Family and Friends

Recently we visited friends who are like family to us. Earl & Jane Martin inspired the start of CBF's work with Romany in Europe back, nearly 30 years ago.

Once the Romany Team started, they served as Prayer Coordinators for many years. It was a delight to get to know Earl and Jane better. They had a wealth of experience to share from their time serving in East Africa and then with the International Baptist Theological Seminary's extension work in Central and Eastern Europe.

It was a blessing to spend time with them again. And it was also a blessing for them to receive this watercolor painting donated by another friend, Arie Pothoven, from the church we attend in the Netherlands. Thank you for enriching our lives!
 

Along the Way

Keith and I have been roaming around America from Louisiana to Iowa since early September. Several things have struck us, especially after living in Europe for so many years.

Water. American restaurants give customers huge glasses of water—totally free.
These glasses are also refilled—totally free. Drinking fountains are available all over the place, even in out-of-the-way state parks, also totally free. Water from the tap is safe to drink virtually everywhere. If you are thirsty, come and drink water! Isaiah 55:1

Noise. Air conditioners, leaf blowers, lawn mowers, traffic . . . America can be a noisy place. In Western Europe, sound barriers that along major high ways and freeways in cities and by  residential areas are standard parts of road construction. He leads me beside still waters. Ps 23: 2.

Wildlife. Squirrels scampering across lawns. Deer slipping through wooded backyards. Scarlet cardinals and blue, blue jays flying jauntily from bush to tree. I did not know I missed their calls until I heard them again.

What have you seen along your way?

(Photo taken along Otter Creek, Spring Valley community, Illinois, where I grew up.)