hadn't budgeted to furnish the house. That is an extra expense we're hoping to provide for through the sale of our own household things - at least partly.) I guess we're learning as we go in this transition.

The emotions we had were interesting when we received permission to purchase our tickets. It was kind of, "Ok, it's now really real!" It kind of took our breath away. We are still convinced that this is the right move. And we're continuing to trust His leadership.

"It's Official!"

We've just returned from Portland and our Conference's annual business session. Each year our church joins with the other churches in the Conference for three days of business, inspiration and deliberation. Every year there are issues that are dear to someone. This year was no exception with the question of what to do with our conference center the key question. (We chose to retain it and, hopefully, develop it.)

Within our denomination's structure local churches are assigned to pastors. Every assignment is for one year and no assignment is considered "official" until it's read at the "Stationing Service." Well, after hearing our name read in relation to Colbert Chapel twenty six times, last night I heard another name read when Colbert's name was called. Bob Warren's name was read later under the category of "Special Assignment" as "Missionary, OMS International, Central Asia." It's now official. We're leaving Colbert and heading for Asia.

It's difficult to express the complex mix of emotions during the last few weeks which came to a head in the last couple days. We're tremendously sad at leaving our friends, our home, our family, our church. People ask us, "Aren't you excited about your new adventure?" Yes, there is a great deal of excitement. However, it's mixed with a great deal of "other stuff" that tempers the excitement. We are confident of God's leading and blessing on this change. That makes the topsy-turvy swale of emotions bearable.

We're anxious to hear what has developed at the school over the last few weeks. There is still a restriction in effect that prohibits that school from educational activities. The Board and administration are looking at what options exist. We're praying that God will grant wisdom in which option to pursue. This is not the time to "push the envelope" with the courts. However, God has a plan for the school and its our responsibility to discover that plan.

We're getting close to the funding level we need to make travel arrangements. We'd rather not wait too long since airline tickets prices seem only to be moving in one direction. We're praying that the last bit will come in soon so we can move ahead.

Meanwhile, we're sorting, packing some things and preparing to get rid of others. Some of those will go in another yard sale. Some things will be given away. I imagine some will find their way to the dump. I hope "treasures" won't disappear.

Well, onward. I'm reminded of the final volume of Lewis' "Narnia" series. The characters are climbing a hill that seems to get bigger and steeper as they go. The cry, however, is "onward and upward." I think that fits us right now.

"Short Timers"

Our time in Spokane is growing short. It is really easy to spend a great deal of time talking about how much there is to do. (In some ways, it's easier to talk about it than it is to get to the sorting, packing and disposing of all the stuff we've accumulated over the 25+ years of ministry here. We're finding that there are many items that bring back memories and are hard to get rid of. We won't be able to keep everything, probably not even half. But, it will be good to make changes and learn to appreciate what we have.

The school we're going to work in has undergone some serious changes this summer. There have been some retirements of key individuals and others who are just experiencing "normal" transitions. One of the primary tasks Suzanne and I will have is to build "team" at the school. There will be two aspects to this: the first will be a sense of team among all the staff. Whether one is the maintainence person or the business manager they will all need to understand that the team succeeds together and needs each part. It will also be important that we develop a leadership team to help with visioning and goal setting. Just from the little we've observed so far, it will be a major task to help the leaders take responsibility for leadership so that they will have an ownership of the mission of the school.

It has been really exciting to see the confirmations about our direction come day after day. God has blessed us with people who affirm God's direction. He has also faithfully provided funds for our venture. We're not yet "fully funded" but we are steadily progressing. It is encouraging to see the progress in such a short time. PTL!

Our last Sunday in Colbert will be August 10th. We expect to load that week and travel to Portland to spend time with Suzanne's parents. Our move to Asia is expected to take place from there.