Thursday, August 30, 2012

Sabbatical Sendoff

     Last Sunday, our wonderful church family, at the Chicago International Church, sent us off with lots of love and encouragement.  They have been so gracious to allow me, as their pastor of 13 years, to have a four month sabbatical!  Barbara and I are headed to California, China, Hong Kong, and Thailand!  We left Thailand 16 years ago and a LOT of life has happened since then.  Our two children are now adults.  Christina is teaching second grade at the International Community School of Bangkok.  She's been there about six weeks and is enjoying being back in Thailand (this is her third time back).  Matthew is now a senior at the U. of Illinois and recently finished his Leadership Development Assessment Course at Ft. Lewis in Washington with the Army ROTC.  
Lunch at The Lemon Grass

Hospitality Crew

A beautiful Chinatown cake!
Prayer for us.

Preaching my last message.

     We still have a number of things to do before we go but we are excited about what we will see, the people we will meet, and what the Lord will teach us.  Prayer, especially for Barbara's health, is appreciated!  Stay tuned for more!