The Great Adventure



Last week Nick, Gilly and I met some dear friends at the airport who were departing for their BIG adventure to Sudan for 5 years as missionaries.  We were honored that our friends thought about us and asked us to see them off .  On the way there, we wondered what they must be feeling on this special day???
We met our missionary friends during our interviews with The Mission Society last year and discovered that they had served in Kenya for 10 years as Physicians.  We were thrilled!  Susan and Lester (I will call them, because of their deployment location) had raised 2 children in the field and adopted a daughter during their time of service in Kenya.  We had a million questions for Susan and Lester since we were feeling called to Kenya.  Susan, Lester and I had a lot in common since our talents are in medicine and I had the opportunity to hear some of their wonderful stories of practiing medicine in the field.
Now we were on our way to give our final goodbye to them before their big adventure.  Nick and I were like 2 excited kids on their way to Six Flags!  We were SO excited for them and their continuing walk with Christ!   Lester is a gentle, soft spoken and compassionate man, (exactly the kind of Physician you love to see when you are hurting) and Susan has the same love, gentleness and intelligence as her husband.  It warmed our hearts to see them go on their way and to think of all of the prayers that were about to be answered because of their arrival in Sudan.  That day in the Atlanta airport, a piece of our hearts went with our friends on their journey and we had a longing to follow in their footsteps next year to Kenya. 
Before they left to catch their plane, we asked for God's blessing over them, their travels and those waiting to receive them on the other end of their journey.  We hugged them both tightly and whispered how much we love them. 
What a blessing God had given us by telling our friends goodbye that afternoon.  Nick and I have talked about them and prayed for them since their departure and we know they will be a blessing in Sudan.  When we returned to our car, Nick and I remarked to each other that we had never been so happy for someone that would be arriving in a place without electricity and sanitation.  But the life of a missionary is like that - arrving in the unknown, but knowing that God always goes before you. 
God's blessings to you Susan and Lester!  We will be praying for you!!