Road Trippin'

It’s Spring-time again here, as where most of you are also. The apricot and cherry blossoms are on the trees, and though a late frost often kills most of them it is a hopeful sign that there will be a harvest.
Another way you can tell it’s Spring is that it’s time for our annual Russia Field forum, when all the missionaries get together to talk business and to hang out. For Kim and I forum ‘begins’ in 7 hours when we catch the 24-hour train to Krasnodar. From Krasnodar we go to Anapa where we’ll all meet for 5 days. After that we get to stay an extra 5 days to hang out with our Russian friends whom we haven’t seen since last June. We have several times planned when everyone is getting together so that we can see everyone at once.
THEN we are loading up a train ‘coupe’- which is a four-bed compartment- with some of our personal belongings that are still in storage in Krasnodar. We’re going to try to cross the border with a minimum of tips paid to the powers that be for the privilege. We could use your prayers for this to be smooth.
We’re sorry to be leaving for this amount of time, feeling as we do that we have so much to do and so many relationships here to keep up with. But in some ways our lives are about managing goodbyes. Going back to Krasnodar is a way to unsay some of those goodbyes for a few days. The fact is we’re far richer for having made all those relationships even if we have to say goodbye more often than seems fair.
So, for now we’ll be out of contact with the Sauna Guys, The Seller-Ladies, The U- with its students and teachers. In a little bit we’ll have to go upstairs and tell Galina and Enver goodbye face to face.
We’ll try to write more here in the next week or so from Russia. If not we’ll have stories when we return.