Sweden part 1

I seems like a dream.....we arrived in Sweden late last night ....it was raining. But this morning as we are yapping away in the native toungue...drinking coffee...the sun in shining and it looks like a nice day out there....got the Internet going here at my sister's house...and we are all set...

Yesterday, as we spend another chunk of time at the airport in Istanbul I wrote another brief update....here we go:

Last Monday morning came early. We did not only have to get up real early to go the the airport…..this day also came way too fast. Already our precious time with our friends in Central Asia was over. It is really hard to describe these last two weeks….unbelievable experiences, and also many moments of just sitting talking with our friends, hearing their hearts…seeing their visions, their passions for the people they have come to serve. Our prayer was that we would get a little glimpse of that. And we did.

Not only was this a culturally overwhelming experience….it was also an incredible time of seeing folks who are dedicated to what God has put on their hearts….and they are sticking to it. They are definitely NOT hugging the beam, as our friend Alan talks about. No they are out there….brave people….determined people….wanting to serve…wanting to make a difference. And they are. We are so honored to have been able to spend time with them….so humbled by their lives and so thankful for the fellowship and the friendship…how often did we not talk about community these last two weeks….as we lived in tight quarters with both families…. Precious. To be in and out in each other’s lives like this….well, we will never forget this time and we are so thankful to all those who made it possible for us to travel.

Z. borrowed a car on Sunday night and took us to the airport Monday morning. It was hard to say goodbye to them. We hugged the little ones last night before they went to bed. As we had talked about before….we came, and became a little bit of a bridge for them between their world there and the world at home.

It was a rather hot day on Sunday and I believe the temperatures went up close to 30 C ….the sun was really scoring….and you could feel the heat building up in the house also. Summers are hot and winters are cold there in Central Asia. But everyone seem to be fine with that. There has been a lot of rain this spring and everything was very green. We were told that it was more green than normal….and we are thankful that we got to enjoy all that beauty. Because it was really beautiful…..

On Sunday we took it easy in the morning….talked a lot and did some packing. In the afternoon we went to church. Z and M attend a small house fellowship in town. We enjoyed a time of fellowship, worship and the Word together with a handful of believers. Evening went fast and it was amazing how fast morning came…..we are glad Z had a car for us although we did see taxis and the like even at that early hour in the morning. At the airport life was in full swing…and as lines are not a custom…we joined the crowd and took everything in stride.

We had no problem getting in and checking in….the potential nightmare began as we came to passport control. Apparently we did not have the right registration in our passports to be able to leave…. well, after some talking…although no one was really speaking English and we didn’t speak any of the local languages the passport lady found a young local girl who spoke good English and she was able to do a little translation for us…Well, through all of this we were kindly informed that we had to pay for this neglect, of not having the right stamp or whatever it was that they were looking for. Officially we had heard that there was a new law that said the you did not need this paper….well, at the airport, they had other ideas…We did eventually get our stamps in our passports which then made us eligible to leave the country. The sun was rising over the majestic mountain ranges beyond the city as we taxied out to the runway…it was a beautiful morning. Our prayers remain that this country will see the glory of the Lord in the lives of men and women living there….

The plane ride went well….and here we are in Istanbul again…and the first installment of this day’s travel is done. We have two more planes and a train to catch before getting to Sweden.