Under Way
Hi, this is Ward Rau, Jessica’s dad.
Jessi and Adam have asked me to keep you up to date with the events and details of their trip as they make them known to us. As you might know, or would likely suspect, technology is a little behind in many areas of Russia, and they have very little knowledge of what they will find. I am sure Jessi and Adam will make an entry or two if they have the access, but that is a huge and as yet unknown variable.
Marlene (Jessica’s mom) and I were able to see Jessi and Adam very briefly today as they had a short stop-over in Chicago to change planes. Their flight from Nashville to Chicago had gotten delayed on the ground in Nashville, so the connection was even tighter than we had expected. But we were able to see them as they hurried from one terminal to the other, and got to deliver some hugs, and some homemade cookies. We also got to meet several of the Team members that they will be traveling and working with. Lori Nichols, from Hendersonville, was on the flight with Jessi and Adam from Nashville; Donnie and Cliff Murray, brothers from Southern California, caught up to us as we made our way through the terminal. They had flown in earlier and had been running between gates trying to connect with Jessica and Adam; we also met Ashley and Allison Robinson, sisters from Knoxville, at the entry area, as they also had flown into Chicago earlier in the day. It was a fun “reunion” to watch as they are all very excited to get under way and to begin to put “legs” to these dreams and plans they have.
So, the packing is done, the planning is done, it’s time to GO. And at the time of this writing, 70% of this Team is in the air, enroute to Frankfurt, Germany connecting later to a flight to St. Petersburg, Russia. But the praying is never done. Now is the time they need your prayers more than ever. Why not pray RIGHT NOW, as you read this……
**Pray for God’s hand of protection and His oversight of their trip.
**Pray for hearts and minds that are ready to serve the Lord, by serving others.
**Pray for receptive hearts on the part of those who run the camp, and especially for the children who will be the recipients of the lessons, songs, crafts, and the love that are all shared in Christ’s name.
**Pray for details that are yet unknown and undecided, that God will direct and pave their way to achieve His purposes for this trip.
**Pray for flexibility on the part of the Team when plans change and some preparation goes unused.
**Pray that the obvious language barrier will not be a barrier to the communication of caring.
**Pray that God would honor their obedience to GO, by “showing up” in a powerful and surprising way.
**Pray that God would bring Honor to His own name because of these folks who go to care for “the least of these”, the orphans.
Amen. Thanks for Praying.
One final comment. As a parent, it is a great thrill to see your child grow to a strong Faith in the Lord. And then to see them (or, her, in our case) step out in that same Faith and follow the Lord’s personal call to her. It is also a little bit scary as well, in human terms, but if we really have the Faith ourselves that we tried to teach them, then we know that they are still in the Lord’s hands, no matter where in this world they travel. And what better place can a child be than in the Hand, and following the Plan of the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe? None, I guess.
Keep praying, thanks for reading and feel free to comment.
(I’d give you directions for that, but I don’t quite know myself. This whole “blog” thing is new to me, so I hope I did it OK, and didn’t bore you to tears.)
bye, now.
ward
